Spurs left to ponder future
PROBLEMS ON AND OFF THE COURT RAISE POSSIBILITY THIS IS THE END OF A DYNASTY
Even things that seem like they will last forever, like the reign of the NBA’s most consistently successful franchise, end. Now that the San Antonio Spurs have been eliminated from the playoffs thanks to their 99-91 Game 5 loss to the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night, it’s worth asking whether we’re witnessing the end of the Spurs Dynasty.
The possibility has hovered over the team for much of the year. The Spurs struggled, and occasionally even fell out of the playoff picture entirely, without star forward Kawhi Leonard, who ended up playing just nine games this season while dealing with a quadriceps issue.
Despite the Spurs’ reputation as a team able to sidestep controversy, a disagreement between Leonard and the Spurs about the best way to handle his injury snowballed into a very public debate.
Maybe the most troubling moment came when Spurs coach Gregg Popovich praised LeMarcus Aldridge using language that many interpreted as snarky commentary aimed at his MIA all-star: “[Aldridge] doesn’t complain about a darn thing out on the court.
“I can’t imagine being more proud of a player as far as playing through adversity and being there for his teammates night after night after night.”
It was difficult not to read this as reflecting negatively on Leonard, who some believed was doing the exact opposite of Aldridge.
Trade rumours
The Spurs now are at a crossroads, as they could choose to move away from Leonard, who has one year left on his current deal, or offer him a five-year, $219 million (Dh804 million) extension. The clock had barely wound down on San Antonio’s season before rumours of a Leonard trade to the Los Angeles Lakers began to bubble up. Leonard is not the only man the Spurs could lose. Manu Ginobili, who has been with the team since 2002, is con templating retirement. Tony Parker, a Spur since 2001, plans to continue playing but is not under contract. Danny Green, whose three-point shooting was key in San Antonio’s 2014 Finals victory over LeBron James and the Miami Heat, has a player’s option for next year and his return isn’t certain either.
It was supposed to be easier than this. When Tim Duncan, arguably the greatest player of his generation, retired in 2016, it looked like San Antonio had lucked into a seamless line of succession. With Leonard, they had one of the NBA’s top talents, a perennial Defensive Player of the Year candidate who was also frightening on offence. It was no easy feat to take over from Duncan, but it looked like the Spurs had their guy.
Maybe it was a mistake to assume that any player could ever truly replace Duncan, but most people believed that things would continue to go smoothly for the Spurs because they always have. The Spurs have made the playoffs in 27 of the last 28 seasons, appeared in six NBA finals, the first in 1999 and the most recent in 2014, and have won five of them.
Overseeing it all has been Popovich, who has been head coach in San Antonio since 1996 and has overseen 21 consecutive winning seasons. Popovich, in fact, is the longest tenured coach in the four major US professional sports leagues.
Popovich has become more than a basketball coach, he’s become a public figure, which made the report that Erin, his wife of four decades, passed away on 18 April after a long illness all the more devastating. As of right now, nobody can say what this will mean as far as Popovich’s future, probably not even the coach himself. Assistant Ettore Messina, who may soon depart for a head coaching job elsewhere, took over for Popovich for what ended up being the final three games of the series.
Maybe it’s not over. Maybe a grieving Popovich emerges from the offseason ready to return to coaching. Maybe the Spurs and Leonard find common ground over the offseason. Maybe Ginobili and Parker decide to sign up for one more go around together. All of this is possible, but for right now, the Spurs, for the first time in decades, face an uncertain future.
The Spurs have made the playoffs in 27 of the last 28 seasons, appeared in six NBA finals, the first in 1999 and the most recent in 2014, and have won five of them.