San Antonio Spurs

• 1. Five Boats, Five Banners

  ›

  When the San Antonio Spurs win an NBA championship, the victory parade does not move through city streets. It goes by boat along the San Antonio River Walk. The franchise has earned that journey five times: in 1999, 2003, 2005, 2007, and 2014. As of the 2022-23 season, the Spurs held the highest winning percentage among all active NBA franchises. Over the prior three decades, no major professional sports franchise in the United States and Canada had matched their winning rate as of May 2017. San Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States. The surrounding suburban and rural areas have never stretched much beyond the city limits. The franchise that built this record of dominance did not even begin in San Antonio. What could lead a team that once hovered near financial collapse to become the most consistent winner in professional basketball? The answer begins in Dallas, with a different name and very different prospects.

  1012132425

• 2. From Chaparrals to Spurs

  ›

  Angelo Drossos led 35 San Antonio businessmen who arranged to rescue a failing franchise in 1973. The Dallas Chaparrals had been one of the 11 original teams in the American Basketball Association, coached in the inaugural season by player/coach Cliff Hagan. After finishing fourth with a 41-37 record in their second ABA season, the Chaparrals declined. Poor attendance and minimal ownership investment drained the team financially. After missing the playoffs for the first time in the 1972-73 season, nearly all of the owners wanted to sell.

  Drossos, along with John Schaefer and Red McCombs, worked out a "lend-lease" arrangement with the Dallas group. They would lease the team for three years with an option to purchase. Before the relocated franchise played a single game, two names were tried and discarded. The team was briefly called the San Antonio Gunslingers before settling on the Spurs. Whether the name came from a winning entry in a local naming contest is still debated. An alternative account holds that one of the owners was born in a Texas town called Spur. The familiar black, silver, and white colors replaced the Chaparrals' red, white, and blue.

  The Spurs built a defensive identity in their inaugural San Antonio season, holding opponents to fewer than 100 points in an ABA-record 49 games. James Silas was the early offensive standout. The Spurs acquired George Gervin from the Virginia Squires in January of that first season. The ABA attempted to block the deal, arguing it was detrimental to the league. A judge ruled in the Spurs' favor, and Gervin made his debut on the 7th of February 1974. San Antonio embraced the new team immediately. The Spurs drew 6,303 fans per game and surpassed the Chaparrals' entire final-season attendance in only 18 home games. After one year, Drossos, Schaefer, and McCombs exercised their option and bought the franchise outright.

  In June 1976, the ABA and NBA merged. The Spurs joined the new league alongside the Denver Nuggets, the Indiana Pacers, and the New York Nets. The merger agreement required the four former ABA franchises to share television revenue with the owners of two ABA teams that had folded. The Spirits of St. Louis collected those payments for 38 years before settling for $500 million in 2014. That financial obligation fell on San Antonio and the other surviving ABA teams throughout their early NBA years. Gervin's scoring ability would soon give those years something worth remembering.

  2627282932

• 3. The Scoring Duel

  ›

  On the final day of the 1977-78 season, David Thompson of the Denver Nuggets scored 73 points against the Detroit Pistons in an afternoon game. That performance gave Thompson the lead in the season-long scoring race. George Gervin had led the race all year. That night, Gervin faced the Jazz in New Orleans knowing he needed 58 points to win the title. He scored 20 in the first quarter. In the second, he scored 33, setting a single-period record. Gervin reached the 58-point mark early in the third period and finished with 63, claiming the scoring crown.

  Gervin averaged 33.2 points per game in the playoff series against the Washington Bullets that followed, but San Antonio lost in six games. The Spurs had finished the regular season 52-30, winning the Central Division. In 1979, the Spurs led the Bullets 3-1 in the conference finals. Washington came back to win the last three games. The deciding seventh game finished 107-105, and that loss sent the franchise on a 20-year wait for an NBA Finals appearance.

