Why I am a Spurs fan

Something I wrote up-- mostly for myself. I don't know if it will help you.

I think it’s normal to question your sanity after last night. I’ve been a Spurs fan since 2005. A Tim Duncan fan since 2003. Yesterday was the second worst loss of my life.

I’ve watched many a video of New Yorkers effectively destroying the city in happiness and anger. And I’ve replayed certain clips of quarters 3 and 4 repeatedly. It hurts. A lot. And then you juxtapose this loss against “the team of destiny” talk and it hurts even more.

That hurt makes me ask why I am a Spurs fan. A person who isn’t from Texas. Who has never been to SA. What happened in 2003 and 2005 to make a guy from Ohio love the San Antonio Spurs.

It started in 2001 when I was at my Aunt and Uncle’s house in LA during the 2001 NBA finals. The LA times printed a life size poster of Shaq. I remember staring at that poster and wondering “how anyone could be that big and strong.” And in 2001 and 2002 I understood that no one could mess with Shaq and that he was the biggest, baddest man on the block.

Over the next few years, two teams bested the behemoth. In 2003, Tim Duncan danced around him and in 2004, Ben Wallace and the Pistons fought back with every bone in their body. In 2005, the two most formative teams of my childhood would come to a head in a clash whose significance I was too young to understand. In what was the most badass opening of a game ever, the game opened with Mason and Ben Wallace taking a sledgehammer to a wall with the Spurs logo on it.

And yet, in a series filled with defense and physical basketball, there was a player who almost transcended it — Manu Ginobili. A player who I can only describe as the basketball representation of a mad scientist. He would dash into places which I thought were impossible, skip the rules of physics, and find these tiny gaps from which the Spurs offense could make headway against the physical brick wall. It was mesmerizing. And in that series, Tim Duncan became my favorite basketball player — but Manu’s fearlessness became the thing which made me a Spurs fan.

In 2007, the Spurs beat my state’s Cavs. In a classroom of mostly Cavs fans, I was probably the lone Spurs fan — because of those two. The combination of Tony, Manu, Tim, and Pop became a bit of an obsession. I loved that Tim Duncan is a consistent subject of the Onion and Pop’s sass in interviews. Anyways, in 2013, my childhood heros seemingly redefined themselves one more time for a run at the championship. And lost game 6 in the worst night as a Spurs fan. And lost to Ohio’s own LeBron.

The very next season, they came back and played a brand of basketball which looked more like Barcelona’s Tiki-Taka than the basketball which defined all their other championships. If 1999, 2003, 2005 were defined by Duncan’s greatness. 2007 was defined by Parker’s swiftness. 2014 was defined by Ginobili.

A man who spent most of his career coming off the bench, was known for crazy passes, and was an Euroleague Finals MVP was part of a team that played its bench more than anyone, passed the ball more than any other team, and had an NBA record 10 international players on its team. It was the most beautiful basketball I’d ever seen and as a fan, that series was my favorite time as a Spurs fan. If Pop and the Spurs try to represent that brand of basketball, I can never root for anyone else.

This season was the first season in the playoffs after a drought. We have new talent. We have a new Coach. Popovich is now El Jefe. Tim, Tony, and Manu can only be found in the stands. And I root for this new generation because I love how they have that same competitive fire that those three had. Wemby is maybe the most effective defender I’ve ever seen. Castle comes at you with power instead of Tony’s speed. And Harper replaces Ginobili’s unpredictability with incredible poise and control. They're all 22 years old or younger. They weren’t supposed to make the finals. And here they are. And in 2026, in game 4, they had an all-time collapse against the Knicks.

I remember screaming at Vassell for missing shots, yelling at Wemby for his free throws and terrible shots and pulling what’s left of my hair out at Fox when he went for that layup… dribble the ball out. It’s worth remembering that the oldest core player, Fox, is 28 — the same age as Manu when he made that foul against Dirk. He’s playing on a high ankle sprain. He’s giving his all too.

I was yelling at every stupid turnover. Every careless pass. Every dumb three over just slowing the game down and spending time. Don’t get me started on how close the fans were to Dylan Harper on the final play.

Despite all of that, I want them to know that I care about them because they try to play basketball the right way — even if they know that the odds are grim. They all have a long time to learn and grow and adapt. Their careers will be marred but not defined by this. And like the 2014 Spurs, they’ll have a chance to redeem themselves and show how much they’ve grown. That redemption might begin in game 5. It might take until next year or some later season. No matter what, the Spurs try to play the right way. That’s why they’ve always been my team.