Are the Spurs the worst sports team at defending World Titles?

[SpurPadre]

We've had 4 cracks at it in the past and were likely headed towards another failed title defense. Is there another sports franchise that's failed so often to repeat? I know some of you don't put much stock in repeating but I do and I think it will always be a legitimate knock on us if we can't do it in the Pop, TD, Manu, TP era. We can blame injuries, bad luck, off-season failures to upgrade, whatever it is, it keeps us from stacking up with great Championship dynasties in sports. And it sucks because we should've been able to repeat many times.

[davidbowie]

yes

[Russo21]

2000 Duncan went down with a knee injury= no chance at repeating
2004 we were 0.4 seconds away from possibly repeating
2006 we were 1 boneheaded ginobili foul from being in the finals
2008 I cant remember who we faced or what happened
2015 we are going to a game 7 which hopefully we can win.

It's not like we've been shit trying to go back to back. We've always been in it. Shit happens I suppose

[BatManu20]

No. Most teams don't repeat unless you're the lakers with huge advantages from the NBA or you're the greatest player of all time.

[Harry Callahan]

No.

[timtonymanu]

Doesn't matter to me, tbh. We can at least talk about past championships. You don't feel bad about 5 titles.

[SpurPadre]

No. Most teams don't repeat unless you're the lakers with huge advantages from the NBA or you're the greatest player of all time.

But I don't know of any other team in any sport have as many chances to repeat as we have and come away empty handed. But maybe I'm wrong. Is there another 5 time champion in any sport that has not repeated?

[DieHardSpursFan1537]

http://img.pandawhale.com/post-39638-Arnold-Schwarzenegger-YES-chan-RKPb.gif

[Johnny RIngo]

You can blame injuries/fatigue on 2000 and 2008. Tony Parker's the problem overall though. Epic chokejobs in all the key series. 2004 Lakers, 2006 Mavs, and now the 2015 Clippers. Inefficient shooting, bad playmaking, no defense. Biggest choke artist of his generation.

[Mr Bones]

Shitty fan crying that his team won 5 championships, but not in the right order.

[mexicanjunior]

Yes...

[SpurPadre]

Shitty fan crying that his team won 5 championships, but not in the right order.

It's a legitimate topic for discussion, tbh.

[therealtruth]

That's what happens when you don't have the heart of a champion.

[ctpsb]

But I don't know of any other team in any sport have as many chances to repeat as we have and come away empty handed. But maybe I'm wrong. Is there another 5 time champion in any sport that has not repeated?

Absolutely agree.

This game is unbelievable : there was no reason to not win this. It just follows the same pattern -- when they win a championship they are just not as hungry the next year -- mutliple missed FT's, dumb turnovers, defensive breakdowns, etc. What they did winning last year after losing in 2013 the way they did was probably more difficult than defending their title. But every time they win the title they never even reach the conference finals the next year (except I believe 2008).

This to me shows that they just plain become satisfied with winning then get the hunger 2 or more years later. I don't think there has ever been a team in sports history who has won this many titles but can't defend it at least once.

[spurs_in_7]

5 fails to defend. i'd say yes

is there any other team with that much fails?

[slick'81]

Tbh they should be going for a three peat this season .guving away the title in'13 was killa

[ffadicted]

Is this a joke? lol

[Johnny RIngo]

Tbh they should be going for a three peat this season .guving away the title in'13 was killskills

Parker getting outplayed by Mario Chalmers in game 6/7 of the Finals. Just more evidence of Tony choking in the big moments. Tony Parker is the Karl Malone of point guards. Frenchie was just extremely lucky he got to piggyback a top 5 all-time great to a couple of titles.

[SpurPadre]

Is this a joke? lol

So winning 5 titles while not repeating once is typical is what you're inferring? I'm not saying this franchise isn't successful and doesn't know how to win Championships. I'm merely pointing out the fact that they've been unable to repeat once, and compared to other multi-champs who have repeated (in some cases, 3 peated), we fall short of them in terms of dynasties.

[Budkin]

Don't even care. 5.

[Harry Callahan]

You can blame injuries/fatigue on 2000 and 2008. Tony Parker's the problem overall though. Epic chokejobs in all the key series. 2004 Lakers, 2006 Mavs, and now the 2015 Clippers. Inefficient shooting, bad playmaking, no defense. Biggest choke artist of his generation.

You can't be the biggest choke artist of your generation when you win a finals MVP and have four rings. Hyperbole much?

