The Highest and lowest possible all-time ranking for Tim Duncan?

[No-more-rings]

Highest probably 4th, I don't think he has quite the sustained dominance in his prime that MJ/LBJ/Kareem do, though I do think he possibly peaked slightly higher than Kareem.

Lowest, probably 7 or 8. His longevity is way better than Magic or Bird and his peak isn't any lower.

[PistolPeteJR]

I'm having a hard time understanding how see Duncan with a possible case for #1. Can y'all please shed some light on that? How can we make a case to have him over the likes of LeBron, Jordan, KAJ?

[falcolombardi]

I'm having a hard time understanding how see Duncan with a possible case for #1. Can y'all please shed some light on that? How can we make a case to have him over the likes of LeBron, Jordan, KAJ?

if you have duncan as a prime just slightly below those 3 you could argue for a longevity (or leadership) advantage over jordan, or a intangibles advantage over lebron and kaj

[Ambrose]

I'm having a hard time understanding how see Duncan with a possible case for #1. Can y'all please shed some light on that? How can we make a case to have him over the likes of LeBron, Jordan, KAJ?

If you were to draft 1 player ever with the goal to win as many championships as possible Tim Duncan has a case over all of them. Better leader and more likely to stay with your team then LeBron or Kareem. Better longevity than Jordan. He's the 'safe' pick.

[PistolPeteJR]

I'm having a hard time understanding how see Duncan with a possible case for #1. Can y'all please shed some light on that? How can we make a case to have him over the likes of LeBron, Jordan, KAJ?

If you were to draft 1 player ever with the goal to win as many championships as possible Tim Duncan has a case over all of them. Better leader and more likely to stay with your team then LeBron or Kareem. Better longevity than Jordan. He's the 'safe' pick.

I don't fully agree with this notion that he's "more likely to stay with you team". He was seconds away from leaving SA to join T-Mac and Hill in Orlando and it was Doc's foolishness that made him think twice and stay. That said, contextually, he had already won the chip and was drafted into a team with a top coach and FO at the time, as well as an incredible Robin from day-1 in Robinson. Kareem and LeBron weren't as fortunate.

[LAL1947]

I'm having a hard time understanding how see Duncan with a possible case for #1. Can y'all please shed some light on that? How can we make a case to have him over the likes of LeBron, Jordan, KAJ?

If you were to draft 1 player ever with the goal to win as many championships as possible Tim Duncan has a case over all of them. Better leader and more likely to stay with your team then LeBron or Kareem. Better longevity than Jordan. He's the 'safe' pick.

Why would I draft Tim Duncan over Michael Jordan if my goal is to win as many championships as possible? MJ won 6 titles in 12 seasons. Duncan won 5 titles in 19 seasons. Of those 5 titles, Kawhi was the Spur's best player in 2013-14 and Tony Parker was the Finals MVP in 2006-07. It really should have been 4 titles too, if you consider the manner in which the Spurs robbed the Suns in 2006-07. Not even the infamous Lakers-Kings Q4 comes close to that. Kareem also won 6, Russell won 11.

I'm not counting MJ's 2 seasons in Washington because he didn't join that team to win titles but to build its brand as a part-owner... while Duncan stayed on at the Spurs until the end of his career to win as much as he could.

If you want to change it to "draft 1 player with the goal of reaching the most playoffs as possible", I'd agree with you.

If you also want to say that you'd like to draft someone around whom you can build both an offense and a defense, Duncan is right at the top but behind Kareem and Hakeem. Two-way Centers have a nice advantage there.

Better leader and more likely to stay with your team then LeBron or Kareem. Better longevity than Jordan. He's the 'safe' pick.

I can agree with these things, although I'm not sure if they help move the needle on the all-time list.

[asindc]

Using reasonably well rounded criteria I think 4-10 is a respectable range. Outside the top 10 is too far and even then I'd lean more towards top 8.

This is the way I see it as well.

[Ambrose]

I'm having a hard time understanding how see Duncan with a possible case for #1. Can y'all please shed some light on that? How can we make a case to have him over the likes of LeBron, Jordan, KAJ?

If you were to draft 1 player ever with the goal to win as many championships as possible Tim Duncan has a case over all of them. Better leader and more likely to stay with your team then LeBron or Kareem. Better longevity than Jordan. He's the 'safe' pick.

Why would I draft Tim Duncan over Michael Jordan if my goal is to win as many championships as possible? MJ won 6 titles in 12 seasons. Duncan won 5 titles in 19 seasons. Of those 5 titles, Kawhi was the Spur's best player in 2013-14 and Tony Parker was the Finals MVP in 2006-07. It really should have been 4 titles too, if you consider the manner in which the Spurs robbed the Suns in 2006-07. Not even the infamous Lakers-Kings Q4 comes close to that. Kareem also won 6, Russell won 11.

