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With 4-1 Finals series win over defending champion Miami Heat, Tim Duncan won his fifth NBA title of his illustrious 17 year career having played each and every season under Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs.
Tim Duncan now poses a legitimate threat to Kobe Bryant for being the best player in the league post the Michael Jordan era.
Ever since the Chicago Bulls dynasty came to an end, Duncan and Bryant are the only two players who have represented a single franchise for a long time. They are also the only two players who are the most successful and celebrated since Jordan first called it quits.
Now that Duncan is tied with Bryant on most championships won, it’s time to settle the debate as to who is the best.
Individual accomplishments :
| Kobe Bryant | Tim Duncan | |
| Seasons | 18 | 17 |
| Season MVP’s | 1 | 2 |
| All-NBA First team | 11 | 10 |
| All-NBA teams | 15 | 14 |
| Rookie of the Year | 0 | 1 |
| All-Defensive First team | 9 | 8 |
| Scoring Leaders | 2 | 0 |
| All-Star selections | 16 | 14 |
Total number of seasons can’t be a category that can be held against Duncan as he entered the league late. He has not yet announced his retirement or showed any intentions of doing so.
Although Duncan has bagged the more noted awards of a season with 2 Most Valuable Player awards and the 1997 Rookie of the Year in comparison to Bryant’s lone season MVP recognition in 2007-08. Bryant leads 5-2 in other departments.
When you include the number of Finals MVP awards bagged by either player, Duncan has the upper hand winning the Bill Russell Finals MVP trophy thrice as compared to Bryant who won it on two occasions.
However across all seasons, the play of Kobe Bryant improved constantly. At the peak of their careers, Bryant showed more consistency than Duncan.
Team success
Duncan right from his entry into the league embraced Gregg Popovich’s style of coaching and as the playing style of the Spurs changed under Popovich, Duncan adapted his game to be efficient within the confides of the team’s system. The player-coach duo have been the leaders of a team who have not only registered 50+ wins in the regular for 17 consecutive seasons, but also been Playoff regulars for same 17 year span.
Meanwhile, Bryant’s time with the Lakers has had his share of up’s and down’s. An association with the Lakers has seen Bryant miss the Playoffs thrice, the just concluded season being the most recent. After playing the second role in 1-2 combo of himself and Shaquille O’Neal for the first 8 years of his career, Bryant along with the Head Coach Phil Jackson lifted the Lakers back to their championship status with back to back NBA titles before the previous decade ended.
Duncan comes out on top if you look at playing a major role in the championship wins is concerned.
Championships and accolades
Despite both players winning five titles each the glaring disparities are the number of attempts each player needed with his respective team and the individual accolades achieved. While Duncan won five titles in six attempts, the only loss coming in a disappointing and heart breaking fashion in the 2013 Finals, Bryant received his five rings in seven attempts losing once to Detroit Pistons in 2004 and later to the Boston Celtics in 2008.
The needle now in this category now shifts towards Duncan.
Duncan has received the Bill Russell Finals MVP award thrice in his career while Bryant has won it twice. So does this really seal the deal for Duncan as the better player?
The Extras and the Intangibles
Duncan has more or less had a smooth ride with the San Antonio Spurs, their couple of first round exits being the only major disappointment. He carried the team through his first eight years in the league and hence was happy to step back and let the Parker’s and Ginobili’s do the damage. He adapted his game to fit into the system even if it brought his numbers down. He had the willingness to sign a 30 million dollar 3 year deal with the team in 2012, which basically forces him to take a huge pay cut. It just shows the humility and sacrifice that we all have associated Duncan with over the years.
Through the highs and lows, Bryant has single handedly carried the Lakers ever since the O’Neal trade back in 2004. Not the one to leave money on the table Bryant is obsessive about improving his game and taking it to the next level. Although they have bagged just the two championships in 2009 and 2010 , the almost sell out crowds at Staples Center home of the Los Angeles Lakers for every game is proof of the attention that Bryant and his game attract.
Bryant has made a bigger contribution to the game internationally than Duncan, twice donning the USA national team colors in the Olympics and returning home successfully with the gold medal. Duncan has represented the USA only once in the FIBA World cup of 2002.
Conclusions
No matter how much you analyse, compare and debate, naming one over the other between these great players will never be easy.
However from the analysis, we can come to a conclusion that:
-Duncan is the better player, but Kobe Bryant is the one with the bigger legacy.
