JANUARY 30, 1974
After a month of fighting, Angelo Drossos pulled off the biggest deal in Spurs history, purchasing George Gervin from the Virginia Squires … the transaction wasn’t a simple one due to legal battles between the Spurs, the Squires and the ABA League Office … in fact, at one point, the 21-year-old Gervin went into hiding for a week as the three parties battled it out … in the end Drossos and the Spurs won, and the rest, as they say, is history.

JANUARY 28, 1975
On this date the city of San Antonio hosted the 1975 ABA All-Star Game … on the West squad were three Spurs, George Gervin, James Silas and Swen Nater … but the East team dominated the game, posting a 151-124 win in front of 10,449 in the HemisFair Arena … the coaches that night were Kevin Loughery and Larry Brown.

OCTOBER 22, 1976
The Spurs made their NBA debut, beating the 76ers 121-118 in Philadelphia … Billy Paultz paced the Spurs with 27 points … also making his NBA debut that night was Julius Erving of the Sixers … later in the week, on 10/27/76, the Spurs played their first NBA game in the HemisFair Arena, beating Phoenix 115-106 behind a 41-point effort by Larry Kenon … the Spurs finished their first NBA season with a 44-38 record and a trip to the playoffs.

APRIL 9, 1978
George Gervin set an NBA record scoring 33 points in the second quarter as the Spurs fell to New Orleans 153-132 in the final game of the regular season … earlier in the day David Thompson had scored 73 points and entering the game Gervin knew that he needed to score 58 points to edge out Thompson for the 1978 NBA scoring title … Gervin came through … he had 53 at halftime and finished the game with 63 points— despite sitting out the fourth quarter—to claim his first scoring title.

APRIL 15, 1983
Spurs announced their All Decade Team … on the squad were George Gervin, Artis Gilmore, Mike Mitchell, James Silas and Mark Olberding … the Iceman was named the Spurs Player of the Decade … the same night Artis Gilmore scored his 20,000th career point.

FEBRUARY 28, 1984
The Spurs retired the number 13 worn by James Silas … it was the first number ever retired by the Spurs franchise and Silas earned the honor … in his career he appeared in 618 games, scoring 10,290 points and handing out 2,406 assists … Silas — who was an original Spur — enjoyed his best season in 1975-76 when he averaged 23.8 points, 5.4 assists and 4.0 rebounds … his career was cut short by a knee injury that he suffered in November of 1976.

MAY 17, 1987
The Spurs won the NBA Draft Lottery in New York … Bob Bass was on hand with a lucky Red Chameleon … the good luck charm worked as the Spurs beat out six other teams and won the number one pick in the 1987 Draft, which they used to select All-Star center David Robinson.

DECEMBER 5, 1987
On this night the Spurs retired the number 44 jersey worn by George Gervin … 15,786 were on hand to pay tribute to the greatest player in Spurs history … in his 12 seasons with the Spurs, the Iceman scored 23,602 points and led the NBA in scoring four times.

MAY 27, 1988
Red McCombs purchased the Spurs for $47 million, becoming the first principal owner of the franchise … the transaction took place after months of negotiations between McCombs and the Spurs original majority owner, Angelo Drossos.

NOVEMBER 4, 1989
In his first NBA game rookie center David Robinson led the Spurs to a 106-98 win over the Lakers in front of a crowd of 15,868 in the HemisFair Arena … Robinson didn’t miss a beat despite the fact that he had spent the two previous years serving as a Navy ensign, stationed at King’s Bay, GA … the Admiral finished the game with 23 points and 17 rebounds.

MARCH 26, 1993
On this date a group of 22 investors purchased the franchise from Red McCombs … the two leaders of the group were Bob Coleman and Robert McDermott … the original deal was struck on 2/19/93 between the group and McCombs, then a month later the move — with some minor changes — was approved by the NBA League Office.

MAY 20, 1993
The end of an era … after calling the HemisFair Arena home for 20 years the Spurs played their final game in the Arena falling to the Suns 102-100 in Game 6 of their Western Conference Semifinal series … in those 20 seasons, the Spurs played 893 regular season and playoff games in the Arena, attracting 9,383,257 fans.

MAY 23, 1995
On this date the NBA announced its 1994-95 Most Valuable Player — Mr. David Robinson … the Admiral led the Spurs to a 62-20 record — the best mark in the NBA in 1994-95 — and became the first player in San Antonio history to win the award … Robinson was among league leaders in five categories: scoring, rebounding, blocked shots, steals and field goal percentage.

FEBRUARY 11, 1996
One of the most exciting weekends in San Antonio history was capped with the 46th Annual NBA All-Star Game … a crowd of 36,037 packed the Alamodome and saw the East defeat the West 129-118 despite solid efforts from Spurs All-Stars David Robinson and Sean Elliott … the entire 1996 NBA All-Star Weekend was a hit as, for three days, the eyes of the world were focused on the Alamo City.

MAY 6, 1996
In Springfield, Massachusetts, George Gervin was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame … the Iceman is the only Spur ever to be elected to the Hall of Fame … the honor is one that Gervin deserves … in his 14-year professional career he scored 26,595 points which is the eighth highest total in history.

MAY 17, 1997
Ten years after winning the 1987 NBA Draft Lottery, the Spurs won the 1997 Lottery and the right to select Wake Forest star Tim Duncan … winning the lottery was one of the few bright spots for the Spurs during the 1996-97 season… they limped through the year without David Robinson and others, finishing with a 20-62 mark.

MARCH 20, 1998
On this date the Spurs retired the number 00 of point guard Johnny Moore … in his nine seasons with the Spurs, Moore appeared in 519 games, averaging 9.4 points and 7.4 assists per game … Moore — whose career was cut short by Desert Fever — joined George Gervin and James Silas becoming just the third player in Spurs history to have their number retired by the franchise.

JUNE 25, 1999
An Avery Johnson 18-foot jumper with 47.0 seconds left gave the Spurs a 78-77 lead over the New York Knicks in Madison Square Garden in Game 5 of the 1999 NBA Finals … neither team scored another point, as the Spurs held on to win the game and capture their first NBA Championship.

JUNE 15, 2003
Stephen Jackson’s jumper gives the Spurs the lead with 6:34 left in the fourth quarter of Game 6 of the NBA Finals. The Spurs outscore the Nets 15-5 down the stretch to clinch the second NBA Championship in franchise history.

NOVEMBER 10, 2003
David Robinson had his number 50 hoisted into the rafters of the AT&T Center … Robinson retired as the Spurs all-time NBA leader in games, points, rebounds, steals and blocks … in his 14-year career he averaged 21.1 points, 10.6 rebounds and 2.99 blocks in 987 regular season games … a 10-time NBA All-Star, Robinson was the first Spurs player to win the MVP Award (1995) … he finished his career with a pair of NBA Championships (1999 and 2003) and a legacy off the court thanks to the Carver Academy, a school on the East Side of San Antonio created by Robinson.

MARCH 6, 2005
The Spurs retired Sean Elliott's number 32 … Elliott, who played 11 years in the Silver and Black, ended his career as the Spurs all-time leader in three-point field goals made (with 563) and attempted (1,485) … the two-time NBA All-Star helped lead the Spurs to their first NBA Championship in 1999.

JUNE 23, 2005
The San Antonio Spurs defeated the Detroit Pistons in Game 7 of the NBA Finals to capture their third NBA Championship in the last seven years … Tim Duncan joined Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan and Shaquille O'Neal as the only players to capture three Finals MVP awards … Duncan finished with 25 points and 11 rebounds to propel the Spurs to a 81-74 victory.