1. Long perspective.
I've been a fan of the San Antonio Spurs since the 1990s – since the David Robinson and Sean Elliott era. I don't actually remember their rookie season, but I do remember that Robinson was a monster on both ends of the floor. I remember that Elliott was spectacular too and that he had a cool nickname – “ninja”. I remember also that Elliott at one moment was traded to the Detroit Pistons, but came back to the Spurs just one year later. I remember several disappointments in playoffs, especially when David Robinson was the MVP, but couldn't take the Spurs to the NBA Finals. And then Tim Duncan came and made the Spurs one of the most successful NBA teams ever. A dream came true.
2. DeMar DeRozan – the player.
I have grown to admire DeMar DeRozan over time. He is a great baskeball player, but at the same time he is a guy who is very modest. Who doesn’t brag about himself. Who is a good teammate. Who is always ready to take blame for his team's struggles. Who is not judgmental about other people. I value things like these as much as pure basketball abilities. He is quite similar in this regard to David Robinson and Tim Duncan, but he has a different background and different personal problems.
3. DeMar DeRozan – the blessed one.
The first video below explains why he was called “the blessed one” by his grandma. It also shows how much DeMar DeRozan has improved as a basketball player since his college times. Some people are still not satisfied with him because he can't shoot 3-pointers, but I don't care about it. He is an elite mid-range shooter and a very good free-throw shooter. He is unstoppable without being doubled teamed. His movements on the floor are beautifully graceful or outright spectacular. As far as I'm concerned he can brick as many 3-pointers as he wants and I would still be his fan. Please notice that it seems that he was never a gang member and didn't do anything illegal, but he was still respected by the gang members because of his basketball talent. And he has not been ashamed of his roots being in a very difficult neighborhood.
4. The previous season – the San Antonio Spurs.
The drama surrounding Kawhii Leonard’s trade request made me sick. A normal NBA contract means something like this: “A team promises to pay a player a given guaranteed sum of money, reserving the right to trade the player to another team and the player promises to play for the team in exchange for the given guaranteed sum of money, accepting the right of the team to trade him to another team.” The player doesn’t have a right to FORCE a trade on his own. It’s very natural – it’s the front office of the team who is responsible for the well-being of the team and the player is only a “worker” here, like it or not. Actually he officially accepts this fact (that he is a “worker”) by signing a contract. Don't like it? Don't sign the contract and find another job! Or create your own basketball league with players telling the front offices what to do and see how well it would end financially for both sides.
Moreover it irritated me that the Tim Duncan era got many of the current fans of the San Antonio Spurs spoiled. I was tired of the “need to think like contenders” crap. The truth is that some of the fans were not even born the last time the Spurs missed the playoffs. And some others were still wearing diapers then. What's “worse” the Spurs won 5 titles during the Tim Duncan era, which made the Spurs' fans one of the luckiest in that time (only Los Angeles Lakers won as many titles in the same time).
5. The previous season – the Toronto Raptors.
Rooting for the Toronto Raptors in the season 2017-18 was a very fun experience, mostly because their fans were not spoiled, compared to some fans of the San Antonio Spurs. That team was a team of underdogs or young players who achieved more than they were ever supposed to. The team was led by DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry who had a great chemistry on and off the court.
6. DeMar DeRozan – the best and the most loyal Raptor ever
DeMar DeRozan's loyalty was great and he was willing to spend his whole career with the Toronto Raptors, unlike Vince Carter and Chris Bosh. DeMar DeRozan, together with Kyle Lowry led the Raptors to the best seasons in franchise history. Vince Carter and Chris Bosh won at most 47 games in a single regular season for the Toronto Raptors, but DeMar DeRozan, together with Kyle Lowry in the last 5 years won 48, 49, 52, 51 and 59 regular season games! And in the playoffs they were also better! Playing for the Toronto Raptors Vince Carter advanced to the Conference Semifinals once, Chris Bosh never got out of the first round and DeMar DeRozan, together with Kyle Lowry advanced to the Conference Finals once and then advanced to the Conference Semi-Finals twice in a row. Some people claim they chocked in playoffs, but I think they actually greatly OVERACHIEVED. In each of their best 3 season they were stopped by LeBron James who was at the peak of his career. And players like LeBron James don't grow on trees.
