Who is the NBA Player of the Decade?

[downtown43]

(Note to ska: Please read the thread before you call it Player A > Player B)



Now that the 2000s decade is complete (this was the 10th championship since the 2000 Finals).. who, in your opinion, is the singular player who stands aboveall in the past decade?


Tim Duncan:
2 League MVPs
2 Finals MVPs
3 NBA Titles
7 All-Defensive 1st Teams
3 All-Defensive 2nd Teams
7 All-NBA 1st Teams
3 All-NBA 2nd Teams

Shaquille O'Neal:
1 League MVP
3 Finals MVPs
4 NBA Titles
3 All-Defensive 2nd Teams
7 All-NBA 1st Teams
1 All-NBA 3rd Team
1 Scoring Title
7 Times Leading League in FG%
3 Times Leading League in PER

Kobe Bryant:
1 League MVP
1 Finals MVP
4 NBA Titles
7 All-Defensive 1st Teams
2 All-Defensive 2nd Teams
7 All-NBA 1st Teams
2 All-NBA 2nd Teams
1 All-NBA 3rd Team
2 Scoring Titles

---

All of these guys have excellent resumes, and you could honestly make a case for each of them and you wouldn't be wrong.


Shaq arguably has the most hardware and was the most DOMINANT at his peak. However, his level of play dropped off severely towards the end of the decade andthat must be noted. A decade is 10 years, not 6 or 7.

Duncan can also make an argument for having the most hardware considering his championships and MVPs (note how I didn't include his '99 championshipthough... that doesn't count for this decade). When you look at the past 10 years, the most CONSISTENT superstar was Tim Duncan.

Kobe Bryant doesn't quite have the same "greatness" factor as the other guys when you look at Finals MVPs... he has had a lot well-documentedpersonal failures in his career, and his teams were not consistently at the top of the league like Duncan and Shaq. However, when you look at the past 10years, the one player whose game simply defines EXCELLENCE is Kobe Bryant.

So NT, who would you choose as the player of the decade?

---

My list:
1. Kobe Bryant - he's a ballhog, he takes bad shots, he's a rapist, blah blah... but the point remains, when NBA fans think of the greatest playerbasketball player in the world in this past generation, they will think of Kobe Bryant. 81 points, 35ppg, 9 straight games of 40+, 61 in MSG... justridiculous. The motivation and intensity Kobe has for the game is second to only Jordan. I think he has defined excellence as a basketball player in this pastdecade.

2. Tim Duncan - it was tough for me not to put TD at #1.. he is certainly the most accomplished player of the past decade. He has been on some great teams forhis entire career and always rose to the occasion. But when you think back on the 2000s, Duncan is just not the guy that you will make you say "Oh yeah,Tim Duncan was definitely the best player in the league back then." He's just not.

3. Shaquille O'Neal - in his prime, the most dominant player the league has ever seen. However, he started to decline towards the end of the decade. Takingthe entire 2000s into account, Shaq falls to #3.

 

[do be doo]

 

[black entourage inc]

1. Tim Duncan
2a. Kobe
2b. Shaq
3. Garnett
4. Lebron James
5. Allen Iverson

 

[kookcle]

Start of the decade - Shaq
Middle - Tim Duncan
Past two years - Kobe

thats how i look at it

 

[swizzc]

If you are the best player to ever play your position and your prime was this decade, you win.

 

[the wizard]

Timmy Fundamentals.

 

[ooiron manoo]

You are crazy in your assesment of Duncan. Only a casual fan would say what you said about Duncan. Pundits and people who truly follow the game know better.

I would draw it up as:

1. Duncan
2. Kobe
3. Shaq

In the beginning of the decade Kobe had Shaq, and vice versa. Sure, he has some nice accomplishments, but lets not forget that the Lakers hit the skids afterShaq was dealt and after losing to the Pistons in 2004. They have climbed back, and their growth was pushed forward by the acquisition of Pau Gasol. GettingPau Gasol was a godsend, call the trade what you want, but before Gasol came onboard, the Lakers were just a strong Western Conference team among many. Theacquisition of Gasol put the Lakers in the elite category with the 2007-08 Celtics.

I just don't see how you can't put Duncan ahead of Kobe and Shaq, when at the beginning of the decade, Kobe and Shaq were on the same team. Duncan hada declining David Robinson and a cast of characters. Then he had a young Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili, yet because of being a fundamentaly sound basketballclub built around a fundamentaly sound player (Duncan), the Spurs have been a contender all decade. The exception being this past season, when age andinjuries clearly caught up to them.

 

[statis22]

Kobe Bryant

 

[osh kosh bosh]

1a. Tim Duncan
1b. Shaquille Oneal
2. Kobe Bryant

Timmy and Shaq can be argued wither way but Kobe has no business being above either.

 

[therenegade23]

As much as I like Kobe, it goes to Timmy.

 

[jordan201]

Wow. Nothing against you OP, but the 1st page of S&T right now is ALL Lakers/Kobe threads. I know this isn't specifically a Kobe thread, but Kobetesticle huggers will come in here and turn it into one.

As for the question. Timmy. Without a doubt.

 

[fundamental21ticket]

I'm bias but the resume this guy has had since he arrived in the league is impeccable. The fact that his team has never lost 30 or more games and arecontending every year makes it an easy choice.

 

[true 3 blue]

 

[holdenmichael]

To me, this answer is as obvious as the "Team of the Decade" thread.

It's Duncan and I don't see how you can argue against it.

See ooIRON MANoo's post for the argument for it.

