“Tim Duncan Had Help” – Despite 5 Championships, Spurs Legend Loses Top Spot to Celtics Vet

Playing your entire NBA career with a single franchisee definitely makes you the fan favorite. That’s what Tim Duncan did while playing 19 years of his career with the San Antonio Spurs. Yet it seems his foe during that time won’t consider him great. On the latest episode of his podcast, Rasheed Wallace had the Boston Celtics veteran as a favorite over Duncan.

Wallace won his only championship with the Detroit Pistons in 2004. While speaking on the Sheed & Tyler show, Wallace debated the better power forward. And he picked the Celtics star over 5x NBA champion. He explained that it comes down to Duncan having more help during the prime of his career. Wallace stated, “He (Duncan) had a great line of veterans when he first came into the league. D-Rob (David Robinson), Avery Johnson, Sean Elliott, Mario Elie. That’s a great lineup of veterans.”

Wallace chose Kevin Garnett because of his time with the Minnesota Timberwolves. According to him, Garnett had more responsibility since the Timberwolves were not an established team. “KG because KG carried that team. He carried Minnesota. Tim Duncan had help in his prime,” Wallace said.

When people talk about Wolves, they remember KG and that’s not the case for Spurs about Duncan. As per Wallace, there have been better players at Spurs from the very beginning. However, Garnett had to be the one to set the standards, and he did it well.

“I don’t know if he (Duncan) would have been able to carry a team early on the way that KG did,” he said. “He [Duncan] got to grow into it. From the prime, from the door, I would say KG.” But the comparison didn’t stop there as Wallace once again chose KG.

Wallace favored KG over Tim Duncan for another question

Rasheed Wallace never backed down from any challenge. Going up against other power forwards and that made him better as a competitor. So for choosing his favorite player to compete against he once again chose KG.

“He was a mirror image of me, except the difference is, I think I have a better jump shot, and he’s a better rebounder. But we both have that tenacity on defense, both of us gonna talk our sh**…It was always great matchups with him. I think that’s what helped make me the player that I am,” Wallace on Garnett.

Interestingly, KG and Wallace faced off 50 times during their careers. And their record was split evenly, with each player winning 25 times. But Duncan had a better record against Wallace. They faced each other a total of 49 times in NBA games. Tim Duncan has a 29-20 winning record over Rasheed Wallace, including an 8-3 record in Playoffs.

Stay tuned for more such updates, and to follow what Shaq’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato had to say about the marketing genius, watch this video.