The Don of San Antonio: Tim Duncan as One of the Ten Greatest NBA Players of All Time

Matt Hoover

For those who don’t know, the Alamo isn’t really a super historically interesting location. Sure, there are some interesting tales associated with the old missionary that rose to prominence due to the battle it found itself engulfed in during the Texas Revolution, but the battle’s historical importance is exaggerated by crazy Texas “MURCA!!” people. My advice to the countless millions who think that the Alamo is the most historically important thing in San Antonio is this: Forget the Alamo; Remember Tim Duncan!

Tim Duncan has replaced this old building as the best
thing about San Antonio. The fact that a building was at
one point the best thing about San Antonio speaks volumes
to how miserable the city must be.

Duncan has, beyond any reasonable doubt, sealed his legacy as one of the greatest players in NBA history at this point in time. With almost 23000 career points, 13000 career rebounds, and 4 NBA Titles, Duncan and Shaquille O’Neal were clearly the two best bug men in the game from the late 1990s to the late 2000s (more on Shaq later). The scary thing about Duncan, though, is that he is currently in a position to add to his already rock solid resume. The Spurs remain one of the premier teams in the NBA, and Duncan, now 36 years old, has only declined mildly in terms of production at this point in his career. Through 15 games in the 2012-2013 season (Duncan’s 16^th), Duncan is averaging more than 18 points and 10 rebounds per game. The Spurs were in serious contention for another championship last year and will more than likely make another deep playoff run again this year. If Duncan can win another title before he retires (I imagine that he still has at least two full seasons in him beyond this year), than his Spurs’ dynasty has to be viewed with the same reverence that NBA fans view any of the other great dynasties of the NBA’s past (save Bill Russell’s Celtics dynasty of the 50s and 60s which is in a class of its own). It is also conceivable (though unlikely) that Duncan finishes his career in both the top 10 in points and rebounds in NBA history. No matter what his final years being, however, Tim Duncan’s legacy is one of greatness.

Before we go any further, let’s talk about greatness. It’s a word that’s thrown around a lot in discussions about sports (among other things) rather loosely. In my opinion, the criteria for greatness changes from sport to sport. In the NBA moreso than in any other major professional sports league in the United States, greatness is tied to championships. In baseball, one need not win championships to be considered great. If I said that Ted Williams, who never won a championship, was one of the three greatest position players of all time, you would not think that I’m crazy even if you disagree with me. In football, Dan Marino has proven that one needs not win a Super Bowl to be remembered as one of the all time greats. The NBA is different, though. If I said that Karl Malone, probably the best player (statistically) never to win a championship, was a greater player than Larry Bird because he scored way more points and collected way more rebounds, you would think I’m a crazy person. Maybe Malone was more talented than Bird, but I could never accept the assertion that Malone was greater than Bird. So, for our purposes, greatness in the NBA is defined by both championships and statistical performance. By these criteria, I will argue that Tim Duncan is one of the ten greatest NBA players of all time.

So where to begin? Let’s begin by acknowledging that by no stretch of the imagination is Duncan at the top of our list of great NBA players. In fact, there are eight players that Duncan is inferior to. The “Great Eight,” as I will refer to them, are (in alphabetical order) Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Larry Bird, Kobe Bryant, Wilt Chamberlain, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Oscar Robertson, and Bill Russell. Ranking these eight is a daunting task that I will save for another time, but at least for the time being, Duncan does not belong in the company of the Great Eight. That means that there are two slots left in which Duncan could be placed on the list of the ten greatest NBA players of all time.

The way I saw things after a few hours of digging around on the internet, there is a group of seven players including Duncan who are vying for the final two spots. The seven players who make up “Tier 2” are all great, great players. I don’t mean to diminish the legacy of any one of them in this post, but for the sake of our list, we need to decide who the two we want to choose to close our top ten are. The seven players are (in alphabetical order) Bob Cousy, Tim Duncan, LeBron James, Moses Malone, Shaquille O’Neal, Hakeem Olajuwon, and Jerry West. (Apologies to Scottie Pippen, Julius Erving, and the aforementioned Karl Malone and other greats to never win championships, but I have my reasons for y’all not being Tier 2 players.) I will now go through Tier 2 player by player and explain why I believe Duncan is better than all but one of his Tier 2 peers.

Before I do that, though, this seems as good a time as any to apologize for how long this post is. Sorry. It’s also pretty counterproductive for me to be adding this little paragraph apologizing for how much you have to read, so I’ll just go ahead and stop now.

