Some people are born under a lucky star. Take me, for example. I was born in 1996, just a few months too late to witness a truly disastrous 20-62 season from the San Antonio Spurs, and just in time to get a front-row seat for the team’s transformation into an NBA dynasty.
If you were in San Antonio during that five-championship run from 1999 to 2014, it would be impossible to overstate the extent to which Spurs Madness overtook the city. At river parades, at games, and out on the street, we basked in the dominance of what had once been an underdog team in a city that had never before played host to this kind of success.
But it’s been 12 long years since that last brush with glory. After a historic six-season playoff drought, the Spurs have once again defied expectations by making it to the finals to face off against the New York Knicks—the same team they defeated in 1999 to win the franchise’s first championship.
Since 2014, both the team and the city have changed dramatically. We have a new coach in Mitch Johnson, who took over for Gregg Popovich, the notoriously surly—but unwavering—figure who laid the foundation for the team’s success over 29 seasons. We have new, young stars in Victor “Wemby” Wembanyama, Stephon Castle, and Dylan Harper. We also have a whole new generation of fans. And while every team’s fanbase is different, there’s no denying that the Spurs fans are special. Part of it comes down to a kind of cosmic connection between the team and the city itself.
Both San Antonio and the Spurs often punch above their weight. We’re a small-market team that has had stars who, while technically impressive, have never been particularly flashy. Case in point: Wemby, the first-ever unanimous Defensive Player of the Year, who spent the offseason training with Shaolin monks, is now being baited by New Yorkers trying to distract him from the finals, not with parties and clubs, but public libraries and government efficiency meetings.
Some of our most famous courtside fans are nuns rather than A-list celebrities, and while the Frost Bank Center may not be mentioned in the same breath as “the World’s Most Famous Arena,” or “the house that Michael Jordan built,” not every team has the dedicated fanbase required to pull off the Fiesta-color coordinated feat that kicked off the playoffs and made national headlines in April.
So whether you’ve been here since the original glory days, or if you just hopped on the Spurs train this year, here’s an insider’s guide to some of the superfans, old and new, who have defined this playoff run.
The Salesian Sisters of Saint John Bosco
Among the many microcelebrities to emerge from the NBA postseason, the most unlikely have to be the Salesian Sisters of Saint John Bosco, a Catholic elementary school on the city’s Westside. Perhaps you’ve seen them in their white habits, donning silver-and-black Spurs jerseys, shouting “De-fense! De-fense!” from the crowd. Or maybe you noticed them offering blessings to various Spurs before they tipped off against the Minnesota Timberwolves or the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Make no mistake, they are not bandwagon fans; the Spurs Sisters are true to this. Many of them used to hoop themselves, some still play recreationally, and while many of them have been fans for years, it was a 2007 visit from Popovich that cemented their connection to the Spurs. The sisters have used their viral fame for good, hosting private watch parties for children and their families on the Westside, and raising awareness for their programs. In response, the children of St. John Bosco have received money for a new bus, a playground, and a brand new basketball hoop for the school’s gym.
The Psychic Air Corgi
Better known as Air Corgi or Steph Furry online, Lilo Ku has gained tons of traction online for her Air Bud-esque ability to shoot hoops with her snout, and “predict” the outcome of major sporting events. Though she isn’t always 100 percent accurate (nobody’s perfect), she became something of a San Antonio hero for predicting the outcome of the nail-biting Spurs-Thunder matchup down to the individual games.
Thanks to this, Lilo and her owner, Houston’s Denny Ku, have been welcomed to San Antonio with open arms. After defeating the Thunder, fans joked about hanging her collar from the rafters of the Frost Bank Center. And just this week, the Spurs Coyote presented Lilo, Simba-style, to a massive crowd of fans at a Spurs pep rally and at game one of the finals. Earlier in the week, Lilo predicted that the Spurs would defeat the Knicks in seven, though she was sadly incorrect about the outcome of the first game. She has since doubled-down on her original prediction for the championship.
The Jackals and The Bums
Wanting to emulate the kind of intense, all-out rowdiness that dominates football fan club culture in Europe, Wembynama himself oversaw the creation of The Jackals—the Spurs’ 83-person spirit group—ahead of the 2025-26 season. Chosen for their volume, dedication, and attention-grabbing outfits and antics, the Jackals take rooting for the team very seriously, dividing up their responsibilities into roles like sign specialist, chant leader, and drummer.
Seated directly across from them at the Frost Bank Center are the Baseline Bums. For more than five decades, the “World Famous Baseline Bums” have supported the team, officially forming in 1973, the year the Dallas Chaparrals relocated and rebranded to the San Antonio Spurs. They’ve been a force for visiting teams to reckon with wherever the Spurs have played ever since, with Spurs legend George Gervin going so far as to call them the team’s “sixth man on the court.”
The “Let’s Go Honking Crew”
After a seven-year playoff drought, the biggest sign that the Spurs were truly back was the return of one of San Antonio’s time-honored traditions: going honking. It started spontaneously back in 1999, just after the Spurs clinched their first-ever championship. Fans leaving the Alamodome converged with fans headed downtown to celebrate, and amid bumper-to-bumper traffic, a new form of celebration was born. Since then, San Antonians will celebrate a Spurs playoff win by taking to their cars, blasting their horns, waving flags, and even popping fireworks. In 2017, when the Spurs advanced to the Western Conference Finals, people honked for three hours.
The Merch Mavens
As Spurs fans, it doesn’t take much prompting for us to see an opportunity and run with it, and no one seizes them faster than the city’s merch makers. Whether that’s turning a dig into a rallying cry in the case of “Crazy Hispanic Spurs Fans,” or turning a nickname into a whole host of alien-inspired accessories, they have you covered. Though all of their offerings may not be the most “official,” they’re who people flock to in order to find off-the-wall T-shirts, caps, and banners featuring everything from the Salesian Sisters to Selena.
