Have you ever been to San Antonio? If so, did you get it?
Did you understand what you were experiencing? If you’re not native to the
southwest you probably wouldn’t understand San Antonio on your first trip. To understand San Antonio you have to understand
Texas first. Texas is its own planet and its cities are like continents in that
they exist unto themselves. Dallas and Houston are always trying to be
sophisticated urban centers of commerce and style, Austin is always trying to stay
relevant as the cowboy hipster capital, and Amarillo and El Paso are cow towns
with the amazing ability to stand still in time. San Antonio is none of these
things. San Antonio is simultaneously old and new and completely disconnected
from what the outside world thinks. As a southern Arizona guy, I love San
Antonio and everything it stands for. And this goes for their only pro sports
franchise, the Spurs.
There are a whole group of southern Arizonans who got turned
on to the San Antonio Spurs in 1989 when they drafted Tucson’s favorite son and University
of Arizona star Sean Elliott in the first round. Sean had torn up the Pac 10
and eventually broke Lew Alcindor's (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) all time PAC 10
career scoring record. At the time, the Spurs were one of the worst teams in
the league. As luck would have it, 1989 was also the year David Robinson and
Terry Cummings joined the team. With this new line-up the San Antonio Spurs went
from worst to first in one season. It was the fastest turn around in NBA history. The Spurs were on their way.
San Antonio is a place that doesn’t like much change and the
Spurs reflect that attitude. Spurs players have a propensity for staying. Great
players that stay in one city for a long time tend to build great teams and the
Spurs are no different. From 1978 to 2014 the Spurs have won 20 division
titles, 6 conference titles and 4 championships. The rise of “Big Three”
started ten years ago when Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili started to
gel as a unit. The addition of great role players during this time served to
propel the Spurs into the elite of the pro basketball world.
As NBA old age sets in on the Big Three and coach Gregg
Popovich, its only a matter of time before all of their jerseys are hung from the
rafters of the AT&T Center (I know, I wish it was still the Alamodome
too.). But you know what? The fine folks of San Antonio are OK with that
because they know the next crop of great players has already arrived. And
they’re not going anywhere soon.
So, the next time you’re in San Antone, find a funky local restaurant, order the daily special, and relax. Then you’ll understand.
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| Floor Tile Hand Signed by Gregg Popovich, Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili |
