David Robinson vs Kevin Garnett

[Homer38]

Who was the better player in their prime?

[Optms]

Toss up. I'm gonna go with KG though for the elite and versatile defense.

[Blame Rasho]

Robinson in my eyes was the better player. More often that not, he had his team overachieve relative to the talent he had. In the playoffs, it was just harder to keep overachieving when the talent isn't there.

Hell, in his rookie year, he could have very well been to the WCF if it wasn't for some stupid no look behind the back pass from Rod Strickland in a game seven vs Portland. Hell they owned the Suns(4-0 that season) with Robinson, and could have been in the finals if they were have met.

I appreciate KG, he is a beyond wonderful player... a rare two way player who can also pass the ball like no other player his size can(well outside of Jokic), but Robinson was a better player on both ends of the court. He was an elite scorer in his time and KG was never that type of player. He had sadly the unfortunate stigma of being Hakeem's bitch for one series in a year where Hakeem just went unholy on everyone in the playoffs. I honestly doubt any player could have made a difference when he was at his apex.


The thing is that despite all of what I said, KG had longevity that few players have over their career. Just some perspective... he has close to 6 full seasons more than Robinson. Yes, Robinson came late to the NBA amd a grown ass man and KG came in as a High Schooler...but that is a stark and significant difference that can't just be brushed off. There is a reason why people don't consider Walton all that high compared to some of his peers.

[hauntedcomputer]

Great, another chance to overrate Garnett. Too bad Robinson was robbed of four or five extra NBA seasons.

[JRoy]

Robinson.

Better player without the phony tough guy act.

[1993Playoffs]

D-Rob , KG was more healthy

[Maf]

Wow, tough one. I admit I believe KG is very overrated on this forums. On the other side, I am not sure if I would say D-Rob was better than someone like Patrick Ewing...

[Blame Rasho]

Wow, tough one. I admit I believe KG is very overrated on this forums. On the other side, I am not sure if I would say D-Rob was better than someone like Patrick Ewing...

I would like to see your perspective about Ewing being better than Robinson because all objective measures clearly say that Robinson is better, so what subjective measures do you see.

[og15]

Robinson in my eyes was the better player. More often that not, he had his team overachieve relative to the talent he had. In the playoffs, it was just harder to keep overachieving when the talent isn't there.

Hell, in his rookie year, he could have very well been to the WCF if it wasn't for some stupid no look behind the back pass from Rod Strickland in a game seven vs Portland. Hell they owned the Suns(4-0 that season) with Robinson, and could have been in the finals if they were have met.

I appreciate KG, he is a beyond wonderful player... a rare two way player who can also pass the ball like no other player his size can(well outside of Jokic), but Robinson was a better player on both ends of the court. He was an elite scorer in his time and KG was never that type of player. He had sadly the unfortunate stigma of being Hakeem's bitch for one series in a year where Hakeem just went unholy on everyone in the playoffs. I honestly doubt any player could have made a difference when he was at his apex.


The thing is that despite all of what I said, KG had longevity that few players have over their career. Just some perspective... he has close to 6 full seasons more than Robinson. Yes, Robinson came late to the NBA amd a grown ass man and KG came in as a High Schooler...but that is a stark and significant difference that can't just be brushed off. There is a reason why people don't consider Walton all that high compared to some of his peers.

I get longevity arguments, but how much worth are KG's 19-21 and 36-38 year old seasons in an All-Time comparison?

Just odd to me to say, well it's those seasons that put him over the top if I think someone else was better from 22-34 for example, which is what most people would consider right before prime to right after prime seasons.

[Blame Rasho]

Robinson in my eyes was the better player. More often that not, he had his team overachieve relative to the talent he had. In the playoffs, it was just harder to keep overachieving when the talent isn't there.

Hell, in his rookie year, he could have very well been to the WCF if it wasn't for some stupid no look behind the back pass from Rod Strickland in a game seven vs Portland. Hell they owned the Suns(4-0 that season) with Robinson, and could have been in the finals if they were have met.

I appreciate KG, he is a beyond wonderful player... a rare two way player who can also pass the ball like no other player his size can(well outside of Jokic), but Robinson was a better player on both ends of the court. He was an elite scorer in his time and KG was never that type of player. He had sadly the unfortunate stigma of being Hakeem's bitch for one series in a year where Hakeem just went unholy on everyone in the playoffs. I honestly doubt any player could have made a difference when he was at his apex.


The thing is that despite all of what I said, KG had longevity that few players have over their career. Just some perspective... he has close to 6 full seasons more than Robinson. Yes, Robinson came late to the NBA amd a grown ass man and KG came in as a High Schooler...but that is a stark and significant difference that can't just be brushed off. There is a reason why people don't consider Walton all that high compared to some of his peers.

I get longevity arguments, but how much worth are KG's 19-21 and 36-38 year old seasons in an All-Time comparison?

Just odd to me to say, well it's those seasons that put him over the top if I think someone else was better from 22-34 for example, which is what most people would consider right before prime to right after prime seasons.

