In a league filled with drama and ups and downs, the San Antonio Spurs are a constant that never seems to make headlines for anything other than their play.
The last 10 months of the NBA have likely featured the most interesting, petty and exciting storylines in league history. The Golden State Warriors came back on Oklahoma City Thunder from down 3-1 in WCF. The Cleveland Cavaliers came back on the Warriors from down 3-1 in NBA Finals. LeBron James brough home a championship. Kevin Durant left the Thunder for the Warriors.
Westbrook goes on a tear. The Houston Rockets’ and Philadelphia 76ers’ apparently insane basketball models work. There are boops heard ’round the world courtesy of Jae Crowder and Charles Oakley (Oak’s boop takes place at 30 seconds). The Washington Wizards are putting on funerals. The Chicago Bulls are on Instagram. The Knicks are on a reality show.
And the San Antonio Spurs are…well, winning basketball games.
If the Spurs were ever going to be a story, it would have been this year, with Tim Duncan‘s retirement, the continued aging of Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker and a roster turnover of over half of their players. But despite all that, they’re still the Spurs.
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They’re still one of the best defensive teams in the league (second in both opponent points per game and opponent three-point percentage). They still thrive on ball movement (seventh in assists) that leads to the best shots (second in field goal percentage and first in three-point percentage). And are still one of the best at taking care of the ball (ninth in turnovers).
So if they’re so good, why aren’t we talking more about them? Well, quite frankly, they’re a little boring. There’s no turmoil. No big story. But that’s OK. Because the true basketball fans are grateful for that. It’s like when you get home from work and whoever you live with asks, “How was your day?” and you can finally say, “You know it was a little boring…it was nice.”
Sometimes we just need a break from the drama. It’s nice to sit down to watch a game where the broadcasters are saying, “And how about that guy Kawhi Leonard? He’s good at basketball.” Instead of, “Man you gotta wonder if Phil Jackson‘s breakup with Jeanie Buss is affecting his ability to lead the Knicks.” Not saying I’ve heard those words during a game per se, but you get the point.
Even when Leonard doesn’t play there isn’t much of a story. Last Monday, the Spurs lost to the Grizzlies, 89-74, in a game Kawhi sat out. The team looked totally discombobulated and I was thinking I should write an article about if the Spurs could win if their All Star was out during a playoff series.
As I started researching I realized the team was 4-1 without the guy with a point margin of +50. PLUS FIFTY. That means before the Grizzlies game, San Antonio was 4-0 without Leonard and had a point margin of +65. Sheesh. What am I supposed to write about?
Sure, I could come up with trade scenarios for guys on the block like Carmelo Anthony or Serge Ibaka, and I still might do that just for Ss and Gs, but there’s no reason to even think that because it’s just not the Spurs.
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Yes, they’ll probably make another run in free agency, and they could get in on the action around the trade deadline. But the fact is even if they don’t, no matter who goes where, the Spurs will just keep being the Spurs — really good at basketball but a little boring. And that’s perfectly OK.
*statistics courtesy of basketball-reference.com*