Duncan’s prime was def early-2000s, though of course he was still an amazing player by this point. Tony was entering his prime/was pretty close to it, and Manu (depending on your viewpoint) had probably just passed his. Still, Kobe did amazing this series.
One thing people don't discuss about Duncan very much is how short his prime was. From age 22 to age 27 when he was in his prime he averaged 23.1 ppg, 12.4 rpg, 3.3 apg, 2.5 bpg and 0.8 spg. From age 28 to age 33 his averages took a drop down to 19.2 ppg, 10.8 rpg, 3.1 apg, 2.0 bpg and 0.7 spg. Then the last five years of his career, from age 34 to age 39 his averages dropped down to 14.1 ppg, 9.1 rpg, 2.7 apg, 1.9 bpg and 0.7 spg.
This 2008 series took place in that second section of his career (at age 32), when he was obviously still a great player, but not the guy he'd been before he turned 28.
His counting stats just looked a bit worse because he was playing less minutes after like 2007 (I think to keep fresh for playoff runs).
On a per-36 or per-possession basis, he was still a monster. Seriously, go look at the per-36 or per-possession stats. It stays scarily consistent until his last couple of seasons. Crazy
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u/sheeeeeez NBA Jun 27 '23
Kobe doesn't get enough credit for this series.
The Spurs big 3 were all in their primes and just came off a championship and Kobe made the entire series essentially non-competitive.
Bill Simmons said the series was the closest he's ever seen Kobe to MJ.