NBA All-Time Greats: Duncan leads the way as 2000s present some tough decisions

The NBA has always had loads of talent.

The caliber of player went to another level at the turn of the century. 

In the 2000s, you had small guards who’d dunk on the biggest guy on the court. You had 7-footers who handled the ball like those small guards. The game expanded globally, as some of the best players in the league didn’t play high school or college ball in the states.

The game expanded domestically, too, with teams in smaller media markets making savvy moves to turn those squads into contenders. 

A lot of changes took place in the 2000s. 

The league’s flagship channel, NBATV, debuted in late 1999. Annual revenues went from $2 billion prior to the lockout-shortened 1999 season to $4 billion by 2009. The league jumped from NBC to ESPN in a new TV rights deal that began in 2002. We also had one of the more controversial nights in league history.

The decade, too, saw the ascent of some of the very best players of all time. The 2000s is easily the most difficult in this series to rank players. 

I did my best, though. As usual, position is not a factor in the rankings.

We start the 2000s with the best power forward of all time.

Tim Duncan

It was either Duncan or Kobe for the top spot. I went back and forth on it before settling on Duncan. Tim and Kobe are both top-12 players of all time. Duncan, though, was the more consistent winner. Duncan’s teams averaged at least 50 wins every full season they played. Duncan’s Spurs never missed the playoffs. San Antonio didn’t three-peat or repeat like Kobe’s Lakers did, but Duncan’s teams were never not a factor in the title chase. The Spurs in the decade went 3-0 in the Finals, adding to a title win in 1999. In 18 seasons, Duncan-led teams failed to advance past the first round of the playoffs only three times. Duncan was injured late in the 1999-00 season and didn’t play in the postseason. In the best period for power forwards in NBA history, Duncan stood tall among giants. Better than Dirk Nowitzki. Better than Kevin Garnett. Better than Chris Webber and Rasheed Wallace. Duncan was such a consistently good player he was boring. He didn’t have the individual highs Kobe had, but Duncan didn’t have the lows, either. Duncan in the 2000s averaged between 18.6 and 25.5 points per game. He averaged double digits rebounds in every season of the decade. Duncan earned back-to-back MVP awards in 2002 and 2003, the second coming in a year that saw the Spurs win their second title. Duncan earned All-NBA and All-Defensive team honors every year of the decade, including seven first-team nods for each honor. Duncan never won Defensive Player of the Year despite consistently being one of the best individual and help defenders in the NBA. Duncan’s play in the decade hasn’t gone unnoticed. Simply put, he’s the best power forward to ever play the game.

Kobe Bryant

Kobe Bryant was a maniac. I mean that in the best way possible. He was a maniacal worker. A maniacal teammate. That’s what pushed Kobe to become one of the very best basketball players of all time. Kobe for much of his career was considered a loner who didn’t try to relate to teammates. How could he? Bryant came into the league as an 18-year-old prodigy. He took his lumps too. But the 2000s saw Kobe put it all together, on the court, at least. Kobe in the decade was the best or second-best player on four championship teams. He added another title in 2010 — a title that meant a lot to Bryant. His scoring barrages will go down in history: 81 points in 2006, 62 points in three quarters in 2002. Kobe made a lot of big plays in the decade too. His real coming out party came in overtime of Game 4 of the 2000 NBA Finals, as Bryant led LA to a 3-1 series lead after Shaq fouled out. Kobe’s play over the entire 2001 West Finals has been forgotten a bit, when he averaged 33.3/7/7 as the Lakers swept the Spurs. The run with Shaq famously ended badly. Shaq was dealt to Miami in 2004, instantly turning the Heat into a contender. Kobe paid for it early, as the Lakers missed the playoffs in 2005 and were bounced in the first round in 2006 and 2007. Ironically, the 2006 and 2007 seasons were Kobe’s best statistical seasons. A February 2008 trade for versatile Memphis forward Pau Gasol gave Kobe a second act. The Lakers got to the Finals the first three years after the Gasol trade, winning titles in 2009 and 2010. Kobe earned Finals MVP honors both years. Kobe in the decade won two scoring titles. His teams played in six Finals. He won league MVP in 2008 and you could argue he should have won in 2006. Only Duncan in the decade could match Bryant’s success. Bryant’s influence can be seen throughout the league. His shoes are the most popular among players, who also try to mimic his moves. I only wish he were still here to see it.

