In the crowded hallway of Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland in the moments after Tim Duncan led the San Antonio Spurs to their fourth NBA title with a convincing thrashing of LeBron James and the Cavaliers in 2007, the two greats embraced.
“This is going to be your league in a little while,” Duncan said by way of consolation to James, the budding superstar, then just 22. “But I appreciate you giving us this year.”
That was supposed to be it. That was when the then-dynastic-ish Spurs, winners of three titles in five years and four in nine, were seemingly ready to pass the torch.
They snatched it back this past week. They did it with an artful display of basketball that could—or should—redefine what building a team can really be in a league that habitually views rosters through a prism of superstars (you need at least two to contend and often three to win), key role players (your other two starters and a rotation player or two) and roster filler (affordable specialists or good guys).
They did it with a team where no single player was more or less important than any other. James and the Heat seemed baffled at how to defend a team where the ball moved at lightning speed and without prejudice. All five live, all five as one.
“They were the much better team,” James said. “You know, it’s selfless. Guys move, cut, pass. You’ve got a shot, you take it, but it’s all for the team and it’s never about the individual. That’s their brand of basketball, and that’s how team basketball should be played.”
In 2007 it appeared Duncan was predicting the future. It took a few years and James taking his talents to South Beach, but the Miami Heat star seemed poised to make the NBA his own for the foreseeable future, with two straight championships in the bag and a third on offer.
But then the Spurs showed up, once again led by Duncan and his gimpy knee and his collection of aging stars and no-name supporting cast, and disassembled the whole picture again.
The 2007 Spurs, in their collective prime, easily swept James and the Cavaliers, a 50-win team that featured starters the likes of Daniel Gibson and Sasha Pavlovic—bit players who’ve never been heard from again once they left James’s orbit.
That was explainable—even predictable.
But what just happened?
How on earth did the Spurs (virtually) sweep away the Heat with James in his prime and supported by Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade—Hall of Fame-caliber stars—as well as handpicked role players (Ray Allen) with championship experience?
This wasn’t Duncan of his MVP days. He’s 38. Manu Ginobili is 36. Even Tony Parker is 31 and perpetually fighting tweaks to his legs and ankles.
Nine Spurs played at least 1,200 minutes this season. After Duncan—taken first overall in 1997–the average draft position of the next eight Spurs is 34th, and it’s not just ancient history—like when Ginobili was taken 57th in 1999 or Parker snuck in the late first in 2001.
Danny Green, the Spurs’ best player in last year’s Finals loss to the Heat, was taken 46th in 2009. Patty Mills, the spark plug off the bench, was taken 55th that same year. Kawhi Leonard was hardly a secret in 2011, but 14 other teams passed on him in the first round and the Spurs were able to get him by trading George Hill—a 26th-overall pick in 2008—to the Pacers for his rights.
For perspective, when the Spurs swept James and the Cavaliers all those years ago, they were plus-24 for the series. In 2013-14 they were plus-70—and that’s with losing Game 2.
How is that possible seven years later?
It all provides food for thought.
Is James somehow diminished in his quest to challenge Jordan as the greatest of all time because he’s now 2-3 in NBA Finals? His statistical line through the five games—28.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.0 steals on 52-percent shooting—was on par with either of his Finals MVP performances. But there seemed to be something missing.
In fairness he got minimal help from elsewhere—the Heat’s point guard tandem shot just 32.5 percent for the series and made 16 turnovers compared with 24 assists. Meanwhile Wade was awful, shooting just 7-of-25 in the final two games and contributing stiff-legged defence throughout.
But James would surge for a quarter or a half—his 17 points, six rebounds and two blocks in the first quarter Sunday night was a peak-power display from the sport’s most dynamic player—yet time and time again in the series he would drift away from the game’s centre and the Heat would suffer for it.
There is nothing to be ashamed of in making five Finals appearances and winning two at age 29, but the question will be how the Heat and James rebound if he is going to win championships on par with Jordan, Kareem (six each), Magic or even Kobe Bryant (both with five).
They should study the Spurs.
San Antonio has shown that greatness can be sustainable over time rather than concentrated in bright, brief flashes.
They’ve also shown the NBA that championships can be won with the collective commitment of a group where each person is valuable—if not expensive—and vital, rather than dividing a team into superstars and peripheral parts.
In that context the Heat chasing another star—say, the Knicks’ Carmelo Anthony, as far-fetched as that might be—would be a sign of them not getting the message. Maybe the solution to the challenges faced by James and the Heat—and the rest of the NBA’s contending class—isn’t about finding the next big name with the contract to match and hoping they can fill all the gaps.
Maybe it’s in realizing the potential of the group you have.
Maybe the way to move forward is seeking out key character traits when assembling complimentary players—competitiveness; intelligence; unselfishness—before getting swept away by athletic gifts.
LeBron James and the Heat are a young team—certainly in comparison to the core of the Spurs. And there is still time for 2007-era Tim Duncan to be proven right. This can still be his league for years to come. But whether it is or not will depend on how closely he and the Heat learned the lessons the Spurs are trying to teach them.