INTRODUCTION While every National Basketball Association NBA season is different each one ends with a party At the end of the NBA Finals the buzzer sounds and a group of grown men start celebrating like a bunch of kids The team that won hugs in celebration The players take turns holding the Larry O'Brien Trophy given each year to the winning team They hold up their index fingers to tell the whole world that they are indeed No 1 They dream about what their diamond-studded championship rings will look like The story behind every title team is a little different Some teams struggle before getting hot in the playoffs Some ride the coattails of one superstar player to glory Some come out of nowhere and pull off an upset for the ages This book is not about those teams This book is about the teams who dominated while being led by some of the greatest legends and coaches in NBA history
10 Spurs players celebrate with teammates after winning the 1999 NBA Finals 1998-99 SAN ANTONIO SPURS The NBA was in a rough spot during the 1998-99 season The league cancelled nearly half of its 82-game schedule because of a labor dispute between owners and players Plus Michael Jordan had just retired after winning his sixth championship with the Chicago Bulls The NBA needed a new team to step up The San Antonio Spurs did just that The Spurs had two of the league's best big men in center David Robinson and forward Tim Duncan They had helped San Antonio improve from 20 wins in 1996-97 to 56 in 1997-98 Going into the 1998-99 season the Spurs believed they could be champions There were rumors that head coach Gregg Popovich was going to be fired if the Spurs didn't improve In early March the Spurs faced their archrivals the Houston Rockets Many thought Popovich's job was on the line Before the opening tip Robinson told his teammates it was time for the Spurs to start playing like they knew they could The pep talk worked The Spurs beat the Rockets 99-82 It proved to be the spark they needed San Antonio lost just two games through four playoff rounds and won the title by beating the New York Knicks
STEADY SUCCESS Unlike most dynasties the Spurs spaced out their titles San Antonio won the championship five times between 1999 and 2014 The Spurs never won back-to-back titles and only went to the NBA Finals in consecutive years in 2013 and 2014 In Game 5 Duncan scored 31 points and Avery Johnson hit a jump shot to give the Spurs the lead for good Game 5 clinched the series A new NBA dynasty was born
