This article was meant to be published way back in June of last year. However, everyone knows why that wasn’t the case. Here was the deal: when the Spurs led by 5 with less than 30 seconds left in Game 6, I already had my starting words to say about how everyone doubted that LeBron James and the Heat couldn’t be beat. And how EVERYONE had their doubts that the Spurs should have even been in the Finals. The original ‘popular’ match-up throughout the season was for the Heat, who were then reigning champions, to face a rematch of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and the Oklahoma City Thunder. Many believed the reason San Antonio even made it to the big game was due to them not facing the Thunder in the playoffs. When Oklahoma City was defeated by Memphis in the 2013 Western Conference Semifinals, the blame was on Russell Westbrook being injured.
To be honest, that idea very well may have been the case. If the Spurs DID face the Thunder then, it would have been a great and tough match-up. But would the Spurs really have won that series? Who knows. Having said this, the Spurs in 2014 is a MUCH deeper team than the 2013 one. Other than the Big 3 (Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and Tim Duncan) and others staying intact, a notable departure was Gary Neal. Taking his place in 2014 was the huge emergence of Patty Mills, a backup point guard of Parker’s who could flat out SCORE. Others who have contributed to the success have been Kawhi Leonard, the sensational small forward from San Diego State and Finals MVP, who guarded LeBron to the best that anyone could guard him and took over the series almost single-handedly. And guess what? He’s turning 23 later this month. Danny Green played a small factor in this series, maybe not the same Finals performance as the 2013 Finals record performance of 3-pointers made in a single game, but still decent nevertheless.
Tiago Splitter has gotten better every year. In 2012, he had potential but had problems maintaining any stableness. In 2013, he improved but still had a long way to go before he could be the role player the Spurs thought he could be. In 2014, he finally arrived. He, along with Boris Diaw, have been difference makers on the inside. Diaw was deadly from downtown when given good looks from outside as well as a factor making plays on the inside. Manu Ginobili was healthy for the first time in the Finals in a long while. The shooting was there, the passing was there, even a little defense from time to time and a couple of highlight dunks, all at the age of 36. Old? Please. Try vintage MAN-U.
Overall, this Spurs team has been a complete team. It should be no wonder why they are the best team this season. The defensive efforts they put up in Games 3 and 4 were some of the best I’ve seen since the LeBron James massacre of a Finals they played against in 2007. The offensive games was spectacular (Games 1, 3, 4 and 5), because they had something that the Heat didn’t have: old-school fundamentals. Passing the ball back-and-forth, it almost seemed like something out of the Harlem Globetrotters. I’ll admit, there were times, especially during the playoffs, that they kept doing too much. Dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble, and then turnover after turnover. You don’t win games convincingly with bad possessions like that. San Antonio needed to calm down, trust their teammates to do the right thing and trust their own game. For those that may not be aware of it, the Spurs play under a system. A system of which everybody knows their role. They know where the ball is going to go, who’s going to touch the ball and who will ultimately take the shot. They’ve been entrusting in this system for years, ever since Gregg Popovich has been the coach. Those title runs of the Knicks in 1999, the Nets in 2003, the Pistons in 2005 and the Cavaliers in 2007 all had one thing in common: defense won championships. In 2013, the Spurs didn’t have the same defensive moniker than previous runs, but they still gave Miami a run and a huge scare. Let’s be truthful here. If Ray Allen misses that 3 point shot and Miami never got an offensive board to score again, we’re talking 2013 NBA Champions San Antonio Spurs. I know it, the Spurs know it, the Heat know it and everyone else knows it. Lapse of defense ultimately played a role in the demise of the Spurs after that game. No one on that team was the same. Sadness plagued the fans and the entire franchise. It was their first loss in the Finals. And to be that close, it’s devastating. However, I was still proud of them for even making it as far as they did, even when no one else gave them enough credit. For years, I’ve heard so much from friends, family and others that the Spurs were old and boring, the Lakers, Heat and Thunder were better than them and they would never win another title with the Big 3 again. In other words, their time had passed, according to them.
