The opposing legal professional in a case I’m dealing with despatched me this e-mail on Friday: “If we don’t speak earlier than then, I hope you’ve gotten a Pleased Thanksgiving!” A conditional good want like this has all the time bothered me. Does he imply that he desires me to have a Pleased Thanksgiving solely “if we don’t speak earlier than then”? Maybe he’s hedging his bets: if we do communicate, he’ll determine after our dialog if his good needs stay intact. Not understanding the best way to reply, I threw the conundrum proper again at him — I stated “You too.” That can present him.
His odd want additionally received me desirous about Thanksgiving on the whole, and my fellow Spurs followers particularly. And I made a decision to put in writing yet one more “Grateful to be a Spurs fan” put up. This 12 months’s theme: Previous, current and future thankfulness.
I wrote my first “Grateful” put up all the way in which again within the fall of 2014, my first season with Pounding the Rock. In that put up, I ended with:
Particularly in mild of all the things occurring within the sports activities world, I cherished to listen to Rudy T’s [Rudy Tomjanovich] feedback concerning the crew all of us root for. He used the phrases ‘good individuals’. Amongst all of the issues to be glad about this Thanksgiving, the checklist consists of the flexibility to cheer on a Spurs crew that could be a group of fine individuals. Not everybody can say that, however we are able to. Pleased Thanksgiving, Spurs nation.
That piece was written within the afterglow of the Redemption Finals in 2014. These Finals gave Spurs followers quite a few causes to be grateful, together with the 58-22 run within the second and third quarters of the clinching Sport 5, Patty Mills’ flurry of threes to blow open the sport, and My Man Manu’s thunderous dunk over Chris Bosh that is still a Spurs spotlight even now.
And most of all, the Redemption Finals fortunately closed the door on the painful ending of the 2013 Finals. As I wrote on the time:
The 2014 Spurs, with out preening or pounding their chests, regarded genuinely pleased, and that was an excellent factor. They didn’t have to preen or pound their chests. They might simply search for on the scoreboard, chortle, smile, hug and say significant issues in one another’s ears. And really feel at peace.
And since the Spurs felt that method, so did Spurs followers. Together with this one. Now once I consider Ray Allen’s three-pointer in Sport Six, I instantly consider the 2014 Finals. And smile.
I’m grateful for the 2013 Finals for one more purpose. These Finals gave us this spotlight reel of DannyGreen!!’s Twenty Seven Three-Pointers. That’s one thing I nonetheless watch earlier than I am going out to play in my two weekly video games, simply to steal just a bit little bit of the DG confidence to Let it Fly.
After all, Spurs followers have far more up to now to be glad about than simply these two Finals. They’ve been blessed with stars equivalent to George Gervin, Sean Elliot, David Robinson, and the Huge Three — and quite a few different nice non-star teammates equivalent to Avery Johnson, Michael Finley, Mills, Gary Neal, Boris Diaw, Tiago Splitter, Boban Marjanovic and plenty of extra. These gamers, stars and non-stars, introduced the 5 championships. Thanks! And all have been achieved below the most effective coach ever, Gregg Popovich and the rotating forged of fantastic assistant coaches, a lot of whom at the moment are head coaches all through the league.
Spurs followers even have a lot to be glad about with the current crew. Fellow PtR author Charlie Thaddeus summed it up after the Spurs’ comeback win over the Jazz, even earlier than Saturday night time’s exceptional comeback win over the far more formidable Warriors:
Are they nice? Are they contending? Are they able to be in an actual dialog with critical groups on this league? I don’t know the reply to any of these questions. They in all probability aren’t nice. They in all probability aren’t contending. They in all probability aren’t fairly able to be taken severely but. So what are they? For now, I’ll accept enjoyable.
I agree. The current Spurs are like having a small baby, smitten by life and pleased. We don’t know what that baby will grow to be, however we all know the kid is stuffed with potential. The enjoyable is enhanced by the absence of stress on this younger crew. Nobody predicted the 2024-2025 Spurs to win even half of their video games, not to mention to make the playoffs. However right here we’re, with the crew over .500 and solely share factors out of tenth place and the ultimate play-in spot within the uber-competitive Western Convention. Sure, it’s a lot too early to truly begin taking note of such issues — however with a three-game successful streak in hand, we are able to get pleasure from a sideways peak on the standings.
Sure, Spurs followers may be very grateful to have this small baby of a crew within the current, particularly when the crew exhibits flashes of the Lovely Sport Spurs groups of the previous, equivalent to this play from the comeback win over the Warriors:
Better of all, Spurs followers may be very grateful for this crew’s future. Spurs followers wouldn’t commerce this crew’s future for that of some other crew. Past the wondrous Victor Wembanyama, I’m very grateful that the Spurs entrance workplace completely nailed the quantity 4 choose within the 2025 draft (Stephon Citadel), after profitable earlier drafts of Tre Jones (a second spherical choose), Keldon Jonhson and Devin Vassell, plus waiver wire pick-ups (a grateful Spurs custom!) of gamers equivalent to Julian Kymani Champagnie and Sandro Mamukelashvili.
I’m grateful that interim head coach Mitch Johnson confirmed the self-confidence to go down the stretch within the Warriors sport with second spherical choose Jones, waiver wire Champagnie, simply turned 20-year previous rookie Citadel and 20-year previous Victor, together with only one vet, Harrison Barnes. Coach Johnson confirmed is clearly banking on the Spurs’ future.
With Thanksgiving coming this week, I’m additionally very grateful that this crew carries on a vital Spurs custom. Similar to the Spurs gamers that led to my very first Spurs thankfulness put up ten years in the past, this crew actually appears to love one another — a fantastic signal that this model of the Spurs can also be comprised of “good individuals”. That too makes me very grateful to be a Spur fan, previous, current and future.
