It's fitting the team with the greatest power forward of all time owns the title of the most underappreciated team in today's NBA.
Because they haven't won the championship since 2006-07 despite making the playoffs and winning 50-plus games for the past 13 years, fans have become spoiled by their excellence.
It wasn't so long ago that the Spurs had the No. 1 seed, lost to an upstart Memphis squad and then lost to the Oklahoma City Thunder the year after, despite going up 2-0 in the series.
People seem to forget that Manu Ginobili was hobbled in that Memphis series and that the Spurs lost several close games to Kevin Durant's Thunder before being finally overwhelmed.
This team is aging but in no way is it declining. As a matter of fact, Tim Duncan has had one of his better seasons at the young age of 36. He's posted his highest PER in three years and second-highest since 2006-07.
Although PER tends to help the people with the ball more, Duncan is still a savvy defensive player. With Manu hopefully on the mend and Tony Parker just coming back from injury, the Spurs are poised to make another run at a championship.
However, there is one question that encapsulates the doubt and exemplifies the lack of credit for the Spurs: Would anyone be relatively surprised if the San Antonio Spurs lost to the Houston Rockets in the first round?
The notion that the Spurs are only a great regular-season team has allowed them to slip under the radar. We'll find out if they get back on it this postseason. Here's saying the greatest power forward of all time will have something to do with it.
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