Although it might not hurt them on the court, an end to Matt Bonner‘s time with the San Antonio Spurs would be the latest example of Gregg Popovich’s team moving into a new era.
They say time flies when you’re having fun, but that’s certainly not enough to prepare anyone for the inevitable change that always follows.
It’s nice to have a place to hang your hat. There have been multiple truths to ground and reassure NBA fans over the last decade and beyond, yet slowly but surely they’re now all fading away.
There may never be a more significant retirement in the history of the San Antonio Spurs than Tim Duncan‘s decision to step away from the game only a few short weeks ago, but for anyone who hasn’t digested exactly what that means yet, there may now be another chance to have the point hammered home.
After 10 full seasons with the Spurs, journeyman big Matt Bonner is yet another San Antonio mainstay who it seems won’t be pulling on that team’s famous black and white jersey next season.
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In a period of his career that saw the “Red Mamba” play a total of 726 games representing San Antonio (regular season and postseason combined), Bonner was never a pivotal part of his team’s gameplan.
Many other franchises would have made him dispensable as little more than a perennial 15th man, but the Spurs have always been a little different.
Bonner was really just a guy who was part of the team, but as clichéd as it might sound, he was also a part of the culture that made the Spurs who they were.
It’s tough to embrace change, but it’s what the Spurs have done, what Bonner seems set to do and what the rest of the wider NBA viewing public will have to get used to.
As reported by Jeff Garcia of NewsForSanAntonio.com, Bonner still intends on playing in the league but it seems apparent that he will have to do so in a new home.
"“Currently they haven’t signed me. Unless something changes going into the season, I’m probably not going to be with the Spurs.”"
This summer will always be marked by Tim Duncan’s retirement for the people of San Antonio, and rightly so. At the same time, the departures of other long-term fixtures of the locker room and champions like Bonner and Boris Diaw shouldn’t be glossed over.
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LaMarcus Aldridge might have been the big fish that really signalled the dawn of a new beginning in San Antonio, but it’s only now that the landscape has really changed, that the personalities are missing.
In a league that’s constantly evolving, the reliable consistency of the Spurs was a comfort.
Tim Duncan’s baggy jeans, Boris Diaw’s passion for coffee and Matt Bonner’s hunt for the perfect sandwich will all be notably elsewhere when the new season starts, and that’s going to take some getting used to.
With an influx of new European names and faces like Livio Jean-Charles and Davis Bertans, perhaps the new wave can be just as surprisingly special as the last one.
In a world where Tim Duncan and Matt Bonner can’t play for the Spurs forever, it’s hard to believe that kind of fairy tale is possible though.
As a result, if this is the end for Matt Bonner in San Antonio, it’s a sad day. It won’t grab headlines, but it’s not unimportant. Not only have the San Antonio Spurs changed, but as is the nature of the game, they’re going to keep changing.
Thankfully, the one thing that like won’t change is Matt Bonner’s personality.
Let’s just hope that wherever he lands is a city with no shortage of great sandwiches.
For any team or city who feel confident that they might be a fit, Bonner outlined the exact formula he uses to rate a sandwich in conversation with Kirk Goldsberry for a Grantland piece back in 2014:
"“I’m glad you brought up analytics. Charts, graphs, and numbers don’t lie. Even though 28 percent of them are made up. Here is a very rudimentary formula I came up with for rating a sandwich:Score on a scale of 1-100:A = breadB = meatC = fixingsD = sauces.4(A) + .3(B) + .2(C) + .1(D) = overall score on a 0-100 scaleEach ingredient is weighted based on its level of importance to a good sandwich. Please note that the coefficients can certainly change when dealing with specialty sandwiches (for example, a steak and cheese would have a higher value placed on meat).”"
For any team not in need of a sandwich aficionado, Bonner also has real coaching potential.
Could he be the perfect mentor for a young team? The latest star coach to emerge from the Gregg Popovich coaching tree?
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All of that would be fun, but let’s hope that the Red Mamba gets the chance to spot up in the corner somewhere for at least one more season.