I remember Tim's first playoff game against the Suns during his rookie year. He was unstoppable in the 4th quarter ending with 30+ pts. That's when I realized he was special. He was the talk of the town the next day.
My father passed away in 2012 to gastrointestinal cancer. He died, way too young, at the age of 57. He was a loving husband, a caring father, and a good man.
I grew up watching the Spurs with my dad. When I was a kid, he gave me a stuffed Spurs Coyote that would become my favorite childhood toy. He would seemingly "forget" my bedtime and let me stay up late, but only as long as I was at his at his side watching the game. He took me to my first Spurs game, some random regular season affair against the Kings in the columned chambers of the Hemisfair Arena.
He was the first one to tell me about this amazing player we were supposed to get, some college star who was supposed to be the like the next Jordan...THAT big. Some guy named Tim Dunkin'. (That's how I imagined his name at the time, and thought it was so funny that there was a basketball player named Dunkin'.)
He was the first one to tell me about some kid out of Argentina who was supposed to be a great athlete and made crazy passes...some guy with a weird name like "Man-u" (Okay, it took us all a while to get used to the name).
He took my brother and I out on the streets of San Antonio in 1999 and we yelled and honked and celebrated the championship with the city. And we did again in 2003, and 2005. By 2007, we had all made our separate ways up to Austin, but we still got together, of course, and celebrated late into the night from a city away.
The last good memory I have of my Dad was hanging out with him at his house, watching a random January road game against the Rockets. He had been sick for a couple years now, but this night he seemed vibrant and comfortable. The Spurs lost that game, but that was okay. You win some, you lose some, but like usual, we did it together.
He died the next morning. He wouldn't see the Spurs finish that season 40-9 or the 20-game win streak. He wouldn't witness them lose to the upstart Thunder. He wouldn't experience 6. And I just wanted them to win it all again so damn bad...for him.
Having grown up with the Spurs, and having been a diehard fan since that day I first heard about Tim Dunkin', Pop has almost become like a father figure to me. He's the steady hand guiding the boat, and he's been doing it for nearly two of my three decades. Like most here, I saw how much the Finals loss to Miami killed him. To this day, Pop still tells reporters that he thinks about the decisions of that 4th quarter every single day. It absolutely tore him apart, and he carried an incredible amount of guilt for letting down his team and himself.
To see Pop, being showered by silver and black confetti, letting go of his tough and stoic facade and breaking down on the bench as the Spurs stormed the court...it was truly something cathartic. You could literally see the weight coming off his shoulders. He had righted the ship. On that Father's Day night, with the Spurs holding up the trophy and Tim celebrating with his kids, I felt like I was there with my dad again. It seemed to take some weight off my shoulders, too, and helped me to let go.
We are truly lucky as Spurs fans to have all of these amazing memories. Some people I know probably don't understand why I invest so much time in watching all these games and learning all these stats and arguing with all you fans. But as these moments go to show...sometimes it's about more than just a game of basketball.
My father passed away in 2012 to gastrointestinal cancer. He died, way too young, at the age of 57. He was a loving husband, a caring father, and a good man.
I grew up watching the Spurs with my dad. When I was a kid, he gave me a stuffed Spurs Coyote that would become my favorite childhood toy. He would seemingly "forget" my bedtime and let me stay up late, but only as long as I was at his at his side watching the game. He took me to my first Spurs game, some random regular season affair against the Kings in the columned chambers of the Hemisfair Arena.
He was the first one to tell me about this amazing player we were supposed to get, some college star who was supposed to be the like next Jordan...THAT big. Some guy named Tim Dunkin'. (That's how I imagined his name at the time, and thought it was so funny that there was a basketball player named Dunkin'.)
He was the first one to tell me about some kid out of Argentina who was supposed to be a great athlete and made crazy passes...some guy with a weird name like "Man-u" (Okay, it took us all a while to get used to the name).
He took my brother and I out on the streets of San Antonio in 1999 and we yelled and honked and celebrated the championship with the city. And we did again in 2003, and 2005. By 2007, we had all made our separate ways up to Austin, but we still got together, of course, and celebrated late into the night from a city away.
