Top 50 what? overall players? Versitile players? Game winners? As far as all 3 of those go i still put kobe ahead of duncan. Consistant he is (yes i know i sound like yoda) but the best player in the league he is not.

Tim Duncan is the best player of the last decade, bar none. No matter how you look at it - championships, accolades and stats - he's number 1.

doc, I'd be tempted to put Shaq above Duncan as best in last decade (bar last season of course). Very tempted, but tough call

"2. Kobe Bryant, L.A. Lakers: Unless the Lakers get serious or trade him to a championship contender, his greatness will be in vain. "

WTF???????

He was an integral part of a rare 3-peat......How the hell does the fact that they are now struggling make that achievement any less?

What a stupid statement.

FYI......I don't think he's the greatest, I just think the criteria there is rubbish.

If I was building a team from scratch, Duncan would be my first pick.

Shaq is around the mark as well. I don't think anyone else should even get a mention.

Duncan is a must first pick

THE BIG FUNDAMENTAL

Kobe is spectacular but his team is a Tim
Duncan short of being a major contender.

There are many more kobe's in the league
as in ability to score points but not dunk
as spectacular as Kobe.

Duncan on the other hand
Scores , rebounds, passes,
and plays the ultimate
team leader role.

During the lakers 3 peat Shaq was better than Duncan but as far as overall greatness and comparing thier careers Duncan wins. Kobe would probably be third but not in the same league as Duncan/Shaq simply beacause dominant bis are of more value than dominant gaurds.

dominant bigs*

duncans the best.

Shaq was better though, because he can win in consecutive years

Mr Clutch - try telling Jordan, Magic, Oscar etc that.

Well magic and Oscar did have Kareem for their championships, lockstock. You know, a dominant centre

Would anyone seriously have dwyane wade instead of Steve Nash? Yeah i mean Wades great when the refs and the commissioner are on your side and theres a semi healthy shaq there but i mean come on

Spurs have been the most winningest team over that last decade that includes all Sports in the USA. Baseball, Football and what ever. 4 Championships and the lakers with 3. Yes I understand they were in a row but they had their team remained the same. Duncan has given more rings to more people than Jordan. Jordan has 31 and Duncan is on 35 players.

Jordan will always be the best. Magic will always be the best. But if you look at the last decade the Spurs have always been around the mark. As soon as Shaq left so did Lakers winning ability.

What a stupid post. Where do i even begin. Duncan has 'given' rings to people? oh ok, so duncan just goes out there by himself and wins it for everyone does he. ooh, duncan has "given" more rings to more people, where did this come from?

I agree with ELG, what a stupid post.

Besides, maybe it has something to do with the fact that Jordan won his six rings in two spearte three year spells. Duncan has not been able to 'give' his teamates consecutive rings and therefore the roster was most likely reshaped to make another championship run.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the last two final MVPs in Spurs championships have been Ginobili and Parker...

Actually Duncan won it on 2005 not Ginobili.

The Finals MVP's for the Spurs have been:

2007 - Tony Parker
2005 - Tim Duncan
2003 - Tim Duncan
1999 - Tim Duncan

Doesn't that mean that Duncan was the main instigater in the championships?

ELG, go back to your bedroom and play with your toys. Start with join the dots. Duncan is the best modern day player and Flip is only trying to say that it does not matter who you put around Duncan, he wins. That ok. Read it again and then you might understand and stop calling other peoples posts stupid. Yours are not on the cutting edge of basketball. Far from it!

I still dont get why anyone measures a players ability by the number of championships they have. If anything, being in a winning team makes it easier for tim duncan. Yes, he is a great player but ffs stop using the number of championships he has as a guide to anything. If he had 0 rings would anyone be saying he is the best player in the league? not a chance! Basketball is a team sport and only a team can win a championship, not one player. The lakers would be dead last in the league without Kobe, yet spurs would easily make playoffs without duncan!

Better team = Spurs
Better player = Kobe Bryant

spurs live or die with duncan

hes clutch, hes the undisputable leader, awesome team mate, plays the best D on the team, is MONEY in the post...and like it or not dr bullshit - players ARE judged on how many championships they've won..and the reason the spurs have 4? duncan.

And the reason the lakers got 3 on the trot - Kobe (at a young age mind you). Give the lakers any other decent player (they have NONE) and they will go deep into the playoffs! Not to mention players the quality of T.P. and Manu.

Duncan is clutch, then kobe is superclutch.
Duncan is money in the post, kobe is money from anywhere
Duncan is best defender on the team - no hes not, Bruce Bowen is, but kobe is the best defender on the lakers squad.

Duncan better leader and team player by far. But as far as an overall player, Kobe wins hands down IMO.

Do you think Many and Parker would be anywhere near the players that they are without duncan? No way, and duncan is the only consistant througout the entire Spurs dynasty, he won a championship with an aging Robinson who was relegated to virtually a defensive and rebounding role player, and a whole lot of role players who could hit jump shots and play d.

The reason they won 3 on the trot was Kobe?? I think Shaq was slightly more important, they actually lifted their play when Kobe was injured.

hey when did this become about kobe? im the biggest bryant fan there is - in my opinion he is the most talented player in the world...im saying like it or not, which u clearly dont..its about rings...and duncan is the undisputable leader on the team that has had the msot lately...spurs would not easily make the playoffs without duncan also

But you take any star out of any NBA team and they will struggle to make the playoffs, that is a null argument.

and reason lakers won 3 on the trot - HAHAHAHAHAHA...try shaquille oneal, with the help of kobe

And how many has Kobe won without Shaq?

And spurs would've won their last 2 without Parker? The fact is you have a much better chance of winning a ring with 2 gun players rather than 1 and yes, i think parker would be just as good without duncan. If you analyse his game, Duncan doesnt help him much at all, infact he makes Duncan a better player. Dont get me wrong, Duncan is a gun, but just purely not the best player in the league, and thats what this is about.

PPFFFFFFFFFTTTTTTTT!!!!!

duncan has no effect on parkers game?!?!?!??!?!?!

are u f#@king serious?!

tell tony parker that

Like i stated before Duncan won a championship with an aging Robinson as his only legitimate player and also won a ship when Parker was younger and very erratic so yes it is quite possible that the spurs could have won their last two without parker because Duncan has started to take a backseat, although he could easily carry the team.

and duncan has a huge effect on Parkers game, just because he doesnt give him assist passes all the time doesnt mean that he doesnt have a huge effect on his performance ( due to attention down low and ball swings initiated by duncan) when you think about it parker still has some holes in his game but due to the brilliance of duncan he hides parkers (and the rest of the teams) weaknesses.

I cannot fathom how clueless someone has to be to consider Kobe a better player than Duncan.
Name a player in the comp that does what the big fundamental does..... none. No one even comes close.
How many can slash and score?? heaps. Don't get me wrong- kobe is a gun. but so is lebron, so is melo, so is t-mac, so is wade, so is agent zero...
Fact is that if duncan is healthy, spurs will repeat.

talking sheer talent wise...and skill wise, kobe is leaps and bounds above duncan..sure there are much more slashers and scorers in the league than dominant big men, that bring to the table what duncan does...but kobe is one of a kind and by far the best scorer in the world

'clueless' for thinking that is kind of way off...

DUMB!! KOBE CAN SCORE ON ANY1 ANYDAY!! IF U PUT ROLE PLAYERS AROUND KOBE THERE IS NO STOPIN HIM!! HE IS THE GREATEST SCORER EVER!! PLAYERS IN THE NBA FEAR KOBE!! ASK THEM!!