Miami Heat vs San Antonio Spurs Part II: Where This Time It Has Nothing To Do With Legacy

Jun 11, 2013; San Antonio, TX, USA; Miami Heat small forward LeBron James (6) looks to pass against San Antonio Spurs power forward Tim Duncan (21) during the first quarter of game three of the 2013 NBA Finals at the AT&T Center. Mandatory Credit: Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports

In the entire scheme of things, when it’s all said and done, no player’s legacy involved in this NBA Finals is going to be made or broken by this one series. It never is. That’s the unpopular truth.

This won’t be the last time LeBron James makes an NBA Finals; and Tim Duncan already has four titles. There’s very little for him to prove.

This series isn’t about legacy. It never was.

It’s about something much more important.

Pride.

There aren’t many NBA Finals rematches in back-to-back year’s in the history of the NBA. To be exact, it has only happened 10 times since 1947 (if I counted correctly), and only once in the last two decades.

• Minneapolis Lakers vs New York Knicks (1951-53)
• St. Louis Hawks vs Boston Celtics (1956-58)
• Boston Celtics vs St. Louis Hawks (1959-61)
• Boston Celtics vs Los Angeles Lakers (1960-62)
• Boston Celtics vs Los Angeles Lakers (1964-66)
• Boston Celtics vs Los Angeles Lakers (1967-69)
• Los Angeles Lakers vs New York Knicks (1971-73)
• Los Angeles Lakers vs Philadelphia 76ers (1981-83)
• Los Angeles Lakers vs Boston Celtics (1983-85)
• Chicago Bulls vs Utah Jazz (1995-97)

The last time it happened, the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls beat the Utah Jazz…again. Ironically, there are a few parallels from that series to this Miami Heat vs San Antonio Spurs one.

The Jazz were led by a dynamic point guard in John Stockton and by an aging power forward in Karl Malone. Similarly, the Spurs are led by Tony Parker (also a dynamic PG) and an aging Tim Duncan.

Huh.

On the other end, the Bulls were led by the best player in the world (and possibly ever) in Jordan, along with a second-fiddle Scottie Pippen. The parallels continue. Miami is led by the current best player in the world (and one could eventually argue ever) LeBron James, and a really good second-fiddle Dwyane Wade.

Hmm.

I’m not saying that history is going to repeat itself, but it’s pretty interesting how similar the two match-ups are. With that said, that’s all it is. Interesting.

Now back to basketball in 2014.

The last time these two teams played a meaningful minute, we were watching The King win his second ring as he hit a game-clinching 17-foot jumper to give his Heat the eventual victory in Game 7.

In essence, not much has happened since then. The Spurs went 62-20, finished with the best record in the NBA and rammed through the Western Conference Playoffs with little resistance.

Miami, coasted through the regular season at 54-28, and dominated their way to their fourth-straight Eastern Conference Title with ease.

Both teams are exactly where they were one year ago — minus a Mike Miller here and a Gary Neal there. But the main characters have returned for the sequel.

And even though sequel’s are never better than their originals, I have a feeling that we may have an exception this year.

But don’t worry, the talking heads will try to make this all about Duncan’s chance to solidify his legacy, or LeBron’s ascendence in his’. It’s all nonsense, and TV talk. Much like the creation of a “clutch gene.” Do you think the Spurs are going to be sitting in their locker room just before Game 1, thinking about their legacies? That’s not going to be the driving factor for anybody, much less a well-coached team like the Spurs.

Gregg Popovich won’t even let that thought enter his squad’s mind.

What they’ll be thinking about, though, is the way that they went out last season. The way they were a mere 28 seconds away from a fifth Championship. 23 seconds later, Ray Allen shot them back to reality.

And then there was Game 7. A Duncan missed bunny and a LeBron dagger shot later, and here we are.

The Heat are shooting for the rare three-peat, while the Spurs are still trying to win their first championship since the 2007.

Both, however, are playing for pride.

The last time the Spurs won a Championship, it was against the LeBron James-led Cleveland Cavaliers squad (I’m still not sure how that roster found their way to the NBA Finals). That’s neither here nor there, though.

But the resounding words that Duncan spoke to James after that series still lingers in the back of my mind (yes, I live vicariously through LeBron).

Is it LeBron’s league now? Surely it has to be. Though, when it’s your league, you can’t let someone else win your championship. You just can’t. The defense of that begins, or continues, soon. But it’ll be a little different this time.

These two teams have already played the whole “legacy” series once. Been there, done that. That doesn’t matter anymore. This series is about pride and about The King taking his place on top of the League. Again, and defending it with pride. He’s arrived. This is what kings do when others threaten them.

They defend. And defend. And defend.

He’s done it twice, in back-to-back year’s. If he wants his name in the conversation with the Jordan’s of the NBA, he’s going to have to do it time after time after time. And that starts Thursday. A three-peat would send a message to the rest of the league — that it’s his.

For a player who is clearly head-and-shoulders above the rest of his peers, he still doesn’t get the respect he deserves. A three-peat would all but diminish that doubt.

Though, for Duncan, it’s about leaving on top. About showing the world that, while LeBron is the best player in the world, let’s not forget the Spurs. Let’s not forget that the Spurs have feasted off star-driven teams in the Finals before. Plus, there’s the unfinished business that the Spurs left behind in last year’s Finals.

This is what the Spurs do. When they’re counted out, as they were after last year’s Finals, they find a way to climb back in.

When they walked off the court in last season’s Game 7, they knew they had lost the battle. The war, however, had yet to be decided.

It’s time for the rematch.

Thursday night isn’t Game 1. It’s Game 8.