  Regular-season success continued through the early 1980s. San Antonio went 52-30 in 1980-81, 48-34 in 1981-82, and 53-29 in 1982-83, capturing five division titles in their first seven NBA seasons. The Spurs fell repeatedly in the playoffs to the Boston Celtics, the Houston Rockets, and the Los Angeles Lakers. After the 1984-85 season, Gervin was traded to the Chicago Bulls, closing the franchise's first era in San Antonio.

  The four seasons that followed brought the darkest records in franchise history: a combined 115-213 from 1985-86 through 1988-89. Dwindling attendance and losing records raised relocation discussions. The one bright spot came in 1987: the Spurs won the top pick in the NBA draft lottery. They selected David Robinson of the United States Naval Academy. Robinson, however, would not join the team until the 1989-90 season: he had a two-year commitment to the United States Navy to fulfill first.

  34368935

• 4. From Worst to First

  ›

  David Robinson's arrival in the 1989-90 season produced an immediate transformation: the franchise went from 21-61 the year before to 56-26. Robinson averaged 24.3 points and 12.0 rebounds per game as a rookie and was named Rookie of the Year unanimously. Sean Elliott, drafted in 1989 out of Arizona, contributed alongside Robinson, as did Terry Cummings, acquired from the Milwaukee Bucks. The franchise claimed first place in the Midwest Division for the first time in seven years.

  Red McCombs, who had been an original investor since the San Antonio days, took full ownership before the 1989-90 season. Larry Brown had arrived as head coach the prior year, having won the NCAA national championship with Kansas in 1988. The Spurs qualified for the playoffs in each of Brown's seasons but could not advance past the second round. McCombs fired Brown midway through the 1991-92 season.

  In the summer of 1992, McCombs hired Jerry Tarkanian, who had built a dominant program at UNLV. That experiment lasted 20 games before Tarkanian was let go. John Lucas was named head coach. In 1993, local businessman Peter M. Holt and a group of 22 investors purchased the franchise from McCombs for $75 million. Lucas led the Spurs to a 55-27 record in the 1993-94 season, the franchise's first in the newly built Alamodome. A first-round playoff exit ended his tenure.

  Bob Hill replaced Lucas for 1994-95. The Spurs finished with the NBA's best record at 62-20, and Robinson was named the league's Most Valuable Player. San Antonio reached the Western Conference finals but lost to the eventual champion Houston Rockets. Dennis Rodman had arrived in a trade that sent Sean Elliott to the Detroit Pistons. Rodman was traded to the Chicago Bulls after the 1994-95 season and helped Chicago win three titles. Injuries in 1996-97 left the Spurs at 20-62, the worst record in franchise history. Robinson missed most of the season with a broken foot. Sean Elliott was out for more than half the year. General manager Gregg Popovich replaced Hill as head coach 18 games into that season. With the third-worst record in the league, the Spurs entered the 1997 draft lottery and won it. They selected Tim Duncan, a consensus All-American from Wake Forest, with the first overall pick.

  3739404142

• 5. Twin Towers

  ›

  Tim Duncan averaged 21.1 points and 11.9 rebounds per game in his 1997-98 rookie season. He earned First Team All-NBA honors and the Rookie of the Year award. At 6'11", Duncan complemented Robinson's 7'1" frame in a pairing the press quickly dubbed the Twin Towers. Both players occupied low-post roles and together anchored the team's defense. San Antonio finished 56-26, breaking its own record for the largest single-season improvement in wins, but lost to the Utah Jazz in the conference semi-finals.

  Before the 1998-99 season, NBA ownership locked out the players in a labor dispute. The lockout lasted more than three months. A new collective bargaining agreement was reached in January 1999, and a shortened 50-game season followed. The Spurs finished with the league's best record at 37-13. They went 11-1 through the Western Conference playoffs. In the Finals, the Spurs faced the New York Knicks, who had become the first eighth seed in NBA history to reach the championship round. San Antonio won the series 4-1, clinching in game 5 at Madison Square Garden. Duncan was named Finals MVP. The Spurs became the first former ABA team to win the NBA Championship.

