59 Fun Facts About San Antonio Spurs

What name did the Spurs' arena, opened in 2002 under a telecom sponsor, take in 2023?

Frost Bank Center became the name in September 2023 after AT&T, which had moved its headquarters out of San Antonio, chose not to renew its naming deal. The arena opened in 2002 as the SBC Center.

Which championship trophy did the Spurs lift in 1999, 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2014?

Larry O'Brien Trophy goes to the NBA champions. After the 2014 title the Spurs let players take it home on a 'Trophy Tour' that reached Argentina, Australia, Brazil, France and Italy.

Under what name did the Spurs franchise begin play in the ABA in 1967?

Dallas Chaparrals became the Texas Chaparrals for 1970–71, playing some games in Fort Worth and Lubbock to win a wider following, then dropped the experiment after one season.

What was the team briefly called after its 1973 move, before it became the Spurs?

Gunslingers was the San Antonio investors' first choice of name, but they soon changed it to Spurs and gave the team its black-and-silver look.

Which San Antonio car dealer helped bring the Spurs to town in 1973?

Red McCombs and his partners leased the struggling ABA club with an option to buy, then tore up the lease after one season and bought it outright once the crowds came.

Which future Hall of Famer did the Spurs acquire from the Virginia Squires in January 1974?

George Gervin was sold by the cash-strapped Squires. The ABA commissioner tried to void the deal, but a judge in San Antonio sided with the Spurs.

Which shot was the signature move of the Spurs' 'Iceman', a four-time NBA scoring champion?

Finger roll in hand, he won his first scoring title on the last day of 1977–78: David Thompson had scored 73 that afternoon, so he needed 58 and got 63, with 33 in one quarter.

Which defending champions came back from 3–1 down to beat the Spurs in the 1979 Eastern Conference finals?

Washington Bullets took Game 7 107–105, and the Spurs had to wait 20 more years to reach their first NBA Finals.

What annual event forces the Spurs onto an extended February road trip each year?

The San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo takes over the Spurs' arena each February, so the team leaves on its 'Rodeo Road Trip', a stretch it has often used to turn a season around.

How do the Spurs traditionally celebrate NBA championships?

Boat parades on the River Walk have followed all five Spurs titles; in 2014 the celebration then moved to the Alamodome, the team's former home, for an evening ceremony.

Whom did David Robinson edge for the 1993–94 scoring title with 71 points in the Spurs' last regular-season game?

Shaquille O'Neal averaged 29.3 to Robinson's 29.8 after the Spur scored 71 against the Clippers, breaking a team record of 63 set in 1978, when another Spur also won a scoring title on the last day.

Which famed college coach did the Spurs hire in 1992 and fire just 20 games into the season?

Jerry Tarkanian had won the 1990 national title at UNLV but went 9–11 in San Antonio. His successor John Lucas finished the season 39–22.

Which Caterpillar dealer bought into the Spurs in 1996 and was chairman for all five of their NBA titles?

Peter Holt joined three years after local investors bought the team for $75 million, then led the campaign for the public vote that funded its new arena.

Which rebounder did the Spurs acquire from Detroit in 1993, then trade to Chicago two years later?

Dennis Rodman led the NBA in rebounding in both his Spurs seasons, then won three straight titles with the Bulls after San Antonio dealt him for Will Perdue.

Which college produced Tim Duncan, whom the Spurs drafted first overall in 1997 after a 20–62 season?

Wake Forest's star fell to San Antonio only because injuries cost David Robinson almost the whole season, the team sank to 20–62 and then won the draft lottery.

Whose baseline jumper with 47 seconds left clinched the Spurs' first NBA title in 1999?

Avery Johnson, the 'Little General', had bounced around five teams and been released by the Spurs themselves before his shot won Game 5 78–77.

Which team did the Spurs sweep in the 1999 West semifinals?

Los Angeles Lakers fell in four straight during the Spurs' 11–1 run through the West, and Game 4 was their last playoff game at the Forum. They then hired Phil Jackson and won the next three titles.

Which Spurs player returned in March 2000 after receiving a kidney transplant from his brother?

Sean Elliott had the transplant weeks after starting every game of the 1999 title season, with a kidney from his older brother Noel, and came back to play the last 19 games of the next one.

Which team did the Spurs beat in six games in the 2003 NBA Finals?

New Jersey Nets lost the first Finals between two former ABA teams. David Robinson retired a champion after 13 points and 17 rebounds in the clincher.

Which Lakers guard hit the shot with 0.4 seconds left that stunned the Spurs in Game 5 in 2004?

Derek Fisher caught, turned and shot in one motion after Tim Duncan's fadeaway had put the Spurs up 73–72 with 0.4 seconds left. The Lakers won 74–73 and took the series in six.