The last good memory I have of my Dad was hanging out with him at his house, watching a random January road game against Rockets. He had been sick for a couple years now, but this night he seemed vibrant and comfortable. The Spurs lost that game, but that was okay. You win some, you lose some, but like usual, we did it together.
He died the next morning. He wouldn't see the Spurs finish that season 40-9 or the 20-game win streak. He wouldn't witness them lose to the upstart Thunder. He wouldn't experience 6. And I just wanted them to win it all again so damn bad...for him.
Having grown up with the Spurs, and having been a diehard fan since that day I first heard about Tim Dunkin', Pop has almost become like a father figure to me. He's the steady hand guiding the boat, and he's been doing it for nearly two of my three decades. Like most here, I saw how much the Finals loss to Miami killed him. To this day, Pop still tells reporters that he thinks about the decisions of that 4th quarter every single day. It absolutely tore him apart, and he carried an incredible amount of guilt for letting down his team and himself.
To see Pop on the bench, being showered by silver and black confetti, letting go of his tough and stoic facade and breaking down on the bench as the Spurs stormed the court...it was truly something cathartic. You could literally see the weight coming off his shoulders. He had righted the ship. On that Father's Day Night, with the Spurs holding up the trophy and Tim celebrating with his kids, I felt like I was there with my dad again. It seemed to take some weight off my shoulders, too, and helped me to let go.
We are truly lucky as Spurs fans to have all of these amazing memories. Some people I know probably don't understand why I invest so much time in watching all these games and learning all these stats and arguing with all you fans. But as these moments go to show...sometimes it's about more than just a game of basketball.
These are my top 20 Spurs memories...some are moments, some are collections of moments:
20. Malik Rose dunking on Mutombo.
19. Any and all of the Edgar Jones helicopter dunks.
18. Gene Banks 44 point game against the Lakers.
17. LaMarcus Aldridge signing with the Spurs.
16. Watching the sports on the evening news and learning that the Spurs had traded for Artis Gilmore.
15. Robinson's 71 point night to beat Shaq for the scoring le.
14. Gervin's 63 point effort to win the scoring le from Thompson...knowing he could have had 80+ had he played the 4th quarter.
13. Shutting down the LA Forum.
12. Listening to the radio feed of Spurs games at night on WOAI as a kid from all over the country.
11. Seeing a young Tim Duncan dismantle Karl Malone and the Utah Jazz.
10. The 2007 Finals game 4 and the post game ceremony, sweeping the Cavs and Timmy giving a young King a free pep talk.
9. The 2005 Finals series against Detroit...the entire series, but especially Horry's heroics.
8. Watching Ginobili's 48 point game to beat the Suns from the second row in Phoenix in 2005
7. The day we won the draft lottery to get David Robinson
6. Drafting Tim Duncan
5. The Memorial Day Miracle...the best single basket in the history of the franchise.
4. Robinson holding up the 2003 NBA Championship trophy...retiring on top after all the criticism he received over the years.
3. Winning the '99 NBA Championship...the entire playoff run, starting with a little doubt out of the gate against Minnesota and then seeing the team get serious and march through the playoffs.
2. Going to games at the old Hemisfair arena with my dad and how that felt to be there with him (most of the game memories lumped together now after all these years).
1. Being in the AT&T with my son the night the Spurs captured #5...watching the Spurs redeem themselves and getting to share that experience with him.
I remember arriving in San Antonio right when this game was starting... rushed to the hotel room and caught the 2nd half...
My man I was at work and had to keep running to the break room. I saw them down big in the first half and was down some and said okay maybe this one is not going their way. I went back a few times and they got a little closer. I went back the last time and saw the Duncan three being played on the screen and saw his celebration being re run before the commercial and thought that was a game winning shot and they had won! I didn't see it just tied the game and then it was in OT, but I was thrilled they got back in the damn game after being down so big to force OT. I then watched OT back in the break room and ended up taking a half an hour 15 minute break and the funny thing is my manager was back there too watching the game lol. I won't forget that game nor what was going on during that game, pacing back and forth and screaming in the break room like a maniac..... Damn that game was a classic.