[Sean Cagney]

2000 Duncan went down with a knee injury= no chance at repeating
2004 we were 0.4 seconds away from possibly repeating
2006 we were 1 boneheaded ginobili foul from being in the finals
2008 I cant remember who we faced or what happened
2015 we are going to a game 7 which hopefully we can win.

It's not like we've been shit trying to go back to back. We've always been in it. Shit happens I supposeVERY TRUE, and to be a champ 5 times anyways is enough for most fans. Atleast the Spurs win titles, repeating or not most teams don't even get one in a ten year span.
Don't even care. 5.

DAMN RIGHT, still got that one to look at. That was the best one.

[midnightpulp]

The 2014 redemption title is far more impressive than any repeat could be. That was a franchise killing level event and the Spurs came back and played historically great in one of the toughest Western Conferences in history.

Sure, it takes a great team to repeat. But I think it takes a truly special team to bounce back after one of the top 10 most painful moments in North American sports.

[KaiRMD1]

Don't you mean "successfully" defending? I mean the old sports are defending it now

[SnakeBoy]

2000 Duncan went down with a knee injury= no chance at repeating
2004 we were 0.4 seconds away from possibly repeating
2006 we were 1 boneheaded ginobili foul from being in the finals
2008 I cant remember who we faced or what happened
2015 Kawhi shit his pants.

It's not like we've been shit trying to go back to back. We've always been in it. Shit happens I suppose

fify

[Sean Cagney]

The 2014 redemption title is far more impressive than any repeat could be. That was a franchise killing level event and the Spurs came back and played historically great in one of the toughest Western Conferences in history.

Sure, it takes a great team to repeat. But I think it takes a truly special team to bounce back after one of the top 10 most painful moments in North American sports.
YES SIR.... They went to the WCF and back to back finals as well, that is a hell of a run for any team and most would take it.

[timtonymanu]

The 2014 redemption title is far more impressive than any repeat could be. That was a franchise killing level event and the Spurs came back and played historically great in one of the toughest Western Conferences in history.

Sure, it takes a great team to repeat. But I think it takes a truly special team to bounce back after one of the top 10 most painful moments in North American sports.

Bingo. The 2005 Pistons and 2010 Celtics had suffered the same kind of meltdown but went opposite of the Spurs in direction. We pulled off a heck of a run

[Johnny RIngo]

You can't be the biggest choke artist of your generation when you win a finals MVP and have four rings. Hyperbole much?

His percentages all go down from regular season to post-season. Very efficient in the reg season. Allen Iverson level terrible in the playoffs. Definite signs of a choke artist.

[ffadicted]

So winning 5 titles while not repeating once is typical is what you're inferring? I'm not saying this franchise isn't successful and doesn't know how to win Championships. I'm merely pointing out the fact that they've been unable to repeat once, and compared to other multi-champs who have repeated (in some cases, 3 peated), we fall short of them in terms of dynasties.

I'm just saying there's been significantly more shitty efforts than ours in 04, 06 and 08

[Cloud786]

So winning 5 titles while not repeating once is typical is what you're inferring? I'm not saying this franchise isn't successful and doesn't know how to win Championships. I'm merely pointing out the fact that they've been unable to repeat once, and compared to other multi-champs who have repeated (in some cases, 3 peated), we fall short of them in terms of dynasties.

Although all great teams tend to repeat, it wasn't because of lack of urgency. Two of those years, we just had unfortunate circumstances and stuff like that happens as much as I hate to admit it. In 2000, Duncan did not play that postseason. In 2008, we were banged up and not healthy. Outside of this year, we never repeated not because of a lack of urgency.

[Josh810]

My God fans are spoiled :lol Be glad with what we've even gotten in the last 16 years. Goddamn.

[Mikeanaro]

World Titties perhaps.

[SpurPadre]

Although all great teams tend to repeat, it wasn't because of lack of urgency. Two of those years, we just had unfortunate circumstances and stuff like that happens as much as I hate to admit it. In 2000, Duncan did not play that postseason. In 2008, we were banged up and not healthy. Outside of this year, we never repeated not because of a lack of urgency.

I see what you mean but to not have done it once is a major disappointment and it falls on management. Sure, it's tough to repeat when LeBron buys the competition every year and other teams like the Rockets follow suit trying to rent-a-champ, leaving us with scraps in the off-season. But at some point, you have to believe PATFO have put way too much in the shoulders of the Big Three by not trying hard enough to upgrade the team in off-seasons, especially now that they're all past their primes. I hope they don't do the same thing to Kawhi, once he's fully ready to be the franchise player.

