San Antonio Spurs: The Real America’s Team

Like it or not, the San Antonio Spurs are “America’s Team.”  They are my team, your team, and the team which represents all the sports fans in your life.  You have your favorite teams but I’m here to tell you no sports franchise embodies the spirit of America more than the San Antonio Spurs.

We aren’t celebrities and neither are your Spurs.

How can the Dallas Cowboys be “America’s Team” when “Jerry World” is the epitome of everything middle class (and lower) America despises?  The New York Knicks are planning a multi-million dollar run at Kevin Durant; meanwhile, you and I are budgeting our kid’s school supply lists.  None of this is meant to imply the Spurs are poor because they are not.  But while the team is healthy financially, the Spurs are not “that guy” who flaunts his fortune by double-parking some late model convertible in the parking lot outside Starbucks.

Unlike “Jerry World,” your San Antonio Spurs maintain a clean image that is ideal for all to emulate.

Gregg Popovich is the father we were all supposed to have.

Okay, so he may not be the guy to kiss you “goodnight” but Gregg Popovich is the father who would keep any kid on the straight and narrow.  You never want to get him angry but at the end of the day you know he genuinely cares.  A master at obtaining maximum results  from even the most average of players, Gregg Popovich could raise any kid into a respectful, hard-working, young person bound for success.  If there was ever a model for the stereotypical, 1950’s American father, its Coach Pop.

Good ol’ fashioned hard work. 

None of us would want to lose out to a promotion because the company bought some new, flashy employee to take the job, right? Worse, imagine this new employee taking your current job and forcing you out.  Buying and selling talent is just not the American way and Henry Ford rolls over in his grave as teams spend up their cap to purchase success.  Your San Antonio Spurs have now won five NBA championships the hard way: work and more work.   There’s no buying and selling superstar talent in the Alamo but rather scouting, drafting, developing, and eventually rewarding hard work with long-term deals.  The term “outsourced” does not apply to your Spurs.  The real “America’s Team” promotes from within.

Role models work here.

Think about who you looked up to as a child.  Was this person ever arrested for gun charges or domestic violence?  Did they fail drug tests?  Unlike “Jerry World,” your San Antonio Spurs maintain a clean image that is ideal for all to emulate.  Our society thrives on good order and discipline.  There’s no “making it rain” in strip clubs or drawing handguns in the locker room of the AT&T Center.  Who better to teach a kid about fundamentals than Tim Duncan?  Does anybody embody selflessness more than Manu Ginobili?  How about the art of remaining humble like Kawhi Leonard?

Unlike those who verbally stake claim to the title,” your San Antonio Spurs execute as “America’s Team”  in every aspect.  This isn’t about circus-like stadiums and gaudy merchandise sales.  Rally around “Jerry World” and its like rooting for Microsoft to make more money.  The real “America’s Team” is a hard-working, blue collar success story that we can relate to as modest Americans.

America’s Founding Fathers would’ve been Spurs fans.