Tim Duncan
 

Would he be considered the best NBA player of all-time if he played in a city with a big media center instead of San Antonio and wasn't a boring person with a boring defensive oriented game?

The Spurs have been like a top 5 caliber NBA team ever since he got there in 1997 and isn't he basically the only common denominator with the players on that team?

The Bulls went 55-27 during the season without Jordan.

I don't really watch basketball ever -- just wondering if Duncan doesn't get his due because he plays in a small market, with a defensive style, and a drama-less personality.

The point you are making is true. He's vastly underrated because of SA and because of his style and personality. The funny thing is that he may be underrated..........even though many people acknowledge him as at the very least, one of the top three power forwards ever. Quite a few list him at the top of that list. I don't think he'd be put at the top of the greatest players ever though, although I think he's belonging of a seat at the table and a title this year would really make it a great conversation.

Winning five NBA Championships with San Antonio and always being a very top tier regular season team seems pretty wild if they get it done.

I remember one year a long time ago when he got hurt and missed a playoff series and the Suns swept them in the 1st round.

12 times either first or second team all-NBA (nine first)
13 times either first or second team all-defense (eight first)
Three finals MVP
Two league MVP
Four titles in hand and good shot at a fifth

It's really been an incredible career for him. I remember that year you are talking about. It's just really been a treat watching him in these playoffs. You watch him all season and think he's done. Wondering why is he holding on to the end of his career? Then he comes out and shows that he's not only still got it but he's got a lot of it. Same has been true of Kevin Garnett this year. It also shows you the difference between coaches like Popovich and Rivers and coaches like Mike Brown. Pop and Doc realize that the regular-season is not where titles are won. They don't worry about stuff like best record and home-court advantage. They properly dole out the minutes to their aging stars in order to have them ready for when it really counts. Meanwhile, Brown was over there working the hell out of Bryant. There's no reason by Kobe should have been among the league leaders in minutes played (at least until he got hurt and missed those seven games at the end) at his age and with all of those miles under his belt. In the playoffs, Kobe was visably worn down.

Ehhh. He's definitely one of the greatest forwards to play the game but it's debatable if he gets 5 titles to include him amongst the greatest to ever play the game.

One of those titles was during a player strike that shortened the season if I recall...without being a google tard.

He has been a center for a long time. I have no idea why he is considered a forward except it is far easier to be considered one of the best Power forwards of all time as opposed to one of the best centers.

Don't think so? Ask yourself who is the last Center who started for the Spurs since David Robinson? Seriously? Who is the starting Center for the Spurs this year?

To this day -- I've never seen one person wear a Tim Duncan jersey.

Granted, I don't get out much.

Well he didnt ever play for the River Hawks or whatever they are called

Please don't ever mention Doc Rivers and Popovich as being on the same level...

I don't think that I did. I do, however think that both are elite coaches and although I'm not sure which one you rank higher, I think the other is pretty close. The point I was making was that they both realize that the regular-season is not super important and ration out the minutes accordingly while Brown drove his guys into the ground. Pau Gasol played the second most minutes in the league this year and on average minutes per game, Bryant was fourth at 38.5. Why was Bryant playing a minute more per game than LeBron James?

Good point. If you were to look at him as a center, where would he rank? The top group has to include Abdul-Jabbar, Russell, Chamberlain, Olajuwon, Malone, and O'Neal. I think the second group would include Lanier, Robinson, Ewing, Gilmore, Bellamy, and Thurmond. Where would Duncan fit in there? I'd say fifth or sixth.

Basketball wasn't as big a deal both here and Internationally until recently...like stated to take off after the Jordan, Magic, Bird era.

So -- the competition should have spiked as a result.

Has anyone had a more valuable player type career as a whole than Duncan since the Post Jordan with Bulls era?

I don't watch or follow it. Just curious.

I can't stand Mike Brown, but in all fairness, the Spurs and Celtics bench compared to the Lakers is like Secretariat vs some nickel claimer.

It was DeJuan Blair, now it is Boris Diaw. Duncan has center size, but he plays either position just as well.

Brown did what he had to do to avoid being an 8 seed.

I don't think he needed to play Bryant that much though. There is no reason he should have been up there more than James and some of the other young stars. That's crazy. Veteran coaches like Pop and Rivers and Jackson when he was around, recognize that the importance is not in the regular-season. You can be the eighth seed and if you win one road game, you've taken over home court advantage. The Celtics didn't push to get a higher seed against Atlanta but took the home court right away. The Lakers damn near beat Oklahoma City in game two and took home court from them. Home court is more important for the younger teams than it is for the veteran teams.

