How good was prime Tim Duncan? At his peak was he the best player of the 2000s?

[Bryan Danielson]

Kobe & Duncan played in the playoffs 5x in the 2000s

Kobe was 4-1 vs Duncan in the offs in the 2000s

If that doesn't settle the debate, idk what does

I will accept that but it’s gonna settle another debate. Do we wanna play with this Pandora’s box Crodie?

 

[UpNext]

I'd say in 03 and 05 Duncan was the best player in the league.

 

[KidJSoul]

The '03 Spurs were #3 in NRtg, #3 in DRtg, #9 in ORtg. They won 60 games, bruh.

Were the 07-10 Cavaliers good?

 

[ball15life]

Duncan wasn't better than Kobe.

Kobe & Duncan played in the playoffs 5x in the 2000s

Kobe was 4-1 vs Duncan in the offs in the 2000s

If that doesn't settle the debate, idk what does

I feel like some of these responses are because they hate Kobe and the Lakers.

I really don't understand how anyone with an unbiased mind can say Tim was clearly better than Kobe

 

[murksiderock]

Were the 07-10 Cavaliers good?

The '09 and '10 Cavs were good, they weren't great. The '07 and '08 Cavs were mediocre...

I'm not playing this game where we pretend 60-win teams are garbage. We didn't think these teams were garbage in real time; 60 wins doesn't assuredly make you the best team in The League, but what are we talking about here? At best there were only a handful of teams better than these 60-winners, these were contenders...

In Duncan's case no one thought the '03 Spurs were ass in real time but we are here over 20 years later trying to call a 60-win champion with the #3 NRtg that season a mid squad to bolster an argument for Duncan that needs no exaggerations. Relative to what tge rest of the NBA was in 2003, the '03 Spurs were CLEARLY one of the elite teams in basketball...

It's also true that relative to most of his teams he did a bit more carrying that season. Duncan needs no hyperbole though, I think it says enough that he never missed a postseason or won less than 50 games in a season!

 

[Controversy]

Its clear based on the poll and commentary on here duncan was the best player of the 2000s, no ifs and buts about it. 3FMVP, 2 league mvps, 10 all nba first team selections and several defensive first team selections, this isnt even close in my view. Tim duncan is in a league of his own, and has a strong case to be a top 5 player

He wasn't first team all nba in 06, 08, 09 or 10

There's no way a big man who was averaging 18-10 and 19-10 was the best player of the decade

The guy who scored 40+ nine straight games...the guy who scored 50+ four straight games...the guy who averaged 35 in the toughest defensive era...the guy who won more chips in the decade IS CLEARLY THE BEST PLAYER OF THE DECADE

 

[murksiderock]

He wasn't first team all nba in 06, 08, 09 or 10

There's no way a big man who was averaging 18-10 and 19-10 was the best player of the decade

The guy who scored 40+ nine straight games...the guy who scored 50+ four straight games...the guy who averaged 35 in the toughest defensive era...the guy who won more chips in the decade IS CLEARLY THE BEST PLAYER OF THE DECADE

Kobe and Duncan share the title for the era. When Duncan was at his peak 2000-05 he was 23/12 in the regular season, 24/14 in the playoffs, and was a clearly more imposing, dominant player than Kobe...

2005-10 we saw Kobe peak and Duncan fade...

They share the distinction as players of the 00s and many people put Shaq in there too...

 

[get these nets]

I feel like some of these responses are because they hate Kobe and the Lakers.

I really don't understand how anyone with an unbiased mind can say Tim was clearly better than Kobe

When people put up the head to head playoff records, and conveniently forget to mention that nba 1 st team all nba center that Kobe was on the same team with for some of those matchups.
They are the ones showing bias.

 

[Controversy]

Kobe and Duncan share the title for the era. When Duncan was at his peak 2000-05 he was 23/12 in the regular season, 24/14 in the playoffs, and was a clearly more imposing, dominant player than Kobe...

2005-10 we saw Kobe peak and Duncan fade...

They share the distinction as players of the 00s and many people put Shaq in there too...

Kobe was the most consistent in the decade and that's why he was the best player

4-1 vs Duncan in the 2000s playoffs is all I needed to see...Kob was the Spurs killer and no other player can lay claim to that

Duncan was a great player but ppl forget the missed free throws, the playoff losses as the favorite, the 1-4 record vs Kob, etc...

 

[Copy Ninja]

Duncan is arguably better than Lebron

They're in the same tier along with Shaq and Kobe.

 

[28 Gramz]

clearly more imposing, dominant player than Kobe

After 2001 this wasn't the case.

 

[malbaker86]

Kobe was the most consistent in the decade and that's why he was the best player

4-1 vs Duncan in the 2000s playoffs is all I needed to see...Kob was the Spurs killer and no other player can lay claim to that

Duncan was a great player but ppl forget the missed free throws, the playoff losses as the favorite, the 1-4 record vs Kob, etc...

Kobe missed the damn playoffs in his PRIME. Don't give me that shyt lol

 

[Remote]

I knew what this thread would devolve into.

Tim was great. That's all.

 

[Dwight Howard]

Tim duncan was never considered the best player in the league in any year. He was never better than Shaq and kobe surpassed him in 2001 when he shyt on the entire team in the WCF (the REAL finals)

 

[Dwight Howard]

Kobe and Duncan share the title for the era. When Duncan was at his peak 2000-05 he was 23/12 in the regular season, 24/14 in the playoffs, and was a clearly more imposing, dominant player than Kobe...

2005-10 we saw Kobe peak and Duncan fade...

They share the distinction as players of the 00s and many people put Shaq in there too...

You can't watch the 2001 WCF and come away thinking duncan was clearly more dominant, kobe was the best player on the court that series which was the "real" finals