But for all of the teams that have tried to duplicate what San Antonio has done, they’ve all failed to understand the most significant factor in a successful NBA franchise: strong, stable ownership. There’s been no stronger and more stable leader of a franchise over the past 20 years than Spurs owner Peter Holt, who ceded control of the team to his wife, Julianna Hawn Holt, Wednesday night.

“I’m proud of what we’ve achieved over the last two decades,” Holt said in a statement. “The pride, support and love that our city has for the Spurs is truly amazing.”

AD

AD

There’s plenty of which should be Holt proud, and make no mistake: the Spurs wouldn’t be the Spurs if they hadn’t been led by his steady hand over the last two decades.

Sure, Coach Gregg Popovich and superstar Tim Duncan have always been the faces of the franchise’s never-ending string of successes, along with General Manager R.C. Buford and, as time has passed, stars like Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge. But the bedrock in San Antonio has been patience from the top of the organization down, and a willingness to empower the franchise’s basketball decision makers to actually, you know, make decisions.

Sounds simple, right? Tell that to the many dysfunctional franchises across the league. The Sacramento Kings have been embroiled in chaos for the better-part of a decade – first because of the financial difficulties of the prior owners, the Maloof Family, and lately because of the incessant meddling of current owner Vivek Ranadive.

AD

AD

Both teams in the league’s biggest market, the New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets, have been impacted by activist owners. Knicks owner James Dolan has consistently taken part in major decisions over the past 15 years – which is the biggest reason why only two of those seasons have ended with records better than .500.

The Nets, on the other hand, have had a chaotic last six years under owner Mikhail Prokhorov, who spent record sums of money and dealt away the rights to several straight drafts in order to chase a championship – only to win one combined playoff round, and now are set to give away a top five draft pick to the Boston Celtics as payment for their past decisions. Brooklyn became the latest team to try and replicate the Spurs model by hiring former San Antonio assistant general manager Sean Marks, and could very well hire current Spurs assistant Ettore Messina as its next head coach.

But if the Nets don’t learn the lesson of Holt’s leadership – namely to stay out of the way – then it won’t matter who they hire, and nothing will change in Brooklyn.

AD

AD

Now look at the teams around the NBA that have been come to be looked at as its model franchises: Golden State, Miami, Dallas and Boston, among others. What do all of them have in common? Strong ownership that empowers its basketball operations departments to make the right decisions.

Undoubtedly there are some who will read this and say, “Well, sure, it’s easy to do that if you’re empowering Gregg Popovich.” Only, without Peter Holt, you may not even know who Gregg Popovich is.

When Holt bought the team in 1996, Popovich was still working as its general manager. A few months later, he allowed Popovich to replace Bob Hill as the team’s head coach.

Then, when the Spurs were struggling at the start of the lockout-shortened 1999 NBA season, going 6-8 despite having a team featuring Duncan and David Robinson that won 56 games the year before, Holt stuck by his embattled coach. His reward? The Spurs went 31-5 to end the regular season and later captured the first of their five championships under Popovich.

AD

AD

“Peter Holt had faith in me way back in the beginning,” Popovich said prior to the start of the 2014 NBA Finals, when the Spurs captured their latest title. “[He] believed in us, and believed in me, and allowed me to step out and do it the way I thought it should be done, so I owe him a great deal.

“I wouldn’t be … very frankly, I wouldn’t be here if he operated like some others have operated in the past in our league, in a short-sighted sort of way.

“I’m not trying to indict any individual, [but] you guys have all seen it. Guys get fired every year who are good coaches, and it’s got nothing to with what they know or don’t know. He’s a wise, patient man, and he is willing to look at the big picture.”