Count me among the surprised. I’m not really surprised the San Antonio Spurs are going back to the NBA Finals. They were as good as any team in the Western Conference this season. But I am surprised they were able to sweep the Memphis Grizzlies. I thought this series would go at least six games.

But that’s about par for the course with the Spurs. For whatever reason, this team never seems to get enough credit. The Spurs are now four wins away from their fifth championship under Greg Popovich and Tim Duncan. Tony Parker and Manu Ginobli would win their fourth championship. Yet every time the Spurs win a title, it’s almost like the other team choked.

In 1999, the New York Knicks lost to the Spurs of Duncan and David Robinson. At the end of the series it was all about the Knicks falling short yet again. Also, the Spurs got no love from some because they won in a lockout shortened season. Notice however that the Miami Heat got no flack for this last year.

In 2003, they beat the New Jersey Nets. But it was the Nets second straight Finals shortcoming and so they took most of the flack for losing rather than the Spurs getting love for winning.

Then in 2005, the Spurs ruined the Detroit Pistons shot at a back to back with a seven game series win over the defending champs. So again, it was about the Pistons coming up short.

On 2007, The Spurs swept the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Finals. Naturally, this one was on Lebron James.

At some point, one has to wonder when people will realize the Spurs are really good. They’ve been to the Finals four times since 1999 and are 4-0. They have also won 10 division titles since 1999. Let us not forget, they have been doing all this at the same time Kobe Bryant has won five championships with the Los Angeles Lakers. Both teams can’t make it to the Finals.Yet Kobe gets tons of credit for his five rings. Will Tim Duncan get the same kind of love should he get his fifth?

Now, San Antonio is not Los Angeles and that likely has something to do with why the Lakers get so much credit for their titles while the Spurs seem to go almost unnoticed. Another reason the Spurs get dismissed could be because the Spurs have not won back-to-back. For some reason, if you fail to defend a title, you don’t get to be called a dynasty. But that seems pretty silly for a team that won four titles in a nine year stretch and have a shot to make it 5 in 15 years. Think about this, if they win the championship they and the Lakers will have won 10 of the last 15 NBA championships. That’s not just Western Conference championships, that’s winning it all.

Win or lose in the Finals, the Lakers and Spurs will have combined for 12 of the last 15 Western Conference championships. So when the subject of the NBA’s best teams and players comes up and Kobe and/or the Lakers are immediately brought up, do not forget the Spurs.