



Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan quite literally owned a generation of basketball. From highlights to championships, these two have made their mark on the NBA in the nearly two decades they’ve been in the league. In the 12-year span from 1999 to 2010, Kobe’s Lakers and Duncan’s Spurs won nine championships. Can you be any more dominant?





Yet somehow Kobe and Duncan have never been considered much of rivals. Likely because of the different positions that they play and Kobe’s constant desire to be compared to Michael Jordan , the TD vs. Black Mamba comparison has not been given much thought and publicity. That’s where this column comes in.





Nobody is questioning the greatness of either player. What I seek to provide with this column is a comparative analysis of two players that had spectacular careers. So, here is my take as to how these two compare in terms of what they have accomplished.





Tim Duncan and Kobe Bryant played different positions which makes a direct statistical comparison inadequate. Each player is ahead in the traditional categories that their position dictates that a great player should excel in. Kobe’s got points, assists, and steals; Duncan’s got rebounds, blocks, and field goal percentage. A great indicator of the equality in this statistical comparison: Kobe’s PRA (points plus rebounds plus assists) is 35.5 and Duncan’s PRA is 34.6.





Per game statistics Kobe Bryant Tim Duncan Points 25.5 20.2 Rebounds 5.3 11.3 Assists 4.7 3.1 Steals 1.5 0.7 Blocks 0.5 2.2 FG percentage .453 .507 Games played 1188 1138

Stats as of 12/23/12





Advanced stats will shed some more light into a direct comparison.





Offensively, Kobe and Duncan are close. TS% and offensive rating are nearly identical, Duncan has a higher eFG% and Kobe has a higher offensive win shares (which is the estimated number of wins contributed by the player because of their offensive contribution). Defensively, TD owns the comparison. Defensive rating is an estimated number of points allowed per 100 possessions and Kobe allows 10 more points per 100 possessions. Defensive win shares show the greatest discrepancy of any statistic between these players.





Advanced statistic (career) Kobe Bryant Tim Duncan Player efficiency rating 23.5 24.8 True shooting percentage .555 .551 Effective field goal percentage .487 .508 Offensive rating 112 110 Defensive rating 105 95 Offensive win shares 119.4 89.2 Defensive win shares 47.8 90.5



And one final consideration regarding PER: Duncan owns the ninth-highest PER of all time. Kobe has the 18th best PER.





Now let’s look at the peak regular season performances of their respective careers:





Kobe Bryant’s best season, 2005-06, ended with 35.4 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and 1.8 steals per game on 45 percent shooting. One could certainly make the argument that the following two seasons were his best, but since Kobe is regarded primarily as an elite scorer it only seems appropriate to choose the season where his PPG was highest (even though his FG% was below his career average).





Duncan’s best regular season, 2001-02, was the first of his back-to-back MVP years. With a FG% above 50 and 80 percent shooting from the line, Duncan dominated the game and stuffed the stat sheet with 25.5 points, 12.7 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and 2.5 blocks per game.





Which season was better? I’ll leave that up to your judgement because both had multiple seasons like the aforementioned where all you could do is watch in amazement. Kobe had his Hollywood style that gained a lot of attention in a big market; Duncan was content with the quiet, small San Antonio market. Both players exhibited greatness throughout more than a decade's worth of regular seasons in order to get them to the playoffs.





One final variable that should be mentioned in the regular season equation is the head-to-head matchups. When great players meet, regardless of the time of year, it’s safe to assume that they treat it as a particularly significant challenge. And while each player owns similar statistical categories as overall regular season numbers, the final record of 46 games shows Duncan over Kobe: 26-20.





So, in terms of regular season performance, the slight edge has to go to Tim Duncan. Head-to-head win totals, a clear defensive edge, and most importantly the MVP count are what have to put Duncan on top here despite Kobe's scoring supremacy.





