Tuck also talks Shaq, Duncan, Garnett, Nash and Vinsanity
Saturday 28 March 2020 09:19, UK
BBL legend and Sky Sports NBA analyst Mike Tuck discusses his favourite players of the 2000s and places Los Angeles Lakers icon Kobe Bryant at the top of his list.
2000s stats: 28.2 PPG, 5.9 RPG, 5.2 APG, 1.7 SPG, 45.7 FG%
2000s achievements: Four-time NBA champion, 2009 NBA Finals MVP, 2008 NBA MVP, 10-time NBA All-Star, Three-time NBA All-Star Game MVP, two-time NBA scoring champion, seven-time All-NBA first team, six-time NBA All-Defensive first team
Kobe is my definite No 1 pick on this list. He was the best player of the decade. Like Michael Jordan dominated the 1990s, for me, Kobe dominated the 2000s.
Playing alongside Shaquille O'Neal helpd that and it was a big part of Kobe's story. The pairing was like a drama - we saw them team up, we saw them bicker and fight but they still found a way to make it work.
Later in the decade, Kobe proved he could win again without Shaq, which was something that was always going to hang over him until he accomplished it.
Kobe was naturally gifted but it is the work he put in that separated him from everyone else. He had enormous confidence too. He wanted to take those big shots and overcome obstacles.
His body of work throughout the 2000s was ridiculous, he averaged 28.2 points per game for the decade! To do that over a 10-year span is so impressive.
2000s stats: 21.4 PPG, 11.7 RPG, 3.3 APG, 2.3 BPG, 50.4 FG%
2000s achievements: Three-time NBA champion, two-time NBA Finals MVP, two-time NBA MVP, 10-time NBA All-Star, seven-time All-NBA first team, seven-time NBA All-Defensive first team, 2000 NBA All-Star Game MVP
At the beginning of the 2000s (when I was 17), I didn't really respect or appreciate him as much as I should have. By the end of the decade, all his accomplishments and championships spoke for him.
When I was growing up and Duncan first came into the league, he was the guy everyone made jokes about! In Toronto we had Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady exploding onto the scene - guys who were super-flashy and super-athletic. The And 1 mixtapes had come out. Everyone wanted to emulate streetball. In the other corner you had big pigeon-toed Tim Duncan not really saying much and quietly nailing 10 shots from the low block and pulling down 15 rebounds.
The penny dropped for me when the Spurs won their second title of the decade and he picked up the Finals MVP. It didn't matter if his game wasn't on trend or if you didn't like the way he played, you had to respect him.
Duncan was Mr Fundamental, the gentle giant who was such a solid leader. He wasn't the most athletic but with his size and his bank shot, he was deadly. His ability to lead a team and get other guys involved was huge.
Think about the infrastructure the Spurs had. They bought him in as a young gun with David Robinson to look up to at a time when head coach Gregg Popovich was just getting off the ground. It was the perfect mix to set up Duncan and the Spurs franchise for greatness.
2000s stats: 21.6 PPG, 12.1 RPG, 4.7 APG, 1.6 BPG, 49.9 FG%
2000s achievements: 2008 NBA champion, 2004 NBA MVP, 10-time NBA All-Star, 2003 NBA All-Star Game MVP, 2008 NBA All-Defensive first team, four-time All-NBA First Team, eight-time NBA All-Defensive first team four-time NBA rebounding champion
Me being a power forward, I really looked up to Kevin Garnett. He came to the NBA straight from high school and made an impact right away. It was the energy he brought to every game - he never took a night off - that attracted me to his game.
We'd seen all these traditional big men in the NBA pounding the ball in the post and scoring in the paint. 'KG' could do that but you'd also see him bring the ball up the floor, shoot a three-pointer or drain an 18-foot jumper. Garnett and Dirk Nowitzki were the first big men to stretch the floor and show big men could be versatile.
A modern-day equivalent? I would say Anthony Davis. 'AD' is probably a bit more skilled but Garnett beats him for heart and desire.
Bringing that intensity every single night is not an easy thing to do. And Garnett would do it on both ends of the floor. He would take the responsibility of putting himself on the other team's best player, whether it was a guard or a forward. He was a complete player.
Seeing him win a championship with the Boston Celtics was very special. The Minnesota Timberwolves could never put it together regardless of how well he played for them. Joining such a reputable team in the Celtics and winning the title was such a big moment. Garnett screaming 'anything is possible' in the interview after winning the title is one of the most iconic moments in NBA history.
