What makes Tim Duncan better then Karl Malone?

[TAZORAC]

Malone is never talked about with the greatest players of all time and I don't understand why. Other then the championships (which is a TEAM achievement) what really makes Duncan better then Malone?

[j3lademaster]

Defense.

[ShawkFactory]

The little things. Rotational defense, making the right pass at the right time, getting the big rebound, playing completely egoless.

I'd much rather have him on my team.

[TAZORAC]

Defense.

He had better defense, Malone was more efficient on offense.

[TAZORAC]

The little things. Rotational defense, making the right pass at the right time, getting the big rebound, playing completely egoless.

I'd much rather have him on my team.

If I was a coach, I would actually try to play Malone at the 3

[Kblaze8855]

Positional help defense, reaching his sweet spot between athletic peak and offensive polish much much earlier in his career to maximize his teams true contention, and not being a scumbag.

[jayfan]

If the two had switched teams, would the fate of either team have changed?

Maybe not.

.

[ShawkFactory]

If the two had switched teams, would the fate of either team have changed?

Maybe not.

.

I don't think the Spurs win 5 championships with Malone.

[bizil]

Tim brought a dominant interior center's TWO WAY shit to the PF position. If u lined up Duncan on a peak-prime level SOLELY against centers, only Wilt, Cap, Hakeem, and Shaq FOR SURE would be superior. With the way Embid and Joker is coming on, maybe them too at some point. From there, Tim had some the NEW AGE PF qualities as well. Tim had great handle for his size. He had the midrange game with the fakes, footwork, etc. And he EVEN played some SF in Pop's triple tower lineup with the Admiral at PF and Perdue at center. Tim MADE THAT WORK because he could play AND defend SF at times.

Malone was the ULTIMATE prototype PF! Likely the last true one we will see in that old school mold. U weren't gonna see him SF. And to be frank, I don't recall him playing ANY center at all. So when comparing the two, Duncan was a better defender, had more positional versatility, had a better scoring skillset, and just as good or better rebounder. Scoring wise, you could give Karl the edge. BUT at the same time, I would FEAR Duncan scoring more actually. BECAUSE he was for all intents and purposes a center who played a ton of PF early in his career. And COMMANDED a double team like the all time great centers. So it's Duncan HANDS DOWN as a player. Don't have to think twice about it.

[Patrick Chewing]

Malone >>>> Duncan

[90sgoat]

I don't see why you should make this comparison.

Compare Malone with KG, Barkley and Dirk and I put Malone above all of them for his career.

[tontoz]

Malone was great at what he did but didn't have a lot of variety to his game. He relied on bulldozing his way to the basket to finish/get to the line but didn't have many moves inside. He also got a lot of fast break points and took a lot of midrange jumpers. In the playoffs his limited skillset made him easier to defend when the refs swallowed their whistle.

He was a good defender but not on Duncan's level. He wasnt a guy who could contest/block shots at the rim.

[FireDavidKahn]

Well...he didn't get a 13 year old pregnant.

[Jasper]

If the two had switched teams, would the fate of either team have changed?

Maybe not.

.

I really liked the mailman... truly underrated , but as modern day ISH would say profiled.
Duncan was more of a concept team player , and really if he had to not take a shot and collect 30 rebounds he would of done it.
Mailman fit a team role under Sloan , not to say he was an unsuccessful coach , but the difference was pop vs him.
Malone was expected to fill the basket (pure and simple)

[Round Mound]

Same could be said about Prime & Peak Barkley. What makes Malone better than him? Probably just longevity.

[TheGoatest]

Defense. Plus he wasn't boring to watch. Karl Malone was one of the most boring players in NBA history. Tim Duncan was boring for anyone who doesn't know anything about basketball, but if you knew a thing or two about the game, he was super fun to watch.