2013-14 NBA Bench Power Rankings
By Alex Siquig
Jun 20, 2013; Miami, FL, USA; San Antonio Spurs shooting guard Manu Ginobili addresses the media after game seven in the 2013 NBA Finals against the Miami Heat at American Airlines Arena. Miami Heat won 95-88 to win the NBA Championship. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
1. San Antonio Spurs
Until further notice, the San Antonio Spurs have a monopoly on best bench in the league. The numbers back this up to an extent, as San Antonio’s bench sits comfortably in the top ten in almost every statistical category worth mentioning (on the other hand they rank 28th in blocked shots), but it goes beyond that. Teams talk a lot about culture. It is a buzzword that can be annoying, especially in the context of the raw capitalistic nature of fanboy oligarchs and their number crunching whiz kids reducing people to spreadsheets and movable pieces. The NBA is a business. And business is by design a cutthroat dance of diminishing returns and backroom power plays. Basketball is something more pure than all of that hullabaloo and monetized malarkey. The San Antonio Spurs are not exempt. They too run a business, and a deadly predatory one at that. But they value loyalty, transparency, and doing things the right way. In their own way, the Spurs have always paid tribute to the purity of the game.
For over a decade, year in and year out, the team has acquitted itself with consistent excellence across the board, implementing an array of styles, shuttling in and out the movable parts, and letting Gregg Popovich and the Big Three tear the rest of the league to shreds on a nightly basis. The brilliance of the starters bleeds into the reserves. The Spurs have a bench that can hold a lead and build a lead. They have a squadron of dudes who don’t wilt under pressure, who face moments most in the NBA can only dream of with a kind of routine ease. When Popovich rests his starters to protect their legs or simply out of whimsy, the bench steps up. They are not an easy out. Beating the Spurs “B Team” is an accomplishment in and of itself. Pop has instilled his philosophy deep in these guys. They are the closest thing that the association has to a military unit. They don’t gloat. They don’t need inspiration to get out there and produce miracles. They just produce them because that’s their job.
As an organization the Spurs just have that alchemical touch. Just take an objective look at the bench players. Matt “The Red Rocket” Bonner. Boris Diaw. Corey Joseph. Sometimes Tiago Splitter. A sad old version of Manu Ginobli. New addition Marco Belinelli. A lineup like that shouldn’t strike fear in your heart, but it does. Donning the silver and black changes a player. They are held accountable to something bigger than the next contract or the promise of individual accolades. The players’ identities and egos are subsumed into the abstract, into Pop’s grand design. The Spurs have built their bench into a baby powerhouse. They will embarrass you.
In conclusion, the Spurs bench holds onto the top spot. Even a heartbreaking loss to the champions hasn’t convinced me this isn’t the most dangerous bench in the league. The players know it, the coaches know it, you know it. They’ve earned that distinction. You can pry that from their cold dead hands, pardner.