San Antonio Spurs: The aging curve
The Spurs have been battling the aging curve since the paleolithic era and usually win, so their fans shouldn’t be too worried.
However, San Antonio is a very old team. Manu Ginobili is 39, Tony Parker is 34, Pau Gasol is 36, LaMarcus Aldridge is 31 and David Lee is 33.
Gregg Popovich does a great job of managing rest, and Kawhi Leonard can take over down the stretch of must-win games. But the season is long and the playoffs are taxing. Two years ago, Tony Parker looked spent by Game 7 of the Spurs’ first-round series and they lost, with Parker a -8 in 33 crucial minutes.
This will be a question for San Antonio every year until the end of time, or whenever Manu retires, but that doesn’t make it any less valid.