NBA: Attention on James overshadows Spurs (AP)

SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- LeBron James will attract the spotlight. The San Antonio Spurs have earned it.
While most of the hype surrounding these NBA finals is centered on James, Cleveland's crowned king of roundball, the Spurs are again being overshadowed despite winning three titles since 1999.
There's nothing seductive about them. They don't run and gun like the Phoenix Suns. Tim Duncan, their resident superstar, doesn't aspire to be a global icon or featured in any sneaker commercials. TV viewers channel surf right past their games.
The Spurs get no respect.
"We are kind of the vanilla of the NBA," guard Manu Ginobli said.
And every few years they're the favorite flavor.
On Thursday, the Spurs will begin their quest for a fourth championship as they host the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 1 of the NBA finals, a series being billed as King James' coming-out party but one that just as easily could turn into another Spurs coronation.
"This definitely is a model franchise," said Cavs coach Mike Brown, a San Antonio assistant when the club won its last title in 2005. "We can't be the Spurs. We don't have the same makeup as them or anything like that."
The Cavaliers do have James, and that could be enough.