Victor Wembanyama Makes Surprise Pick Between Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan

San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama made a surprising choice when asked to pick who was better between Los Angeles Lakers icon Kobe Bryant and Spurs legend Tim Duncan.

Wembanyama opted for Bryant rather than perhaps his team's greatest ever player in Duncan.

“Tim Duncan or Kobe?" Wembanyama said on his Instagram Live, persUSA Today's LeBron Wire. "Tough question. Probably Kobe all-time… Eh, actually, I don’t know.”

The Big Fundamental spent 19 seasons with the Spurs, winning two MVP awards and leading his team to five NBA championships. Duncan is widely viewed as one of the best — if not the best — power forwards to have ever played the game.

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Nowadays, the Spurs have a new focal point in Wembanyama. The 21-year-old Frenchman made his first All-Star appearance in an injury-abbreviated 2024-25 season, during which he posted 24.3 points and 11.0 rebounds per game, also leading the NBA in blocks per game for the second consecutive season with 3.8.

Hall of Fame Contemporaries

Bryant and Duncan competed at the same time in the NBA, though many people look to that period as Bryant's time rather than Duncan's. Bryant also won five championships, tying Duncan's total with the Spurs. The pair each made 15 All-NBA teams, and have also been inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame since their retirements.

The two played 82 games against eachother through the course of their careers, 52 times in the regular season and 30 times in the playoffs. Duncan holds the edge with a 31-21 record in the regular season, while Bryant has an 18-12 record against the Spurs in the playoffs.

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Bryant made 18 All-Star Games, three more than Duncan, and also had more success than the seven footer later on. Wembanyama, who was born in 2004, may be old enough to remember the dominant back-to-back Lakers championships in 2009 and 2010 where Bryant won consecutive Finals MVPs.

Wembanyama will return from his blood lot in the 2025-26 season, and Spurs fans will look to him to start his own saga against the Lakers. The Spurs haven't made the playoffs since 2019, when they lost to the No. 2 seed Denver Nuggerts in seven games, however with the abundance of young talent they currently have, anything is possible.

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