Paul George went on The Pivot Podcast with Ryan Clark, Fred Taylor, and Channing Crowder and told them that he may have won a championship if LeBron James didn’t exist. He’s clearly forgotten that there was a buzz saw waiting in the other conference. The 2013 and 2014 Spurs would have ripped through that Indiana Pacers team without much trouble, giving San Antonio back-to-back title runs.
If you’re wondering why I’m focusing on those years, it’s because that was the only time the Pacers were even good enough to make it to the Eastern Conference Finals. They lost in 2012 in the semi-finals to the Heat, too, but they still would have had to get through Boston if LeBron and Dwyane Wade weren’t standing in their way, and I wouldn’t have picked them to make it out of that series either.
It’s foolish to look past those Spurs teams
There are plenty of legends who had their championship hopes dashed because of James. That’s what happens when an all-time great player gets to a great team in his prime. However, he wasn’t the only great thing about that era. San Antonio influenced the next generation of basketball with those teams, and the Pacers were not equipped to handle what the Spurs had in store.
As good as those Indiana teams were, Timmy D and the crew were always much better. So much so that nobody even considered the possibility that they could meet in the NBA Finals because they weren’t good enough to think they were actually capable of beating Miami.
When the Heatles reached the peak of their powers, there was only one team people believed could knock them off, and it was the Silver and Black. The NBA community was surprised Paul George and company were able to get as close to toppling Miami as they did, and they weren’t really that close. Granted, they pushed the Heat to a Game 7 one year, but nobody believed they’d win.
Those Pacers teams weren’t on the Spurs’ level
Let’s play make-believe and pretend that LeBron didn’t exist. The Pacers’ style of play was gritty, physical basketball. They wanted to defend and get up into their opponent’s space to make them uncomfortable, finishing games with a lower-than-league-average score.
Unfortunately for them, San Antonio was already more than familiar with this style because the Grizzlies played with a similar mindset, but they were much better at it. Memphis’ problem was that they played in the Western Conference when OKC and the Spurs were dominating.
Had Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol’s squad played in the East, they would have been the two seed with the same 56 wins that earned them fourth in the West in 2013. Yes. I’m going there, too. The Eastern Conference has been weaker than its counterpart for the majority of the last 25 years. Whether it were the Spurs, Thunder, or third-seeded Nuggets, the Pacers wouldn’t have been favored.
The Pacers won 49 games that season compared to the 58 won by San Antonio. They played twice during the 2012-13 season, and Indiana lost by a combined 29 points. The following year, they improved and won 56 games. The Spurs won 62, and we know the peak they reached during the 2014 season.
You could make the argument that had the Ray Allen shot not happened in 2013, San Antonio wouldn’t have been as determined the following year, but a Tim Duncan-led team never needed revenge as a motivating factor to dominate seasons and playoffs, hence why they have five rings that would be six if George had his way.
Had James never picked up a basketball, the furthest he would have gotten is the NBA Finals, but dreams of a trophy would have been eradicated right there.
