San Antonio Spurs: 5 Best Spurs Players since 2000
The San Antonio Spurs are one of the most storied NBA franchises in the history of the league. They were founded in 1967, and are one of the 4 teams that remained intact after the ABA-NBA merger. They have won 5 NBA championships, in 1999, 2003,2005,2007, and most recently in 2014, and have a massive 22 divisional titles.
They have only missed the playoffs 4 times in their history and have gone to the playoffs for 20 consecutive seasons since 1997. Their front office and franchise structure has been touted as one of the best ever in modern basketball, and teams take into consideration how well this franchise been built over the span of the last 20-25 years.
They have been led by a singular president and coach in Gregg Popovich since 1996, and thus have had tremendous success. Let us look at the best San Antonio Spurs players that have played for them since 2000.
#5 Bruce Bowen (2001-2009)
Bruce Bowen was one of those players who was known for his solid defensive game and was selected to 8 consecutive All NBA defensive team of the years, apart from the 3 NBA titles to show for. His fitness levels were also undoubtedly amazing as he played almost all the games of the season, rarely missing any.
He joined the Spurs in the 2001-02 season, joining stars David Robinson and Tim Duncan in a team that had championship aspirations. His offensive numbers were not high, as he averaged a career 6.1 points per game, his highest being 8.2 points per game in the 2004-05 season. He is one of those players to whom statistics do not do justice as he did not have good numbers, but his minutes with the Spurs were always at a consistent 30+ per game.
With other stars to take on the offensive load, he knew his task was to keep the defenders from scoring, and he did his job really well. He became the prototype for a typical 3 and D wing player, his 44% from beyond the arc in the 2002-03 season was the highest in the league, and he has the second highest 3s made in franchise history as well.