It would have been nice to have seen KG play most of his career on a contending team. He's the best/most versatile defender I've seen in the NBA. The guy can literally guard 1-5. Great man defender. Great PnR defender. Protects the rim, etc. Really good offensively. Great passer for a big man. Sets great screens. Can run the offense like a PG. And then on top of it all, great competitor. KG has 3 or 4 rings right now if he played with a big 3 like Duncan did his entire career.
Several others. Including Russell, David Robinson, Hakeem, Dave Cowens (maybe) and even Shaq (in his prime, not the fat guy). Heck, Bill Walton pre injury may have been better, no? People never saw Elvin Hayes play, I guess. That guy was the PF version of Kareem. In the elite sense.
Really really good offensively. He was essentially the PF version of Pippen. Superior defender and the guy could give you a triple double a lot of nights.
I think people devalue him because they think he was a dick. Personally I would have loved him in Portland!
If you consider Duncan just a big and rank best bigs ever, I would put him 4th for a career (not peak years, a career in total): Kareem, Russell, Wilt then, Duncan. Just ahead of Shaq, imo. If Shaq could have been high level just another couple years and won one more ring, he would be in the 1st tier and above Duncan. Shaq was more dominant offensively, but Timmy was a better defender. Their career accomplishments are very close. I think it is a close call, unless Timmy gets another ring, then that would seal it for him over Shaq. Then there are a whole host of bigs who were SuperStars that have at least 1 MVP and 1 Ring (where they were at least the 2nd best player): Moses Malone (why the hell did the Blazers trade him?) Bill Walton (amazing that even with the early injuries, he is still an all-time great with the MVP and rings, but I don't think his career accomplishments are close to the others on this list) David Robinson (has some of the most amazing career stats of all time, didn't have much help until Duncan and didn't always perform his best in playoffs) Hakeem Olajowon Bob Pettit Dirk Nowitzki Kevin Garnett the there is the debate over the ringless greats Charles Barkley and Karl Malone and their place in rankings.
Shaq was dominate, but id still take duncan every day. David robinson was my favorite player growing up and no way in hell is he as good as timmy d. Hakeem? Maybe.
KG is a piece of shit, I could never cheer for him, even if he was a Blazer. I absolutely hate how he plays and carries himself. Also, anyone saying he's better than Duncan is doing so just to be a contrarian.
Statistically he's better. Duncan has more rings though. That is a big qualifier for greatness for me.
Talking about big men; what about Hakeem?! That dude was amazing!!! Didn't he get like 4 quadruple doubles?
I disagree http://bkref.com/tiny/9J412 Edit: They're really similar, but I'd give the edge, on paper, to Duncan. Duncan also gets the edge with the rings. No contest.
I hope PtldPlatypus is OK with being alone in the opinion that defense doesn't matter at all when discussion who the best power forward was.
Look at Shaq's 1990-2000 season stats. Realize he had over 10 years of stats very close. 29.7 points, 13.6 rebounds, 3 blocks, 3.8 assists. He shot .574, too.
Garnett played several years on the Celtics with two other hall of famers. He sacrificed stats for wins. Garnett averaged 13+ RPG three times. Duncan never did it. Duncan's career best APG was 3.9. Garnett averaged 4+ ten times, 5+ five times. Duncan never averaged a steal per game. Garnett averaged 1.5+ five times. Garnett started at SF his first few seasons. He could dribble better, pass better, defend any position better, etc. Garnett has also played 6,000+ more minutes over his career.
It's somewhat humorous that some are talking about Duncan and stats at the same time. He's the ultimate team guy who never cared about stats and still doesn't. He only cares about winning. He could have averaged 35 a game if he really wanted to.
Shaquille was not as good as Duncan on defense. And you forgot to mention that Shaq has a career 52.7% FT rate. Not to mention, Shaq won 4 titles like Duncan, but Shaq had Dwayne Wade and Kobe Bryant on his team whenever he won titles. Who did Duncan have? He was by far the best player on his teams. Duncan had a broken down David robinson in 2003 and a pretty good, not nearly as good as he used to be DRob in 1999.
Exactly my point. He's at least equal with Garnett in stats, plus Duncan has sacrificed statistics for his whole career.
Duncan plays with two hall of famers right now and also played with a guy named David. When did Garnett have to sacrifice his stats playing with a hall of fame big man? Garnett has averaged 1 minute more per game through their careers. There probably wouldn't even be a difference if Pop wasn't Duncan's coach.
