Twenty-seven years after the San Antonio Spurs and New York Knicks met in the 1999 NBA Finals, basketball fans are on the verge of witnessing the long-awaited rematch.
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For Australian basketball legend Andrew Gaze, that series holds a special place in his heart. The NBL great was a member of San Antonio’s championship-winning squad, earning an NBA title alongside future Hall of Famers Tim Duncan, David Robinson and legendary coach Gregg Popovich.
Remarkably, it all began with a conversation courtside at the 1998 FIBA World Cup in Greece.
Australia finished ninth at the tournament, but Gaze left with something far more significant, an opportunity to join an NBA contender.
“Yeah, well, it actually took place a whole lot earlier. The conversation started in ‘98 when the World Cup was in Greece,” Gaze told Fox Sports Australia.
“What happened though, there was a lockout. So there was a dispute with the collective bargaining agreement and they hadn’t resolved that so there was technically a lockout.
“Gregg Popovich was at the World Cup, and through another guy, reached out to me at the time and said, ‘would you be interested in coming to the Spurs?’ Now originally when the guy approached me asking it, I thought he was just pulling my leg.
“I thought, ‘mate, do you know how old I am?’”
At the time, Gaze was 33 years old. He had previously spent time in the NBA with the Washington Bullets in 1994 and was coming off his seventh NBL MVP award.
“It seemed highly unusual. And it was at a game I was watching and Popovich wasn’t allowed to talk to players directly because of the lockout, so he said ‘no, no, no, he’s over the other side of the venue’.
“He pointed him out and he said, ‘no, we’re interested and we’d like to have you on board. We’ve got a group that we’re putting together that we think is going to be really strong and we think that you could be of some help to the team.‘
“So I said, ‘yeah, sure’.
“But then, of course, because of the lockout, there was very little communication. To cut a long story short, there were other conversations we had throughout the time and we basically settled on a deal.”
The NBA lockout eventually shortened the 1998-99 season to just 50 games and led to the cancellation of the All-Star Game. Owners and players spent months negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement before finally reaching a resolution in early January 1999.
For Gaze, it meant months of uncertainty before his NBA opportunity finally became reality.
“We’d settled on a deal if the lockout had finished and it was ‘by the middle of November, we should be back’. Then, you know, ‘start of December, we should be back.’ It was extending, extending, extending. And there was a genuine fear that we might lose the entire season.
“So although we hadn’t officially signed off on anything, all the agreements had been done and then fortunately just around Christmas time they said, ‘no, no, it’s basically been all sorted.‘
“So I popped on a plane, got over there and the minute that it was announced that the result had come to terms, then I officially signed and joined the team.”
Eleven days after the lockout officially ended, Gaze was on a plane to Texas.
While many players would have arrived hoping to carve out a major role, the Australian knew exactly where he stood.
“I wasn’t aware of what other players were going to be on the roster, but Popovich and R.C. Buford were very, very clear that my position was … the way you would describe it is more as an insurance policy.
“It’s a short season. It’s a lot of games in that season because it was shorter.
“But because of the time frame they had to get those games in, they had triple headers where we played three games in a row.
“I knew going in exactly what my role was going to be. The likelihood of me having any meaningful role was going to be dependent on if there’s an injury.”
The adjustment period was brief.
“I might have played four or five practice games. It wasn’t a lot.
“So it all came together really quickly. And then yeah, logged in there and I had a great experience.
“Now, my contribution was bordering on irrelevant, but still a great privilege to be a part of it.”
Although Gaze did not play a minute during the Spurs’ championship-winning playoff run, that doesn’t mean he wasn’t part of the journey that helped get them there.
Across 19 regular-season appearances, Gaze logged 58 minutes for San Antonio, sharing the court with some of the biggest names of the era, including Gary Payton, Steve Nash, Dirk Nowitzki, Karl Malone, John Stockton, Chris Webber and Vlade Divac.
His best performance came in a 114-85 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers, where he played nearly nine minutes and knocked down two of his four three-point attempts. Gaze finished with six points, two rebounds and an assist in what would become the highest-scoring game of his NBA career.
