The Spurs play together and for one another. (Getty)
The Spurs play together and for one another. (Getty)

The word "culture" is tossed around the NBA a lot. The culture of your organization, the culture of your locker room, the culture of your team. Often times, though, it's transient, fading in and out year to year. The true test of a team's culture is how it performs over time. And there's no better indication of that than the San Antonio Spurs' sustained success over 17 seasons.

The things that are most often associated with that good culture are handy words: sacrifice, commitment, selflessness. But you have to actually back them up. Spurs point guard Tony Parker put that all into perspective this week with a quote after another Spurs blowout win.

That translates it perfectly. People forget that in actuality, Tim Duncan wasn't as big a part of the 2005 and 2008 teams, as much as Ginobili and Parker where. And Leonard not only was the 2014 Finals MVP, but was the player they added that resurrected a dying Spurs team after the 2011 first-round loss to Memphis.

This isn't good or bad, just different, can you ever imagine Kobe Bryant saying someone else is going to be the man? Or any other number of stars who have a team that belongs to them? It's a rare thing to find players who have won titles and Finals MVPs, to find stars that are willing to consistently and brilliantly sacrifice to not only make their teammates better, but to recognize that it's another, younger player's time. That's what makes San Antonio different. That's what makes the Spurs better. 

That culture won't sustain them through the loss of talent; no matter how many fewer touches Tim Duncan gets he's still a huge part of this team's success. No matter how brilliant Leonard has been, losing Duncan and Ginobili will eventually have a cost. On the other hand, the Spurs have made themselves into a place good players want to go, where they know that every player, 1-15, "gets it." 

They're not going away any time soon.