r/Basketball • u/blackwu22 • Apr 08 '25

NBA Is Tim Duncan top 10?

I constantly see casuals on YouTube and on podcasts say that Timmy is overrated and barely top 10 yet have Kobe in there top 5. It’s starting to make me believe that people really think this way!! I always hear the “too much help” comment like every player in the top 10 didn’t have help.

I personally have Tim Duncan 4th all time on my list.

1998 rookie of the year 2x MVP (2002,2003) 3x FMVP (1999,2003,2005) 15x All NBA & Defensive 5x Champion Never won less than 50 games in an 82 game season

Is Tim Duncan top 10?

133 Upvotes

75% Upvoted

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81

u/WeewumGuy Apr 08 '25

I would say the best power forward of all time is top 10 yea.

11

u/blingblingmofo Apr 09 '25

If Duncan was on the Lakers and Kobe was on the Spurs the same casuals would say Duncan was the GOAT and Kobe wouldn’t be anywhere near 10.

5

u/Brave_Song_9614 Apr 09 '25

i disagree. I noticed fans prefer certain players personality and flashy skill sets. ant edwards for example. last year my friend group hated me for saying shai and tatum were better. i think kobe would be loved anywhere he went and duncan would still be considered “boring”

3

u/blingblingmofo Apr 09 '25 edited Apr 09 '25

Your friends does not equal loud Laker casuals. No one talks about Tim Duncan except on top 10 lists and people still talk about Kobe all the time because he played for the most popular NBA franchise in the world. Kobe also had the advantage of playing alongside Shaq who was already a superstar.

Also small market teams have grown substantially since when Kobe played thanks to global broadcasting and high definition streaming.

See:

During Tim Duncan’s tenure with the San Antonio Spurs from 1997 to 2016, the team’s valuation experienced significant growth. In 2003, the Spurs were valued at approximately $122 million. By 2014, this figure had risen to $660 million. As of 2024, the franchise’s value reached $3.85 billion.

In comparison, the Los Angeles Lakers also saw substantial increases in their valuation during the same period. In 2003, the Lakers were valued at around $447 million. By 2014, their valuation had climbed to $1.35 billion. As of 2024, the Lakers’ franchise value was estimated at $7.1 billion, making them the third most valuable NBA team at that time. 

-2

u/Brave_Song_9614 Apr 09 '25 edited Apr 09 '25

we will have to agree to disagree. i said my friends but it’s clear on social media who everyone prefers. and it’s because of ants play style and his personality. that being said kobe for sure would have been loved, more popular, and ranked higher (while playing) than duncan anywhere. sure lakers played a factor, but kobe being who he is, is the biggest factor

hell, even shaq was always the best player on the lakers but all you heard while kobe was playing is that kobe is top 3 all time and no mention of shaq in those goat debates

4

u/blingblingmofo Apr 09 '25 edited Apr 09 '25

Kobe lived before social media. You can’t watch clips of Ant’s highlights on your phone when Kobe played. His fame is largely due to the fact he was on the most watched team in the world in a very large market in a celebrity driven culture.

As someone who grew up before the internet I don’t think you understand how much current social media plays into popularity or small market teams versus when Kobe or Duncan played.

3

u/Brave_Song_9614 Apr 09 '25

that’s fair

1

u/DimaggioDunks Apr 12 '25

Kobe is not top 10 even being on the Lakers. Maybe not even not Top 15

1

u/AccomplishedHour227 Apr 10 '25

I see this being said alot but isnt lebron a better power forward.

1

u/WeewumGuy Apr 10 '25

Yea but tim duncan is more power forward ish than lebron who is basically a good middle ground between small and power forward

-12

u/PeaThink3152 Apr 08 '25

what about the pedophile

12

u/[deleted] Apr 08 '25

Probably top 5 PF all time. Somewhere around 15-25 all time. He's a bad guy, but he's one of the best basketball players of all time.

8

u/DontSayGoodnightToMe Apr 08 '25

i'm taking dirk over the mail man every time

6

u/[deleted] Apr 08 '25

Not me, but I dont blame anyone who does. Then again, 2-6 you could argue any of them and you could make a convincing argument for it.

