The San Antonio Spurs will go as far as Manu Ginobili takes them

My preview of the 2014 NBA Finals

“Next year we will meet in the Finals again,” I was talking to Pam. “And the result will be the same,” she interrupted before I could finish. “Yes, it will, and then, I will have that pain again,” I rejoined with a wry smile. She burst out laughing incredulously.

We had been talking about the NBA Finals, and I had been telling her about how it felt as if someone had kicked me in the gut or punched me in the stomach when the Spurs ended up losing Game 6 after coming this close to winning it and with it the 2013 NBA Finals. She had been telling me about how she had always been a Heat fan. “Way before the Decision,” she told me. I was skeptical at first, but ended up believing her. She seemed sincere. So, anyways she was stoked that the Heat had won, and I was walking around with this pain. I told her the pain almost felt good. I told her I was almost glad the Spurs had lost. I told her the pain of the Spurs losing almost felt better than the joy I probably would've felt upon them winning. She was disbelieving.

In a way I was glad that the Heat had won, because I knew how important it was for LeBron James' legacy that he won his second title that year. I could tell that LeBron wasn't getting any younger, and the time was now for him to cement his legacy as one of the all time greats by winning as many titles as he could while he still could. Time and tide as they say wait for no man, and for a while I had felt that nothing short of 5 rings would be commensurate to his talent. Having said all that almost as a reflex action I had found myself rooting for the Spurs, not only that year, but the year before too, when they had fallen one step short of the Finals. I don't know what it was. I think it was the fact that I had grown up to a degree with the Spurs, had followed them pretty closely since their 2005 title run, and the fact that one of the players on their team was one of my all time faves. That was last year.

49 weeks later... The rematch that everyone has been waiting for is now at our doorsteps. The Spurs and the Heat will be going at it one more time. I still believe what I said. That indeed, yes, the result will be the same, and it will be accompanied by similar pain. It is more important than ever that LeBron win this year. So, a part of me will be able to easily reconcile a Spurs defeat. Another part of me will be rooting for them almost as reflex action. “The San Antonio Spurs will go as far as Manu Ginobili takes them,” I have said many times. There's a part of me that is willing to suspend disbelief and say that he will get it done. There's another part of me that says LeBron is the better athlete, the chosen one, the anointed one, and that he will get it done. Either way, we've been waiting for this and here it is.

I know, I know, I haven't gone on about Popovich, Duncan, Parker, Wade, Riley, et al. For many this series will be about them, and other story lines. For me it is simply about this, “The San Antonio Spurs will go as far Manu Ginobili takes them,” and now it is time for us to find out how far he can take them. If they lose, there will be pain, but I will be able to reconcile myself to it.