A Fountain of Youth: San Antonio's Way

San Antonio's Big Three, credit to:
wagesofwins.com

When Juan Ponce de Leon went on search for the fountain of youth he obviously searched in the wrong spot.  Where he should have searched is San Antonio, Texas.  As one of the oldest teams in the NBA it can lead a person to ask how do they keep winning?  With three of their stars over the age of 31 (which to me for the NBA seems pretty old) they shouldn't be making the playoffs every year.  However they manage to make it every year.  Keep in mind throughout this that the average retirement age for an NBA player is 35 years.



Tony Parker is the youngest of the three "stars" for the Spurs.  The 31 year old France native guard has played for this team since he joined the league all the way back in 2001.  Parker has been there for the last three championships of the team's history.  The next oldest "star" is Manu Ginobili who is 36 years-old.  Most people are gone by then either from injuries taking their toll, or just deciding they can't take the physical demand anymore.  Last but not least is Tim Duncan the captain, or the grandpa of the team.  Duncan is still playing at an astounding 37 years old.  After being drafted by the Spurs first overall in 1997, Duncan immediately helped the Spurs leading them back to the playoffs after a terrible 20-62 season.  With as tough as these three players are I believe that the Spurs are set for the next couple years to come.

Wait you might say what happens when they retire?  The Spurs have a very good balance of age.  Sure they have the veterans who are extremely old, but they also have young talent that will keep them in the playoffs for who knows how long.  People such as Kawhi Leonard who is only 22 more years and can only improve as time goes by with as good of a staff that the Spurs have can only help the team's future.  The young 26 year-old Danny Green will also keep them at the top as long as he can do what he did in the playoffs last year.  With that said, I think San Antonio could be a force to be reckon with now and down the road.