End Of An Era?

THE SPURS BIG THREE - Duncan, Parker and Ginobili

With the San Antonio Spurs falling 111-109 in Game Seven to the Los Angeles Clippers in the NBA Playoffs, it may well be the end of an era unlike any other in the history of professional sports.
This team won five NBA championships ranging back to 1999 until last year when they dethroned the Miami Heat in five games, dominating the great LeBron James.
This team won 50 games or more for an NBA record 16 consecutive seasons and have had three future Hall-of-Fame players in Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili along with a HOF Head Coach in Gregg Popovich.
Having been on the scene as a sound operating engineer at old Chicago Stadium with the Chicago Bulls for their first three-peat (1990-91 to 1992-93 seasons)  I was witness to the greatest player ever at the NBA level in Michael Jordan.
The Spurs teams aren't what those Bulls teams were but they have been awfully damn close.
Trust me I was right there and I know.
The consistency they have displayed over the past 18 years Duncan and Popovich have been together for them is simply incredible at any level of sports competition, let alone at the pro level.
So even though they had an early exit from the post-season this time around, don't expect them to just pack it up and start being a crappy team. The Spurs have been a great team to watch and the NBA may not see another team have a run like this ever again.
Not even the great Chicago Bulls teams of the 1990's were able to sustain the long period of consistency the San Antonio Spurs have had.
It's really unfortunate a phantom foul call helped decide the outcome of a fantastic Game Seven tonight in Los Angeles. Hey referees, you DO NOT call a foul on a player the caliber of Tim Duncan in that situation. He didn't touch Chris Paul, but the shot clanked off the rim and then the whistle sounded. That sequence kept the Clippers alive late in the fourth quarter.
Go figure!
But that is life in the air tight NBA folks . . . trust me I know because I have been there and have seen it up close.
The Spurs aren't the marketing prizes like Paul and Blake Griffin and Steph Curry and LeBron James are, so ...
Yeah it may be the end of an era but the greatness of the San Antonio Spurs is second to none in the annals of NBA history.
The BIG THREE of Duncan, Parker and Ginobili is equal to or greater than any other Big Three the NBA now has or has ever seen.

Thank you San Antonio Spurs, you did good.