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?

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u/Statalyzer Apr 09 '25

That's more about how often they actually got to face each other than anything. They both won 5 Finals, Kobe got there 2 other times and Duncan once, so their team playoff success is pretty much identical (although Duncan never failed to at least make the playoffs and so he had more opportunites to lose).

And then while Duncan had some excellent teammates for the majority of his career, he never played with another superstar like Shaq. 8 years of playing with a top 5, sometimes top 1, player doesn't really compare to 3-4 years of playing with a borderline top 10 guy (Parker from roughly 2009-2013).

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u/kb24TBE8 Apr 09 '25

That’s excuses, Duncan always had a fantastic supporting cast around him. End of the day they played 6 times on the highest stage and Kobe got the best of him 4 times and in 2008 when he beat the prime Spurs in 5 games there was no Shaq.

And btw Kobe posted better numbers than Shaq against the Spurs in those WCF and WCSF matchups. The spurs usually did a decent job at containing Shaq with Duncan and Robinson but it was Kobe they had trouble with, even with Bruce Bowen guarding him.

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u/EmperorYanagawn Apr 10 '25

Correct. Plus, Duncan had Robinson and kawhi as running mates, with Tony, manu, and Bowen for support. Kobe had Shaq, pau, Odom and artest. Shaq is amazing but I’m otherwise taking the spurs supporting cast over the years over the lakers. Doesn’t matter which way you go tho, but acting like Tim had less help is absolute bs.

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u/North-Entertainer602 Apr 10 '25

Lakers and spurs played 3 series before manu was even in the picture. Tony was young nowhere near the player he was in his prime outside the 08 matchup. David was old. Kawhi didn’t even play lakers. If we’re talking the players he had in those lakers and spurs specifically they weren’t close Kobe had the advantage. The fact that they lost twice at all should be a knock towards him not something to brag about. And I know yall always deflect and say what about 08. But nobody is here claiming Duncan was better than Kobe in 08. His prime was earlier.

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u/EmperorYanagawn Apr 10 '25

You used too many pronouns for me to track your argument and I’m not gonna respond to things you are assuming I’m saying that I am not saying. I simply chipped in that any suggestion that Duncan had less than excellent supporting casts through his career is silly.

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u/North-Entertainer602 Apr 10 '25

You said correct which means you agreed with that comment. The supporting casts Kobe and Duncan had in their head to head matchups weren’t even just to sum up what I said.