To an average NBA fan, hearing this statement may not be as surprising. Tim Duncan was never as famous as Kobe Bryant, and he did not have that killer mentality to carry the team on his back alone to multiple championships. However, Tim Duncan was arguably one of the best power forwards to ever play the game of basketball and had a better career overall than Bryant.
Victor Wembanyama, who is the Spurs’ next ray of hope after Duncan’s retirement, agrees with the average NBA fan’s sentiment that Kobe Bryant had a better NBA career than Tim Duncan. The Spurs’ star did a live Q&A session for the team’s Instagram page, where he was asked to pick between Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan.
“Tim Duncan or Kobe? Tough question. Probably Kobe All-Time… Eh, actually, I don’t know.”
While the Spurs’ phenom’s gut response was Kobe Bryant, he tracked back on his words, seemingly realizing the significance of what he was saying. Wembanyama was letting his personal bias get in the way of an objective answer. He personally idolizes the Lakers legend, and hence, that seemed to have clouded his initial response.
Let’s first objectively compare the two players and their careers.
Tim Duncan played 19 seasons for the Spurs, during which he averaged 19.0 points, 10.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 2.2 blocks. He had 15 All-Star selections, won five NBA championships, three Finals MVP Awards, and two MVP Awards in his career, along with the Rookie of the Year Award.
Kobe Bryant played 20 seasons for the Lakers, during which he averaged 25.0 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 4.7 assists. He had 18 All-Star selections, making him more consistent as a fan favorite than Duncan over the years. Bryant won five NBA championships just like Duncan.
He had only one regular-season MVP award and two Finals MVP awards, falling behind Duncan in both categories. Allen Iverson won the Rookie of the Year over Kobe Bryant; therefore, Duncan beats him in that accomplishment as well. They were both inducted into the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame in 2020.
It is a commonly assumed fact about basketball that offense is more pleasing to the masses than defense. That is why fans always prefer scorers over better defenders, despite the defense’s ability to win championships. Therefore, fans have always preferred scorers like Michael Jordan over legendary defenders like Bill Russell.
While Bryant was a bigger fan-favorite because he scored and assisted more than Duncan, Duncan managed to be more effective than Bryant throughout his career as a team player.
It does not matter how much Bryant’s ability to carry his team on his shoulders has been glorified; at the end of the day, basketball is a team sport, and Duncan was a better teammate and had a better career than Bryant overall. It is a different question altogether to say how they would perform in a one-on-one game, but as a team sport, Duncan definitely accomplished more in his career.
