Back-to-back titles remain Spurs’ unfulfilled goal

The reigning NBA champion San Antonio Spurs have won five championships over the past 15 years. They have, in fact, the fourth-most number of NBA championships won altogether after the Boston Celtics who have 17, the LA Lakers who have 16, and the Chicago Bulls who have six.

But the Tim Duncan-led franchise has never won back-to-back titles. And that’s what the black-and-silver-shirted team intends to do this coming season.

“I think it’s the right season. I think it’s a great chance for us,” Tony Parker told Yahoo France a week before the Spurs’ training camp opened last September 27. “For us to repeat would just be unbelievable because we had four tries to do that and we never achieved that, and just that alone we should be motivated like that, and I know coach Pop (Gregg Popovich), you know, he’s gonna be on us from Day 1 in training camp and make sure everybody is ready. Everybody took the summer off so everybody is gonna be fresh – myself, Manu (Ginobili), Timmy, Kawhi (Leonard). Nobody played with the national team. So hopefully, you know, we can stay healthy, and if we’re healthy I like our chances.”

The Spurs, of course, have been the epitome of consistency over a long period of time. In fact, that sustained excellence since the arrival of Duncan in 1997 is unmatched in contemporary annals. Only the Boston Celtics of the ‘50s and ‘60s may in fact have a comparable stretch of excellence (actually dominance in this case) over such a long period of time. This was when the legendary franchise made the playoffs 19 consecutive years and won an unparalleled 11 titles in a 13-year stretch between 1956 and 1969 riding on the shoulders of the great Bill Russell, the greatest defensive player in history. (The Philadelphia 76ers, including their original incarnation as the Syracuse Nationals, the Portland Trail Blazers and the Utah Jazz own the longest playoff streaks with 22, 21 and 20 years, respectively, but those streaks pale when one considers that only one championship came out of all those strings, the 1967 title won by Wilt Chamberlain and the Sixers. Portland’s lone title in 1977 came outside of their streak from 1983-2003 while the Jazz are, well, still titleless.)

But we’re digressing. The Spurs simply have no match in the last two decades in terms of longevity at or near the top. Consider these: They have reached the playoffs 17 straight years and counting, have been in the NBA finals six times and the Western Conference finals nine times, are currently working on their own record streak of 15 consecutive seasons with at least 50 victories (heck, they even won exactly 50 in the lockout-shortened 66-game season in 2012), and have won 1,099 of their 1,585 regular-season and playoff games combined for an astounding 69.3 percent winning percentage. Of course, winning a full one-third of the championships that went up for grabs in the last 15 years among 30 teams is the cherry on the cake.

Now, which team would you wave a sign for to show greater admiration? One with such a long, dynastic stretch of excellence, or one that has won consecutive titles, much less, three-peats like the Chicago Bulls did twice in the early and mid-‘90s, or the Lakers did from 2000 to 2002, but did not quite stretch that kind of play for at least a decade?  

Well, Phil Jackson, now the New York Knicks’ president who coached those Bulls and Lakers squads, must be one of a very few who wouldn’t agree to this Spurs stretch as being “dynastic.” Jackson even once remarked when the Spurs won their first title in the first lockout-shortened season in 1999 that the title should have an asterisk.

But whether or not Phil has a pathological grudge against the Spurs, let’s make one thing clear here: “Dynasty” as defined by Merriam-Webster means “a powerful group or family that maintains its position for a long time.” 

That being the case, former Knicks coach and now-ESPN analyst Jeff Van Gundy certainly agrees that the Spurs’ sustained run of excellence is indeed dynastic.

“I consider the question irrelevant because it’s somebody else’s term for greatness,” Van Gundy said. “You could put whatever word on it you want as long as it speaks to their greatness.  Sustained greatness is the hardest thing to achieve in any walk of life.  And that’s exactly what the Spurs have stood for.”

