SA Spurs: Ernie Johnson has high praise for 2014 Spurs team

Now seven years after the fact, the 2014 championship-winning San Antonio Spurs continue to receive high praise from prominent NBA analysts. This time around, the praise comes from Inside the NBA's very own Ernie Johnson.

At one time or another, each and every member of the Inside the NBA crew has had high praise for the Spurs or their players. While Charles Barkley has been the news as it pertains to San Antonio for all the wrong reasons lately, and although he originally predicted that the Spurs would make a first-round exit in 2014, he admitted later on during the 2014 Finals that he was completely wrong about the team.

More recently, Barkley went on record saying that he thinks Tim Duncan is the best power forward of all time.

Shaquille O'Neal has similarly praised the Spurs despite the fact that he was one of their biggest rivals during his time with the Los Angeles Lakers in the late '90s and early 2000s. He went on record just a couple of months ago saying that he admires the Spurs' drama-free dynasty.

Ernie Johnson calls the 2014 San Antonio Spurs one of the best single-season teams ever

This time, it was Ernie Johnson that had kind words for the Spurs-- particularly the 2014 'beautiful game' squad. Just two days ago, he joined Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson on their 'All the Smoke' podcast, where they sat and chatted about his time on Inside the NBA, some funny moments from the show, and some of his basketball takes.

Toward the end of the podcast, he was asked a few rapid-fire questions that required some on-the-spot answers. When he was asked about which teams he thought were the best single-season teams in the history of the NBA, he mentioned the 2014 championship-winning Spurs. He briefly discusses them at about the 84-minute mark (with about 8 minutes and 47 seconds left in the podcast).

In addition to some of the Atlanta Hawks teams from the '70s, the 73-win Warriors, and the 72-win Bulls, Johnson mentions the 2014 Spurs as one of the best single-season teams he's ever witnessed, saying that they "throttled [the Heat]" in their comeback campaign and that "it was like a clinic."

Being that Johnson has been in the broadcasting business in excess of 30 years, and that he's going so far as to place the Spurs in the same conversation as super teams like the Bulls and Warriors, this is undeniably high praise from the longtime analyst.

The clinic that the Spurs were able to display in the 2014 Playoffs and Finals is now known as "the beautiful game" for good reason, and it appears that Johnson clearly recognizes that dominance.