Poll: Who Was the Greater Player of His Generation, Kobe Bryant or Tim Duncan?

[The Q]

Frankl, considering Kobe and Duncan were only in a the league for about 6 years longer than James right now and played huge time frames overlapping with James, it may be disingenuous to not include James on that poll as well.

 

[Black Adam]

Difficult as it may be to believe...yes.

Nothin BUT respect to TD, but i feel the same way...

Kobe imo was more "pleasing to the eye" than Tim IF you will...

 

[Bulletz]

Frankl, considering Kobe and Duncan were only in a the league for about 6 years longer than James right now and played huge time frames overlapping with James, it may be disingenuous to not include James on that poll as well.

I think the poll is as it is because Tim and Kobe are now retired.

 

[LogicMan]

Can't remember a year that Duncan s team was not in the playoffs and many times in the finals. Maybe only Russell had that much consistency.

 

[The Derski]

Cowherd made a great point about this on his show this morning.

Duncan was the better player. But Kobe was more important to the league.

His reasoning was that kids grew up wanting to emulate Kobe. No kids (outside of San Antonio) grew up wanting to be Timmy.

Either way, both are all time greats who left an indelible mark on the game.

Another Cowherd listener! Woo

 

[lebron23james]

Another Cowherd listener! Woo

Cowherd is great. Prob my favorite guy to listen to on sports talk. I can't really stand skip and steven A, but they are entertaining. Cowherd actually knows his stuff.

 

[Mecca of the “B” Team]

Cowherd is great. Prob my favorite guy to listen to on sports talk. I can't really stand skip and steven A, but they are entertaining. Cowherd actually knows his stuff.

The Harbaugh interview was awkwardly AWESOME!!

 

[BusSport]

Frankl, considering Kobe and Duncan were only in a the league for about 6 years longer than James right now and played huge time frames overlapping with James, it may be disingenuous to not include James on that poll as well.

It's not disingenuous at all. The poll and the original post didn't ask "who was the greatEST player of his generation, Kobe Bryant or Tim Duncan." It asked "who was the greatER player of his generation, Kobe Bryant or Tim Duncan." I deliberately worded it that way so we could specifically compare just the two of Kobe and Duncan, without considering other players like Shaq or LeBron.

 

[wildturkey]

Ricky Davis

 

[MHSL82]

I think Kobe was the 2nd greatest player of my lifetime and Tim Duncan wasn't first. Duncan may have been the most consistant player I've ever seen. He's going to get you your 25, your 8 rebounds, he's going to play great D, you know when he hits the floor what you'll get. That's what amazed me about Duncan. If I hit the floor with Tim Duncan, I know what I'm getting that night...

That's my take. I'm sure I'll be ripped because people love Duncan and hate Kobe for whatever reasons but I just can't agree that Duncan was a better player.

Duncan averaged 25 points or greater just once in his career and only averaged fewer than 8 rebounds once. His career averages were 19 and 10.8 respectively. His latter years ruined his minutes, so per 36, he was 20.1 and 11.5. I'm not comparing him to Malone, as Duncan has accomplished more in success, but Malone was the 25 and 10 guy (25 and 10.1). I would echo about Duncan's defense and leadership and class.

Tim Duncan

 

[MHSL82]

Are u telling me u didn't grow up wanting to be Timmy, and expect me to believe that? Wow

Well, some of us, though older in age, have not grown up yet.

 

[Shanemansj13]

Cowherd is great. Prob my favorite guy to listen to on sports talk. I can't really stand skip and steven A, but they are entertaining. Cowherd actually knows his stuff.

He puts everything into perspective.

 

[Shanemansj13]

This is a tough question. Greater player of his generation. Both great players. Kobe the 2nd best SG of all-time behind MJ. Duncan arguably the greatest PF of all-time, scoring wise no but all-around, yes IMO.
This is too close to call honestly, I would have to give the edge to Duncan. I would put both high on my all-time list.

 

[shopson67]

Kobe. Duncan had the benefit of a more consistent team around him (no coaching changes, no major free agency losses, consistent culture). Kobe dealt with two separate rebuilds and more serious injuries.

 

[Mecca of the “B” Team]

Ricky Davis

Jr Rider.

 

[Shaqdaddy11]

95% of this board who aren't Lakers fans hate Kobe so the decision is easy for most. Heck, if I wasn't rooting for the purple and gold I'd probably hate him too.

Kobe's downfall was because he was constantly compared to Jordan, without being Jordan. He was always in somebody's shadow for almost the first 10 years of his career unlike Timmy was.

 

[Hornsstampede2.0]

Kobe. Duncan had the benefit of a more consistent team around him (no coaching changes, no major free agency losses, consistent culture). Kobe dealt with two separate rebuilds and more serious injuries.

Kobe was a self-admitted alpha dog dick who could not get along with his teammates a lot of the time.
It is not a case where the Lakers just dismantled the team and started over for no reason whatsoever.

Kobe was not the ideal teammate. It was especially troublesome in the early 2000s.
Kobe was off doing whatever he was doing in Colorado...and not inviting any of his teammates to his wedding.
It was Shaq and his 12 friends....then Kobe Bryant by himself.

Phil Jackson had enough. He actually fined Kobe for all his disparaging comments about teammates..
For a few years, Kobe was viewed as the bad guy....enough for him to want to be a Chicago Bull.

Kobe deserves some of the blame for any inconsistency in rosters.
And Kobe will be the very first person to agree with that fact.

 

[Clayton]

Duncan if only because he was an easier player to build around for a variety of reasons. I think Kobe deserves to be in the discussion, though, but I'd take Duncan over Kobe to build a franchise around every time.

 

[shopson67]

Kobe was a self-admitted alpha dog dick who could not get along with his teammates a lot of the time.
It is not a case where the Lakers just dismantled the team and started over for no reason whatsoever.

Kobe was not the ideal teammate. It was especially troublesome in the early 2000s.
Kobe was off doing whatever he was doing in Colorado...and not inviting any of his teammates to his wedding.
It was Shaq and his 12 friends....then Kobe Bryant by himself.

Phil Jackson had enough. He actually fined Kobe for all his disparaging comments about teammates..
For a few years, Kobe was viewed as the bad guy....enough for him to want to be a Chicago Bull.

Kobe deserves some of the blame for any inconsistency in rosters.
And Kobe will be the very first person to agree with that fact.

Kobe was all about basketball and full effort all the time. That alienates a lot of people, like the clown Dwight Howard (as the biggest example). The reason for the first rebuild was Shaq, not Kobe. Shaq got fat, wanted to rehab on company time only, and called out ownership on national TV to "pay me".

The only other player to leave the Lakers during Kobe's career was clown Dwight. Gasol left at the end but not because of Kobe, as they were very close.

Phil left because of issues with Jim Buss, not Kobe. He was ready to return, and Buss instead went with the Pringles guy.

Kobe threated to demand a trade to force management's hand to improve the roster around him (which was hardly necessary, truthfully). It's not that he wanted to be a Bull, but that he would approve a trade to the Bulls (he had a no-trade clause). A few months later...poof...Pau Gasol.

 

[broncosmitty]

I was surprised to see the polling after I voted.

Figured there'd be more Laker homers than 7 at this point.