Where Will The Heat And Spurs Be In Six Years?

It's been six long years since LeBron James and the San Antonio Spurs met in the NBA Finals. (mysanantonio.com)

It's been six long years since LeBron James faced the San Antonio Spurs in the 2007 NBA Finals. James was with the Cleveland Cavaliers at a time before the burning of his jerseys, an owner's letter written in Comic Sans and the winning of a title.

A lot has happened in six years. The Spurs added to their dynasty argument with a fourth championship in 2007 and then hasn't been back since winning that series. James was being questioned if he could win in Cleveland, which led to The Decision and now he is looking to win his second straight ring.

Which brings Alex Skov and I to wonder, where will James, the Spurs' big three (Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili) and the Heat and Spurs franchises be six years from now? Here's our best (OK, probably not) guesses.

The Spurs' Big Three: Duncan, already at 37, and Ginobili, 35 and now suffering from injuries, will have hung up the sneakers for several years. Ginobili will be resting with a luxurious head of hair(plugs), while Duncan will spend his time setting off-ball screens at second-tier celebrity charity games and yelling at a recently rehabbed Justin Bieber to use his freaking left hand. Parker will probably still playing in the NBA at 36 or 37, even if it will seem like he's closer to AARP age, dishing out assists for the Spurs to a young at heart but dinosaur-aged Tracy McGrady, who is allowed to use a Segway for the first halves of games to stay rested.

San Antonio Spurs: Gregg Popovich will still coaching the Spurs, but also teaching spacing philosophies to roadside garbage pick-up crews as a part-time corrections officer and coaching other NBA coaches on how to make sideline reporters cry. Eventually, Popovich gets bored and moves the team away from it's workman-like, fundamental and strategy-filled style of play in favor of a flashy, if-you-can-see-the-basket-it's-a-good-shot gameplan. Danny Green will go too far with the new freedom and shoot a record 32 shots per game, averaging a career high 13 points per game. Meanwhile, Tiago Splitter releases underground rap mixtapes under the name T. Spitter at the behest of his out-of-the-league former teammate, Stephen Jackson.

LeBron James: With Dwyane Wade getting out of the league after Kobe Bryant's recommended Germany medical trip goes wrong, LeBron makes a decision to play for the Washington Wizards (this time with a more tasteful 30-minute decision show) while wearing a headband twice the normal size in an attempt to retain his *ahem* youthful appearance. Determined to end the Michael Jordan comparisons, James went to Washington to prove he could put up better numbers at the end of his career than Jordan did with the team. Because of this, he makes John Wall only touch the ball to throw alley-oops to him. He is also looking into retiring and purchasing the Cleveland Cavaliers, making them a laughing stock until he comes out of retirement to save the day and win back the heart of the city.

Miami Heat: The Heat are no longer a title contender, making the 14 true, die-hard fans who have season tickets and stay for the whole game very upset. Erik Spoelestra loses credibility and is called Vinny del Negro v. 2.0, proclaiming to the media, "I promise you, I have at least two notebook pages' worth of plays!" Other players decide to leave with James, including Shane Battier, who retired and is offering in-studio NBA analysis while testing teams' interest in bringing him on as an assistant coach, and Mario Chalmers, who refuses to be yelled at by just Chris Bosh, causing him to fill the Irrational Confidence Guy role as an overpaid sixth-man for the New York Knicks and be yelled at by Carmelo Anthony.

Several key role players remain, including Udonis Haslem, who finally adds range to those mid-range jumpers just in time to have a consistent 3-pointer ready for all those times he needs it in retirement. Having matured, Chris Anderson will just go ahead and get the tiny spaces of open skin between his tattoos inked in an attempt to hide the mistakes he took as a young-ish man. Norris Cole? He is still rocking the flat-top. What else matters?

