The Alamodome and the Spurs: San Antonio's Basketball Dynasty
Near San Antonio, Texas
The massive cable-supported dome near downtown San Antonio opened in May of nineteen ninety-three, and for the next decade it was home to one of the greatest dynasties in professional basketball history.
The San Antonio Spurs began life as the Dallas Chaparrals, a charter member of the American Basketball Association founded in nineteen sixty-seven. They moved to San Antonio in nineteen seventy-three and joined the NBA in nineteen seventy-six when the ABA folded. For years they were a solid but unremarkable franchise. Then came David Robinson.
The Admiral, as Robinson was known, a Navy officer who stood seven feet tall, arrived in nineteen eighty-nine and transformed the Spurs into championship contenders. When Tim Duncan was drafted first overall in nineteen ninety-seven, the team had its twin towers. With Robinson and Duncan anchoring the paint, the Spurs won their first NBA championship in nineteen ninety-nine, defeating the New York Knicks four games to one. They were the first former ABA team to win an NBA title.
Four more championships followed: two thousand three, two thousand five, two thousand seven, and two thousand fourteen. The two thousand fourteen title, won over LeBron James and the Miami Heat, is widely considered one of the most beautifully executed team performances in NBA history, a testament to coach Gregg Popovich's system of ball movement and unselfishness.
The Spurs left the Alamodome for the newer AT&T Center in two thousand two. The dome itself, built for one hundred eighty-six million dollars, now hosts college football, concerts, boxing, and the Final Four. But for those ten years of Spurs basketball under its roof, this arena at the edge of downtown was the loudest building in Texas.