First up, LeBron. It’s very conceivable that by the end of his career, LeBron will have cemented a legacy greater than Duncan’s, perhaps even greater than some of the Great Eight’s, but for now, LeBron’s one championship in nine seasons pales in comparison to Duncan’s four in fifteen seasons. Perhaps one day, LeBron, but not today. Duncan wins this matchup.

Next, Jerry West. A similar story to LeBron’s. West was a more prolific scorer than Duncan, but only won one championship in his fourteen seasons. He also was never recognized as league MVP, an honors bestowed on Duncan twice. While it’s difficult to compare a point guard to a big man (How do West’s 5.8 rebounds and 6.7 assists per game compare to Duncan’s 11.3 and 3.1?), I give Duncan the advantage because of his greater number of championships and MVPs.

The road gets tougher for Duncan at this point, but it is slightly easier to compare him to most of the remaining players in Tier 2. Let’s move on to Moses Malone. Like Duncan’s first two peers, Malone suffers from having won only one championship in his career. He does, however, hold a slight advantage over Duncan in points (20.6 to 20.3) and rebounds (12.2 to 11.3) per game, and he leads Duncan in career numbers in both categories. Duncan’s status as the face of a dynasty helps make up these slight per game advantages, but where Duncan clearly separates himself from Malone is defensively. Duncan has thus far compiled eight NBA All-Defensive First Team awards. When compared with Malone’s grand total of one NBA All-Defensive First Team award, it becomes clear that Duncan, in addition to winning more titles, is a more complete player than Malone was. Advantage Duncan.

We are left with Cousy, Duncan, O’Neal, and Olajuwon on Tier 2. We’re going to talk about Olajuwon next because I am tired of typing his name. In fact, I am going to refer to his as Hakeem for the rest of this paragraph. Live with it. Hakeem was a slightly better scorer than Duncan, and Duncan holds a tiny per game rebounding edge (11.3 to 11.1) over Hakeem. Both are/were premier defensive players, best indicated by Duncan’s eight All-Defensive First Teams awards and Hakeem’s status as the NBA’s career blocks king. With similar credentials skill wise, we must again turn to Duncan’s four titles. Hakeem has two of his own, but his Rockets were never a power the way Duncan’s Spurs were and are. Duncan squeaks by.

Three players, two slots in the top ten. Bob Cousy, Duncan, and Shaq. Let’s look at Cousy first. While not as prolific of a scorer as Duncan, Cousy (18.4p, 5.2r, 7.5a) still claims what I view as better per game numbers than Duncan (20.3, 11.3, 3.1). His career assists total is more impressive than Duncan’s career rebounding total. Cousy was not the face of his dynasty (that honor goes to Bill Russell), but his six titles sill outshine Duncan’s four. While it is difficult to compare point guards to big men, especially ones from such vastly different eras, it is hard to find a way to suggest that Duncan is a greater player than Cousy. I think that Cousy deserves spot #9 on out list of the ten greatest NBA players.

The Big Aristotle and the Big Fundamental, familiar
foes, duke it out for the #10 spot on out
list. Here, they share a magical moment. 

So. We are left with Duncan and Shaq, familiar opponents, duking it out for spot #10. The two best big men from their era, Duncan and Shaq can both lay claim to four NBA titles, 3 Finals MVPs, and 15 playoff victories against the other. Yes, amazingly, the Lakers and Spurs were 15-15 when O’Neil and Duncan met in the postseason. In many ways, Shaq was the face of the Lakers’ dynasty of the early 2000s, a stretch in which he won three straight Finals MVP awards. Shaq was flashier than, more physically imposing than, and a more prolific scorer than Duncan (23.7 to 20.3). Duncan was a much better defensive player than Shaq (8 defensive first teams to 0) and a slightly better rebounder. I would already give Duncan a slight advantage based on his superior defense, but what seals Duncan’s case is his superior numbers when facing Shaq. Duncan has slightly high scoring and rebounding career averages than Shaq when the two were on the floor at the same time both in the regular season and in the postseason. He has not been on as many highlight reels, but Duncan is/was, ever so slightly, a greater NBA player than Shaq.

So if my math is correct, Duncan squeaks into the top ten as #10. It was a long, hard battle for Tim, but at least for now, his legacy is safely in the top ten in NBA history. The intriguing thing about Duncan is that he could seemingly play until he’s about 45; I’ve still yet to see anyone figure out how to stop his signature hook shot with any kind of consistency, and his smooth jumper hasn’t lost its touch. Having one of the league’s best point guards in Tony Parker helps take pressure off Duncan, and the plethora of role players surrounding these two stars makes Greg Popovich’s team dangerous year in and year out. Duncan could very conceivably keep putting up solid numbers and win another title or two. For now, though, he’s sitting pretty at number ten.