Are the Spurs the best franchise in pro sports?

[Eric15]

Wait, hang on. Tracy McGrady plays for the Spurs now.

Now I'm definitely rooting for the Spurs to win the title.

Insane how quickly he fell off the map. He was a 32 ppg scoring champion in 2003. If we were having this conversation then I would have predicted that he'd be a 18-20 ppg game guy right now as a 34 year old.

 

[Alsacs]

Spurs are lucky they have tanked two times and been rewarded both teams in 1987 as anybody who read Bill Simmons book knows they gift wrapped Mychael Thompson who was the number 1 overall pick in 1978 to the Lakers for nobody and ended crashing down to the number 1 pick and getting David Robinson then when the Admiral got hurt in 1997 they crashed and got Tim Duncan. While Popovich and R.C. Buford are a great coach/GM tandem the Spurs don't have sustainability after Duncan retires and knowing their lucky they will get the next sure fire HOF with the first overall pick that year.
I will list my top 3 franchises by the 4 major sports then an overall top 12
NFL
1. Pittsburgh Steelers
2. New York Giants
3. New England Patriots

NBA
1. Los Angeles Lakers
2. San Antonio Spurs
3. Dallas Mavericks

MLB
1. New York Yankees
2. St. Louis Cardinals
3. Boston Red Sox (note: I thought about the Giants and Rangers, but Boston has been more competitive and only bottomed out last year while Texas and San Fran have bottomed out more)

NHL
1. Detroit Red Wings
2. Pittsburgh Penguins
3. San Jose Sharks(the shocking of the 12 IMO they have been competitive a long time without winning it all)

Overall this pains me as a Boston guy
1. New York Yankees-MLB
2. Los Angeles Lakers-NBA
3. San Antonio Spurs-NBA
4. Detroit Red Wings-NHL
5. St. Louis Cardinals-MLB
6. Pittsburgh Steelers-NFL
7. New York Giants-NFL
8. New England Patriots-NFL
9. Pittsburgh Penguins-NHL
10. Dallas Mavericks-NBA
11. Boston Red Sox-MLB
12. San Jose Sharks-NHL

I did my list by competitiveness, playoff appearances in relation to their league. The Sharks are the outlier IMO as they haven't won a championship, but they have made the playoffs 8 years in a row and have made the conference finals two times. The NHL has a lot of parity and the Flyers, Blackhawks, Bruins, Canucks could have been that third team, but I rewarded San Jose.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

Montreal Canadiens..pretty impressive. Alongside maybe the Yankees (hate them) .

Former GM lives one block over from me. Just found this out yesterday. I just knew him as Pierre.

 

[CusefanATL]

Braves are also well run. Glad they won their one or they would be my Bills.

just imagine growing up a bills/braves fan like i did.

 

[RF2044]

just imagine growing up a bills/braves fan like i did.

Brutal.

But at least Atlanta got one. Not really an NL guy, so honest question: how many world series did the Braves make it to?

 

[Knicks411]

Brutal.

But at least Atlanta got one. Not really an NL guy, so honest question: how many world series did the Braves make it to?

91, 92, 95, 96, 99. Lost in the LCS in 93, 97, 98.

 

[alphaorange]

Insane how quickly he fell off the map. He was a 32 ppg scoring champion in 2003. If we were having this conversation then I would have predicted that he'd be a 18-20 ppg game guy right now as a 34 year old.

Bad wheels will do that do you...

 

[alphaorange]

91, 92, 95, 96, 99. Lost in the LCS in 93, 97, 98.

Arguably, one of the best staffs of all time. Just incredible pitching.

 

[cuseattle]

I think they have only had four coaches in my lifetime. Their stability is amazing.

 

[cuseattle]

I think they have only had four coaches in my lifetime. Their stability is amazing.

 

[Knicks411]

Arguably, one of the best staffs of all time. Just incredible pitching.

I think they have the best pitching staff of all time; certainly over any extended period of time. Maddux and Glavine never got hurt, and Smoltz didn't get hurt until 2001 I think

 

[Orange2389]

I hate t0 be un-American but the best pro team is in Spain. Real Madrid have the history, trophies, and financial backbone of the elite. Not to mention the world class players who have worn their shirts over the years.

