LeBron James and Tim Duncan's rivalry is the better than that of Larry Bird and Magic Johnson in the 1980's, this is at least according to Forbes.
Miami Heat will face off against the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Finals for the second straight season, starting June 5th, meaning it will be the third time that James has faced Duncan in a Finals series.
James and Duncan are tied after two championship series, with Duncan's Spurs triumphing over LeBron's then Cleveland Cavaliers side in 2007. Last year, James got even when the Heat beat the Spurs in seven games, and this year's Finals will act as their third instalment against each other.
According to the report, it's the win share numbers on basketball-reference.com that provide the evidence that James and Duncan is a better rivalry than Bird and Magic had playing for Boston Celtics and LA Lakers respectively.
Just to confirm, here are the stats for all to see.
"James has accumulated 168.5 win shares over 11 seasons, an average of 15.3 per season. Duncan’s career total of 191.6 over 17 seasons comes to 11.3 per year. The total for both, 26.6 win shares, beats any duo that has ever squared off for the ring at least three times.
"Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, who met in 1984, 1985 and 1987 with the Celtics and Lakers, combined to average 22.9 win shares a year in the 1980s and early ‘90s."
