NBA: Ranking the San Antonio Spurs' 5 Championships

The San Antonio Spurs are the crown jewel when we discuss franchises in the NBA. Since the 1997-1998 season, they have had a winning percentage equivalent to a 50 win season (this measurement is used because the 1998-1999 was shortened to 50 games due to a lockout). This year the Spurs are in real danger of failing to reach a .610 winning percentage (50 win equivalency), in large part due to Kawhi Leonard only playing nine games so far this season due to various injuries.

Still, the Spurs serve as hallmarks of consistency starting with Gregg Popovich being the coach for each of the championship seasons while being able to change their style over the last 20 years to match the new trends of the game.

They are expert at finding advantages on the margins, whether that be through player development, drafting foreign-born players before it became a trend, or finding players who specifically fit their culture.

With all this said, let's take a look back at each of the Spurs titles ranked in descending order.

#5 2007 Title vs the Cleveland Cavaliers (4-0)

The San Antonio Spurs celebrating their 2007 title.

This is the lowest win percentage for a Spurs championship team, they finished 58-24 (.707), but more than that, this Playoff season just freaked out. The Golden State Warriors knocked off the first seeded Dallas Mavericks in the West, clearing out the team who had beaten the Spurs in seven games in the 2006 Playoffs.

In the Conference Semifinals, Phoenix Suns' Boris Diaw and Amare Stoudemire were suspended for game 6 of the series for leaving the bench area after Robert Horry hip-checked Steve Nash into the scorer's table. When they made it to the Finals, they were facing a Cleveland Cavaliers' team led by a 22-year-old LeBron James, quite possibly the worst roster to make the Finals in the last 20 years.

Yes, the Spurs led the league in net efficiency rating and consistently kicked ass during the regular season. They had the peak combination of their championship trio everyone associates with the team, Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili meshing probably as best as they ever had. The Spurs thrived on grinding the pace down and playing stellar defense using pinpoint rotations to suffocate opposing offenses into submission.

This made up for their lack of depth on the bench as they could rely on their defense to carry them when two of their stars were on the bench. Because of their path in the Playoffs, this title is knocked to the bottom of the list.

#4 1999 Title vs the New York Knicks (4-1)

The Spurs Avery Johnson and Sean Elliot hug as they celebrate their first title.

Caveat - this season's title is here simply because it was a 50-game lockout season that is unlike any other the league has seen. Most of the league returned out of shape and the quality of basketball never reached what we are accustomed to watching. On the surface, this team had it all - the best record and net efficiency in the league, their twin towers of Duncan and David Robinson were decimating teams, a playoff run with just 2 losses in total, and role players that fit so perfectly into their slow it down, defense-first mentality.

The twin towers of Duncan and Robinson cannot be understated as there was no way for the league to fully handle two 7-footers of this caliber. Both offensively and defensively, they meshed perfectly for this slowed down era where big men were more important for team success than point guards like we see today. This made up for their tepid guard rotation, as the guards could focus on playing tight defense and simply getting the team into offensive sets, knowing they had the big guys down low to finish the job. I admit, if this was a full season, they probably rank higher but these are my rankings and some subjectivity will prevail.

If you want to poke a hole, besides the 50 game season, you can point to them beating the 8-seed New York Knicks, who were missing their best player in Patrick Ewing in the Finals, are not really the most daunting opponent. But beyond that, their run through the Playoffs ranks them above the 2007 title.

They dismantled the Los Angeles Lakers and Portland Trail Blazers in back-to-back series, sweeping both teams who were the Western Conference Final participants the following year (1999-200). Duncan was nearing the form that would have him win back-to-back MVPs in a few years and started the Spurs on their early run of titles.

#3 2003 Title vs the New Jersey Nets (4-2)

Tim Duncan and David Robinson celebrate a title before Robinson retires

The first 60-win Spurs title team, as they finished 60-22 on the season. This was a workmanlike championship season for the Spurs, while their win total screams near domination, their stats such as net efficiency and scoring margin suggest they weren't the best team in the league. Both the Dallas Mavericks and Sacramento Kings were better in both categories, ended up 2-3 in the standings by a game each, allowing the Spurs to miss one on the road to the Finals.

