Being a basketball fan is truly exciting right now. The game is transitioning smoothly from one era to the next. LeBron James has had an incredible two-decade career, and it’s time for King James to relinquish the crown. The luster of Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors’ decade-long success is beginning to fade.

The NBA is currently undergoing a rebranding, and it’s happening at an ideal time. TNT Sports’ 35-year television partnership with the NBA will conclude after the 2025 season. The league will begin its new 11-year, $76 billion media rights deal with ABC/ESPN, NBC/Peacock, and Amazon Prime starting in the 2025-26 season. Additionally, John Tesh’s iconic “Roundball Rock” theme music is making a return, introducing a new generation of basketball fans to its catchy tune. There couldn’t be a better way to kick off this rebranding than with some fresh headliners.

The 2025 NBA Finals features two burgeoning superstars in Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the newly crowned 2025 NBA MVP, and Indiana Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton. Shai and Tyrese are not superstar-level yet, but they are at the doorstep. They are spearheading this new wave of contemporary talent and ushering in the yet-to-be defined era.

“We’re witnessing the changing of the guard,” said former L.A. Clippers guard Lou Williams on the “Run It Back” podcast on FanDuel TV. “We are seeing the LeBrons and Kobes of our time. These young superstars are starting to make their mark on the game and define where it’s headed in the future. SGA is going to be one of those special players.”

Lou Will had a unique perspective on Shai’s development, having been his teammate during SGA’s rookie season with the Clippers. “This is my rook,” said Williams, who recognized Shai’s maturity from Day 1. He observed how Shai dedicated himself to improving at just 20 and is now seeing him emerge as one of the best players in the league at 26.

“[Shai] was always a responsible player who carried himself like a mature professional,” Williams noted. “He had big aspirations and was clear about his endgame. He knew his abilities.”

Lou Will’s praise for Shai’s work ethic underscores SGA’s character. The Clippers had a strong feeling that SGA could become an All-Star caliber player, but an NBA MVP? “Not in my wildest dreams,” Lou Will admitted. “I’m sure Shai had [MVP] on his vision board.”

SGA embodies the qualities of a throwback player who understands the importance of consistency and patience in achieving the ultimate goal of winning a championship.

The same holds true for Haliburton. The 25-year-old Pacers guard possesses an unorthodox shooting style but plays like a classic point guard with modern capabilities. He can dominate a game without scoring, pushing the pace like an ’80s playmaker while boasting an astonishing 5-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. For context, a 3:1 ratio is considered well above average, while 4:1 is excellent. Haliburton is operating on an entirely different level in terms of minimizing turnovers.

Few players can match Haliburton’s killer mentality. He has made headlines by leading two historic comebacks with game-winning shots that thwarted the playoff hopes of the Milwaukee Bucks and Cleveland Cavaliers. He also delivered a memorable choke sign celebration at Madison Square Garden after making a dagger shot that seemingly floated five feet in the air before swishing through the net. That shot and choke sign celebration will linger in the memories of Knicks fans for a long time.

The Pacers achieved remarkable comebacks, erasing a seven-point lead in 34.7 seconds to eliminate the Bucks in five games, then erasing another seven-point deficit in 46.7 seconds to take a 2-0 lead against the Cavaliers. In the Eastern Conference Finals against the Knicks, they came back from a nine-point deficit in 52.5 seconds in Game 1, with Haliburton sinking critical shots during each comeback.

SGA and Haliburton — alongside Anthony Edwards (23), Jalen Brunson (28), Cade Cunningham (23) and Luka Doncic (26) — are entering their prime years. Five of the six made the 2025 All-NBA teams (Luka didn’t qualify because of games missed), and they represent the present and future of the Association. They represent the major shift in the NBA as we head into a new era.

HISTORY LESSON: BREAKING DOWN DIFFERENT ERAS IN THE NBA

How did we arrive at this point? Let’s pop the VHS tape into the VCR and press rewind. The first 75 years of the NBA can be divided into six distinct eras.

In the league’s formative years of the 1950s and 1960s, eight basketball pioneers — Jerry West, Oscar Robertson, Elgin Baylor, Bob Cousy, George Mikan, Bob Pettit, Wilt Chamberlain, and Bill Russell — established the groundwork for greatness. Bill Russell and his Boston Celtics didn’t just participate; they dominated the era, clinching 11 championships in 13 seasons. This is an astonishing achievement that is unlikely to ever be matched.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Dave Cowens, John Havlicek, Willis Reed, Wes Unseld, Rick Barry, George “Iceman” Gervin, and Julius Erving carried the torch through the colorful and turbulent era in the 1970s. This was a challenging time marked by the competition between the ABA and NBA, resulting in dwindling audiences.

The arrival of Magic Johnson in L.A. and Larry Bird in Boston revitalized basketball during the 1980s, often regarded as the league’s golden era. It was a period of glitz and grit. Showtime vs. Celtic Pride. East Cost vs. West Coast. This period also saw the emergence of the “Bad Boys” Detroit Pistons, along with three-time MVP Moses Malone’s move from Houston to Philadelphia. Moses teamed up with Julius “Dr. J” Erving in the 1982-83 season and co-authored one of the most dominant playoff runs, sweeping Magic’s Lakers in the ’83 Finals and capping off a 12-1 postseason record. Moses’ audacious move may be the first variant of a superstar player joining another superstar player to form a super team.

The Air Jordan era took flight in the 1990s. After grabbing the baton from Magic and Bird, Michael Jordan ruled the ’90s, winning six championships in eight years and denying peers Sir Charles Barkley, Karl “The Mailman” Malone, and Patrick Ewing from winning rings. Jordan’s Bulls was a perfect 6-0 in the NBA Finals and pulled off the three-peat twice.

Hakeem Olajuwon benefited from Jordan’s brief two-year retirement, leading the Houston Rockets to back-to-back titles in 1994 and 1995. David “The Admiral” Robinson teamed up with Tim “Big Fundamental” Duncan in San Antonio, winning titles in 1999 and 2003.

The immediate post-Jordan era was dominated by five players: Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal, Kevin Garnett, Dirk Nowitzki, and Duncan. Kobe, Shaq, and Duncan combined to win 13 NBA titles, four regular season MVPs, and eight Finals MVPs from 1999 to 2010. For a decade, the road to the NBA Finals went through Kobe, Shaq, and Duncan. It was the dueling dynasties era. Shaq and Kobe led the Lakers to a three-peat — one of only five three-peats in NBA history. Mikan’s Minneapolis Lakers did it. Russell’s Celtics did it. Jordan’s Bulls did it twice. And Shaq and Kobe were the last to do it in 2002.

Nowitzki bridged the gap between the Kobe Bryant era and the LeBron James era. Nowitzki ended Kobe’s reign as the world’s best player when Dirk’s Dallas Mavericks squad knocked off Kobe’s Lakers in the 2011 playoffs. In the same playoff run, Nowitzki pumped the brakes on LeBron’s title run when his Mavs defeated LeBron’s Miami Heat in the 2011 NBA Finals.

