The San Antonio Spurs, while continuing to hang on to the vestiges of their golden era by boasting the NBA's longest active playoff streak at 21 straight seasons, are also familiar with a new normal: the postseason bubble.
As the seventh-place team in the Western Conference entering the All-Star break, they sit in the same spot in which they entered the playoffs last season before their first-round ouster in five games by the eventual champion Golden State Warriors.
Rudy Gay, among a trio of veteran leaders the Spurs look to following the departures of the Big Three that led them to four NBA championships, says they aren't tucking their tails into the abyss of the history books anytime soon.
"I'd love the storybook, where we'd get together and win millions of games right away," said Gay, speaking to the San Antonio Express-News. "But it's going to take time. We're just building character right now, that's all."
This week's All-Star break translates as 10 needed days off for the Spurs after a Tuesday win at Memphis that ended a four-game losing streak.
Gay said the losses don't reflect any rebuild mode.
"Of course we're trying to win now," Gay said. "I mean, there are two big factors. One, we're a new team. Two, this is not the East. You know what I'm saying? You don't just get together and start beating everybody."
The Spurs' annual Rodeo Road Trip had been particularly rough this season, as they lost the first four games of the eight-game trip by an average of almost 21 points.
Tuesday's win helped them hold on to a place that would clinch a playoff berth but not by much in a West in which the top eight teams are separated by only 10 games.
"It's definitely not too late for us," Gay said.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.