The road to the NBA Finals, long and lacking any clean rest stops, has dumped us off at a wonderful place.
San Antonio-Miami is the best possible solution to the most overdone postseason not played on ice. It is a result almost worth the last month spent wandering the bat cave of Lance Stephenson’s mind. Maybe he can have the rest of his Indiana teammates over to his place for a Finals party, depending on visitation hours.
What we have here is a reprise of the 2013 Finals that yielded one classic game (the Heat’s Game 6 overtime victory) and promises perhaps at least one more as an encore a year later.
All those of us not living anywhere near Joe’s Stone Crab or the River Walk can ask of these Finals is a reason to care. Thankfully, as opposed to any given Georgia election, there is a clear choice in this case between the likeable and the not.
Here are only five of the many reasons you should be obliged to cheer your fool head off for the Spurs:
1. San Antonio is to Atlanta as any accomplished big brother is to his awkward sibling. Granted, the Hawks are still the Fredo in this relationship, but they are trying mightily to pattern themselves after the Spurs. Their GM and their head coach were both grounded in San Antonio. They would move the Alamo to Centennial Olympic Park if they could, just to borrow some of the ambience. If the Spurs are the template, let it be a championship one. You want your kin to succeed, don’t you?
2. The Spurs are classic. Miami is a contrivance. By now, nearly four years after the farce of “The Decision,” and LeBron James’ taking of talents to South Beach, you’d think a rational person would get over it. But there are some stains — like Jesse Palmer doing “The Bachelor” — that just won’t wash away. Those old resentments are only heightened when the opponent is San Antonio, a franchise that is institutionally incapable of nonsense.
3. To watch the Spurs play at their best is to have faith in the NBA game renewed. When they are moving the ball, executing as a choir rather than soloist (the industry norm), pro basketball gains its full voice. A victory for the Spurs is a victory for truth and beauty.
4. LeBron, Dwyane and Bosh are only then second most compelling trio in this series. The Spurs Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker have been together longer than the Rolling Stones. Their run seemed to have been ending a couple seasons ago, yet they continued to endure. Even now, poor point guard Parker has more physical ailments than an entire Del Webb community. How about awarding these three one more title for the road?
5. Maybe in the end, it’s just a case of Heat exhaustion. Maybe I’m just so old and so grumpy that I can’t stand the thought of Miami carnival sideshow Chris Anderson having two NBA titles (twice the number of Julius Erving, oh, the injustice!). Maybe it’s an aged fan’s prerogative to appreciate the Big Fundamental (Duncan) over the Big Fun (South Beach). But there it is, the single overriding reason to root on the Spurs: They are not the Heat.
About the Author
