Not long after that was the Alvin Robertson "era" (lol), Cadillac Anderson, etc. I remember reading in The Light that we traded Mychal Thompson to the Lakers and I thought they should have kept him, rather than giving him to the hated Lakers. My first "hot take" lol, I was 9 or 10. Those years right before David were really bad.
Then David came, and everything changed overnight. I had already started paying attention to them, but that 2nd round series against Portland made me a fan for life. Our team had so much promise. Then the Golden State flameout in the first round, and Larry Brown bailing on us just to resurface with the Clippers a few weeks later...that Utah series in '94...just a lot of unfulfilled promise. Remember when our slogan was "We Want it Now"? "It" being a championship, well we may have wanted it but we didn't get it haha.
Before the '95 season, I told everyone I knew that I thought we would win the title. We had every piece we needed on the roster - rebounding, shooting, MVP level scoring, slashers, defenders. And I was almost right! Most people remember that WCF as Hakeem obliterating David, I remember it for Rodman in open rebellion as our season went up in flames. One of the greatest defenders of his generation refused to help defend Olajuwon. I have never forgiven Rodman for that.
Then the Duncan era, I'm not going to say much because everyone knows about this part. I was at the Memorial Day Miracle, the greatest game I have ever been to in my life. Sean launched that rainbow over 'Sheed, and the team that always came up short transformed into a dynasty. Thank you Sean Elliott always and forever.
I think we all had similar feelings when the Duncan run was over. A lot of impatient fans that didn't remember the lean years were wanting crazy trades that would vault us right back into the place we had been just a couple seasons prior - real contenders for the title. From my perspective I kept telling everyone, "Tim Duncan was one of the greatest players of all time, in my opinion. There are 30 teams. The odds are that we will never have a player like that again, so just enjoy the memories and support the team we have."
Now, with equal parts luck and planning, we are on the precipice of a new era. I have told my kids and my wife that we are about to watch a 15-year super hero movie together. When Wemby retires, I will be an old man. Can he surpass Duncan's 5 titles? Perhaps. He may be an even GREATER individual player than Duncan and not get that many.
But in the coming years, never lose sight of how fortunate we are. My advice is not to engage with the haters, the people saying that Wemby isn't that good, or he will have an injury-plagued career, or whatever they come up with. In the Duncan era it was "they'll NEVER beat Shaq and Kobe" (when they already DID in 99), or they called us "soft", "dirty", "boring" and then finally they acknowledged us in 2014. Those people will never run out of negative things to say. They don't matter.
I live in Dallas now, and I'll be driving down 35 with my sons on Wednesday to go to the first game with my family. I'll probably stop by Bill Millers for a Po Boy Plus, beans, sweet tea and a brownie on the way in.
My boys know all the stories, now they'll get to see some for themselves. We have a great group of young players, I can't wait to see what they do together.
A big hug to all my fellow Spurs fans out there. Somehow, we made it back. Be sure to enjoy the ride this time.
GO SPURS GO
