Who will go down as a better PF?

Duncan witout a doubt look at his resume n it says it all plain n simple

Wow…thats tough as nails.

I would say Duncan just because he has the championships and has been a stud for a long long time in the league. He’s the model of consistency and fundamentals. Some may argue that Karl Malone may have been a product of John Stockton, but I wont make that argument. Karl Malone is one of the best to play the game. Thats alot tougher than the earlier one or Kidd or Nash.

Yeah, there’s really not much question.

Duncan is a borderline top 10 player ever. Four titles, and he was clearly the best player on every one of those teams.

Malone is probably a top 20 player, but he only even got to the Western Conference Finals three times, and only made the NBA finals twice, and lost both.

If Duncan retires today, he’s already above Malone. And given his production this year, there’s no reason to believe he’s not still adding to his legacy. 

Does anybody really think that Duncan’s Spurs of ’99, ’03, ’05 or ’07 would beat Jordan’s Bulls of ’97 or ’98?

I think the only teams that could beat any Jordan’s Bulls of the 2nd 3 repeat are a Larry Bird or Magic Johnson team when both players were in there primes. So yeah butidonthavemoney I agree none of Duncan’s teams would be able to beat Jordan’s Bulls. Maybe the ’99 team or ’03 cause it was Duncan and Robinson, though we’ll never know.

I’m just saying, we aren’t talking about Monta Ellis vs. Brandon Roy here. Championships shouldn’t make Tim Duncan a better player. Offensively Karl Malone was much better — in terms of scoring, shooting and passing. Malone was one of the most durable players ever. Defensively, it’s probably Duncan, but they were different defenders. At 6’8″ and mostly playing power forward, Malone did his defense below the basket, as he is one of the all-time leaders in steals. He rebounded the ball well, but Duncan averaged one more rebound per game through his career than Malone. Duncan was the outstanding rim-defender while Malone was not as capable of being a shotblocker.

thats already been answered. they have been saying for years now that tim duncan is the best power foward ever. its the same as asking who the best player ever is

"Offensively, Malone was much better."

What? Much better? Maybe a more natural scorer, but no way was he "much better" offensively.

PER, which measures primarily offensive statistics, has Duncan at 25.1, eighth-best all-time, and Malone at 23.9, 13th-best all-time.

Duncan is a better offensive rebounder and makes marginally more out of his possessions. Offensively, yes, I’d give the edge to Malone. But it’s not at all a wide margin.

Worth considering: In the playoffs, Duncan’s PER is 26.1. Malone’s is 21.1. Should we not factor in which player was better when it mattered most?

Finally, in terms of Win Shares, an offensive and defensive metric, Duncan has rung up 159.6 in 951 games. Malone had 234.6 in 1476. Win Shares per games played, another good method of ranking players over extended periods, would then suggest what I believe most of us could agree is the case: Duncan was a marginally better regular season player.

And in the playoffs, it’s not so marginal at all. Duncan has more win shares in fewer games played in the playoffs than Malone.

As far as the argument: "Could any of Duncan’s teams beat Jordan’s teams?" Not a fair question, but I still think the 1999 Spurs, which went 37-13 in a lockout-shortened season then lost just twice in the playoffs, could have contended with those Jordan-led teams.

I’m not say they would have won. I’m just saying they could have. 

Offensively, Malone scored more points, shot better percentages from the field, the three and free-throws. He was also a better passer than Duncan was. Put them all together and Malone was a much better offensive player. Duncan played with more talent, so that could be a factor, but if he played with more talent then why wasn’t he as efficient as Malone was?

I don’t know what PER and Win Shares mean. So I guess you win there.

I didn’t say it was an argument. I was simply trying to point out that Karl Malone is a winner as well. Championships don’t make the player. Chanucy Billups was the best player on his team when they won they championship. Does that make him better than Stock?

I’m 100% biased, so I won’t say Karl Malone was better than Tim Duncan. But no matter what mysterious-stats you throw into the conversation Malone will always be the best power-forward ever to me.

titles will always be a determining factor in being the best ever. not just in basketball but in all sports.