While his role was limited, the experience placed the Australian basketball icon among some of the greatest players of a generation as he helped the Spurs build towards the first championship in franchise history.
THE DUNCAN AND ROBINSON EFFECT
Joining a locker room headlined by Duncan and Robinson could have been intimidating, but Gaze quickly discovered why the Spurs became one of the NBA’s great dynasties.
“I think it was the combination of both Tim Duncan and David Robinson. You didn’t have to be a basketball savant to realise you’re talking about future Hall of Famers.
“The good thing is that Pop had a sort of a no d***head policy.
“And although they were bona fide superstars, the most impressive thing about them is that they absolutely bought into Pop and Pop’s very demanding.
“And he would hold all the players to account. But it started with Tim and David and because the fact that they bought in, no ego, they bought in and were accepting of that coaching where they knew they were going to be held accountable as much as me as the last player on the roster or them as the big dogs.”
Gaze said Duncan and Robinson’s willingness to embrace Popovich’s demanding coaching style set the standard for everyone else.
“You’re treated, as far as your accountability with your actions on the floor and practices and those things, they bought into that.
“It was a long time ago, so it’s a different era, but some of the feedback that Pop would provide was extraordinarily direct.
“So for me to adjust into that and seeing how they were buying in and genuine leadership with their behaviour because they were of a status that, and they hadn’t won five championships then, Pop had some moments in the season where there was some speculation he may not see the season out.
“But their personality types and the way in which they embraced the coaching style and the system, I think was pivotal to the success.”
THE PERFECT SUPERSTAR
Long before Patty Mills and Aron Baynes won a championship alongside Duncan in 2014, Gaze became the first Australian teammate of Duncan’s NBA career.
The Spurs star was only in his second season, but the qualities that would define his Hall of Fame career were already clear.
“He was very accepting. You know, he didn’t flaunt his status. He wasn’t out there trying to make sure and let everyone know that it’s his team and he’s the man. He was embracing, encouraging, supportive.
“He was a guy that was always looking to learn. He was not demonstrative among the group with laying the law down or being critical or anything in that way.
“But his actions, as the old adage says, ‘actions speak louder than words’.
“And whether it was how he dealt with Pop and being the way in which he was embracing of his teammates, all those things made it a joy to be around.
“And I think it’s one of the reasons why he’s so lauded. He never chased celebrity, he never chased media. His ego was always in check.
“He was just really the perfect teammate for a superstar. As far as superstars go, it’d be tough to find a more humble, unassuming superstar than Tim Duncan.”
A CHAMPIONSHIP TO TREASURE
While Gaze’s role on the court was limited, the championship remains one of the proudest moments of his career.
The ring, he says, is not a reminder of what he didn’t contribute. Instead, it represents gratitude and a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
“I have it in my trophy cabinet sitting alongside my signed ball that we all got at the end of the journey.
“We all got a signed ball as just a bit of memorabilia.
“And I keep it there and I have nothing but fond memories.
“It was a joy.
“And it’s something that would have been more challenging for me as a youngster. But the age I was, the stage of my career, it was nothing but gratitude and just felt like it was an enormous privilege to be a part of it and sharing it in that very small way.”
WHO WINS THE 2026 NBA FINALS?
With the Spurs and Knicks preparing to renew their rivalry on the NBA’s biggest stage, Gaze believes San Antonio has the edge, provided its superstar stays healthy.
“I think the Spurs will win if Victor Wembanyama can stay healthy and can play like he has been playing. There’s no reason to think that he won’t.
“I think Jalen Brunson is just a bona fide superstar. He’s terrific. I really enjoy watching him play.
“There’s a lot to like about what New York have done this season, but at the end of the day, Victor Wembanyama, he changes the game.”
NBA FINALS SCHEDULE
Game One: Thursday, June 4, 10:30 AM AEDT
Game Two: Saturday, June 6, 10:30 AM AEDT
Game Three: Tuesday, June 9, 10:30 AM AEDT
Game Four: Thursday, June 11, 10:30 AM AEDT