[Cloud786]

I see what you mean but to not have done it once is a major disappointment and it falls on management. Sure, it's tough to repeat when LeBron buys the competition every year and other teams like the Rockets follow suit trying to rent-a-champ, leaving us with scraps in the off-season. But at some point, you have to believe PATFO have put way too much in the shoulders of the Big Three by not trying hard enough to upgrade the team in off-seasons, especially now that they're all past their primes. I hope they don't do the same thing to Kawhi, once he's fully ready to be the franchise player.

A lot of those years, other teams made significant upgrades such as the superteam in LA with Malone and Payton or the addition of Gasol midseason. What has made us a successful team/franchise is that we don't overreact when we lose by blowing up the team or making additions to the team just because we lost. We could've easily blown it up after we lost in 2013, but PATFO believed in the team to be able to get back to that stage and win it. Even this year, it is clear as day that we are better than the Clips but what's frustrating is that we are not playing up to our potential. Whether that's because of a lack of urgency or not, it's not quite clear.

[SpurPadre]

A lot of those years, other teams made significant upgrades such as the superteam in LA with Malone and Payton or the addition of Gasol midseason. What has made us a successful team/franchise is that we don't overreact when we lose by blowing up the team or making additions to the team just because we lost. We could've easily blown it up after we lost in 2013, but PATFO believed in the team to be able to get back to that stage and win it. Even this year, it is clear as day that we are better than the Clips but what's frustrating is that we are not playing up to our potential. Whether that's because of a lack of urgency or not, it's not quite clear.

It would've helped last off-season, if we did more than just draft Kyle Anderson after whiffing on Pau Gasol.

[spurs10]

5 fails to defend. i'd say yes

is there any other team with that much fails? We are the most winning team of all sports for the last 15 years. No team has sustained this amount of excellence and success. Hopefully this puts things more in perspective for you.

[Thebesteva]

We've had 4 cracks at it in the past and were likely headed towards another failed title defense. Is there another sports franchise that's failed so often to repeat? I know some of you don't put much stock in repeating but I do and I think it will always be a legitimate knock on us if we can't do it in the Pop, TD, Manu, TP era. We can blame injuries, bad luck, off-season failures to upgrade, whatever it is, it keeps us from stacking up with great Championship dynasties in sports. And it sucks because we should've been able to repeat many times.

This is my biggest critique of the Spurs. I rank TD higher than Kobe and I rank last years Spurs as one of the top 5 best teams ever. So don't think I'm saying this as a Laker fan, but the Spurs have no heart after winning a championship. They need a year or two to get that heart back after missing it...it's just pathetic really.

[ElNono]

But I don't know of any other team in any sport have as many chances to repeat as we have and come away empty handed. But maybe I'm wrong. Is there another 5 time champion in any sport that has not repeated?

- LA Dodgers: 6 WS, no repeats
- Detroit Tigers: 4 WS, no repeats
- NY Giants: 4 titles, no repeats
- Chicago Blackhawks: 5 Stanley cups, no repeats
- NY Rangers: 4 Stanley cups, no repeats

In soccer, it happens all the time, tbh

[SpurPadre]

- LA Dodgers: 6 WS, no repeats
- Detroit Tigers: 4 WS, no repeats
- NY Giants: 4 titles, no repeats
- Chicago Blackhawks: 5 Stanley cups, no repeats
- NY Rangers: 4 Stanley cups, no repeats

In soccer, it happens all the time, tbh

Thanks. I wasn't trying to shit on our team's accomplishments. I was posing a legitimate question and you answered it for me. We're not the worst sports team at defending titles, we're just the worst NBA team at defending titles.

[ElNono]

Thanks. I wasn't trying to shit on our team's accomplishments. I was posing a legitimate question and you answered it for me. We're not the worst sports team at defending titles, we're just the worst NBA team at defending titles.

Well, we're also the 4th winningmost NBA team in history. So, all in all, I think the glass half-full view isn't bad, tbh...

[Buddy Mignon]

We've had 4 cracks at it in the past and were likely headed towards another failed title defense. Is there another sports franchise that's failed so often to repeat? I know some of you don't put much stock in repeating but I do and I think it will always be a legitimate knock on us if we can't do it in the Pop, TD, Manu, TP era. We can blame injuries, bad luck, off-season failures to upgrade, whatever it is, it keeps us from stacking up with great Championship dynasties in sports. And it sucks because we should've been able to repeat many times.


