Grown-up Spurs are giving the Thunder fits

“I'm very fortunate in that I didn't have to,” Popovich said. “I dealt with grown-ups.”

Pop had more to say, and I'll get to that in a minute. But Pop didn't have to say anything else. He said it well. The stately Spurs have been built around grown-ups. Including the current squad that threatens to give Oklahoma City a June swoon, leading the Thunder 2-0 in the NBA's Western Conference Finals.

Nobody in OKC wants to hear it, but it's not the Thunder's time. That seems clear not just because of what happened in San Antonio the last few days, but what's happened in San Antonio the last few weeks.

Popovich has produced an epic team. The Spurs have won 20 straight games, the fourth-longest win streak in NBA history, and he's done it with adults. The Spurs are grown-ups. They are Duncan and Parker and Ginobili, 30somethings all, multiple-NBA champions all, plus Pop, their drill sergeant of a coach and franchise-builder. They have established a culture, a seriousness, that isn't always fun but is stunningly effective when put with the right pieces. Which the Spurs absolutely now have.

So call it bum luck for the Thunder. The Boomers have done nothing wrong. The opposite is true. They've done almost everything right in trying to microwave the process of becoming NBA champs.

But this is a dues-paying league. The Jordan Bulls. The Bad Boy Pistons. The Kobe Lakers. Even the greatest of teams must wait on their coronation.

The '77 Blazers, with young'ns like the Thunder, are the lone precocious champ in NBA history.

With its four musketeers all under the age of 24, the Thunder had a shot to join those Bill Walton Blazers.

This seemed like a wrinkle in time, since the West was crying out for a crown prince. The Lakers grew old. Dallas rebuilt despite a title. Portland imploded. The Spurs were five years removed from their last of four championships.

But Popovich's longtime conscripts stayed strong. Duncan and Ginobili were drafted by the Spurs in the '90s, Parker only 18 months past Y2K.