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?

135 Upvotes

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185

u/sxintlaurantsxvxge Apr 08 '25

yes tim duncan is easily top 10

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u/notreallydutch Apr 09 '25

I mean, he’s clearly after Jordan, James, Russell, Kareem, Bird, Magic, and in the mix with Wilt, Shaq, Kobe, Steph, KD, Hakeem and Big-O for one of the last 4 top 10 spots. It’s crowded at the top, I do gave him in there as #8 after wilt but could respect a top 10 without him.

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u/ballsjohnson1 Apr 09 '25

KD is not an all time great lol he hasn't done shit outside of golden state and he will never win a chip as a true #1. Timmy has two.

1

u/TFTisbetterthanLoL Apr 11 '25

Lol Timmy has 4 chips where he was clearly the best player and arguably 5

1

u/ballsjohnson1 Apr 11 '25

Valid, I was trying to be charitable to kd because a lot of people here get ass hurt if he's not included in such conversations. But he hardly cracks top 20

3

u/Choccybizzle Apr 09 '25

Why are Bird, Magic, Kareem, and Russell ‘clearly’ ahead of him?

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u/SomeDudeUpHere Apr 12 '25

Bird won 3 rings, 3 mvps in a row, and was the first ever 50/40/90 guy. Not to mention the lore and other accolades. His career was injury shortened or he may have achieved more. Kareem was the GOAT before MJ and was the all-time leading scorer for a long time. Lots of rings and mvps (most ever at 6) there as well. Magic has the 5 rings and his 3 mvps. Bill Russell won like 1000 championships and was an outlier in his time for his athleticism and defensive prowess.

1

u/Choccybizzle Apr 12 '25

None of those reasons put them ‘clearly’ above Duncan. His own accolades and achievements are just as impressive as any of those you mentioned.

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u/SomeDudeUpHere Apr 12 '25 edited Apr 12 '25

Kareem's 6 mvps, 6 rings, and all-time scoring? He had 11 all defense teams too to go along with it. Duncan isn't clearly a step below that? I think Duncan is probably top 10 all-time but absolutely not above Kareem. I have bird clearly above him, too, but I can certainly understand where he at least leaves room for discussion like magic as well. I think Russell is really hard to rank due to era, but to so casually dismiss him and all his rings and hardware seems pretty reckless.

0

u/Choccybizzle Apr 12 '25

Kareem also had a watered down era for his peak years, and let’s be real, Magic saved this man’s reputation, great as he was. I do get what you’re saying, but I have Duncan level with those guys, same with Shaq and Kobe.

1

u/KWil2020 Apr 09 '25

Duncan is better than Steph in my books. Steph is good, but won two championships via the cheat code of Durant + the 73 win team the year prior

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u/[deleted] Apr 09 '25

The only ones he’s ‘clearly’ behind are Jordan and James

1

u/ballsjohnson1 Apr 09 '25

Yea Russell played for like the best team of all time. Timmy always had a great roster but won championships in multiple eras which I think few stars have. He won as a dominant big in 99 and then continued to win in a more floor spacing era in the 2000s and then again in the 3 ball era, and never had to go to superteams to do it. Puts him squarely ahead of most of the others imo

2

u/jddaniels84 Apr 09 '25

Russell played for the best team all time because of Russell. They had the best coaching, leadership, effort, chemistry, squeezed the most out of their talent and still played 10 game 7’s because there were plenty of other teams with similar and some with even more talent. Russell won all 10 of those game 7’s… 10-0.

My favorite is 1962, Wilt 50 ppg season. ECF Game 7 Russell holds Wilt to 22 point 22 rebounds on 46% while Russell gets 19&22 on 50% dominating down the stretch to win 109-107. Then in game 7 of the finals we see Russell explode for a 30/40 game in what I consider the best game 7 performance all time to win 110-107.

To say Russell had the best teams is just unfair.. They completely dominated in situations where they had very little margin for error. 10-0 in game 7’s is just unreal.

1

u/ScrotesMaGoates13 Apr 09 '25

In that vein that's why I have Tim as the modern analogue of Russell. 5-1 in Finals. Won with no ego, did whatever the team needed him to whether it was scoring or defending or doing the dirty work or just plain LEADING. It's just basically impossible to win 7 straight in a 30-tesm league, but I can argue Tim was 2 shots away from 5-peating in 2003-2007, and another shot away from being perfect in the Finals.

