NBA: An Appreciation of the San Antonio Spurs, a Team Under the Radar
There will be those who will debate this article (extolling the virtues of the Lakers, Celtics and the Heat, among others.) There will be those who will advance the concept of every available talent only wanting the bright lights big cities of Los Angeles, Dallas, New York, Boston and South Beach. Sometimes I think the Spurs are The Dark Knight; doomed to be silent guardians living in the shadows!
There will be those (chat show hosts, opposing team's fans, national media) who don't like the Spurs leveling the same tired, yet primary, explanation: They are boring! Boring as in winning four titles and numerous other accolades!
Boring in the recognition given them by the evil, four-letter ESPN. Boring in having the greatest power forward ever. Boring in demonstrating how the international athlete can perform at the pinnacle of his success. Boring in having Spurs' players as integral parts of their community and without an entourage that would make Prince William or Justin Bieber proud.
The Spurs have been old since 1999.
Why the Spurs are singled out as being old is beyond me. Dallas was the oldest team this year, followed by the Los Angeles Lakers. Every athlete must face his aging, and there are those who steadily defy this.
Perhaps each fan should read A.E. Housman's To An Athlete Dying Young, where his or her name dies before one actually expires. San Antonio has been rebuilding on the fly since forever.
Fifty-plus regular seasons, annual appearances every postseason. A Hall-of-Fame coach. And still it isn't enough for them to be appreciated. So many have tried to emulate the Spurs' success and have failed miserably. Witness the collapse of LeBron James under the defensive tutelage of Mike Brown culminating in a four-game title sweep. Danny Ferry couldn't replicate what he learned from the Spurs' front office.
I am my father's daughter, as it was my dad who introduced me to Tim Duncan. We were watching the 1997 NCAA tournament, and my dad told me Duncan was going to be pretty good. My dad was so right.
The Spurs conduct themselves always in a professional manner. No one calls press conferences to announce they are taking their talents elsewhere, or conduct radiothons suggesting their teammates have not demonstrated the will to win or exhibited a tendency to not play hard. (And, yes, Tony Parker is quickly becoming an exception to that statement.)
The Spurs have provided second chances to those who need it. Just ask Gary Neal or John Lucas. A big deal is not made of this.
Was Parker right to express his opinion? Certainly. But he must accept responsibility for what he said and not try to gloss over it. I liked Coach Pop's reaction.
Have the Spurs misstepped? Yep! Quickly, Luis Scola comes to mind. Many in Spurs' Nation believe this is the greatest misfortune to befall the Spurs. Would Scola have made a difference? Perhaps. Richard Jefferson—don't get me started!
Sometimes R.C. Buford and Coach Pop's draft selections make Spurs fans and DeJuan Blair very angry. To trade George Hill for an unproven, untried rookie is beyond upsetting. The loss to the Grizz is on every Spur, not just Hill. Spurs Nation was very unhappy and graded the trade an overwhelming F.
And why trade Hill when Kawhi Leonard was already sliding down the board? What happened to trading Parker? Seems the Spurs were trying to tag along Jefferson and had no takers.
I have seen Leonard play against my alma mater, UCLA, and during the NCAA tournament. He is clearly a product of the WAC. Most draft experts feel he is slated to start over RJ! Where's the backup point guard?
Where was the big man so desperately needed to help Duncan? Yes, we have Tiago Splitter, but who will back him up? Blair plays hard, and with a lot of heart, but seemingly he couldn't get off the bench during the Grizz series. I expect Buford and Coach Pop to address these two glaring deficiencies after the new collective bargaining agreement.
And what does it say about the Grizz team that upset the Spurs this past season? Can the Grizz parlay this into continued success over the next several years? Or will they fizzle and become relegated to being one of the few teams to upset a 1 seed and achieve nothing else? Who knows and who can say?
Now if we can just get another UCLA Bruin on the Spurs—I'll be happy! (Both Malcolm Lee and Tyler Honeycutt were available but were passed up.)
The constant denigration the Spurs have received throughout my little life, well, I have come to embrace it. We are not Hollywood or South Beach.
We know how good we are, but we are not in your face about it.
To this Spurs fan, to borrow from Bret Hart, we are the best there is, the best there was, the best there ever will be! So thanks Tim, Manu, Gary, Dice, Danny, Steve, Kurt, both Georges, Mike, Sean, David, DeJuan, Bruce, Robert, Tony, Tiago, Matt and all those I might have missed.
