Which Spurs Championship was the best?

[MavsDirk41]

The 2014 curb stomp of the Miami Heat was a thing of beauty to watch

[-Luke-]

2014 > 2003 > 1999 > 2005 = 2007

2014 was just beautiful basketball, a joy to watch. Plus a special story one year after what might be the most bitter loss in NBA finals history.
2003 was Duncan at his peak with an awesome carry job.
1999 because the first one is always special.
Don't care much about 2005 and 2007 either way. At the time I was pissed that the Mavs didn't win, so that may play a role in my relative ignorance for those titles.

I'm surprised 2003 doesn't sting in the same way. The Mavs were absolutely stacked that year. They were arguably a tougher out than the Lakers that year.

Dirk
Nash
Finley
Van Exel

Sheesh.

Oh, it did sting. But the Duncan carry job was so elite I had to put it here and even thought about having it over or in the same tier as 2014.

[mingus]

I know that I am the odd man odd, but I picked ‘99.

That was the last year where David Robinson could be considered to be in his (very, very end of it but still) prime. He didn’t make All-NBA, but he did make All-Defensive (second team). Basically, he was a really, really, really great 2nd option. Duncan at that point was completely unstoppable. The ‘99 version of Duncan was arguably the best version of him, with athleticism to go along with his already elite IQ. He was all defensive first team that year, too. And I believe All-NBA first team.

So that was your frontcourt. Yeah, as you would assume, nobody could score in the paint. Easy buckets were really hard to come buy against them. And you had basically a 50% chance of scoring by throwing it to either one of them in the low block or elbow.

All they needed to go with them was guys who could basically hit open shots & make cuts to the baskets off of double teams. Basically, 3&D before they were called 3&D. They had that. They had Sean Elliot & Mario Elie to do that. Avery Johnson was a great game manager who made the right plays by getting it to the right players in the right spots & hitting the open j when needed.

When you have a combo of Duncan/Robinson, all you need is a bunch of guys who can play off of them offensively. And they had that to go along with what is probably head & shoulders the best defensive frontcourt ever.

Shortened season, but nobody was winning that over them regardless. And I think even had the ‘99 Bulls came back with everyone, they would have had a really tough time just like everybody else did.

Also, it’s hard to describe without watching how truly dominant Tim Duncan was offensively at that point without watching him. He averaged 27/14/2/2 in that Finals, in addition to making the right play almost every single time. He was, like I said before, both athletic & typical Duncan genius IQ level, & he was about as unstoppable a player can be offensively.

It was a completely different era of basketball, & a complete 180 from what will probably be most peoples’ pick, the ‘14 team…most ppl would probably say (who didn’t watch them), “but they only averaged like 90 points/game” (possibly less, can’t remember)…but greatest players control the pace of the game. Dictate how the games are played. And that Spurs team, while considered extremely boring, controlled the pace. They wanted their towers clogging the paint every time defensively, & in order to do that, offensively they slowed the game down & dropped it into Duncan or Robinson, where they were more likely to get a basket or foul, than not, & set their defensive up. They played to their strengths & they were extremely efficient.

Just my shout out to the ‘99 Spurs team, which doesn’t get enough props in basketball lore. They beat the **** out of everyone they played and it it had nothing to do with a lock out. They were just that good.


They also don’t get enough props because they didn’t win again until ‘03…pretty much Robinson declined to basically a role player after that season, as his back problems really took hold.

But, for that one season, you had an end of prime Robinson with a prime Duncan & they were totally unstoppable.

[xinxin]

Because I was such a LeBron hater, I rooted for the Spurs in 2013 and 2014.

& I thought you couldn’t have played any better basketball than the 2014 Spurs team.

2014 for me.


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[kenwood3333]

The one against the entitled big 3 of course

[karmew32]

1999 was their first and the Memorial Day Miracle was the biggest culture-shifting moment in franchise history.

2005 was by far the best team they beat in the Finals.

