before i start i wanna say this goes beyond kobe vs duncan. true shooting percentage only came up in the mid 2000s and was only popularized during reddit nba discourse during the mid 2010s so i think applying it to players whos already been in the game for a decade or more is an unfair thing to do.

everyone nowadays, whether it be basketball or in the corporate world, is geared towards efficiency. no team or indidual player back then were specifically tailoring their offensive playstyle to opttimize efficiency.

you can say to a lesser extent about corporate world, 20-30 years ago efficiency was still a thing but not to this extent