The Frost Bank Center during Game 1 of the first round of the playoffs. Photo: Madalyn Mendoza/Axios
👋 Hey, it's Madalyn! The Spurssaw their NBA Finals run come to an end Saturday night, but this series left me thinking about something bigger than basketball.
Between the lines: Throughout the Finals, the spotlight often seemed fixed on New York. Even with a 7-foot-something phenom in a Spurs jersey, it felt like a David-and-Goliath matchup.
National commentators marveled at the city's basketball obsession. Cameras lingered on celebrity fans.
What they're saying: "New York fans have a great sense of camaraderie we all need right now," Impact shared on Instagram.
Yes, but: Who's "we?" San Antonio has always had that.
What much of the country is celebrating as a feel-good basketball story is something San Antonians have lived for decades. It's our default setting.
We celebrate with strangers. We honk when we spot a Spurs flag. We strike up conversations about the game with someone we just met.
We find community every Fiesta, every Spurs playoff run and every morning squeezed into a neighborhood taqueria.
Reality check: No matter what happened Saturday, that city love won't change.
The bottom line: The Spurs are special not just because of the banners in the rafters, but because of how they've connected generations of San Antonians as a family.
