Both are probably in most ppl's top 10 NBA players of all time, and they also happened to play in the same era.
Both had very long successful careers with one franchise and have both won 5 rings but which player has had the better career?
IMO, Kobe was easily the more exciting player to watch, however, style has nothing to do with this convo and if we're basing this off stats, accolades, team value, big game prowess, who's a better teammate, who was more efficient, who I'd rather start a franchise around, etc. than Duncan in my opinion was the superior player.
Pros for Kobe:
Better scorer
Higher Peak
Leads the H2H against Duncan's Spurs in playoffs
One more All-NBA First Team
More All-Star Games (I don't put much into this one though as Kobe was clearly not an all star calibre player between 2014-2016, as well as 1998)
2 scoring titles
1 more Finals appearance
Pros for Duncan:
More League MVP's
More Finals MVP's
Rookie of the Year
Greater Longevity from start to finish (Kobe's early and final years were less than stellar)
More All-NBA Defensive Teams and was the superior defender
Higher PER in both reg season and playoffs
Higher Win Shares in both reg season and playoffs
Higher VORP in both reg season and playoffs
Higher TS% in both reg season and playoffs
Higher +/- in both reg season and playoffs
Was the best player in 3 or 4 of the 5 Spurs titles (Kobe was only the best in 2 of them at best)
Better clutch player (in the playoffs, elimination games, game 7's, NBA Finals, NBA Finals game 7's, and in the final 30 secs to 5 mins)
Better teammate to play/coach and a better franchise builder
Never missed the playoffs in 19 seasons or had a season winning less than 60% of games
More regular season and playoff games won
Better NBA Finals conversion (same # of finals games won despite playing in one less finals)
Even:
Same # of All-NBA teams and NBA 1st Defensive teams
Both won 5 rings
Supporting cast was pretty similar for both
Similar competition
Both had legendary coaches
Both had very long successful careers with one franchise and have both won 5 rings but which player has had the better career?
IMO, Kobe was easily the more exciting player to watch, however, style has nothing to do with this convo and if we're basing this off stats, accolades, team value, big game prowess, who's a better teammate, who was more efficient, who I'd rather start a franchise around, etc. than Duncan in my opinion was the superior player.
Pros for Kobe:
Better scorer
Higher Peak
Leads the H2H against Duncan's Spurs in playoffs
One more All-NBA First Team
More All-Star Games (I don't put much into this one though as Kobe was clearly not an all star calibre player between 2014-2016, as well as 1998)
2 scoring titles
1 more Finals appearance
Pros for Duncan:
More League MVP's
More Finals MVP's
Rookie of the Year
Greater Longevity from start to finish (Kobe's early and final years were less than stellar)
More All-NBA Defensive Teams and was the superior defender
Higher PER in both reg season and playoffs
Higher Win Shares in both reg season and playoffs
Higher VORP in both reg season and playoffs
Higher TS% in both reg season and playoffs
Higher +/- in both reg season and playoffs
Was the best player in 3 or 4 of the 5 Spurs titles (Kobe was only the best in 2 of them at best)
Better clutch player (in the playoffs, elimination games, game 7's, NBA Finals, NBA Finals game 7's, and in the final 30 secs to 5 mins)
Better teammate to play/coach and a better franchise builder
Never missed the playoffs in 19 seasons or had a season winning less than 60% of games
More regular season and playoff games won
Better NBA Finals conversion (same # of finals games won despite playing in one less finals)
Even:
Same # of All-NBA teams and NBA 1st Defensive teams
Both won 5 rings
Supporting cast was pretty similar for both
Similar competition
Both had legendary coaches
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