I have to go with Timmy on this one. Titles are definitely a determining factor, especially in basketball over all sports as we’ve seen superstars bring championships in this sport unlike any other. 5 guys on the court vs 12 or 9. Also I don’t think TD had much better talent around him. I take Stockton over Parker by such a wide margin it covers for Gino being better than Horny. Obviously there are a ton of other guys involved but I don’t think there is as big of a gap as you think.

i think they are the two best pf’s of all time. I will go with duncan, but i have gone back and forth and think it is closer then some people say. As much as i talk about the evolution of the game and how guys who were stars in the 80’s and 90’s might not translate quite as well today, malone is an exception. He would still be every bit as dominant today. He was a better shooter, passer and ran the court better then Duncan. But duncan was able to impact the game more by having a dominant post game and being a better defender. I think Duncan is the answer, but I’m amazed at how well malone played all the way until he was 40 years old.

Malone was a great player… His offensive game is well talked about, but he was also a very good defender despite not being a shot blocker. He was very productive for a long time due to being built like a tank and having a complete game.

I have to go with Duncan though. He has four rings and three NBA Finals MVPs… Two regular season MVPs. He’s done and won everything you can in the NBA. He could retire right now and still be considered the greatest power forward of all time.

Duncan has been the center since David Robinson left. How can he not be considered the center , any team he plays he guards and is guarded by the other teams center. I do think he is better than Malone, but he is not a PF

Duncan spurs could never beat the ’98 bulls not even the ’01 Lakers but Duncan will go down as the better player why is that even a question

actually that is a trick question but in all honesty Duncan should be a center. Dude is center height and size but he played a the power forward position where he was too much for most power forwards. Even if you dont like Malone, you have to give him his due and he was great at basketball and I think despite his not winning a championship, he is not that far behind Duncan who should be listed at Center. That is like me saying Shaq or Hakeem is the best power forward ever. Hakeem actually played power forward i believe a few year next to Ralph Sampson and he was actually maybe shorter than Duncan by an inch or so.

actually that is a trick question but in all honesty Duncan should be a center. Dude is center height and size but he played a the power forward position where he was too much for most power forwards. Even if you dont like Malone, you have to give him his due and he was great at basketball and I think despite his not winning a championship, he is not that far behind Duncan who should be listed at Center. That is like me saying Shaq or Hakeem is the best power forward ever. Hakeem actually played power forward i believe a few year next to Ralph Sampson and he was actually maybe shorter than Duncan by an inch or so.

Tim Duncan = championships

even if karl havent won a championship.. em gonna go with him as the question is who’s the better PF. tim almost played C the whole time.. and malone’s time is the jordan era. lol

I don’t understand why you guys are having an argument over what position Tim Duncan plays. In my opinion, Tim Duncan is a big man, and one of the best big men to ever play the game, slightly better than “The Mailman.”

Duncan has played center and has basically been considered a center for years. He guards centers and is guarded by centers, to me the equals a center. He is even listed as center on team pages.

IS THE BEST PF THAT EVER PLAYED GAME,AND IM NOT EVEN HIS FAN …. MAN PLAYED HIS HEART OUT …. MALONE IS SECOND BEST BUT WHAT DO YOU THINK HOW MANY POINTS WOULD HE HAD IF HE DIDNT PLAYED WITH STOCKTON?

Duncan all the way his productivity is incredible, and the spurs don’t have any rings without him, Malone is definitely number 2 in the league, but he had one of the best point guards to ever play its just like nash and amare… except malone is actually good at basketball, they are made better ny their PGs

Please don’t compare Amare to the Mailman…

While I agree that if you were to categorize the two, Duncan would be a center while Malone would be a power forward, the truth is, positions are pretty irrelevant.

Duncan is guarded by a team’s best post defender, regardless of what position that player is listed at. He also guards a team’s best post scorer, regardless of what position that player is listed it.

Malone did the same, with the exceptions being occasional 7-plus footers. 

lets also take into account that duncan won 4 championships in an with shaq and kobe led teams. now its not playing against mj but i think we can agree that 4 championships in an era with shaq and kobe teams isnt a walk in the park. and if im not mistaken the spurs won the championship before and the championship after the lakers 3peat when the lakers were still very good. and i agree malone was a better offensive player but not on the level its being explained. tim duncan is a very good passer a better offensive rebounder and was a traditional post player. i think td hands down is the better pf but thats not knocking malone because he is very good.