When we talk about Tim Duncan, most people refer to him as the greatest power forward ever. Others say he’s the best center in the history of the game, and others just sum it up as the ultimate big man.
Whatever the case it may be, it’s kind of funny to think that even though Duncan is almost unanimously considered the best ever on his position, we don’t bring his name up when entering the GOAT debate. That literally makes no sense at all.
I mean, if he has the resume, the numbers, the recognition, the Championships, then why don’t we acknowledge him as – at least – a top-5 player in the history of the game? It’ll only make sense if he’s the best one to ever play one spot, doesn’t it?
That’s why redditor MidnightLightss brought up the subject for debate. If Ray Allen hadn’t knocked down that epic three-pointer in Game 6 of the 2013 NBA Finals and Duncan had won the Finals MVP award, where would he be ranked among the all-time greats? Let’s put it into context.
Duncan averaged a team-high 18.9 points, 12.1 rebounds (also a team-high), 1.4 assists, 0.9 steals, and 1.4 blocks per game on 49% shooting, so it’s pretty safe to assume that he’d be named Finals MVP if the Spurs had gotten the job done in that series.
That would have meant that Tim Duncan would have tied Michael Jordan’s record of 6-0 in the Finals. Also, he would have had 4 Finals MVP under his belt, trailing only Jordan (6) for the most all-time.
Moreover, Duncan would have retired with 6 NBA Championships, tying Bob Cousy, Michael Jordan, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Scottie Pippen and trailing just Robert Horry and those players from the Bill Russell’s Celtics era, which most modern hoops fans don’t really take into account when talking about the GOAT.
Duncan also had 15 All-Star Game appearances, 1 All-Star MVP, 2 MVPs, the Rookie of the Year award, 15 All-NBA selections, 15 All-Defensive selections, 1 bronze medal in the Olympics, and 2 FIBA Championship gold medals.
The Big Fundamental scored 26,496 career points (14th all-time), 15,091 rebounds (6th all-time), and 3,020 blocks (5th all-time).
Duncan holds the record for most wins with one team (1,001), second-most minutes played in the playoffs (9,370), most blocks in the playoffs (568), and second-most playoffs games (251) He’s also the all-time leader in Spurs history in points, minutes, rebounds, blocks, games, field goals, among others.
If Duncan had won in 2013, LeBron James would’ve been 1-5 in the Finals, 2-7 now. So it would have also had a great impact on his legacy, for sure. So, if it wasn’t for Ray Allen’s last-second shot, where would you rank Tim Duncan amongst the all-time greats, all things considered?