LeBron’s appearance in the 2011 Finals started a run of eight consecutive trips. He put together a super team in Miami, winning two titles in 2012 and 2013, but lost to the Mavs in 2011 and Duncan’s Spurs in 2014. After a four-year run in South Beach, LeBron returned to Cleveland to fulfill his promise of bringing a championship to his hometown team. He delivered on the promise by winning a title in 2016, ending Cleveland’s 52-year professional title drought.

Dirk and KG revolutionized the game, ushering in a new era of big men. The Big Ticket made it possible for high schoolers to skip college and turn pro at 19. Nowitzki opened the door for European bigs who preferred to face the basket instead of having their back to it. Nowitzki and Garnett were instrumental in the game’s evolution, as more and more teams shifted away from traditional power forwards and opted for stretch-4s.

LeBron took the Cavs to four straight NBA Finals but could muster just one victory in four matchups against Steph Curry’s Golden State Warriors. Curry led the Warriors to four championships in eight seasons — two of those championship banners were aided by the addition of Kevin Durant.

The Dubs Dynasty opened the portal to the “small ball” era and advanced metrics. Analytics experts preferred shooting 3s over 2s — it’s either a layup or dunk or a 3-ball — and the midrange shot was viewed as somewhat of a dinosaur idea. The modern NBA puts a premium on pace and space.

The Pacers and Thunder are extensions of the pace-and-space approach, with some added features. Much like today’s fast-paced, ever-changing world, the game continues to evolve. Sure, the traditional back-to-the-basket center may be extinct, but centers are more valuable than ever. Small ball is becoming out of style like skinny jeans. Big-boy basketball is back — with pace and space.

Spurs 7-foot-6 center/forward/guard Victor Wembanyama is the type of player every team craves. Wemby is a big man with a handle who can shoot threes while being an anchor on defense. There’s only one Wemby, but teams will scour the Earth to find a similar player.

OKC found a Wemby-type unicorn in Chet Holmgren. Holmgren may not be as tall as Wemby but he can do all the things Wemby does. Holmgren has a decent handle for a 7-1 player, which allows him to get to his hot spots. Holmgren is also one of the best shot blockers in the NBA, which allows OKC defenders like Jalen Williams, Lu Dort, Cason Wallace, and Alex Caruso to press up and stay attached because they know Chet has their back.

The Thunder and Pacers both subscribe to the pace-and-space philosophy, but what allows them to consistently play at hyper-speed is depth. Indiana and OKC throw a wave of bodies at teams, saving their starters from having to play heavy minutes.

Today’s NBA is littered with 3&D wing players and big combo guards like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Luka Doncic, and Cade Cunningham. What’s also becoming in vogue is skilled big men. Teams are looking for the next Nikola Jokic, a 5-man who can be the hub of an offense. We are deep in the era of positionless basketball where forwards can play center and centers can play guard.

Because the ball is in the hands of principal scorers, the traditional point guard is being phased out. What used to be the primary job of the point guard is now being distributed to other positions.
Haliburton might be one of the last of the Mohicans in terms of pure point guards, much like the gas-guzzling SUVs with V6 engines. It’s becoming harder and harder to find them. Suppressing point guards and centers isn’t healthy for the game. We need more of them, not less.

Shai, Cade, and Luka, on the other hand, are the archetypes of today’s point guard. They are big, heliocentric guards (6-6 and 6-7) built to play downhill, able to attack a compromised defense while coming off ball screens. They can score or draw fouls in the paint or draw multiple defenders and kick it out for open threes. It’s essentially an extension of what LeBron or James Harden have been doing for the past decade.

What separates SGA from Luka and Cade is his ability to do damage in the midrange area. The midrange (or the high post) is the area on the court that’s 4 to 5 feet below the 3-point line or roughly 15 to 20 feet away from the basket. It stretches from one side of the free throw line elbow to the next. Attack the mid-range is a core part of SGA’s game, and he’s proficient at it. During his 2024-25 MVP season when he averaged a league-leading 32.7 points per game, Shai made 57% of his mid-range attempts. The average NBA team’s midrange field goal percentage is around 42%.

There’s a fictitious narrative in basketball in terms of the mid-range shot. Many pundits and players jumped on the 3-point shot bandwagon and shoved the middie to the side of the road. But the middie never really went away. It is still the weapon of choice in the postseason, and it is still the best shot that’ll lead to a title. Outside of Steph Curry’s Warriors and Jayson Tatum’s Boston Celtics, the mid-range or the mid-post is where championship teams earn their money.

The adage of “what’s old is new again” seems fitting here because SGA is making the old mid-range shot the new viral trend.

As much as we’d like to see our sports heroes play forever, they can’t. Every now and then they might be able to summon a flicker of their greatness, but eventually the flame will go out.

We’ve been fortunate enough to watch all-time greats like LeBron James, Steph Curry, and Kevin Durant entertain us for years. However, Father Time is undefeated and the clock will eventually run out on LeBron (who turns 41 next season), Steph (36), and KD (36).

It’s time for a new generation of stars to entertain us. Embrace the changing of the guard and get excited. It’s going to be fantastic.

Joel Huerto is editor and publisher of OneManFastbreak.net. Follow and subscribe to his YouTube channel at @onemanfastbreak1.

The NBA honored its 75 greatest players — 76 to be exact because of a tie — on Feb. 20, 2022, in Cleveland, Ohio. LeBron James was one of 45 members of the all-time 75 team who came in person and participated in the festivities.

For LeBron, being a part of an event to honor basketball’s greatest fraternity was like seeing the posters on his bedroom wall come to life. “To see those guys and then be on stage with those guys — it’s just crazy,” he said.

Bill Russell was one of the living legends who were honored in Cleveland. Russell won 11 championships in 13 years with the Boston Celtics. The man has more rings than fingers. Commissioner Adam Silver summed it best when he called Russell basketball’s Babe Ruth.

The NBA 75th anniversary team was selected by a blue-ribbon panel of current and former NBA players, coaches, general managers, team and league executives, WNBA legends, sportswriters, and broadcasters. Voters were asked to select the 75 greatest players in NBA history without regard to position. Panelists did not rank their selections. Current and former players were not allowed to vote for themselves.

Choosing the 75 greatest players in the history of the NBA was no easy task. For the most part, the blue-ribbon panel got it right. But there were a few notable misses.

OneManFastBreak thought it would be fun to revisit the list and rank them in order from 1 to 75, with some editing to make the list our own. The benchmarks were based on individual accomplishments, team success (with more weight placed on postseason resume and titles), how they performed against other great players in their era, overall influence and impact on the game, and legacy. But more importantly, the question we have to ask while ranking the best of the best is this: can you write the story of the first 75 years of the NBA without this player?

Here are the 75 greatest basketball players of all time, based on one man’s opinion.