4. Robinson holding up the 2003 NBA Championship trophy...retiring on top after all the criticism he received over the years.
.
The biggest one for me was that there, in which that is my fave le for various reasons. That was like a big FU to the haters and criticism over the years and he went out a winner in his last game of the year in which few can say. You know that had to be the sweetest feeling, last game a win and you will never lose again! Beating LA on the route to it, namely his nemesis Shaq and also beating the hated Mavs. He never had to face either nor lose to either again, just went out on top.
My father passed away in 2012 to gastrointestinal cancer. He died, way too young, at the age of 57. He was a loving husband, a caring father, and a good man.
I grew up watching the Spurs with my dad. When I was a kid, he gave me a stuffed Spurs Coyote that would become my favorite childhood toy. He would seemingly "forget" my bedtime and let me stay up late, but only as long as I was at his at his side watching the game. He took me to my first Spurs game, some random regular season affair against the Kings in the columned chambers of the Hemisfair Arena.
He was the first one to tell me about this amazing player we were supposed to get, some college star who was supposed to be the like next the Jordan...THAT big. Some guy named Tim Dunkin'. (That's how I imagined his name at the time, and thought it was so funny that there was a basketball player named Dunkin'.)
He was the first one to tell me about some kid out of Argentina who was supposed to be a great athlete and made crazy passes...some guy with a weird name like "Man-u" (Okay, it took us all a while to get used to the name).
He took my brother and I out on the streets of San Antonio in 1999 and we yelled and honked and celebrated the championship with the city. And we did again in 2003, and 2005. By 2007, we had all made our separate ways up to Austin, but we still got together, of course, and celebrated late into the night from a city away.
The last good memory I have of my Dad was hanging out with him at his house, watching a random January road game against the Rockets. He had been sick for a couple years now, but this night he seemed vibrant and comfortable. The Spurs lost that game, but that was okay. You win some, you lose some, but like usual, we did it together.
He died the next morning. He wouldn't see the Spurs finish that season 40-9 or the 20-game win streak. He wouldn't witness them lose to the upstart Thunder. He wouldn't experience 6. And I just wanted them to win it all again so damn bad...for him.
Having grown up with the Spurs, and having been a diehard fan since that day I first heard about Tim Dunkin', Pop has almost become like a father figure to me. He's the steady hand guiding the boat, and he's been doing it for nearly two of my three decades. Like most here, I saw how much the Finals loss to Miami killed him. To this day, Pop still tells reporters that he thinks about the decisions of that 4th quarter every single day. It absolutely tore him apart, and he carried an incredible amount of guilt for letting down his team and himself.
To see Pop, being showered by silver and black confetti, letting go of his tough and stoic facade and breaking down on the bench as the Spurs stormed the court...it was truly something cathartic. You could literally see the weight coming off his shoulders. He had righted the ship. On that Father's Day night, with the Spurs holding up the trophy and Tim celebrating with his kids, I felt like I was there with my dad again. It seemed to take some weight off my shoulders, too, and helped me to let go.
We are truly lucky as Spurs fans to have all of these amazing memories. Some people I know probably don't understand why I invest so much time in watching all these games and learning all these stats and arguing with all you fans. But as these moments go to show...sometimes it's about more than just a game of basketball.
Damn.... You said it all in one post man, it's more than just a game of bball to us a times.
Tim Duncans 3 against the Suns or Neals 3 against the Grizzlies are great moments, but the overall experience of 5 was amazing and overshadows everything
When I was a kid...my mother bought me and my brother a couple packs of basketball cards. I was so pissed because my brother got a Michael Jordan card and I didn't. Then, I found out I got the most expensive card in the entire set. The Admiral's rookie card is the reason I'm a Spurs fan. By far, my favorite "Spurs moment".
That card had a lot of buzz. It was valued at $35 out of the gate. That's when the Spurs realistically came onto my radar. I was a little too young for The Iceman days.