Just for some perspective, KG was already an all star at age 20, and if it wasn’t for the lockout season in 99, he would have 4 all stars before Robinson got to the NBA at age 24. It isn’t something to marginalize.

[Tottery]

KG was better over a longer period of time, but Robinson had a better peak.

Every other post gonna say KG overrated.

[og15]

Robinson in my eyes was the better player. More often that not, he had his team overachieve relative to the talent he had. In the playoffs, it was just harder to keep overachieving when the talent isn't there.

Hell, in his rookie year, he could have very well been to the WCF if it wasn't for some stupid no look behind the back pass from Rod Strickland in a game seven vs Portland. Hell they owned the Suns(4-0 that season) with Robinson, and could have been in the finals if they were have met.

I appreciate KG, he is a beyond wonderful player... a rare two way player who can also pass the ball like no other player his size can(well outside of Jokic), but Robinson was a better player on both ends of the court. He was an elite scorer in his time and KG was never that type of player. He had sadly the unfortunate stigma of being Hakeem's bitch for one series in a year where Hakeem just went unholy on everyone in the playoffs. I honestly doubt any player could have made a difference when he was at his apex.


The thing is that despite all of what I said, KG had longevity that few players have over their career. Just some perspective... he has close to 6 full seasons more than Robinson. Yes, Robinson came late to the NBA amd a grown ass man and KG came in as a High Schooler...but that is a stark and significant difference that can't just be brushed off. There is a reason why people don't consider Walton all that high compared to some of his peers.

I get longevity arguments, but how much worth are KG's 19-21 and 36-38 year old seasons in an All-Time comparison?

Just odd to me to say, well it's those seasons that put him over the top if I think someone else was better from 22-34 for example, which is what most people would consider right before prime to right after prime seasons.

Just for some perspective, KG was already an all star at age 20, and if it wasn’t for the lockout season in 99, he would have 4 all stars before Robinson got to the NBA at age 24. It isn’t something to marginalize.

Oh I totally agree, but I guess it depends on how much we value prime and peak vs longevity. Yes, KG was a star at 20, but not at the level of his later years and not at the level of Robinson from 24-early 30's.

If he for example had 4 more MVP and superstar caliber seasons, okay, that's obviously going to be a big deal, but a couple more All-Star seasons I simply don't know is that's moving the needle if you aren't beating the other person in the primary impact seasons. If it's tied and then that's the tie breaker, then okay, fine.

...but the posts asks better player in their prime, and KG was not in his prime at 20 or 21

[Bornstellar]

Robinson is one of the most underrated players ever. His entire career is unfairly distilled down to one playoff series where Rodman intentionally sabotaged the team while David was getting triple teamed on offense and guarding Hakeem straight up on defense. The Admiral led the league in scoring one year and was also an all-timer on the defensive end at the same time. He is a classic example of a HOFer that had a terrible supporting cast around him basically his entire career until Tim Duncan came along. Not to mention coming into the NBA at 24 and back injuries shortened his career. Put some respect on his name

[Blame Rasho]

Robinson is one of the most underrated players ever. His entire career is unfairly distilled down to one playoff series where Rodman intentionally sabotaged the team while David was getting triple teamed on offense and guarding Hakeem straight up on defense. The Admiral led the league in scoring one year and was also an all-timer on the defensive end at the same time. He is a classic example of a HOFer that had a terrible supporting cast around him basically his entire career until Tim Duncan came along. Not to mention coming into the NBA at 24 and back injuries shortened his career. Put some respect on his name

I am not going to take credit for this quote… it goes to Eballa…

I know people tend to focus on the Hakeem series, but I think people tend to focus on the individual stats rather than the team performance too much given that the Spurs made a choice to play the Rockets as they did rather than swarm Olajuwon at all times. Take a look at the ORtgs of Houston in the series they played that year:

1st - 120.6
WCSF - 115.9
WCF - 110.6
Finals - 117.1

The Spurs were the only team to hold Houston under GOAT-ish levels.

[brackdan70]

They are really pretty close. Hard to choose. If you are asking at their peak that is.
Both had a peak were they were arguably, but not clearly the best in the league and each won an MVP and had a few NBA first teams, and to 5 MVP finishes.
KG had a longer prime and longer period of being at the top of the league though.

[dakomish23]

It’s close but the edge to Robinson.

Hakeem is something else for taking out Ewing, Robinson, Shaq in a one year span

[Capn'O]

I always think of Robinson and Giannis as similar players and come out with an analysis similar to what I did in that discussion. Robinson's scoring prowess and also elite defense gives him the nod. It's very close.

[G35]

DRob, unless you highly value yelling, punching out your teammates, and having your PF run the offense....

[JustBuzzin]

Y'all playing with KG name. He was better this isn't even a debate.

Robinson was never a threat in the playoffs. Duncan çame along and instantly made that team a contender overnight. Duncan was the best player as a rookie.

KG still won a championship as the best player. Also he was more all-around as player.

Big Ticket

[badpotato]

D-Rob all the way on this one.

But keep trying, you'll get a favorable comparison for our precious mid-range chucker one day.