Sustained excellence

My beloved San Antonio Spurs – back in the playoffs and back in the Finals.

When we clinched a playoff spot, I was happy. When we won the Western Conference Finals in a tough game 7 on the road against the defending champions, I was jubilant. Back in the playoffs for the first time since 2019. Back in the Finals for the first time since 2014. This is an incredible feeling for an organisation that is the epitome of sustained excellence. Game 1 of the series will have happened yesterday by the time this article goes live – edit: we unfortunately lost – and I thought now was as good a time as any to look at the topic of sustained excellence through one of the greatest examples across all sporting organisations…in the world.  

Spurs player (and fellow Aussie), Patty Mills, and myself underneath the championship banners - photo courtesy of Martyn Foster.

Since the early to mid-90s, the three people who have been essential to the success of the San Antonio Spurs are Peter M. Holt (and the Holt family more broadly especially over the last decade), Gregg Popovich and R.C. Buford. The leadership, stability, and competence they brought built the foundation of what become the model franchise in the NBA, despite being a small market team. In the cutthroat nature of modern professional sports, to have basically 30 years of management stability and success is unheard of.

Popovich, one of the league’s best coaches, and Buford one of the best at scouting talent and as GM, formed at formidable partnership on their way to 5 NBA titles. This doesn’t happen overnight, you lay the groundwork and it forms and grows over time. Having an ownership group that trusts you and has faith in what you’re doing is paramount. Then, in return, rewarding that faith with desired outcomes only helps to solidify the relationship further.

Culture is always top down in any large organisation, but it needs to be embodied at all levels, and with the Spurs, it is. Ownership/Management, coaches, players, everybody buys into and embraces the selfless, for the team, one goal mentality. Obviously, you’re not going to win without great players – and we’ve had our share – but San Antonio was the first to place an emphasis on what I can character-based professional sports, in my opinion. Where the person was valued and picked as much, if not more, than the player.

Coach Pop and Timmy, in the middle of most things for the Spurs - photo courtesy of Martyn Foster.

The relationship between Coach Pop and Tim Duncan is the best player-coach relationship I’ve ever seen…in any sport. I still get emotional talking about it. I love how, before the ’97 draft, Popovich actually flew down to the Virgin Islands of St Croix and spent several days with Timmy in his home place just hanging out and getting to know him. I believe this had a profound impact on their relationship. The great thing is that Duncan allowed Pop to coach him and the team. So much is made of star players and egos and getting coaches fired, but not this duo…and everyone else fell in line. As a result, the Spurs essentially had two straight decades of 50+ win seasons and playoff appearances.

"The Big Fundamental", Tim Duncan - photo courtesy of Martyn Foster.

Mentorship is another key factor in sustain excellence, and David Robinson was the perfect mentor to Tim Duncan. “The Admiral”, a historical top 50 NBA player in his own right and outstanding individual human being, joined together with Timmy to form the twin towers of San Antonio enroute to the ’99 and ’03 championships. By the second title a lot of responsibility had shifted onto Duncan, as newcomers Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili were taken in under the enormous wingspan of “The Big Fundamental”. This trio of Duncan-Parker-Ginobili would go on to be arguably the greatest winning trio in NBA history, with nearly 600 regular season wins, over 100 playoff wins and 4 titles together across 14 seasons. They are the very definition of sustain excellence.

A prized possession - photo courtesy of Martyn Foster.

The Spurs mean so much to the city of San Antonio and I was fortunate enough to visit there in 2015 during my NBA tour of America. The team was saved from being relocated in the early 90’s by Peter Holt and a group of other investors, plus it is the only professional sporting team in the city. Obviously, many other American cities have NFL, MLB, and NHL teams, but not San Antonio. Only basketball, but with the Spurs it’s bigger than basketball. The Spurs alumni are regularly spotted around the place and at trainings and games which is not something any other team in the league can hold a candle to. It was especially wholesome to see all the past players gather round when coach Pop was going through some serious health issues. You can’t buy this behaviour. It is built, it is grown and maintained with serious effort and great integrity over years.

Our teams have always been built, not bought. We build through the draft like no other. No denying our fortune at times, but our core stars/player group have always been ours. Starting with Robinson, then Duncan, then Ginobili, then Parker, then Kawhi Leonard and now with our modern young talented trio of Victor Wembanyama, Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper. Savvy signings have always complimented our team philosophy. Perpetual succession is crucial to sustained excellence. Even our current coach, Mitch Johnson, who took over the main job from Pop with his worsening health condition, was an assistant with the Spurs for five years beforehand. We manufacture everything in-house.

GINOBILI!!!!! - photo courtesy of Martyn Foster.

I love my Spurs. The 2014 championship played the most beautiful basketball I’ve ever seen. I got to see them with my own eyes – twice! Which as an Australian, that flight is a long one! Growing up I was always ribbed for being a Spurs fan and especially with Tim Duncan being my favourite player. I never understood how being good and winning was boring or not enough. Sure, our Sportscenter Top 10 appearances were limited, but fundamentals rarely are sexy. We are on the verge of becoming champions again, but the Knicks will not give it to us lightly, they’ve had a longer drought than us. Regardless of how this series turns out, it seems we are well set-up for more sustained excellence in the years ahead, and I really can’t ask for more from my team than that. They aren’t just winners, they are great people.

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