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Tim Duncan and Kobe Bryant are often compared due to the longevity and success they’ve both achieved in their careers.  They both have won five NBA championships a piece and both did it with one team, Duncan the Spurs and Bryant the Lakers.  Kobe is obviously the more popular player and many have likened him to Michael Jordan, therefore automatically touting him as the better player with the better career.  But that is not a unanimous opinion.  Duncan, also known as the “Big Fundamental”, is considered by some as the best power forward in the history of the NBA and unlike Kobe, he’s still playing at a fairly high level.  Lakers legends Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson were asked to pick who had the better career between Kobe and Tim, they each had a different answer.

“Jeez, I would say that Tim Duncan has had a better career just because they’ve been able to win more consistently, and they didn’t have to rely on Tim all the time,” Abdul-Jabbar said during a recent “Conversations with Tyler” interview with Tyler Cowen at George Mason University.

Another Lakers legend and Hall of Famer, however, disagrees with Abdul-Jabbar’s choice.

“Kareem can have his opinion,” Magic Johnson told SportsCenter on Tuesday. “Both of them won the same amount of championships. I’m always going to be partial to a Laker because I love Kobe, I know him as a man and a person. What he did for the city and for basketball fans all over the world … he was a guy who made these young players work out harder, do more, because he was working out so hard. LeBron, all those guys, followed Kobe Bryant. And he’s been a guy who’s said, ‘Hey guys, this is how you do it,’ and guys have followed.”

Bryant, 37, has averaged 25.1 points over his 19-year career — all with the Lakers. The 39-year-old Duncan, meanwhile, has averaged 19.2 points and 10.9 rebounds in his 18 seasons — all with the Spurs.

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source: ESPN