Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich wanted to relish the moment. He wanted to go on and on about what he and his improbable band of champions had accomplished. Four measly questions were not enough.

"That's all I get to do?" Popovich said late Sunday night, flummoxed when his postgame news conference went silent after San Antonio beat the Nets, 88-77, to win the N.B.A. title. "I won a championship. I'm loving this. I thought I'd be here 30 minutes or so. More questions. How many times is this going to happen? Do I look like Phil Jackson? This is Popovich."

He had plenty of reasons to be giddy - and not only because he had guided the Spurs to their second N.B.A. championship in five years. The circumstances of this title run and the makeup of his title team had made the achievement that much sweeter.

When the Spurs broke training camp last October, they were not making plans to hoist a championship trophy nine months later. Sure, they had Tim Duncan, who would go on to win his second consecutive Most Valuable Player award, but the rest of the Spurs, including 37-year-old David Robinson, were believed to be either too old or too young to mesh into the league's pre-eminent team.

At one end of the spectrum were Kevin Willis (40), Steve Kerr (37), Danny Ferry (36) and Steve Smith (34), a battle-scarred veteran who was starting for the Spurs at the beginning of the season. On the other end were Tony Parker (21), the starting point guard, who was two years removed from playing in France; Manu Gin?bili (25), a rookie from Argentina; Speedy Claxton (25), a third-year player who was known for quickness but little else; and Stephen Jackson (25), a journeyman who had seemingly shot hoops - and been cut - in every corner of the world.