7. The stunning off-season trade.
In the morning (where I live – in the US it was in the middle of the night) on 18 July 2018 I checked the NBA news and I was stunned that the San Antonio Spurs and the Toronto Raptors were working on a trade centered around Kawhi Leonard and DeMar DeRozan. I couldn’t believe it! My currently favourite player going to my all-time favourite team! I spent half of my work day reading the comments and waiting for an official confirmation. And I was amused that I could read everything almost “live” while most of the fans in the US and Canada were sleeping. I thought “Man, some fans in America would get a heart attack in the morning.” The Twitter account of Shams Charania was on fire and there were some hilarious comments. I loved GIFs like these, posted for various reasons:
8. DeMar DeRozan's reaction.
From the basketball point of view the trade made a perfect sense for both teams, the problem was that DeMar DeRozan had been told something different by his team not long before the trade.
9. Former teammates reunion.
In the first week after the trade DeMar DeRozan met with Rudy Gay during the Drew League. To be honest I didn't know they were teammates before, both in the Toronto Raptors as well as in the USA team.
10. Meeting Gregg Popovich
In the second week after the trade DeMar DeRozan met with Gregg Popovich during the Team USA mini-camp in Las Vegas.
11. New locker-room
Here's a picture of DeMar DeRozan in his new locker-room.
12. The start of the 2018 preseason.
Here's Popovich trolling DeRozan and a hilarious picture of Gregg, Rudy and DeMar:
13. The devastating series of injuries.
On this site:
https://news4sanantonio.com/sports/spurs-all-stars-expect-no-sympathy-no-excuses-as-injuries-plague-start-to-season
you can find the whole story. The most important part is this:
“First, rookie Lonnie Walker IV suffered a torn meniscus in a preseason game versus Detroit. Then, Dejounte Murray tore his right knee ACL against Houston and will likely be out for the entire NBA season.
Meanwhile, Derrick White could be out as much as six to eight weeks with a plantar fascia tear in his left foot followed by Rudy Gay suffering an inflamed bursa in a heel on the last preseason game of the season.”
I can't remember where, but also I read a comment made by somebody (I think it was Popovich, but I am not sure) that was something like this: “God/Lord, I know 21 seasons/playoffs is a long time, but shall it end this way?” It was a reference to the fact that the San Antonio Spurs were on a streak of 21 straight playoff appearances, but the series of injuries made the speaker doubtful if they were going to make the playoffs in the season 2018-19.
Dejounte Murray's injury left the Spurs without their best perimeter defender – in the previous season he was in the NBA all-defensive second team! Losing such a defender was truly devastating, especially in the modern era of 3-point shooters.
14. The “fundamentally flawed” 2018-19 team.
The Spurs front office got as much for Kawhii Leonard as they could, but this whole mess left the team quite flawed. Both LaMarcus Aldridge and DeMar DeRozan were mid-range shooters who supposedly should not fit today's NBA at all. The team's 3-point shooters were mostly weak defenders, so their shooting was mostly canceled out by their defense. DeMar DeRozan's defensive abilities were also weak (especially when compered to Leonard's), but not as tragic as some people claimed. Without Dejounte Murray's defense and with other players suffering lesser injuries the future looked quite bleak.
15. The roller-coaster 2018-19 season.
The season started better than people anticipated with DeMar DeRozan playing like a point guard, but LaMarcus Aldridge was struggling on offense. I think he admirably took a back seat to make DeRozan more comfortable. Later Aldridge bounced back and he even made the All-star team, but DeRozan started to struggle on his own, especially after Derrick White returned from his injury. The team fought for the whole year to find the best rotations, but they eventually made the playoffs. For the 22nd time in a row. In the strong Western Conference, where the Los Angeles Lakers with LeBron James missed the playoffs completely. The Spurs even pushed the first-round-playoff series against the 2nd team to game 7. What an enjoyably gritty season!
DeMar DeRozan was great! Not perfect, but great nonetheless. He finished with per-game averages of 21.2 points, 6.0 rebounds and 6.2 assists! In the last 10 years this feat was achieved only 19 times (including 10 times by LeBron James):
http://bkref.com/tiny/r8TWr
Here are some pictures and videos of DeMar DeRozan in his first season with the San Antonio Spurs. I also added some other memorable or funny pictures and videos. Enjoy!
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