Hello everyone, and happy NBA All-Star break to you all, hope you enjoyed it.
After the record setting all-star game, the Inside the NBA crew on TNT revealed the winner of their last category of the “TNT Decade Awards”, the “TNT NBA Player of the Decade”. The winner was Kobe Bryant, who received an outstanding 54% of the vote. Second place went to LeBron James at 17% with O’neal and Duncan taking third and fourth place. After Bryant was unveiled, I took a minute to ponder the results to make sure everything “added up”. And believe it or not, Kobe Bryant taking first place was not the thing that shook a core in me. The thing that did take a toll on me was the fact that Shaquille O’neal , Tim Duncan, and Kevin Garnett all finished behind LeBron James for player of the decade. If I were the one deciding who was in the poll, I’d put Allen Iverson in the top six no questions asked. The race for first was between Duncan, O’neal and Bryant. Most of the TNT crew disagreed with the fact that Kobe won player of the decade, except for Kenny who stated that Kobe was the best player for the second half of the decade while Shaq and Duncan ruled during the first. With that in my mind I have decided to break it down as to who I feel deserved player of the decade and why. Who should it be?
Please Read: The lower the total score, the better. I only ranked the 5 guys that should have been considered for player of the decade.
2000: 1 Shaquille O’neal, 2 Tim Duncan, 3 Kobe Bryant, 4 Kevin Garnett, 5 Steve Nash
2001: 1 Shaquille O’neal, 2 Tim Duncan, 3 Kobe Bryant, 4 Kevin Garnett, 5 Steve Nash
2002: 1 Shaquille O’neal, 2 Tim Duncan, 3 Kobe Bryant, 4 Kevin Garnett, 5 Steve Nash
2003: 1 Tim Duncan, 2 Shaquille O’neal, 3 Kevin Garnett , 4 Kobe Bryant, 5 Steve Nash
2004: 1 Kevin Garnett, 2 Tim Duncan, 3, Kobe Bryant, 4, Shaquille O’neal, 5 Steve Nash
2005: 1 Steve Nash, 2 Tim Duncan, 3 Shaquille Oneal, 4 Kevin Garnett, 5 Kobe Bryant
2006: 1 Kobe Bryant, 2 Steve Nash, 3 Shaquille O’neal, 4 Kevin Garnett, 5 Tim Duncan
2007: 1 Kobe Bryant, 2 Kevin Garnett, 3 Steve Nash, 4 Tim Duncan, 5 Shaquille O’neal
2008: 1 Kobe Bryant, 2 Kevin Garnett, 3 Tim Duncan, 4 Steve Nash, 5 Shaquille O’neal
2009: 1 Kobe Bryant, 2 Kevin Garnett, 3 Tim Duncan, 4 Shaquille O’neal, 5 Steve Nash
Sum Totals:
1. Kobe Bryant: 25
2. Tim Duncan: 26
3. Shaquille Oneal: 27
4. Kevin Garnett: 30
5. Steve Nash: 39
Yes, in fact , I do agree with the fans (for once), that Kobe Bryant was the best player of the decade, in fact my first article was about the top 10 players of the decade. Regardless I believe Shaq was the most dominant player this decade, Tim Duncan was the most consistent player this decade, but I believe that Kobe Bryant was the most memorable player of this decade. Starting off with 3 championships, then the playoff disappointments, the feuds with Shaq, the rape accusation, then single-handedly willing his team to the playoffs, and then when you didn’t think he could fall any lower, he does geting to the point where he says he wants out of L.A. , and then climbing back to the top, and capping off the decade with a championship, I don’t know about you, but I strongly agree that Kobe Bryant is a worthy player of the decade. What do you think? Comment your thoughts/opinions on the whole player of the decade down below, thanks for reading guys.
February 22, 2010 at 9:09 AM |
Agreed. I think Kobe is the player of the decade, but seriously, you and I share the same annoyance with the vote totals. Tim Duncan and Shaq behind Lebron? WHAT??