I've been saying it for years. Give me my due, dammit. These guys are afraid of the fire.

[Buddy Mignon]

5 fails to defend. i'd say yes

is there any other team with that much fails?

nope

[Budkin]

The 2014 redemption title is far more impressive than any repeat could be. That was a franchise killing level event and the Spurs came back and played historically great in one of the toughest Western Conferences in history.

Sure, it takes a great team to repeat. But I think it takes a truly special team to bounce back after one of the top 10 most painful moments in North American sports.

This x 1000

[SAtown]

2008 I cant remember who we faced or what happened


fR4m0ZThDYY

[Mikeanaro]

They have a coach thats mentally incapacitated to repeat, you see Marco was hot not just yesterday, and Patty the other night was 4/4 just to name a game if you cannot see this you are being ungrateful with your role players, you cant repeat if your starters suck and the bench doesnt get the benefit when its good.
I wonder how Patty and Marco feel about that retarded shit Pop did to them.

[Splits]

Since we've never won a world title, I'd say no.

Oh, and what Mid said.

[Clipper Nation]

- LA Dodgers: 6 WS, no repeats
- Detroit Tigers: 4 WS, no repeats
- NY Giants: 4 titles, no repeats
- Chicago Blackhawks: 5 Stanley cups, no repeats
- NY Rangers: 4 Stanley cups, no repeats

In soccer, it happens all the time, tbh
The Giants have actually rung 8 times without repeating.

League championships (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_National_Football_League_Championship#C hampionship_games_per_season) (8)



NFL Championships (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_NFL_champions) (pre-1970 AFL–NFL merger (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AFL%E2%80%93NFL_merger)) (4)
1927 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1927_New_York_Giants_season), 1934 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NFL_Championship_Game,_1934), 1938 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NFL_Championship_Game,_1938), 1956 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NFL_Championship_Game,_1956)



Super Bowl championships (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Super_Bowl_champions) (4)
1986 (XXI (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Bowl_XXI)), 1990 (XXV (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Bowl_XXV)), 2007 (XLII (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Bowl_XLII)), 2011 (XLVI (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Bowl_XLVI))

[pgardn]

No.


They are the best modern team at having a chance of winning them year after year.

[gameFACE]

How would you like to be the Knicks and have only repeat finals appearances as the losing team? And when they won they never repeated either. So much for that "storied" (and overrated) franchise.

I've always wanted the Spurs to repeat and wish they could. When you're in the middle of it like now it seems frustrating. Maybe it's the culture of the team. Are they too humble? Do they lack Chutzpah? Shit, I don't know. I want TD to get one more.

Five years from now it won't be about repeating so much as thinking "holy shit they won five championships" and that kicks ass. As frustrated as I was at the game last night I looked up at the five banners and thought it was badass. I could see room for one more, tbh.

[SpurOutofTownFan]

2000 Duncan went down with a knee injury= no chance at repeating
2004 we were 0.4 seconds away from possibly repeating
2006 we were 1 boneheaded ginobili foul from being in the finals
2008 I cant remember who we faced or what happened
2015 we are going to a game 7 which hopefully we can win.

It's not like we've been shit trying to go back to back. We've always been in it. Shit happens I suppose

Someone go ahead and correct me if im wrong but wasnt 2008 the year the Spurs played the Hornets with CP3 and then had to leave the airport and there was some shit going on with the airplane and arrived to LA with very little rest? and the NBA didnt want to change anything, didnt give a shit?

I think they ended up sleeping in the airplane or something like that

[Agloco]

So winning 5 titles while not repeating once is typical is what you're inferring? I'm not saying this franchise isn't successful and doesn't know how to win Championships. I'm merely pointing out the fact that they've been unable to repeat once, and compared to other multi-champs who have repeated (in some cases, 3 peated), we fall short of them in terms of dynasties.

So you put the accomplishments of the early 2000s Lakers ahead of what the Spurs have done since 99?

Come on son. People need to do a serious read up on what the word dynasty means.

[phxspurfan]

yes. they lack killer instinct

[K...]

At least we aren't the Seattle choke hawks. Or the god damn rangers. Or the Jim Kelley bills. Or the Tennessee titans. Or colt McCoy. Or the Mexican national team. Or Maria Sharapova. Lots of losers in the world. Spurs will never be among them.

