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First and foremost, let's agree to disregard Jordan's time in Washington. He's clearly done.

Jordan retired in 1999. LeBron was drafted in 2003.

So...who's the best player during that gap?

Bonus question: Who were the top 10 players?

Duncan
Garnett
Shaq
T-Mac
Kobe

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I'd say only Duncan and Shaq are available options here. It is close, Shaq was less consistent and missed more games so Timmy gets the edge for me.

It is either Duncan or Shaq. Duncan is the only player in this 5 year period to make All-NBA 1st team every time, won 2 MVPs and 2 FMVPs. Shaq was second team behind Mourning in 99 and first team in the other 4 years, won MVP once and FMVP three times. I slightly prefer Duncan here but I think you could argue for either of them, they're way ahead of whoever is third.

Rounding out the top 10 in no particular order I'd probably go with Kidd, AI, KG, Malone, Kobe, Webber, Ray Allen and Payton. The last couple spots are tough. Mourning fell off pretty quick into this stretch, Dirk and T-Mac weren't all that relevant the first 2-3 years. Reggie Miller looks like the biggest snub among players who were good for all 5 years but choices have to be made.

Dutchball97 wrote:It is either Duncan or Shaq. Duncan is the only player in this 5 year period to make All-NBA 1st team every time, won 2 MVPs and 2 FMVPs. Shaq was second team behind Mourning in 99 and first team in the other 4 years, won MVP once and FMVP three times. I slightly prefer Duncan here but I think you could argue for either of them, they're way ahead of whoever is third.

Rounding out the top 10 in no particular order I'd probably go with Kidd, AI, KG, Malone, Kobe, Webber, Ray Allen and Payton. The last couple spots are tough. Mourning fell off pretty quick into this stretch, Dirk and T-Mac weren't all that relevant the first 2-3 years. Reggie Miller looks like the biggest snub among players who were good for all 5 years but choices have to be made.

I'm biased but Pierce should get a mention somewhere low on that list too

GSP wrote:

Dutchball97 wrote:It is either Duncan or Shaq. Duncan is the only player in this 5 year period to make All-NBA 1st team every time, won 2 MVPs and 2 FMVPs. Shaq was second team behind Mourning in 99 and first team in the other 4 years, won MVP once and FMVP three times. I slightly prefer Duncan here but I think you could argue for either of them, they're way ahead of whoever is third.

Rounding out the top 10 in no particular order I'd probably go with Kidd, AI, KG, Malone, Kobe, Webber, Ray Allen and Payton. The last couple spots are tough. Mourning fell off pretty quick into this stretch, Dirk and T-Mac weren't all that relevant the first 2-3 years. Reggie Miller looks like the biggest snub among players who were good for all 5 years but choices have to be made.

I'm biased but Pierce should get a mention somewhere low on that list too

You're right. It is difficult to cover all the deserving names but Pierce is definitely in the convo.

Shaq 99 to 02
Duncan 03 to 07

Well its between Duncan, Shaq, and Kobe. Duncan edges Kobe out for resume. Shaq edges both of them out when it comes to peak dominance. However it was Kobe who held the greatest claim to "best player in the world" for the longest amount of time. So its a pick em.

Stalwart wrote:Well its between Duncan, Shaq, and Kobe. Duncan edges Kobe out for resume. Shaq edges both of them out when it comes to peak dominance. However it was Kobe who held the greatest claim to "best player in the world" for the longest amount of time. So its a pick em.

Kobe held the greatest claim to "best player in the world" a grand total of 0 seconds between 1999 and 2003.

Shaq, Duncan or Kobe.

Another one of those Laker gold eras with the 3peat. I thought Kobe and Shaq were pretty much the best at the time, and everyone else was struggling to match the sheer star power of that duo. I actually thought they would win every year so long as they're together. 2003 was a surprise year for me.

Duncan's probably next. His numbers were at the top of the league and in 03 he obviously had one of the GOAT individual runs to a title.

Jaivl wrote:

Stalwart wrote:Well its between Duncan, Shaq, and Kobe. Duncan edges Kobe out for resume. Shaq edges both of them out when it comes to peak dominance. However it was Kobe who held the greatest claim to "best player in the world" for the longest amount of time. So its a pick em.

Kobe held the greatest claim to "best player in the world" a grand total of 0 seconds between 1999 and 2003.

His most solid claim ran from 2006 to 2010, about 5 years. However he was in the conversation as far back as 2001. About 10 years.

Edit: Nevermind. Didn't notice that were only talking about 99-03.

Duncan and Shaq were both clearly better than Kobe during the 99-03 period. Not really debatable. 99 and 2000 are too weak of seasons relatively speaking.

1. Shaq
2. Duncan

No one else deserves mention

Stalwart wrote:Well its between Duncan, Shaq, and Kobe. Duncan edges Kobe out for resume. Shaq edges both of them out when it comes to peak dominance. However it was Kobe who held the greatest claim to "best player in the world" for the longest amount of time. So its a pick em.

Duncan from 99-03 finished 3-5-2-1-1 in mvp voting with 5 all nba 1st teams and 2 fmvps in that period while Kobe finished no votes-12-9-5-3 with 2 1st teams and 2nd teams. That's not edging out. Its not even close in terms of accolades. Rewriting history doesn't do anyone any favors.

Starbury was good circa 99-03. I don't know about top 10 though.

Chris Webber might have a case.

Antoine Walker was consistently good during that period as well. Just as an honorable mention.

Jaivl wrote:

Stalwart wrote:Well its between Duncan, Shaq, and Kobe. Duncan edges Kobe out for resume. Shaq edges both of them out when it comes to peak dominance. However it was Kobe who held the greatest claim to "best player in the world" for the longest amount of time. So its a pick em.

Kobe held the greatest claim to "best player in the world" a grand total of 0 seconds between 1999 and 2003.

I know couple of seconds by Shaq.

This is Shaq and it isn’t close.

Shaq should’ve been mvp in 2001, and AI winning was just because of team record due to Mutumbo. Almost unanimous mvp in 00.

Shaq was the best player 00-02, and it wasn’t close. Alonzo mourning was the best in 99, and Duncan was in 03.

For the period of 99-03? Obviously Shaq.

How exactly LeBron era started in 2003???

He won his first Championship in 2012

SHAQ32 wrote:Starbury was good circa 99-03. I don't know about top 10 though.

Chris Webber might have a case.

Antoine Walker was consistently good during that period as well. Just as an honorable mention.

Antoine Walker was neither consistent nor good at any point in his career relative to an average team's leading scorer. He was a gunner who shot too much for his relatively weak efficiency and didn't work hard on defense.

Kobeshow wrote:How exactly LeBron era started in 2003???

He won his first Championship in 2012

He also wasn't in conversation for best player until 2008.