Pretty telling that many of the Apo poster fans have steered clear of the thread celebrating their best memories of Spurs moments tbqh. I guess poster fans can't also be a fan of the team they supposedly support.
Props to the OP for putting this idea out there. Looking forward to many more memories to celebrate and share with my son.
The '05 series and the Duncan 3 against Phoenix come immediately to mind. Was posting on a different board then and can remember during the game thread our one dedicated Suns fans reaction..."I think I'm going to throw up."
Manu wrecking the Suns in the '05 Conference Finals. Horry's shot in the Finals. The entire 2005 run pretty much.
2014 game 6 against the Thunder is also up there. Felt so good getting revenge on OKC after what they did to us two years before. Finals were also awesome but not as suspenseful. It was obvious we were gonna rape the Heat.
The Spurs trading for Kawhi Leonard on draft day was BIG for me. As a Socal native, I was completely familiar with KL's game. I had personally evaluated him to be one of the top five talents in the draft. And a part of me believed that he was the best player in the draft; though, I wondered if I was crazy for thinking that. But when the Spurs drafted KL, I was happy because I knew the Spurs were the perfect fit for him; and I knew it would pay BIG dividends.
My father passed away in 2012 to gastrointestinal cancer. He died, way too young, at the age of 57. He was a loving husband, a caring father, and a good man.
I grew up watching the Spurs with my dad. When I was a kid, he gave me a stuffed Spurs Coyote that would become my favorite childhood toy. He would seemingly "forget" my bedtime and let me stay up late, but only as long as I was at his at his side watching the game. He took me to my first Spurs game, some random regular season affair against the Kings in the columned chambers of the Hemisfair Arena.
He was the first one to tell me about this amazing player we were supposed to get, some college star who was supposed to be the like next the Jordan...THAT big. Some guy named Tim Dunkin'. (That's how I imagined his name at the time, and thought it was so funny that there was a basketball player named Dunkin'.)
He was the first one to tell me about some kid out of Argentina who was supposed to be a great athlete and made crazy passes...some guy with a weird name like "Man-u" (Okay, it took us all a while to get used to the name).
He took my brother and I out on the streets of San Antonio in 1999 and we yelled and honked and celebrated the championship with the city. And we did again in 2003, and 2005. By 2007, we had all made our separate ways up to Austin, but we still got together, of course, and celebrated late into the night from a city away.
The last good memory I have of my Dad was hanging out with him at his house, watching a random January road game against the Rockets. He had been sick for a couple years now, but this night he seemed vibrant and comfortable. The Spurs lost that game, but that was okay. You win some, you lose some, but like usual, we did it together.
He died the next morning. He wouldn't see the Spurs finish that season 40-9 or the 20-game win streak. He wouldn't witness them lose to the upstart Thunder. He wouldn't experience 6. And I just wanted them to win it all again so damn bad...for him.
Having grown up with the Spurs, and having been a diehard fan since that day I first heard about Tim Dunkin', Pop has almost become like a father figure to me. He's the steady hand guiding the boat, and he's been doing it for nearly two of my three decades. Like most here, I saw how much the Finals loss to Miami killed him. To this day, Pop still tells reporters that he thinks about the decisions of that 4th quarter every single day. It absolutely tore him apart, and he carried an incredible amount of guilt for letting down his team and himself.
To see Pop, being showered by silver and black confetti, letting go of his tough and stoic facade and breaking down on the bench as the Spurs stormed the court...it was truly something cathartic. You could literally see the weight coming off his shoulders. He had righted the ship. On that Father's Day night, with the Spurs holding up the trophy and Tim celebrating with his kids, I felt like I was there with my dad again. It seemed to take some weight off my shoulders, too, and helped me to let go.
We are truly lucky as Spurs fans to have all of these amazing memories. Some people I know probably don't understand why I invest so much time in watching all these games and learning all these stats and arguing with all you fans. But as these moments go to show...sometimes it's about more than just a game of basketball.
Outstanding post Dex.
I swear that I'm not crying....there's just something in my eyes.
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man all these feels 
