SAN ANTONIO — It has been debated countless times: Who had the better career? Tim Duncan or Kobe Bryant?
Both NBA legends have a strong argument why one should be ranked higher than the other.
The San Antonio Spurs legend won five titles, as did Bryant. However, Duncan has three NBA Finals MVP trophies while Bryant has two.
Duncan was named back-to-back NBA MVP in 2002 and 2003 while Bryant won the award once in 2008.
Bryant was part of a Lakers three-peat while Duncan was never part of a title-defending Spurs team.
The comparisons go on and on, but in Fox Sports' Nick Wright's opinion, Duncan gets the nod over Bryant.
During a recent "First Things First" episode, Wright shared his personal top 50 NBA players of the last 50 years list.
When it came to him placing Duncan over Bryant, he said the San Antonio basketball legend was consistently winning, racking up 50-plus win seasons, unlike Bryant, as a retort to Ric Bucher who opines that Bryant ranks higher than Duncan.
"Tim Duncan never had a down year," Wright said. "Fifty wins every single year of his career. The playoffs every single year of his career. The only year he didn't win 50 [games] was when the season was 50 [games] and he won the title that year. "
Digging deeper, Duncan's NBA Finals record is 5-1 while Bryant's is 5-2, but both were named to 15 All-NBA Teams.
Ultimately, it is an interesting debate.
The pair went head-to-head countless times during their time in the NBA, and the West was usually won by Duncan's Spurs or Bryant's Lakers.
What do you think, Spurs fans? Is this even a debate to begin with? Let us know on Twitter at @KENS5, and at @JeffGSpursZone.