1-Michael Jordan

2-Kobe Bryant

3-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

4-Bill Russell

5-Magic Johnson

6-LeBron James

7-Shaquille O’Neal

8-Tim Duncan

9-Larry Bird

10-Stephen Curry

11-Wilt Chamberlain

12-Julius Erving

13-Hakeem Olajuwon

14-Kevin Garnett

15-Jerry West

16-Dirk Nowitzki

17-Moses Malone

18-Oscar Robertson

19-David Robinson

20-Kevin Durant

21-Dwyane Wade

22-Giannis Antetokounmpo

23-Nikola Jokic

24-John Havlicek

25-Isiah Thomas

26-Willis Reed

27-Bob Pettit

28-Scottie Pippen

29-Rick Barry

30-Bob Cousy

31-Karl Malone

32-Charles Barkley

33-Kawhi Leonard

34-Jason Kidd

35-Dave Cowens

36-Bob McAdoo

37-Bill Walton

38-Allen Iverson

39-Wes Unseld

40-John Stockton

41-Dennis Rodman

42-Clyde Drexler

43-Elgin Baylor

44-Walt Frazier

45-Elvin Hayes

46-Gary Payton

47-Kevin McHale

48-James Worthy

49-Joe Dumars*

50-George Mikan

51-James Harden

52-Russell Westbrook

53-Klay Thompson*

54-Patrick Ewing

55-Manu Ginobili*

56-Tony Parker*

57-Dwight Howard*

58-Dennis Johnson*

59-George Gervin

60-Paul Pierce

61-Nate Archibald

62-Steve Nash

63-Earl Monroe

64-Ray Allen

65-Dikembe Mutombo*

66-Sam Jones

67-Hal Greer

68-Draymond Green*

69-Billy Cunningham

70-Bernard King*

71-Alonzo Mourning*

72-Reggie Miller

73-Pete Maravich

74-Dominique Wilkins

75-Paul Arizin

* Wasn’t included in the original NBA 75th anniversary team

Honorable mention: Lenny Wilkens, Nate Thurmond, Robert Parish, Dolph Schayes, Jerry Lucas, Bill Sharman, Dave DeBusschere, Dave Bing, Artis Gilmore, Sidney Moncrief, Adrian Dantley, Dan Issel, Tim Hardaway, Mitch Richmond, Vince Carter, Tracy McGrady, Ben Wallace, Chauncey Billups, Carmelo Anthony, Anthony Davis, Yao Ming, Pau Gasol, Rudy Gobert, Chris Paul, Luka Doncic, Jayson Tatum, Jimmy Butler, Damian Lillard.

OMFB’s top-12 list is rock solid. The gap between each of them is minuscule. You won’t hear pushbacks here if Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was placed ahead of Michael Jordan, or LeBron James ahead of Kobe Bryant, or Shaquille O’Neal ahead of Magic Johnson. The order can be rearranged but the history of basketball can’t be written without mentioning Jordan, Kobe, Kareem, Bill Russell, Magic, LeBron, Shaq, Tim Duncan, Larry Bird, Wilt Chamberlain, and Julius Erving, and Stephen Curry.

Jordan is universally recognized as the Greatest of All Time — aka the GOAT. Air Jordan’s resume speaks for itself. MJ was a perfect 6-0 in the NBA Finals and named Finals MVP six times. Once he dethroned Magic in 1991, he never relinquished the crown until he retired.

Kobe is No. 2 on the OMFB list. Black Mamba was a facsimile of Air Jordan. He was the closest thing to MJ. Kobe and Mike were the same height and had the same body type. Kobe even sounded like Mike. Imitation is the greatest form of flattery. Jordan gave rare praise to his contemporaries, but he made an exception for Kobe. “He was a mentally tough kid, maybe even tougher than I was,” Jordan said of Kobe, who tragically died in a helicopter crash on Jan. 26, 2020. Jordan spawned millions of ballers who wanted to be Just Like Mike. Kobe gifted the next generation of hoopers the “Mamba Mentality.” If you’re still not convinced that Kobe deserves to be No. 2 on the all-time list, pull up the YouTube video from Jan. 22, 2006. Kobe authored arguably the greatest individual performance in NBA history when he scored 81 points in 42 minutes. Phil Jackson, who coached Michael Jordan in Chicago, was sitting on the Lakers bench for Kobe’s 81-point game. He put it in proper perspective. “It was another level,” Jackson said. “I’ve seen some remarkable games, but I’ve never seen one like that before.”

Some LeBron fans might be aghast seeing their beloved king at No. 6. But here are the cold, hard facts. LeBron lost six times in 10 trips to the NBA Finals. He has a 22-33 win-loss record in The Finals. Magic (24-26), Erving (10-12) and Wilt (16-19) are the other top-12 players who had sub-.500 records in the NBA Finals. LeBron lost to Duncan’s San Antonio Spurs twice and he could have been 0-3 against Duncan if Ray Allen hadn’t made a ridiculous late-game 3-pointer, saving the Heat’s season and forcing a Game 7. LeBron is 1-3 against Steph Curry. It’s an unfair record because Curry teamed up with Kevin Durant in 2017 and 2018 against James, but they were “Ls” on LeBron’s resume nonetheless.

LeBron’s place among basketball’s all-time greats is secure. To say he’s had a better career than Jordan, Kobe, Kareem, Magic, Russell, or even Duncan is up for debate.

Steph Curry broke into the top 10 after winning his fourth NBA title. Curry is considered the best long-range shooter in the sport, and the numbers back it up. When Steph hangs up his Under Armour sneakers, a strong case could be made that he was the most influential. Because of Steph — the NBA’s all-time leader in 3-pointers made — there’s a generation of players at various levels launching shots from beyond the arc.

OMFB made the difficult decision to remove 10 players from the league’s original top-75 list and inserted 10 new names: Joe Dumars, Dennis Johnson, Dwight Howard, Dikembe Mutombo, Klay Thompson, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, Bernard King, Alonzo Mourning and Draymond Green.

Dumars was a two-time NBA champ and Finals MVP in 1989. Thompson is a four-time NBA champ and arguably the second-greatest 3-point shooter we’ve ever seen. Thompson pulled off an unthinkable feat in 2017 when he scored 60 points in 29 minutes, using just 11 dribbles. Dennis Johnson earned three championship rings and was Finals MVP in 1979. Larry Bird considered DJ the best player he ever played with. Howard was a three-time Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY), carried the Orlando Magic to the NBA Finals in 2009, and won a title with the L.A. Lakers in 2020. Mount Mutombo was a four-time DPOY and pulled out the “finger wag” each time he blocked a shot.

Parker inspired a generation of new-age point guards. Aside from winning the 2007 Finals MVP, the four-time NBA champion’s biggest contribution to the game was his signature shot: the tear-drop floater. The vast majority of guards in today’s game, from high school to college to the pros, have a floater in their bag of shots. Parker’s backcourt mate in San Antonio, Ginobili, sacrificed personal statistics in order for the Spurs to win titles. Ginobili posted modest numbers throughout his career (13.3 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.8 assists), but his 72% winning percentage ranks among the all-time best. Ginobili also introduced one of the best basketball moves in recent memory — the Eurostep.

