Spot Number 1 - Top 50 Spurs

[jcrod]

I'm going to have to disagree. I was going to vote for Robinson but I thought of it more and realized that all four of those people saved the franchise one way or another.

First Drossos was the driving force behind the very existence of the franchise. He helped secure the original ABA franchise, he went out and got Gervin, fought to keep that trade valid and then basically refused to be ignored and got the Spurs into the NBA. He definitely deserves a lot of credit and really shouldn't fall out of the top four in this list.

Then you have Gervin who brought the entertainment value to the Spurs and put them on the map. Without Gervin, the Spurs likely don't draw the crowds and then they don't have the financial stability to last. Without Gervin, the chances San Antonio is let into the NBA are probably close to zero. San Antonio needed a superstar to survive and he definitely was just that.

Robinson has been covered extensively in this thread and he is due of all the praise he has been given. He came to San Antonio, saw the rich tradition of the franchise and realized that if he didn't sign with the Spurs, the Spurs would have died. Out of pure and possibly unfounded loyalty he kept the Spurs afloat numerous times when he could have easily turned his back and gone on to greener surroundings. But he decided that keeping the Spurs alive was more important than money, fame and championship. And even today, he remains a big part of everything.

But to say Duncan didn't save the Spurs isn't accurate. If the Spurs don't win the 1999 championship, the SBC Center never gets built and the Spurs leave. The difference with Duncan and Robinson is that Robinson overtly saved the franchise ... while Duncan just so happened to save the franchise on his way to winning championships. Robinson was dedicated to San Antonio, the Spurs and keeping the legacy. Duncan is dedicated to winning championships. But even though Duncan has different motives, the result of saving the franchise was the same. If the Spurs didn't turn into a championship franchise when they did, they were on the chopping block to be sent packing. All the hard work from Drossos, Gervin and Robinson would have been lost.

Now if you consider all four of those individuals as franchise savers, I think Duncan barely takes the lead over Robinson. By a very, very narrow margin. And really, it's not a fair playing field because Robinson suffered perhaps the worst run organization and worst set of teammates around him during his prime of any superstar in NBA history. On the other hand, Duncan probably stepped into one of the three or four best situations of anyone in NBA history. But sports is results driven and Duncan has helped deliver all four championships and his passive aggressive demand of continued winning has kept the Spurs at a high level for a long amount of time. Duncan definitely has received a tremendous amount of help throughout the years and lucked into the situation he fell into but he has taken the Spurs from a storybook franchise to a championship franchise that will one day be remembered for this dominant stretch we are currently witnessing.

It is really damn close but I have to put Duncan as number one, with a sincere tip of the hat to the other three individuals who made it possible for the Spurs to become what they are today.

Your whole post points to Robinson, but still elect TD. Makes not since. To what I bolded. You state with TD winning it in 99 it saved the Spurs, again, without Robinson TD doesn't win it. TD needed Robinson as much as Robinson needed TD. To say one is more important than the other in 99 is ridicoulus. But we know what Robinson has done with very little.....he's won and would win with this team in place of Duncan.

Robinson gets my vote easliy. He's done everything with the franchise itself and with the city. There isn't a sports figure or person for that matter who's done more for his adoppted city than Robinson. Both with his time and own money.

[jcrod]

DRob...regardless of what happened before or since he got here, the Spurs would not be in SA without him and neither would Tim Duncan. David Robinson turned down untold millions, greater fame, and more championships to play for the Spurs. He turned down the chance to play with Magic Johnson and replace Kareem Abdul Jabbar in LA, to play for a cash strapped lottery team that was on the verge of leaving it's town.

I do not think one other player in team history would have been willing to do that had they been in David Robinson's place. I can't think of many NBA players in history would have done that. It takes a special man to make that decision at the time Drob made it, a guy who truly pulls for the underdog.

IF DRob had been all about championships and nothing but...he wouldn't have signed with the Spurs when he did.

If Drob had been all about fame and nothing but...he wouldn't have signed with the Spurs when he did.

If Drob had been all about money and nothing but...he wouldn't have signed with the Spurs when he did.

Drob knew he was taking the hard path to fame, fortune and les, when he signed with the Spurs, and he still did it.

Drob all the way...

[timvp]

Your whole post points to Robinson, but still elect TD. Makes not since. To what I bolded. You state with TD winning it in 99 it saved the Spurs, again, without Robinson TD doesn't win it. TD needed Robinson as much as Robinson needed TD.

