Big Three (San Antonio Spurs)
The Big Three was a trio of National Basketball Association players for the San Antonio Spurs from 2002 to 2016, which consisted of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginóbili.
Each member of the trio has had their jersey retired by the Spurs and all three have been inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Before being selected number one overall by the San Antonio Spurs, Tim Duncan played college basketball for four years at Wake Forest.
Duncan also won numerous national player of the year awards for his senior season at Wake Forest and was a two-time consensus first-team All-American.
In the 1996–97 NBA season, general manager Gregg Popovich (hired for the position in 1994 after having served as an assistant from 1988 to 1992) fired head coach Bob Hill after the team was 3–15 to start the year, one that saw David Robinson play six games before breaking his foot.
With first overall pick in the 1997 NBA draft, the Spurs selected Duncan, joining David Robinson to form a frontcourt known as the "Twin Towers".
[3] Tony Parker played two years with Paris Basket Racing prior to being selected 28th overall by the San Antonio Spurs in the 2001 NBA draft.
He started his professional career with the Andino Sports Club of the Argentine basketball league before being traded to his hometown team, Estudiantes de Bahía Blanca where he played for two seasons.
Together, alongside role players like Bruce Bowen and Steve Kerr, the Spurs won an NBA-best 60–22 record and home-court advantage throughout the entire playoffs.
In their first series, the Spurs defeated the Phoenix Suns in six games, setting up a second-round match-up with the Los Angeles Lakers.
[11] In Game 6, Duncan recorded a triple-double, as the Spurs were able to close out the series and secure their second title in four years.
[12] Despite changes to the team, the Spurs were consistent enough to go 57–25 on the year, finishing one game behind the Minnesota Timberwolves for the Midwest Division title and the best record in the Western Conference.
Their strong regular season play secured them a trip to the NBA Playoffs and a first-round match-up with the Memphis Grizzlies.
The Spurs promptly swept the Grizzlies and advanced to a fourth consecutive conference semifinal match-up with the Los Angeles Lakers.
In Game 5, Duncan continued to play in the series, making a jump shot with 0.4 seconds remaining to give the Spurs a 73–72 lead.
However, with a fraction of a second left on the clock, Derek Fisher hit a buzzer-beater to give the Lakers a 74–73 win.
The Spurs began the playoffs by defeating the Denver Nuggets in five games, with each of the trio being key contributors in the series.
[15] In Game 6, Duncan delivered in yet another pivotal moment, making a shot with 0.5 seconds to break the tie and lead the Spurs to a 98–96 victory.
[27] Duncan had a dominant performance in Game 2 with 26 points and fourteen rebounds which gave the Spurs a 105–96 win and a 2–0 series lead.
Aided by 21 points each from Duncan and Parker, the Spurs dominated Game 5 with a 109–84 win to close out the series against the Jazz and advance to the 2007 NBA Finals.
James would lead the postseason in total points scored and assists, but the Spurs would come away with a tight sweep.
[29] During the 2007–08 NBA season, the group led the Spurs to a 56–26 record which resulted in them getting the number three seed and a first-round matchup with the Phoenix Suns.
Ginóbili missed more than half of the 2008–09 NBA season due to injury, and the Spurs finished 54–28 and ended up as the number three seed in the Western Conference.
The Spurs completed two four-game sweeps against the Utah Jazz and the Los Angeles Clippers to reach the Western Conference Finals.
The trio led the Spurs to a four-game sweep over the Los Angeles Lakers and ended up facing the Golden State Warriors with Stephen Curry in the second round.
In Game 1 of the NBA Finals, Tony Parker hit a layup with 5.2 seconds left to put the Spurs ahead 92–88.
[37] During the 2013–14 NBA season, the Spurs finished with an NBA-best 62–20 record, thus earning home-court advantage throughout the entire playoffs.
The Spurs swept the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round but lost a six-game series to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the conference semifinals.
[42] On July 11, 2016, Tim Duncan announced that he was retiring from the NBA after a nineteen-year career, thus ending the "Big Three" era.
[43] In the 2016–17 season, the Spurs reached the Western Conference Finals, losing to Golden State in a four-game sweep after leading scorer Kawhi Leonard was injured in Game 1.
