Wrong turn of the Cyborg's ankle ruined the Spurs finals aspirations

When you think about Kawhi Leonard, you think about a man who is an all-around NBA superstar. So, if you were take him off the court for a substantial amount of time, you know the overall team is going to be negatively impacted. You have a Spurs team who have another all-star on the squad in, Lamarcus Aldridge, and a group of players who have been successful individually but have gladly put their egos aside and became the supporting cast. You easily could have taken Dwane Casey’s motto “Next man up” and applied it to this predicament but the shoe wouldn’t fit. You’re asking too much of a youthful Spurs bench that needed to fill the shoes of 25.5 PPG superstar. It’s possible that it could have been done, and a youthful Spur could have made a name for himself but then you’re asking that player to be the league’s best wing defender and to stretch the floor and shoot 38% from the 3-point line? Unlikely. At halftime during Game 1 of the Spurs/Warriors, the Spurs were up by 25+ points and you could have made the argument that Kawhi’s Spurs were on the verge of taking down the kings from the golden state but once he went down, so did their opportunity at their 6th championship.