It has been a very, very long time but the San Antonio Spurs used to be the most dominant team in the entire NBA.
In fact, there was a time when they were easily the best squad in both the West and the East.
That’s why they made the playoffs so many times and secured a slew of rings in the first part of the millennium.
141 NBA Players have played at least 1,000 games.
Only 3 of them have won more than 70% of the time:
Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili. pic.twitter.com/SWhw8rYOuu— Kirk Goldsberry (@kirkgoldsberry) August 11, 2022
Not only were they champions repeatedly, but a few of their players also hold another special honor.
Kirk Goldsberry was looking at some very particular stats about the league and discovered that of the 141 players in NBA history who have played at least 1,000 games, only three of them have won more than 70% of the time.
Those three players happen to be Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili.
This just goes to show that the early 2000s Spurs were a team unlike any other, with a few players who are still rightfully considered legends.
Spurs Surge?
It will be some time before the Spurs are in playoff contention again.
They were near the bottom of the Western Conference for the last few seasons already, but things took a turn in this offseason.
The team traded away Dejounte Murray to the Atlanta Hawks and that put the figurative nail in the coffin of San Antonio’s playoff desires.
With Murray gone, the Spurs are committing to a rebuilding process and that means that they aren’t reaching the Finals any time soon.
There will come a day when this team is as good as it once was but fans will always fondly remember Duncan, Parker, Ginobili, and their special, iconic type of basketball.
