Skip navigation
Site powered by
Latest news:
msnbc.com: Top msnbc.com headlines: Foos win 4 Grammys, overshadowed by Houston

Spurs great, but they're not a dynasty — yet

Let's see if San Antonio can win two championships in a row

Tim DuncanGetty Images
Tim Duncan of the Spurs has won four NBA titles and, at 31, isn't done by a long shot, writes MSNBC.com contributor Mike Celizic.

Anyway, the point you’ll hear is that one here and one there or one every other year isn’t getting it done. So the Spurs may be on their fourth title, but their streak is just one straight. So if they don’t win again next year, it will be seen as a failure.

And even if they win a second straight next year, that won’t be enough, either, because that’s what Detroit did in the early ’90s and what the Rockets did when Michael Jordan was off trying to play baseball. And neither of those teams was what you’d call a true dynasty. Two-year wonders is more like it.

That’s dumb, too, and I don’t believe it. I’m just telling you how it is with people who could find fault with a tropical sunset. (“I thought the pinks were too salmon-y, not pure like they were in 1967.) If you remember the film “Atlantic City,” Burt Lancaster is on the boardwalk with a woman who’s marveling at the Atlantic Ocean. “You should have seen it in the old days,” he replies.

It’s the constant theme in sports criticism. No matter how good somebody or some team is, they’re not as good as someone else who played in the old days.

I don’t agree. It’s one team and four titles. And Duncan is just 31 and has four or five years of peak performance left if he doesn’t get hurt. So this is a team that can end its run with as many titles as Jordan’s Bulls won — six. Or more.

They’re that good. They’re so good that with half of the second quarter yet to play, ABC was already running clips of Tim Duncan masquerading as a Rastafarian mystic in some show the team put on for kicks — like a skit at summer camp.

Then they started showing the celebrities at courtside and talking about LeBron’s new baby and how he was named and anything to  keep what fans were still watching from switching channels to something more exciting, like Iron Chef Ireland (“Today’s mystery ingredient is . . . . . . . . .BOILED MEAT!!!!”)

Slide show
San Antonio Spurs owner Peter Holt holds up the Larry O'Brien Trophy after defeating the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals in Cleveland
NBA Finals
Take a visual tour of Spurs' sweep of Cavaliers

more photos

The Cavs managed to make a game of it, and the broadcast crew finally noticed. But even in the final seconds, they were talking about the Spurs’ legacy and not the Cavs’ chances.

There was no consensus on the dynasty issue. They haven’t won two straight.

They haven’t had a great Eastern opponent other than the Pistons.

Most of all, though, it’s too early. Say whatever you want about them, they’re a great team that’s not done yet. Not by a long shot.

Mike Celizic writes regularly for MSNBC.com and is a freelance writer based in New York.


< Prev | 1 | 2

advertisement
More news
Image: Kobe Bryant
AP
Kobe's shot lifts Lakers

Kobe Bryant hit a baseline jump shot with 4.2 seconds left and the Los Angeles Lakers wrapped up a six-game road trip by holding on to beat the Raptors 94-92 on Sunday, their eighth victory in nine meetings with Toronto

  ProBasketballTalk tweets

  1. Loading the latest posts…

Source: Twitter. For more, follow @basketballtalk.

Video: NBA from NBC Sports
Knicks, Lin still streaking
Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni and point guard Jeremy Lin discuss the team and Lin's recent success.

Slideshow
Washington Wizards v Charlotte Bobcats
  Get your cheer on
Check out some of the dancers from the NBA.

more photos

  Ask the NBA expert: Ira Winderman

Do you have a burning NBA question? Submit it now, and then check back for our reader mailbag.

Special feature
Image: LeBron James
Who will be MVP?
Interactive: Rank each player on a scale of 0 to 10 (10 = best player, 0 = barely worthy of consideration).

NBCSports.com

Slideshow
Image: Blake Griffin
  NBA All-Star starters
A look at the starting lineups for the East and West teams.

more photos