We are reaching that point to where we can finally argue about ‘who had the better career’ at the point where it actually counts. When they’re BOTH retired.
The argument I hate the most is LeBron vs anybody. The guy could still be here in 10 years, you’re arguing over a body of work that isn’t finished yet. You don’t see music magazines rating Kanye’s album just from the tracklist. You don’t see music magazines rating albums based on the singles released. They do it when the body of work is finished. Why do we insist on comparing people against history?
But now that Kobe is in his last season and Duncan, well Lord knows when that guy will run out of steam. It’s nearly time to finally compare Hall Of Fame careers that will forever be intertwined with each other. Kobe Vs Duncan, who ya got? Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (the statistical GOAT) was recently asked to weigh in on the two legends and he went with Duncan.
“Jeez, I would say that Tim Duncan has had a better career just because they’ve been able to win more consistently, and they didn’t have to rely on Tim all the time,” Abdul-Jabbar said during a recent “Conversations with Tyler” interview with Tyler Cowen at George Mason University.
“Kobe has worn his body out. He’s only like 36 years old and he’s worn his body out,” Abdul-Jabbar said. “It’s falling apart because of the stress that he had to do just taking on the load that he did, but he wanted to do it that way. That was that.“
Magic Johnson was told about Kareem’s thoughts and he disagreed, strongly.
“Kareem can have his opinion,” Magic Johnson told SportsCenter on Tuesday. “Both of them won the same amount of championships. I’m always going to be partial to a Laker because I love Kobe, I know him as a man and a person. What he did for the city and for basketball fans all over the world … he was a guy who made these young players work out harder, do more, because he was working out so hard. LeBron, all those guys, followed Kobe Bryant. And he’s been a guy who’s said, ‘Hey guys, this is how you do it,’ and guys have followed.“
Kareem can’t sympathise with Kobe because Kareem was balling even in his last season. He was consistent and you could say that Kareem was Duncan before Duncan. A career based on longevity and efficiency. Sure he wasn’t the most exciting but he got the job done.
Personally I’d say that Kobe had the better career. I’m being strictly professional with that answer. No “Spurs Hater” talk here I swear.