But they proved them wrong, both in 2013 even when they lost and in 2014. It feels good to finally have the last laugh in the way Dallas fans had by being able to say they beat the Heat in the big game. I wanted the silver and black to do the same so that Dallas could shut it once and for all, and so that Miami fans could shut it for saying they’re the best in the world. Not one, not two, not three. That’s right, LeBron, NOT three, at least not against the Spurs this year. When I listened to the media pundits like ESPN throughout the regular season and playoffs, all I heard was Heat this, Heat that, LeBron this and Wade that. Then at the same time, I also heard the Thunder talk with Kevin Durant famous words during his MVP ceremony: ‘You the real MVP.’ to his mother on Mother’s Day week. While that was a very nice moment, especially with other NBA stories that preceded it (Clippers), it seemed to be enough to bring the media world to the conclusion that the Thunder was the team to beat in the West. That was……until Serge Ibaka “went down” just before the start of the West Finals.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmYI7bETSMw
What about the Spurs? The team that won a franchise record 62 games in the regular season? The team that for years have always been in the running of playoff contention with 15 straight 50+ win seasons (a NBA record) and have been dominant in the Southwest division for most of that time. What about them? There were some that did talk up for them. But for the rest, whenever the Spurs clearly showed their excellence, they had no choice but to talk good about them. Then it seemed as if, ‘OH the Spurs are really really good!’ Well, anyone could’ve told them that, especially if they actually watched them on a nightly basis………for years. I’ve been telling folks that since forever. Now whether it went in one ear and out the other, I can’t say for sure. On the Twitter and the Facebook, whenever Miami or OKC won, I saw plenty of trends and hashtags that included #ThunderUp or #HeatNation or KD for MVP or King James. When the Spurs won……….silence. You could barely see or hear a mass amount of people support the Spurs. There were a couple of celebrities that did show their public support, maybe some much more exposed than others.
But the support was there, minimal, but there, compared to the Heat. The main reason of this is due to them not being a heavily exposed team. Yes, they may have the 7th largest population in the U.S. but only have the 37th largest TV market. Even though Miami has the 16th largest TV market, the star power of the Big 3 with LeBron, Wade and Bosh was enough to bypass all that. This was a high profile team in a rather high profile city in Miami that was going to get coverage and recognition, no matter what. Even with all that, the NBA executives, the folks at the top, have recognized the talent and work of the Spurs for years. They have had and still have all the respect in the world for them. Assistant coaches and even head coaches, like Mike Brown and Avery Johnson, worked with and played for Pop and the Spurs during their championship runs. So they already know what winning feels like. It is well deserved, no matter how you feel about them. They have a world class organization who are not shy to bring all sorts of talent from around the world, create something similar to a U.N. and play basketball the fundamental way.
It’s amazing to see how one team can accomplish so much not named Lakers, Celtics or Bulls. I would just hope and wish they received more universal support, but I am aware of the fact that for years, the NBA has gained its own popularity ALL based on the popular flavors of the year. It makes revenue sense. Just take a look at jersey and other material sales from the NBA Store. You’re not going to find among the top sellers a Ginobili jersey or a Tony Parker jersey. You see LeBron, you see Kobe, you see Durant. Duncan is the most likely based on he’s been around for so long. He’s like the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar of the modern era. It’s well-deserved and he definitely is a future Hall-of-Famer, along with Parker and Ginobili. He’s broke records just in these playoffs alone. That’s why he’s considered one of the greatest players of ALL-TIME.
But enough about how good the Spurs are. What about the Heat? Here’s my two cents and a nickel. The Miami Heat of 2014 was a great team. Maybe they weren’t the team of the last 3 years that just ran teams out of the gym with their style of play. But they held their own for what it’s worth. Keep in mind though that this team played in arguably the worst Eastern Conference known to man. When you have 4 teams that barely made it above .500 and made up half the playoffs, then you know that conference was not the greatest. Seriously, the 8 seed Dallas Mavericks would have been the 3 seed in the East. That’s how mind-boggling it was. But I won’t be a total hater, I’ll give the Heat credit. As a 2 seed in the East, when you go through Charlotte in the first round, the new (old) Brooklyn Nets in the second round, and then the Indiana Pacers with their classic Jekkel and Hyde performance, you could say they had a rather simple time getting to the Finals, especially when they were destined to be the favorite all along, but for good reason though. They did deliver when they needed to, however, they weren’t always dominant. But in terms of individual play, there’s still nobody in the league better than LeBron James. Yes, he may get a lot of favoritism calls and obvious missed travels and all. but with having the total package, he’s still the best in the world all by himself. And he will be for the next 5 years, at least, unless Durant continues his quest to be the best during that period.