 

[Trueblue25]

I gotta now say the Detroit Red Wings.

Can we turn a final 4 teams into a poll thread?

I think this is an interesting topic.

 

[OrangeDW]

Going by eao's criteria (right now), they are not - poorly assembled old team with the wrong leadership. Blame it on the egomaniac son of the great Dr. Buss.

Going by his "since 1990" criteria, the Lakers have 5 titles to the Spurs 4. The Lakers have missed the playoffs twice to the Spurs once. I still give it to the Lakers.

The Lakers will be back in contention before you can blink. Everything that could go wrong did, this year. That won't happen again.

 

[NineOneSeven]

Going by his "since 1990" criteria, the Lakers have 5 titles to the Spurs 4. The Lakers have missed the playoffs twice to the Spurs once. I still give it to the Lakers.

The Lakers will be back in contention before you can blink. Everything that could go wrong did, this year. That won't happen again.

How much longer does Kobe play?

 

[Alsacs]

The Spurs won't be able to sustain their run once Duncan retires unless they get another stud down low. The Lakers will always be a player in FA because glitz and glamor of LA. San Antonio will never be a player in FA and once Duncan goes the Spurs at best barring winning another lottery with a superstar will become a more competitive version of the Atlanta Hawks in the Western Conference because of their GM/coach duo.

 

[OrangeDW]

How much longer does Kobe play?

I don't know. I think it's all about that 2014 offseason for the Lakers. Signing Lebron, or maybe a ready to become elite Paul George should be the focus.

 

[CIL]

Probably the Red Wings. They have made the playoffs every year since 1990, in both the uncapped and salary cap era. That's a remarkable feat, considering the NHL cap is much more difficult to work around than the NBA and perhaps the NHL.

As much respect as I have for the Yankees, Steelers, and Lakers, what the Wings have done is remarkable and vastly under appreciated by sports fans.

 

[NailstheCusefan12]

I hate t0 be un-American but the best pro team is in Spain. Real Madrid have the history, trophies, and financial backbone of the elite. Not to mention the world class players who have worn their shirts over the years.

Except that they're 600 million Euros in debt.

 

[Melancer46]

One thing about San Antonio that you can't really say about the Red Wings, Yankees, Lakers, etc... Spurs aren't able to get all the big name guys in free agency and stuff like those teams. Everyone wants to play for those 3 teams, whereas the Spurs just do an amazing job in the draft/found one of the best coaches in league history that has a knack for taking other team's outcasts and making them into solid role players.

 

[CIL]

Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Kronwall, etc are all Wings draft picks. They very rarely sign big name players. Even in their heyday, Yzerman, Federov, Lidstrom, Osgood were all homegrown talent.

 

[kirbivore]

They are the best run small-market NBA team, easily.

But let's not kid ourselves, they hit the lottery (figuratively and literally) with Duncan and the type of player/person he is.

They tanked the 1996/97 season and the ping pong ball fell their way.

 

[kirbivore]

The Spurs definitely have the best management of any other professional organization. It is hard to tell if the coaching of Pop is what has led the team or the play of Duncan, Ginobli and Parker that has led the team. The funny thing is for the last 13 years they have kept the core the same and have been able to rotate role players around them. If it wasn't for a few injuries, lucky shots (Fisher) and a few bad calls they could have had 2-3 more championships.

Spurs in 6 in the finals. GO SPURS!!!!

Or one less if that dumbass Stoudemire didn't leave the bench after the cheap shot to Nash in the 2007 West Finals.

 

[KingOtis]

Since 1990, the Spurs have had one losing season, in 1996-97, but that was only because David Robinson went down with a season-ending injury the first week of the year.

Is there any franchise in all of major professional sports as well-run as the Spurs?

Considering I came here to start a similar thread about the St. Louis Cardinals, you have my answer.

 

[KingOtis]

Oh we are talking about RIGHT NOW?

MLB: Yankees, ATLANTA BRAVES (if they'd win a damn series), ... St. Louis Cardinals? Ehhh Ehhh

Are you kidding? The Braves haven't been relevant for a while. The Cardinals are the best run baseball franchise right now and the second-best of all time.