Spurs’ 2003 Championship Was a Team Win
Basketball is a team sport, and while many championship teams of the past featured standout superstars, true success is shared. Perhaps no better example of the team-win mentality is the 2002-03 NBA champion San Antonio Spurs. A team comprised of aging legends, clutch role players, exciting rookies and one legitimate superstar in his prime, the ’03 Spurs needed their entire roster to take home the trophy.
After winning 60 games during the regular season, the team looked primed to take home their second championship yet were given a rough wake-up call, losing to the Phoenix Suns in Game 1 of the playoffs in overtime. The Spurs rallied, relying on international youngsters Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili plus role players like Stephen Jackson and Malik Rose to dispense of the pesky Suns. The semis brought the Spurs face-to-face with bitter rivals the Los Angeles Lakers. Here, Duncan began to impose his will, leading the Spurs’ scoring in all games but one. Yet, their lockdown defender Bruce Bowen had a remarkable 27-point effort in Game 2, putting the Spurs in control of the series 2-0. While the Lakers tied it up in LA, the Spurs took the last two on the strength of Duncan’s dominant performances.
Besides it being a championship-winning year, ’03 is often remembered as Spurs legend David Robinson’s final season. But there were other retiring veterans that left a lasting mark on the team’s championship run. Steve Kerr and Daniel Ferry spent most of the season as spot starters, entering games to sink clutch shots. In the Conference Finals against the hated Dallas Mavericks, it was Kerr’s clutch three-pointers in Game 6 that helped the team overcome a 15-point deficit and advance to the NBA finals. When Kerr retired after the season, he was one of a select few players to have ever won two or more championships with more than one franchise.
George Gervin #44 of the San Antonio Spurs dribbles against the New York Knicks circa 1978 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
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Spurs’ 2003 Championship Was a Team Win
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As they had all season, the entire
Spurs roster stepped up.
Basketball is a team sport, and while many championship teams of the past featured standout superstars, true success is shared. Perhaps no better example of the team-win mentality is the 2002-03 NBA champion San Antonio Spurs. A team comprised of aging legends, clutch role players, exciting rookies and one legitimate superstar in his prime, the ’03 Spurs needed their entire roster to take home the trophy.
After winning 60 games during the regular season, the team looked primed to take home their second championship yet were given a rough wake-up call, losing to the Phoenix Suns in Game 1 of the playoffs in overtime. The Spurs rallied, relying on international youngsters Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili plus role players like Stephen Jackson and Malik Rose to dispense of the pesky Suns. The semis brought the Spurs face-to-face with bitter rivals the Los Angeles Lakers. Here, Duncan began to impose his will, leading the Spurs’ scoring in all games but one. Yet, their lockdown defender Bruce Bowen had a remarkable 27-point effort in Game 2, putting the Spurs in control of the series 2-0. While the Lakers tied it up in LA, the Spurs took the last two on the strength of Duncan’s dominant performances.
Besides it being a championship-winning year, ’03 is often remembered as Spurs legend David Robinson’s final season. But there were other retiring veterans that left a lasting mark on the team’s championship run. Steve Kerr and Daniel Ferry spent most of the season as spot starters, entering games to sink clutch shots. In the Conference Finals against the hated Dallas Mavericks, it was Kerr’s clutch three-pointers in Game 6 that helped the team overcome a 15-point deficit and advance to the NBA finals. When Kerr retired after the season, he was one of a select few players to have ever won two or more championships with more than one franchise.
The 2003 NBA Finals pitted the Spurs against the New Jersey Nets, who’d lost to the Lakers in the previous year’s finals. The Nets were unique in that they were the only sub-50-win team to have made the NBA finals in the post expansion era (it’s happened a few more times since). This put the Spurs as favorites, but it didn’t diminish the drama. The Nets were out to prove they belonged, and the Spurs had had a much tougher road to the finals, having to beat the Suns, Lakers and arch-nemesis Mavericks to arrive there. Everyone agreed: it was going to take a team effort to overcome the Jason Kidd-led Nets.
As they had all season, the entire Spurs roster stepped up. But it was Tim Duncan’s statement-making performance that is now cemented in NBA lore. Throughout the series, Duncan led each game in almost every category points, assists, rebounds and blocks, with Parker just behind in points scored. It was a series where defense mattered; only in Game 1 did either team crest 100 points scored. Across the six games, Duncan was dominant, but there may never be a performance like his Game 6, series-clinching stunner. Duncan came two blocks shy of recording the ultra-rare quadruple double, with 21 points, 20 rebounds, 10 assists and 8 blocks ― although stat historians now note that Duncan had two blocks go uncredited. Fun fact: it was retiring legend David Robinson who had registered the last quadruple double in NBA history. Robinson retired as champion and Duncan won the NBA Finals MVP for the second time, a major milestone in his Hall of Fame career.
What has made the Spurs one of the most successful franchises in NBA history? Certainly the players. But it’s a culture of team-building inherent to the Spurs that continues to empower the team to outshine opponents. It safeguards against injury and elevates the winning mentality across the team. The 2003 Spurs had a deep roster and received contributions from role players to superstars. For the Spurs, winning is a philosophy that requires everyone’s participation. As they can attest, no success is sweeter than one that is shared.
The resilient Johnson pushed ahead, signing with Golden State and producing the best season of his career to date. Named captain of the Warriors after just nine games, Johnson reached a new career high of 10.9 points per game along with 5.3 assists. After the season, Pop, newly appointed GM of the Spurs after a stint with Golden State, “got the band back together,” signing Johnson as a free agent and reuniting the Spurs with another fan favorite, Sean Elliott. The Little General’s third stint with the Spurs proved to be legendary.
From 1994 to 2001, Johnson ― alongside David Robinson ― was integral to the Spurs’ success. On the court, his numbers trended up, increasing his points and assists per game, while reducing turnovers. Off the court, as a vocal leader with a distinct way of speaking, Johnson took the spotlight, allowing the quieter Robinson to go about his business. Their partnership on and off the court made Johnson indispensable to a team that relied on its full roster of players to succeed, culminating in the Spurs’ championship winning side of ’99. When Johnson lifted the trophy, no one could say he didn’t deserve it. He’d fought his way from obscure colleges and lower league semi-pro teams to the NBA and continued fighting every day afterward, until he reached the apex every player dreams of ― an NBA championship ring.
The resilience of the Spurs exemplified by the Little General is part and parcel of the city of San Antonio. Often overshadowed by Dallas and Houston, the underdog spirit epitomizes the Alamo City. When Johnson helped lead the Spurs to their first championship in ’99, sinking the clinching shot in Game 5, then emerging from the plane back in San Antonio, championship trophy held high, it was not only a signature moment for him, but a defining moment for the city of San Antonio itself. No longer would San Antonio play second fiddle to their neighbor cities; we were a force to be reckoned with in our own right.
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