SPARKY
05-29-2007, 11:34 PM
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/nba/1999/playoffs/western/news/1999/06/06/spurs_blazers_game4/lg_robinson_ap.jpg
June 13, 1999
They've been labeled soft ... underachievers ... uncommitted. Now you can call them Western Conference champions.
David Robinson, Tim Duncan and the San Antonio Spurs are in the NBA Finals for the first time since the franchise joined the league 23 years ago.
The Spurs continued to steamroll their way through the playoffs, sweeping the Portland Trail Blazers in the best-of-7 Western Conference finals with a 94-80 victory Sunday.
Afterward, Robinson spoke to his teammates behind closed doors in the locker room about the importance of playing for a championship.
"It means so much to him," said Tim Duncan. "He's worked so many years and this is the first time he's gotten there. What he said is that this is the best that he's felt with a team, looking at all the people on the floor that he knows he can count on."
San Antonio goes to the finals as one of the hottest playoff teams ever.
The Spurs won their 10th straight postseason game, one short of the league record. Since a shaky 6-8 start, San Antonio is 42-6, a record that even Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls would have admired.
"It's been 10 long years but it's just what I imagined it would be like," Robinson said. "You work so hard. It feels really good to finally get there."
June 13, 1999
They've been labeled soft ... underachievers ... uncommitted. Now you can call them Western Conference champions.
David Robinson, Tim Duncan and the San Antonio Spurs are in the NBA Finals for the first time since the franchise joined the league 23 years ago.
The Spurs continued to steamroll their way through the playoffs, sweeping the Portland Trail Blazers in the best-of-7 Western Conference finals with a 94-80 victory Sunday.
Afterward, Robinson spoke to his teammates behind closed doors in the locker room about the importance of playing for a championship.
"It means so much to him," said Tim Duncan. "He's worked so many years and this is the first time he's gotten there. What he said is that this is the best that he's felt with a team, looking at all the people on the floor that he knows he can count on."
San Antonio goes to the finals as one of the hottest playoff teams ever.
The Spurs won their 10th straight postseason game, one short of the league record. Since a shaky 6-8 start, San Antonio is 42-6, a record that even Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls would have admired.
"It's been 10 long years but it's just what I imagined it would be like," Robinson said. "You work so hard. It feels really good to finally get there."