The San Antonio Spurs complete the cast for the NBA Finals 2014. They made their first back-to-back Finals appearances.  Usually, they take at least a year off before they become champions again.

But they didn't get the job done last year. For the first time in franchise history, the San Antonio Spurs reached the NBA Finals and lost. Perhaps redemption and revenge are great motivators-- revenge against the Miami Heat, and revenge against former Commissioner David Stern.

David Stern has long been condemned for favoring the big market teams. One would feel like he had to, because the league is also a business. However, if there were any doubts about the integrity of the game (the product being sold) the NBA would not thrive on any market.

Thus, the hatred towards the Spurs had to be expressed within the parameters of his powers as commissioner. Yahoo Sports has exposed Stern's favoritism towards the New York Knicks about a decade ago, and they ran a strong piece on Stern's biggest team fine:  $ 250,000 for sitting out their players on a road trip to the Miami Heat. Yahoo's Adrian Wojnarowski stated:

"And now, this act of condemnation for Popovich - which resulted in a $250,000 fine for San Antonio handed down by the league office Friday evening - would be bathed in the ultimate of twisted irony: Without the Spurs' stars, Stern was selling that the NBA logo had been desecrated, that a public trust had been betrayed.

Suddenly, Stern had to issue an apology to NBA fans because Popovich sent his stars home to San Antonio at the end of a long road trip. No one in Miami bought a ticket to watch Tim Duncan and Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili, because those players are relevant to no one in Miami. Mostly, they come to watch LeBron and D-Wade, or they don't come at all. Few people watch the Spurs on national television - unless they're playing the Heat or the Los Angeles Lakers - and that's because the Spurs never deliver the dysfunction and self-destructive bents that fuel the sport's storylines."

It's not just the media. Even Chris Kaman, then of the Dallas Mavericks (around 2012-2013 season) shared that sentiment. Here's Chris Kaman speaking on 104.1 FM The Ticket:"One exception to that is the Spurs. They understand what they have. That's why David Stern hates the Spurs. I probably shouldn't say that but he doesn't like when the Spurs are in the finals because the ratings go down. People say that all the time. I don't know how true it is but you hear stories all about that is that the ratings are down. Their basketball is the purest basketball you're going to find, in my opinion, in the NBA, just watching them play. They play a nice pace game. They're defense is solid. Their plays are solid. They get all their guys involved. That's why when he sat them guys against the Heat and sent them home, they still almost won that game."

There were plenty of conspiracy theories on how the NBA was favoring the Oklahoma City Thunder because of the game's officiating. But San Antonio earned the right to take another shot at NBA media and marketing darlings LeBron James and the Miami Heat by silencing the Thunder. That's something no commissioner can avert.