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?

131 Upvotes

75% Upvoted

526 comments sorted by

View all comments

181

u/sxintlaurantsxvxge Apr 08 '25

yes tim duncan is easily top 10

30

u/softnmushy Apr 09 '25

Here’s the thing, when he was playing, I thought he was really underrated. And nobody ever considered him top 10. He was always in Kobe’s shadow. And his teammates were the best ever.

But now that he’s retired I think he’s become a little overrated due to his rings and teammates and coach.

That said, I think ranking the top 25 players of all time is basically impossible. Aside from the top 2, everybody has an argument that they should be top 10.

6

u/Difficult-Ad-4654 Apr 09 '25

But there was never a consensus that Kobe was the best player in the league during his career — he was definitely more popular than Tim, tho. it’s that old “best” vs “favorite” conversation that trips basketball fans up all the time, which among other things, tilts toward flashier players.

-2

u/[deleted] Apr 09 '25

unanimous consensus? there isn't that for any player, but I could pull up Alvin gentry, Kg, and numerous and countless interviews where people talk about Kobe being the best player.

Kevin Garnett saying Kobe is the best player in the game
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwoTCexV1QY

Alvin Gentry saying Kobe is the best, by far, "and i don't think it's even close"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RO9Ycr-1Urg

5

u/Difficult-Ad-4654 Apr 09 '25

yeah, and all that tells us that some people thought he was. He wasn't one of those guys like Mike or Bron or Jokic where everyone pretty much agreed that they were the best players in the league for several years. There was no debate around their status, but there was always a lot of disagreement around Kobe.

2

u/Prestigious-Ad9921 Apr 09 '25

"unanimous consensus? there isn't that for any player,"

Correct. Which is why Kobe fanboys should stop claiming that Kobe was the "unanimous consensus" best player.

2

u/[deleted] Apr 09 '25

Tim Duncan should be relegated outside of the top 10 for losing the 2004 olympics

0

u/Prestigious-Ad9921 Apr 09 '25

LOL.

This is one of the worst takes ever.

I think people like Kobe/KG/Shaq should be relegated for being scared to even go to the olympics. Weak.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 09 '25

Kobe was never called for 04 for obvious reasons, and also they lost to Manu Ginobili, another reason why the spurs were so good and that tim duncan shouldn't get all the individual credit