jericho

Duncan is the most decorated power forward ever, although Pettit runs him a close second. Pettit, Malone and Barkley were all more impressive statistically, in many respects.

I agree with kflo that the "best" is determined somewhat by the style of play. It's also determined by what attributes you value most. Also by whether/how you translate between eras. Pettit, while as tough as anyone, would be overmatched physically today and might be a step slow. He wouldn't dominate like he did in a bygone era...unless you assume that he'd have benefited from the same superior conditioning and nutrition programs and strategic evolutions in the game that more modern players have enjoyed.

So, do you consider who's The Best in a straight-up comparison, imagining them all playing against each other in some mega-All-Star game? Or are you counting stats (which are affected by eras and systems), individual awards (which are affected by guys like Wilt, Kareem and Jordan who were generally going to gobble up MVPs in their prime regardless of who else was playing), or titles (all sorts of variables at work here)? Who was capable of the most vs. who actually accomplished the most? Who did the most despite a poor supporting cast vs. who catapulted their supporting cast to new heights?

Personally, I try to consider all the above, and probably look at it all through the lens of styles and personalities I narrow-mindedly prefer (team-oriented rather than grandstanding, for example).

In terms of sheer talent and dominance, within the context of his era, I tend to rank Duncan below Pettit, Malone and Barkley. Not far below, especially because he's probably the best defender of the bunch by a good margin. But a shade below, since he's been the least dominant scorer of that elite group.

But if we're talking about "The Best," then his individual and team accomplishments come into play and I rank Duncan (for now) just behind Pettit.

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Favorite players: Hakeem Olajuwon, Moses Malone, Bill Russell, Alex English, Kiki Vandeweghe, Sidney Moncrief, Lafayette Lever, Dan Issel, Bobby Jones, Julius Erving, Rick Barry, John Havlicek, Oscar Robertson, Jerry West...and Brooks Thompson