2014 was the ultimate redemption story and some of the highest-executed team ball we've ever seen

Not as impressed by 2003 and 2007. The former had the best team in the league lose their star player in the 2nd round, and the latter had the infamous suspensions.

[Yank3525]

2014

I rag on the Spurs for never repeating. But to come back after such a devastating loss the year before says a lot about their mental toughness. Not only did they come back, but they embarrassed Miami.

[DwayneSchintzus]

My thoughts as a fan since the late Gervin era:

1999- so great because if you were a Spurs fan prior to this, you didn't really believe they would ever win one. The '95 WCF loss to Houston as well as the losses to the Barkley Suns, Utah, and of course the 1991 loss to the Warriors all haunted us. The Spurs used to have a slogan for every season like "Fast Breakin' Fiesta" and one year, I think it was 1991 or 1992 the slogan was "We Want it NOW" ("it" being a title).

When Sean hit the MDM against Portland, we knew we were going to finally win, even though that was just Game 2 of the Conference Finals. I was 22 years old, a senior at UTSA, it was just a great time to be a part of it in San Antonio.

2003- special for me because I was at 2 of the Finals games, including the clinching Game 6 which was David's last game. I saw the jump/spin/fist pump he did at the end of the game right in front of me, with my best friend next to me. I lived in Dallas by then, so the series vs the Mavs and Kerr closing them out was awesome for me personally.

2005- I have a lot of memories of this one, I didn't go to any of the Finals games in person. The Nuggets series where Melo cheap-shotted Manu in the back of the head with a forearm. Jerome James wearing a trash bag around his shoulders like a cape and saying he gave Duncan "no respect". But the part that made me the angriest was when Duncan turned his ankle in Seattle and the Sonics fans cheered his injury. They were s--- fans for that, and when they lost their team a couple of years later, I was happy to see it.

The Finals against Detroit were an absolute war, we blew them out the first two games, they blew us out the next two, then the Horry game. Going into Game 6 I thought we would win, but Detroit won again and forced a Game 7. I was flying home the day of Game 7 and I had a conversation with a guy sitting next to me on the plane. He said, "if they were going to win the series, they had to win Game 6, Detroit is too tough for SA to beat in Game 7." I just replied with "I believe in Tim Duncan."

2007 - The Phoenix series was the toughest, no one else really challenged us that year. I never respected the Suns or their fans for the way they whined about the suspensions. Those clown fans of theirs don't deserve a title, they still whine about it today. When we were getting screwed, we took it like men. Man up. Bonus points for this year because we got to see the Mavs completely self-destruct in the first round and Dirk get humiliated - accepting his MVP after he had his balls ripped off by the Warriors.

2014 - Just an absolute storybook season. One of my favorite moments was Game 7 vs the Mavs - they had put the fear of god into us by beating us three times in the first round. Once on a crazy buzzer beater by Vince Carter. We blew them out in Game 7 and as Parker walked off the court, he walked right by Pop, who didn't acknowledge him at all, no fist bump, no "good job", nothing. Strictly business.

Of course, you can't talk about 2014 without talking about 2013. Two incredible teams punching and counter-punching. They beat us and it was devastating. One of the coolest moments I've ever had as a Spurs fan was the day after that Game 7 in 2013, my Aunt in San Antonio sent me a picture of some old man buying produce at HEB - he was wearing a Spurs shirt. The day after the most devastating loss in franchise history, we thought we had lost the chance for one last title with these guys, we were all devastated. None of us wanted to think about it. Some old dude just put his Spurs t-shirt on and went to the grocery store in it. Life goes on. Ball don't stop. Puro.

I was pretty confident we would win the Finals. The margin of defeat was so small the year before, and the team was more focused than ever. But the way it happened was just fantastic, in an avalanche of team basketball, with Diaw, and Patty Mills, and Splitter all kicking ass. When I think back to it now, I suspect we enjoy 2014 more than the Miami fans enjoy 2013. It feels like a two-year series that we won.

Go Spurs Go