Follow @BeatsDimesDrive on Twitter
Like Beats Dimes and Drives on Facebook

Tim Duncan and Gregg Popovich Set Playoff Record In Spurs Style

Tim Duncan and Gregg Popovich have accomplished what no other player-coach duo has in NBA history. (blogs.thescore.com)

Tim Duncan and Gregg Popovich accomplished this feat in a very Duncan and Popovich manner.

They did it without a lot of flash, but they did it better than anyone else. They did it in a way that makes you feel surprised when you hear it. It can't possibly be right, until you think about it and realize it makes absolute sense.

ESPN Stats and Info tweeted before Monday's Spurs/Grizzlies game that Duncan and Popovich had won 128 playoff games, the most for a player-coach duo in NBA history. That number is now 129 and will surely rise more before the season is over.

That's more than Michael Jordan and Phil Jackson.

That's more than Red Auerbach and Bill Russell.

That's more than Magic Johnson and Pat Riley.

That's more than Karl Malone and Jerry Sloan.

You get the idea. That group is impressive company, yet there are other great duos that fall behind Duncan and Popovich in that category.

Yet either due to the style of play or the location of the team, the Duncan/Popovich duo never seems to be appreciated for the Spurs' postseason success the way the before mentioned duos were. They've won more playoff games than anyone else through consistency, experience and a style of play that would make James Naismith proud.

Duncan is the Big Fundamental, a lock for the NBA Hall of Fame, and Popovich the wizard with a secret to youthful stamina and getting a group of players to play like a team. They've been doing this since 1997, when Duncan was a rookie and Popovich was a second-year head coach. And it's not just playoff wins they have to show for it, it's four NBA Championships as well. Every year seems to be the year the Spurs, and Duncan, are too old (Duncan is 37) and yet here they are, off to the NBA Finals again. And here we are, surprised that they could be leading a statistic like the one above.

Right now Duncan and Popovich's workman-like mentality rubs off on us. They work hard and take care of business, not making more of the success than it is. The Spurs are in the NBA Finals again. That's what we've grown to know and expect as long as these two and guys like Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili are still playing.

Sometime in the near future, the time will have come where Duncan hangs up the jersey and Popovich sits somewhere other than the bench. Maybe in hindsight we will look back with less shock at that number and appreciate the success more.

Follow @BeatsDimesDrive on Twitter
Like Beats Dimes and Drives on Facebook

Dirk Nowitzki Reaches 25,000-Point Milestone

Dirk Notwitzki became the 17th player in NBA history to score 25,000 points for his career. (streetball.com)

Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki has racked up plenty of accolades over his 15-year NBA career.

Already the possessor of 11 All-Star nominations, an MVP and NBA Finals MVP award and a NBA Championship, Nowitzki is now the 17th player in NBA history to score 25,000 points in his career. Nowitzki joins elite company in Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett as the only active players to achieve the scoring mark. The next closest active players are Paul Pierce (24,010), Ray Allen (23,781) and Tim Duncan (23,745). Dirk now needs less than 200 points to pass Jerry West for No. 16 all-time in scoring.

More impressive is Dirk became one of nine players all-time to score 25,000 points and grab 9,000 rebounds. The other names on the list: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Wilt Chamberlain, Shaquille O'Neal, Moses Malone, Elvin Hayes, Hakeem Olajuwon and Garnett. Not bad company.

This milestone further cements Nowitzki's legacy as a player, which is likely to end in the hall of fame, but bigger than his career was that the German-born player's success led the way for the current tend in the NBA. There may not be a 7-footer in the game with a better, smoother, shooting stroke and his European style of play, where big men routinely play outside the paint, is now a normal part of the NBA game.

Dirk's success also had to have an impact on the NBA's international reach. The NBA is filling with international talent who are in the league thanks to Dirk's, and other foreign players of his time, ability to translate the European game to the NBA. No one has made the transition better than the 7-foot German, as proven by the fact that Nowitzki's NBA MVP award is the only won by a European-born player.

Nowitzki has accomplished nearly everything he could have in the game and soon another tall, sweet shooting European player will take his place trying to emulate the 7-footer. This is Nowitzki's greatest gift to the NBA.