Whose three-pointer in the final seconds of overtime won Game 5 of the 2005 Finals in Detroit for the Spurs?

Robert Horry had not scored in the first half, then poured in 21 points off the bench and hit the winner for a 96–95 victory.

Who was named Finals MVP when the Spurs swept Cleveland in 2007?

Tony Parker helped the Spurs win the 2003 title, then watched them try to sign Jason Kidd, another point guard, that summer; four years later he was the first European-born Finals MVP.

A Spurs veteran's hip check on which Suns star in Game 4 of the 2007 series led to a two-game suspension?

Steve Nash was knocked into the scorer's table late in a Suns win. Two Phoenix players who left the bench, Amar'e Stoudemire and Boris Diaw, were each suspended for the next game.

Whom did the Spurs draft 57th overall in 1999?

Manu Ginóbili stayed in Italy for three more seasons, winning the 2001 EuroLeague with Bologna, and only joined the Spurs in 2002.

Which guard did the Spurs trade to Indiana on 2011 draft night for the rights to the 15th pick?

George Hill went home: he was born in Indianapolis and played college ball there. The pick he fetched became a forward Gregg Popovich soon called the future face of the Spurs.

Which service academy did Gregg Popovich attend before becoming the Spurs' longtime head coach?

Air Force Academy, class of 1970: the Spurs' first title teams paired an Air Force coach with a Navy centre, Naval Academy graduate David Robinson.

Whose late three-pointer in Game 6 of the 2013 Finals denied the Spurs a title that night?

Ray Allen tied a game the Spurs had led by five with 28 seconds left. Tim Duncan was on the bench when Chris Bosh grabbed the rebound that set up the shot, and Miami won in overtime.

Who was named Finals MVP when the Spurs beat Miami in five games in 2014?

Kawhi Leonard scored just nine points in each of the first two games, then led the Spurs in scoring in the last three. At 22 he was the youngest Finals MVP since Magic Johnson in 1982.

Which Spur won the Three-Point Contest at the 2014 All-Star Weekend?

Marco Belinelli beat Bradley Beal in a tiebreaker, then helped the Spurs win 19 straight games that spring and became the first Italian NBA champion.

Which WNBA star did the Spurs hire in 2014 as the first full-time female coach in a major US pro league?

Becky Hammon was still a San Antonio Stars guard when she was hired. A year later she coached the Spurs' Summer League team to the Las Vegas title, the first woman to lead one.

Whose 40–1 home record did the 67-win Spurs match in 2015–16?

Celtics of 1985–86 set the 40–1 mark. The Spurs lost at home only once, in April, yet their franchise-record 67 wins ended with a second-round exit.

Which nickname did Tim Duncan carry through 19 seasons with the Spurs?

The Big Fundamental never played on a Spurs team that won fewer than 50 games, apart from the 50-game lockout season of 1999. The club's record run of 18 straight 50-win seasons outlasted him by a year.

Which Warrior's foot did the Spurs' star land on in Game 1 of the 2017 West finals?

Zaza Pachulia slid under the Spurs' top scorer on a jump shot. San Antonio led by 20 at half-time, lost the game 113–111 without him and was swept.

Whom did the Spurs get from Toronto in the July 2018 trade of their star forward?

DeMar DeRozan and Jakob Pöltl arrived with a protected first-round pick, while the forward San Antonio gave up led Toronto to its first NBA title the next spring.

Which team did the Spurs' French point guard join in 2018 after 17 seasons in San Antonio?

Charlotte Hornets signed him that July, and when another long-time team-mate retired weeks later the Spurs opened camp without any of their 'Big Three' for the first time in 21 years.

Which opponent drew a regular-season record 68,323 fans to the Spurs' Alamodome game in 2023?

Golden State Warriors were the visitors for a one-off return to the Spurs' former home, staged to mark the franchise's 50th season in San Antonio.

Whom did the Spurs take first overall in 2023, their third No. 1 pick after Robinson and Duncan?

Victor Wembanyama came to the Spurs after a 22–60 season won them the draft lottery. He was the unanimous Rookie of the Year and within three seasons had them in the NBA Finals.

Which All-Star point guard did the Spurs acquire from Sacramento in a three-team deal in February 2025?

De'Aaron Fox arrived in a deal that sent Zach LaVine from Chicago to Sacramento. A year later he was an All-Star again and the Spurs had jumped from 34 wins to 62.

Who was named the Spurs' permanent head coach when Gregg Popovich stepped down in May 2025?

Mitch Johnson had run the team since November 2024, when a stroke sidelined Popovich. In his first full season in charge the Spurs won 62 games and reached the NBA Finals.

