No beef with Kobe as Bryant tops Tim

Both Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan are all-time greats — that statement is an absolute fact. However, Bryant should be listed higher than Duncan when it comes to ranking the two legendary players in terms of their historic careers.

Bryant is arguably the greatest shooting guard in NBA history since Michael Jordan, with a career average of 25 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.7 assists. He won two scoring titles in his 20-year career, and retired as the Lakers’ all-time leading scorer. Despite only playing the 11th most games in history, Bryant’s 33,643 points rank third all time, behind only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Karl Malone, who played the second and fourth most games, respectively.

Bryant’s career points are also ahead of Michael Jordan by nearly 1,400, and while Duncan wasn’t known as a scorer, it’s still worth mentioning Bryant scored a whopping 7,147 points more than Duncan, who averaged 19.0 points, despite playing 50 fewer games.

Bryant wasn’t just a scorer. The infamous “ball hog” averaged a respectable 4.7 assists and ranks No. 29 in career assists, with 6,306, the highest ranking for a shooting guard. Duncan is credited for his exceptional passing skills, but averaged just 3.0 assists in his career.

In terms of defense, Bryant typically would defend the opposing team’s top guard, while also being asked to carry the load on offense. As a result, Bryant would be required to log heavy minutes. He averaged at least 35 minutes per game 14 times in his career, while Duncan averaged at least 35 minutes a game just seven times, and not once since the 2003-04 season.

While Duncan is billed as one of the greatest two-way players in NBA history, Bryant doesn’t receive the same recognition, despite possessing similar accolades. Bryant, in fact, was named to the All-NBA Defensive First Team more times than Duncan.

His nine selections are tied with Jordan, Kevin Garnett and Gary “The Glove” Payton for the most ever.

The one other knock against Bryant is that he never won a title without Phil Jackson. However, how can this jab even apply when Duncan spent his entire 19-year career under Gregg Popovich? While Duncan may have made the postseason more times than Bryant, thanks to the stability of Pop’s coaching and the Spurs’ strong supporting cast, the two still won the same number championships: five.

Although Duncan may have the slight edge in terms of head-to-head record at 44-39, basketball is a team sport, so that argument holds little value. That’s like saying Adam Morrison is a better player than Steve Nash. Morrison may own a 4-3 record against Nash, and has won two championships to Nash’s zero, but would anyone actually argue this? Of coure not. In terms of personal accolades, Bryant may have won only one MVP award, but he also averaged 35.4 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.5 assists to lead a team with a supporting cast of Smush Parker and Kwame Brown to the playoffs when he controversially lost the MVP race to Nash in 2006. Bryant was also an 18-time All-Star and 11-time AllNBA First-Teamer, surpassing Duncan’s 15 All-Star and 10 All-NBA First Team selections. While both will live on in basketball lore and rank in the top 10, Bryant’s pedestal is slightly higher than Duncan’s. Sorry, Timmy.