 

[nnarum]

Lock it up. This is a Player A vs Player B thread in disguise.

 

[franchise3]

@ the Walker pic

I think IronMan said it best and you gotta go with Duncan.

Kobe + Shaq definitely no slouches though

 

[i nasmatic i]

Coming from a Laker fan, it's this man:

 

[dottsballer5]

Smh at the posted saying kobes a rapist there was no evidence and the girl wanted $$$$ in the case they just had sex.

 

[clutchshooter]

.

it's not even close.

not at all.

 

[uclamike]

Originally Posted by Do Be Doo

http://i.a.cnn.net/si/200...p/tx_1101_duncan2_ap.jpg src="http://i.a.cnn.net/si/2005/basketball/nba/11/01/bc.bkn.nuggets.spurs.ap/tx_1101_duncan2_ap.jpg">

 

[downtown43]

Originally Posted by ooIRON MANoo

You are crazy in your assesment of Duncan. Only a casual fan would say what you said about Duncan. Pundits and people who truly follow the game know better.

I would draw it up as:

1. Duncan
2. Kobe
3. Shaq

In the beginning of the decade Kobe had Shaq, and vice versa. Sure, he has some nice accomplishments, but lets not forget that the Lakers hit the skids after Shaq was dealt and after losing to the Pistons in 2004. They have climbed back, and their growth was pushed forward by the acquisition of Pau Gasol. Getting Pau Gasol was a godsend, call the trade what you want, but before Gasol came onboard, the Lakers were just a strong Western Conference team among many. The acquisition of Gasol put the Lakers in the elite category with the 2007-08 Celtics.

I just don't see how you can't put Duncan ahead of Kobe and Shaq, when at the beginning of the decade, Kobe and Shaq were on the same team. Duncan had a declining David Robinson and a cast of characters. Then he had a young Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili, yet because of being a fundamentaly sound basketball club built around a fundamentaly sound player (Duncan), the Spurs have been a contender all decade. The exception being this past season, when age and injuries clearly caught up to them.

this is a great post. honestly, i can't even say that i disagree with anything you wrote.

but we have to remember, this is Duncan vs Kobe vs Shaq, not Spurs vs Lakers. we already had a "Team of the Decade" thread.


Duncan has been a consistent 20-10 every year, and always comes up big in the playoffs. carrying that young Spurs team to the championship is one of thegreatest achievements in NBA history.

but without taking teams into account, i simply believe the best INDIVIDUAL player of the past decade has been Kobe Bryant. the individual feats he has overthis past decade are simply ridiculous. he proved without a doubt that he was the best player in the NBA for severalyears. while Duncan has been consistently great, he never reigned over the league individually like Kobe did.


edit: and you stated that Kobe and Shaq had each other, therefore invalidating both of them. fair argument. however, itcould be argued that if Kobe didn't play with Shaq he would be running away with Player of the Decade. he is averaging something like 30-5-5 without Shaq.IMO, Kobe's individual feats in this decade still stand out above everyone else.

 

[ehh]

1. Duncan
2. Shaq
3. Kobe

Despite how much the NBA has changed with the increased European influence and diminishing number of true centers and the pussified flopping/officiating itremains a constant that big men win championships. Ever since the start of the 90's, if you remove Jordan's championship years since the dude was fromanother planet, the NBA champion always had a dominant big man or a big man who outplayed the opposing front court with the exception of the 2004 Pistons. Itis also no surprise that since Gasol outplayed Howard in '09 the Lakers won after Garnett and the Boston frontcourt badly outplayed Gasol in the '08Finals. Because of this I automatically put Duncan and Shaq at 1/2 and drop Kobe to the bottom.

Duncan may be the most slept on player in the history of the NBA, certainly in the past 20 years. The guy IS a better basketball player than Kobe Bryant butdoesn't get the hype because of his style of play. Every debate is Kobe/LeBron/Wade regarding the best player in the league. Duncan never even getsmentioned because he isn't posterizing people or as marketable as the perimeter players. Yet he is so efficient in nearly every aspect of the game. Iconsider him a center (only reason he's been dubbed a PF his entire career is because he came into the league with Robinson as the Spurs' center) so Idon't call him the greatest PF of all time but he is the 4th best center behind Kareem, Hakeem and Shaq.

Shaq simply started to decline, wasn't in his prime for half of the 2000's.

Kobe may have the individual statistics but I've always felt he was overrated and not nearly as efficient as a player of his skill set and athleticismshould be. The ball hog thing remains true to me although he does pass more now than a few years ago. He's always had shaky shot selection and isn'ta great finisher in traffic, though he still has the highlight plays like the ones tonight around Dwight that stick in people's memories (much like hisoverblown ability in the clutch). It's also an absolute joke that he repeatedly gets selected to the All-NBA Defensive team. Anyone who has watched hiscareer cannot say with a straight face that Kobe Bryant is a great defender. He's not a liability but he certainly isn't anything special. I feellike people simply want to see Jordan again so badly that they force themselves to believe that Kobe is in Jordan's ballpark when in fact he's not.

 

[651akathepaul]

This is now player A vs. player B. And so if Duncan is the player of the decade as most are saying, then you automatically concede that Duncan is a greaterplayer than Kobe period, which defeats any Kobe vs. Jordan, or Kobe vs. Lebron, because in all actuality it should be Duncan in that slot right? Becausethat's what you guys are saying...Don't make sense to me...Just thought I'd throw that out there.

 

[bkzkurse]

wowg

 

[2wenty thre3]

I'm going with TD. Best PF ever.