johnnyjohnnyjohnny wrote:Honestly, this is as dumb an argument on this board as I've seen in a long time. Duncan starts at PF and often plays the C position. Duncan has many PF like qualities as well as C like qualities, therefore he plays both positions depending on the Spurs lineup at the time and the opponents lineup. Frankly, as a Spurs fan I don't care if he's 'listed' as a Referee as long as he continues to bring home the Championships.
I don't think the point of the debate is where he is listed (well maybe it is, but that wasn't the original question). The point of the debate is, if we regard Duncan as a center is he still as highly regarded (in other words, does being the "greatest PF of all time" make him worse than being the "X greatest center"?).
In my opinion it doesn't denegrate his position because he led his team to four championships and is one of the greatest two way players in the history of the game and almost certainly the most dominant two way force since MJ retired.
Where would I rank him as a center? As I said, certainly behind Wilt and Kareem. From there it gets tougher...
Shaq was a more dominant offensive force but Duncan was easily the better defender, at this point you probably say Shaq but consider that Duncan still has a good 3-8 years to change that.
Hakeem was probably similarly effective on defense and a more explosive scorer but as of now their legacies are probably equal, and again Duncan has another few years to really stretch his legacy.
I put Duncan ahead of Russel because What Russel can usually hold over statistically superior players is his championship pedigree and Duncan has made a name for himself in that regard in this, more populated era.
The Admiral was great but even though he'd slowed by the time Duncan arrived, I can't in good faith put him above Duncan.
Last is Moses, the dominant center of the 80s, as a stylistic choice I'd take Duncan even though he wasn't as prolific of a scorer or offensive rebounder.
So my list (not including Mikan) would go:
Wilt/Kareem
Shaq
Hakeem/Duncan
Russell
Moses
Robinson
My guess is that Duncan furthers his legacy because he'll be 32 going into the next season and he'll still be a 7-footer with impeccable fundamentals, great timing, and super long arms which means he can be elite for quite a while longer.