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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsSpurs' Success: Principles of Socialism?
First of all, my big congratulations to the Spurs and my fellow fans. I still have my 1999 championship t-shirt! And the Miami Heat is a great team.
This team works well because they don't rely solely on the talents of just a couple of players. The players are told to check their egos at the door before stepping onto the court. They share the ball, waiting for the best shot to open. That's one of the reasons they win. The newest team members can see that there are no "divas"; if Ginobli, e.g., screws up, Coach Popovich will lay into him as if he was a rookie. No one asks, "Did I score the most points?"
I don't understand the details of salary caps, but my understanding is that the highest paid members of the team don't take home in salary what they would at another team. Duncan took a huge paycut so other great players could be recruited. They have given up some of the excess so that other talent on the team will be satisfied and remain there to help build a cooperative team.
This team is also very international. At least eight of the fifteen players are from outside the US: 2 from Australia, 2 from France, 1 each from Italy, Argentina, Brazil, and Canada. In fact, cooperation has been necessary just in communicating with one another.
Cooperation in a team. Wow. If only Congress understood that.
Gman
(24,780 posts)Ilsa
(61,697 posts)Taking pay cuts to benefit the common good: the team and its ultimate goal to win. Coaches treating all players equally.
Duncan is quite generous with charities, from what I've read.
Cali_Democrat
(30,439 posts)They have 5 and 4 titles respectively. That's a lot. The Lakers were pretty much a two-man team in 1999-2004.
It all depends I suppose. Either way can work in basketball. At the end of the day, it's all about winning.
Ilsa
(61,697 posts)The Spurs' game totally blew away the Heat. When Labron James had to sit out due to cramps, the rest of the team couldn't cover for him. The Heat won one game by two points. The Spurs beat them four times by double digits, usually high teens.
This is the Spurs and Duncan's fifth championship.
mythology
(9,527 posts)as none of Bosh, James or Wade took max contracts when signing with Miami. Ray Allen could have gotten more than what the Heat could pay him two years ago.
The better team won. The Spurs were the better team because their players wanted it more, they were better coached and executed better. They won because the team has been very good at scouting both in the draft and in free agency to find players that fit the system.
But the team isn't run as a socialist paradise. It's a sports team, not a political system.