They broke the mold after this Big Three
Aldridge, Mills likely candidates in trying to fill leadership void
SAN ANTONIO — Sean Elliott tried his best the past several years to prepare Spurs fans for what finally came to pass Monday — the end of the Big Three era.
“I used to tell people all the time in my talks around town that the real NBA hasn’t hit San Antonio,” said Elliott, the former Spurs star turned TV analyst. “I’d say, it’s not here yet because we have superstars that are selfless players and they are willing to do anything to win games. They are not concerned about anything else.”
Elliott was speaking about Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili, a rare collection of greats who always put team needs and goals ahead of their own.
“It’s difficult to have at least one star on your roster who thinks that way let alone three like the Spurs had for so many years,” said Herb Rudoy, Ginobili’s longtime agent. “It really was unique.”
When the Spurs face the Minnesota Timberwolves in their season opener on Oct. 17 at the AT&T Center, it will mark the first time since April 20, 1997, that they will play a regular-season game without Duncan or Parker or Ginobili on their roster.
Beginning with the arrival of Ginobili as a 25-year-old rookie in 2002, they played together for 14 seasons and won four championships (Duncan collected his first title in 1999 with David Robinson riding shotgun).
Duncan retired after 19 seasons in 2016, Parker signed with Charlotte in free agency in July after 17 campaigns and Ginobili announced his retirement Monday after 16 seasons.
“It was a great pleasure to represent him,” Rudoy said. “He’s terrific. He’s quite a man, a husband, a father, a teammate, just really outstanding.”
So what does the future hold for the Spurs as they transition from a glorious period that began with Duncan’s arrival in 1997 and produced five championships, a 21-season streak of playoff berths and untold magical moments?
“It’s going to be tougher, I can tell you that,” Elliott said.
DeRozan up for the task
Indeed, the leadership void is substantial. Parker and Ginobili tried to emulate Duncan, and “Timmy” just happened to be one of the greatest leaders pro sports has known.
“I don’t want to be too vocal because sometimes you become a pain in the ass, annoying, so it’s better to follow the Duncan-type of leadership,” Ginobili said last season. “Nobody has been a better leader than him, and he didn’t open his mouth that many times, only when needed.”
In that regard, six-time All-Star forward LaMarcus Aldridge seems best positioned to take up the leadership torch.
The 13-year pro earned a lot of respect in the locker room last season for the way he quietly shouldered a heavy load while Kawhi Leonard tended to his mysterious quad injury.
“He’s not a towel waver or anything like that,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said last season of Aldridge. “He does it by example.”
In a tweet Monday, Aldridge indicated he learned a lot about leadership from Ginobili.
“I … got to witness first-hand how you bring more value to a team than just scoring,” Aldridge wrote in his tribute to Ginobili. “You’re an ultimate competitor and a ‘team first’ kind of guy. You lift the culture in an organization just by simply being around. You were even successful in getting me to participate in more team activities than I have in my entire career. It was an honor competing against you, but even better competing with you on my side.”
In Patty Mills and Marco Belinelli, the Spurs have two players who helped them win their last championship in 2014. The always enthusiastic Mills will be counted on to teach younger players about the Spurs’ vaunted culture.
“Patty is one of the most positive people I have ever been around in life,” Spurs forward Rudy Gay said. “He gets everybody motivated.”
Four-time All-Star DeMar DeRozan, who arrived in the trade that sent Leonard and Danny Green to Toronto, also is expected to provide leadership. At the Team USA minicamp in July, DeRozan said he welcomes the opportunity to lead in San Antonio.
“I’m going into my 10th year in the league, so with the knowledge I’ve gained in this league, if I can help the next guy, that’s what it is all about,” DeRozan said.
Gasol new senior member
With Ginobili gone, center Pau Gasol, 38, is the oldest member of the team. He’s a six-time All-Star and a two-time NBA champion.
Collectively, all of the above veterans will try to fill the gap left by the departures of Parker and Ginobili. But it’s hard to imagine the Spurs ever having leaders more passionate about the game and more professional than the stars who made up the Big Three.
“Times have changed,” Elliott said. “Obviously, society has changed. We have lost three guys who cared more about winning than they cared about anything else. … They were just incredibly unique, and I don’t see that happening in Spurs history again.”
Elliott, though, is optimistic the Spurs might find a leader in one of their younger players. A likely candidate is third-year point guard Dejounte Murray.
“We will have talent, a lot of good young talent,” Elliott said. “I think it might depend on how quickly guys jell and how badly they want it and if guys can check their egos at the door and pull together for the good of the team. … Because you are not going to have those three guys in the locker room, teaching young guys, sharing their experiences, that kind of thing. It’s a whole different ballgame.”