Whoops, I basically had this finished last summer but forgot to post it. So, here it is a year late (I don't think anyone else cares, so you shouldn't either).
Last year the San Antonio Spurs celebrated their 50th anniversary with a 50-part docu-series chronicling the history of the team entitled The Ring of the Rowel.
Yes, you read that correctly, it is a FIFTY-part docu-series.
The series produced a total of over 13 and a half hours of footage. It's an impressive piece of work for the in-house production team that included hours of writing, conducting interviews, searching for archival footage, and editing the whole thing into a proper narrative. The series goes above and beyond what most teams do for their anniversaries.
The Spurs franchise had to believe that if they didn't tell the story of one of the most successful sports franchises of the last fifty years, no one would....and it's just as likely no one will give a full review of this excellent series, so why not me?
The Spurs wisely released the videos out of chronological order. This allowed them to slowly release the most popular videos throughout the year, rather than in one clump. This also made the experience a little more fun as each week, fans would eagerly wait for the next episode in complete mystery of what would come next. Many of the videos themselves are more thematic than chronological. For example, there is an episode on the Spurs-Lakers rivalry that covers the early 80s rivalry as well as the 2000s rivalry with Kobe and Shaq. However, most of the episodes are chronological, so if you watch them in the order the Spurs released them, it can be a bit of a discombobulated experience.
Some kind soul has put together a chronological order of The Ring of the Rowel on YouTube. If you haven't watched any episodes, this is the way to do it. Just search it up on YT. Some of the videos are nearly impossible to put in proper chronological order but having a proper chronological order is impossible because of the thematic nature of the series. If someone was insane enough, they could edit the entire 13 + hours and make a giant single documentary.....but you would be insane to even think such thoughts (I just thought of it).
The series focused on the players but there were episodes on ownership, the buildings the Spurs played in, and even the Coyote (which was surprisingly, very good). Last year, former owner Red McCombs died and it felt like they randomly created a video just for him, even though much of that episode ended up being recycled from a later (or chronologically earlier) video.
Here are some of my favorites:
"Origins" - Entertaining and informative, I honestly learned a lot.
"Ice Man Cometh" - Of course, I love the old footage and I loved learning about the insanity of the trade that brought Gervin to SA.
"Merging" - like "Origins", very informative but also, fast-paced and informative.
"Our Furry Friend" - Surprisingly interesting. I had forgotten that the Coyote had once been kicked out of a game.
"Miracle Man" (Sean Elliott) - Possibly my favorite episode and although I love Elliott, it's not like I am his biggest fan. I admit the interchange between Elliott and Pop had me shed a tear.
"71" - this is the best thing I have ever seen or read about on David Robinson's 71-point game. Although it seems like in today's NBA 70 is increasingly becoming the new 60-65, in 1994, it was quite the feat. Great interviews with Coach Lucas and Gervin (who was an assistant coach this year) and it included unseen footage from the locker room after the game (hey, look, Madonna)!!!
As you can tell, my favorites were primarily older stuff but that's because I am a bit of a Spurs nut-case and an expert in the Tim/Tony/Manu era.
If you're a Spurs fan, you really need to watch all of the episodes! The quality is outstanding but, and this is a big but, this series is an "official documentary". This means some major stories that did NOT get told because some of these stories were, a wee bit unsightly. After all, a "squeaky clean" team like the Spurs doesn't want to tarnish its own myth-making.
If this was a perfect world, here would be the stories that should have been covered but didn't for one reason or another:
Alvin Robertson
It's clear that this guy seems like a messed up dude but does that mean we should forget his record-shattering career?
- Robertson is one of three players in NBA history that had a quadruple-double (and he was on the Spurs when he did it).
- While on the Spurs he was a 4-time All-Star & the NBA DPOY in 1986.
- He is the only player to have 300 steals in an NBA season
- Robertson averaged over 3 steals a game; which has only been done ten times (and he did it three of those ten times with the Spurs)!
