Spurs Lose
Did you heed my warning last Fall; did you hear me telling you that this year may have been the last dance for one of the best franchises ever in Texas team sports?
At the time I am writing this, the San Antonio Spurs were eliminated in game six of the NBA Western Conference Semi-finals by the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Despite the addition of Lamarcus Aldrige, last Summer’s most coveted free agent, and the continuing growth of forward Kawhi Leonard, the aging backcourt, especially the decline of guard Manu Ginobili, led the Spurs to an early vacation rather than another NBA championship.
As of this time, both future hall of fame forward Tim Duncan and the aforementioned Ginobili have not yet made any decisions about whether they will play next season but as they (as well as point guard Tony Parker) are on the wrong side of thirty years old, no matter what, this team can only stay together so long, regardless of their individual choices.
Change won’t be easy however.
Despite the rising salary cap in the NBA over the next couple years, the Spurs would most likely have to find a taker for Parker in trade for financial savings to make any real significant moves. However finding a taker for Parker’s contract, which has two years and more than twenty million dollars left on it before it expires could be harder than most think for a player who was once a MVP of the NBA Finals.
Parker’s decline to a player who is just good enough to be a major factor on a team but can no longer play the minutes required of a player commanding that kind of money, even with the salary cap rising.
Tim Duncan and Ginobili can always come back on short one year deals to return next season for another shot at NBA glory and maybe that is wise considering some basketball pundits might say the Spurs were robbed in their Western Conference Semi-Final series against the Thunder due to some questionable officiating.
Newly crowned executive of the year RC Buford is no fool, there are many ways a crafty general manager like him can carve out a few deals to reinvigorate the Spurs bench and perhaps even pull off some sort of coup to infuse more youth and potential into the club for the future as well as today.
Although both Duncan and Ginobili were both understandably vague about whether they would be back in black and silver next year, as this season had just ended, Ginobili’s comments are just as mysterious as they could be the words of a man looking to the future or fondly recalling the past:
“Of course, it’s been an amazing run…We all enjoy playing with each other. I’m so proud of having played with those guys for so many years and winning so many games, and even playing with the new guys. If there’s a reason why you always want to come back and keep being part of this, [it’s] because of the amazing chemistry, the good times and the good people that you play with and spend time with. It’s not always about winning a game or winning a championship. But you learn from losses, and it’s important to enjoy every day. Being a part of this team, I’m very proud of it, even if sometimes it doesn’t go our way.”
So I am not quite sure if this was the last dance I warned you about last year, but I know the music has to stop soon and the band has to go home because they are tired…but if they can pull an encore I might be back here this Autumn telling you to yet again pay attention, we are watching the demise and possible rebirth of a legendary sports franchise and a great chapter in Texas sport history.
Blink and you might miss it.
