With the San Antonio Spurs celebrating their 50th season this year, now is the perfect time to take a look back at the team’s greatest players. The Spurs are one of the most successful franchises in the NBA, despite playing in a small market. In fact, they boast the highest winning percentage of any team in NBA history and have also had plenty of playoff success.
The San Antonio Spurs have made an impressive 14 Conference Finals and won five championships. Many players contributed to their success, but only four can be included on a hypothetical Spurs Mount Rushmore, which has become a way for basketball fans to rank only the most important players. Which Spurs were chosen? Let’s see.
San Antonio Spurs: George Gervin
George “The Iceman” Gervin was the Spurs’ first great player, and he played for them in both the ABA and NBA. While only nine of his 12 seasons with the team are officially recognized by the league, Gervin still did more than enough to warrant inclusion on the Spurs’ Mount Rushmore.
The Iceman averaged a stellar 26.1 points per game on an efficient 51.1% shooting in San Antonio. He didn’t just score a bunch of points; however, he carried the Spurs to the Eastern Conference Finals in 1979, where they lost by two stinking points in game seven against the Washington Bullets.
He later led them to the Western Conference Finals in 1983, where Gervin and the Spurs dueled against Magic Johnson and the Showtime Lakers. He never won a championship with the team, nor did he get to finish his career in San Antonio. Still, his legacy as a franchise icon ensures that his contributions to the Spurs will never be forgotten.
San Antonio Spurs: Tony Parker
With Gervin already chosen for the Spurs’ Mount Rushmore and two spots reserved for the Twin Towers, the biggest argument is whether to select Tony Parker or Manu Ginobili. It’s a tough one since Ginobili is great in his own right, but Parker was simply better at his peak and played longer. Parker spent 18 seasons with the team and was part of the Spurs’ famed big three, alongside the aforementioned Ginobili and Tim Duncan.
As the youngest member of the trio, Parker initially served as the third option but steadily took on a larger role within the Spurs’ offense. In 2007, he carried the Spurs to their fourth championship by leading the team in scoring and assists just as Ginobili and Duncan began to decline. Still, he really didn’t reach his full potential until coach Gregg Popovich handed him the keys to the offense in the 2011-12 season.
Parker was responsible for helping orchestrate the Spurs’ famous “Beautiful Game” offense. That read-and-react offense was key to the Spurs reaching three consecutive Western Conference Finals, back-to-back NBA Finals, and winning a championship in 2014. Even after his prime, Parker still contributed to the Spurs as a pass-first point guard, helping the team win at least 60 games in consecutive seasons with Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge as their best players.
Parker retired in 2018 and is the franchise’s third-leading scorer with 18,943 points and the leader in assists with 6,829. He was also a four-time all-star, won the 2007 NBA Finals MVP, and has four championships. That’s an amazing career.
San Antonio Spurs: David Robinson
Despite being a league MVP and a 10-time all-star, David Robinson is often overlooked during all-time debates. That’s crazy to think, given how dominant he was and how he completely transformed the Spurs. During the 1988–1989 season, the team won just 21 games. However, when the Admiral joined the team in 1989, they won an impressive 56 games, thanks to Robinson having one of the greatest rookie seasons ever.
He averaged an incredible 24.3 points, 12 rebounds, 3.9 blocks, 1.7 steals, and shot 53.1% from the field. Robinson continued to put up historic numbers over his first seven seasons and led the Spurs to the playoffs each year, including the Western Conference Finals in 1995.
Unfortunately, he missed most of the 1996-97 season, but that resulted in the Spurs ending up with the number one pick and selecting Tim Duncan. Just two seasons later, Robinson and Duncan led the Spurs to victory over the New York Knicks in the NBA finals to win the franchise’s first title.
During their five years as teammates, Duncan and Robinson formed one of the greatest power forward-center combinations in NBA history, combining to make eight all-star teams during that span and winning two NBA championships.
Robinson retired as the franchise’s all-time leading scorer, rebounder, and shot blocker, and while Duncan eventually surpassed him in all three categories, Robinson was likely better at his peak. That makes him all the more impressive.
San Antonio Spurs: Tim Duncan
Despite Robinson’s peak, Duncan clearly ranks as the greatest player in franchise history. Duncan was selected first overall in 1997 and was immediately paired with Robinson, who was still great but was an aging star. They formed the Twin Towers, an elite pairing who could both score 20 points and get 10 rebounds while also shutting down the paint.
Still, it was Duncan’s team, and he led the Spurs to their first NBA title at only 22 years old. Four years later, he had arguably his best season as well as a historic postseason in which he averaged a staggering 24.7 points, 15.4 rebounds, 5.3 assists, and 3.3 blocks. He was so good, in fact, that he led a team that featured a 37-year-old Robinson, a young Parker, and a rookie Ginobili past the Los Angeles Lakers, who were the 3-time defending champions.
That’s no small feat considering they had prime Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant—two of the top 15 players of all time. He then put up incredible numbers in the NBA Finals, including a near quadruple-double, en route to a second championship in five years. Duncan would go on to help lead the team to four championships in his first nine seasons and five in his first 15. Duncan finished his legendary career with 26,496 points, 15,091 rebounds, and 3,020 blocks, all of which are franchise records.
He also has the second highest winning percentage of any player ever (minimum 1000 games), with teammate Ginobili edging him out of number one. Factor in his five championships, and Duncan is the most successful player in recent NBA history, and he did it all with the Spurs.
Overall, the Spurs have had quite a few great players in their fifty-year history. However, Gervin, Parker, Robinson, and Duncan rank as the best of the best.