There will always be a heated debate about which era of basketball is better. Some old-school fans believe that back in the day, hoopers were tougher, defenses were more difficult to break, and players had to endure a bigger challenge to pursue glory.
Other fans believe that players nowadays are way more skilled than ever before and that they could’ve easily dominated in the past as much – if not more – as they do right now.
And, ever since he won his first NBA Championship, there has been a narrative around social media that states that Anthony Davis is a better overall player than former greats of the likes of Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan, and Dirk Nowitzki.
That’s why fans took to Twitter to try and settle the debate once and for all but, unsurprisingly, they couldn’t reach an agreement about whether Anthony Davis is a better player than the aforementioned Hall of Famers.
NBA Twitter has a problem with putting current players over all time greats every time that player does something good.
Here’s a fact for you:
AD is NOT better than Duncan, KG, Dirk or Malone.
— Jta — KC (9-3) 🎒 (@BlackoutJta) November 2, 2020
https://twitter.com/BostonDegen/status/1323403563796733952https://twitter.com/TheAce_VIP/status/1323413787479732225https://twitter.com/LookAtEthanMan/status/1323355002987970560
Yet, has all the talent and skills to get there though. He's about to be 28 so he's got about 6-7 years to put himself in that conversation.
Different Question: If he holds his career averages (24p, 10r, 2a, 1.5s, 2.5b) and gets 1 more ring, does he pass KG, Dirk and Malone?
— Johnathon Klink (@JohnathonKlink) November 2, 2020
Best player? Yes. Career? Not yet. Dude can do it all, literally. Tell those other guys to shoot a long 3 with confidence, and defend on a elite level at the same time.
— Antonio Pieve (@antonio_pieve) November 2, 2020
Trajectory rarely tends to stay the same. Generally trajectory goes downwards. There are few exceptions to this rule and big men usually aren’t that exception.
— Barry Smith 🇺🇸 (@BarrySmithMFFL) November 2, 2020
AD is a more talented and better player than all of them , AD and KG have the same amount of rings , and AD didn’t Need Ray Allen , Paul Pierce and Rondo to win , you old heads just have an emotional attachment to the game back then won’t admit when someone is better than ur guy
— Elijahh (@elijahhh01) November 3, 2020
https://twitter.com/mostly_knicks/status/1323411426850078726https://twitter.com/KevinKe37315130/status/1323444491626360832
There will never be an objective way of looking at this. Some tend to idolize the past, while others try to demeanor it. Honestly, every single one of these power forwards has a strong case for being the best of them all.
Dirk Nowitzki is by far the most offensively talented of them. He revolutionized the way the spot was played and paved the way for modern shooting bigs. Tim Duncan was the ultimate hard-worker on both ends of the floor, a guy whose game wasn’t pretty, but that would always get the job done.
Kevin Garnett is definitely the better leader and bigger competitor of them, and one of the few players to ever win the MVP and DPOY awards. In terms of defense, he might as well be the best of them.
As for Anthony Davis, it goes without saying that he’s the best big man on earth right now. He’s an elite shot-blocker and ball-handler and is just getting started. He could end up being the best power forward ever but we should first wait until his career is done. Also, there’s no need to compare and we can all agree that they’re all legends of the game.
