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Greatest Player Of The Decade
Sunday, June 14, 2009 at 01:12AM
Greatest Player Of The Decade
As we watch Kobe Bryant close out the Orlando Magic in the NBA Finals, hoisting his 4th NBA Championship Trophy of this decade high above his shoulders. it brings the question to this bloggers mind - Who is the greatest player of the 2000's?
First lets set the criteria.
We are only reviewing accomplishments made by players from the 99'-00' Season to the current 08'-09' season. This covers the last 10 full seasons of NBA basketball.
Here are our candidates in no specific order:
Kobe Bryant
Tim Duncan
Lebron James
Shaquille O'Neal
There really are no other players that you could make any feasible argument for outside of these four all-stars.
Now let the fun begin. As of today three of our four candidates all have 4 NBA Championships to their credit for their careers, but remember this article is not pondering which of these players has had the best career, we are reviewing only accomplishments that have been achieved in THIS DECADE. Meaning that Duncan's championship in the 90's does not come into play. Leaving us with Kobe, Shaq both at 4 rings, and Duncan at 3 titles for the decade.
While Lebron James has had an outstanding statistical career to this point, one would have to find it hard to believe that a player could be considered the "Best Player Of The Decade" without having won a single NBA title, and with only having taken his team to the championship round once this decade. Also, even from a statistical standpoint "Bryant" has dominated "James" statistically until this season. So while we do truly expect the next decade will be one the Lebron claims as his, for the time being there is really no logical argument to make for James being in this discussion.
Then there wer three. Duncan, Bryant, O'Neal.
This is where it gets a bit more interesting to casual sports fan. While it is obvious that Kobe, and Shaq helped eachother early in the decade to achieve success each player has found success since the departure on their own. Shaq winning his 4th title in 06', and Bryant winning his 4th title this year in 09'. Duncan has been the steady force with consistently high caliber teams for the majority of the decade, however his supporting cast is no joke either playing along two all-stars, and 1 finals MVP (Tony Parker) for the entire decade, not to mention Hall Of Famer David Robinson. The only negative factor for Duncan is while he has always been the unquestioned leader of his team on three championship runs, he has never been what most would consider a "Dominant Player". Noting the fact that in many recent seasons Duncan has been the second or third offense option for the Spurs, and in his entire career Duncan has only once notched a 50+ point scoring game (Hard to believe isn't it?).
Here are how some of the numbers open up:
Statistics 99'-00' thru 08'-09' (Ranking is out of these three players only)
Shaq O' Neal
Total Points Scored: 15,276 (Rank 3rd)
Games Played: 652 (Rank 3rd)
PPG Average: 23.4 (Rank 2nd)
Regular Season MVP: 1 (Rank T-2nd)
Finals MVP: 3 (Rank 1st)
All-Star Selections: 9 (Rank 3rd)
All-Star Game MVP Awards: 3 (Rank T-1st)
Scoring Titles: 2 (Rank T-1st)
Career High: 61 (Rank 2nd)
Championship Appearances: 5 (Rank 2nd)
NBA Championships: 4 (Rank T-1st)
Nicknames: 459
Tim Duncan
Total Points Scored: 16,431 (Rank 2nd)
Games Played: 768 (Rank 1st)
PPG Average: 21.4 (Rank 3rd)
Regular Season MVP: 2 (Rank 1st)
Finals MVP: 2 (Rank 2nd)
All-Star Selections: 10 (Rank T-1st)
All-Star Game MVP Award: 1 (Rank 3rd)
Scoring Titles: 0 (Rank 3rd)
Career High: 53 (Rank 3rd)
Championship Appearances: 3 (Rank 3rd)
NBA Championships: 3 (Rank 3rd)
Kobe Bryant
Total Points Scored: 21,055 (Rank 1st)
Games Played: 729 (Rank 2nd)
PPG Average: 28.9 (Rank 1st)
Regular Season MVP: 1 (Rank T-2nd)
Finals MVP: 1 (Rank 3rd)
All-Star Selections: 10 (Rank T-1st)
All-Star Game MVP Award: 3 (Rank T-1st)
Scoring Titles: 2 (Rank T-1st)
Career High: 81 (Rank 1st)
Championship Appearances: 6 (Rank 1st)
NBA Championships: 4 (Rank T-1st)
I must admit as I am writing this, and looking at these numbers based in reality that I am somewhat surprising myself. When I sat down to write this article I truly thought it would come down to Kobe vs. Duncan for the (GPOD) title, and I do know that we would all like to reward consistency, and unflashy hard work basketball fundamentals in a league that showcases so little of it these days. It is kind of like telling your friends at a party that you like "Coldplay" to make yourself sound more "Deep" than you actually are. However, looking at the facts, while Duncan has been consistently GREAT over the course of this decade, to be the "Greatest" of all time, or the greatest of an era/decade, I believe you have to possess the ability to not only be consistent but to be Dominant.
