SAN ANTONIO – The San Antonio Spurs are heading back to the Alamodome for one night on Friday, to celebrate the team’s 50th anniversary.
The team is attempting to break the NBA’s single-game attendance record when they host the Golden State Warriors.
The downtown San Antonio venue that holds more than 72,000 fans was home to the Spurs from 1993 until 2002, when they moved to their current AT&T Center.
In honor of the game being played at the Alamodome, KSAT 12?s sports anchor/director Greg Simmons shared his list of the Spurs’ top 12 events in Alamodome history.
First-ever game played by the Spurs in the Alamodome and they beat the Golden State Warriors, 91-85. Dennis Rodman was late to the game, his first as a Spur since his trade to San Antonio that October, after he tried to die his hair blond, like Wesley Snipes in Demolition Man.
David Robinson scores a rare quadruple-double by scoring 34 points, hauling in 10 rebounds, dishing out 10 assists and blocking 10 shots. It came in the Spurs’ 115-96 victory over the Detroit Pistons. At the time, Robinson was only the fourth player in NBA history to reach a quadruple double, joining former Spur Alvin Robertson, Nate Thurmond and Akeem Olajuwon.
The wildest Moment in Spurs franchise history happened live on KSAT 12. A water cannon goes off, following a pyrotechnics show to tip off the regular season. The cannon was triggered when a laser detector in the state of the art fire suppression system detected a possible fire after a cover fell off the laser activating the cannon. It pumped over 12,000 gallons of water onto the court and the fans, one of which brought an umbrella to the game. Surprisingly the water was cleaned up in less than an hour and the game was played. The Spurs lost to the Warriors, 123-118.
David Robinson is awarded the NBA MVP Trophy by then Commissioner David Stern before Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals vs the Houston Rockets. The Rockets would go onto eliminate the Spurs in six games.
The 48th annual NBA ALL-Star Game was held in the Alamodome, with an attendance of 36,037 fans to watch Michael Jordan’s return from retirement, where he was named the game’s MVP. Both David Robinson and Sean Elliott were named Western Conference all-stars, but the Eastern Conference won the game, 129-118. Shaquille O’Neal, who previously played for Cole High School, played for the Eastern Conference as well. Future Spur Brent Barry would win the Slam Dunk Contest.
Chicago Bulls’ Michael Jordan of the East drives against San Antonio Spurs’ David Robinson of the West as Houston Rockets’ Clyde Drexler (22) closes in during the second quarter of the NBA All Star game Sunday, Feb. 11, 1996, in San Antonio, Texas. (AP Photo/Tim Johnson) (The Associated Press)
Tim Duncan makes his Alamodome debut in just his second ever NBA game as a member of the Spurs. The eventual five-time NBA Champion would lead to the Spurs to a 83-80 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers after making his NBA debut on Halloween in Denver, by beating the Nuggets 107-96.
The Memorial Day Miracle. It was Sean Elliott’s game winning three pointer in Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals against the Portland Trailblazers. Had Elliott not made the shot from the corner by raising his heels off the floor with just nine seconds left he would have been out of bounds. Instead, it was good and it gave the Spurs an 86-85 lead, their first lead of the game and they would go on to sweep the Trailblazers to win their first ever Western Conference Championship, placing the Silver and Black in the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history.
The first ever NBA Finals game to be played in the Alamodome was when the Spurs hosted the New York Knicks, who had won the Eastern Conference Championship. The reason why the first game of the NBA Finals started so late in June was due to the lockout that forced all teams to play a compressed 50-game schedule leading up to the playoffs. The Spurs would go onto beat the Knicks, 4-1 to win their first ever NBA Championship in Madison Square Garden.
The first-ever Spurs championship celebration was in the Alamodome that followed a River parade involving the players, coaches, staff and ownership group. It was an all-day celebration for fans, who lined the River Walk before piling into the Alamodome where “The Little General” Avery Johnson stole the show.
The Alamodome catches fire as a 3-alarm blaze erupted on Christmas Day, forcing the Spurs to relocate the practice to another venue that Tuesday. An estimated $100,000 in damage was caused by what officials believe was a fire that started in a storage room. Ironically, that storage room contained the old court from the Hemisfair Arena that the Spurs called home before moving into the Alamodome.
Tim Duncan shares the NBA MVP Trophy with Spurs fans in the Alamodome before Game 3 of the Western Conference Semifinals against the Lakers. The Lakers would win the game, 99-89. Duncan would also win the NBA Regular Season NBA MVP in 2003, where he was also named the NBA Finals MVP.
The last Spurs game played in the Alamodome was Game 4 of the Western Conference Semifinals, vs the Los Angeles Lakers. The Spurs would fall 87-85 and fall to 1-3 in the seven game series. The Spurs were eliminated in Los Angeles, when the Lakers won game five 93-87, winning the series 4-1.
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