San Antonio Spurs Enter a Summer of Uncertainty


The Spurs’ magical season came crashing down against the young OKC Thunder — a “fair and square” loss according to head coach Gregg Popovich — and there’s no telling what’s in store for them going forward. Per the Express-News: “Same place we’ve been going the last eight years,’ guard Manu Ginobili said. ‘We’ve always been old. We still compete.’ Indeed, eulogizing the Spurs has been an annual rite of spring (or summer), dating to their last NBA title in 2007. They always seem to respond by finding a way to remain relevant. For the team front office, spearheaded by coach Gregg Popovich and general manager R.C. Buford, the goal this offseason is not unlike that of offseasons before it. They must creatively find ways to keep the window open, if only a crack. By the time the playoffs roll around next year, free-agent-to-be Tim Duncan will be 37, Ginobili will be 35, Tony Parker 31. ‘We don’t talk about it, but they’re intelligent people,’ Popovich said. ‘They know it’s not going to go on forever.’ In Oklahoma City on Wednesday, the Spurs met the end nobody saw coming, to the season nobody expected. […] This is what Popovich meant when he said his team ‘overachieved.’ ‘If you look back at the beginning of the season, we didn’t exist,’ Popovich said. ‘We were on nobody’s radar.'”