June 25, 1999: San Antonio's 1st Title

June 25, 1999: The San Antonio Spurs win their 1st league championship, after 3 years in the ABA and 23 years in the NBA. They defeat the New York Knicks, 78-77 at Madison Square Garden, to win Game 5 and the NBA Championship.

For the only major sports team in a city now with over 1.14 million people, this is a huge moment. It begins a stretch where, in 16 seasons, coach Gregg Popovich and forward Tim Duncan will lead them into 6 NBA Finals, winning 5 of them, the 1st 2 with center David Robinson.

For the Knicks, it is their 8th trip to the NBA Finals, and it remains their last. They managed to get there despite an injury to their star player, center Patrick Ewing. Forward Larry Johnson put the team on his back, and was 3 wins away from becoming a New York sports legend.

Coach Jeff Van Gundy -- short, bald, scrawny, looking nothing like a basketball player -- had built a team that played scrappy ball. Bill Gallo, sports cartoonist for the New York Daily News, drew him as a boxer, calling him "Rocky Van Gutsy."

But "Coach Pop" had as much guts, more brains, and more talent, and there was little the Knicks could do. In 1997, the Knicks had been bought by Cablevision, and James Dolan has run them ever since. And competitiveness has been a rarity.

Founded in 1967, in the American Basketball Association, as the Dallas Chaparrals, the team moved in 1973, becoming the San Antonio Spurs. They were 1 of the 4 ABA teams invited to join the NBA in 1976. By 1978, they had won a Division title, followed by trips to the Western Conference Finals in 1979, '82 and '83.

After a few down years, the arrival of coach Larry Brown in 1988 and Robinson in 1989 made them a Playoff team again. They got back to the Conference Finals in 1995, Popovich's 1st year as general manager. In 1996, after a bad start, he named himself head coach, and the arrival of Duncan the following season made them a title team in just 2 more seasons.

The Spurs would win the title again in 2003, Robinson's last year. Sports Illustrated named Robinson and Duncan their Sportsmen of the Year. The Spurs won again in 2005, 2007 and 2014, losing in the Finals in 2013, as Duncan straddled the NBA's Shaquille O'Neal era and the first half of the LeBron James era, as it was LeBron's Heat that beat the Spurs in the 2013 Finals, before the Spurs turned the tables in 2014.

By 2022, the population of San Antonio was believed to be 1.47 million people, and its metropolitan area 2.6 million. Yet the Spurs remain its only major league team: They lost the WNBA's Silver Stars after the 2017 season; the Missions are in baseball's Class AA Texas League; despite several minor professional football teams, including the Gunslingers of the 1980s USFL and the Brahmas of the current UFL, they've only hosted 3 NFL regular-season games, all as an emergency home for the 2005 New Orleans Saints after Hurricane Katrina; San Antonio F.C. are in the USL Championship, the 2nd tier of American soccer; and they have no pro hockey team at all.

UPDATE: The Spurs do not yet have a team Hall of Fame, but they have retired uniform numbers. From the 1970s: 13, for guard James Silas; and 44, for guard George Gervin. From the 1980s: 00, for guard Johnny Moore.

From their 1999 NBA Championship: 6, for guard Avery Johnson; 21, for forward Tim Duncan; 32, for forward Sean Elliott; 50, for center David Robinson; and a banner with his total coaching wins, 1,390, for head coach Gregg Popovich. From their 2003 Championship: Duncan, Robinson, Popovich; 9, for guard Tony Parker; 12, for forward Bruce Bowen; and 20, for guard Manu Ginóbili.

From their 2005 and 2007 Championships: Duncan, Popovich, Parker, Bowen and Ginóbili. From their 2014 Championships: Duncan, Popovich, Parker and Ginóbili. The Spurs reached the NBA Finals again in 2026, but lost to the Knicks.

Gervin, Robinson and Parker have been inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame.

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June 25, 1999 was a Friday. These Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles, 9-8 at Camden Yards in Baltimore. The Yankees scored a tying run in the 8th and the winning run in the 9th, a home run by Shane Spencer, making a winning pitcher of Dan Naulty in relief of Hideki Irabu. Tino Martinez went 4-for-4 with a walk and 2 RBIs. Derek Jeter went 1-for-4. So did Cal Ripken.

* The New York Mets beat the Atlanta Braves, 10-2 at Turner Field (now Center Parc Stadium) in Atlanta. Rick Reed was the winning pitcher. John Olerud went 4-for-6 with 2 RBIs. Benny Agbayani went 2-for-3 with a walk. Both hit home runs. Rickey Henderson went 1-for-5 with a walk.

* The Montreal Expos beat the Florida Marlins, 4-3 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Chicago White Sox, 6-1 at Fenway Park in Boston.

* The Tampa Bay Devil Rays beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 11-4 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Minnesota Twins, 2-0 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Brian Moehler pitched a 6-hit shutout.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Chicago Cubs, 3-2 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Sammy Sosa went 0-for-3 with a walk.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 5-3 at Milwaukee County Stadium.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Cleveland Indians, 8-2 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Houston Astros, 10-7 at the Astrodome in Houston.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 1-0 at Bank One Ballpark (now Chase Field) in Phoenix. José Jiménez (not the Bill Dana character of the same name) pitched a no-hitter, and still needed Thomas Howell to single Darren Bragg home in the top of the 9th to beat Randy Johnson. Mark McGwire went 0-for-3 with a walk.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Colorado Rockies, 10-1 at Qualcomm Stadium (formerly San Diego Stadium and Jack Murphy Stadium). Tony Gwynn did not play.

* The Anaheim Angels beat the Oakland Athletics, 4-3 at Edison International Field of Anaheim (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim).

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat their arch-rivals, the San Francisco Giants, 4-2 at Candlestick Park (then named 3Com Park at Candlestick Point) in San Francisco. Barry Bonds went 0-for-3 with a walk.

* And the Texas Rangers beat the Seattle Mariners, 11-4 at the Kingdome in Seattle. This was the last series the Mariners played there, before moving into Safeco Field (now T-Mobile Park). Alex Rodriguez went 0-for-4. Ken Griffey Jr. did not play.