Welcome Back, NBA

Boy, have I missed you.

The months of August and September can be very long ones for NBA fans. The hoopla of the 'offseason' is over, and most of the big moves have been made. All that's left is a bunch of sound and fury signifying nothing. And bored, rich young men getting in lots of trouble.

I can't bear to watch baseball until the playoffs, and barely then. And I love football, but I don't follow it with the passion and scrutiny of basketball, so that only holds my interest one, maybe two, days a week. And that really only gets going in mid-September. (I am, perhaps surprisingly, a passionate tennis fan, so I do get a two-week sports fix with the US Open.)

But now training camp has officially begun, and we can get back to discussing the things that will and do actually happen on the court. And as Spurs fans, we have all of our favorite characters back in our lives. And a whole host of new ones. This is shaping up as probably the most interesting Spurs pre-season since Tim Duncan arrived in San Antonio. We have equal parts expectation and mystery. With all the offseason moves made, we have as strong a claim as any team to the phrase 'title contender'. But plenty of questions abound around the health of our core players, how all the new pieces will fit in, and if any of the younger (read: athletic) players can become impact players.

Spurs training camp is full of players who fully expect to be on an NBA roster come opening night. This is going to be a very competitive and entertaining preseason. I can't wait to see how it all shapes up, and I can't wait to see our team on opening night.

Most of all, I can't wait to watch a healthy Manu back performing his basketball voodoo.

#1 NBA General Manager of Last Decade?

On Yahoo! Sports yesterday, Ball Don't Lie ranked the top 10 NBA general managers of the last decade.

Guess who's number one:

We don't know how much impact Gregg Popovich has had on Buford's wheelings and dealings, and R.C. has had help (current Oklahoma City GM Sam Presti was on his payroll for years). Buford also had nothing to do with the acquisitions of David Robinson (1987) or Tim Duncan(notes) (1997).

But there's no denying Buford's impact on the Spurs' rise to power this decade. Even though he technically wasn't the team's personnel boss (that would be Popovich) when the Spurs drafted Manu Ginobili(notes) (2000) or Tony Parker(notes) (2001), he was the man who recommended the franchise take both future All-Stars.

Buford's also emblematic of an organization that, from the owner on down, works together to sustain a winner, and stay frank and honest with themselves. Not a lot of game-playing in San Antonio, besides the 82 (and many, many extra playoff contests). They work from October until spring. Call it a symbolic choice, rail on me for not picking the lone GM gunslinger, despise the fact that, over 10 years after winning their first championship, the Spurs are still contenders under Duncan.

Do what you want. Organizations do win championships. The players are part of the organization, and the players need help. The executives need help, too, in the form of the expert player. The Spurs get this. Owner Peter Holt gets this, and Buford gets this. Unafraid to ask for help, unafraid to chase down a winner. And the results (the playoffs in every year, four championships overall, three during the decade in question) speak for themselves.

Incidentally, our friends over at Pounding the Rock must love whom Ball Don't Lie ranked as one of the 10 best dunkers of the last decade.