There isn't a need to get too deep into his off-court troubles but we should admit some of his on-court play was historically great.
Dennis Rodman
I would argue Rodman was an idiot with the Spurs but I also think he might have been at his athletic peak in his time with the Spurs. Rodman played on two, crazy, zany years as Drob's sidekick. Both seasons had plenty to remember,and I think framing this imaginary episode about the relationship between Robinson and Rodman, one of the league's most bizarre duos of all time, would have been interesting.
Just start the episode with this:
There were so many interesting things that happened, and at the very least we got a cool Secret Base Beef episode out of it:
The 1994-1997 Spurs Era and Gregg Popovich's firing of Bob Hill
In 1997, Pop (as the Spurs' GM) fired head coach Bob Hill and installed himself as coach. This insane move wasn't EVEN MENTIONED in the Pop episode.
This bold move by Pop should have been a whole episode. The episode should have begun by honoring that great WCF team, following their rise and fall to the Rockets. At the time, Pop firing Hill seemed like an egotistical and cruel move - right as Robinson was recovering from injury.
Even in the episode that was centered on other coaches the Spurs have had, Bob Hill isn't even mentioned! Hill has been basically whitewashed from Spurs history, which is sad. Until Pop came along he was easily the Spurs' most successful coach, to not even mention him at all seems unnecessarily mean and petty.
In retrospect, firing Hill was absolutely the right move. Spurs fans held it against Pop until at least 2003. I didn't even really like Pop until 2005ish.
Spurs-Suns Rivalry, Spurs-Rockets Rivalry and/or Spurs-Mavericks Rivalry
The Spurs-Lakers rivalry got an episode but the Spurs have had many rivalries that deserved a similar feature, The Jazz could be put in there but that rivalry was largely limited to the largely the 90s.
Here are some highlights of each of the rivalries match-up above that could have been featured:
Spurs-Mavs - Tim v. Dirk, playoff matchups in 2001, 2003, 2006, 2010, and 2014, Tim had his career high of 53 in an OT game, Cuban talking shit about the Riverwalk, acquiring Finley (his journey from being cut from the Mavs, signing with the Spurs, losing to the Mavs in 2006 to finally winning the chip in 2007 with the Spurs might have been a good framing device).
Spurs-Rockets - Hakeem v. David Robinson, 1995 Conference Finals loss, a huge game in 99 (Elie game-winner), Tracey McGrady scoring a million points in less than one minute, Manu blocking Harden and winning WCSF in 2017.
Spurs-Suns - Barkley closing down Hemisphere on a buzzer-beater, Tim's first playoff series in 98, the 2003 match-up (Marbury's buzzer-beater in game one), 2005 and 2007 WCF matchups (both legendary), and Nash's Sun's eventual win in 2010.
The Rise and Fall of the Kawhi Era
I know this seems too fresh for some, but it is definitely one of the most important stories of the last few years in the NBA. The producers didn't have to make anyone look bad but to ignore the topic seems to be petty and flat-out silly.
The guy was a defensive player of the year for the Spurs (twice), our Finals MVP of 2014 and he also led us to a 2017 WCF and the brink of what could have been something special. I don't like the guy, I think he is a certified weirdo, but the fact he didn't get a focused episode on him, left a bad taste in my mouth. It is an eventuality that his number will be in the rafters one day.
Yeah, Secret Base has us covered here too. :)
What's next?
Honestly, probably nothing. I can't imagine the cost and effort this took to produce it but I would love it if the team released the unedited (or lightly edited) interviews of all these folks that they did interview. It would be a treat for super fans and surely, not that difficult to pull off. Some of the interviews barely scratched the surface.
If someone is reading this that has any connection to the Spurs media team, reach out to me, I will help produce the next series, at a deep discount than other consultants. lol.
Anyway, if you like the Spurs, you need to check out this under-rated and amazing series.
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