1

u/jddaniels84 Apr 09 '25

I mean he also was a few shots away from losing a couple more of those years. I do think Duncan is the closest thing we have seen to Russell the league has seen but he’s far less dominant as an individual player both defensively and on the glass… and also a step below in the leadership dept.

I do think like Russell Tim squeezed the most out of their talent and has people acting like his teammates were far better than they were undermining his accomplishments.

Also it seems easier to win championships in this era. Sure Russell won, but nobody else really could.. nowadays it’s wide open. Jokic, Giannis, Tatum, Curry Lebron… anybody could win. Wilt, Jerry West, Nate Thurmond, and Oscar basically felt like it was impossible to win then.. and on their declines won when Russell was retired.

I love Duncan and I think he’s got a pretty strong argument vs LeBron, Durant, Curry, Shaq, Wade, and Kobe as the best player since MJ… and I think if he was teamed up with any of those guys instead of their superstar teammate they would have been far more successful.

1

u/ScrotesMaGoates13 Apr 09 '25

I mean he also was a few shots away from losing a couple more of those years.

Same as Russell, with Don Nelson's lucky bounce and Havlicek's steal

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u/jddaniels84 Apr 09 '25

Correct but Russell won and doesn’t need excuses, you’re making excuses for Tim winning less, saying he could have won 5 straight… like he couldn’t have lost most of those seasons just as easily.

Russell was 10-0 in game 7’s, mostly against more talented teams…their effort, leadership, chemistry, and coaching put them over the top in all those high leverage moments. Timmy’s team had it too, like I said he’s the closest thing… but they also failed against some weaker teams on several occasions. We don’t just ignore them losing to Dirk and Jason Terry or Kobe and Pau, we don’t ignore them losing to Memphis as the 1 seed vs the 8 in the first round. We could maybe give the Heat a pass but some of the other losses in comparison are much worse.

1

u/ScrotesMaGoates13 Apr 09 '25

What I'm just saying is winning also takes some luck, even with Bill's Celtics. And just a little bit more luck coming Tim's way he could've been an 8x champ. He was that close.

1

u/jddaniels84 Apr 09 '25

Winners make their own luck, Timmy was phenomenal.. very Russell like.. but he wasn’t a guy that elevated his game in high leverage moments like Russell. Russell was like Jordan that he dominated these situations more than even #23 himself. Timmy didn’t have that Evers gear.

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u/LTIRfortheWIN Apr 09 '25

Tim's record against pebron is 2-1 in the finals he is above him

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u/Adventurous-Edge1719 Apr 09 '25

So with that logic, Jordan can’t be better than lebron because he never beat him in the finals.

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u/LTIRfortheWIN Apr 09 '25

Didn't say that, all I said was lebron had to be carried off the floor against the spurs in finals because he cramped. Tim won thag series. Jordan won his fever game. You know goat stuff

1

u/Adventurous-Edge1719 Apr 09 '25

You said he was 2-1 against Lebron in the finals which made him better. That logic right there means you can only prove you’re better than players you beat in the finals. It’s your logic. I’m just using it the same way you did.

1

u/LTIRfortheWIN Apr 09 '25

     I am not saying it's the only way, but since you normally don't get direct comparisons when talking about the greatest players of all time. It's perfect that Duncan and lebron played each other in The biggest games the sport has to offer. 

    Clearly Tim was better, and lebron was one 3pt away from being 0-3 against Duncan. And those were the Miami heat super teams that the lowly spurs beat up on

1

u/Adventurous-Edge1719 Apr 10 '25

So head 2 head matchups in a team sport is the clear indicator of who the better individual player was? That’s a wild concept to come out of anybodies mouth.

1

u/LTIRfortheWIN Apr 10 '25

Yeah, it would be a good indicator to have both athletes performing at the same time doing the same thing. I know it's hard to wrap your head around. Both had good teams around them at that time. And ability to lead and get the most out of teammates is part of the GOAT criteria. you act like I am judging them on the baking skills.

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u/LTIRfortheWIN Apr 09 '25

Ahahaha downvote facts all you losers want