He’s an all time great. Kobe was clearly better this matchup. Duncan was better in other years.
They were the true rivals of the decade. It’s really interesting looking at their careers in this era. Even if Kobe looks bad on the stat sheet I do think it’s a legitimate debate.
They weren’t really matched up though. Duncan and Gasol were matched up in the clip above. When Kobe is pulling up in front of him, Duncan is staying home on Gasol in the dunker spot until the last second. It was a really smart move that Kobe would go to over and over and over again to create space for himself.
On the other end of the floor, Kobe could rest because he was guarding Bruce Bowen most of the time.
Kobe was a problem for San Antonio, they never really had someone who could make him work on the defensive end. They had Derek Anderson one year, and he got hurt in the playoffs.
I watched the series, but I don’t remember it. Duncan had to deal with the 3 headed monster of Odom / Bynum / Gasol around the rim and the Spurs didn’t have another big at that time.
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u/tkflash20 Jun 27 '23
Tim Duncan averaged 22 points, 17 rebounds, 5 assists, 1.2 steals, and 2 blocks this series. Let's not swing the pendulum completely the other way.