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At which point did duncan surpass robinson as the greatest spur. 05? 07? When did you know?

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When he won his first championship without Robinson.

Agreed. 2003 was the year.. When he won the MVP and won his second title. That puts him over David Robinson even if he only collects allstars appearances after 2003.

Agree with everyone else. It was when he won with the Admiral.

First, let me say that I rank Robinson as a top 20 all time player. I think that he is underrated, and just really didn't have much help (or at least not enough) until Duncan came.

When they won the title in 2003, I thought that he was already better than Robinson had been at his peak. It was only a question about his longevity, and how well he could continue his production.

Personally, I would rank Duncan as around 6th or 7th all time, with Robinson being somewhere in the 16th to 20th range.

marcusaurelius wrote:First, let me say that I rank Robinson as a top 20 all time player. I think that he is underrated, and just really didn't have much help (or at least not enough) until Duncan came.

When they won the title in 2003, I thought that he was already better than Robinson had been at his peak. It was only a question about his longevity, and how well he could continue his production.

Personally, I would rank Duncan as around 6th or 7th all time, with Robinson being somewhere in the 16th to 20th range.

Back then, it was mostly duos though. Stockton Malone. Jordan Pippen. Hakeem Drexler. I thought David had enough help in Sean Elliott. Elliott was an allstar caliber player. We even had Rodman in Robinson's MVP year didn't we? Even though Rodman and Robinson didn't click off the court, they had no problems on the court and I thought meshed great defensively.

Hakeem didn't even have anyone in his championship years. Cassell and Horry was youngsters then and hasn't made a name for themselves.

Hey, I really liked Elliott, and thought he was a legitimate all star level player. But that was about all that Robinson had. The guards were almost a joke. At best they were mediocre. Delnegro? Are you kidding? Johnson? That guy was mediocre at his best. Really over rated. He owes 90% of his reputation to Duncan coming in and winning the championship, and pulling him along for the ride.

It's not that the Spurs were bad before Duncan. They had good teams and made it to the playoffs seemingly just about every year. That in itself is a very good accomplishment. And to me that is all because of how good Robinson was. They just weren't good enough to really compete for a championship.

The overall level of talent (the next 4 to 6 players) behind Robinson and Elliott was just subpar. At least to win a championship. They really had some good years, and I loved watching Robinson running the court like a gazelle. He was just incredibly athletic for a big man. The guy was absolutely one of the most athletic guys in the league, at any position.