Hundreds of fans waited outside San Antonio International Airport to welcome the San Antonio Spurs home from New York.
Vincent Davis/San Antonio Express-News
Alivia Manuel, 9, waits along Paul Wilkins Street near San Antonio International Airport on June 11 to welcome the San Antonio Spurs home after their loss to the New York Knicks in Game 4 of the NBA Finals.
Katina Zentz/San Antonio Express-News
San Antonio Spurs players head from the team plane to their cars at San Antonio International Airport on June 11.
Katina Zentz/San Antonio Express-News
David Longoria, owner of Tacos Los Hermanos, sits in the picnic area he shares with the Dakota East Side Ice House on South Hackberry Street. San Antonio Spurs fans gathered in the picnic area to watch the team’s playoff run on a big screen TV.
Vincent Davis/San Antonio Express-News
The San Antonio Spurs fell short in their Race for Seis this season, but the team’s surprise playoff success energized the city and reinvigorated the fanbase, which is still flying the team’s flag with pride.
Throughout the NBA season, residents decorated their front porches with banners emblazoned with the Spurs logo. They flew pennants from cars, SUVs and trucks.
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A 22-year veteran of the Air Force, Vincent T. Davis embarked on a second career as a journalist and found his calling. Observing and listening across San Antonio, he finds intriguing tales to tell about everyday people. He shares his stories with Express-News subscribers every Monday morning.
Inside churches, beyond fluttering sliver and black flags, they lit candles, knelt and prayed for their team to be victorious.
These scenes unfolded across the city as I joined Express-News colleagues to write about the Spurs during their recent run to the NBA Finals. From the East Side to the San Antonio International Airport and all points in between, Spurs nation was fully engaged.
Here’s a look at how the team’s success reverberated around the Alamo City:
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‘They bring us business’
The Spurs’ playoff success this season was good for business at Mark’s Outing, a hamburger restaurant at Commerce and Pine streets, a little more than 2 miles from Frost Bank Center.
The restaurant, which has been in business for 21 years, is a common stop for Spurs devotees before and after games. Owner Mark Outing said it’s always helpful when the team is playing well, and he saw an uptick in sales while the Spurs were battling the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference finals. He said if any New York Knicks fans stopped by during the NBA Finals, they did so undercover.
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It probably doesn’t hurt that the burger joint has a life-sized mural of 7-foot-4 Spurs star Victor Wembanyama on an exterior wall. The painting, by artist Michael Sanchez, is even signed by Wemby.
“The neighborhood is changing,” Outing said. “We’re looking forward to seeing more people visit us and we’re hoping the Spurs continue what they’re doing.”
It’s a similar story over at Con Huevos Tacos, which is at 1629 E. Houston St..
Owner Hugo Garcia said backing the Spurs is a community effort.
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“They’re the ones that keep us alive – the Spurs. We love it,” he said. “They bring us business.”
David Longoria, owner of Tacos Los Hermanos, said his business picked up when the playoffs began. Located at 419 S. Hackberry St., the eatery shares an outside picnic area with the Dakota East Side Ice House, where fans can watch Spurs games on a big-screen TV.
During the NBA Finals, groups of fans made reservations to watch the action, Longoria said. Other customers followed recommendations to stop at his corner restaurant on the way to the game.
“Whatever comes my way,” Longoria said “is a blessing.”
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The East Side faithful
The Spurs are deeply ingrained in the Denver Heights community on the East Side, and the team has been important to local businessman Charles Williams since the Spurs debuted in San Antonio in 1973.
Williams, who has lived in the Alamo City since 1957, has owned several enterprises including a car wash, catering business and beauty supply store.
Since 2018, he’s operated the Williams Historical Museum in the former St. Joseph’s AME Church. Williams bought the property as an archive of African American history on the East Side.
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Williams said the Spurs’ success tends to be good for East Side businesses like Tony G’s, which is owned by Tony Gradney.
Gradney “makes it comfortable,” Williams said. “You build a good nest and birds will come. That’s the way it is.”
The Denver Heights Community Center got a boost this season from the Spurs and the NBA, as the NBA Cares Legacy Project paid for $50,000 in upgrades for the center. Before Game 2 of the NBA Finals, Spurs players, team officials and NBA executives turned out for a celebration at the renovated center. More than 200 people packed the gym for the ceremony, and afterwards kids took part in a basketball clinic, toured the upgraded spaces and played video games with Spurs players.
Williams said it will be interesting to see how Project Marvel and the Spurs moving out of the Frost Bank Center will affect the East Side. Project Marvel, a proposed multi-billion-dollar sports and entertainment district, would include a Spurs arena, expanded convention center and renovated Alamodome.
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Williams said business owners need to push for opportunities to benefit from the downtown initiative.
“If you maneuver and plan,” Williams said, “things kind of fall in place.”
‘More than we expected’
Although the NBA Finals didn’t go the way fans wanted, with the Spurs falling to the Knicks in five games, many of the diehards never wavered in their support.
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The day after the Spurs’ stunning loss in Game 4 of the finals, hundreds of fans turned out near San Antonio International Airport to welcome the team home and let the players and coaches know the city was still behind them.
Fans lined both sidewalks of Jones Maltsberger Road from the U.S. 281 access road to Paul Wilkins Street, waiting for a glimpse of the Spurs as they arrived from New York. Crowds lined sun-lit rooftops and the shadowed lower levels of parking garages. Some fans, dripping with sweat, sought shade beneath umbrellas, trying to stay cool using mini-fans that blew cool air in the sweltering heat.
Behind orange and white barriers, people held up “We Believe” signs and giant poster heads of Wembanyama. A girl and boy clutched two green inflatable aliens, an homage to Wembanyama, who has jokingly been referred to as a space alien because of his extreme height and remarkable skill level.
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Riedmon Palcat and Mary Palcat came to support Spurs guard Dylan Harper, their favorite player. Their voices joined the chorus of cheers when the players and coaches drove past as they left the airport.
“We never thought they were going to be in the playoffs, but they overachieved. They’re really good,” Mary Palcat said. “They did more than we expected.”