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Before Niko was born, I was a huge NBA basketball and San Antonio Spurs fan. Football and baseball, were not on my horizon. I could watch those two sports, but I wasn’t enamored like basketball. If anything, I liked basketball first and high school football second.
From 1997 through 2016, I was a high school football statistician. I also did stats for a high school and college basketball team, I did stats for UTSA football for a 1 year, and I am currently a freelance sports writer and photographer since 2011. I could easily write a part 2 to this and name it Reflections On…High School Football. Wait, let me do that now! Yeah, this one is going to be another long one and I will need lots of time to write it. Plus, when I am done, I will share it on here and www.thestatmanspeaks.com just like this one.
Ok, let’s get back to basketball.
It’s funny because my parents and my brother are not sports fans, so I really don’t know where my passion came from. I know my mom’s father, Grandpa Charlie, and her sisters husband, Uncle George, enjoyed watching sports and when I would visit them, we would watch together.
My dad never played sports with me, but I do remember him putting up a basketball hoop above the garage. I pretended I was on the Spurs and it was up to me to hit the game winning shot! I also had a metal rim in my bedroom on my door and I would bounce a ball on the wall, then catch it and shoot it for the win; man that rim also took a beating as I would dunk on it a lot!
I recently read an awesome booked called Loose Balls, about the history of the American Basketball Association. The Spurs were one of four ABA teams to merge into the NBA and I really enjoyed reading how it came to be as well as lots of fun tidbits about former players and coaches. Did you know that Dr. J and George “Ice Man” Gervin played together at one point? The book I read before the ABA book was the autobiography of Dr. J. A book I have yet to read but is staring at me from the bookcase is the history of the Kentucky Colonels, another ABA team.
I had an official NBA guide that I purchased for several years; the last one I have (and still have) is from the 2006-2007 NBA season. I enjoyed scanning through the stats, records of teams and records for individual and team categories, and the end of the year box scores.
I even subscribed to the NBA League Pass a few times so I could watch more basketball games than just the Spurs. Yes, the Spurs were my favorite, but I loved watching other teams and games, especially if it was a close game coming down to the final basket. I used to say a lot to anybody who would listen that when the Spurs and Dallas Mavericks (the Dirk years) played a game, just skip the first 43 minutes and give them 5 minutes to play and the score tied; may the best team win.
I saw Spurs games in Hemisphere Arena, The Alamodome, and the AT&T Center. I remember watching them lose lots of games in the 90’s and I never imagined that they would be NBA Champions (5 times)! I had a poster of one of those teams from the early 90’s and the team is standing around Shamu from Sea World of Texas.
One of those players from the early 90’s has an ex-wife and even though she works in another department at the bank, I know of her and at one point, she sat in front of me. She talked a lot about her kids and I was a great listener. I won’t name names!
I loved it when somebody in my immediate family would bring me autographs of players. I have quite a collection. My oldest Spurs autograph is from June 20, 1991 and it’s Avery Johnson. How do I know certain that date? Well, his autograph is on a ticket stub from a San Antonio Missions (they were a AA minor league baseball team affiliated with the LA Dodgers) game. I think that particular game was a game in which professional LA Dodger baseball player, Orel Hershiser, pitched in one of his rehab starts after an injury. That could be why Avery was at the game! I have another Avery autograph from 1999 and it’s a picture of him hitting the game winning shot in Game 5 of the 1999 NBA Finals; I got it from one of my managers when I worked for the Spurs and he told me not to tell anybody!
Another Spurs autograph that I have is Sam Mack. I was with my family celebrating my birthday at a Chinse restaurant and I recognized him immediately. I was to shy to ask him for his autograph, but my dad wasn’t and even told him it was my birthday. Well, not only did he give me his autograph, but he also gave me his home phone number and told us to reach out to him as he was going to try to get us tickets to the next Spurs home game. He was only able to get us 1 ticket and was I not feeling well for that game, but well enough to drive to a park and ride and catch a bus to the arena. I sat behind the basket with the wife’s and girlfriends of the team as well as the person who sang the National Anthem. What an awesome gesture on his part and I think it was my 16th birthday (1993) and quite possibly the last game in Hemisphere Arena. I wish I had that ticket stub!
In addition to Sam Mack and Avery Johnson, I also have these former Spurs coaches and players: Will Perdue, Larry Brown, Terry Cummings, Paul Pressey, Howard Eisley, Alvin Robertson, Chuck Person, Terry Porter, Vinny Del Negro, David Robinson, George Gervin, Sean Elliott, Vernon Maxwell, Willie Anderson, The Coyote!, and Tim Duncan. Non Spurs autographs are: Gerald Wilkins and Kevin McHale. I actually got the Tim Duncan one from a Spurs season ticket holder; it’s a picture of him coming off the airplane when he arrived in San Antonio being interviewed by one of the local sports broadcasters.
Man, looking at that list above, that would be one heck of a great team with Larry Brown at the helm! I think my starting five would be: David Robinson, Tim Duncan, George Gervin, Terry Porter, and Chuck Person! The sixth man would be Sean Elliott!
For one summer, I worked for the San Antonio Missions baseball team; they were a AA minor league baseball team and the manager at that time was Rick Burleson. I collected baseball and basketball cards and still have a few remaining in my collection. I had a very small stack of baseball cards from 1982 and one of those players just happened to be Rick Burleson. So, I asked one of the home clubhouse guys (the name, I can’t remember) if Rick would sign it for me. Well, not only did he sign it, but he also signed a current card of him as manager of the club! Pretty cool!
I never in a million years expected to ever be working for the San Antonio Spurs, but that did happen in 1999. Yes, I bumped into players and coaches throughout my tenure, but it was never OH MY GOSH, YOU’RE MY FAVORITE PLAYER OR COACH, CAN I HAVE YOUR AUTOGRAPH! It was always a quick hello and good luck. One of the highlights that will never again happen to me is I got to take the 1999 NBA Championship trophy home a few times; one of those times, my family had a party! I do have Spurs memorabilia and 1999 championship memorabilia stashed in my closet.
You may be wondering, how I got the job with the Spurs in first place? Well, I saw an Internship and I applied and I got the job; nothing special. I was working for a local computer company when this happened. It was a very difficult decision for me. I was in my last year of college and had to really think about my future career goals. Do I take an Internship with a professional sports franchise with a significant pay decrease or stay at the computer company and be a computer dude for the rest of my life? The Spurs Internship eventually turned into a part time position which finally ended in May of 2002. So, for those 3 years, I worked every home game at the Alamodome.
If you’re familiar with the San Antonio Spurs or the St. Mary’s Rattlers Basketball team in San Antonio, I am going to drop a lot of names that you may have heard of. If not, use Google to research further. From 1991 to 1995, I was the manager of the varsity basketball team for my high school. Occasionally at the varsity basketball games, you may see Bob Hill, a former Head Coach of the Antonio Spurs, Gregg Popovich, the current Head Coach of the San Antonio Spurs, or Buddy Meyer Sr, a former Head Coach of the St. Mary’s Rattlers. Hill’s and Meyer’s sons played for us and Popovich’s daughter was on the women’s varsity basketball team and they would often play before us. I will say that none of these kids got any special treatment. Not on our team was George Gervin’s son.
But, as I mentioned at the start, I haven’t paid any attention since Niko was born in 2016 to the NBA. And, I really don’t miss it. I have a much better time with my wife and son than being entranced in an NBA game or even other sport. I don’t care to be honest!
