Entering Friday night's game at Staples Center, Tim Duncan and Kobe Bryant have nearly a season worth of individual duels to reference. By the end of this 2014-15 season, Bryant and Duncan will have met 81 times, which is only one game shy of a full NBA regular season.
That type of record speaks to the pair's longevity as much as it does to their greatness.
Two years older than Bryant, Duncan entered the NBA one year after the Lakers' star. From 1997 to 2014, the duo has combined for 10 NBA titles and 13 NBA Finals appearances. Over the 17 full seasons that both Bryant and Duncan have been in the league, the NBA Finals have only failed to include either the Spurs or the Lakers four times.
What makes that accomplishment all the more remarkable is that the Spurs and Lakers both play in the Western Conference, so that means that only one of them could go to the NBA Finals in a given season.
On Friday night, though, the Lakers and Spurs are on different ends of the spectrum, but Bryant and Duncan are still worth the price of admission. At 36 years of age, Bryant leads the NBA in scoring by averaging 27.5 points per game. A slim 38-year-old Duncan continues to average a double-double with 14.7 points and 11.5 rebounds per game, as the Spurs are coming off consecutive appearances in the NBA Finals.
As much as Friday night may be about the Lakers desperately seeking their second win of the year and the Spurs seeking their third straight win of the young season, it is about watching two of the greatest players to ever play the game go head-to-head yet again.
Polar opposites with regards to personality off the court, Duncan and Bryant are two of fiercest competitors the sport has ever seen. On Friday night, Duncan and the Spurs tip off against Bryant and the Lakers for the 78th time at 7 p.m. Pacific Time.
