When Thunder's Russell Westbrook went down with an injury and was later deemed out for the rest of the playoffs, many pointed to the San Antonio Spurs as the hands-down favorite to come out of the Western Conference and play for the 2012 NBA title. However, former Spurs guard Steve Kerr thought otherwise.

Kerr was a guest on Bloguin's Awful Announcing podcast and he made it clear - the Spurs are the best in the West playoffs even before Westbrook went down with an injury.

Take a listen to what TNT's Kerr had to say about his former team (at the 19:50 point of audio below) including what the Thunder will have to do without Westbrook and why he thinks they'll come out of the West. In a nutshell, he thinks the team is too deep and even feels the Spurs can defeat the Heat should they meet in the NBA Finals.

When Tracy McGrady signed with the San Antonio Spurs, it was a huge surprise.

After averaging 25ppg with Qingdao in the Chinese Basketball Association, it wasn't a huge surprise for his former employer that he got another chance in the NBA.

It's not just another chance either. McGrady not only advanced to the second round, but he's also contending for an NBA championship with a legitimate contender.

Quingado GM Shun Tin commented on McGrady returning to the NBA this season.

We hope T-Mac is playing well elsewhere and can get a championship. It's is a very good thing, and we would like to see it. (hupu.com)

Sunday night was the deadline for early entrants in to the NBA Draft.  Most guys don't waste too much time declaring after the NCAA Tournament ends while others take their time and gauge their odds of being a first round pick or being drafted at all before they declare.  One of the ones choosing the latter was Colorado's Andre Roberson, who waited till late Sunday to make his decision to enter the draft.

The San Antonio native took his time with good reason. Colorado University's Athletic Department reported that Roberson made his decision after meeting with Head Coach Tad Boyle and Athletic Director Mike Bohn to discuss the NBA Undergraduate Advisory Committee's evaluation of his draftability.  That assessment revealed Roberson was likely a late second round pick and that there are guarantees he will be drafted at all.

When the San Antonio Spurs swept the Los Angeles Lakers, it was a result that was expected after Game 1 of the series. When the injuries kept piling up for Los Angeles, their fans were hoping the ending was coming sooner than having it drag out. They weren't blow out losses in the series, but they knew a championship wasn't coming.

With Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash, Steve Blake, Jodie Meeks, and Metta World Peace out for Game 4, this was the chance for the fans to see Dwight Howard's leadership. What the team got instead was an overly emotional Howard with what seemed to be the world on his shoulders. Howard's immaturity this game showed with careless fouls and technical fouls, like one that was given for elbowing Cory Joseph in the head. In fact, the D-League call up in Joseph was more mature during that situation than Dwight and he was the one who was in the receiving end of a dangerous hit.

Former Los Angeles Laker great Magic Johnson took notice of Howard's behavior and wasn't shy to voice his opinions on Twitter.

Fans of the San Antonio Spurs think they have the best team in the league and they may think they also are the best fan base out of the rest. There's one thing Spurs fans can know however. They can be sure they have the best arena in the league as far as StadiumJourney.com is concerned.

For the first time, we have the home of the San Antonio Spurs in our top spot for best NBA arena experience. When the AT&T Center hosts a San Antonio Spurs game, fans find out that that perfection is attainable. Whether it’s the immaculately clean arena (from seating areas, to concourse, to restrooms), the wide variety of concession items, or the passionate Spurs fanbase, there’s little doubt that your visit to the AT&T Center will be one of the best sporting experiences you’ve ever had.

This is major recognition for a team that's overlooked constantly every season.

The San Antonio Spurs sent the Los Angeles Lakers packing for an early Summer break with a 4-0 sweep of their first-round playoff series.

And though the series wasn't really a fair fight considering the Lakers were decimated by injuries, nevertheless, the Spurs handled business and now await the winner of the Nuggets-Warriors series.

So now that San Antonio ended L.A.'s up-and-down season, Internet sensation "Keyboard Cat" gave the Lakers a proper farewell (H/T SB Nation) by playing them off of the playoffs at the hands of the Spurs.

One of the San Antonio Spurs' commodities overseas, forward Davis Bertans, will be heading to the Alamo City for some training with the team once his season is over in Europe.

According to his agent Arturs Kalnitis (via Sportacentrs.com), Davis will spend the full summer in San Antonio to train with the team once his season with Partizan in the Serbian League is over.

"Davis right after the season will go to San Antonio to work with the Spurs' coaches," said his agent Kalnītis. "He'll be in the U.S. until the start of the Latvian national team training," added the player's agent.

If you thought the San Antonio Spurs sweeping the Los Angeles Lakers was a major accomplishment, think again. To Manu Ginobiil, it's not exactly the best way to grade the Spurs for the postseason stretch.

Ginobili mentions the Lakers missing huge pieces to their puzzle such as Steve Nash, Steve Blake, Jodie Meeks, Metta World Peace, and of course Kobe Bryant throughout the series. He also comments on the rest the Spurs will be getting, for as long as the Denver Nuggets and Golden State Warriors series lasts as the Warriors are up 3-1 in the series.

Check out the video below for the interview.

With the sixth-seeded Golden State Warriors surprisingly dominating the third-seeded Denver Nuggets 3-1 in their best of seven series, it’s time to start thinking about a potential Warriors/Spurs matchup in the second round.

I think most San Antonio Spurs fans would rather see Golden State than Denver, but there are definitely pros and cons to meeting the Warriors next round if it shakes out that way for the Spurs in the second round.

Pros:

Size

After a matchup with the Los Angeles Lakers and having to battle hard down in the post against two talented 7-footers in Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol, the Warriors will come as a relief to the Spurs’ big men. With David Lee out, Golden State really only has one big man that plays legitimate minutes, Andrew Bogut. Bogut is a true center but he may even be on a minutes restriction because he can be fragile at times. Carl Landry is listed as a power forward, but he’s only 6’9”. Most of the time the Warriors play small ball, which could prove a big advantage for the Spurs. If San Antonio wants to go with a bigger lineup, it may force the Warriors to give additional, unwanted minutes to their post players, which could cause problems.

Inexperience

The San Antonio Spurs made short-work of the Los Angeles Lakers in the first-round of the and will now advance to the second round of the NBA Playoffs.

However, is sweeping an injury-riddled Lakers team fool's gold for fans who might be thinking this San Antonio team is playing well.

On this episode of the News 4 San Antonio-Project Spurs, Spurs Roundtable, Kyle Boenitz, Paul Garcia and Jeff Garcia  discuss what, if anything, can the Spurs take away from beating an injured L.A. team.

In the second half of the show, the panel discusses if the road is paved for the Spurs to head to the NBA Finals now that Thunder's Russell Westbrook is out for the season with an injury.