At 7:55 to the end of the third quarter, Zaza Pachulia put his foot in the landing zone of Kawhi Leonard, who with a step back and a jump jump tried a new basket for the Spurs. It was the first game of the 2017 Western Conference finals. The Spurs led by 21 points (55-76) in what was a constant display of tactics by Gregg Popovich towards his player, Steve Kerr. The Texan team left their rivals by 16 points in the first period and 26 in the second. The gaming clinic was absolutely unappealable and the Warriors, who had 67 victories in regular season (for the 61 of his rivals), they saw themselves against the back and the wall after having overcome with each sweeps the first and second rounds. And, when it seemed that the machado was possible and the attempt of traced back a chimera, everything changed.
It is undeniable that the Warriors were in a clear upward dynamic in this third period, but the goodbye to Kawhi so sapped the Spurs’ morale that a game they dominated by more than 20 points they ended up losing by 2. The final 113-111 also marked the end of an era, although that was not yet known.. Tim Duncan had been fired a year earlier and Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker were getting older and tired. Kawhi was the logical relay, the fledgling star who was the future but also the present. The man called to dominate a competition to which he had the ability to adapt as a timeless figure, that capable of playing as before, and not lose coba with the style of now. However, that injury, enhanced by Pachulia, spoiled the plans of a Popovich whose teams had always respected physical problems and last minute setbacks. That jump from Kawhi and that foot from Pachulia changed everything. And, at that moment, the path to perdition began.
Kawhi, medics problems through, forced the Spurs into an impossible situation, even turning someone like Popovich against them. The pragmatism of the technician facing outwards, without great criticism ever of anyone and with a commendable ability to care for his stars, he made things look different at the Spurs. It was no longer that model franchise that was able to ensure the constant continuity of its stars for an enormous number of years. The inner workings were cracked by the action of an undaunted as well as hermetic player, who made questionable use of player empowerment, sponsored the load managment and he put in the foreground what is now in vogue within the new generations: the environment. That word that has as much or more power than the player to force transfers and decide, why not, the future of a given project.
In that transfer, that of Kawhi, not only the error of the Spurs was evident when trying to build a new project around DeMar Derozan and LaMarcus Aldrige, two unquestionable talents that were unquestionably below the previous stars. Also the animosity of the Spurs in general and Popovich in particular towards the Lakers. Certain sectors of San Antonio celebrated the transfer that ended with the farce Kawhi Leonard, who would set course for Toronto and not Los Angeles, that enemy city that generates feelings that are not reciprocal at all. After all, for rivalry, those in purple and gold already have the Celtics, while the Spurs were left with a very questioned prize in that transfer (the aforementioned DeRozan), in which they began a gradual fall that ended, coronavirus aside, with 22 consecutive seasons in the playoffs. Everything, of course, has its explanation, and many remembered how in 1999, Phil Jackson, who used the psychological game like nobody else, directed his usual verbiage towards the Spurs. The Zen Master downplayed the Texan ring that year, the first of the dynasty, season of the first lockout that caused a shortening of the season, defining it as the year of the asterisk (50 games were played and there was no All Star). Popovich never forgave him.
From everything to nothing
In 22 years, Popovich broke almost every possible record. They stayed one playoff participation from the most absolute brand, and they share the cap with the Nationals / 76ers, who did the same between 1950 and 1971. In that stretch they won five rings (the same as the Lakers), adding more victories than anyone in the playoffs (170) and regular season (1,228). In that period of time, the Spurs exceeded 50 wins in 19 of their first 20 starts, the only time they did not reach that figure precisely in the lockout season, something that would have been impossible (37-13). They did so in 2011-12, despite having only 66 games (50-16). The 60 victories were surpassed another six times, Tim Duncan won two MVPs, Kawhi two awards for Best Defender, Ginobili one for Best Sixth Man … And they were always at work: in addition to the five rings, they played six Finals and 10 Conference finals.. A constant success in a huge period of time in which they established one of the best dynasties in history, they were the cradle of the greatest openness the NBA has ever experienced and they were objective and constant candidates.
All of that has evaporated: The Spurs got LaMarcus Aldrige from Portland, DeRozan from the Raptors and an aging Pau Gasol from the Spurs. Movements that occurred in 2015, 2018 and 2016 respectively. But none were long-term, and the collaborative game that Popovich enjoyed in recent years was successful., began to be conspicuous by its absence. Ginobili retired, Parker headed for the Hornets before going underground and the coach’s wife died, causing a feeling of enormous longing that already appeared with Duncan’s goodbye in 2016, but which was compounded by all those losses. But he decided to stay there, immovable, lead a less talented group to the playoffs in 2018 and 2019 (47 and 48 wins respectively) and even have real chances to go to the second round on the easy side of the draw in 2019, the last time they reached the finals: 2-1 up and Game 7 against the Nuggets in Colorado. And in the semifinals were the Blazers. How far could they have gone? Anyway. We will never know.
In recent years, the Spurs have run out of the playoffs, but they haven’t given up anything or tanked to clinch high spots in the draft. In 2016 Dejounte Murray arrived, a man of great talent who is the face of a future that does not come. Since then, Derrick White, Lonnie Walker, Keldon Johnson, Devin Vassell… A good booty but insufficient to gain positions in an always competitive Western Conference. Joshua Primo, the 12th selection of the current draft, has barely played 3 games and there are no longer any veterans who are pleased with the young people after the departures of Aldrige and DeRozan, who had good numbers but never matched 100% with the idiosyncrasy of the place in the one they were in. Nor, of course, did they have the quality of their predecessors. The contracts have not been abusive nor are they at this time, and Murray and White, with 48 and 69 million guaranteed for the next few years, are the highest earners from a squad that was the oldest in the NBA a few years ago and now. It is the ninth youngest, with an average of 25.3 years.
And between all this, Gregg Popovich continues to his. Undying, he has gone through the United States team to mess it up in a World Cup and win the Olympics. One more page of an enviable resume, but facing a sad retirement plan. A few years in which he will dedicate himself to starting a reconstruction that will end, if all goes well, a Becky Hammond who has been waiting for her opportunity for a long time. A sad final stage for a man who earns 11.5 million per season, more than any other coach. And the one that LeBron James said was the best coach of all time having dominated and won in three different eras: the era of tall men (ball in-out), that of the pick and roll and that of the triples. An objectively unfathomable legacy with a bitter end. The decline and decline, in a career that has spanned 26 years is a matter of statistics. And even the biggest suffer. But that does not mean, of course, that Gregg Popovich is eternal. A genius.