Alonzo Mourning was a two-time Defensive Player of the Year and won a championship with the Miami Heat in 2006. Pat Riley’s famed “Heat Culture” in Miami wouldn’t exist without Zo. He embodies what Heat Culture is all about. The Heat prided itself on being the hardest-working, best-conditioned team, and that defined Mourning’s career until a rare kidney diseased robbed him of his athletic prime.

Bernard King was a scoring machine until he wrecked his knee at the peak of his powers. Armed with a smooth turnaround jumper that was nearly impossible to stop, King put on a show in the 1984 playoffs as he averaged 34.8 points and almost single-handedly led the New York Knicks to the conference semifinals.

Outside of Dennis Rodman, four-time champ Draymond Green might be the most unique player. The 2017 DPOY won’t blow you away with individual stats but he’s arguably the heart and soul of the Golden State Warriors dynasty. Green is the primary playmaker on offense as the point forward and the anchor on defense.

The first 75 years of the NBA can be broken down into six eras.

From the 1950s through the 1960s, Jerry West, Oscar Robertson, Elgin Baylor, Bob Cousy, George Mikan, Bob Pettit, Wilt Chamberlain, and Bill Russell were the pioneers.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Dave Cowens, John Havlicek, Willis Reed, Wes Unseld, Rick Barry, and Julius “Dr. J” Erving carried the torch through a rough patch in the 1970s when the ABA and NBA canceled each other and the audience dwindled.

Magic and Bird revived basketball in the 1980s, arguably the league’s golden era that also included the rise of Isiah Thomas’ “Bad Boys” Detroit Pistons. Moses Malone teamed up with Dr. J during the 1982-83 season and together they co-authored one of the most dominant playoff runs, sweeping Magic’s Lakers in the ’83 Finals and capping off a 12-1 postseason.

Michael Jordan took the baton from Magic and Bird and ruled the 1990s. Jordan won six championships in eight years, pulling off the three-peat twice and denying peers Sir Charles Barkley and Karl “The Mailman” Malone from winning rings. Hakeem Olajuwon benefited from Jordan’s brief retirement, leading the Houston Rockets to back-to-back titles in 1994 and 1995. David “The Admiral” Robinson teamed up with Tim “Big Fundamental” Duncan in San Antonio, winning titles in 1999 and 2003.

The immediate post-Jordan era was dominated by five players: Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal, Kevin Garnett, Dirk Nowitzki, and Duncan. Kobe, Shaq, and Duncan combined to win 13 NBA titles, four regular season MVPs, and eight Finals MVPs from 1999 to 2010. For a decade, the road to the NBA Finals went through Kobe, Shaq, and Duncan.

Dirk and KG revolutionized the game and ushered in a new era of big men. The Big Ticket made it possible for high schoolers to skip college and turn pro at 19. Nowitzki opened the door for European bigs who preferred to face the basket instead of having their back to it. Nowitzki and Garnett were instrumental in the game’s evolution, as more and more teams shifted away from traditional power forwards and opted for stretch-4s.

Nowitzki bridged the gap between the Kobe Bryant era and the LeBron James era. Nowitzki ended Kobe’s reign as the world’s best player when Dirk’s Dallas Mavericks squad knocked off Kobe’s Lakers in the 2011 playoffs. In the same playoff run, Nowitzki put a pause on LeBron’s title hopes when his Mavs defeated LeBron’s Miami Heat in the 2011 NBA Finals.

LeBron’s appearance in the 2011 Finals started a run of eight consecutive trips. He put together a super team in Miami, winning two titles in 2012 and 2013, but lost to the Mavs in 2011 and Duncan’s Spurs in 2014. After a four-year run in South Beach, LeBron returned to Cleveland to fulfill his promise of bringing a championship to his hometown team. He delivered on the promise by winning a title in 2016, ending Cleveland’s 52-year professional title drought.

LeBron took the Cavs to four straight NBA Finals but could muster just one victory in four matchups against Steph Curry’s Golden State Warriors. Curry led the Warriors to four championships in eight seasons — two of those championship banners were aided by the addition of Kevin Durant.

The Warriors opened the portal to the “small ball” era and advanced metrics. Analytics experts preferred shooting 3s over 2s — it’s either a layup or dunk or a 3-ball — and the midrange shot was viewed as somewhat of a dinosaur idea.

The modern day NBA put a premium on pace and space. The traditional back-to-the-basket center is becoming extinct and today’s game is dominated by versatile wing players like LeBron, Durant, Kawhi Leonard, and Giannis Antetokounmpo. All of whom can anchor a defense like a center and initiate the offense like a point guard. We are now in the era of positionless basketball.

Basketball is cyclical. What may be considered old school could swing back to new school. The next generation of players will determine what the NBA will become in 25 years when we celebrate the league’s 100th anniversary.

Joel Huerto is the editor and publisher of OneManFastBreak.net. Follow him on Twitter @onemanfastbreak.

Tim Duncan and Kobe Bryant head 2020 Hall of Fame class. (Getty Images)

Tim Duncan was one of the most unique superstars in basketball. He did everything low key. You never heard him publicly complain about his contract. You never heard him say anything bad about a coach or player. And on his final NBA game in 2016, he briefly pointed a finger to the ceiling before walking into the tunnel with a towel over his head.

Duncan’s farewell game summarized his 19 seasons with the San Antonio Spurs. Quiet. Simple. All business.

It was a complete contrast with Kobe Bryant’s final game with the Los Angeles Lakers. Kobe dropped 60 points on the Utah Jazz before a raucous Lakers crowd at Staples Center and before Kobe left the court he took the mic, thanked his fans and dropped the mic with his now famous phrase, “Mamba out!”

Kobe’s farewell game summarized his 20 seasons with the Lakers. Dazzling. Flashy. Spectacular.

Bryant gave himself the moniker Black Mamba for the way he quickly struck down an opponent. Kobe’s Lakers teammate, Shaquille O’Neal, gave Duncan the nickname Big Fundamental because of the way Timmy went about destroying his opponents in the most elemental way.

Styles make fights and the Lakers-Spurs showdowns were comparable to classic heavyweight fights. Duncan’s career intersects with Bryant’s. From 1999 to 2010, the Spurs and Lakers were the class of the league. They met in the postseason seven times: 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2013. Kobe’s Lakers eliminated Duncan’s Spurs four times, but Duncan can brag that his Spurs swept the Lakers in 1999 and 2013. It’s a nice bookend to one of the best rivalries in sports.