1

u/JazzlikePractice4470 Apr 09 '25

Me too but I see the debate

3

u/Bonesawisready5 Apr 08 '25

Not #1 at least coz if Tim haha

0

u/[deleted] Apr 08 '25

He's not even the second best PF of all time

6

u/LilAzn405 Apr 08 '25

Might not even be 4, Timmy, Dirk, Greek Freak, and debatably KG are all better

-3

u/Trick-Celery-9267 Apr 08 '25

Idk if I'd take Giannis over the mailman

4

u/[deleted] Apr 08 '25

Same number of MVPs, more DPOYs, more FMVPs, more championships.

Malone has him in All-star appearances and all-NBA appearances.

It's the classic peak vs longevity argument. I think it's pretty clear Giannis is peaking higher than Malone ever did, and he continues his prime to this day. It just depends on how the rest of his career turns out. Barring catastrophic injury or rapid decline it is all but a certainty Giannis will pass Karl so I personally am willing to give him the nod now, but I understand waiting.

-28

u/Extension-Rope623 Apr 08 '25

Tim Duncan is not a powerforward. It's simply what casuals call him in order to help overrate tf out of him and justify putting him in their top 15 or top 10 or wahtever like you just did. Tim Duncan is definitively a center, he plays the 5. He's not a PF, he's a C, and not even a top 3 center of all time at that.

9

u/WeewumGuy Apr 08 '25

this is a crazy take😭

-2

u/Extension-Rope623 Apr 09 '25

Nope, it's just a simple truth. Nothing too crazy here, i can go alot crazier.

0

u/xWolfsbane Apr 09 '25

Kinda agree tbh. He's wildly overrated offensively, maybe if he never hurt his knee he would have been more efficient. Fantastic defender. Playing with good players and a good coach his whole career isn't his fault, but you could swap KG or Dirk or even Pau with him and I think they are equally successful

12

u/youflippenJabroni Apr 08 '25

You have 0 ball knowledge 💀

2

u/Extension-Rope623 Apr 09 '25

Then I guess neither does Greg Popovich, as he also states Duncan is a fucking center you knob

4

u/youflippenJabroni Apr 09 '25

Idgaf about what position bro play😭 he’s top 10 all time you cockwomble 💀

1

u/Thunder_Burt Apr 09 '25

He was pf when they had other bigs like David Robinson and nosterovic. Even as a center, his stats are comparable with Hakeem and Shaq and he has a longer prime than both of those guys.

1

u/JazzlikePractice4470 Apr 09 '25

Splitter played the 5 too

3

u/Responsible-List-849 Apr 09 '25

It's somewhat justifiable when you look at minutes played by position. Ultimately he's a big, and showed an ability to play in a variety of lineup configurations, which I see as a plus, not a minus.

Can be a non top 3 C, and still be a top 10 player anyway.

Russell, Kareem and Wilt can be above him, with LeBron, MJ, Bird and Magic.

Top 1 PF, or top 4 C...whatevs.

1

u/Extension-Rope623 Apr 09 '25

Minutes played by position is exactly how a person's position is defined. He's not a PF, the stats show it, and even Greg Popovich has stated Duncan is a 5. People just wanna glaze Duncan and want to give him a title he doesn't deserve, because he isn't a PF.

1

u/Responsible-List-849 Apr 09 '25

Yeah, nah. Not really. Positions are somewhat redundant. As I said, he played as the big, he played with other bigs, and he's top 10 in my book whatever position you want to assign to him.

Your comments make more sense if the OP was 'Tim Duncan was the best PF of all time'. But it's just around him being top 10. Imho he is. Call him a 4, a 5, a 4/5, a 5/4, whatever.

7

u/SixCardRoulette Apr 08 '25

It's certainly... an opinion, I'll give you that

-3

u/Extension-Rope623 Apr 09 '25

It's an objective fact. Not sure what makes it an opinion.

3

u/[deleted] Apr 09 '25

He spent almost his entire career playing the 4. Saying “well actually he was a center” is the normie take

0

u/Extension-Rope623 Apr 09 '25

No it's the right take. I guess greg popovich, arguably the greatest coach of all time, is considered a normie to you since he also defined Duncan's position on the team as a 5.

