San Antonio Spurs News
Spurs Fans Pile on ESPN for Another Obvious Contradiction
San Antonio Spurs Tony Parker Tim Duncan Manu Ginobili / FREDERIC J. BROWN/GettyImages
Although the week for the current San Antonio Spurs was forgettable due to COVID protocols, the NBA was happy to celebrate the return of one of the best shooters in the game: Klay Thompson.
Having not played since Lonnie Walker was a rookie, Thompson's much-anticipated return didn't disappoint as he finished with 17 points in 20 minutes and one thunderous dunk in the lane. As tipoff for his return was approaching, the NBA on ESPN Twitter account shared a statistic that -- well -- was not accurate.
The winningest trio in NBA history is now reunited ? pic.twitter.com/7ECMl9Ppic
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) January 10, 2022
"The winningest trio in NBA history is now reunited," said the tweet, sharing a graphic boasting Golden State's 76.4% win percentage with Thompson, Draymond Green, and Stephen Curry.
Right away, Spurs fans questioned the wording on the tweet, since we all know the trio of Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, and Tony Parker won way more games than anyone on the list.
"Wouldn't 'winningest' mean most wins?' " asked @FCsportz. "Do Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, and Tony Parker just simply no longer exist?" asked @TheTyJager.
Those are obviously valid questions, as the first Merriam-Webster definition literally says "having achieved the most wins." Still, the tweet remains up despite missing the 575 wins the Spurs' Big 3 achieved.
In looking at the graphic, it's clear ESPN is going by win percentage. After all, San Antonio's trio only managed a win percentage of 71.6. But then shouldn't the graphic and tweet say something closer to "Trio with the highest win percentage"? After all, the same account called the Spurs' trio the winningest back when they literally became it in 2015.
HISTORY. With tonight's Spurs victory, the Big 3 became the Winningest Trio in NBA history with 541 wins together. pic.twitter.com/JF1mTrQzGl
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) November 1, 2015
This is Nothing New from ESPN
I don't personally need validation from ESPN or (any other major media market, for that matter), but I always find it entertaining when they make such glaring mistakes and get called out as a result. Just go to the original tweet yourself and you'll see endless memes, insults and gifs of the Big Three in the comments.
*By percentage
They're still over 200 wins behind Tim, Tony, and Manu.
Let's have a little more respect for the greats. pic.twitter.com/1o9Rv1od2m
— Brendan Toungate (@HobbyistBrendan) January 10, 2022
Next. 3 Spurs Most Likely to Be Traded By the Deadline. dark
For a much better-researched list of the NBA's best trios, you can check out this article by our friends at Hoops Habit. It's going to take a lot more than that to make us all forget the dynasty-era Spurs existed.