Bowen enjoys run of success
Work ethic has served him well
He doesn't remember when -- or where -- it all began.
For the record, it was Cleveland, on Feb. 28, 2002. Bruce Bowen, just back from breaking a finger (against the Celtics, no less, six weeks earlier), started that night for the San Antonio Spurs in a 114-107 overtime loss. He has started every game since; last night was No. 397 in a row for the former Celtic/Sixer/Heat forward.
The consecutive-game streak is No. 1 in the NBA. Both Morris Peterson of Toronto and Joe Johnson of Atlanta entered this season with longer streaks, but both have missed time. Not Bowen. He's as sure a thing as there is, and with the ravaged state of the Celtics these days, he takes on the appearance of an outright freak.
"It's absolutely incredible," said Bowen's coach, Gregg Popovich. "He's a skinny little dude. I mean, look at the bird legs and the skinny arms. That's what's amazing.
"Most of the time, he's out there guarding the best player on the other team. He plays a gazillion minutes because while that guy is out there, he is, too. The minutes he plays, the body he has, and the number of games in a row just amazes me."
What's just as amazing is that, based on what we saw in Boston, you would have had a hard time picturing Bowen in any kind of streak. He played 91 games for the Celtics in two seasons, then was let go after the team became smitten with Adrian Griffin. But Pat Riley got a hold of him (for the second time) and he became a starter on the Alonzo Mourning/Tim Hardaway Heat teams before landing in San Antonio, where he has started every game he has been able to play.
The only hiccup in his otherwise perfect attendance record as a Spur: the broken bone in his middle right finger. It happened in the first quarter of a Jan. 9, 2002 game in Boston. Bowen left the game and returned in street clothes, along with a cast. The Spurs were 11-12 in the 23 games he missed (of course, they won the game in Boston) and 47-12 in the 59 games he played. The next year they won the first of two championships with Bowen as a starter. They won again in 2005 and are in the thick of things again this season.
When Bowen started his streak, David Robinson, Steve Smith, and Terry Porter were some of his teammates. Tony Parker was a rookie. The Spurs still played in the Alamodome, Tim Duncan was an 80 percent free throw shooter, and Popovich had a buzzcut.
"I have always prided myself on being able to do things on a nightly basis," he said before scoring 9 points in 22 minutes as the Spurs beat the Celtics, 93-89, last night. "My grandfather used to work for the City of San Francisco water department and I saw that he was always working, in the rain, in the fog, in the cold. He went to work every single day." (His father, a pastor, also works every day, but in a different way.) "If I catch a cold or have a sore arm, that's not an excuse for not coming out to do what I'm supposed to do."
And he does it for what are, by NBA standards anyway, bargain-basement wages, well below the average salary of around $5 million. He earns $3.75 million this season and is down to take home $4.125 million next season. At that time, he will be on the verge of turning a lusty 37 (or, if the Spurs are in the NBA Finals, he will turn likely turn 37 during the series, as his birthday is June 14). Which brings us to another surprising factoid: The guy is 35 and he's playing every game at a very active and vulnerable position.
"If you believe that you can accomplish things, that's all it really is," he said. "It's the will of believing for me. I believe I will be successful in this league. What is the measure of that success? I think winning two championships is successful. I think being recognized as a top player in your field is successful. I just said, 'I've got an opportunity here and I'm going to make the most of it.'
"I know I'm a blessed individual. It could end. I understand that. I know things do happen. What would I do if it ended? I would just continue on with my life. There's nothing else I can do.
"I didn't do this to say, 'Oooh, I want to have a consecutive-game streak in the NBA.' I'm just fortunate that it happened to me. So many people work every day and then spend their money to watch us. A little sniffle shouldn't stop me from playing 30-something minutes in a period of two hours."
Peter May can be reached at P_May@globe.com. 
