Spurs

The San Antonio Spurs is an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio, Texas. They play in the National Basketball Association (NBA).

The Spurs is one of four former American Basketball Association teams (along with the Nets, Pacers, and Nuggets) to remain intact in the NBA after the 1976 ABA-NBA merger and is the only former ABA team to have won an NBA championship, which they have done four times. As of July 2008, the Spurs rank third among active franchises for the highest winning percentage in NBA history. With the 2007 sweep, the Spurs have the highest winning percentage in NBA Finals history. They have only missed the playoffs 4 times as an NBA franchise.

In their 32 NBA seasons, since 1976-1977, the Spurs have captured 15 division titles, which gives the Spurs the most division titles in the NBA during that 32-year span (the Lakers are second with 14). Among the four major U.S. sports, the Atlanta Braves and the New York Yankees are the only other teams with 15 divisional titles during the last 32 years.

The Spurs are located in the San Antonio area, and the city shares a special bond with the team almost unmatched in the rest of the NBA, partially due to this being the city's only team in any of the four major U.S. professional sports. Spurs players are active members of the San Antonio community, and many former Spurs are still active in San Antonio, like David Robinson's Carver Academy and the George Gervin Youth Center.

In part because of this community involvement, Spurs fans have been among the most loyal in the NBA. The Spurs set several NBA attendance records while playing at the Alamodome, including the largest crowd ever for a NBA Finals game in 1999, and the Spurs continue to sell out the smaller, more intimate AT&T Center (formerly SBC Center) on a regular basis. The Spurs' rallying cry of "Go Spurs, Go!" has endeared itself to the city of San Antonio, and the phrase pops up all over the city as the season progresses into the playoffs and the Spurs inch closer to a possible title.

San Antonio has also garnered praise for the way its citizens celebrate Spurs championships. When the Spurs win a title, San Antonians jam up the streets downtown, march around waving flags, throw confetti and honk car horns until dawn, but with little incidence of crime. The team floats down the San Antonio Riverwalk on boats where fans can view their champions.

A unique part of every Spurs season comes in February when the team is forced into an extended road-trip due to the occupation of its arena by the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo. This is informally known as the "Rodeo Road Trip," and a time that typically starts the Spurs' run to the playoffs; indeed, starting in 1999 the Spurs have consistently posted phenomenal road records during this period, including an NBA-record the longest single road trip winning streak (8 games, achieved in 2003).

As of the 2007-2008 season, the Spurs have one of the highest winning percentages of any professional team, in any sport, since the turn of the millennium.