Of course, the Spurs would still want to put together a string of at least two titles, if only to taste it for themselves. It could have easily been like that this year had it not been for those horrendous last 28 seconds in Game 6 of the 2013 finals. That was the stretch where the Spurs, leading Miami 3-2 in the series and 94-89 in that contest – prompting NBA officials to have the championship trophy rolled out right at the sidelines in anticipation of a closeout – botched two rebound plays to pave the way for consecutive three-point shots by the Heat. The last one by Ray Allen, certainly one of the great clutch shots in history, sent the game into OT and gave the Heat a new lease on life, and eventual victory in seven games.

But it’s precisely the manner in which San Antonio recovered from that traumatic experience that shows the character of these Spurs. Had a lesser team been dealt that blow, who knows? It may still be moping and licking its wounds at the expense of another job that it had to do. The Spurs tried to live down the disappointment for a year, and then proceeded to exact revenge on Miami, almost whitewashing the Heat in five games and beating LeBron James and company by an average of 18 points in their four victories.  

“It’s unbelievable to regain that focus after that devastating loss that we had last year, but we’re back here,” Duncan, whom Parker calls the best power forward ever, said just before that Miami drubbing.

“Maybe the Spurs’ most notable achievement is that they have tripped but never fallen to their knees,” veteran Houston scribe Fran Blinebury of NBA.com said.

Undoubtedly, the Spurs’ veteran trio of Duncan, Parker and Ginobili, under the guidance of Popovich, the team’s coach for the past 18 years, has made it possible for this squad to recover quickly from its setbacks and play as if nothing happened, or even changed, for the past 12 years that it’s been together. The trio has formed a strong bond fueled by an organizational philosophy anchored on professionalism, selflessness and sacrifice that it’s practically served as the antithesis to this era of free-agent hopping. While each of them could have easily gotten more money from other teams, Duncan, Parker and Ginobili have chosen to stick together.

“We took less money to stay here to win championships,” Parker said. “So it makes it even better to have been able to play my whole career with Timmy and Manu.”

“There were times that people said we should be breaking it up,” said general manager R.C. Buford, the 2014 Executive of the Year who is generally regarded as the best in the game today. “But what’s the alternative? Our best alternative was to keep the group together.”

And so the group built around Duncan, Parker and Ginobili has stayed together and continued to excel. Timmy, Tony and Manu have in fact been so successful that they have become the winningest trio in playoff history, having compiled 117 victories, a total that’s now seven more than the second-best 110 of the Lakers’ Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Michael Cooper.

“I think what we’ve accomplished hasn’t been seen by many other teams.  Having a group of three players and a coach for more than a decade and winning championships and making it to the finals,” Ginobili said. “I don’t know what the word dynasty means, but I know that we’ve accomplished a lot of things and we’ve won a lot of games together. We’ve won many playoff games and that’s pretty unique.”

Of course, the Spurs have, through the years, also brought in players who can work around the Big Three and thrive in their equal-opportunity system. Thus guys like Kawhi Leonard, Boris Diaw, Danny Green, Tiago Splitter and Patty Mills have found themselves fitting in almost seamlessly and succeeding more than they would likely have had they been with another club.   

Leonard, this year’s finals MVP, is the best example of that. The 6-foot-7 forward, already one of the best defenders in the game at 23, was acquired from Indiana in a draft-day deal for point guard George Hill in 2011 and is probably making the Pacers kick themselves now for making that trade. He is now regarded as the heir apparent to any of the Big Three as the Spurs’ leader after averaging 17.8 points, 6.4 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.2 blocks while shooting .612 from the floor, .579 from beyond the arc, and .783 from the stripes in the finals.

Now, can the Spurs finally repeat this coming season? The team is bringing back the same cast that won a fifth title last year. The 38-year-old Duncan, who turns 39 next April 25, exercised his one-year, $10.3 million player option just a week after he won his fifth championship and quickly put to rest doubts about his desire to play at least another year.

