If there was no lockout in 1999...

...would the Spurs still win the NBA championship?

This question kind of got me thinking - I remember reading Shaq's book called "Shaq Talks Back" and he (I think Phil too; I forget though) said that he would put an asterick beside their championship victory.

So, I am wondering if you guys agree/disagree with this.

BQ: Besides, Karl Malone, John Stockton, Charles Barkely, and Patrick Ewing...which NBA legend that has not won a ring do you feel is deserving of a championship ring and why?

A championship is a championship, so they probably would have

BQ: Uhh Reggie Miller because he's cool

I think they would still won it

BQ:Right now Kidd,Dirk,Nash,Carter from the past Dominic,Gilmore,Thurmond etc

well..I mean...you could easily make a case that there should be an asterisk to that championship season.....

But at the end of the day...they got the job done...while other teams couldn't...
Its not like the other teams had to play 82 games...while the Spurs got off easy...

Everyone had the same amt of games...

If Patrick Ewing was healthy for that season then maybe the Spurs would not have won the championship. A championship is a championship and the playoffs are the playoffs. The Spurs qualified to make the playoffs and they would have in an 82 game season as well. The playoffs were the same set up it was always, so the lockout had nothing to do with this. Therefore, lockout or not it did not affect how the Spurs played in the playoffs and they deserved their ring, like any other team in any other year. That playoff year was the greatest playoff year I've ever seen. That and the Spurs/Pistons NBA Finals playoff are my 2 favorite years. Anyways, the Knicks I think would have finished 8th seed regardless if it was a 41 or 82 game season because of all the new players we had and of all the injuries. However, no doubt in my mind that the same result would have happened cause that team was just so gritty and talented that it gace the other teams fits. If Ewing was healthy in the Finals I like Knicks chances though.

I don't think the Spurs would win the 1999 title. That year was a wide open door for anyone.

Yes there should be an asterisk in 1999 season and finals imo.
The reason?obvious.

BQ: All of them but A.I more

i agree with wiz




BQ: tracy mcgrady

Nah, they wouldnt of won it then, the season was shortened like a motherfucker and that would of gave time for the injured to make a return late in the season... Ewing

Patrick Ewing deserved it the most. i mean he kept losing the jordan

Eh...I think there's a number of teams that could've taken it. The Spurs had as good a shot as anybody though.

BQ: Hmmm...Reggie Miller all-time, Kidd currently.

I think the New York Knicks having time to get Patrick Ewing back would've won the NBA title in 1999.

But the lockout made for one of the greatest years in NBA playoff history.

Seeing the Knicks upset the Heat in Game 5 on Allan Houston's floated with .8 seconds was something I'll never forget.

That Knicks-Pacers ECF was intense as well. Two of the best rivalries I've ever watched in sports

The Spurs dominated the west in the playoffs. That'd 1st round series between the Kings and Jazz was awesome too.

I loved the Knicks cinderella run. At the time they were the 2nd NBA team in history as an 8th seed to upset a 1st seed. They did more than just upset the #1 seeded Heat and went all the way to the Finals