The Mall Walkers: Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili

While most stories out of San Antonio this offseason have focused on the team's new acquisitions, the Associated Press is now reporting on the health of Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker.

Despite the additions of Richard Jefferson and Antonio McDyess, the Spurs' success this season depends on the health of their big three, which is why all Spurs fans are happy to hear that Duncan and Ginobili have taken up mall walking this offseason.

Ginobili described the experience as, "tough at first cause no one really knows how one's ankles and knees will hold up on the escalator, but I just have to stay focused and use tunnel vision...no orange juliuses or cinnabuns...they go right to the hips."

Fellow teammate Michael Finley introduced Duncan and Giniobili to the idea of mall walking, claiming that it's the reason he's still playing basketball after all those years in the ABA: "it's a great physical and mental workout. Verne always tells stories about when her husband Rupert was over in the Pacific, fighting the Japanese, and I just try and relate those to playing against the Lakers. Verne really puts things in perspective."

Asked if mall walking might increase one's chances for further injury, Duncan responded, "that's why we stretch."

Some critics of the Spurs hear that the team is doing laps at the local mall, a hobby normally reserved for the elderly, like Finley, and wonder if the team will be in the physical condition required to compete at an NBA level, to which Spurs coach Greg Popovich responds, "I tried going a few laps with them, but I tuckered out and wound up sitting on a bench outside of Panera, so you tell me who's out of shape."

Ginobili laughed when asked if the story of his coach was true, "yeah, we went pretty hard on him at the start, hoping he would get tired. As soon as he was out of sight, we hopped on the rascals and raced to the arcade."