You can’t write Kobe’s basketball biography without Duncan, and you can’t write Duncan’s without Kobe. Both were the center of attention, but in their own special way. They are connected in a sense that Bryant was driven to beat Duncan and Duncan was driven to beat Bryant. It’s appropriate that both men enter the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in the same year. Joining Bryant and Duncan as 2020 Hall of Fame inductees are 15-time NBA All-Star Kevin Garnett, four-time National Coach of the Year Eddie Sutton, two-time NBA Champion coach Rudy Tomjanovich, 10-time WNBA All-Star and four-time Olympic gold medalist Tamika Catchings, three-time NCAA National Championship Coach of Baylor Kim Mulkey, five-time Division II National Coach of the Year Barbara Stevens and longtime FIBA executive Patrick Baumann. Many pundits are calling this class the best ever. Hard to argue that fact.

However, with all due respect to the other greats being enshrined into Springfield, Mass. in 2020, they all fall behind the two transcendent superstars in Black Mamba and Big Fundamental. Both men are not just worthy of the Hall of Fame but they belong in the top 10 of all-time great players.

Bryant will be enshrined posthumously after his tragic death on Jan. 26 in a helicopter crash, making this year’s event extremely somber. We’ll never get to hear Bryant’s Hall of Fame speech, and it would have been a doozy.

The coronavirus pandemic is threatening to ruin this year’s Hall of Fame festivities in Springfield, and it would be a shame if we’re unable to hear Duncan’s induction speech because his basketball odyssey is anything but boring. His resume reads like a decorated serviceman: 15-time NBA All-Star (1998, 2000-11, 2013, 2015), eight-time member of the All-Defensive first team (1999-2003, 2005, 2007, 2008), five-time NBA champion with the Spurs (1999, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2014), three-time Finals MVP (1999, 2003, 2005), two-time regular-season MVP (2002 and 2003), 1998 Rookie of the Year. Duncan is the only player in NBA history with 1,000 or more wins with one team. He is ranked in the top 10 for NBA all-time rebounds and blocks leaders. As a college athlete at Wake Forest, Duncan earned ACC Player of the Year and was unanimous first-team All-American in 1996 and 1997. In 1997, he also collected the Wooden, Naismith, Rupp, and Oscar Robertson Awards, while being named AP College Player of the Year.

Former Michael Jordan teammate B.J. Armstrong said on ESPN’s “First Take” that 6-foot-11 Duncan would have given the ’90s Bulls the most problem.

“Tim Duncan was a marvelous player. He played the game from the four, the five position. He was one of the unique players,” Armstrong said. “Like a Michael Jordan, who could get to spaces on the court you couldn’t do anything about.”

“Technically speaking, Tim Duncan to me is a player that is really as unique a talent as I’ve seen in the NBA,” Armstrong said. “And if you’re going to have a player that’s going to counter the talent like a Michael Jordan, who was almost like flawless technically in his game, Tim Duncan can do that.”

Duncan is regarded as the greatest power forward in basketball. But that’s a bit misleading because Duncan was really a center. Duncan played the majority of his Spurs career at center. He may not start at center most of the time, but he finished games at center almost all the time. Even one of his greatest rivals, Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal, considered him a center. His own coach, Gregg Popovich, acknowledged as much when he was asked before a playoff game who the Spurs would start at center. Popovich said, “Tim Duncan, like we have for the last 15 years.”

Popovich, who once described Duncan ‎”like my son,” told an amazing story about Duncan’s first practice with the Spurs. Going into the 1997 training camp, Duncan was the hot-shot rookie and No. 1 pick in the draft. But the Spurs already had an All-Star center in David Robinson. So what did Popovich tell both men on who should play where? “Nothing,” Popovich said.

According to Pop, as soon as the scrimmage started, Timmy went to the low block and David went to the high post near the free throw line. They both naturally took their positions without saying a single word. It was indicative of how Duncan approached his job. No drama. Ho-hum. All business.

Tim Duncan retires after 19 seasons with the Spurs. (GETTY IMAGES)

When Tim Duncan announced his retirement from basketball, there were no journals in the Players’ Tribune or made-for-TV specials or farewell tours. He revealed his decision in a one-page press release.

His final game turned out to be a loss in Game 6 of the 2016 Western Conference semifinals at Oklahoma City. When the final buzzer sounded, he pointed up to the sky and walked off the court.

That move epitomized Duncan’s professional career. He was a model of consistency. A selfless player who built his resume on fundamentals, chosing substance over style. He wasn’t enamored with statistics or commercials. All he cared about was winning — and he won a lot.

Duncan won five NBA championships with the Spurs, the only team he played for in 19 years. He won three NBA Finals most valuable player awards, two regular-season MVPs and was on the all-defensive teams 15 times. He is one of two players with more than 26,000 points, 15,000 rebounds and 3,000 blocks. His Spurs teams won 70% of their games and didn’t miss the playoffs since he was drafted in 1997.

Former Spurs guard Antonio Daniels described Duncan as “the greatest teammate in the history of sports.”

Hard to argue that claim since Duncan always put the Spurs first before anything else. He took massive paycuts in order for the franchise to sign other great players. He took a page out of NBA ambassador David Robinson’s book by mentoring young players and teaching them how to be a professional, something that gets lost with all the money and fame that come with being in the limelight.

If I were to create the “perfect” starting five, Duncan would be on it.

Magic Johnson at point guard.

Michael Jordan at shooting guard.

Larry Bird at small forward.

Duncan at power forward.

And Kareem Abdul-Jabbar at center.

Now, I know there is no such thing as a “perfect” lineup because it’s purely subjective. But this is my mythical five. Take it for what it’s worth.

Magic and Jordan are the gold standards at their respective positions. Kareem was the greatest low-post scorer in basketball and Bird was the ultimate sniper among all forwards. That leaves us with one spot who will set on-ball or off-ball screens, rebound, play defense, and score a basket here and there to keep the defense honest. That’s Tim Duncan.

Duncan was a superb pick-and-roll or pick-and-pop guy who didn’t need the ball all the time to excel. He was also a fantastic rebounder and rim protector.

Former Knicks coach and current ABC/ESPN basketball analyst Jeff Van Gundy said Duncan would have been a perfect fit in any city or system because of his personality. “He doesn’t take a backseat to anyone who has ever played the game,” Van Gundy said on ESPN’s SportsCenter. “He brought in a different leadership style for a best player. More of an encouraging leadership style.

“He has the right amount of ego. You have to have ego to be an all-time player in any league, particularly in the NBA where the competition is so stiff. He had team ego more than self ego. One of the great things for me is to watch Duncan get coached hard. When he got coached hard by [Gregg] Popovich whether in practice or games he didn’t always liked it or agreed with it but he always took it. When your best player takes hard coaching every other player falls into line. Duncan’s coachability was one of the highest I’ve ever seen from an all-time great player.”

Most pundits and players — like LeBron, Dirk Nowitzki and Shaq — call Duncan the “greatest power forward” in history. Although it’s true Duncan played the big forward position especially in the early part of his career when David Robinson was the Spurs center, he probably spent more time at center. When Spurs coach Gregg Popovich was asked at the start of a playoff series who would start at center, he answered in classic Popovich way: “Tim Duncan. Like we have for the last 15 years.”