  The 2002-03 season brought two significant milestones. David Robinson announced before training camp that it would be his final NBA season. The franchise also moved into the SBC Center, a new arena named for the telecommunications company headquartered in San Antonio. Tony Parker, drafted in the first round of the 2001 NBA draft, was now the starting point guard. The roster also featured Manu Ginobili, an Argentine selected in the second round of the 1999 draft who was playing in his first NBA season. San Antonio finished the regular season in a tie with Dallas for the league's best record at 60-22. Duncan claimed his second consecutive league MVP award. In the Finals against the New Jersey Nets, the two former ABA franchises met for the NBA title for the first time. San Antonio won 4-2. Duncan was named Finals MVP for the second time. Robinson retired after that season, and the Spurs moved into 2003-04 without the center who had anchored their defense since 1989.

  4445224955

• 6. Heartbreak and Vindication

  ›

  Duncan, Parker, and Ginobili, collectively known as the Big Three, faced their first serious test in the 2003-04 second-round playoff series against the Los Angeles Lakers. Duncan made a shot with 0.4 seconds remaining that appeared to give San Antonio a 73-72 win in game 5. Derek Fisher of the Lakers answered with a buzzer-beater as time expired to make it 74-73. San Antonio lost the series in six games.

  The following season brought a championship. In game 5 of the 2004-05 NBA Finals against the defending champion Detroit Pistons, the Spurs trailed in Detroit and faced elimination. Robert Horry hit a three-point shot with nine seconds remaining to give San Antonio a 96-95 overtime win. The series returned to San Antonio, and the Spurs won game 7 by a score of 81-74. Duncan was named Finals MVP for the third time. He joined Magic Johnson, Shaquille O'Neal, and Michael Jordan as the only players to win the award three times.

  In 2006-07, San Antonio swept the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Finals. Tony Parker averaged 24.5 points per game on 57 percent shooting during the series and was named Finals MVP. He became the first European-born player in NBA history to win the award. The Spurs won at least 50 games every season from 1999-2000 through 2016-17. During the 2015-16 season, the team set a franchise record with 67 wins and tied the 1985-86 Boston Celtics' NBA record of 40 home wins in a single season.

  In 2011, the Spurs acquired Kawhi Leonard in a trade that sent George Hill to the Indiana Pacers. Leonard had been selected 15th overall by Indiana in the 2011 draft. In game 6 of the 2012-13 Finals against the Miami Heat, San Antonio led by five points with 28 seconds remaining in regulation. Ray Allen hit a three-point shot with five seconds left to tie the game. The Heat won in overtime, 103-100. In game 7, Duncan had 24 points and 12 rebounds but missed a layup and a tip-in in the final minutes. The Heat won their second consecutive championship.

  The Spurs and Heat met again in the 2013-14 Finals. San Antonio won 4-1, with each victory by 15 or more points. Kawhi Leonard was named Finals MVP, the third-youngest player to receive the award, behind Magic Johnson and Duncan. Later that year, the Spurs hired Becky Hammon as an assistant coach. She became the first full-time female assistant coach in any of the four major professional sports leagues in the United States. Tim Duncan announced his retirement on the 11th of July 2016, after 19 seasons with the Spurs. He is the only NBA player in history to record 1,000 wins with a single team.

  6061627083

• 7. The Long Rebuild

  ›

  The 2016-17 season saw the Spurs finish 61-21 as Kawhi Leonard stepped into the franchise's leading role. In game 1 of the Western Conference finals against the Golden State Warriors, Leonard landed on Zaza Pachulia's foot while attempting a shot. He re-aggravated an existing ankle injury and sat out the remainder of the series. The Warriors swept San Antonio.

