[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 94 (Tuesday, June 29, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1440-E1441]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            IN HONOR OF THE WORLD CHAMPION SAN ANTONIO SPURS

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. HENRY BONILLA

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 29, 1999

  Mr. BONILLA. Mr. Speaker, in recognition of his outstanding coverage 
of the San Antonio Spurs, I hereby enter this column by Buck Harvey 
into the Congressional Record. This column appeared in the San Antonio 
Express News on the morning after the Spurs beat the New York Knicks to 
claim the NBA title.

           [From the San Antonio Express News, June 26, 1999]

               Time of Their Lives? Just Replay the Tape

                            (By Buck Harvey)

       New York.--Within minutes Tim Duncan aimed a camcorder, 
     which is just like him. He's young, but he's already old 
     enough to know to value these moments.
       So at midcourt in Madison Square Garden, Duncan turned his 
     camera and caught Avery Johnson and Gregg Popovich hugging. 
     He captured the celebration of three generations of Robinson 
     men. And then he panned this scene and created something he 
     should stash in a vault.
       Even with so much still awaiting him--with a Hall of Fame 
     career really just beginning--Duncan will someday look back 
     at this tape and wonder how such a special group ever came 
     together.
       Nice guys, finally, finished first.
       San Antonio already knows as much. The city waited more 
     than a quarter of a century for a title and, when one 
     arrived, it came unexpectedly, from a 6-8 nadir, with a coach 
     everyone wanted to impale. Even after a three-month march 
     across the country--proving night after night and in city 
     after city they were the best--everything stood oddly quiet 
     when Latrell Sprewell drove baseline one last time.
       When Sprewell stumbled, the city felt as Popovich did. 
     ``Kind of stunning,'' Popovich said late Friday. ``You wonder 
     if it's really true.
       Duncan can always go to his VCR for verification, and he'll 
     be somewhere in the picture, too. At one point he gave his 
     camcorder to Malik Rose.
       Then he will see a few frames of the league's best player, 
     as smooth with his feet as he is with his mind. The Knicks 
     were as made for Duncan as the Lakers were, with little size 
     to contest him, and his three-basket spurt to begin the 
     fourth quarter showcased every skill.
       As for the MVP of the 1999 NBA Finals: Wouldn't Karl Malone 
     rather have this award than his?
       But the film will drag just about then, as two, bullish 
     defensive teams clawed at each other. And that's why the 
     Spurs had a reason to be scared. As Sprewell jumped back for 
     jumpers--as he felt it--the Knicks looked capable of jumping 
     back to the Alamodome.
       That's where other clips will be necessary. Splice in some 
     footage from Salt Lake City when the Spurs took home court, 
     then from Minneapolis, Los Angeles and Portland. Show how the 
     Spurs closed out everyone on the road, with toughness, with 
     defense.
       Why should this one have been any different? The Spurs' 
     defense held the Knicks without a point the last three 
     minutes, which is no shock as to those who listened to 
     Popovich's huddles during that time. ``We are going to win 
     this,'' he kept saying, ``with our defense.''
       They would need one more basket, though, which brings 
     Duncan to his final frame. On

[[Page E1441]]

     the baseline, at his spot, left open again, was someone who 
     once stood 5-foot-3 in a New Orleans high school, who grabbed 
     the only scholarship offer he got, who was cut on Christmas 
     Eve and at his friend's wedding.
       There is a basketball god, all right: Avery Johnson needed 
     only a second to swish the jumper he's been working on for a 
     decade.
       AJ deserves this ring. Robinson deserves this ring. Sean 
     Elliott, Mario Elie, Jaren Jackson . . . name one who 
     doesn't.
       They were cast as soft victims, by Malone and Charles 
     Barkley and Damon Stoudamire. By a lot of people without 
     rings. But they rarely showed resentment.
       They were so enjoyable that one New York newspaperman 
     admitted he came to their interview sessions this week when 
     he didn't have to, just so he could listen to them. They 
     dunked and didn't beat their chests. They didn't turn on each 
     other when they could have.
       And someday, when Duncan wants to look back, he will turn 
     on his VCR and remember the time of their lives. Men gathered 
     from Drexel, Navy, American International, Southern and 
     Pomona-Pitzer. Some without fanfare, all with something to 
     prove. And they won.

     

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