Whatever position Duncan played is irrelevant. His legacy is secure. He’s certainly among the 10 greatest to play the sport. He just didn’t want to be the center of attention.

Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker led the Spurs to the franchise’s fifth NBA title in 2014. (GETTY IMAGES)

For almost two decades, the San Antonio Spurs have accumulated an impressive collection of rings, bronze hardware and gold trophies.

Between future Hall-of-Famers Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker, and head coach Gregg Popovich, the Spurs have combined for 18 NBA championship rings, three most valuable player awards, three Coach of the Year awards and two Sixth Man of the Year awards.

But there is still one box left unchecked on their impressive basketball resumes.

Throughout basketball history, all the great teams repeated as champions. Bill Russell’s Boston Celtics did it, the Los Angeles Lakers with Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar did it, Hakeem Olajuwon’s Houston Rockets did it, Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls did it, and the Lakers again with Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal did it. Even LeBron James pulled off the back-to-back feat for the Miami Heat.

“Obviously, it’s back-to-back. It’s the last thing we want to accomplish with Coach Pop and the Big 3. It’s a big motivation for us,” Parker said on NBA TV’s “Game Time.”

For all the great things Duncan, Ginobili and Parker have accomplished in their soon-to-be-Hall-of-Fame careers, they’ve never repeated as champs. And this is not sitting well with this very proud group.

Parker knows he doesn’t have much time left with Duncan (38) and Ginobili (37). Even Popovich can’t coach forever. The 65-year-old coach has flirted with the idea of spending more time traveling the world than traveling in NBA cities. Those brutal winter trips to Chicago, Minnesota and Cleveland can certainly wear you down.

“We don’t know how long it’s gonna last,” Parker said. “Timmy, it might be his last year; Manu, it might be his last year. And we don’t know how long Pop is gonna do it. I know he wants to travel the world and drink wine. We need to take advantage right now.”

Parker added: “We understand that, and we’re approaching it like it’s our last one. Just because of that it’s great motivation for us. We want to try one more time.”

Repeating as champs will be a tall order for these Spurs, especially in the ultra-competitive Western Conference where at least six teams have a shot at reaching the NBA Finals.

But these Spurs are more than up for the challenge. They have a good mix of veterans to go with some young studs, such as Kawhi Leonard (23), Danny Green (27), Patty Mills (26) and Corey Joseph (23). Leonard is a budding star who could eventually be the face of the franchise when the Big 3 hangs up the sneakers. Leonard had his coming-out party last season when he was named NBA Finals MVP.

Pop has been able to rest his older players and lean on his bench during the regular season. When the playoffs start, he’ll call on the Big 3 for one more championship run. A sixth title would vault Duncan into an exclusive club. With the exception of Russell’s Celtics teams, only Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Kareem and Robert Horry have won at least six rings.

“The West is a beast. A lot of great teams,” Parker said. “It’s a long season, we just want to make sure we stay healthy. It’s the biggest key for us. It doesn’t matter where we finish in the rankings.”

The Spurs will begin their arduous climb back to the top as the sixth-seeded team in the Western Conference playoffs. History won’t be on their side because only one team — the 1995 Houston Rockets — were able to win the title as a sixth seed.

Tim Duncan goes for his fifth NBA championship, while LeBron James aims for his third. (GETTY IMAGES)

Tim Duncan rattled some cages when he told TNT’s David Aldridge that his San Antonio Spurs are excited to face the Miami Heat in the 2014 NBA Finals.

“We’re glad that we’re back here. We’re excited about it. We got four more to go. We’ll do it this time,” Duncan said moments after the Spurs eliminated the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference finals.

The “we’ll do it this time” comment is out of character for the normally stoic and very bland Duncan. It just shows how much the loss to the the Heat in 2013 Finals still stings. Duncan and Co. were seconds away from title No. 5 and let it slip away.

Duncan called last year’s loss “devastating” and it was no secret the Spurs still have that bad taste in their mouths, and couldn’t wait to meet the Heat again to redeem themselves.

“We’re happy to have another opportunity at it,” Duncan said. “We’re happy it’s the Heat again.”

Duncan’s comment reverberated all the way to South Beach. During the Heat’s practice session, LeBron fired back and said: “They don’t like us. They don’t. I can sense it from Timmy’s comments. They wanted this. They wanted us. And we’ll be ready for the challenge.”

The back-and-forth jabs between James and Duncan tells you how much this championship means not only for their teams but their respective legacies.

For LeBron, a third straight title puts him in the same conversation as Bill Russell, Michael Jordan, Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant. Russell’s Celtics, Jordan’s Bulls and the Shaq- and Kobe-led Lakers are the only teams to three-peat.

“It makes me relevant,” James said of winning a third title. “I’m always humbled every time I’m compared to one of the greats. Obviously, in all our eyes, Michael Jordan is the greatest player to ever play this game. To even be in the same breath as Michael Jordan is very humbling. It lets me know that I’ve done something right.”

Indiana Pacers coach Frank Vogel calls LeBron “the Michael Jordan of our era,” so pulling off a three-peat puts James one step closer to Jordan’s throne.

However, another Finals loss — third time in seven seasons — knocks LeBron down a few pegs in the history books. But a third consecutive NBA championship elevates LeBron’s profile tremendously. It will validate his decision to leave Cleveland and join forces with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami. It will vault him into the top 10 list of greatest players of all time — a list that includes Jordan, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Larry Bird, Kobe, Shaq and Olajuwon.

James could very well knock off Duncan from the top-10 list should the Heat beat the Spurs for a second time.

Speaking of Duncan, a fifth ring puts the Spurs’ big man in rare company. It will cement his legacy as one of the greatest players in NBA history and the best player in the post-Jordan era. It will certainly create a great debate on where he belongs on the list of G.O.A.T.

A fifth ring would elevate Duncan over his rival Shaq, who won four championships and went through Duncan’s Spurs in two of those playoff runs. Duncan would also move up in the all-time rankings ahead of Hakeem Olajuwon (two), and Wilt Chamberlain (two), and put him on equal footing with Magic (five) and Kobe (five).

When asked about his legacy, in classic Tim Duncan fashion, he shrugged it off.

“There will be a time to look back on that once everything is over,” Duncan said Wednesday. “For right now all I’m focused on is getting another one. This is all that counts right now.”

Joel Huerto is editor and publisher of OneManFastBreak.net. Follow him on Twitter @onemanfastbreak.

Spurs guard Tony Parker picks up the scoring slack with the absence of Tim Duncan. (GETTY IMAGES)

If Friday night’s game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the visiting San Antonio Spurs was a heavyweight boxing championship fight, the fans would have been clamoring for a refund. Kobe Bryant is still rehabbing from a torn Achilles tendon he sustained last season and Tim Duncan missed the game because of a chest contusion.

Tony Parker made 12 of 18 shots from the field and scored a game-high 24 points to lead San Antonio (2-1) to a 91-85 over L.A. (1-2). Parker also dished out six assists, grabbed four rebounds and turned the ball over only once.