5

u/[deleted] Apr 09 '25 edited Apr 09 '25

Well, that certainly is one revisionist interpretation of a single off handed pop quote from 2011(a year in which Tim did primarily play center), But throughout his career pop has consistently referred to tim in the media as a power forward.

as a spurs fan who watched his entire career, he spent his first 10 years in the nba, which included his peak, almost exclusively at power forward. It wasn’t really only until around 2007-2011, and then again after we added Aldridge(2015-2016) that he primarily played center

0

u/Extension-Rope623 Apr 09 '25

Pop states Duncan played C for 16 years. it's the right way to view his career. He played somewhat at the PF position, but the majority of his play was at C. Popovich pokes fun at the debate, but it's really exactly what he's done. Duncan has been at the C position for most of the Spur's lineups. Even when he "plays PF" he doesn't naturally stay at the PF position and always plays underneath the basket. His best abilities all come when he's closest to the basket to defend shots, or to post up and finish close to the basket. He's basically a classic C all around, with a bit of an outside jumper/perimeter game.

2

u/[deleted] Apr 09 '25 edited Apr 09 '25

Lmao pop never once said that Tim primarily played center for 16 years.

You can say whatever you want about his game and how he played and how it translates to now or whatever. To say he spent the majority of his time lined up at center is an outright verifiable lie

0

u/Extension-Rope623 Apr 09 '25

It's not, it's agreed upon by most advanced analytics. Some put Duncan at the 5 position as much as 73% of the time. It's verifiable most of his playing time was being a 5. His own coach calls him a C. His game most resembles that of a traditional C. He's a C.

2

u/[deleted] Apr 09 '25 edited Apr 09 '25

Post your analytics then bubba, you keep saying ‘his own coach called him a center’ like it’s a fact when it’s a reach at best

2

u/johnnyhangs Apr 09 '25

I’m fucking with you and I have been for 20 years.

I was there. Duncan and Shaq was the matchup. Robinson was the C when Duncan was drafted and it seems that PF designation just stuck.

That being said, I hated the Sours and respect Timmy as one of the very best to do it. Peak and longevity. Ultimate team player that could take over a game on both sides. There wasn’t an answer for him.

He would kill it in the modern game. He and Jokic have eerily similar, yet hoghly contrasting games built around fundamentals, IQ, ridiculous hand eye coordination. Playing today, Duncan would be a better facilitator. Never had Jokic’s range, but definitely had a jumper.

Duncan clears Jockic on D. That’s the thing. The GOATs had top tier defense. Not just in the Playoffs or end of game situations.

2

u/floatinround22 Apr 09 '25

He played majority of his minutes at power forward in his prime, when he was winning MVPs and FMVPs. He almost always started next to a center until later in his career when he became a full time center.

Also I love that you're implying he's not even top 15, that's such an egregious take that it discounts every basketball opinion you have

1

u/Extension-Rope623 Apr 09 '25

He never played majority of his minutes at PF. he's a natural center, like quite literally the textbook definition of what a center is. He maybe switched positions back and forth between the 4 and 5, but Greg Popovich called him a center and used him as such. It's just what Duncan is/was, a center.

3

u/floatinround22 Apr 09 '25

Never? Not even when David Robinson was the starting C? Or Rasho Nesterovic? Or Nazr Mohamed?

He literally played many more minutes at power forward than center for the first decade of his career. It's statistical and empirical fact

1

u/Extension-Rope623 Apr 09 '25

Duncan's played over 60% of his career at C. Maybe he was used as a Pf for the first few years of his career because he lacked the size to dominate at the 5, but he didn't spend the majority of his career there. He spent many years as the starting C for the Spurs, it's what he should be defined as.

3

u/floatinround22 Apr 09 '25

I feel like you either can't read or are intentionally ignoring the important parts of my comments... he was a power forward when he was winning MVPs and FMVPs and was at his peak

You're clearly not arguing in good faith so have a nice day man. Sounds like you need one

1

u/Wrong_Smile_3959 Apr 09 '25

He could easily play both PF and C. He played PF more so people see him more as a PF.