ESPN's nonsensical Spurs disrespect will irritate fans all over again

"The Spurs aren't interesting." "The resting issue is Gregg Popovich's fault." "Maybe San Antonio isn't handling Kawhi Leonard right." ESPN has always been on the wrong side of the fans' ire because of their constant misrepresentations, disrespect, and dismissive tone when discussing the Alamo City. Shading South Texas' favorite basketball club seems to be a favorite pastime of the WorldWide Leader.

Dropping the Silver and Black to fourth in their power rankings won't exasperate fans quite as much as the previously mentioned transgressions, but when you see who moved up, I promise you'll be, at the very least, miffed. The top five in order are now: OKC, Detroit, Boston, San Antonio, and LA. It's important to note that this list was released before the Pistons lost last night, but that changes little.

Take away yesterday evening's results. The Spurs still had an undefeated record over the past week. So, how could any team skip over one that never stumbled? That's the magical question.

ESPN's Spurs agenda needs to be reworked because it's tired

Seeing ESPN's name attached to Spurs' disrespect has grown tiresome. The Pistons and Celtics are having great seasons, but Mitch Johnson's ball club has recently beaten both teams. One of them was knocked off twice in two weeks—here's looking at you, Detroit.

By now, every fan in the league should know the Silver and Black's post-All-Star record since they've been on national television every other game and all of the broadcasters make sure to bring it up 10 times per outing. They're 16-2. The only team with fewer losses in the same span is OKC with one. This is also the stretch when Victor Wembanyama and co. ran through the Celtics and Pistons.

But I get it, this is a week-to-week thing, right? Well, the Spurs haven't lost a game and, in fact, have blown out a couple of their opponents. They haven't been top-tier contenders, but that's not their fault. However, blowing out inferior opponents should protect you from being knocked down on any lists. Apparently, they disagree over there in Connecticut.

ESPN can't really justify moving the Celtics and Pistons past the Spurs

Boston's last game was a 10-point loss to the Timber Wolves, despite entering that contest as 10-point favorites. They were 2-1 in the three games they played in the past week, with victories over the Grizzlies and a Warriors team playing games without Steph Curry and Jimmy Butler.

The Pistons went 3-0. But someone needs to tell me what makes their undefeated week better than San Antonio's. They had wins over the bottom-feeding Wizards, that same feeble Warriors team Boston beat, and a defensively challenged Lakers team with a 42-year-old man as their second-best player.

After such a special campaign, no Spurs player or coach is considered the favorite to win any of the end-of-season awards, according to the major oddsmakers. Dismissal is a constant reality this organization is always forced to deal with. Still, they prevail. They will again; hell, they already are.

At the same time, it would also be nice for these media corporations to just pay respect where it's due. It shouldn't take seeing Wembanyama hoisting the Larry O'Brien trophy in front of the world for them to do it. It's too late by then, and nobody in Spurs Nation will want to hear it.