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Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan Debate Has One Clear Winner

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By @DSchultz89

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As two of the greatest NBA players to ever play the game enter the twilight of their respective careers, many have already begun to discuss who has had the better career.

Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers is the closest thing we have seen to Michael Jordan, a breathtaking shooting guard with fearless tenacity who has spent his entire 19-year career with the Lakers. He has won five titles, two Finals MVP awards, an NBA MVP award, and is also an 11-time NBA All-League First team and nine-time NBA All-Defensive First Team winner. After accomplishing a three-peat at the start of the 2000s (’00, ’01, ’02), he closed out the decade with a title (’09) before repeating in ’10. It is not difficult to see why many consider him to be one of the best to ever play the game.

Tim Duncan is the polar opposite of Bryant in terms of personality. The San Antonio Spurs power forward has always been quiet and more reserved, never commanding the limelight but instead letting his play do the talking. Like Bryant, he has also won five NBA titles. He has also been awarded with three Finals MVP awards, two MVPs (repeating in back to back years in ’02 and ’03), and has been named to the All-League First Team 10 times, as well as the All-Defensive First Team eight times. Unlike Bryant, Duncan has never missed the playoffs during his career, which is a remarkable feat.

In terms of determining who is better, this is a fascinating debate with no real easy answer.

From a pure statistical standpoint, Bryant probably takes the cake considering he is on the verge of passing Jordan for No. 3 on the NBA All-Time Scoring List. But on the other hand, where Bryant’s career has had peaks and valleys, Duncan’s has consistently been excellent.

One could make the case that Duncan has been blessed with consistently great teammates like Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili, as well as arguably the best coach ever in Gregg Popovich. And that is correct. But Bryant had arguably the most dominant player ever in Shaquille O’Neal before the feud between them ended their run as teammates after they lost in the NBA Finals in 2004. O’Neal won Finals MVP for all three of the Lakers’ titles during the early 2000s, while Bryant was almost equally as impressive. Bryant has also played with Karl Malone, Gary Payton, Pau Gasol, Dwight Howard, Steve Nash, Andrew Bynum and Ron Artest, all of whom are extremely good players.

Unfortunately, Bryant has been accused many times in the past of chasing other star players out of town, notably O’Neal. It was also surprising when Howard left the Lakers during the summer of 2013 for the Houston Rockets, and this past offseason Gasol parted ways with the team and went to the Chicago Bulls. Now, in the final stages of his career, Bryant finds himself largely alone, with yet another new head coach in Byron Scott and a largely young group of teammates.

Duncan, on the other hand, has never had any issues with his teammates and embraced playing next to David Robinson at the start of his career before eventually taking over as the heart and soul of the team. Unlike Bryant, he has taken pay cuts over the years in order to allow the Spurs to be able to re-sign important players like Tiago Splitter, Boris Diaw, Danny Green and Patty Mills. As a result, the Spurs are favored to repeat as champions this year, while Bryant will most likely live out his remaining days as an NBA player on a lottery-bound team.

I respect both of these players tremendously. And yes, I will admit that I might be a tad biased being that I have been a fan of the Spurs since 1995. However, in terms of whose career would you rather have, I would have to go with Duncan over Bryant. He has been a consummate professional and remains a force to be reckoned with even at the elder age of 38. A sixth ring would certainly cement his place above Bryant, but even as it stands now with the two being tied in the rings race, I think you have to give the edge to the Big Fundamental.

Dan Schultz is an NBA sports writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on twitter @dschultz89. “Like” him on Facebook and add him on Google.

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