They play more power forward than Duncan, especially Diaw, who's basically a small forward.

Popovich might be the greatest NBA coach ever. Uh Doc is ranked about 97th

Lol Blair is 6'7" and Diaw is not a center regardless of how they try to spin it. Duncan is a center and has been since Robinson retired. They kept insisting he was a power forward because of one reason, Yao Ming. They realized that he would never be an all star starter as long as Ming was playing. But he guards centers, is guarded by centers and the offense is run through him as a center.

Even in his old age -- Duncan just seems like he can do it all.

He can score well, play great defense, rebound, block shots, draw fouls, I think he's an ok passer too... but I don't know for sure, because I don't watch basketball.

I looked at the box score (the max extent of my efforts to follow the NBA --- as I refuse to even watch the highlights on Sports Center) and I saw Duncan was a +18 last night. He had the highest +/- of any Spurs player. Parker was 2nd at +14.

Well that's why he's known as groundhog day. He's a true professional. Can't see the Heat beating a team that is all business. It's not about flinging baby powder in the air and acting like you're Captain Swag.

I believe your reasoning makes sense but I'd add another reason; Shaquille O'Neal.

Shows how little I know about basketball -- but wasn't Yao Ming an overhyped bust?

Not really...he was very, very good, just too many injury problems.

Yao Ming was voted starting Center for the West every year he was on the ballot including 2011 when he played 5 games. When they started having internet voting Yao was almost always going to win.

Well you look like a sage now. I should have realized that Stern was going to fix the lottery in favor of the team he was selling...

That is true. But for the first five years of Duncan's career, it was Shaq that was the leading vote getter at the center spot for the West and it was Shaq that was the first team all-NBA center each of those years (even up until 2006) with the sxception of 1999, when he was second team. That's why I say it was first cause of Shaq then Ming kept it going.

However with Robinson on the team Duncan was more of a power forward. When he left he became the center but they kept his designation as PF. I mean it doesnt really matter because he has been a great player regardless

Yeah, but in any case going 30-36 this year if the trade was allowed to go through wasn't going to help anything.

The Spurs are up 2-1, but it isn't because of Duncan. He hasn't been very good at all in this series.

Are there any sports fans at all out there that don't know that the NBA is the most corrupt and fixed sport in this country?

Other than horse racing?

NBA is worse.

Despite the lack of lasix?

David Stern more than makes up for that.

Get a load of this...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjvlxqJFOj0

I get the whole talk of conspiracies but I look at it a little different. Consider:

Historically, the worst team hasn't had a great history of landing the top pick. If they had gotten it, I would have expected to hear some grumblings about Stern helping out Jordan.

Could Washington have won again for the second time in a few years without there being some talk?

Could Cleveland win it back to back with no talk of conspiracies after there was talk last year?

What would the talk have been if the Nets had won right before moving into their new arena and while still being in the running for Dwight Howard?

My opinion is if there was a conspiracy at work, Brooklyn would have won it. Having Anthony Davis go to a bad team in small market New Orleans doesn't help the league at all and probably does more harm when he leaves at the first chance.

I don't think this is entirely accurate. Some impacts aren't as easily seen as others. Duncan’s presence on the court opens things up for everyone. You have to guard him down there and stay home. He's the main reason guys get open shots all game. He's also really good at passing out of the post and getting the defense moving. On defense, he allows guys to play tighter on their man and also play more in the passing lanes because he is an excellent help defender. Being strong on the boards means they don't have to commit the other guys as much to rebounding, which means they are getting out faster on the break. I think he's a much bigger factor than the numbers would suggest.

I don't agree. Perkins handles him pretty well one on one. There isn't a lot of help coming when he gets the ball, and he isn't shooting well at all. Parker was the key to games 1 and 2, not Duncan, and it isn't even a discussion in my opinion.

Like I said, Duncan isn't really a factor whether he plays well or not. The Spurs go as Parker goes, and he isn't going lately.

Duncan finished the game +17 over his 33 minutes even though they lost by 5 points.

In the 15 minutes he was on the bench, the Thunder outscored them by 23 points.

Duncan was +18 in the previous home game and lead the Spurs in that stat the last home game.

Maybe it's not so much that Duncan is the key guy when he's on the floor -- it's just that his replacements all suck? I don't know, I don't watch.