The 75 greatest NBA players of the 2000s, ranked
By Cal Durrett
2) Tim Duncan
San Antonio Spurs legend Tim Duncan spent all 19 seasons of his Hall of Fame career in San Antonio and was dominant in each of the three decades that he played in. Duncan was the first overall pick in the 1997 NBA draft and led the Spurs to their first championship in just his second season.
By the time the 1999–00 season came around, he was 24 and just entering his prime and he put together one of the greatest decades' that anyone has seen in recent memory. Duncan averaged an impressive 21.4 points, 11.7 rebounds, 2.4 blocks, and 3.3 assists in 767 games.
He also made 10 all-star appearances, 10 all-NBA appearances, and won two league MVPs. Not only that, but Duncan won at least 50 games and made the playoffs each year of the 2000s, won a championship in 2003, 2005, and 2007, and made another Western Conference Finals appearance in 2009.
Factor in two NBA Final MVPs, and Duncan was clearly one of the best players of his era. After the 2000s, he would go on to play another six seasons and win another championship, giving him a strong case for being one of the 10 best players of all time.