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Spurs, as usual, not bothered by being overshadowed

Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Buried behind the hoopla surrounding the Golden State Warriors, the San Antonio Spurs are having their own season of historic proportions.

That's hardly an unusual spot for the franchise.

"We are the Spurs," four-time NBA champion Manu Ginobili said Monday, according to The Washington Post's Tim Bontemps. "We don't get the national attention. We don't demand that attention. We don't ask for that attention. If it comes, it comes, and if it doesn't, it doesn't."

The Spurs have the NBA's best winning percentage dating back to the 1989-90 season. Players like David Robinson have given way to stars like Tim Duncan, Ginobili, Tony Parker, Kawhi Leonard, and LaMarcus Aldridge.

For almost the entirety of that run, Gregg Popovich has been involved - either as assistant coach, general manager, or head coach. For Pop, who has five NBA Championship rings to show for it, it's business as usual.

"We just do what we do," Popovich said Monday after passing Rick Adelman for eighth on the all-time coaching wins list. "We've been the same boring team for 20 years, and whatever happens, happens, and we move on."

This season, it's the Warriors overshadowing the Spurs' excellence. Previously, it was star-studded teams like the Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat.

Ginobili, in his 14th year in the league, also knows the benefit of maturity.

"I’m 38," Ginobili said. "I really don’t care what’s going on around the league. I used to worry a lot about the Lakers, but now I'm at a moment, and I think Pop, too, and most of the team, where we care about us, how we can improve. It's still so early … even if the Warriors win 81 games in the season, what can we do about it?"

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