Tony Parker Injured: Bad Sign for the Spurs?

In the age of free agency, you’ll be hard-pressed to find an NBA team as consistent as the San Antonio Spurs. For the past decade, it seems that not a season goes by where the Spurs are not brought up as title contenders, a type of dominance that has resulted in four championships since the shortened 1998-1999 season and the word dynasty tossed around.

Last season was a bit of an anomaly, though, as the Spurs lost to the Dallas Mavericks in the first round of the playoffs, their earliest exit since 1999-2000. It was a headscratcher due to the fact that the Spurs were considered to be the biggest threat to the heavily-favored Lakers making it to the finals. Without one of their biggest rivals to slow them down, the Lakers indeed made it to the finals before beating the Magic to win their first title since 2001-2002.

But what happened to the Spurs? Was it age? Did the team cohesion and chemistry that they have been known for deteriorate? What derailed a potential Spurs/Lakers conference final is something that many NBA teams have to deal with, though not necessarily to the extent that the San Antonio franchise had to last year. One word: injuries.

Of course time heals all injuries and it seemed as if the Spurs were recharging for another run at the title. After stealing DeJuan Blair in the second round of the draft, sending three aging veterans to Milwaukee for Richard Jefferson, and signing Antonio McDyess, it looked as if the team was revamping by becoming more athletic and gaining more size in the middle to help future Hall of Famer Tim Duncan. What confidence Spurs fans had took a hit when it was revealed that Tony Parker had suffered a mild ankle sprain in a game against Austria.

Now, I know that a mild ankle sprain isn’t necessarily reason to panic (after all, its several months before the NBA season gets underway), but one can’t help but think that the knockout blow for the Spurs a year ago is rearing its ugly head once again. Though tests revealed no serious damage, it leaves me a bit uneasy. The Spurs have always been a rather healthy team and to have at least one of their big three seemingly always on the mend is not the best sign for the season. The Spurs need to be at full strength to be able to possibly dethrone the Lakers, especially those big three, so perhaps a curtailing of the international ball (Parker was injured in a France v. Austria game) would be in order.

However, it is only August and a lot can change between now and the beginning of the season, let alone during the course of the 82 game regular season. Parker is hopefully going to recover from his injury and come back full strength, providing the spark that the Spurs need to once again be considered a contender for the NBA championship and continue their decade-plus contention.