Tim Duncan's Case as The Greatest of All Time | Tim Duncan Prime Years

If that was you on the phone and you on the bus then who was flickering the light? Today I wanted to talk about Tim Duncan and his dominance at the power forward position. A subscriber recently pointed this out to me the other day and I'm in total agreement of his point. Tim Duncan is without a doubt the greatest power forward of all time and when we look at all other positions in basketball there's generally a debate as to who's the goat at each position. Anyone considered knowledgeable about basketball would agree with the statement and most people would be hard-pressed to find or even make a case for another power forward. Tim Duncan is the only player in NBA history with such a stranglehold on his position at the same and that same positional dominance which works strongly in his favor as the greatest of all time. At center the case could be made for Kareem, Russell, Wilt, Hakeem, or Shaq. At the small forward position we have players like Larry Bird, LeBron James, Elgin Baylor, Havlicek, Dr. J, and even Scottie Pippen. In the point guard discussion we have Magic, Oscar, Jerry West, and even Isaiah Thomas all with legitimate cases to be the goats at their positions. And then we have shooting guard obviously we have to start with MJ but then you also have Kobe Bryant who many feel is top 10 himself and could arguably be the greatest shooting guard of all time. While I have my own opinions about who's the best at each position at center I have Kareem, small forward I have LeBron, shooting guard I have MJ, and at point guard I have Magic. I could formulate a legitimate debate for multiple players at each position that I just mentioned. However the greatest power forward conversation of all time starts with Tim Duncan and ends with Tim Duncan. Now the case could be made this is partly because the power forward position has been a historically weak position but it's also in large part due to the extended brilliance of Tim Duncan. In terms of playing both ends of the floor no power forward did it better because of the crater size gap between the number two Barkley dirt depending on which area you fall in and that at least gets him to the feast of the greatest of all time. If you're still not even a little bit convinced that Tim Duncan belongs in the argument Duncan as the ultimate teammate is the best case that can be made for him. Duncan's career transition from the incredibly slow tempo the Spurs were famous for playing in the 2000s to one of the highest scoring teams over the last few years. While Phil Jackson had to design an offense as a last-ditch effort to prevent Jordan from being such a ball hog Duncan adapted to any style in any role his team needed. If he needed to lead the offense and score 40 points he did it. If he needed to control the paint and defense and get fast breaks started he did it. You never heard one word one excuse or one complaint out of Tim Duncan he just did what he had to in order to help his team win. Jordan punched Steve Kerr in the face Duncan patted Steve Kerr on the back. Wilt started passing incessantly to avoid fouls because it was in the best interest of his legacy and he was a self-absorbed moron. Tim Duncan deferred to Tony Parker, Minor Ginobili because he knew it would help them win a title and it did. The responsibility of a superstar is essentially twofold you have to be able to carry a franchise you have to be able to make everyone around you better. The ultimate goal of your best player is to make the team as competitive as possible and both those tasks do just that. Duncan proved he could carry a franchise when he won back-to-back MVPs and he also proved over the course of his career that he loved playing with everyone and everyone loves playing with him. You can't say that about MJ or Wilt or even Magic demanding a coach be fired which doesn't exactly scream a good soldier but Duncan only cared about winning and the success of his teammates and aren't those the two most important things for a superstar? Duncan has proved throughout his career that he can play in any system with any type of teammates do everything necessary to win and make everyone around him better. Plus he proved he can do it for 15 plus years and never do anything outside of basketball to jeopardize himself or the organization. What other all-time great can you say that about? Exactly and that along with the fact that he's one of the most talented basketball players to ever grace the earth is why Tim Duncan could and maybe should be considered the greatest NBA player of all time. Love can guarantee that the moment that I get a chance wants to succeed so as a man I gotta take a stance though they don't see it when he's steady trying to stop the vision I'm seeing squares from every angle like a damn prism