Popovich, whose future was closely tied up with Duncan, also inked a multi-year contract extension in July, ensuring that he’ll be there to preside over the inevitable transition once Duncan and/or Ginobili finally calls it a career. With highly-respected European head coach Ettore Messina and six-time WNBA All-Star Becky Hammon, the first female full-time assistant in NBA history, also having been named as assistant coaches, Pop is certainly not wanting in brilliant basketball minds on his side. The 54-year-old Messina has 25 titles while leading teams in the Euroleague, Italian League and Russian League, while Hammon, 37, earned her spurs when she got an internship with San Antonio while rehabbing a torn ACL last year and impressed the Spurs brass with her knowledge.

Hammon’s trail-blazing hire, in fact, rivaled any player signing that was made in the offseason, except perhaps that of Parker himself, who agreed to a three-year contract extension worth $43.3 million, or $14.43 million per annum, the most allowed under the CBA.  The 32-year-old Parker, who has said he wants to be a Spur for life, receives $12.5 million this coming season, and has expressed the desire to play until he’s 38.  That should give him two more years after this one, barring injuries.

Buford has also done a good job securing San Antonio’s free agents on reasonable deals, including Mills, Diaw and Anthony Bonner who were all re-signed in July. Mills, who missed the FIBA World Cup for Australia with a severe shoulder injury, signed a three-year, $11 million deal, while Diaw, the bronze medal-winning French team’s leader in the FIBA Worlds, inked a four-year, $28 million pact, only two years of which, along with part of the third year, are guaranteed.  Bonner, on the other hand, signed for the one-year minimum. 

Even Aron Baynes, the Australian FIBA Worlds standout who was tendered a $1.1 million qualifying offer and had earlier considered plying his wares in Europe, finally signed a one-year, $2.1 million contract, ensuring that everybody would be back. Talented reserve guards Marco Belinelli and Cory Joseph and forwards Jeff Ayres and Austin Daye complete the returning cast for San Antonio.

The Spurs’ trademark eye for talent will also be put to a test again after they took Kyle Anderson of UCLA with the last pick in the first round of this year’s draft.  The 6-8 Anderson, a forward who has spent considerable time at the point, is said to be a clone of Diaw with his playmaking and great basketball IQ, and, despite his athletic and defensive limitations, is being counted upon to become a contributor.

“Guys that like to pass, guys that know how to play, guys who are slow and can’t jump, they fit pretty good in San Antonio,” Buford himself half-facetiously told the San Antonio Express-News. 

Truth is, Anderson is being eyed as one of the keys to the Spurs’ ability to repeat this coming campaign.  As has been proven in the case of Leonard (though Leonard is admittedly a rare talent), the franchise’s ability to plug in the younger guys and make them contribute right away is crucial.

Without a doubt, coaxing another good, injury-free year from Duncan and Ginobili, not to mention Parker, is equally crucial. Duncan posted averages of 15.1 points and 9.7 rebounds last year, making that 16.3 points and 9.1 boards in the playoffs, while Ginobili, 36, normed 12.3 points and 4.3 assists, which he raised to 14.3 points and 4.1 dimes in the postseason.

The only way of course that both geezers can continue to play at this level is if they stay healthy and relatively free of major ailments. Popovich has done a great job of preserving TD and Manu through the years, and even earned a $250,000 fine for the club in November 2012 from then-commissioner David Stern for sending home both stars to rest along with Parker and Danny Green at the end of a six-game road trip in Miami. The Spurs barely lost that game 105-100 despite the manpower shortage.

