Mailbag: Duncan vs. Howard

By
Michael De Leon
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0

This week’s mailbag comes from Winston C. who trying to tell his friend just how good Tim Duncan is on the court.

“My friend and I are big time basketball fans. We’re both 15 so we’ve obviously missed part of Duncan’s career. Well I haven’t. I’ve been watching the Spurs since I was 4 and he’s been watching the Rockets since he was 11. Obviously he’s missed a lot of Duncan’s career, but seen a lot of Howard’s. I’d given him stat comparisons between the two players proving Duncan is better and similar stuff. I need professional writers, you guys, to write an article that I can enjoy and share with him proving why Duncan is better AND why Duncan is the best Power forward of All time. I cannot understand why he doesn’t think Duncan is the best power forward of all time. He’s ignorant and needs to be informed. Please help me in this situation. Many thanks guys.” — Winston C.

Winston C,

Thanks for this question and I think it actually deserves a full article on Tim Duncan and Dwight Howard. But to prove your point here are some facts.

Tim Duncan

Rookie of the Year (1997-1998 season)
2 Season MVP (2002,2003)
4 NBA titles with the Spurs (1999, 2003, 2005, 2007).
Named Finals MVP 3 times (1999, 2003, 2005)
Tim Duncan is the only player in NBA history to earn both All-NBA and All-Defensive honors in each of his first 12 seasons.
But more than individual awards, he has led the Spurs to four championships all with different supporting cast around him. That makes him arguably one of the best players to ever play the game.
That’s not to mention that the Spurs have never missed the playoffs since he entered the league and haven’t lost an NBA Finals series. Not a lot players in the NBA can say that, even Michael Jordan missed the playoffs during his basketball career.

Dwight Howard
Defensive Player of the Year (2008-2009 season)
2 All-NBA First Team (2007-08, 2008-09)
1 All-NBA Third Team once (2006-07)
1 All-Defensive Second Team in (2007-08)
Helped the USA capture the Gold Medal at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China.

Howard has been to the NBA Finals last year but his Orlando Magic was defeated by the Los Angeles Lakers. Dwight Howard’s offensive game is not yet polished and relies more on this strength rather than skill when scoring on the post. He also need to learn to be a better passer and work on his free throws.

Bottom line, Howard’s best years may have yet to come while Duncan had already accomplished a lot of individual awards and championships throughout his career. He is a model of consistency that he is still able to average double-double a night and remains one of the best big man in the NBA even at age 33. Tim Duncan is just great.

I could have added the stats comparison, but I think this is more than enough proof to back-up your point. I hope you liked this answer.

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