Gifts and Basketball Sports Memorabilia for NBA Championship San Antonio Spurs Team

The San Antonio Spurs have gone through many changes including name and even location to get to where they are today. For admirers of these NBA champion players, sports memorabilia and many gifts online are available for purchase for viewers of this hubpage.

Prior to being a part of the NBA ( National Basketball Association ) they were formerly playing with other teams on the American Basketball Association which merged with the NBA in 1976.

There were some naysayers who did not believe that the ABA players were quite as good, but the San Antonio Spurs soon put those doubts to rest.

The Spurs are one of the best winning teams in all of professional sports!

They also consistently draw some of the biggest crowds and have a huge fan base. My mother-in-law was one of them!

SAN ANTONIO SPURS

The Spurs began life as the Dallas Chaparrals in 1967 as a part of the ABA.  Apparently the people living in Dallas and the surrounding area were not avid supporters of this fledgling basketball team and crowd control was never an issue.  In fact, had the Chaparrals had a few more people rooting for them in the stands, perhaps their lackluster performances would have been improved?  That is merely supposition, of course.

The Dallas part of their name was changed to Texas hoping to garner more interest, but when that failed an offer was made by interested businessmen to have them moved to San Antonio.  Upon completion of that move the idea of calling them the San Antonio Gunslingers was changed to the San Antonio Spurs before they played their first game. 

And the rest, as they say, is history!

NBA Champions!

With the exception of only 3 other teams ( the Celtics, Lakers and Bulls ) the San Antonio Spurs have won more NBA championships than the other competing teams. These NBA wins have occured in the years 1999, 2003, 2005 and 2007.

They have won the NBA Western Division championships in the same years.

The Spurs really make it really exciting for their fans winning on average almost 70% of the games played since 1997 according to the Wikipedia link.

Even when my mother-in-law had moved from San Antonio to Houston and was spending the last of her days in hospice care, when the Spurs were playing we made sure that the television was tuned in so that she could watch them perform their special kind of magic.

Southwest Division

The San Antonio Spurs share the Southwest Division with these other professional basketball teams of the NBA:  Dallas Mavericks; Houston Rockets; Memphis Grizzlies and the New Orleans Hornets. 

Three Divisions make up the Western Conference of the NBA...the Southwest, the Northwest and the Pacific.

The Eastern Conference contains these Divisions: Atlantic, Central and Southeast with 5 member teams on each division.

In all there are 30 franchised member clubs of the NBA. 

Venues

The San Antonio Spurs dazzled their fan base in the HemisFair Arena from 1973 to 1993.

From 1993 to 2002 the Alamodome was where they performed.

The SBC Center renamed the AT & T Center is the new arena where Spurs fans are now entertained. 

Spurs notables...

Not surprisingly the Spurs have three of their players in the Hall of Fame. As of this posting in February of 2011, these three have made this honor roll: George Gervin in 1996; Moses Malone in 2001 and David Robinson in 2009. I am certain that there will be others following in their footsteps!

David Robinson also was named MVP ( Most Valuable Player ) in 1995 and Tim Duncan also captured that honor in the years of 2002 and 2003.

Greg Popovich who has been the San Antonio Spurs coach since 1996 got the Coach of the Year honor in 2003.

Hope you enjoyed this brief look at one of the NBA basketball teams that is a perennial playoff contender...the San Antonio Spurs. Feel free to surprise your friends by purchasing some sports memorabilia and gifts showing your love and appreciation of this team. If my mother-in-law was still alive, the Spurs would be getting some avid long distance rooting support with each of their games!