The dichotomy between the two was the stuff that always makes for compelling rivals. Shaq - freakishly athletic (underrated fundamentally), pure charisma in front of the public. Timmy - freakishly fundamental (underrated athletically), amazingly low key and private in public. But both players changed opposition game plans on offense and defense just by being on the floor, and elevated any team they were on to contender status.
It can't come close to matching the pure wattage and draw of Bird vs. Magic, but look at what each duo accomplished: Bird and Magic won 8 titles (3-5). For 10 consecutive seasons ('80-'89), anyone watching the NBA Finals was watching one of those two. Shaq and Duncan won 8 titles (4-4), and for 9 consecutive years ('99-07), people turned on the NBA Finals and watched one of these two.
When people look back, both of these guys are considered all timers, and potentially the best ever at their positions. But in the age of Sportscenter, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out why most people prefer this over this. Hopefully, people can remember that though they went about it different ways, both were scoring two points, and achieving greatness.
It would be interesting to see just Shaq's first 14 years against what Duncan has done over his 14 year career. It is not hard to argue that Shaq overstayed his welcome for a few years. Would the comparison look much different? (By the way, I agree with your post this time.)
ReplyDeleteIt was hard for me to justify anything other than taking their careers in sum. I could cut off Shaq's career numbers after the '06 title, but three other teams thought he could be the missing piece to a title team after '06 (Suns, Cavs, Celtics).
ReplyDeletePlus, if I did that for Shaq, wouldn't I have to give the same benefit to Duncan's numbers, and cut off '10-11? Keep in mind, Timmy made the All-Star team, All-Defense team, and All-NBA team in EVERY season he played until this past one.