Shaquille O’Neal

Shaq’s run to start the decade needs to be discussed more. O’Neal won the 2000 MVP in runaway fashion. He won three straight Finals MVP awards from 2000-02. Shaq showed his two-way ability at the highest level to start the 2000s, earning his only three All-Defensive nods in 2000, 2001 and 2003. Outside of Wilt Chamberlain, O’Neal is probably the most unstoppable force the league has ever seen. He was a force of nature who couldn’t be stopped. Well, almost. Shaq in the decade reached similar levels of success as Duncan and Bryant. O’Neal won four championships in the 2000s and played in another Finals in 2004. The 2004 run would be his last with Bryant by his side. It’s still unclear why the duo split: LA didn’t wanna pay Shaq, Bryant didn’t want to be in his shadow. Who knows. In the end, it actually kind of worked out for both of them. O’Neal won another title in 2006 with Miami, and Bryant won two more with LA. The 2000s as a whole represented the last half of O’Neal’s career. He earned eight all-NBA nods, including seven straight first-team honors. He finished in the top three of the MVP vote four times in six years. Shaq played on four teams after leaving the Lakers: Miami, Phoenix, Cleveland and Boston. All were seen as contenders with O’Neal, despite his advanced age. He could never capture the success he found early in the decade. O’Neal is one of the best characters the league’s ever had. He’s one of the five best centers of all time and the best center of the last 30 years. 

Dirk Nowitzki

This was another tough choice. It was either Dirk or Garnett here. Nowitzki gets the nod because of consistent success as his team’s number one option. The 7-foot-tall Dirk in the 2000s earned eight All-NBA nods, including four first-team selections. Nowitzki’s skillset resembled that of Larry Bird. Dirk was a big with 25-foot range who could also kill you from the block when he wanted. He developed one of the more recognizable shots in league history, with the one-legged fadeaway. He won league MVP in 2007 after leading the Mavericks to 67 wins. The team suffered an infamous lost to the eight-seed Golden state Warriors in the first round of the 2007 playoffs. Nowitzki-led teams won at least 50 games every season of the decade, and eclipsed 60 wins three times. Dallas before Nowitzki was drafted in 1998 made the playoffs just six times in 20 years as a franchise and won four playoff series. The Mavericks missed the playoffs 10 straight years from 1991 to 2000. Dirk-led Dallas teams made 12 straight playoff trips from 2001 to 2012. Dallas in the 2000s won nine playoff series and advanced to the Finals in 2006, where it blew a 2-0 lead to Miami. Dirk got his ring in 2011, against Miami, which changed the perception of his career. It shouldn’t have taken that for anyone to realize how great Nowitzki was. 

LeBron James

James is the only player drafted in the 2000s in the grouping. He’s quite possibly the most hyped prospect in league history, with only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar being able to stake claim to that title. James was a star right out of the gate. James as a rookie in the 2003-04 season averaged 20/5/5. At the time, only Oscar Robertson and Michael Jordan had done that. His scoring average jumped by nearly 7 points per game in his second year. He averaged better than 31 points a game in his third year. James for the decade also averaged better than 7 rebounds and 7 assists a game. He’s quite possibly the best all-around player of all time. He’s built like Karl Malone, but plays like a combo of Magic and Bird. James made five All-Star teams in the decade. It took a couple of years, but he led mediocre rosters to the playoffs every year from 2006 to 2009. James locked up a place among the best in the league with his performance against the Detroit Pistons in the 2007 East Finals, highlighted by a historic performance in Game 5. James closed out the decade by winning his first MVP award. He’d go on to win three more. James at the end of the decade was showing signs of becoming an all-timer.

Honorable mention

Kevin Garnett: Garnett not making the first team is a result of the wealth of talent in the league in the 2000s. Individually, he’s a top-20 player of all-time. Minnesota with Garnett only got out of the first round of the playoffs once, and the team missed the playoffs entirely the last three years of his Timberwolves tenure. Still, KG could do it all on both ends, and his intensity was unmatched.

Steve Nash: back-to-back MVP who breathed life back into the game in the middle part of the decade. 

Allen Iverson: Iverson is one of the most popular players of all time. He’s probably no taller than 5-foot-9 and weighs about 160 pounds, but that never stopped him from battling. His 2001 run will never be forgotten, as Iverson (league MVP that season) led a team of role players to the Finals.

Ben Wallace: The best defensive player of his era. Wallace in the decade won four Defensive Player of the Year awards.

Chris Webber: Webber made four straight All-NBA teams to start the decade. In 2001, he earned first-team honors over Garnett and Nowitzki.

Jason Kidd: Kidd probably should have won an MVP during his time with the New Jersey Nets. Kidd led the Nets to back-to-back Finals appearances in 2002 and 2003.

Tracy McGrady: Though it never translated to playoff success, McGrady was easily one of the best, most exciting players of the decade. McGrady earned seven straight All-NBA nods from 2001 to 2008.

Dwyane Wade: Wade turned the Heat into a contender as soon as he arrived in Miami. He led the team to a playoff series win as a rookie. With O’Neal, Miami won its first title in 2006. The team struggled the following four seasons, never advancing past the first round of the playoffs. Wade, Finals MVP in 2006, earned four All-NBA nods.

Paul Pierce: I hope Pierce doesn’t feel a way about being below Wade. Pierce in the decade trailed only Bryant, Nowitzki and Iverson in total points scored. He sealed his Hall of Fame case with the 2008 title and Finals MVP.

Tomorrow: the 2010s