While Duncan has been able to somewhat take over games with his defense and rebounding, and timely scoring on a consistent level, he has never been a guy that you look to when all else fails and you KNOW he is going to put you on his back and get you 50. Shaq, and Kobe have both demonstrated this ability for a very long time. Let's face it when we talk about this decade Shaq and/or Kobe have appeared in the NBA Finals 7 times! That means that 70% of the time this decade when you turn on your T.V. to watch the NBA Championship you have Shaq, or Kobe's face looking back at you. Also, Shaq & Kobe have both done something that Duncan has never done. They have each won Championships with completely different supporting cast members. It is hard enough to win one championship, let alone win 4 with two different ensembles of teammates. So having said that to my surprise it looks like we are down to our two favorite partners in crime for the "Best Player Of The Decade" title - Kobe Bryant & Shaquille O'Neal.
So who has had the better decade of basketball Shaq, or Kobe?
This is actually easier than you would think to analyze partially due to the fact that in this decade Kobe & Shaq played 5 seasons together and the last 5 seasons on different teams. So let us examine the facts. It is a fact that Shaquille O'Neal was the best player on the three championship teams at the start of this decade, but Kobe was certainly no role player. People forget that while playing with Shaq this decade Kobe put up averages of 25.2 PPG at age 23, 28.5 PPG at age 22!, and 30.0 PPG at age 24, all while playing with shaq at his side. People also may not realize that Kobe Bryant was All-NBA 1st Team every year that the Lakers won the Championship (Do the math only 5 players every year are selected this honor). All of this meaning that while Shaq certainly gets the nod for the 1st 5 years of this decade, Kobe was not far behind. During the five years that Kobe & Shaq played together this decade Kobe Bryant averaged 26.2 PPG, and was an All-Star all 5 seasons. Since Shaq has left the Lakers Kobe has averaged 29.9 PPG and again has been an All-Star selection each of the 5 seasons. During the same periods Shaq's averages have been 27.0 PPG with Kobe, and Shaq has averaged 18.4 PPG without Kobe.
It is safe to say that Kobe has clearly had the better run of it over the last 5 NBA seasons both statistically dominating with scoring numbers the likes of which we have never seen from a two guard in NBA history, and also now with team success having taken a team without Shaq to two consecutive NBA Finals, and winning his 4th NBA Championship this season. Simply put if you are going to discount Kobe for being the second best player on three championship teams with Shaquille, then you would also have to discount Shaq for his diminishing skills over the past three seasons. While it may be due to the obvious fact that Shaq is getting older facts are facts and we are not examining the players career and giving discounts for old age. We are dealing with the realities of what has happened on the court in this decade.
Having said that, looking at all the facts it is clear by any formula that you choose to measure it that Kobe Bryant defeats all challengers. In this decade Kobe has the most points scored (21,055), Highest PPG average (28.9), most finals appearances (6) compared to Shaq's (5), and to Duncan's (3), and is tied for most championships won with 4. The truth is that over the last ten seasons Kobe has displayed a consistent level of greatness the likes of which we have rarely seen in NBA history. In that span he has been an All-Star every season, won the ASG MVP Award 30% of the time, played in the final series of the season (NBA Championship Round) 60% of the time, won the NBA Championship 40% of the time. While he has only won the Regular Season MVP Award once, he has been in the top 10 in MVP voting EVERY SEASON this decade, and top 5 in MVP voting 7 times, a statistical fact that shows his consistent dominance of this decade more than any other. Kobe has been a part of one dynasty at the beginning of the decade, and now has been the cornerstone of another, and he has done it all within the last ten years. He is the one and only player that every single season in the last ten years you could make a case that he was the best/most talented player in the league. Over the last ten years the experts have compared his game to many challengers: Shaq, Iverson, Carter, James, Anthony, Mcgrady. The challengers names have changed but the one constant is that every year Kobe is in the discussion. While Duncan has been consistently Excellent, even in his MVP years he was never widely agreed to be the Greatest player in the league, and while Shaq has had years of dominance and is an all-time great, for this decade his mediocrity over the last 5 seasons truly does not compare to Kobe's consistent excellence.
We can argue for hours about which of these players has had the better career, or who will go down as the superior "All-Time Great". But for this specific discussion love him or hate him there is no factual argument that you can make for anyone other than the "Black Mamba".
Kobe Bryant congratulations this decade of basketball belongs to you & only you.
