Robert

@Cesar_Biggie @BenHowardOPT I think you’re missing the point - he’s the MVP. If he can’t handle a double team or a hedged screen when his teammates aren’t playing well then you might have bigger fish to fry. Get a grip and work on your insults.

@abhster69 @BenHowardOPT His supporting cast shot 6-22 from three and their bench outscored the starters going into the half. You get to cheat and over shade a ball handler when that happens hopefully you’ll watch more than the nationally televised games next year, it’s a great way to learn basketball

They also get the whistle everyone thinks OKC gets. Flop the way everyone thinks OKC flops. And are arrogant in the way that people think OKC is arrogant. They are all the worst parts of the narrative and get none of the heat.

@BengalsNation8 @BenHowardOPT 😂😂clearly

@abhster69 @BenHowardOPT Never. They could never accept that.

@BenHowardOPT And listen man, I get it. It’s frustrating to watch a physical basketball game where calls are missed (albeit on both sides, but we can agree to disagree). But it’s the most anticipated WCF in a decade. Instead of complaining, take some accountability. I promise to do the same.

@BenHowardOPT Your best player, League MVP, and award holder for “most efficient season of all time” dropped 24 points on 30% shooting and 8/9 free throws at home in the biggest game of the season. Did you ever consider that might be the reason for the loss?

Probably cracks my top 5 favorite Spurs playoff games ever watched. - Game 6, 2014 WCF (Spurs @ Thunder) - Game 5, 2014 Finals (Heat @ Spurs) - Game 1, 2026 WCF (Spurs @ Thunder) - Game 5, 2012 WCF (Thunder @ Spurs) - Game 5, 2017 WCSF (Rockets @ Spurs)

WEMBYYYYYY WEMBY MY HEART IS RACING!!!! FIRST WCF!

@Jtorre24 @plfperformances Granted if any of my friends or sports media saw this take I would probably be castrated on live television - but hey, that’s what being a homer is all about.

@Jtorre24 @plfperformances Oh for sure... If Manu had the same durability as Harden I think he averages 26+ for at least 4 seasons and MAYBE gets further in the playoffs (Harden probably wins it all in 2017 if it wasn’t for that 4th quarter in WCF game 7). I don’t think he scores at the same volume though

Manu Ginobili 39 PTS, 4 REB, 6 AST, 2 STL, 10/15 FG vs Seattle (2005, WCSF Game 5)

@Jtorre24 @plfperformances … joined the league as a 25 y/o rookie. Harden’s game is crafted after Manu, and sports science definitely improved since Harden got in the league. However, after much self inflicted pain through deliberation, I truly think Manu’s role was perfect for maximizing his career.

@Jtorre24 @plfperformances My favorite player ever is Manu, I have been a die hard fan since I was 5. Let me personally tell you that this take is objectively wrong, but for a different reason than you might think. Manu’s body could simply not sustain the workload that Harden did, and he also… (1/2)

Manu Ginóbili closing out Game 4 of the 2007 NBA Finals 🏆

Steve Nash in Games 4-6 of the 2005 WCSF (5/15-5/20) 40.3 PPG, 9.0 RPG, 9.7 APG, 1.3 SPG, 60/58/100 Shooting, 71.1% TS (+19.2 rTS%)

The most satisfying minute in Spurs basketball history.

@Carsobi Dylan Harper is more composed than Fox it’s ridiculous. Anyways Wemby legacy game incoming next game. GGs to the Timberwolves they matched every big shot, what a deep team. Hard to believe DiVincenzo and Ayo are out.

What a game! Great win by the Wolves. Hard to believe that Ant was back that quick & looked that good. Non-Gobert minutes were huge tonight, pulling Wemby out into space more while Spurs couldn't punish them on offense. Rough offensive night for Wemby & Fox. Gonna be a battle!

Dylan Harper is sooo tough… does he take the harden route or ginobili route ? 🤔🤔

New NBA rule — DON’T TALK SHIT TO DYLAN HARPER.

Keldon Johnson on embracing his role as the sixth man: “I remember a couple years ago, I had a hard conversation with Pop. One morning, we were getting ready to play Dallas, and he pulled me to the side and told me that he thought it would be best for the team if I started coming off the bench. I said, ‘Yeah, of course. Whatever’s best for the team, I’ll do it.’ And I truly meant that, too. But I’m also just human, man. And I was like 24 years old. If I said that I fully bought into this role from the jump, I’d be lying. I had averaged 22 points in the NBA. I’d won a gold medal with Team USA at the Olympics. So I just didn’t understand. I couldn’t wrap my head around it. And ultimately, I didn’t take it well. I sulked. I let the outside noise affect my play. I didn’t present the best version of myself as I was coming off the bench for the rest of that season. And I knew that I was much better than that. I’ve been reflecting on that part of my journey a lot lately, with the position we’re in right now. To backtrack a little bit…. When I was drafted in 2019, that was probably one of the most stressful nights of my life. I’d had a great year at Kentucky, and I thought I was going 9 or 10. In my mind, my floor was 15 to Detroit. The crazy thing is, I didn’t even work out for San Antonio. We talked a little bit on FaceTime, but I honestly didn’t think I’d still be on the board at 19 when the Spurs picked. Definitely not at 29, where I ended up going. I don’t know why I slipped so much, but thank God I did, because I landed at a proven organization with vets who could mold me. That situation could have gone one of two ways. Thankfully, it went the good way. Dejounte was young, too, but he knew the ropes better than me, and he made sure that I did everything the right way. I can’t thank him enough to this day for how much he’s helped my career. Same thing with DeMar DeRozan. Those guys really embraced me and took me under their wing as a young guy, and showed me how it was done. I feel like I had such a great group of vets, whether it was LaMarcus Aldridge, Patty Mills, Rudy Gay — all those guys went out their way to make sure I was solid. I feel like they knew how good I could be before I even knew how good I could be. They didn’t let me skip any steps, which was huge for my career early on. And yeah, fast-forward to summer 2024, and I got to thinking back on my first couple years here in San Antonio, and how I could get that spark back, get back to being me. That’s when I started to see the bigger picture. We had picks. There were all these signs that we were building something that was gonna be special, all these bright green flags. But there was this one red flag. Me. In that moment, I had to take a hard look in the mirror. And man, I just got embarrassed. I hated that feeling — the feeling that I had let my vets down, and especially let my younger teammates down. This organization believed in me since day one, when Pop and our GM at the time R.C. Buford took a leap of faith on a player who was sliding in the draft and didn’t even have a workout at their facility. They had a plan, and I was a big piece of that plan. I just needed to get out of my own way. Period. I knew that I could either be the person who tries to fight the change, who makes it about them and their ego, and tries to do everything their way (which never really works). Or, I could trust the process. And the Spurs never gave me a reason not to trust it. So I bought into my role, and I put my best foot forward each and every night. Whatever I had to do to be the best version of myself, I did it. And I feel like this season has been a testament to that. I’m just really at home here. I think that’s probably obvious, right? The cowboy hat isn’t a gimmick. San Antonio is all me. Being a country boy, that’s just a part of who I am. From Huntington Prep to Oak Hill Academy to Kentucky, I feel like I just carried that country boy vibe with me everywhere I went.” playerstribu.ne/KJ

Dylan Harper I LOVE YOU!!

Terrence Shannon Jr and Ayo Dosunmu complete an I-L-L I-N-I🥹