While the Spurs did as well in the offseason as could be expected, J. Gomez of SB Nation thinks they could have done even better had they just been a little more creative and daring by going after such proven players as Paul Pierce, Vince Carter, Spencer Hawes and Josh McRoberts. All four signed for the mid-level exception with other teams, while guys like Rodney Stuckey and Ed Davis, both of whom signed for the minimum, were also within range and thus could have very well been afforded by the defending champions. Gomez says San Antonio could have brought any of them in using its own mid-level or bi-annual exception had it made room for them by simply waiving the seldom-used Daye, not bringing back Baynes, and using its low first-round pick on a draft-and-stash pick (drafting a player who could be kept elsewhere, particularly Europe) instead of on Anderson.

“Obviously the Spurs didn’t make a crucial mistake that could cost them their repeat. But by being hellbent on continuity they might have let a couple of intriguing opportunities pass them by,” Gomez offers.  

The Spurs, however, went with the old formula that has made them so successful for so long, setting aside other possibilities that could have provided them even more clout, though very possibly also changed the delicate chemistry that they always use to advantage against seemingly more stacked teams.  

And so, can the Spurs pull off something they’ve never done in their already storied history by winning back-to-back titles?

“Obviously we’ve never had a repeat, so that’s a great challenge for us for next year. Try to defend our championship,” it’s Parker again speaking, adding health is the only factor that could stymie their drive for a double. “Just stay healthy. I feel like if we stay healthy, we can compete against everybody.”

Duncan, meanwhile, says that as long as the front office takes care of business and the team is able to make the needed adjustments, the Spurs always have a good shot.

“I feel we can do it until we don’t want to do it anymore,” the Hall of Fame-bound big man said. “As long as we feel we’re being effective, we’re going to stay out here and we’re going to play.”

It does seem like the Spurs are not finished yet. With their track record, they are as good a bet as anyone to get right into the mix. So fancy the Clevelands and Chicagos and Oklahoma Cities all you want. Chances are, the Spurs can trump them all and still end up on top, and don’t go waving any signs they won’t. 

SHORTSHOTS: Eric Bledsoe,the last remaining notable free agent this summer, finally fell,or agreed, that is, when he came to terms with Phoenix on a five-year, $70 million contract. The deal culminates months of on-again, off-again negotiations that almost forced the Suns to trade the restricted free-agent guard. The 6-foot-1 Bledsoe averaged a career-high 17.7 points, 5.5 assists, 4.7 rebounds and 1.6 steals last season, when he was limited to 43 games because of a meniscus injury… Darko Milicic has retired and will now go into kickboxing as a promoter and competitor. The seven-foot, 275-pound center is one of the biggest busts in NBA draft history, going second overall in 2003 behind just LeBron James. He never made it as a rotation player, with those drafted behind him, including Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade, combining for a total of 31 All-Star Games among themselves… Chicago guard Derrick Rose has donated $1 million to After School Matters, a Chicago-based non-profit organization providing out-of-school programs for poor teenagers. Rose is the second player to donate $1 million of his own money recently. Boston’s Jeff Green also did the same when he contributed a similar amount for the construction of the John Thompson Jr. Intercollegiate Athletics Center at Georgetown University, where he earned All-America honors in 2007. The 73-year-old Thompson, after whom the S62 million center is named, is the first African American coach to win a national title when he steered a Patrick Ewing-led team to the NCAA championship in 1984. It was part of a four-year stretch during which the Hoyas made it to the Final Four three times under Thompson, a backup to Bill Russell on the Boston Celtics’ championship teams in 1965 and 1966. – Rappler.com

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Bert A. Ramirez has been a freelance sportswriter/columnist since the ’80s, writing mostly about the NBA and once serving as consultant and editor for Tower Sports Magazine, the longest-running locally published NBA magazine, from 1999 to 2008.  He has also written columns and articles for such publications as Malaya, Sports Digest, Winners Sports Weekly, Pro Guide, Sports Weekly, Sports Flash, Sports World, Basketball Weekly and the FIBA’s International Basketball, and currently writes a fortnightly column for QC Life and a weekly blog for BostonSports Desk.  A former corporate manager, Bert has breathed, drunk and slept sports most of his life.