“We’re motivated,” Parker told ESPN after the game when asked about the Spurs being without Duncan. “We don’t give up games.”

With the game tied at 80 and a little over two minutes left in the game, the Spurs closed out the game by going on an 11-5 run (Manu Ginobili scored four points, including a pair of free throws with four seconds left) to close it out.

“We let this one get away from us,” Lakers coach Mike D’Antoni said. “I thought this was one we could have got, especially without Duncan. It was set up for us. We didn’t do it. You need to start defending your turf, then learn how to win on the road.”

The Lakers were stagnant on offense and a lot of that had to do with the Spurs’ intense and tough defense. L.A. made just 30 of 82 field goals (36.6%) and seemed to live and die by the 3-pointer. They made just eight of 27 from behind the arc (29.6%) and Steve Blake was the main culprit. He converted just two of his nine 3-pointers, but dished nine assists.

Pau Gasol had a strong game, scoring a season-high 20 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. Jodie Meeks continued his strong play with 14 points. Nick Young scored just six points and may need to be looking over his shoulder if Meeks continues to play well. Wesley Johnson scored 12 points and played well defensively, with two blocks and one steal.

Ginobili added 20 points off the bench, Kawhi Leonard chipped in with 15 points and Boris Diaw scored 14 points to give the Spurs four starters in double figures.

Darren Jacks is a regular contributor to OneManFastBreak.net. Follow him on Twitter @djroxalot.

Tim Duncan drives past Chris Bosh. (GETTY IMAGES)

You can see the disappointment in Tim Duncan’s face. You can hear the frustration in Manu Ginobili’s voice.

When members of the 2012-13 San Antonio Spurs look back at this season they will play the “what if” game. What if we made our free throws down the stretch? What if we grabbed two more defensive rebounds? What if we didn’t turn the ball over in the final minute of the game? What if … what if … what if …

One free throw. One rebound. One turnover. That’s how close the Spurs were from winning their fifth NBA championship as a franchise. These proud Spurs — a collection of discarded players who complemented three Hall-of-Famers — left Miami’s American Airlines Arena hanging their heads and staring down on the floor filled with championship confetti after the Heat celebrated a 4-3 series win in the NBA Finals to defend their crown.

The Spurs gave everything they had in Game 7 but just couldn’t overcome LeBron James’ 37 points and their execution failed them down the stretch. And when their valiant fight fell just short, losing 95-88 in Game 7, they couldn’t stop thinking about the title they gave away two nights earlier.

”Being so close and feeling that you are about to grab that trophy and then seeing it vanish is very hard,” Ginobili said. ”I think that if we would’ve lost both games like this, I would be a little more up. But it’s a tough feeling.”

The Spurs had two chances in Miami to win one game, and they failed both times in spectacular fashion.

Ginobili points to the Spurs’ Game 6 meltdown as the dagger in their hearts.

The Spurs had a five-point lead with 28 seconds left and found a way to lose in overtime. The play that will stick with Ginobili and the rest of the Spurs forever is the unfortunate bounce at end of regulation when Chris Bosh grabbed LeBron James’ missed 3-point shot and flipped the ball to Ray Allen who buried the game-tying 3-pointer with 5.2 seconds left.

If the Spurs grab that rebound, they win the title. If Allen misses that 3-pointer, the Spurs win the title.

”It’s such a fine line between celebrating and having a great summer with now feeling like crap and just so disappointed,” Ginobili said.

Speaking of “feeling like crap,” Duncan was almost inconsolable after Game 7. The greatest power forward in NBA history came up small with under a minute left to play in final game of the series when his short, running jump hook over Shane Battier bounced out and his tip-in missed as well. The normally stoic Duncan ran down the court disgusted, slapping the floor with his right hand. During a timeout, Duncan had a towel over his head and was so upset with himself he couldn’t figure out whether to throw the towel or bite it.

“For me, no. Game 7, missing a layup to tie the game,” Duncan said in his postgame press conference. “Making a bad decision down the stretch. Just unable to stop Dwyane [Wade] and LeBron [James]. Probably, for me, Game 7 is always going to haunt me.”

 Hard to fault Duncan for the loss because up to that point he was authoring a MVP-type performance. His 24 points and 12 rebounds were a huge reason the Spurs were even close to the Heat in Game 7.

”To be at this point with this team in this situation, where people every year continue to count us out, is a great accomplishment,” said Duncan, his voice quivering in a rare show of emotion. ”To be in a game 7 or be in a game 6 and up one with two chances to win an NBA championship, that’s tough to swallow.”

Duncan wasn’t alone in terms of coming up empty when it mattered most. Ginobili was both brilliant and awful in Game 7 with his 18 points and four turnovers — all in the fourth quarter. His final turnover with 21 seconds left in the game basically sealed the deal for Miami.

Parker, who had been spectacular through the first five games of the series, was a no-show in games 6 and 7. Parker struggled with just 10 points on 3-for-12 shooting and was benched late in the game. He won’t use his bad hamstring as an excuse, but it was clear he wasn’t the same player after suffering the injury.

Once again, the Spurs will face proclamations of their demise this offseason. Only this time, it may be harder to hold those off.

Duncan is 37, but coming off an All-NBA First Team season and a vintage performance in the finals. The 31-year-old Parker is nearing his apex after one of his finest seasons. But Ginobili will turn 36 next month and will be a free agent, perhaps marking the end of the three-person core that helped put the Alamo City on the NBA map, and keep it there for 10 years.

”I couldn’t love our guys more,” said Gregg Popovich, who also faces a decision this summer if he wants to return as coach. ”What they accomplished this year was something nobody ever expected. They showed a lot of mental toughness and a lot of good play to get where they got. I couldn’t be more proud of them.”

The questions begin now. Will Ginobili return? Can Duncan keep turning back the clock? And does the 64-year-old Popovich have another year left in him?

Parker chafed when asked if he thought this was the last run with this group. ”I can’t believe you’re asking that question,” he said. ”It’s been five, six years you saying we’re too old, so I’m not going to answer that.”

Manu Ginobili is a three-time NBA champion. (GETTY IMAGES)

When Manu Ginobili ever decides to retire from the NBA, he’ll go down in basketball history as one of the greatest to play the game. He’s a first-ballot Hall-of-Famer who belongs on the Mt. Rushmore of international players who changed the NBA landscape, a short list that includes Dirk Nowitzki, Pau Gasol, and Tony Parker.

Ginobili is arguably one of the most popular players in the world, and only Pope Francis is more popular in his native country of Argentina. And even that is debatable.

But even the pope has some bad days, and Ginobili is a bit out of sync in the 2013 NBA Finals.

After a 13-point performance in Game 1, Ginobili has scored just 17 points in the last three games. He was 2-for-6 (five points) in Game 2, 3-for-7 (seven points) in Game 3, and 1-for-5 (five points) in Game 4. He also hasn’t hit a 3-point shot since Game 2.

