June Bonus Issue — My Other Spurs

People always ask me if being a fan of the San Antonio Spurs was the reason why I chose Tottenham Hotspur as my Premier League team. That wasn't the only reason, but it certainly factored in. Two Spurs teams—what more could I need as a fan?

I've been wanting to write for a while now about how my lifelong love for the NBA Spurs informs the way I think about sports and how it affects the way I support Tottenham. What better topic for a summer bonus issue when actual Tottenham news is thin on the ground?

There are a few important lessons that I've learned from supporting the San Antonio Spurs:

1) You need a little bit of luck—sometimes a lot—to be successful in sports.

As I always like to remember, every team you compete against is also trying to win. Some strategies work better than others, and the best coaches and best analytics will certainly give you an edge, but often times there isn't going to be a whole lot separating the team you love from any given opponent. That's where good old-fashioned fortune comes in.

In the NBA, it's not uncommon for teams to "tank" in order to give themselves a better chance of receiving the #1 draft pick in the lottery. But ultimately, finishing in last place in the league still won't guarantee that top spot in the draft order. Call it luck or call it fate, it's out of your hands once the season is over. If your team gets lucky, they'll get the privilege of drafting the top prospect and potentially changing the trajectory of the franchise for years to come. If you're really lucky, that'll happen in one of the years when the top prospect is truly exceptional and transformative—as the Spurs have now lucked out three times, first with David Robinson, then with Tim Duncan, and now with Victor Wembanyama. There was a long gap between the latter two #1 picks primarily because the Spurs were so dominant during the Duncan era and never got close to falling into the draft lottery, not getting a pick in the top 10 again until 2022.

But a team can also make its own luck in other ways, such as the Spurs taking a risk on a foreign player when they were still a rarity in the NBA (Manu Ginóbili, of Argentina) or making a smart trade for an underrated draft pick (Kawhi Leonard, whom I have to admit was a vital part of the 2014 championship team no matter what I think of him now). Several times in the franchise's history, the front office has had a knack for identifying hidden gems further down in the draft pecking order (Tony Parker) or trading for them as they were underutilized at other teams (Patty Mills). Work hard, yes, but also work smart.

How does this translate to a sport like European football that doesn't have a draft system and straight trades are exceedingly rare? Take a look at a club like Brentford, for example, who are now the gold standard for smart recruitment from untapped sources—in other words, making their own luck by creating a competitive advantage. They might not have the most resources (or a #1 draft pick) to get a leg up on rival clubs, but they've benefitted from taking a chance on relatively unknown players and always prioritizing players who fit into their style of play. This brings me to my second point.

2) Role players can make all the difference.

I would argue that this belief has been more important to the Spurs' success than any of their draft picks or trades. Injuries happen, players can have a down season, and even the most promising young players need some time to develop into consistent superstars. These are the scenarios in which you need your "next man up" to actually be capable of stepping up and filling in seamlessly.

Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich has always valued the contributions of the role players on his team, particularly as he led the revolution of "load management" in the NBA. Your stars can stay stars for longer (say, all the way into their 40s as in the case of Duncan and Ginóbili) if they can afford some rest throughout the season thanks to competent replacements from the bench. Even better if one of those stars is coming off the bench. Ginóbili was the epitome of the "sixth man." His willingness to do what was best for the team, not his personal reputation, enabled Parker's rise and honestly increased his own legend in the end. There's a reason he's consistently cited as one of, if not the most beloved Spurs players. You can only count on the bench to make a difference when it includes players like Ginóbili who will sacrifice their own egos for the good of the team as a whole.

