Timothy Theodore Duncan was born on April 25, 1976, in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands.
Earvin Johnson Jr. was born on August 14, 1959 in Lansing, Michigan.
Now, one aspect of my 2018 list that caused criticism and consternation was that I had Duncan too high and Earvin too low. So, I am not afraid to consider this criticism, and I have thought about it for 3 years. Obviously, not much has changed and we are in the top 6 and both guy are still around (so, I am not dropping Duncan) and there is no way Magic goes up above #5, so we are where we are.
5 titles
3 Finals MVPs
Over .200 WS/48
The cornerstone of a franchise for over a decade.
These are stats/awards/status shared by both Magic and Duncan.
What is the case for Magic? Magic went to more Finals (9) than Duncan (6). Magic was a superior offensive player. Magic, in fact, is arguably the greatest offensive player of all-time. Of players who played at least 20,000 minutes of their career during 1980-91, Magic absolutely destroys the field in OBPM and ORtg, whipping guys known specifically for their offense (Dantley, Wilkins) and coming out far superior to Bird. https://stathead.com/tiny/hQBR1
He has one more regular season MVP than Duncan. He is 5th in MVP Award Shares while Duncan is 9th.
Even more interesting for Magic is the fact that he was showing no noticeable decline in 1991 and may have actually been a BETTER player in some ways than when he was young. It is possible that Magic puts up another 70 WS and another 50 VORP if able to play 1992-98. Magic, really, was headed for a career like LeBron's.
He got HIV.
Whether you "blame" Magic for that or not, the fact is, he had a 15 WS/8 VORP season in 1991 and he was going to be 32 years old. It is altogether possible that Magic could have been the #1 player of all-time. But he is not. He is, as a result of HIV, 14th in VORP and 24th in WS, while he is 3rd in BPM and 9th in WS/48. OK, so that is Magic.
Duncan? Well, he is THIRTY TIMES either All-NBA or All-Defense. 30x. Think about that. Gary Payton is like 18x. Duncan - 30x. That is just silly. He was the anchor for the Spurs on defense from 1998 to 2016. He is second all-time in Defensive Win Shares behind Bill Russell. Duncan won titles while competing against the Shaq/Kobe Lakers. He beat LeBron's team twice in the Finals. He has one more first-team All-NBA than does Magic. Magic played with Kareem, who is a top 4 all-time player. Duncan never played with a top 4 all-time player and still won the same number of titles.
I rank Tim Duncan so high on my list because I see him as sort of our generation's Bill Russell, except he could score. In 1999 and 2003 and 2005, Duncan carried his team to the title...on both ends. In 2003, Duncan had 5.9 playoff WS. That is the most ever registered in any playoff year. Then he won in 2007 against a terrible Cavs team. By 2013 and 2014, he had reloaded with new guys and was winning again.
So, how good was Tim Duncan? Awfully, awfully good. And if you want to nitpick, he got the most first-place MVP votes twice, as did Magic (Magic's 3rd MVP was the only time the guy getting fewer first-place votes won).
I thought about it, but I am sticking with Duncan. Duncan is one of the best defensive layers if all-time. Magic? 0 All-defense awards and absolutely no one ever promoted him for one. Longevity and defense need to be rewarded somewhere. I think this is as good of a place as any.
#6 - Magic Johnson
#5 - Tim Duncan
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