So what’s wrong with Ginobili?

“If I knew I would have fixed it by now,” said Spurs coach Gregg Popovich.

Ginobili credits the Miami Heat’s aggressive defense as part of the reason for his struggles, but age and playoff mileage may be creeping up on him, too.

“Father Time is on his back,” TNT and NBA TV analyst Charles Barkley said. “He’s not even looking at the basket. I’ve never seen my man that passive.”

What makes Ginobili so special is his ability to create something out of nothing. He is a master of improvisation. It’s a unique skill only a handful of players in the NBA possess. He has shown flashes of it in the 2013 playoffs.

He did it earlier in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals against the Golden State Warriors, a game that could go down as one of the greatest playoff games in NBA history. Basketball superfan Jimmy Goldstein tweeted: “I have attended more than 4000 NBA games, but I just witnessed one of the greatest games that I have ever seen. #Spurs.”

Ginobili’s clutch 3-pointer from the wing with 1.2 seconds left in double overtime lifted the Spurs to a thrilling 129-127 victory over the Warriors despite 44 points from NBA phenom Stephen Curry.

Prior to his winning play, Ginobili had been 4-for-19 from the field and badly missed his last two 3-pointers. But his confidence never wavered. He’s stubborn enough to think that he can make a play no matter how poorly he’s playing. All the great closers possess this skill. Kobe Bryant has it and Michael Jordan had it.

The game-winning shot came 43.7 seconds after Ginobili took an ill-advised 3 that appeared to cost the Spurs the game.

”I went from wanting to trade him on the spot to wanting to cook breakfast for him tomorrow morning,” Popovich said. ”That’s the truth. When I talk to him and say, ‘Manu,’ he goes, ‘This is what I do.’ That’s what he’s going to tell me. I stopped coaching him a long time ago.”

Popovich doesn’t need to give a rah-rah speech to make the man who introduced the Euro Step to the NBA understand that he needs to play better. Ginobili is a proud individual with a heart of champion, and he always seems to find a way to impact the game.

“I wish I could score more. But it’s not happening. If the shot is not falling, I’ve got to be sharp feeding the bigs and finding the shooters. I don’t have to force the issue,” said Ginobili, who is in the final year of his contract and turns 36 this July. Even though he’d like to play one or two more years, this could be his last ride.

“All season long I kind of knew that I was going to play one or two more years,” he said. “But when you are 36 — I’m going to be 36 pretty soon — everything is a day-by-day basis. Once the season finishes and I see how I feel, I can’t imagine me not playing at least one more year here, but time will tell. We’ll see.”

Tony Parker and Tim Duncan know how important Ginobili is to their title hopes and they’re not about to give up on the man who helped them win championships in 2003, 2005, and 2007.

“He’s very angry at himself, very frustrated with himself,” Duncan said of Ginobili, who joined the Spurs in 2002 after a very successful run with Italian League power Kinder Bologna where he won the Euroleague title in 2001 and named MVP. Prior to Ginobili’s arrival in San Antonio, the Spurs had been bounced out of the playoffs by the L.A. Lakers in 2001 and 2002.

“I have a lot of confidence in Manu,” Parker said. “He came through for us all of these years. I have faith that he’ll have a big game. I trust him because I’ve been playing with him for a long time.”

Make no mistake about it, the Spurs will only go as far as Ginobili takes them. Duncan may be the heart and soul of the Spurs and Parker may be the team’s MVP, but Ginobili is the spark that ignites them to great heights. His value to the team can’t be measured by mere statistics. He is the ultimate X-factor that you can’t account for.

Joel Huerto is the editor and publisher of OneManFastBreak.net. Follow him on Twitter @onemanfastbreak.

Warriors head coach Mark Jackson and guard Steph Curry talk strategy. (GETTY IMAGES)

When you have sharpshooters like Steph Curry and Klay Thompson on your roster, it’s hard to identify the Golden State Warriors as a defensive team. But somewhere beneath all the swishes and splashes, the Warriors have become a hard-nosed team that doesn’t mind rolling up its sleeves and getting dirty.

The stats won’t show it but the Warriors have actually played better defense than the San Antonio Spurs in their Western Conference semifinal series. You see Tim Duncan working hard to score against Andrew Bogut, you see Tony Parker’s signature teardrop blocked by Thompson, and he you see Kawhi Leonard struggling to post up against Curry.

Even the Golden State rookies are playing defense.

Forward Harrison Barnes wasn’t known as a great defender coming out of North Carolina, but he’s a good enough athlete to stay with quick guards and strong enough to hold his ground in the low post. Forward Draymond Green played for Tom Izzo at Michigan State, so playing defense comes naturally to him. In Game 2, Green had seven rebounds in 32 minutes. Center Festus Ezeli is raw, but head coach Mark Jackson won’t hesitate to play him in the fourth quarter.

The Warriors may not play lockdown defense like the Boston Celtics or Chicago Bulls, but they are making life very difficult right now for the Spurs.

It starts and ends with Bogut. The 7-foot Aussie is able to play Duncan one-on-one, which allows the rest of the Warriors to stay home and stay attached to the Spurs’ shooters.

Marcus Thompson II wrote this for MercuryNews.com

Warriors center Andrew Bogut was told before the series that he was on his own with Spurs star Tim Duncan, one of the greatest of all-time. Whatever happens, happens. But the help wasn’t coming.

To Bogut, that sounded like Australian for fun.

“I’m fine,” he said after totaling six points and 11 rebounds in Wednesday’s 100-91 Game 2 win. “He’s had games where he’s killed me, and I’ve had games where I’ve guarded him well. You’ve just got to battle against him.”

A major part of the game plan is to play straight up on Duncan. The Warriors don’t mind if he scores. They just don’t want to double-team him because that opens up avenues for the Spurs’ wealth of 3-pointer shooters. And Duncan is such a great passer, he can pick the Warriors apart.

So the Warriors are allowing Bogut — and rookie center Festus Ezeli — to take their medicine against San Antonio’s low-post specialist. He’s averaged 21 points and 10 rebounds the first two games. He’s shooting 42.9 percent (15 of 35).

Bogut is all but giving Duncan the midrange jumper. He’s using his size to keep Duncan from catching the ball deep and his shot-blocking ability to challenge Duncan’s array of post moves.

“If Tim gets off, like he did a little bit tonight, we’ll live with that,” Bogut said. “If he’s getting easy shots against me where he’s two feet from the basket, we have a problem. But if I keep working him, pushing him out, making him work for his buckets, we’re not too worried about it.”

Bogut is rugged and rough on the edges, which is exactly what the Warriors need at this point. They have enough pretty boys on the team. His post defense is the reason why the Warriors are able to survive without All-Star David Lee. He may not get the same attention as Curry and Thompson, but his presence in the middle is the difference between going home in the first round or playing for a spot in the conference finals.

Joel Huerto is the editor and publisher of OneManFastBreak.net. Follow him on Twitter @onemanfastbreak.