The San Antonio Spurs aren't a big-market franchise, but they they have five NBA championships, which ranks fifth among all teams in league history.
Of course, all five of the titles came from 1999 through 2014, so prior to Tim Duncan's arrival in 1997, the Spurs didn't really have a very extensive history.
However, a lot of terrific players have walked through their doors, especially in the frontcourt. Here are the five greatest centers in Spurs history:
5. Tiago Splitter
You can say whatever you want about Tiago Splitter. Yes, he was the butt of some jokes from Stephen A. Smith in the very early stages of his career, but he went on to become a very good player and was a critical piece on that 2014 Spurs team that steamrolled its way to a title.
Splitter entered the league with San Antonio in 2010 and did not have a very long run with the club, lasting just five seasons before being traded to the Atlanta Hawks. However, during his time with the tea, he was a versatile threat.
No, he wasn't much of a shooter, but Splitter was a terrific passer and a very intelligent player on both ends of the floor. He could defend multiple positions, guarded the pick-and-roll very well and always seemed to be in the right place.
He also tremendously improved his free-throw shooting, going from a 57.4 percent shooter during his rookie campaign to a 75 percent shooter in his final year with San Antonio in 2014-15.
Splitter only averaged double figures once in his career, but there was no doubting his impact. As a matter of fact, he averaged a robust .178 win shares per 48 minutes over the course of his seven-year NBA tenure.
4. Artis Gilmore
His best years may have come with the Kentucky Colonels (an ABA team) and the Chicago Bulls, but Artis Gilmore still had a solid five-year run with the Spurs between 1982 and 1987.
Gilmore led the NBA in field-goal percentage twice with San Antonio and averaged double-doubles in each of his first three seasons there. He also made a pair of All-Star appearances.
A Hall of Famer, Gilmore was incredibly durable to boot. He played three full 82-game campaigns with the Spurs, and in one of the only two seasons he didn't manage to do that, he appeared in 81 contests.
Unlike most of the other players on this list, Gilmore never won a title in San Antonio, but he did lead the Spurs to the playoffs four times and was a very consistent member of the team.
Typically, people know LaMarcus Aldridge as a power forward. After all, that was the position he played during his days with the Portland Trail Blazers and he has played the 4 quite a bit in San Antonio.
However, in the modern NBA where space and pace reigns king, Aldridge has gone on to play a good deal of center since joining the Spurs in 2015.
One of the smoothest frontcourt scorers of his time, Aldridge has actually probably been a bit underappreciated throughout his career. No, he has never been a superstar and he probably isn't the No. 1 guy on a title-contending team, but he has regularly averaged around 20 points per game (if not more) while shooting in the neighborhood of 50 percent from the floor for the last decade.
Not only that, but Aldridge has improved dramatically on the defensive end since linking up with San Antonio, allowing him to stay on the court against small-ball lineups.
Aldridge's prime may have been in Portland, but his game definitely evolved a bit with the Spurs, as he has extended his range beyond the 3-point line in addition to getting better on D.
Ah, The Admiral.
It's hard not to like David Robinson, who is genuinely one of the classiest and nicest guys to ever set foot on the hardwood. But make no mistake: he was bad man on the court.
Robinson spent his entire 14-year NBA career with the Spurs, making 10 All-Star teams and winning a couple of championships in 1999 and 2003.
He was never able to get over the hump without Duncan, but that doesn't change the fact that Robinson was a walking double-double, an MVP award winner and a dominant defensive force.
Over the first seven years of his career, Robinson averaged no less than 23 points per game, even leading the NBA with 29.8 points per contest during the 1993-94 campaign.
The Hall-of-Famer boasts career averages of 21.1 points, 10.6 rebounds and a hefty three blocks per game. Oh, and he also lived at the charity stripe, averaging 8.3 free-throw attempts a night — making 73.6 percent of them.
1. Tim Duncan
Yes, Duncan is mainly known as the best power forward of all-time, but many people seem to neglect the fact that he played a whole lot of center throughout his 19-year NBA career with the Spurs.
Now that you know the reason for his inclusion, not much more needs to be said.
Duncan is not only the greatest player in franchise history, but he is one of the best players in NBA history, period. He has a legitimate argument for top-five all-time and also has a real case when debating the best player of the post-Michael Jordan era.
The Big Fundamental, who was just recently inducted into the Hall of Fame, led San Antonio to all five of its titles and won a pair of MVP awards during his tenure.
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