NBA Player Of The Decade

The decade is nearing its end, and it has been 10 years of basketball excitement. Years of glorious players, teams, and plays have all come to an end as the 2000's is in the books. However, through all of these years, there have been a few elite players that have come as their own, sitting atop basketball's throne. Who is the player of the decade?
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The Candidates
When you look at today's game, the way it stands, there have been quite a few players that people would label as the game's best players. You have LeBron James, Dwight Howard, Kobe Bryant, and Dwayne Wade. Those 4 are the game's biggest names. They sell jerseys, win games, and bring huge success to their teams.

As much as that is true, 3 of the 4 players (Dwight Howard, LeBron James, and Dwayne Wade) weren't around for the full decade, as James and Wade were drafted in 2003, and Howard entered the league in 2004.

So, take them out of the equation. That leaves Kobe Bryant. However, not just only Kobe, but quite a few players who aren't the game's biggest names today, but sure have dominated over the course of this decade.

After rounding down candidates, I am left with two players in mind that qualify for the player of the decade: Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan.
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The Numbers
Kobe Bryant - 28.2 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 5.1 assists
Tim Duncan - 21.2 ppg, 11.7 rpg, 3.3 assists

From those statistics, it's quite clear that Kobe Bryant beats Tim Duncan in the scoring category, which fits Kobe's portfolio, and Tim Duncan leads the two big time when it comes to rebounds, which makes sense as well. The assists are definitely a bit closer, but Kobe edges Tim out by about 2 dimes a game.

Those are their statistics in terms of their contributions on the court. How about the hardware?

Kobe Bryant - 4 NBA titles and 1 MVP
Tim Duncan - 3 NBA titles and 2 MVPs

Kobe is one up on Tim when it comes to the NBA championships, but Duncan has Kobe's number with 1 more MVP.
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The Verdict
This is definitely a tough question. They both brought perennial success for their teams during this decade, and both have had a spectacular decade. However, if I were to choose one, it should be Kobe Bryant. This is only because of the fact that he has had consistency over the past decade. He has always had an amazing season, for 10 straight years, while Duncan has fallen off a bit over the past couple of seasons. If Tim were to continue the consistent play that he had for about 8 years, then this would be so hard that I most likely would've given it to both. Not only that, but Kobe Bryant is somewhat of a fierce warrior. He yells at his guys to play better. He punishes himself if he has an off game. He is loud about his opinions of what's happening on the court. Tim Duncan has always been known as a quiet guy.

So, with that being said NBA's player of the decade for the 2000's is shooting guard for the Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe Bryant.