[Russo21]

Someone go ahead and correct me if im wrong but wasnt 2008 the year the Spurs played the Hornets with CP3 and then had to leave the airport and there was some shit going on with the airplane and arrived to LA with very little rest? and the NBA didnt want to change anything, didnt give a shit?

I think they ended up sleeping in the airplane or something like that

http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/4871/tough-night-on-the-plane-for-the-spurs you are correct. i forgot about that

[Silver&Black]

Don't even care. 5.

[Caltex2]

Kentucky basketball never does, except way back before anyone cared about basketball. And the Spurs aren't even the worst lately, look at the Giants, who appear to be at it again this year.

[dg7md]

Most teams that repeat are only truly winning titles in one particular era with that team they've built. The Bulls dominated the '90s, The Lakers dominated the 2000s, so it's obvious they'd repeat and even threepeat, but look at how we've won — we've won in 1999, 2003, 2005, 2007, and 2014. There's much more room there in terms of how we win other than just winning within 3 years.

You guys are forgetting that we've basically ringed every time as a result of one player — Tim Duncan. Without him, we'd be lucky to get one ring let alone 5.

It kinda sucks, but it doesn't and shouldn't come off as a blight on us. A lot of factors go into championship teams and I'd say it's harder to repeat than ever before. It'd be nice to repeat, but it's even nicer to be a championship level team for almost 20 years.

[z0sa]

Depends on the equation. Do you get more or less points for winning more titles that you don't defend? What about long decades lulls between titles?

[Genjuro]

- LA Dodgers: 6 WS, no repeats
- Detroit Tigers: 4 WS, no repeats
- NY Giants: 4 titles, no repeats
- Chicago Blackhawks: 5 Stanley cups, no repeats
- NY Rangers: 4 Stanley cups, no repeats

In soccer, it happens all the time, tbh

The difference is that there's a continuity in all Spurs titles: Duncan and Popovich. Those other teams winning so many titles with no repeats have done it in different eras.

The closer example I can think of is Panathinaikos winning six Euroleague titles with no repeats, five of them with the same coach, Obradovic (2000, 2002, 2007, 2009, 2011). However, the 2000-02 teams are very different from the 2007-11 ones, and the Final Four format makes it more difficult to repeat IMO.

I don't think we can come up with anything similar to the Spurs situation. Not even in soccer.

[Sandman52]

Tbh they should be going for a three peat this season .guving away the title in'13 was killa

tbh, I don't believe the Spurs would've won in 2014 if they had beat the Heat in 2013. There would be no "drive for redemption."

[100%duncan]

Doesn't matter to me, tbh. We can at least talk about past championships. You don't feel bad about 5 titles.

[FlAVaK]

- LA Dodgers: 6 WS, no repeats
- Detroit Tigers: 4 WS, no repeats
- NY Giants: 4 titles, no repeats
- Chicago Blackhawks: 5 Stanley cups, no repeats
- NY Rangers: 4 Stanley cups, no repeats

In soccer, it happens all the time, tbh

Regarding soccer, my first thought was VFB Stuttgart (3 times, no repeat)

Since you mentioned MLB, the Cardinals record has to be listed:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Louis_Cardinals

World Series titles (11)
2011 2006 1982 1967 1964 1946 1944 1942 1934 1931 1926

Also: Multiple title in one era!

[DD]

5 titles is impressive, but there's something to be said for not having the mental fortitude to defend your crown--on 5 different occasions, no less. In 2000 they had somewhat of an excuse--but even when fully healthy they were probably the 3rd best team in the WC that season. In 2004 they choked, 2006 choked, and 2008 choked (20-pt leads in Games 1 and 5 of WCF as evidence). If they lose this year it won't be because of choking but more stupidity (inexplicably half-assing it in Game 82).

Just an abysmal team when they have the bulls-eye on their back

[DD]

Regarding soccer, my first thought was :lmao

[therealtruth]

Everyone says defending titles is the toughest thing. Till Pop can do that I think that is a mark against him.

[BillMc]

The 80's Celtics never defended their titles. It didn't seem to hurt their status too much as the years passed.

[Genjuro]

IMO there's nothing wrong about not repeating (aside from the less amount of titles you might end up with). But it's certainly an extremely strange circumstance for a team that has won so many of them under the leadership of the very same two guys.

[Caltex2]

The 80's Celtics never defended their titles. It didn't seem to hurt their status too much as the years passed.

That's because they always had to play the Lakers. As a matter of fact, only one of their titles came over the Lakers, the other two came over...you guessed it...the Rockets.

