Published
on June 17, 2014.
ST. CROIX — There weren’t
many better places in the world to be on Sunday night than the town
of Christiansted on St. Croix.
Although Sean Richards would beg
to differ.
But showing up at Sharkey’s
Bait Stand? A sports bar owned by San Antonio transplants?
In the hometown of one of the
best basketball players of all-time? Full of loud Spurs fans on the
night their favorite son was to be crowned a fifth time?
In a Dwyane Wade Miami Heat
jersey?
You could argue he was asking for
it.
Richards became a subject of taunts throughout the night, but it was in good fun.
There was too much joy for animosity on this night, when Crucian Tim Duncan wrapped up his fifth NBA championship in resounding fashion, a five-game series win over Miami that looked a lot like a sweep.
“My
family lives in Miami, so I’m supporting all my family,” Richards
said. “But if he can get his fifth ring, that’s good. I’m
giving him my props.”
The Spurs won, 104-87, setting
off a wild celebrations in the Lone Star State. And France. And
Argentina. And Italy, Canada, Australia, and Brazil — all countries
represented on the San Antonio roster.
And, of course, on St. Croix.
“I
don’t know Timmy at all, but I’m just rooting for the home boy,”
said Paul Darius Lockhart, a Spurs diehard since Duncan was
drafted No. 1 in 1997. “I think that he was a hidden talent, coming
from swimming to basketball. It just goes to show that we can
accomplish anything we want.”
Throughout the series, the Spurs
unselfish offense did anything they wanted, with proficient passing
and defense that frustrated LeBron James, and often made stars Wade and Chris Bosh ineffective.
San Antonio is famously a team
with no superstar egos, even though the talent is unmistakable.
And along with legendary coach
Gregg Popovich, it all starts with the unassuming Duncan.
For basketball purists, it’s a
throwback. For Crucians, seeing one of their own in the spotlight is
cause for celebrations like Sunday, as a standing-room only crowd
took in the title at the restaurant of Texas natives Kelly and Dennis
McCormick.
“People
always come out, even if they don’t like basketball, they come to
root him on because he’s a local,” Sharkey’s manager Aisha
Clarke said. “Even if people don’t know the game, like some of
the ladies, they still cheer him on.”
Sherman Marcus knows the Spurs
well, and attended St. Dunstan’s School for one year with Duncan.
He was at Sharkey’s last year
when the Spurs dropped Games 6 and 7 of the Finals in excruciating
fashion to LeBron’s Heat.
“We’ve
been coming here every game, since last year. We took that blow, and
we didn’t like it,” Marcus said.
When
asked about any inside stories from Duncan's youth, Marcus said,
jokingly: “No comment. We don’t put fires on our people.
“He’s
a very humble guy. He’s a cool guy from around the way.”
Even
Heat fan Richards had some quality time with Duncan.
During the offseason a few years back, Richards ended up playing
beach volleyball against the 6-foot-11 basketball star — “He was
good,” Richards said, “he’s good at everything” — and
afterward Duncan graciously
signed autographs for his kids.
Duncan was
primarily a swimmer — with Olympic-level potential — in his youth
until Hurricane Hugo wiped out the island’s only full-sized pool in
1989. He tried open water swimming but quickly become a full-time
basketball player instead. Island tales say swimming in the sea with
sharks wasn’t his idea of a good time.
Duncan,
though, only makes it back to St. Croix every few years, and some
suggest there are those on the island who take it as a slight to his
homeland.
But Duncan does
not have much family here, his parents are both deceased. And his
close-to-the-vest demeanor did not lend itself to many close
friendships.
Vogle
Stevens, who was St. Kitts-raised but moved to St. Croix in 1992, can
attest to Duncan's caring for Crucians, though, even ones like
Stevens who he hadn’t previously met.
Duncan left
free tickets for Stevens and family members to attend an early-season
game in Orlando. Stevens met Duncan afterward, and asked the
$10-million question: Will the future Hall of Famer step away from
the game after this season, or instead pick up his option to earn $10
million in 2014-15?
“He
said he wasn’t making a decision at the moment, he’s going to
just play ball,” Stevens said. “I do believe he will come back.
But it would be the ultimate legacy if he leaves with a championship.
But still, it’s all about the team with the Spurs.”
How
much Sunday’s win changes his thought process is unknown.
In
addition to its franchise player, the Spurs could one day soon lose
thousands of diehard fans in the Caribbean.
But
the run of the Duncan era, along with the beautiful style of
basketball played by Popovich’s Spurs will not soon be forgotten.
Ray
O’Reilly has never met Duncan, but he was sporting a Spurs hat and
foam finger on Sunday night, relaying how Duncan's career has
made him toss away his allegiance to the legacy of Michael Jordan’s
Chicago Bulls.
“I
used to be a Bulls fan, but when Timmy went, I jumped to the Spurs,”
O’Reilly said. “I’m proud of him.”
