SAN ANTONIO (AP) San Antonio’s unexpected and abrupt end to the season brings on another stressful summer that begins with what has become an annual quandary.
Will Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili return?
”I really don’t know what they’re going to do,” San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said Friday, a day after the Spurs’ season-ending loss at Oklahoma City. ”But when they do decide to move on, sometime between now and the next five years – that’s a little bit of a joke – it will feel a little differently walking into the gym.”
Anything less than having both Duncan and Ginobili in uniform next season will be even more jarring for the Spurs than losing to the Thunder in six games in the Western Conference semifinals.
”We’ll see,” said Tony Parker, the other member of San Antonio’s Big Three. ”It’s going to be a long summer for us.”
The Spurs did not expect their offseason to begin so early.
San Antonio appeared revived and renewed after re-signing Kawhi Leonard and adding marquee free agent LaMarcus Aldridge during the offseason. But after winning the series opener by 32 points, the Spurs suddenly looked old and thin in comparison to the Thunder’s size inside and athleticism on the wings.
Still, the Spurs hope for the return of two of the franchise’s greatest ever players.
Duncan, 40, and Ginobili, 38, both have player options on the two-year contracts they signed last summer, but neither has given any indication what he plans to do.
Duncan said he would ”get to that after I get out of here and figure out life” when asked about his future following San Antonio’s 113-99 Game 6 loss. Ginobili said he would ”take my time as always.”
Duncan has played 19 seasons, leading the Spurs to each of the franchise’s five championships. Ginobili has been a part of four of those titles over 14 seasons.
Popovich joked one thing is certain, the veterans won’t be turning to him for advice.
”I haven’t talked to Timmy in about 11 years and Manu stopped talking to me about three or four years ago,” Popovich said. ”So, I doubt it highly. They are just going to come in and say, `Pop, this is what I’m doing.’ And then whatever they say, that’s what I’ll do.”
It would officially mark the end of an era if either one retires, although San Antonio’s reliance on its Big Three came to a close this season.
Aldridge and Leonard became the focal point of the Spurs, helping the team transition for the future with All-Star seasons.
Leonard led the team in scoring for the first time in his five-year career, averaging 21.2 points and 6.8 rebounds. The 6-foot-7 forward also won Defensive Player of the Year, becoming the first non-center to win the award in consecutive seasons since Dennis Rodman in 1989-91.
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