I sometimes joke that I'm a "Ben Davies apologist" or try to make the case for other less highly regarded Tottenham players, but only because I truly believe in the importance of valuing the whole squad. After all, not every player can be a superstar. Now, it took years of careful squad building for the SA Spurs to find that perfect mix to win the 2014 championship, and I would never suggest that their Premier League name twins have a squad of similar strength—far from it. There are plenty of weaknesses to be found at the end of Tottenham's bench. But I do think it's worth appreciating some of the players who have at least embodied a team-first attitude even when they've fallen short performance-wise. I don't think Japhet Tanganga is long for the roster, but I never doubted his commitment. And if we take this kind of attitude even in the lean times, the times when the squad is legitimately strong will be made that much stronger by a sense of togetherness and common cause. For this reason, you will never find me booing a player. As long as they are on the team I support, I may grumble about them away from the court/pitch, but in a game situation, I will keep my mouth shut if I can't bring myself to cheer. On to my last point...

3) Loyalty is a rare and beautiful thing.

This is honestly the biggest legacy of my SA Spurs fandom. I am all but incapable of buying into the idea that it's understandable for a player to force a move to go trophy hunting with another team. Nope. It might be rare for a player to stay loyal to one franchise/club, especially in football, but it's not impossible. I've witnessed three very significant examples of one-team players: David Robinson, Tim Duncan, and Manu Ginóbili (I'm not counting his career path before the NBA draft). And on the flip side, I had to live through the extremely painful Kawhi Leonard saga and watch as the player who was supposed to take over the franchise player mantle from Tim and Manu jumped ship.

Again, this respect for loyalty is just a natural consequence of growing up as a fan of the Spurs. I'm sure fans of other NBA teams do not have this same hang-up of expecting loyalty from players. But it's always felt like there was something different about the Spurs organization, an actual culture that's worth preserving. It helps that we've had the same head coach for the entirety of my Spurs-supporting life, and he definitely places a high level of value in "the Spurs way." He will be the first to tell you that it feels good to win, but it feels even better to do it with people who have become family. I consider myself a principled person, so I appreciate this principled approach from Pop. I find it very moving that Pop cares about his players as people over and above what they can offer on the court. When our new #1 draft pick, Victor Wembanyama, had dinner with several of the legends of the Spurs the same night he arrived in San Antonio, he remarked upon how reassured he felt to learn that these players really are as kind and generous as he'd always imagined (he's a longtime Spurs fan himself because of his fellow Frenchman, Parker). It means something to support—or play for—a team where having a good character is prized just as highly as one's athletic skill. It engenders a spirit of community that can't be bought.

Again, I'll acknowledge that it's much, much rarer for a soccer player to stick with one team their entire career, or even just with one team for an extended period of time. Although he had other clubs before us, the Tottenham player that I think truly embodies loyalty to the badge the most is Son Heung-min. Not only did he choose to extend his contract a couple of summers ago when it seemed like everything was falling apart at the club, but he's also stepped up as a leader when we've needed him. I will never forget the emotion of watching him score against Manchester City on the opening day of the season while Harry Kane was not even in the matchday squad. That was putting the club first. As much as I admire Kane for his talent and his personal achievements with Spurs, there's just no comparison to the true affection I feel for Sonny—which is ironic, considering that Kane is the actual "one of our own" player from Spurs' Academy. I do wish that Harry would think about the legacy he could leave at Spurs if it remained his one and only club rather than leaving for a club where he's "guaranteed" trophies—which we all know is never actually a guarantee.

I suppose what it all boils down to is that I care much more about the journey than the destination when it comes to my sports fandom. There's an element of sentimentality that I just can't shake when I watch my teams, nor would I ever want to. If I ever start talking about winning at any cost (say, with the help of oil state money) or encouraging a favorite player to leave the club for glory-chasing purposes, y'all will know that something is wrong. I don't think I had ever heard the phrase "it's the hope that kills you" before becoming a Tottenham supporter but it feels so in tune with my stubbornly optimistic outlook. Sometimes your team loses game 7 to the Miami Heat and you feel a crushing sense of despair at how close they came to winning it all. But then sometimes you actually do get the perfect revenge the very next year, and that makes it all the sweeter. Never say never in sports.

COYS

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