9/20/21 — Does that day mean something to you?
For many, if not most of you, September 9th, 2021 (9/20/21), might have just been another typical Monday, but for any San Antonian, that date meant a whole lot. Anyone who lives or has lived in San Antonio, TX is most likely a die-hard Spurs fan. The San Antonio Spurs, a remarkable team of the NBA, holds 5 championship titles, and four of those titles are thanks to The Big 3 and the team built around them.
Who were The Big 3?
Anyone who referred to The Big 3 when talking about the Spurs, knew that they were talking about Tony Parker (9), Manu Ginobili (20) and Tim Duncan (21). The three players together were unstoppable. With each of their jerseys now hanging from one of the many beams at the AT&T Center.
A bit about these three players. Tony Parker, a French basketball player, joined the Spurs in the early years of 2001 and sadly left the team in 2018. After 17 seasons with the team he played one more year with the Charlotte Hornets and retired from the NBA. Manu Ginobili, originally from Argentina, joined the team shortly after Parker and stayed with the team for his whole NBA career, retiring after 16 years and four championship titles with the Spurs. Last but not least, Tim Duncan, an American two time MVP with five championships, retired after playing 19 years with the Spurs, joining in 1997 and retiring in 2016. Duncan was inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame in 2020.
Why the Spurs you ask?
The San Antonio Spurs aren’t just another team that forms part of the NBA; they are a family. Not only did the team act like a family with these three, but they made sure that every single fan that walked into the stadium on a home game night, felt like a part of their family as well.
I might not remember 1999 very well, I was only three years old, but I do remember every year after that. Watching the Spurs was even part of our family. Their games were on our TV every night there was a game, there was no way you could miss it. It was the only time that my parents would let me stay up past my bedtime. As I got older, going to games with my dad was our tradition. Being season ticket holders, we used to get free merch, and what did our shirts say? “Spurs Family”. Since then, each and every game was important, it meant something, almost like if a part of me would lose if our team did. I can remember every other championship title (2003, 2005, 2006, 2014). In 2014 I had the opportunity to attend the championship game. The adrenaline rushing through my veins and the goosebumps I got watching the winning basket go in, is a feeling that I will never forget. I even hugged a stranger when we won, but he wasn’t really a stranger, he was a part of the Spurs family.
Will there ever be another “Big 3?”
That’s a question that all of us Spurs fans are asking. Since the last championship (2014) and our star players retiring, let’s just say the team has gone downhill from there. With the team starting to develop its familiarity with each other and playing like a family, we only hope that the team reaches stardom again, winning another championship title soon. Setting an almost impossible to reach standard with the original Big 3, Dejounte Murray, Derrick White, and Lonnie Walker, give Spurs fans hope that they will become the teams next unstoppable trio.
The Spurs have created a brand that resonates with anyone who is an NBA fan and even more so if you are from San Antonio. You aren’t just another fan; you are a part of their team and what makes the Spurs the Spurs.
