At the close of the 2008/09 NBA season, the San Antonio Spurs knew that a window was closing and, they thought, very quickly. That window is former MVP Tim Duncan and the ability of his aging knees to withstand another 2nd season of a guaranteed contract. So the franchise did what it hasn’t done very often; the owner opened up his wallet and the coach pulled out the chopping block.

The team traded an aging backcourt of Bruce Bowen (38), Kurt Thomas (36) and Fabricio Oberto (34) to the Milwaukee Bucks for 29-year old forward Richard Jefferson. With their three 2nd round draft picks, the Spurs lucked out and selected former Pittsburgh Panther forward DeJuan Blair, Miami Hurricanes Guard Jack Mc Clinton and French point guard Nando de Cola. In the free agency market, the Spurs signed former Bucks guard Keith Boggans, Guard Malik Hairston, former Spanish ACB club Unicaja Malaga, former Piston power forward Antonio McDyess and former Philadelphia 76er center/forward Theo Ratliff.

In an instant the Spurs went from one of the oldest teams in the NBA into contenders for another run (or two) at the NBA Title. But as the preseason ended and the regular season began, two things were clear; it would take some time for seven new players to get the Spurs intricate schemes and Tim Duncan was not as fragile as everyone thought. The fact is Tim Duncan is playing some of the best basketball of his career. He is nearing his career highs in almost all categories and even topping some: PPG – this season 22.7, career high 22.6, RPG 11.5, career 12.2, APG 3.4, career 3.8, BPG 2.1, career 2.8, FG% .549, career .549, FT% .761, career .799. He is outpacing both Kobe Bryant and LeBron James and is more than worthy of another MVP title.

As of this writing, the Spurs are sitting in second place in the Southwest Division and are the 9th best team in the league with a .636 percentage and Tim is carrying the team until its newest members can jell into the team that Coach Popovich envisioned. With a healthy Tim, Tony and Richard and Manu, another championship run or two is still very, very possible for the Men in Black.

Since joining the National Basketball Association back in the 1976/77 season, the Spurs are the most successful team in the NBA. Capturing 17 Division Titles (the Lakers own 16) and making the playoffs 19 out of the last 20 seasons have made the San Antonio Franchise the most successful of the decade. Since the arrival of Power Forward Tim Duncan in 1997, the Spurs have made the playoffs every season.

The Spurs franchise began as an inaugural franchise Dallas Chaparrals in the American Basketball Association and tried to attract a following by playing games in Fort Worth and Lubbock. After years of poor attendance and after missing the playoffs for the first time in a decade, the franchise was put up for sale. Enter a conglomerate of 36 San Antonio Businessmen led by Angelo Drossos, John Schaefer and BJ “Red” McCombs. Once the team was in San Antonio, their name changed from the Chaparrals to the San Antonio Gunslingers to the Spurs and their colors went from red, white, and blue to the now famous Silver and Black.

In the early ABA days in San Antonio, the Spurs acquired high caliber players such as James Silas, Swen Naterand “The Iceman” George Gervin, to name but a few. As the ABA began to fade, only four teams would be accepted into the National Basketball Association and in 1976 the Spurs, along with the New Jersey Nets, the Denver Nuggets, the Indiana Pacers and the New Jersey Nets merged into the NBA.

In that inaugural season, the Spurs acquired the rights to a skinny guard from the Virginia Squires basketball club in the ABA by the name of George Gervin and he made an immediate impact on the franchise. In his inaugural season, Gervin would lead the team to a 44-38 record and 4th place in the Eastern Conference. The following season, Gervin would battle with the Denver Nuggets David Thompson for the NBA Scoring Title. At the conclusion of the Thompson’s final game of the season, he took a 73 point lead on Gervin whose team was scheduled to meet the Detroit Pistons. Gervin began the game on fire scoring 20 points in the 1st quarter, pushed harder and netted 33 points in the second (setting and NBA record). Needing only 58 points to take the title, Gervin scored a total of 63 to win. The Spurs entered the playoffs as the Central Division Champions on a 52-30 record. Despite a strong showing from Gervin (33.2 ppg) the Spurs were upset by the Wes Unseld, Elvin Hayes and the Washington Bullets.

Over the next seven seasons, the Spurs would capture five Division Titles but could not get past the Conference Finals. As the team moved into the 80’s, they would lose in consecutive seasons and were not able to get past the Western Conference finals and were eliminated by the Rockets,(1981), the LA Lakers (1982 and 83).

At the end of the 1985 season, Gervin was traded to the Chicago Bulls and thus began a tumultuous period for the Spurs franchise. Over the next four seasons, the Spurs would have a combined record of 115-213 and won the top pick in the 1987 draft that would forever change the fortune of the franchise.

At the conclusion of his Navel commitment, Center David Robinson joined the Spurs in time for the 1989/90 season and played alongside Sean Elliott and veteran Terry Cummings. Together this team put together the biggest one-season turnaround in NBA History as they finished the year at 56-26 but the Western Conference jinx would again rear its ugly head as the team lost to the Portland Trail Blazers. Robinson would win Rookie of the Year while averaging 24.3 points and 12 boards a game.

NBA Team Info Home

All Images, Content and Design © 2004 ProTeamInfo.com