Why Lakers and Spurs Must Win Now Before NBA Championship Window Slams Shut
In the NBA, teams only have so much of a window to win a championship.
Father-time catches up to everyone one day, meaning teams need to win while that window is still open, even if it’s open ever so slightly.
That especially holds true for the San Antonio Spurs and Los Angeles Lakers, who need to win another championship now before that window slams shut.
Either the Lakers or the Spurs have won the Western Conference Championship in 11 of the past 13 seasons (The Mavericks won in 2006 and 2011), but eventually their reign of dominance will have to come to an end.
It’s all going to be because of age.
There are way too many young teams filled with speed and athleticism right now in the league. In the next few years, more teams could resemble the youthful and talented Oklahoma City Thunder and that spells trouble for veteran teams.
One day soon, age and wear and tear will catch up to Kobe Bryant. He averaged 27.9 points per game this season, but one day in the next couple of years Kobe may hit that wall.
It happens to the best of them. Bryant looked at father-time this year and punched him in the gut, showing no signs of slowing down, but it's only a matter of time before nature takes its course.
When it does, where does that leave the Lakers?
The Lakers are a very old team. In addition to Bryant, who’s 33, Metta World Peace is 32 and Paul Gasol is 31. No one actually thinks Andrew Bynum is mature enough to lead the Lakers for the next five or six years, do they?
That’s why the Lakers need to get it done now. They are in horrible financial shape and aren’t getting any younger anytime soon.
The same goes for the Spurs, but they are in much better shape than the Lakers not only this season, but in the future.
They have the perfect mix of veteran leadership to go along with youthful energy. Add to that a point guard in Tony Parker who’s only 29 and playing at an MVP-level and everything looks good for the future in San Antonio.
Not so fast.
Tim Duncan also is fighting the clock at 36 years of age and while he had a good season averaging 15.4 points and 9.0 rebounds per game, one day Gregg Popovich won’t be able to count on that production.
He’s not the only one as Manu Ginobili is also up there in age at 34 and has been fighting injuries the past couple of seasons. Take those two stars away and San Antonio quickly becomes a middle of the pack team in the West.
Thus the urgency for the Spurs is to get it done this year as well.
It will be strange in the future to see neither the Spurs nor Lakers battling to see who comes out of the Western Conference, but that day could come sooner rather than later.
It’s been amazing how long the window has remained open for both teams, but eventually it’s going to shut and both franchises will have to rebuild.
