San Antonio Spurs: What The NBA GMs Think
By Cody Daniel
Whether you’re a fan of the San Antonio Spurs and the legacy they have accrued over the last decade and a half or not, you have to appreciate greatness as a fan of basketball and that’s something etched into the DNA of head coach Gregg Popovich and his dynasty.
Well, just as you could have expected, in the annual GM survey done before the beginning of the regular season, the Spurs and their players once again were littered throughout the vast majority of the voting categories.
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There’s a long list so just be patient and read through it for your daily history lesson on the greatness that is the Spurs. I’ll just start from the top.
San Antonio was voted to repeat as NBA champions with the overwhelmingly popular vote of 46.2 percent. Compare that the runners up, the new look Cleveland Cavaliers, who received only 15.4 percent.
Then, of course, if the Spurs were the favorites to win the NBA Finals, they would be the favorites to win the Western Conference Finals as well, as did just that with a 55.6 percent vote. Oklahoma City followed at 29.6 percent. San Antonio was the favorite last season as well with 40 percent of the vote.
In a more across-the-board vote, San Antonio is the favorites to win the Southwest Division with 96.4 percent of the votes. This is as close to accurate as you will see. The Spurs are going to dominate this division as expected as their final standing will show as a result.
Next up is the vote for which player is most likely to have a breakout season in 2014-15. As crazy as it sounds, Kawhi Leonard received some votes, but didn’t even make it into the top five in that category.
This is semi-understandable with names like Anthony Davis and Bradley Beal leading the pack, but after his sensation performance on both sides of the ball against LeBron James’ then Miami Heat to win the NBA Finals MVP, it comes as a bit of a shock to be voted for less than guys like Andre Drummond and Klay Thompson.
Here’s one nearly every Spurs’ fan walking the earth with disagree with. Tony Parker was voted as the third-best point guard in the NBA with only 7.1 percent of the vote. It makes sense with the only guys ahead of him being Chris Paul and Russell Westbrook, but after leading the Spurs to their fifth NBA championship and his fourth, there aren’t many Spurs’ supporters who will agree with this one.
Although he will go down as the greatest power forward to ever play this great game, Tim Duncan didn’t crack the list of top five power forwards for the upcoming season, although, he did receive some votes. LaMarcus Aldridge led the way with 25 percent of the vote. Duncan was voted as the best last season.
But oddly enough, Duncan did finish fourth in the voting as the NBA’s best center with 10.7 percent of the votes.
Kyle Anderson was third in the voting as the biggest steal of the draft. Anderson was selected No. 30 overall in the most recent draft.
Again, Parker’s name was in the mix and this time, it was for best international player in the NBA. Parker came in second with 28.6 percent of the vote, behind Dirk Nowitzki with 53.6 percent.
Leonard received some votes for being the best defensive player in the NBA and also came in second with 21.4 percent of the voting for best perimeter defender, behind only LeBron James.
The Spurs, as we could have expected, received some votes as the best defensive team in the land.
Popovich walked away as the ultimate winner from the votes as he received a 92.9 percent vote for best coach, a 57.1 percent vote for best manager and motivator, 46.4 percent of the vote as best in-game adjustment head coach and 77.8 percent as the head coach who ran the best offense.
All were good enough for Pop to lead the way in votes. He also came in second behind Tom Thibodeau as the coach with the best defensive schemes.
Spurs assistant coach Ettore Messina received 7.1 percent of the votes as the best assistant, which was good enough for second-place behind Golden State’s Alvin Gentry.
Manu Ginobili received some votes as to who will make the best head coach in the future.
Here’s another one that might surprise you … San Antonio came in third in the voting of most fun teams to watch with a 17.9 percent vote. Not too shabby for a team that everyone claims is too old and fundamental, but basketball is an art form when played the right way and they have become the Leonardo Da Vinci of the league.
The fans that flood the AT&T Center for every home game have helped give the Spurs some votes as one of the best home-court advantages. Oklahoma City, Denver and Golden State led the way.
In yet another category, Ginobili received some votes as the best at moving without the ball.
Parker received votes as the most dangerous in open court. They should have made a category for best pick-and-roll executor. He also received votes as one of the best at finishing around the rim.
Duncan and Ginobili both received votes for being the toughest player in the NBA. Duncan also led the way with the most votes for being the best leader in the NBA with 35.7 percent.
As anyone who follows the Spurs would know, a large part of their success comes from role players and Boris Diaw was voted as the league’s best role player with 11.1 percent of the vote. Ginobili, Leonard and Danny Green all received votes as well.
And finally, a few Spurs were voted in as having the highest basketball IQ. Duncan came in third with 14.3 percent of the votes, while Diaw and Ginobili received votes also.
Pretty overwhelming from one team right?
San Antonio has set the bar high in terms of teamwork, leadership, winning pedigree and class alike and it shows when people get to voice their thoughts in polls like this. Although these votes don’t guarantee anything, one thing for certain is the Spurs are going to be very, very good again and it would be wise tune in to as much of the dynasty with a door slowly closing while we still have it.
The complete GM voting results can be seen here.