San Antonio Spurs: Deciding the four greatest role players at forward

In this phase of our San Antonio Spurs Role Player Bracket Challenge, eight forwards went head-to-head to decide who represents them in the Sweet Sixteen.

For those of you who’ve been keeping up, we’re conducting the San Antonio Spurs Role Player Bracket Challenge conducted by votes from the fanbase to decide who is the greatest role player in franchise history. Our first round featured 64 players: 16 forwards, wings, guards and centers and now we’re down to just 32.

This is the first segment of polling from our round of 32 which featured eight forwards going at it to decide who moves on. Results in this portion of the bracket were par for the course with the top four seeds all moving on to the next round of voting. Our top four seeds won by an average margin of 83.6 percent including a clean sweep by one major contestant.

Frenchman Boris Diaw, who came in hot as a second seed dominated his competition over “The Latvian Laser,” 10th seeded Davis Bertans. Diaw received 100 percent of votes for a clean sweep over the man who replaced his spot on the roster in the 2016-17 season. Many consider Diaw the player who deserved to win Finals MVP in 2014 over Kawhi Leonard because of his incredible influence over the game. Diaw is a skilled passer and a beloved member of the team’s lore, so it’s not surprising to see him excel.

The closest matchup of the round, however, was the No. 4 vs. No. 5 featuring Malik Rose and Rudy Gay. Even though he hasn’t spent as much time in the Alamo City as Rose did, Gay is a beloved figure of the current team who helps the past the future of the team gel with a positive attitude and high basketball IQ. Few players have bought into the Spurs’ culture like Gay has, except for his opponent.

Rose is an eight-year veteran of San Antonio who was present and influential to the first two championship runs. His best statistical season was during the 2003 championship run when he averaged career-highs in points, rebounds, assists and field goal attempts per game. He joined the team in the first year of franchise star Tim Duncan‘s career and helped pave the way for many years of Spurs to come. Rose won his bracket by 15.6 percent of total votes.

We saw resounding victories from two beloved players in No. 1 seed Robert Horry and No. 3 seed, Fabricio Oberto. Horry, better known as Big Shot Bob left his mark on the NBA by contributing to seven championship teams as one of the most clutch scorers in the history of the sport. He bailed San Antonio out time and time again with his late-game antics and he’ll always be remembered for it.

It's time to continue voting on the #Spurs Role Player Bracket Challenge! Today we're going to look at the most important Wings to support the team. #GoSpursGo #MarchMadness #NBA #NBATwitter pic.twitter.com/bn1FSv5MHm

— Air Alamo (@AirAlamo) April 1, 2020

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Oberto, on the other hand, is remembered for his chemistry with Spurs legend Manu Ginobili – another Argentine. The duo had excellent chemistry from their time playing together on the Argentinian national team and Oberto became an easy fit with the team’s starting five. He won his matchup against big man DeJuan Blair 81 percent to 19 percent.

As for Horry, he was the second-closest player to sweeping with all but two votes going in his direction. His opponent, Antonio McDyess, didn’t spend enough time in San Antonio to stand a chance against Big Shot when it came down to it.

Polling is still up for the next section, the wings which is showcasing some heated matchups with one probable upset intact. You can click here to cast your votes or click on the embedded tweet above to contribute to the fun. We’ll check back in with those results tomorrow as well as a new stage to the voting.

Next. Four former Spurs we'd like to see in the BIG3

For those who’ve been active in the challenge, we truly appreciate your excitement!