As a fan of nearly 20 years, my support for the Spurs all started back in 1995 when I played NBA Jam on the Super Nintendo with my older cousins. Then my folks bought the games for the Genesis and NBA Action for the Game Gear. During this period, I witnessed David Robinson. He was a big force on the inside, maybe not on Hakeem’s or Shaq’s level, but still played great ball. Along with Sean Elliott and even Dennis Rodman at one point, I watched the Spurs in the playoffs and played them on the video games.
Keep in mind, this was during the time when the Bulls were still dominant and Michael Jordan came back from the first retirement. Since I also lived several miles away from Chicago, a lot of folks in my area were Bulls supporters due to them migrating from there. I was a MJ supporter, wore the shoes and gear, but still adored the Spurs. This Spurs run would kick in full-time when Jordan and the Bulls parted ways in 1998 and Tim Duncan emerged. I told my Dad about Tim Duncan way back in 1999 when they won the first championship, and he had no idea who he was. It took him 4 years to finally acknowledge him. He’s had his ups and downs with Duncan, getting on my case when he struggled and admitted his greatness when he performed well. When they really struggled in the post-season between 2008 and 2012, he questioned my loyalty to the Spurs, saying I should look for another team. I told him I couldn’t imagine bailing out on a team I’ve known for so long. Simply put, it just wasn’t going to happen. And to this day, it hasn’t.
Yeah, it seemed like I have had the whole ‘Me Against the World’ deal with the Spurs for quite some time because no one I knew from my surroundings were even close to being true Spurs fans. Anytime folks rooted for them was when it was convenient in terms of not liking the other team. I was, and still is, the lone true supporter through good AND bad. I felt left out, with no one to discuss the Spurs like that and to go the games and cheer them on with help from others from my area. For the most part, it’s been an isolated experience, but it’s one I have taken great pride in to prove to others I wasn’t a bandwagoner, far from it. Thanks to social media, I had been shown that even not living in San Antonio, I wasn’t totally alone in the virtual world.
I’ve been a fan then, a fan now, and a fan in the future. It is what it is. The history has been great, the players great, the franchise world class, and I don’t regret any time with it.
I know folks now who are life-long Celtics, Lakers, Knicks, Bucks and Bulls fans. It’s great to have somewhat of diversity when it comes to support. But the ones who go on the biggest flavor of the year and say, ‘I’ve been a fan all along!’ and can’t name any of the players on the bench or who even the coach is, I’m sorry, to me, you’re not a true fan of that team. Not to say you can’t be a fan of basketball, there are a lot of people who doesn’t have a set team that love the sport. And that’s fine by me.
Everyone has a preference. Mine is the Spurs. They may not be the most stylish team full of dunks and alley-oops and sociable star power. At least not in the United States. But it’s fundamentals, team effort and respect for others that makes this franchise so special. I may never get to reside in San Antonio, but I would love to attend one of their home games just once to be around those wild fans that have just as much longtime support of the Spurs as I do.
I’ll tell you this much. If it wasn’t for the gut-wrenching Finals loss against Miami last year, the Spurs would NEVER have had the motivation to play as inspired as they did. They knew what they wanted. They focused on one goal and one goal only. Beat the Heat. And they did. With total ease.
Congratulations to the San Antonio Spurs, your 2014 NBA World Champions. You should’ve had it last year. But you definitely fought hard for it this year. You deserve it. And I, for one, could not be any happier being a fan. As for the Miami Heat, good effort…….or lack thereof, I guess. 2nd place! Yay! Hmm……
Well, that being said: The Spurs have risen again. Deal with it. Go Spurs Go. ^_^
flukadamus 