2000s stats: 16.2 PPG, 9.1 APG, 3.2 RPG, 49.4 FG%, 43.6 3FG%
2000s achievements: Two-time NBA MVP, six-time NBA All-Star, three-time All-NBA first team, three-time NBA assists leader
My fellow Canadian! Seeing a short white kid from Victoria, British Columbia, make it to the NBA and have so much success meant a lot to me. I really looked up to Nash and followed his career closely. He used to do a few training camps in Toronto but I was never around to join him. I never got to play with him or meet him.
Nash had the ability to see the floor and his understanding of the game was huge. His basketball IQ seemed much higher than the other players on the floor. He could pick apart a defense with ease. His ability to use the pick-and-roll offense was superb. When you saw him and Amare Stoudemire working together, you were watching the best pick-and-roll combo of the decade. Back then, when we were playing NBA 2K, I would always pick the Suns and put Nash and Stoudemire in pick-and-roll situations. They were unstoppable.
Nash was a really efficient shooter, too. The Suns shot threes but nothing like the volume we see today. I have seen interviews where Nash said his biggest regret was not shooting more three-pointers. Imagine the damage he would have done in today's game.
Nash's Suns are one of the best teams not to win the title. The Lakers, the Mavericks and the Spurs all denied them in Western Conference Finals. They were such fun to watch, they had the athleticism and they had Steve Nash, the leader of the team.
2000s stats: 23.9 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 4.4 APG, 44.6 FG%, 37.8 3FG%
2000s achievements: Eight-time NBA All-Star, 2001 All-NBA second team, 2000 All-NBA third team
VC! He came to Toronto after a good college career at North Carolina but we didn't expect him to have the impact he did for the Raptors. I can still remember watching him star in the 2000 Dunk Contest and being so proud of the fact he had 'Toronto' across his chest. The Raptors had only been around since 1995 and everything was so new to us. All of a sudden, we had this new star to call our own, Vinsanity!
Carter won Rookie of the Year in his first season. Heading into the 2000s, he really grew as a player and was able to take a leading role on that Raptors team. His jumping ability was next level. The 2000 Olympics for Team USA when he jumped over France's Frederic Weis, what a way to start the decade right there!
Vince went through some rough times in Toronto with injuries and media battles. There was the controversy when he went back to North Carolina for his graduation ceremony on the day of a playoff game. It didn't end on a great note for him in Toronto but, in my eyes, I will always see him as a Raptor. And he went on to star with Jason Kidd for the New Jersey Nets.
Toronto offering Vince a one-day contract so he can retire as a Raptor? I think they will do that and retire his jersey too. When he played for Toronto, he took the team further than it had ever been. His impact on basketball in Toronto and across Canada as a whole was huge. He influenced an entire generation of Canadian ballers.
2000s stats: 23.1 PPG, 10.6 RPG, 2.2 BPG, 58.5 FG%
2000s achievements: Four-time NBA champion, three-time NBA Finals MVP, 2000 NBA MVP, nine-time NBA All-Star, three-time NBA All-Star Game MVP, 2000 NBA scoring champion, seven-time All-NBA first team, three-time NBA All-Defensive second team
Shaq was the most dominant player the league has probably ever seen, in terms of being physical on both ends of the floor. He dominated in the 90s too but his four titles all came in the 2000s.
His size advantage over everybody, his physicality… I don't think we'll ever see a player quite like him again. He was truly unique.
After the Lakers 'three-peat', Shaq proved he could do it without Kobe, winning a title with the Miami Heat in 2006, albeit on a team very much led by Dwyane Wade. Shaq - physically breaking down a bit at that point - took on more of a supporting role.
Shaq dominated in an era that was great for centers. He went up against great players like Tim Duncan, Dirk Nowitzki and Kevin Garnett. And don't forget, teams had to resort to the 'Hack-a-Shaq' (intentionally fouling O'Neal to force him to score from the free throw line - a noted weakness) to stop him.
Should he have won more MVPs? Everyone always questioned his work ethic. I'm in two minds on that. He had to have worked pretty hard to put the numbers he put up at that elite NBA level. At the same time, there was always that lingering thing of 'What if he didn't party that much? What if he was less of a prankster?'
What if he had had that Mamba Mentality and worked as hard Kobe? What kind of player would we have seen then