Which Spurs guard was named the 2025 Rookie of the Year, a year after a team-mate won the award?

Stephon Castle won a national title as a UConn freshman in April 2024, went fourth in the draft that June, and a year later gave the Spurs back-to-back winners of the award.

What are the 'Fiesta colours' the Spurs used in their logo from 1989 to 2002?

Pink, orange and turquoise backed the Spurs wordmark for 13 seasons while the game uniforms stayed silver and black. The colours finally reached a jersey with the 'City' edition of 2020–21.

Which letter of San Antonio's wordmark logo is drawn as a stylised spur?

The U was turned into a spur when the team took its new name in 1973, and it has stayed through every redesign since, the Fiesta-coloured years included.

What is the name of the Spurs' mascot, a 2007 Mascot Hall of Fame inductee?

The Coyote first appeared at a Spurs game in April 1983. Creator Tim Derk wore the suit for 21 years, until a stroke forced him to stop in 2004.

In which Texas city did the Spurs buy a minor-league team, the Toros, that now carries the Spurs name?

Austin's Toros were bought by the Spurs, repainted in silver and black, and in 2014 renamed the Austin Spurs.

Which wordmark is stitched across the chest of the 'Statement' uniform the Spurs unveiled in 2022?

SATX, shorthand for San Antonio, Texas, sat above side panels patterned on Mexican serapes and saddle blankets, the club's nod to the region's culture.

What was the name of the Spurs' cheerleading squad, replaced in 2018 by a co-ed 'hype team'?

Silver Dancers were told at a meeting in May 2018, weeks after the season ended, that a 'family-friendly' co-ed hype team would take their place.

The owners of which defunct ABA team won a share of the Spurs' TV money in the 1976 merger?

Spirits of St. Louis owners agreed to fold in return for one-seventh of each surviving ABA club's TV income in perpetuity. In 2014 they took a $500 million lump sum to scale the payments back.

Which team knocked the 63-win Spurs out of the 2006 playoffs in a seven-game overtime thriller?

Dallas Mavericks won Game 7 119–111 in overtime in San Antonio, ending the champions' defence, and went on to reach their first NBA Finals.

What nickname did the Spurs' frontcourt pairing of David Robinson and Tim Duncan carry from 1997 to 2003?

Twin Towers lifted the Spurs from 20 wins to 56 in their first season together, then won titles in 1999 and 2003 before Robinson retired.

Where did the Spurs play home games from 1973 to 1993?

HemisFair Arena was built for San Antonio's 1968 world's fair. The Spurs' last game there, in 1993, ended on Charles Barkley's series-winning jumper for Phoenix.

Which team beat the Spurs in the 2026 NBA Finals, ending their first Finals run since 2014?

New York Knicks won the series 4–1, taking the first two games in San Antonio, for their first championship since 1973.

Which Australian guard was the last member of the 2014 title team still with the Spurs when he left in 2021?

Patty Mills signed in 2012 after a lockout spell in China, won the 2014 title off the bench and stayed until 2021, outlasting every team-mate from that roster.

Tim Duncan took up basketball after which hurricane wrecked the pool where he trained as a swimmer?

Hurricane Hugo hit St. Croix in 1989, when he was 13 and a freestyle prospect. Forced to train in the sea, he quit swimming, and a brother-in-law then taught him basketball.

Which college title-winning coach did the Spurs hire in 1988?

Larry Brown came months after winning the 1988 NCAA title with Kansas, went 21–61, then oversaw a 35-win jump when David Robinson arrived, at the time the NBA's biggest turnaround.

Which team beat the Spurs 100-96 in the 2021 play-in, marking their first back-to-back playoff misses?

Memphis Grizzlies won the elimination game a year after the Spurs' run of 22 straight playoff appearances, tied for the longest in NBA history, had ended.

Which Spurs guard made the 2022 All-Star Game, the first Spur selected since LaMarcus Aldridge in 2019?

Dejounte Murray went as an injury replacement for Draymond Green; that summer the Spurs traded him to Atlanta for Danilo Gallinari and three first-round picks.

Which two players did the Spurs take second and 14th in the 2025 NBA draft?

Dylan Harper and Carter Bryant arrived on the same night; the 14th pick was one of three first-rounders Atlanta had sent San Antonio in a 2022 trade.

Which Spur was the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year in 2026?

Keldon Johnson had started every game he played and led the Spurs with 22 points a night in 2022-23; three seasons later he came off the bench in all 82 games of a 62-20 season.

Which opponent did the Spurs outlast in seven games in 2026 to reach their first Finals since 2014?

Oklahoma City Thunder were the defending champions and had the NBA's best record, yet the Spurs won Game 7 on the Thunder's own floor, 111-103.