Mitch Johnson shatters annoying Spurs narrative NBA keeps clinging to

"The Spurs are ahead of schedule" has become a plea for mercy as much as it has been an analytical point for the playoffs. Pundits, fans, and analysts all echoed the same opinion, as if there were a 10-step process written in stone that San Antonio had to follow before reaching this point. Mitch Johnson was having none of it after the Spurs finished off the Timberwolves in six games.

Coach Johnson is exactly right. There is no script dictating what teams must go through before they reach a certain point of success. That's completely made up. You respect the history of the league and use it to inform certain opinions and decisions, but the past doesn't command the future. There was a first for everything, and that means there will always be outliers.

The Spurs aren't your average team

Some teams hit the acceleration faster than history prepared folks for. It's important to recognize the possibilities of almost all situations. If you make assumptions, you're liable to be caught off guard, and that's exactly where the league is right now. Nobody believed the Silver and Black could be this buttoned up this soon.

The talent is obvious. They drafted a 7'4" guy from another planet and were fortunate to grab Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper with top four picks in subsequent drafts. Castle won a national title at UConn, and Harper is the son of a multi-time NBA champion who played with the greatest player of all time, Michael Jordan.

That's pedigree. It's hard to quantify, but it helps when they play in big moments. The Spurs built this team with athletes they felt wouldn't be intimidated by the inevitable spotlight. This isn't Los Angeles or Boston, but it doesn't have to be. Expectations are large in this small-market city. The organization expects to compete, and so do the fans. There's no room for scaredy-cats.

The only Spurs expectation is excellence

This franchise is all about people and basketball. In that order. The Silver and Black look after the community, and in return, the community does the same. The rabid atmosphere at the Frost Bank Center is a reflection of the commitment shared between the two, and it's unexpected from outsiders, but to the city, it's everything.

That's why Mitch Johnson brushed off the idea that the Spurs are "ahead of schedule." From inside the building, there was likely never a schedule. They believed they were assembling the right mix of talent, maturity, competitiveness, and character from the beginning. The rest of the league just assumed there would be more growing pains before it all came together.

Now the Spurs are four wins away from the NBA Finals after decimating the Timberwolves. The comforting idea that San Antonio was still years away is gone. The Western Conference thought it had more time before needing to worry about the Spurs. Well, surprise! They don't.

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