The biggest question on opening night was whether David Stern would present the defending champs with their commemorative rings and turn around and fine the San Antonio Spurs for being in violation of the new dress code.
Then Brent Barry jogged out to midcourt and planted a big, sloppy kiss on the cheek of the NBA commissioner. As if to say that the Spurs, winners of three titles in the past seven seasons, are less about the bling-bling and more about embracing everything that is right about the game.
Barely 4 months after they closed out a hard-fought, seven-game victory over the Detroit Pistons, the Spurs were back on the floor at the SBC Center on Tuesday night to start writing the next chapter in their how-to-do-it-right manual with a 102-91 victory over the Denver Nuggets.
"That's for other people to decide," said Spurs coach Gregg Popovich. "We approach it exactly as every other year. Our big mantra is boring as hell. We don't want to skip any steps."
The basic steps, of course, are in the core of Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker, as diverse and dynamic a trio as exists in the game and yet a group that won't live off outside expectations that it should cruise back to the NBA Finals.
"It's been pretty easy in the sense that I have a group that knows exactly who they are and what they've accomplished," Pop-ovich said. "We haven't reached some mythical, rarefied level where everybody's afraid of us and they can't touch us. That doesn't exist."
The next rung, it would seem, in the Spurs stamping this as their dynasty is to win back-to-back championships, a feat that eluded them after titles in 1999 and 2003. To take that step, this team that was already close to complete added 22 years of veteran NBA experience in Nick Van Exel and Michael Finley. It then cast out its wide international net to bring in 30-year-old Fabricio Oberto of Argentina's Olympic gold-medal team.
San Antonio has a roster that is now as deep as any in recent memory and one that seems to fit like matching puzzle pieces. Where that Lakers' so-called "Dream Team" two years ago brought in Karl Malone and Gary Payton to join Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant and looked more like a makeshift all-star squad that eventually broke down, the Spurs appear ready for the long haul.
In Van Exel, the Spurs get a point guard who can come off the bench to spell Parker and not have the team suffer a drop-off in speed or the ability to run the offense. In Finley, they get a confident, fearless outside shooter to come off the bench to spread defenses, one area that was lacking last season.
"I told them both they should only come here for the right reasons," Popovich said. "But hey, look, it all starts with Tim."
Indeed, Duncan is a two-time winner of the MVP award in the regular season and has been named Finals MVP in each of the championship climbs. He is the most complete and unselfish player in the league.
"He helps people to be better, and he allows people to reach their highest level, because roles can be fit around him very easily," Popovich said.
Bucks 117, 76ers 108, OT
Michael Redd hit the game-tying 3-pointer in regulation Tuesday and scored 30 points to lead the Milwaukee Bucks to a 117-108 overtime win over the Philadelphia 76ers in the season opener.
Redd's 3-pointer with 1.6 seconds left tied the game at 102-102, brought the Bucks back from seven points down with three minutes left and helped make Terry Stotts a winner in his Milwaukee coaching debut.
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