RealGM

Which duo would you rather build a team around?

I would take Stockton and Kareem

Purely because of their amazing longevity and inability to get hurt which means you will contend for titles longer than the other pair.

However, as much as I think Kareem underachieved in the 1970s by only making it to two finals and winning one ring in the second weakest era in Nba history and also missing the playoffs twice in his prime.



I would still take him over, Duncan

Although Paul i my favourite player u have to go with first option.
That is goat longetivity, basicly 20 years of good to great basketball.

Even if I think Paul is a step above Stockton in quality, 12+ years of uninterrupted contention plus another few years as the highest-level role players ever just sounds too good to pass. Don't have to worry about injuries.

Longevity doesn't seem like a sound basis to prefer Stockton/Kareem. Stockton played 19 seasons but at least the first 3 and the last were not on the level of any of CP3's 16 seasons and counting. Kareem played 20 seasons but the last 2 were not Kareem-like, Duncan played 19 seasons and only the last was a throw-away.

I evaluate Duncan and Kareem as basically a push, but in his prime Chris Paul was better than John Stockton, as great as the latter was. Only Magic, Curry and Harden at PG are in or above the tier of prime CP3. He's basically the ideal point guard being a great playmaker, great on-demand scorer, great defender, and with great judgement. If only the athleticism of his peak had lasted for longer, but he was never quite the same after being injured in 2009.

I think we are talking more health than longevity, because Chris Paul is not a young guy and is still quite good. His longevity is really strong, certainly has a realistic chance of being a good player for as long as some of these guys.

His hammy would be a more of a set back than an elimination on a real contending team though. Pulling a hammy with the Clippers is pretty much death - he has an injury prone co-star and no depth in a stacked conference. Even when he pulled a hamstring against the Warriors in 2018, if you think about it against any other team in history (more or less) the Rockets still win (possibly before he even hurts himself).

We've seen Curry miss a lot of games in the post season and his team can still win. Chris Paul never had a team that good to do that, and Tim Duncan is a solid enough pillar to make up for any errant injuries CP3 might have (CP3 is plagued by more minor injuries that he can come back during the post season, not ones that would sideline someone for months).

Him sitting out a few games when he has Duncan to help carry them in the earlier rounds seems like it could potentially be a good risk/reward. They might get upset here and there, but at the same time they'll have a fighting chance of beating other super teams that perhaps Stockton wouldn't be strong enough to help Kareem get past even if they are healthy.

coastalmarker99 wrote:However, as much as I think Kareem underachieved in the 1970s by only making it to two finals and winning one ring in the second weakest era in Nba history and also missing the playoffs twice in his prime.

I would still take him over, Duncan

70sFan wrote:

I’m sure has some choice words out this

Stockton/Kareem clearly for me. Kareem>Duncan plus Cp3's health can't be trusted. Peaks would be easily Cp3/Duncan though.

rand wrote:Longevity doesn't seem like a sound basis to prefer Stockton/Kareem. Stockton played 19 seasons but at least the first 3 and the last were not on the level of any of CP3's 16 seasons and counting. Kareem played 20 seasons but the last 2 were not Kareem-like, Duncan played 19 seasons and only the last was a throw-away.

I evaluate Duncan and Kareem as basically a push, but in his prime Chris Paul was better than John Stockton, as great as the latter was. Only Magic, Curry and Harden at PG are in or above the tier of prime CP3. He's basically the ideal point guard being a great playmaker, great on-demand scorer, great defender, and with great judgement. If only the athleticism of his peak had lasted for longer, but he was never quite the same after being injured in 2009.

16 years Stockton played in every single game...out of 19 seasons Stockton missed 22 games.

CP3 only played in every single game one year...out of his 16 year career, eight times CP3 played 70 games...and six times he has played in less than 70 games (not counting the strike year and this current year)

Stockton has played in 182 playoff games and averaged a double/double...13 and 10 with a 19.8 PER and .568TS%

CP3 has played in 109 playoff games and has averaged 21/8 with a 24.2 PER and .581 TS%

Imo, it is very close between CP3 and Stockton and I say that as a compliment to both players...I have a hard time picking one over the other with CP3 having higher production and Stockton holding a reliability edge of being on the court more often....

It comes down to Stock vs. Cp3 and it's no contest. Prime CP3 is like a 98 in 2K, and Prime Stockton is like 82 at best.