Mike Wise of the Washington Post writes:
More than 10 years after Michael Jordan announced his second retirement, who is the most accomplished player of the post-Jordan generation: Shaq, Kobe or Duncan?
When I broached that question two weeks ago, before Game 5 of the NBA Finals, to some pretty decent basketball minds — Jack Ramsay, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson — Duncan was almost a unanimous choice.
While all three players have four rings, the thinking went that Duncan was the No. 1 player on all four of San Antonio’s title teams; Shaq rode Dwyane Wade to his fourth in Miami and Kobe rode Shaq for his first three in Los Angeles.
“I think I might go for Kobe,” Dr. Jack said, dissenting. “Because of the way down the stretch in big games he almost always comes up with the necessary play. There’s a killer instinct about him that I don’t see in the other three guys as much.”
But no one considered Shaq, who, like Duncan, has three Finals MVP awards, and unlike anyone since Jordan and the Chicago Bulls, has been to six NBA Finals and won four.
Wise concludes that O’Neal will pass Duncan if he leads the Cavaliers to the title next season. NBA championships are the barometer by which we judge all-time greats, and in many cases, rightfully so. Both Duncan and O’Neal own four rings and three Final MVP awards so it’s safe to say O’Neal will surpass Duncan if he wins his fifth NBA championship next season.
I beg to differ.
Duncan is the first player in NBA history to be named to both an All-NBA team and an All-Defensive team in each of his first twelve seasons (1997-98 to 2008-09). He won two regular season MVPs, and has kept the Spurs near the top of the standings since 1999. Shaq, by comparison, owns 1 regular season MVP award, and was named to an All-Defensive team three times. O’Neal has been dominant, but no player in the post-Jordan era compares to Duncan. Duncan’s offensive and defensive excellence have set a standard beyond reach of his rivals.
June 29th, 2009 at 1:15 am
Duncan, no question. good call. holy (edit) we agree on something! :)
June 29th, 2009 at 12:10 pm
It’s a miracle. ;)
Twelve consecutive All-NBA and All-Defensive team selections. Shaq is great, but he isn’t even close to Duncan defensively. I think Duncan is the greatest two-way player of all-time — and it’s not even close.
July 1st, 2009 at 1:36 pm
Hoff,
Shit, man. I finally put two and two together and realized who this was. Good to see ya’ again.
I was at a Barnes and Nobles the other day, thumbing through the latest issue of Slam. I didn’t pick it up but I should have. In it, they rank the 50 greatest players ever.
They had Shaq and number 4. Number 4? The fourth best player ever?
I plan on going back, getting that magazine and blasting that list.
July 1st, 2009 at 3:11 pm
Hey Chris!
I read that issue of SLAM. I really enjoy their magazine, but that list was pretty bad.
Here’s my top 5:
1. MJ
2. Kareem
3. Magic
4. Bird
5. Duncan
Most people have Wilt or Russell in their top five. Wilt didn’t win enough for me. Russell is the greatest winner of all-time, but he was a one-dimensional player who played with 7 Hall of Famers.
July 28th, 2009 at 1:45 pm
вспомогательная мужская половая железа, железисто-мышечный орган, вырабатывающий щелочной секрет, входящий в количество спермы. Протоки простатических желез открываются в простатическую опилки мочеиспускательного канала. У пожилых мужчин может наблюдаться удвоение предстательной железы (доброкачественная гипертрофия предстательной железы (benign prostatic hypertrophy, BPH)). Это приводит к сдавлению шейки мочевого пузыря, нарушая прохождение сквозь нее мочи. Мочевой пузырь растягивается, бремя в нем увеличивается и начинает передаваться ретроградно через мочеточники в почечную лоханку, чашечки и далее к почечным нефронам, что приводит к их повреждению и нарушению функции почек. В процессе лечения больному назначаются различные лекарственные вещества (см. Финастерид) либо выполняется простатэктомия.
July 28th, 2009 at 2:08 pm
Yeah, what he said.
August 21st, 2009 at 6:05 pm
Люблю тексты в таком духе! Спасибочки :)
November 27th, 2009 at 3:10 pm
Да уж Мне кажется в данном сообщении нет никакой логики :)