The is no debating that the 2000s were dominated by three iconic players in Los Angeles Lakers legends Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal, as well as San Antonio Spurs icon Tim Duncan. At least one of the three appeared in every in NBA Finals from 1999 until 2010 and only twice did one of them not walk away with a championship.
They are all absolute legends and have inspired many of the new stars in today’s game. And arguably the top young phenom in the NBA today has taken the torch from Duncan in San Antonio as Victor Wembanyama has quickly become one of the best players in the league in just two seasons.
But despite being a member of the Spurs, Wembanyama still seems to prefer Bryant over Duncan as, during a Q&A session on Instagram live, he chose the Lakers legend over the Spurs icon when asked who he would choose all-time, via Clutch Points:
“Tim Duncan or Kobe? Tough question. Probably Kobe… Eh actually, I don’t know.”
– Victor Wembanyama on IG live😅👀
(via @spurs /IG)
pic.twitter.com/iLuMPGQhWY— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) September 10, 2025
It almost seemed as if Wembanyama caught himself and realized it might not go over too well in San Antonio if he flat out chose Bryant over Duncan. But the words were spoken initially so even if the Spurs phenom tries to take it back, they are now forever out in the world.
To be fair, Duncan is absolutely one of the greatest players to ever play the game of basketball and is almost unanimously considered the greatest power forward of all-time. His consistency throughout his career, and dominance on the biggest stages is likely not talked about enough.
It should be noted that Bryant and the Lakers holds the edge over Duncan and the Spurs in their head-to-head playoff meetings so perhaps that is what swayed Wembanyama to take Kobe, despite being Duncan’s heir apparent in San Antonio.
LeBron James calls Lakers legend Kobe Bryant the ‘missing link’ for 2008 Redeem Team
Both Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan were a part of the 2020 Hall of Fame class and the former recently received a second posthumous induction as part of the 2008 Redeem Team that received an induction. And during that speech, Lakers superstar LeBron James spoke about what Kobe meant to that team, calling him the missing link and adding that his inclusion forced everyone else on the team to lock in and reach another level.
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