Kobe Bryant Tim Duncan 5x NBA champion 4x NBA champion 2x NBA Finals MVP 3x NBA Finals MVP 1x NBA MVP 2x NBA MVP 14x NBA All-Star 13x NBA All-Star 10x All-NBA First Team 9x All-NBA First Team 2x NBA scoring champion NBA ROY 17-season career 16-season career





But the regular season is only part of the equation. As the title of this column suggests, the defining feature of Kobe and Duncan is their championships résumé. Kobe is a five-time champion and Duncan has four rings.





Those numbers alone are misleading.





great champion is your singular contribution to the team’s title. Great champions contribute particularly heavy loads to the success of their franchise—or in the case of Kobe and Duncan, their dynasties. This is where NBA Finals MVPs is a helpful and more effective judge of a players greatness. Kobe and Derek Fisher have won five titles together, but nobody considers them in the same sentence when discussing greatness. One measure of differentiation between those two is Finals MVPs, of which Kobe has two and Fisher has zero. Part of being achampion is your singular contribution to the team’s title. Great champions contribute particularly heavy loads to the success of their franchise—or in the case of Kobe and Duncan, their dynasties. This is where NBA Finals MVPs is a helpful and more effective judge of a players greatness. Kobe and Derek Fisher have won five titles together, but nobody considers them in the same sentence when discussing greatness. One measure of differentiation between those two is Finals MVPs, of which Kobe has two and Fisher has zero.





And Kobe’s two Finals MVPs come up short to Duncan’s three. This is due to a variety of factors, but the simplest explanation boils down to teammates. For his three-peat, Kobe Bryant was the second-best player on his team. This isn’t debatable—it’s a fact. Shaquille O’Neal took home all three Finals MVPs and was in the prime of his career at that time. It would be inaccurate to say Kobe was merely “tagging along for the ride,” but he was clearly not the primary reason for their championship success.





Duncan, on the other hand, won Finals MVPs in three out of his four championships. The only title that Duncan didn’t win the award for was in 2007, which was also the least competitive Finals series that the Spurs played (it ended in a sweep of the Cleveland Cavaliers). Furthermore, a closer look at the 2007 playoffs shows that for the duration of the playoffs, Duncan provided the foundation that got them in a position to play in the Finals.





Tim is the common denominator…He's [had] a different cast around him [in] '99, '03 and '05. He's welcomed them all. He's found a way to help them all fit, feel comfortable in their roles, and not many players can do that." After winning the 2007 championship, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said this of Duncan: “





The same cannot be said for Kobe Bryant.





Chasing 23 discusses in-depth, Kobe is not quite as effective in those situations as is commonly assumed.) One more specific comparison that must be made when comparing the greatness of these two players in the playoffs is the peak of playoff performances. Similar to the analysis of regular season peak, playoff peaks gives us a glimpse into what the absolute best of each player can accomplish. Furthermore, it is the best means to evaluate clutch ability when comparing these two players because Duncan, as a big man, is not as relevant in last second situations as Kobe is. (Not to mention that, asdiscusses in-depth, Kobe is not quite as effective in those situations as is commonly assumed.)





ESPN lists Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan each once in the 25 greatest playoff performances of all time. Kobe’s 48 and 16 game in the 2001 Western conference semifinals is 19th on the list. Duncan’s 32 point, 20 rebound, and seven block game in the 2003 NBA Finals is four spots higher at 15.





Thus, consideration of the totality of playoff greatness comes to the same conclusion as that of the regular season: a slim margin leans in favor of Tim Duncan.





still performing at extremely high levels this late in their career. Duncan and the Spurs are near the top of the Western conference yet again, and Kobe has virtually single-handedly kept the Lakers’ heads above water. But what they do from here on out is icing on the cake and their legacies will (likely) not change drastically from this point until their retirement. However, if there's one thing we have learned from the careers of Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan, it is to never count them out. Kobe and Duncan are great, and it’s amazing that they areperforming at extremely high levels this late in their career. Duncan and the Spurs are near the top of the Western conference yet again, and Kobe has virtually single-handedly kept the Lakers’ heads above water. But what they do from here on out is icing on the cake and their legacies will (likely) not change drastically from this point until their retirement. However, if there's one thing we have learned from the careers of Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan, it is to never count them out.



