San Antonio Spurs: 5 Best Spurs Role Players of Last Decade
If there's any franchise that should serve as a model for the organizations in the NBA, it's the San Antonio Spurs.
Over the last decade, it's hard to remember a time when they haven't been considered contenders for the title. In fact, they've won three titles in the last 10 years.
Part of this consistent success has been due to the play of the greatest power forward of all time in Tim Duncan, a tremendously underrated shooting guard in Manu Ginobili, and a dual threat from France at the point, Tony Parker.
Nonetheless, the Spurs would not have been so good if it wasn't for the behind-the-scenes play of these five crucial role players.
Read on to find out who they are.
5. Stephen Jackson
1 of 5Stephen Jackson spent only two seasons (2001-2003) with the San Antonio Spurs toward the beginning of his NBA Career, and the first of which was nothing special. However, he still deserves a place on this list thanks to his 2002-2003 campaign.
One year after playing in 23 games and averaging 3.9 points, 1.1 rebounds and 0.6 assists per contest, Jackson broke out and served as a crucial piece to the Spurs' championship puzzle.
Starting 58 games, the offensively-talented swingman averaged 11.8 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.3 assists per contest. But even more important, he upped his play during the playoff run that would result in another NBA Title for the storied franchise of the '00s.
During those 2003 NBA Playoffs, Jackson averaged 12.8 points per game and established himself as the third leading scorer on the team.
Of course, during the next offseason he didn't get the big contract from the Spurs that he expected and moved to the Atlanta Hawks, but that's neither here nor there. Jackson is on this list because of his great contributions to a title.
4. Malik Rose
2 of 5While he was never statistically dominant, Malik Rose won over San Antonio fans during his eight seasons with the team thanks to his obvious love for the game. A love that manifested itself in tremendous displays of hustle and heart on both sides of the court.
From the time that he was traded from the Charlotte Hornets to the Spurs in 1998 until he was traded away to the New York Knicks in 2005, Rose averaged 7.5 points, 4.8 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game while serving as the backup power forward.
His best and most memorable game came during the 2002 NBA Playoffs against the Seattle SuperSonics when he took over for Tim Duncan and logged 28 points and 13 rebounds. Even though the Spurs lost the game by 12 points, they made a competitive contest out of a game that saw the SuperSonics post a 26-point halftime lead.
More importantly, the extra rest that the Spurs could give to both Duncan and David Robinson allowed them to feel rejuvenated and eventually win the title.
Down the road, Rose won't be remembered by too many NBA fans. But he will always be remembered by Spurs fans.
3. Michael Finley
3 of 5When he joined the San Antonio Spurs in 2005, Michael Finley was clearly on the downside of his career and had to deal with the fact that he would obviously be Manu Ginobili's backup; primarily serving as a three-point specialist.
While his finest statistical moment of his five seasons with the Spurs came during Game 5 of the Spurs' opening round with the Denver Nuggets in the 2007 NBA Playoffs when he made eight of his nine three-point attempts, that wasn't his finest overall moment.
Finley won the first NBA Championship of his career in 2007 and was not only given the game ball, but also given a shoutout by both Tim Duncan and Robert Horry after the series.
It was a sweet moment in his Spurs lifetime, one that saw him average 9.3 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game.
2. Bruce Bowen
4 of 5An absolute lockdown defender, Bruce Bowen was never asked to do much else besides shut down the opposition. Still, when he was asked to do that, he excelled.
Although he was constantly accused of begin a dirty player, Bowen made All-Defensive teams eight times in his nine seasons with the San Antonio Spurs from 2001-2009. After his stretch of five-consecutive First Team selections from 2004-2008, he finally was left off the team in his final NBA season.
From 2001-2008, Bowen started every single game for the Spurs, both in the regular season and the playoffs. He averaged 6.4 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.3 assists.
1. Robert Horry
5 of 5With the one exception of the moment when he hip-checked Steve Nash into the scorers table during the 2007 NBA Playoffs, Robert Horry enjoyed remarkable success with the San Antonio Spurs during his time with the team from 2003-2008.
Big Shot Rob, as he would come to be called thanks to his clutch shooting throughout his career, lived up to his moniker during his tenure in San Antonio. No shot was bigger than the game-winning three-pointer he hit in Game 5 of the 2005 NBA Finals, completing a 21-point outburst in the fourth quarter and overtime.
Part of two title-winning teams with the Spurs, Horry averaged just 4.7 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game over this five-year stretch, but he came through when it counted.
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Adam Fromal is a syndicated writer and Featured Columnist at Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter.
