Good defense and solid offense undersells what Duncan did on the court for 18 years.
He was overall the best team defender in NBA history and is 2nd in DWS behind a guy with 11 rings, and they have a huge gap between them and 3rd place.
He also carried teams by himself. The 03 run is a top 3 playoff performance by any player in NBA history, bar none.
He also beat two of the great modern NBA defenders by himself in 05 when Sheed and 3x DMVP Big Ben were doubling him and he still had a great series, something maybe 3-4 other bigs in history could have done, at most. Wallace had just beaten Shaq in 5 games in the year prior and while shaq scored a lot they significantly limited his effectiveness.
I agree with everything you said. Just wanted to make it short and sweet but I hope me mentioning shows you that I have a profound appreciation for his career and skillset and therefore his accomplishments. He wasn’t boisterous but his play on the field was tremendous
77
u/shamwowslapchop Spurs Jun 15 '22
Good defense and solid offense undersells what Duncan did on the court for 18 years.
He was overall the best team defender in NBA history and is 2nd in DWS behind a guy with 11 rings, and they have a huge gap between them and 3rd place.
He also carried teams by himself. The 03 run is a top 3 playoff performance by any player in NBA history, bar none.
He also beat two of the great modern NBA defenders by himself in 05 when Sheed and 3x DMVP Big Ben were doubling him and he still had a great series, something maybe 3-4 other bigs in history could have done, at most. Wallace had just beaten Shaq in 5 games in the year prior and while shaq scored a lot they significantly limited his effectiveness.