Scouting and Drafting the Spurs’ Legendary
Say “Big Three” around some NBA circles and you might hear names like LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh, or the more recent dynasty of Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green. But NBA history (and Spurs fans) know there is only one true Big Three: Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginóbili. The Spurs’ Big Three were unequivocally dominant over an 11-year stretch in which they won four NBA titles. Their 135 post-season wins remains the record for any Big Three in NBA history.
The Big Three’s journey into Spurs legend is well chronicled, but as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of this storied franchise, it’s worth exploring the origins of Duncan, Parker and Ginóbili, three massive talents all scouted outside the continental United States. The Spurs were an early leader in international scouting, as evidenced by the dominant Spurs teams of the mid aughts driven by the Big Three.
Tim Duncan #21, Tony Parker #9 and Manu Ginobili #20 of the San Antonio Spurs sit on sidelines late in the game during a stoppage in play during Game six of the 2005 NBA Finals at SBC Center on June 21, 2005 in San Antonio, Texas.
LEARN MORE
LEARN MORE
Follow us:
His early career started in France, as the son of an American playing pro basketball there. He wasn’t unknown to American scouts — Parker had impressed at the Nike Hoop Summit in Indianapolis, where he recorded 20 points, seven assists, four rebounds and two steals in a game between the American and European All-Stars. This got college scouts salivating, but Parker instead stayed in France, opting to turn pro for Paris Basket Racing before entering the 2001 NBA draft.
The Spurs were interested in Parker’s skill set of speed and agility, but after a rough workout in front of the Spurs staff, Parker’s chances of being drafted by San Antonio took a major hit. Parker’s opponent at this now-legendary tryout, scout and ex-NBAer Lance Blanks, had overwhelmed Parker. However, something about Parker resonated, and after giving Parker a second tryout, the organization was rewarded. This time, the player they’d scouted showed up, and Parker impressed. The Spurs decided to draft Parker, but first, he had to fall to the 28th pick in the 2001 draft, a prospect that was very much not guaranteed. In fact, the Spurs even considered trading for a higher draft pick, but they stuck to their guns, and against the odds, Parker was available for San Antonio in the first round, drafted 28th overall.
Tony Parker, the scrappy point guard born in Belgium who would go on to be one of the greatest European-born players of all time, almost never became a Spur.
listen to the podcast
next story
previous story
BACK TO HOME
READ NOW
READ NOW
Scouting and Drafting the Spurs’ Legendary
big three
BIG THREE
While the young Frenchman found some success in the NBA immediately, the next member of the Big Three was already a huge star overseas by the time he joined the Spurs in 2002-03.
Despite being drafted 57th overall in the 1999 draft, Manu Ginóbili didn’t join the Spurs until after playing two years in the Italian pro league. Coming from Argentina, he was a bit of an unknown, and Spurs scouts felt the Argentine needed grooming in a competitive league between the Argentina pro league and the NBA. So they watched him develop in Italy. Ginóbili responded by helping Virtus Bologna win the 2001 Italian League Championship, the 2001 and 2002 Italian Cups and the 2001 EuroLeague, where he was named MVP of the Italian League in two consecutive years.
Ginóbili made a delayed impact upon joining the team in 2002-03. Injured for much of the early season and playing backup to veteran Steve Smith, Ginóbili only started four times during the regular season. Yet he began to heat up late in the campaign, winning the Western Conference Rookie of the Month award that March. It turned out to be a preview of things to come. Throughout the playoffs, Ginóbili excelled as an integral part of the Spurs’ attack, leading the Spurs to their second-ever NBA championship.
Tim Duncan, the longest-tenured member of the Big Three, is considered by many to be the greatest power forward of all time.
Big, athletic and with a high basketball intelligence, Duncan reigned supreme in the NBA for much of his 19 seasons with the Spurs. But he only came to the Spurs because of a lucky bounce of a ping pong ball.
Duncan grew up a swimmer in the U.S. Virgin Islands before a hurricane destroyed the only Olympic-sized pool in his area. He turned to basketball as a way to cope with his mother’s untimely death when he was 14. Despite showing early promise ― his combination of size, speed and quick learning made him formidable on the court ― he was still a risk when Wake Forest recruited the unknown Virgin Islander.
His college career is legendary, not only for his performance, but because he chose to stay all four years, passing up a potential monetary windfall to keep a promise he’d made to his dying mother. Duncan completed his college degree at Wake Forest, where the two-time All-American graduated as the all-time leading rebounder in NCAA history (in the post-1973 era), having won the NABC Defensive Player of the Year in three straight seasons as well as the ACC Player of the Year twice.
Before he was a member of the Big Three, Duncan began his NBA career in a partnership with David Robinson as one half of the Twin Towers. Ironically, it was David Robinson’s absence in the 1996-97 season that was largely responsible for Duncan becoming a Spur. Without Robinson and other key players, the Spurs played to franchise low 20-62 record that year, thereby earning them a first draft lottery pick in the ’97 draft. Though odds favored Boston winning the first overall pick, a bit of luck saw the ball bounce to San Antonio. They wasted no time drafting the future Hall of Famer.
Duncan’s impact on the Spurs as part of the Big Three ― and on the NBA as a whole ― is undeniable. Yet his quiet demeanor off the court couldn’t add a sharper contrast to the figure Duncan was on the court. Apocryphal stories abound about a young Tim Duncan, calm and passive, staring silently through many conversations with coaches and scouts. When he was introduced as the Spurs’ first-round draft pick to a rowdy crowd of a couple thousand people who’d gathered in the Texas June heat to meet their newest hometown hero, Duncan barely said five words. Yet such was this powerful, stoic leader. After Robinson retired in 2003, the Twin Towers were over, and Duncan took the Admiral’s place as the team’s leader, cementing the legend of the Spurs’ Big Three: Parker, Ginóbili and Duncan, the most successful Big Three of all time.
watch the videos
watch the video