  The 2017-18 season brought deeper problems. Leonard missed the first 27 games with a right quadriceps injury. He returned briefly, was ruled out again, and then sought an independent medical opinion from his own doctors. In March 2018, a players-only meeting described by those present as tense and emotional failed to bring him back to the court. The Spurs finished 47-35, ending their NBA-record streak of 18 consecutive seasons with at least 50 wins. On the 18th of July 2018, Leonard and Danny Green were traded to the Toronto Raptors. San Antonio received DeMar DeRozan, Jakob Poltl, and a protected first-round draft pick. Tony Parker, whose 17-year playing career had been spent entirely with the Spurs, signed with the Charlotte Hornets on the 6th of July 2018. Manu Ginobili retired on the 27th of August 2018, after 16 seasons with San Antonio.

  The 2018-19 Spurs finished 48-34 and qualified for the playoffs for the 22nd consecutive season, tying the all-time NBA record. They lost in seven games to the Denver Nuggets in the first round. In the 2019-20 season, the NBA suspended play on the 11th of March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On the 13th of August 2020, the Memphis Grizzlies defeated the Milwaukee Bucks, which eliminated San Antonio from playoff contention. That ended the Spurs' run of 22 consecutive playoff appearances. San Antonio finished the shortened season 32-39.

  The following two seasons brought more losing records. LaMarcus Aldridge left midway through the 2020-21 season via a contract buyout. DeMar DeRozan led the team that season at 21.6 points per game before being traded to the Chicago Bulls. San Antonio finished 34-48 in 2021-22 and reached the play-in tournament but was eliminated. That summer, Dejounte Murray and Jock Landale were traded to the Atlanta Hawks for Danilo Gallinari and future draft picks.

  85869599100

• 8. The Wembanyama Era

  ›

  The 2022-23 season was the club's 50th anniversary in San Antonio. The Spurs finished 22-60, the worst record since 1996-97. In the 2022 draft, they had selected Jeremy Sochan, Malaki Branham, and Blake Wesley in the first round at the 9th, 20th, and 25th picks. On the 13th of January 2023, the Spurs drew 68,323 fans to the Alamodome for a game against the Golden State Warriors. That crowd set a regular-season single-game NBA attendance record.

  On the 16th of May 2023, the Spurs won the NBA draft lottery. It was the third time the franchise had claimed the first overall pick, following David Robinson in 1987 and Tim Duncan in 1997. The Spurs selected Victor Wembanyama, who had long been expected to go first overall. Wembanyama was elected Rookie of the Year unanimously and came second in Defensive Player of the Year voting.

  Gregg Popovich had been the team's head coach since the final stretch of the 1996-97 season. For the 2024-25 season, he was announced indefinitely unavailable due to health issues, with Mitch Johnson serving as interim head coach. Stephon Castle won the Rookie of the Year award that season. On the 2nd of May 2025, Popovich stepped down as head coach while remaining the team's president of basketball operations. Johnson was named the permanent head coach.

  The 2025-26 season produced the franchise's best regular-season record since 2015-16. San Antonio won the West Group C stage of the 2025 NBA Cup and defeated the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder in the semifinals. The Spurs fell to the New York Knicks in the Cup championship game. De'Aaron Fox, acquired in a three-team mid-season trade involving the Chicago Bulls and the Sacramento Kings, made the 2026 NBA All-Star Game alongside Wembanyama. The Spurs clinched their first playoff berth since 2019 with a win over the Phoenix Suns on the 19th of March. They clinched their first Southwest Division title since 2016-17 with a win over the Miami Heat on the 23rd of March. San Antonio finished 62-20 as the second seed in the Western Conference. They defeated the Portland Trail Blazers in five games, then the Minnesota Timberwolves in six. In seven games, they outlasted the Oklahoma City Thunder to reach the NBA Finals for the first time since 2014. Dylan Harper, drafted second overall in 2025, joined Wembanyama and Castle on a roster still finding its final shape.

  85869599100