2014 NBA Finals: It’s All About The Spurs

Jun 8, 2014; San Antonio, TX, USA; Fans hold up a sign of Miami Heat forward LeBron James (not pictured) during the first quarter between the San Antonio Spurs and the Miami Heatin game two of the 2014 NBA Finals at AT&T Center. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

For a moment can we just stop with the narratives, with the “hot takes” and with the tearing down of one superstar athlete? Can we just sit back and enjoy what we just witnessed in the 2014 NBA Finals, or is that too much to ask?

As I began to reminisce in what was, I can sure tell you what this year’s NBA Finals wasn’t.

It wasn’t about LeBron James; it wasn’t about the Miami Heat. It wasn’t about Dwyane Wade’s decline; or about the disappearance of Chris Bosh in spots.

And it surely wasn’t about the potential end of Miami’s Big Three. I mean, yes, all those things (at some point) will be the focal point of the offseason – just not now.

When we look back at the 2014 NBA Finals, the first thing that should come to our minds should be how great the San Antonio Spurs were from top to bottom, side to side. From offense to defense; from coaching to performing. The Spurs were everything that a championship team should be – everything that one team longs to be.

Unfortunately, most of us are too busy dwelling on what wasn’t – the Heat. Mostly because it’s the “cool” thing to do. We live in a social media era in which it’s “cool” to bash, not as “cool” to praise. Thus, the teardown of the Miami Heat, LeBron James and the total ignorance of arguably the greatest Gregg Popovich-led San Antonio Spurs team.

It’s unfortunate, unfair and unacceptable.

But it’s “cool.”

As the seconds ticked away and as the ageless Tim Duncan, the drastically underrated Tony Parker and the young, quiet Kawhi Leonard began to celebrate their fifth, fourth and first championship (respectively), we quickly ran to our keyboards or phones to tweet about failure.

We turned blind eyes to the near perfectness that the Spurs showcased. A team that epitomized the very root of basketball, as they celebrated into the night almost unnoticed.

(AND THEY WON THE NBA CHAMPIONSHIP)

I feel like the anti-Skip Bayless.

And no, I’m not trying to give LeBron James or the Miami Heat a “pass.” He doesn’t need one anyways. He was great.

But the Spurs were superior. They were the better team and they showed that, you know, while you were busy looking up or trying to create funny memes directed at LeBron James.

So, yes, the 2014 NBA Finals is finally over. But let’s not get it twisted. We witnessed history. The Spurs were historically great; they could end up going down as one of the best, if not the best, team in NBA Finals history.

I’m actually impressed that the Heat managed to win one – that’s how much better the Spurs were.

What we all witnessed was more about the Spurs than it was about the Heat. But we can’t see that. We can’t have nice things.

We always want to ruin everything – and this time, we went too far.

We tarnished this Spurs championship run – perhaps their greatest. And it’s all because of those damn narratives, “hot takes” and memes.

God, I hate memes.