[TampaDude]

Five rings, faggots!

[Duncan2177]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ER1otvC55g

[Richie]

What a spoilt bunch of fans. Boo hoo we've failed to defend our FIVE titles. Most teams have never won or even made a Finals.

[SpurPadre]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ER1otvC55g

Ah, almost forgot that commercial! Good one!

[TampaDude]

If you asked any young basketball player coming into the NBA if he would be happy with an 18+ year NBA career and 5 NBA Championships, with the only caveat being he wouldn't win any back-to-back, I guaranfuckingtee you he would say "hell yeah, I'll take that!" :hat

[Obstructed_View]

This is kind of like asking if it sucks to be the poorest billionaire in the world.

[daslicer]

This is kind of like asking if it sucks to be the poorest billionaire in the world.

:lol You summed it up pretty well. This is the equivalent to asking Steve Jobs prior to his death does it suck to have less money than Bill Gates.

[TampaDude]

:lol You summed it up pretty well. This is the equivalent to asking Steve Jobs prior to his death does it suck to have less money than Bill Gates.

It would be like Steve Ballmer griping about having ONLY $21 billion instead of $79 billion like Bill Gates. Yeah, life's gotta suck when you only have 21 billion dollars. :lol

[hitmantb]

Teams that repeat usually have dominant rosters vs the era, and big market location to attract free agents to refresh the roster (i.e. Ray Allen and Heat in 2013).

MJ/Pippen/Rodman, Shaq/Kobe Lakers, Miami big three, etc, you also need to catch a period when there is no super team.

Shaq/Kobe three-peat because they caught Spurs mini-rebuild mode when there is no other top team.

Spurs is a small market team and let's face it, Parker/Ginobili is not the same as Pippen, Wade/Bosh, Kobe. The margin of error is simply much thinner when you are trying to work with the 28th and 57th picks of the draft as the foundation. Both are on the fragile side and Parker's size/limited shooting makes him much more vulnerable to long/athletic defenders or strong shot blockers.

[Juggity]

"repeating" is a nitpicky, desperate criterion that fans of other franchises parrot specifically to discredit the spurs. It's pretty similar to the way Galileo cherry picks Duncan stats once every few weeks to discuss how he's the first player older than 38 years, two weeks, and three days to record a 23 point, 12 rebound, 2 block game while wearing adidas shoes and maintaining an Elo rating above 1989.

There's no special "repeat championship" trophy that teams earn by doing do. There's no "repeat champion" title awarded by the NBA to recognize the feat. A championship is a championship. Ordering is irrelevant. Five is five tbh. the specific circumstances that prevent a team from "defending world titles" (which aren't actually world titles at all, but NBA titles), are unique to a given year, not an inherent characteristic of a franchise.

[SpurPadre]

I get the point...lol. Still a topic worth discussing when comparing sports dynasties. All that matters to me right now is that we shock the world and pull out the win tonight.

[TampaDude]

"repeating" is a nitpicky, desperate criterion that fans of other franchises parrot specifically to discredit the spurs. It's pretty similar to the way Galileo cherry picks Duncan stats once every few weeks to discuss how he's the first player older than 38 years, two weeks, and three days to record a 23 point, 12 rebound, 2 block game while wearing adidas shoes and maintaining an Elo rating above 1989.

There's no special "repeat championship" trophy that teams earn by doing do. There's no "repeat champion" title awarded by the NBA to recognize the feat. A championship is a championship. Ordering is irrelevant. Five is five tbh. the specific circumstances that prevent a team from "defending world titles" (which aren't actually world titles at all, but NBA titles), are unique to a given year, not an inherent characteristic of a franchise.

^ this

I remember an NBA player, I think it was LeBron, being asked about "defending" the title, and he said something to the effect of "we're not trying to defend a championship, because last season is over, so there's nothing to defend...we're just trying to win one this year."

TBH, the only sport where a team could legitimately say they are "defending" a title is hockey, because there is only one Stanley Cup, as opposed to a different trophy being awarded each year in the NFL, NBA, and MLB.

[Obstructed_View]

Shaq/Kobe three-peat because they caught Spurs mini-rebuild mode when there is no other top team.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/1635000/images/_1638588_howard300.jpg

[Spurminator]

The Bucks won their only Championship over 40 years ago and haven't repeated since.

[Obstructed_View]

The Bucks won their only Championship over 40 years ago and haven't repeated since.

And there are probably many NBA teams that envy that one Bucks title a lot.