In addition, the Spurs didn't fully dominate this Playoff run, losing two games in each series. Again, workmanlike over dominating. Finally, David Robinson was on his last legs, Tony Parker was just finding his footing in the NBA, and Manu wasn't Manu yet.

So why third you ask? BECAUSE TIM DUNCAN WAS AN ABSOLUTE BEAST. He averaged 23.3 and 12.9 during the season en route to his second straight MVP award, then upping his averages to 24.7, 15.4, and 5.3 assists in the Playoffs. That is pure domination by one of the top eight players of all time and more than made up for a limited, niche roster. Duncan did it all this season and then some, serving as the offensive and defensive fulcrum even though everyone knew where the Spurs were going.

This type of season was needed by Duncan, as the Spurs were lacking in other star production that we typically come to expect from championship teams. Tony and Manu would become really good in the next few years but they were still adjusting to the NBA, Stephen Jackson was a few years away from the level of play we saw when he was on the Pacers and the Warriors, and the bench was full of old niche guys. To me, this is the best season Duncan ever had and it's fitting he won the MVP and led the Spurs to the chip because they needed everything he had. To cap off the season, he laid waste to the Nets in the Finals' clinching Game 6, throwing up a line of 21 points, 20 rebounds, 10 assists, and 8 blocks.

#2 2005 Title vs the Detroit Pistons (4-3)

The San Antonio Spurs celebrating their 2005 title.

This was a highly competitive season for the Spurs, one where they beat some of their toughest opponents en route to the title. Their last two series wins in the Playoffs were some of their most impressive in their run to five championships, knocking off the 62-win Phoenix Suns in five games in the Western Conference Finals before knocking off the defending champion Detroit Pistons in a hard-fought, seven-game series.

The big three of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili began to show what they could truly become as a trio and the Spurs sported the best defense in the league. With all three of the stars starting for the first time together, the Spurs gelled in a way that helped them fend off the league's new darlings, the Phoenix Suns, come playoff time. The Spurs had everything from shooting, depth, to driving and passing, but per usual in the mid-2000s, defense was their calling card, ranking first in the league in defensive efficiency. They also were a little better than their record based on net efficiency and scoring margin.

Why this isn't their best title team has a little more to do with the state of the league at this moment in time. There was a transition phase taking place as the NBA tried to figure out low scoring, integrating a flux of young high school and foreign-born players, and how to make the game more fan appealing. The transition state of the league forced the overall game to suffer, so while the Spurs put up some impressive numbers in both win total and net efficiency, there was a bigger gap between the top and the bottom of the league that boosted their overall profile.

This season was a slog, evidence that showed up in the Finals where only one team scored over 100 during the whole series. This Spurs team was really good and faced a daunting end of the Playoffs, but it doesn't quite stack up with the #1 on the list.

#1 2014 Title vs the Miami Heat (4-1)

The revenge title.

This is the first thing that comes to mind when I think of this team, followed closely by the final three games of this series where the Spurs put on one of the best displays of basketball anyone has ever seen. I believe this Spurs' team had an advantage over everything, which was the fact that they lost in the Finals in heartbreaking fashion the year before. As you watched the season, you could see them playing with a laser-like focus even more so that what we had come to expect from the Spurs.

By every statistical measure, they were objectively the best team in the league, while fully realizing their ball movement, the space-it-out offense they had been working to integrate for four to five years. They upped their pace in compared with years past, while also boosting their offensive efficiency to seventh in the league.

This year, more than any other title year for the Spurs is remembered for their beautiful offense and how they took everything from the Suns of old and the current Miami Heat had done and just simply made it better. Come playoff time, they were the favorites for anyone willing to bet against LeBron James.

Yes, they had the Mavs take them the distance in the first round and lost a total of seven games in the playoffs, not their best showing of the five titles. But I just can't get over those last three games they played against the two-time defending champs. They turned a 1-1 series on its head, completely blitzing the Heat in the first half of games 3 and 4 with a stunning display of offensive firepower. They also got strong playoff runs by the original big three, while seamlessly beginning to integrate Kawhi Leonard into being a big part of their team. Maybe it's recency bias, maybe it's the blend of the old and the new, but no other Spurs title run compares to the 2014 title.