Sean Sweeney, formerly the top assistant coach for the San Antonio Spurs and now head coach of the Orlando Magic, has proposed that his former team's NBA Finals loss to the New York Knicks was influenced by factors other than the Knicks' play.

In an appearance on "The Ryen Russillo Show," Sweeney cited fatigue from a grueling seven-game series against the Oklahoma City Thunder and bad luck as the main reasons for the Spurs falling in five games. He suggested that if games were shorter, the Spurs might have won the series.

"I think a few things," Sweeney said. "One, I think there’s a little attrition having to go through the previous series. Two, bad luck. They told me if the games were like 46 minutes or whatever, we would’ve won 4-1."

He also noted that the Spurs made more mistakes in the Finals than in previous rounds, referencing Jalen Brunson's strong performance in the deciding game. However, he cautioned against attributing the change solely to the team's youth.

"Jalen [Brunson] obviously had a monster game in that last one. Coached him in Dallas. Happy for him – kind of. I think we just made more mistakes than we had made in the previous series,” Sweeney added. “You can maybe say something to that, but you don’t do what you did, and then all of a sudden become young."

Despite leading all five games of the NBA Finals by double digits, the Spurs were unable to close out wins. The Knicks, conversely, outscored their opponents by a significant margin in the second halves of games, including a 15-point comeback in the series-clinching Game 5. The Knicks held a +40 point differential in the second half across all five Finals games and were +26 in the fourth quarters combined.

Sweeney also speculated that the Spurs' young players might have found the increased media obligations during the Finals challenging.

"The one thing I think that’s a little different in the finals than the other rounds is when you have to do media in the finals, you have to answer questions even when you’ve played poorly or struggled. And you don’t have to do that in previous rounds,” Sweeney said.

The Spurs notably blew a 29-point lead in Game 4, a pivotal moment that ultimately contributed to their series defeat.