San Antonio Spurs

The San Antonio Spurs began their existence in the American Basketball Association (ABA) and are one of the four ABA teams that survived the 1976 merger with the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Spurs, who play at the AT&T Center, are the closest thing the modern NBA has to a dynasty, having won four league championships since 1979. One of the league’s all-time winningest franchises, they have only missed the playoffs four times since joining the NBA. That, plus 15 division titles, makes San Antonio one of the most consistently successful franchises in any sport.

The Early Years
The San Antonio Spurs began their existence as the ABA’s Dallas Chaparrals in 1967. They were moved to San Antonio in 1973 and were renamed the Spurs.

In 1974, the Spurs made one of the biggest deals in team history when they acquired George Gervin from the Virginia Squires. Gervin, nicknamed “The Iceman” for his coolness under pressure, was a scoring machine who would lead the Spurs to five division titles on his way to becoming one of the NBA’s 50 greatest players.

The Spurs were considered one of the ABA’s best teams, and when the league went under in 1976, the Spurs were brought into the NBA intact.

Led by Gervin in the 1970s and 1980s, the Spurs were a perennial playoff contender, but couldn’t get past the great teams of that era to win a title. That would have to wait nearly 20 years.

Championships

In the 1990s, with David “The Admiral” Robinson at the helm, the Spurs enjoyed great success, but like Gervin’s team, they couldn’t quite make it to the top of the NBA heap, until two things happened in 1997: the hiring of head coach Gregg Popovich, and the drafting of Tim Duncan.

Duncan, a power forward out of Wake Forest, had an immediate impact on the Spurs, and two years after his arrival, they won their first-ever NBA title, beating the New York Knicks in five games.

Injuries and the dominance of the Los Angeles Lakers caused a championship drought for the Spurs, but in 2003, bolstered by Duncan and newly-acquired point guard Tony Parker, they won their second title, beating the New Jersey Nets in six games. After the season, Robinson retired.

The Spurs returned to the Finals in the 2004-2005 season. Led by Duncan, Parker and Argentinian shooting guard Manu Ginobili, they beat the defending champion Detroit Pistons in seven games.

The 2005-06 season saw the Spurs go down to the Dallas Mavericks in the second round, but in 2006-07 they came back with a vengeance, sweeping the LeBron James-led Cleveland Cavaliers in the Finals.

2007-08 Season

The Spurs went 56-26 in the 2007-08 season and advanced to the conference finals despite several Western teams making huge mid-season trades to try to offset the Lakers’ acquisition of Pau Gasol. They met the Lakers in the conference final, where they lost in five games.

2008-2009 Outlook

The Spurs’ nucleus remains intact and appears to be primed for championship contention again. At 32, Duncan remains one of the game’s finest big men. Parker and Ginobili round out the “Big Three” and form one of the league’s most formidable backcourts. The Boston Celtics may be the defending champs, but no one in their right mind can count out the San Antonio Spurs.