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Having a little debate on the Lakers board. My vote goes to either Shaq or Duncan, leaning towards Shaq. Seems pretty clear to me that it has to be either or, but as you can imagine, that's not the popular choice in our little corner. Tried to search if there's been a similar poll, but I couldn't find anything, so...

Shaq without question, but this is a tough question as is

Duncan is the best winner but Kobe is the best player by far.

either or imo

shaq was the main man on three titles and a helper in the 4th. duncan was the man on 3 titles and deferred to parker last summer (not to the extent of shaq to wade though)

shaq was more dominant in his best seasons but duncan far more consistant in his approach.

Best individual player is Kobe. His peak is higher than the other's respective peaks. However Shaq and Duncan have had a much bigger impact on the game than Kobe. Kobe will have to rattle off a few rings on his own to get out of Shaq's shadow. As far as "importance" of players I think it is clearly Shaq.

There was the Jordan era.
There was the Shaq era.
Now it is the Lebron era.

Kobe had the misfortune of coming in and overlapping the primes of other great players. So there is no Kobe era. Same with Duncan although he just keeps winning rings so it doesn't matter

Shaq easily is the most dominate player post-Jordan. Then Kobe because he probably has the most talent and then Duncan.

I think the best players post-Jordan era for the most time is...

Shaq
Kobe
Duncan


Iverson

1) Shaq
2) Duncan
3) Kobe

I'm not going put Kobe above 2 guys that have 3 Finals MVPs.

1a. Shaq
1b. Duncan

3. Kobe

Shaq and Duncan both have 3 finals mvp's and Shaq has 1 league MVP with 3 seasons of over 30+ PER, while Duncan has 2 league mvp's.

MJ, Magic, Shaq, Duncan are the only 4 guys with 3+ Finals MVP's.

kooldude wrote:1) Shaq
2) Duncan
3) Kobe

I'm not going put Kobe above 2 guys that have 3 Finals MVPs.

and-1

Shaq was the best at his peak..Duncan's had the best career, especially since he's still going strong..

Kobe is difficult to ignore, but he hasn't accomplished nearly as much as the other 2..he doesn't even have an MVP(yet)..he needs a title as a #1 option to be in the argument..if KG wins a ring this year, and probably the finals MVP if they win, he could be ahead of Kobe too IMO..

just some stats(not arguing for anybody)..

All-NBA 1st (assuming Kobe and KG get a 1st, and Duncan gets a 2nd this year)
Shaq: 7
Duncan: 8
Kobe: 6
KG: 4

All-NBA 2nd
Shaq: 1
Duncan: 2
Kobe: 2(with 2 3rd teams)
KG: 3(with 2 3rd teams)

All-NBA defense 1st
Shaq: 0(3 2nd teams)
Duncan: 7(2 2nd teams)
Kobe: 5( 2 2nd teams)
KG: 6(2 2nd teams)

MVP
Shaq: 1
Duncan: 2
Kobe: 0
KG: 1

Career PER
Shaq: 27.3(1st among active players)
Duncan: 25.2(2nd among active players)
Kobe: 23.6(8th among active players)
KG: 23.9(6th among active players)

Win Shares
Shaq: 1st among active players
Duncan: 3rd among active players
Kobe: 5th among active players
KG: 2nd among active players

Championships
Shaq: 4(3 as a #1 option, 3 finals MVP)
Duncan: 4(4 as a #1 option, 3 finals MVP)
Kobe: 3(0 as a #1 option, 0 finals MVP)
KG: 0

then of course, you have to talk about Kobe's statistical greatness over the last few years..if you look at MVP voting throughout their post-Jordan careers, Duncan would be at the top of this list, with Shaq close behind..Duncan, Kobe and Garnett have been significantly better than Shaq defensively IMO though..

well shaq is declining really fast,

and duncan is still ground hog day in the league, he be in the league another 5 years, and we see how it all pans out, whether he wins more rings etc....than we can clearly say whose the better out of the two shaq n duncan.

kobe is 3rd.

Duncan, look at the spurs record everysince duncan came into the league. never under 55 i believe. playoffs every year and now 4 championships. who can really refute his sucess?

lukeridenour wrote:Duncan, look at the spurs record everysince duncan came into the league. never under 55 i believe. playoffs every year and now 4 championships. who can really refute his sucess?

Duncan lost to Shaq 4 out of 6 times.

Heat3 wrote:Best individual player is Kobe. His peak is higher than the other's respective peaks. However Shaq and Duncan have had a much bigger impact on the game than Kobe. Kobe will have to rattle off a few rings on his own to get out of Shaq's shadow. As far as "importance" of players I think it is clearly Shaq.

There was the Jordan era.
There was the Shaq era.
Now it is the Lebron era.

Kobe had the misfortune of coming in and overlapping the primes of other great players. So there is no Kobe era. Same with Duncan although he just keeps winning rings so it doesn't matter

We might be in the Kobe era very soon.

kooldude wrote:-= original quote snipped =-



Duncan lost to Shaq 4 out of 6 times.

What are the 4 times in those 6.

Duncan won in 99 and 03
Shaq won in 01, 02, and 04.

Shaq was more dominant that Duncan no question, but Duncan's defensive prowess "might" make up that gap. I don't know, I think I'd pick Shaq because he destroyed the NBA for 5 years, but I'm sure the entire time I had him I'd be looking at Duncan wondering if I'd be better with him instead.

I'm not sure what the hell Kobe Bryant is doing in this discussion. He's never even been the best player in the NBA so how can he be the best player post Jordan.

Well, apparently this discussion has moved off the Lakers board, and I was the other party involved.

People talk about Duncan and Shaq as some of the best big men in the game, Duncan as being possibly the greatest power forward to play in the game, and Shaq being one of the most dominant, if not the most dominant center.

But I personally make the distinction, as do many analysts, between best overall basketball player and those who are best at their position.

I have rarely heard or read analysts asserting that Tim Duncan is the best basketball player in the league. Best power forward, best big man, yes. But for the past decade or so, guys like Kobe, T-Mac, Vince (yes, during the days of vinsanity), and Wade and Lebron are discussed when it comes to the best player in the league.

Shaq himself has said on numerous occasions that Kobe is the best player in the league..."by far." Amare Stoudemire said this a couple years ago.

Counting rings is too simplistic, or else Karl Malone, Barkley, and Kevin Garnett are scrubs. Or MVP counts. Steve Nash has two. Dirk has one. Kobe has none. What does that mean? Nothing, except that the MVP doesn't award the best individual basketball player, and neither do championship rings. They're team accolades.

Lastly, when you hear or read this issue being discussed in the media, I think it's indisputable that Kobe Bryant has been regarded as the best basketball player in the league most frequently since Jordan. Vince has faded, T-Mac has faded, Wade has faded, and the discussion is mostly between Lebron and Kobe right now.

Duncan and Shaq were never consistently discussed as being the best basketball players, to my recollection.

1a. Shaq
1b. Duncan
3. Kobe

^^^
??? Shaq was considered to be the best in the league up until his Miami days. He was unquestionably the best from the mid 90's to 00's. Think why Shaq is considered top 10 of all-time, high above any active player. Career wise and primewise, Shaq>>>>>>>>>>. Kobe, and everyone would agree on this. Shaq could probably take on Dwight, KG, and TD at once in his prime, and I'm not exaggerating very far at all.

Shaq
Duncan
Kobe

For the past 3 years:

Kobe
Duncan
Shaq