True but the point was that Robinson alone wasn't going to be able to save the Spurs again in 1999. Duncan was needed to save the franchise, so that fact tied Duncan's save-franchise-factor with the other three.

[jcrod]

True but the point was that Robinson alone wasn't going to be able to save the Spurs again in 1999. Duncan was needed to save the franchise, so that fact tied Duncan's save-franchise-factor with the other three.

Yes, but thats two saves for Robinson. Keeping it afloat, then winning the championship.

Duncan would not have stayed around for the ty years that Robinson endured.

Such and easy selection.

[polandprzem]

It's embarrassing that people voted for Manu or Tony.

Can you imagine how feels a guy who putted them in this poll?

[ShoogarBear]

No one should ever forget this. If you go back and watch the press conference after game 5 of the 99 Finals, he basically says he re-signs with the Spurs if the city builds them a new arena.

Yeah, but Robinson came and stayed without putting conditions on it, which is why he should be #1.

[whottt]

If Tim Duncan had been a #1 draft pick with FA status like Drob was...Tim Duncan wouldn't have signed with the Spurs. He'd have gone to the organization that gave him the best chance of winning a championship, and that wasn't the Spurs.

If the Spurs had David Robinson instead of George Gervin, in the exact same situation...the Spurs would still be here. And David Robinson would have been a Spur.

If the Spurs had drafted David Robinson instead of Tim Duncan, in the exact same situation, the Spurs would still be here. And David Robinson would have been a Spur.


IF the Spurs had drafted Gervin or Duncan instead of David Robinson, in the exact same situation, the Spurs would not be here, and neither Gervin nor Duncan would have been Spurs.




And Tim Duncan doesn't win les by himself either...see last season for a recent example of this.

[J.T.]

David Robinson got robbed in this poll. that Tim Duncan and all the weren't-Spurs-fans-before-2005 posters who voted for him.

[MajorMike]

Aside from the horrid english...

#1 We aren't talking greatest person, we are talking greatest player. If history remembers best person as the best player then baseball wouldn't even know who Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb and Mickey Mantle were.
#2 DRob never won a ring without TD. TD has won 2 without DRob.
#3 DRob isn't in the coversation for top 5 all time at his position, let alone in the arguement for best ever.

You can say if all day long.

If TD never showed up DRob would have zero rings; if DRob never showed up TD would still have 2 and quite possibly 3.

Saying TD is better is not saying anything against DRob, but DRob being one of the world's best humans doesn't change the fact.

[ShoogarBear]

#1 We aren't talking greatest person, we are talking greatest player.

Says you.

The actual guidance is for most important/influential.

[J.T.]

If TD never showed up DRob would have zero rings; if DRob never showed up TD would still have 2 and quite possibly 3.

If David never showed up then he wouldn't have gotten hurt and missed all those games when we won the lottery for Duncan. Then Duncan would've been a Celtic. All of you Duncan fans (who are really just Duncan fans and not really Spurs fans) need to recognize who made it all possible for your boy.

David > Tim

for life

[J.T.]

For the record I would've for Avery Johnson but I didn't get a chance to partake in the poll.

Supreme Being and the 5 who voted for Manu should be banned from here for a week because picking against David or Duncan or Avery Johnson is like punching the American flag in the face.

[jcrod]

Aside from the horrid english...

#1 We aren't talking greatest person, we are talking greatest player. If history remembers best person as the best player then baseball wouldn't even know who Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb and Mickey Mantle were.
#2 DRob never won a ring without TD. TD has won 2 without DRob.
#3 DRob isn't in the coversation for top 5 all time at his position, let alone in the arguement for best ever.

You can say if all day long.

If TD never showed up DRob would have zero rings; if DRob never showed up TD would still have 2 and quite possibly 3.

Saying TD is better is not saying anything against DRob, but DRob being one of the world's best humans doesn't change the fact.

Number of rings argument is weak. Everyboday knows TD has the support Robinson never had.

[J.T.]

Number of rings argument is weak. Everyboday knows TD has the support Robinson never had.

Yeah, LeBron would have 8 NBA rings by now if he had the support Duncan has.

[J.T.]

But more than anything, would Spurstalk be this popular WITHOUT Tim Duncan?

No, it wouldn't be popular without fans who claim to hate our team yet can't leave our site.

[alamo50]

[MajorMike]

Number of rings argument is weak. Everyboday knows TD has the support Robinson never had.

Talk about weak arguements. Two of DRob's support have their jersey's retired and a 3rd is the greatest PF of all time.