With an MVP and Finals MVP in the past 2 years, you've gotta lift him above his old teammate and rival Shaq. Still falls a bit short of Duncan, as he hasn't had Duncan's consistency, and he's brought some negativity to the table that Duncan never would.
If I were making a list for the best player from 95 to 05, Shaq would top it. His prime just doesn't intersect well enough with the decade in question here.
The clear "next best guy". A decisive MVP, the spark behind one of the great team turnarounds in history leading to a title, and a consistent performer all decade.
It really does break my heart to put him this low. I think he'd clearly be a couple notches higher if people recognized his talent back when he was drafted in 1996.
The 10th spot is tough. Allen Iverson and Tracy McGrady come to mind immediately as guys whose starhood shined brighter. But of the contenders, Pierce is the one whose actually maintained leader status on a single team all these years, and ended up a star on a title team.
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