International Intelligence: The San Antonio Spurs & the Future of the NBA's Small Markets

Tim Duncan (left) and Tony Parker (right) headed to their
5th and 4th NBA Finals, respectively.

Last night, the San Antonio Spurs completed a sweep of the Memphis Grizzlies winning Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals  93-86. The general consensus coming into this series was that it was evenly matched and many even predicted the Grizzlies to be at an advantage by simply being the younger, fresher team. This was not the case. Time, apparently, has no effect on the San Antonio Spurs. In 14 years, since 1999, the Spurs have won 4 championships (1999, 2003, 2005, 2007), been to the Western Conference Finals 7 times (50% of the time!), and have made the playoffs all 14 times (losing in the first round only 3 times). Needless to say, that's an impressive run.
What's more impressive, however, is that the Spurs have been winning over that time period with much of the same organization, even at court-level. Coach Gregg Popovich and Tim Duncan have won 4 titles together. Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili have been on the team for 3 of them (all but 1999). That's 4 core guys who, at a minimum, have had title winning experience for 10 years. Duncan, Parker, and Ginobili are particularly impressive for such a sustained high level of play over these past 10 years, because players simply don't last that long in basketball, especially at their best. Their collective ability to adapt to new roles and styles of play have made them a reliable force to be reckoned with in a league that is constantly changing with the ebbs and flows of star free agents. Luckily, the Spurs have held on to three sure-fire hall-of-famers for more than a decade and counting.
Oddly enough, none of those guys, or the many of the players in supporting roles over the years for the Spurs, were born in the United States: Tim Duncan is from St. Croix. Tony Parker is from France. Manu Ginobili is from Argentina. This year's roster features key role players Tiago Splitter (Brazil) and Boris Diaw (France). Past title-team foreigners include Rasho Nesterovich (2005, C, Slovenia), Beno Udrih (2005 & 2007, G, Slovenia), Francisco Elson (2007, C, Netherlands), and Fabricio Oberto (2007, F, Argentina) - all of whom made an impact for the well-oiled winning machine that is the San Antonio Spurs. There appears to be a focus, and, more importantly, a history of success in investing in overseas talent for the small-market Spurs - especially as larger American stars gravitate towards big-market, luxury locations (think LeBron James to Miami, Chris Paul and Dwight Howard to the two teams Los Angeles).
As you might expect, other teams have picked up on this trend and have enlisted stars from overseas as well: The Memphis Grizzles, whom the Spurs just swept, boasted Defensive Player-of-the-Year Marc Gasol (Spain). His brother, Pau, recently won a pair of titles with the LA Lakers. The German sensation Dirk Novitski notoriously led the Dallas Mavericks to upset the Miami Heat for the 2011 NBA crown. The Minnesota Timberwolves even waited a full year after drafting his rights to steal Ricky Rubio away from his team in Spain. However, no team has utilized the value of international role and complementary players like the San Antonio Spurs over the years and no team has had the constant success they have had in doing it.
The players of most value as the NBA moves towards the future may very well come from overseas. Many point to the shrewd statistically-driven team assembling (drafting, signing and trading) of small-market teams like the Oklahoma City Thunder as the future of smart NBA teams stuck in a small market. Yet, the importance of international investment cannot be overlooked (even the Thunder boast Congolese-Spanish Serge Ibaka) . Every market has inefficiencies waiting for a savvy investor to exploit and the NBA's player market is no different. Once a small market team has at least one talented star to build around, the most valuable of those complementary pieces may very well come from overseas where information is incomplete and successful scouting can go a longer way than it would in the star-driven (show me the money!) States.
It, of course, is no secret that teams would need start with that one star - Tim Duncans, Kobe Bryants, and LeBrons don't grow on trees - but the best teams, especially those limited in small markets will surround those players with productive role players who are willing to go sign for reasonable and flexible contracts, which are much easier to make happen where there is less competition. Small-market teams had best get moving when the getting is good: While the Spurs have shown it that the international cache of talent is far from tapped out, their continued success, due in large part to their successful international scouting of role players, will soon attract higher and higher volumes of competition from fellow NBA executives looking to build smart for the future. Unfortunately, as long as teams like my beloved Philadelphia 76ers (not small-market, but certainly not high in attendance revenue) consecutively draft notable American swingmen and overpay for somewhat-useful American role players, smart teams like the Spurs will continue to exploit the undervaluing of international talent - and continue to win by doing so.