Basketball Blues
Did the Spurs Ruin the NBA?
By Daniel Muniz

There is quite a bit of bitterness in the NBA about the San Antonio Spurs. Many critics claim that the Spurs have ruined professional basketball by winning too many championships. They point to plunging television ratings during their playoff and championship runs which are bound to get worse if the Spurs continue winning.

And this accusation is not because the Spurs franchise lacks talent. In fact, Tim Duncan has been touted as one of the best power forwards in NBA history and he is also considered to be one of the league’s top centers because of how the team interchanges the role of both positions. Additionally, the backcourt with Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili often garners plenty of positive feedback from many sportswriters.

Instead, the beef that some people have with the Spurs is that they consider the team to be boring. Again, it is not because they don’t have talent but rather that they lack glitz and glamour.

NBA commissioner David Stern once remarked that the two teams he wants to see playing in an NBA championship is the Lakers versus the Lakers. Los Angeles is a city that has everything a marketer dreams of such as movie stars, rock stars, and publicity out the ying-yang. Hollyweird is simply a place filled with plenty of rich celebrities and athletes who have been charged with violent crimes.

To no surprise, that is also what a segment of America wants as well. Instead of enjoying well executed plays, the pick and rolls, expert ball handling, and the athleticism, there are people who only want the tabloid drama. In a world of Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, and Lindsey Lohan, these kinds of fickle fans want flashiness, gaudy showmanship, bad attitudes, and a good dose of sensational sex scandals with videotapes. A few arrests and highly publicized divorces would also help. And if they can play basketball, that would be fine too.

The Spurs are different because nearly all of their team members have squeaky clean images. Rich spoiled celebrities are expected to do outrageous things in their personal lives and the Spurs surely disappointed everyone outside of San Antonio. In fact, even Spurs fans are considered to be boring. They don’t start riots or set cars on fire every time they win a championship. The worst thing that happens is that someone burned his bean and cheese taco.

And the romance and subsequent marriage of point guard Tony Parker to actress Eva Longoria was also a dud. Their first date was at an IHOP and their marriage doesn’t dominate the tabloids with any sordid details and there are no sex tapes.

But if the Spurs are so terrible because there is no drama, then take a closer look at some of the big differences between them and the NBA’s most glamorous team, the Lakers.

Many NBA teams consider the management structure of the front office of the Spurs to be the most professional in the league and a lot of franchises are trying to copy that professionalism. In contrast, it is civil war between Lakers owner Jerry Buss, Coach Phil Jackson, and Kobe Bryant with much of their feuding spilling over into the airwaves. No team in the NBA wants to have their dirty laundry aired out in public or have that kind of discord in their ranks.

As a result, Kobe has very little influence with key decisions about the Lakers and with his teammates. In contrast, Tim Duncan has the ear of top management and as pointed out by the San Antonio Express-News, many insiders claim that he has “near-veto power over Spurs basketball decisions.”

Kobe Bryant has had icy, if not stormy relationships with his teammates and he has no problem making them very public. If Kobe is not happy, he sure lets the whole world know about it. In contrast, Tim Duncan has the utmost respect from his teammates which reflects in their teamwork. There is no whining to the public about spats and sleights. As for ball play, there is no hogging of the ball. In fact, if someone is on a hot streak, he is going to get the ball even if that person is not named Tim Duncan.

And when it comes to money, there is another huge difference. While Kobe demands to be traded to another team (which is not going to happen because that team will have to gut their roster in order to get him) Tim Duncan signed a contract extension that pretty much means that he will be a Spur until retirement. But instead of milking out every last dollar, Duncan took a 10 million dollar pay cut to ensure that there is financial flexibility to continue to attract top talent to the franchise. Again, the team comes first.

Perhaps sports columnist Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News summed it best in a compare and contrast of what Tim Duncan has over Kobe Bryant:

“A lifetime contract, the adoration of his community, respect from every teammate, deference from his coach and a great chance to gain another championship ring.”

The NBA cannot have it both ways with spoiled celebrities. There is a solid core of loyal sports fans who want to see good basketball on the court instead of wanting to see these athletes in court for a trial. As for the part of the audience that wants the showmanship and the flashiness, they can watch wrestling.

But the harsh reality is that there is a ceiling to the true number of basketball fans and the NBA has to accept it. To try to expand the audience beyond that limit means turning the league into a circus in order to attract them. The NBA already has the goose that lays the golden egg and they just have to learn to live within their means and accept good basketball when they see it instead of trying to pander to the glitz and the glamour.

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