One of the most difficult feats in the NBA is achieving a three-peat. Only three franchises have done it: the Minneapolis/Los Angeles Lakers, Boston Celtics, and Chicago Bulls.
The San Antonio Spurs could have been the fourth if things had gone well for them in the mid-2000s. However, they couldn't complement their 2003, 2005, and 2007 rings with another in-between. Sean Elliott , who played for the franchise until 2001, rued how it was so close to adding more trophies to the collection.
"Think about it," he said . "If you look back from '03 through '07, we could have put three or four championships together."
The Spurs' misfortunes
To Elliott's credit, San Antonio was possibly just a play or two away from repeating as champions in 2004 and 2006.
In the 2004 Western Conference semis against Los Angeles, it had a chance to go up 3-2 after Tim Duncan sank an off-balanced jumper at the top of the key to put his team up 73-72 with 0.4 seconds remaining. However, Derek Fisher hit a miraculous turnaround game-winner that probably shouldn't have counted had the clock started running as soon as he touched the ball.
Then, in 2006, the Spurs were a possession away from staging a 3-1 comeback series victory against the Dallas Mavericks in the conference semis. Leading by three late in Game 7, they just needed to stop the opponents from hitting a 3-pointer or a 3-point play.
Manu Ginobili made the puzzling decision to contest Dirk Nowitzki's driving layup. The German legend, of course, finished the and-1, resulting in the Mavs' overtime win. Robert Horry once talked about that infamous play, echoing a sentiment similar to Elliott's that San Antonio would have three-peated had Ginobili not made that costly foul.
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Vindication for the Spurs
Because the Spurs couldn't pull off a title repeat even just once, some have refused to put the franchise on the same level as the Lakers squad led by Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, and Phil Jackson. However, they did make a different kind of achievement by clinching another championship in 2013.
That feat placed Duncan in rarefied air. He became only the second player in NBA history to secure a ring in three different decades, with the first being John Salley. His first title came in 1999, as he, David Robinson, and Elliott formed a formidable frontcourt trio.
While the Duncan-era Spurs may have failed to sustain championship success across two consecutive campaigns, their longevity is certainly worthy of commendation.
Related: "Tim was maybe the best thing that happened to me in my whole career" — David Robinson on the impact Tim Duncan had on him and the Spurs
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