NBA: Why we need a Spurs-Heat final

The San Antonio Spurs have made it to the NBA Finals, now all I hope is Miami Heat also do the same.

I don’t have anything against the Pacers but I want the world to see the Spurs and that can only happen if they face the Heat in the finals.

Also, no offence to Pacers fan but we all know that a Miami-Spurs match-up is the most exciting match-up we could ever hope for; the end of a dynasty versus the start of one, it just couldn’t get any better. This is not all, there are far more and better reasons why a Spurs Miami match-up would be great and here I enlist a few of them.

Potential Hall of Famers

- Tim Duncan

- LeBron James

- Gregg Popovich

- Ray Allen

- Manu Ginobili

- Dwyane Wade

- Tony Parker

- Chris Bosh (possibly)

- Erik Spoelstra (another possibility)

So, if there is a Spurs-Heat final, there would be not 1 not 2, but 7 potential players who will got into the Hall of Fame ballot, that is an amazing feat in its own right.

SPURS DON’T NEED ANOTHER ASTERISK CHAMPIONSHIP

Look at the Spurs championships, all of them are one-sided outings (2005 Detroit being an exception). The Spurs also get the lowest TV rating for the NBA Finals. It’s just that every year Spurs made it to the Finals, nobody seemed to be interested in the it, the fans love superstar basketball and somehow the Spurs, with their pure-team basketball, look boring to them.

In the lockout affected 1999 season, the Spurs faced the Patrick Ewing led New York Knicks in the finals, as 8th seeded in the east New York had a Cinderella story to the finals and Spurs had only lost a single game to the finals. Everybody knew what was happening next; Spurs won their maiden championship 4-1.

In 2003, the highly favourites Spurs beat the Nets 4-2 to win another championship in what was, at that time, the lowest rated NBA finals.

In 2007, Spurs’ last championship was a joke in the final stages. They beat the Suns in the Western semifinals and that was it, the Spurs only lost one more match after that and swiped Cavaliers in the finals, marking the all-time low TV ratings for the finals.

So that was it. The Spurs might have 4 well-earned championships but every run (with the Detroit exception), had an asterisk attached to it.

This season, the Spurs have beaten 7th, 6th & 5th seeds respectively to get into the finals. That’s probably the first time it has happened in the Playoffs. Now, if they face Pacers in the finals, the naysayers would always say that Spurs only won because they didn’t face LeBeast in the finals and we will get another Spurs low-rated final.

The Spurs have had enough of that, they deserve a final with Miami, so that the whole world could watch them and respect them for what they are – the best run organisation in sports history.

New vs Old

Although you can never count out the Spurs, we all know they are in the twilight years of the Tim-Duncan dynasty. Tim is 37, Manu is 35 and Tony is 31 and when they will hang up their boots, it will never be the same. They might find a way to stay in the hunt every year in foreseeable future (who are we kidding, they are the SPURS!) but without the trio and Coach Pop, it would never be the same again.

An era where they won nearly 70 percent of their regular season games, had all 50+ wins in the season and won the championship 4 times is hard to match with.

On the flip side, Miami is on the start of a new dynasty. Since they bought LeBron-Wade-Bosh trio together, Miami had won 170 out of 230 regular season games, they have made to the Finals all the time, winning once, they just had the second longest winning streak in the NBA (27) this season and haven’t lost two-straight games since last 3-4 months. All of these facts are pointing to the fact they aren’t going anywhere any time soon.

So, the Finals would be perfect for both the franchises. The Spurs will give their all in what might be their last shot the ring and Miami will be out there to prove that they are the team to beat now. Nothing can top that.

Remember when Spurs won the 2007 championship, beating LeBron Cavaliers? Timmy said to LBJ, “It’s gonna be your league in a while”. That happened when he joined forces with Wade & Bosh in 2010. Now it’s time for a throwback, maybe LeBron replying to Duncan, “It’s my league now”.

BUILT vs BOUGHT

The Spurs are the idealist of the NBA, everything they do is a example for other teams. They draft well – without a single lottery pick since the addition of Duncan, the Spurs still have somehow found gems deep in the draft – notably Splitter (28th pick), Ginobili (57th pick), Parker (28th pick) and many more. They have found key rotation players who were neglected by other teams – Bonner and Green, and they somehow always get the best out of veterans – Horry, Finley, McDyess etc. All these qualities have made the Spurs a benchmark for other teams and made them the true franchise.

On the other hand, Miami Heat are more of a “bought” franchise then a built one. Sure, they have added a lot of key pieces in a line-up since the addition of Big 3 like Battier, Allen and Birdman, but still they bought them. The Heat doesn’t have any Danny Green, any Kawhi Leonard (Norris Cole is close but not that close).

Lets’ a take an example: Last year, Tim Duncan took a heavy cut in his salary to help Spurs contend for the future, a move that was appreciated by everybody related to the NBA. Ginobili is expected to do the same for his team next season whereas when LeBron-Wade-Bosh took a pay cut to join forces, they came under media scrutiny. The difference? Spurs saved the money to help their team stay below luxury tax, but Miami trio took a pay-cut to get a championship which they got. So, if Spurs are the idealist, Miami are the realist. The trio knew they couldn’t win the championship alone, so they came together and got one.

ENDING NOTE

If this series happens, it is going to be bizarre. Miami, early favourites, are in a bit of trouble right now with LeBron getting next to no contributions from Wade and Bosh. Anderson is providing the extra spark, but still, Miami needs help from Wade and Bosh if they want to win it all.

On the flip side, Spurs, neglected by everyone all season long, are in the groove right now. Tony Parker is looking unstoppable, Duncan is playing at supreme level, Ginobili is being Ginobili, the rest are kicking in and they have got the best coach right now – suddenly, Spurs are the team to beat right now.

If a Spurs/Heat Finals happens, it will be the best in the past few years.