Spurs have officially claimed their historic place among the NBA's elite

The NBA playoffs are so close that the San Antonio Spurs can taste it. Especially with them steamrolling their way through the competition.

With each passing game, they are turning doubters into believers. Still, some question whether such a young team can actually win a championship.

Fortunately, the Spurs have history on their side. San Antonio recently became just one of 15 teams in NBA history to go 23-2 in a 25-game span.

Better yet, of those 15 teams throughout NBA history, nine of them have gone on to win a championship during those respective seasons.

You can't argue with history. Based on this stat, San Antonio would have a 60% chance of winning a championship this year. I like those odds.

History is on the Spurs' side ahead of the playoffs

Then again, the 2016 Spurs accomplished the same feat and were bounced in the second round. To their credit, they went up against a deceptively good Oklahoma City Thunder team.

A Thunder team with two future Hall of Famers, Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant, and a gigantic front line that pummeled San Antonio on the glass.

Even if they got past the Thunder that year, they would have had to go up against a '73-win Golden State Warriors team. San Antonio wouldn't have nearly as tough of a path to a championship this year.

However, ironically, they may have to go through the Thunder yet again. That's not to say the West is easy, but it isn't historically hard either.

The Spurs have a reasonable playoff path to a sixth championship

If anything, aside from the Spurs and Thunder, the Western Conference is more balanced with relatively little difference between the third and eighth seeds.

That might result in a tougher opponent in each round, but aside from OKC, there’s no other team the Spurs should be overly concerned about. If the season were to end today, the Silver and Black would face the Phoenix Suns in the first round.

San Antonio has struggled at times in Phoenix, but they split the season series against the Suns. In the second round, they'd face either the Los Angeles Lakers or the Houston Rockets.

Fortunately, San Antonio is a combined 4-2 against both teams. Assuming that they can handle the Suns, the Lakers, or the Rockets, that could set up a showdown with the Thunder.

In fact, that could prove to be their toughest playoff opponent, even if they make it to the NBA Finals. If the regular season is any indication, the Spurs could be the team that topples OKC. If they can, they could win their sixth championship this season and prove that historic trend right.