Orange County Register

You don’t run into too many barroom arguments about the Basketball Hall of Fame. Primarily because if you can name a player or a coach, he’s probably in it already.

Some frequent-flyer programs are harder to enter than this particular Hall of Fame. For instance, the top six New York Knicks of 1973 are all in there, along with Coach Red Holzman and substitute forward Phil Jackson, who was elected later as a coach. This is not to criticize any of their credentials. It’s just to indicate that Bert Blyleven, whose 287 pitching victories leave him shivering on the streets of Cooperstown, probably should have played hoops.

The Hall also includes college basketball coaches Lute Olson, Roy Williams, John Thompson, Jim Boeheim, Marv Harshman, Slats Gill, Harry Litwack, Don Haskins, Stan Watts, Ralph Miller and John Chaney — who have combined for four NCAA championships — and pro coaches Chuck Daly, Bill Sharman (who also is in as a player), Hubie Brown and Larry Brown — who have combined for four NBA championships.

Again, no disrespect intended at all.

But where the heck is Gregg Popovich?

The San Antonio coach has won four NBA titles over the past nine years and is here again, in the Western finals against the Lakers. The Lakers of the ’80s won five titles over a nine-year span but also lost three NBA Finals, to Boston twice and Detroit once. Popovich’s Spurs have beaten four Eastern teams and have never lost one.

And let’s not hear about the superior competition back then. The Spurs had to deal with the Kobe/Shaq Lakers and also the Suns, led by two-time MVP Steve Nash. They have endured against the best teams of their times. More important, they have done it with a minimum of boorishness and a maximum of class, unselfishness and defense, a theme that comes from the man himself.

The Spurs also will be knocked for winning lotteries to acquire Tim Duncan and David Robinson — as if the Lakers spotted Magic Johnson in some pickup game — but Tony Parker was the final pick of the first round of the 2001 draft. That’s seven picks after Boston took Joe Forte, 21 picks after Houston took Eddie Griffin and 12 picks after Charlotte took Kirk Haston.

The Spurs also took Manu Ginobili in the second round of the ’99 draft and brought him to the NBA in ’03, when they won their second title. Ginobili was the 57th player picked in a 58-man draft. There was no law prohibiting anyone else in the NBA from doing that. The Lakers had the 30th pick — the first in the second round — and chose John Celestand.

The Spurs are the Patriots of the NBA, and until something is done about it, the sign on the Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass., should read, “Everyone Who Ever Made A Difference In Basketball Is Here Except Gregg Popovich.” Maybe, by the sixth trophy, they’ll find a place.

– Mark Whicker, The Orange County Register

For more on the Lakers-Spurs series, check out our Lakers page.

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