Better leader and more likely to stay with your team then LeBron or Kareem. Better longevity than Jordan. He's the 'safe' pick.

I can agree with these things, although I'm not sure if they help move the needle on the all-time list.

Because context matters. This is novice level analysis.

[Ambrose]

I'm having a hard time understanding how see Duncan with a possible case for #1. Can y'all please shed some light on that? How can we make a case to have him over the likes of LeBron, Jordan, KAJ?

If you were to draft 1 player ever with the goal to win as many championships as possible Tim Duncan has a case over all of them. Better leader and more likely to stay with your team then LeBron or Kareem. Better longevity than Jordan. He's the 'safe' pick.

I don't fully agree with this notion that he's "more likely to stay with you team". He was seconds away from leaving SA to join T-Mac and Hill in Orlando and it was Doc's foolishness that made him think twice and stay. That said, contextually, he had already won the chip and was drafted into a team with a top coach and FO at the time, as well as an incredible Robin from day-1 in Robinson. Kareem and LeBron weren't as fortunate.

Kareem got to play with Oscar right away and already had a title too. He actually left. Duncan did not. That top coach and FO haven't done anything without him either.

[G35]

You could argue him #1 and no lower than 8th.

If you argue based on stats Duncan will be lower...if you argue based on team accomplishments/winning he will be higher

Pros to be higher:
- 2003 season...one of the greatest carry jobs to a championship ever
- anchored three of the top 20 all time defenses
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2185159-ranking-the-nbas-20-best-defenses-of-all-time
- anchored the longest 50 season win streak of all time
- never missed the playoffs during his career
- 15 All NBA selections tied for 2nd all time
- 15 All Defense selections 1st all time
- Only player to win a championship in three different decades
- Closeout game of 2003 Finals 21/20/10/8


Cons
- not as individually dominant statistically
- FT's were a weakness at times in his career
- Did not repeat as champions
- Not aesthetically pleasing game...fundamental

The only players I would argue over Duncan would be Jordan or Kareem, so I personally have him 3rd but I could make arguments over both MJ and Kareem.

Everyone else who would have arguments have bigger holes in their resumes.....

[iggymcfrack]

Personally, I have him 3rd all-time, but I also think that's the top of his range. I don't see any argument for him over LeBron or Jordan. Whereas Kareem, Russell, Shaq, KG, Wilt, maybe even Giannis and Jokic have arguments for him with different criteria. Not all with the same criteria though. Realistically, I think 7's about as low as you can go. Maaaaybe 8th. So 3-7 or 3-8 is the range IMO.

[RoyceDa59]

Highest is 4th.

There is no reasonable argument for him over Jordan, LeBron or Kareem.

Lowest is about 10th.

[SK21209]

Highest - 5th (I see Jordan, LeBron, Kareem and Russell as an unassailable Top 4 right now)

Lowest - 10th (behind Magic, Wilt, Kobe, Shaq and Bird as well)

[PistolPeteJR]

If you were to draft 1 player ever with the goal to win as many championships as possible Tim Duncan has a case over all of them. Better leader and more likely to stay with your team then LeBron or Kareem. Better longevity than Jordan. He's the 'safe' pick.

I don't fully agree with this notion that he's "more likely to stay with you team". He was seconds away from leaving SA to join T-Mac and Hill in Orlando and it was Doc's foolishness that made him think twice and stay. That said, contextually, he had already won the chip and was drafted into a team with a top coach and FO at the time, as well as an incredible Robin from day-1 in Robinson. Kareem and LeBron weren't as fortunate.

Kareem got to play with Oscar right away and already had a title too. He actually left. Duncan did not. That top coach and FO haven't done anything without him either.

I don't think you're claiming that the FO and coach did nothing without him in such a way where you're saying "they're nothing without Duncan". Rather, both parties benefited the other.

As for Kareem, this is true, but Big O was already past his prime and that FO and coach were nowhere near the prowess of those Spurs. Not disagreeing with you fully, just saying it's not as simple as I understood you making it seem initially. And anyway, that's Kareem. What about LeBron? His first stint with the Cavs was terrible from a FO-support and coaching standpoint. If you gave Duncan that in his first stint and then in FA he has a chance to play with a young superstud in T-Mac and Hill, he for sure takes that had he not been in put in a winning environment like the one the Spurs organization had done, and thus, proven to him they were willing to do what it took to win, which he was convinced by when he hit the market, the epitome of that being a championship cast.

[Jaivl]

I'm having a hard time understanding how see Duncan with a possible case for #1. Can y'all please shed some light on that? How can we make a case to have him over the likes of LeBron, Jordan, KAJ?

If you go strictly by on court stuff it's really hard for him to crack the top 3, although it may be possible. But he's one of the extremely rare cases (Russell, maybe a few others) where an off-court argument doesn't feel like a reach.