Kevin Durant will put the Spurs' "home crowd" theory to the test on Austin's F1 weekend

The Moody Center and this idea of a "home away from home" get a true test tonight. Kevin Durant and the Rockets will be standing on the other end of the floor when the ball goes up, and the 16x (damn, that's a lot) All-Star has strong roots in the Austin community after going to college at the University of Texas.

That may have been a long time ago, but that didn't stop the crowd from being split when he came to town as a member of the Phoenix Suns in February 2025. KD only played at Texas for one season, and almost two decades later, the stands were still littered with his jersey. That's what a college town looks like.

Only this time, he's playing for another Texas team, so how many Rockets jerseys are we going to see in the crowd? It's not unusual for Houston fans to show up at Spurs home games, but they still feel like Spurs home games. That may not be the case to the same degree on Friday night.

The Spurs don't owe Austin a home schedule

I've never been a fan of the Austin games. They aren't necessary. If you want to reach out to the fans there, run a summer camp at the Moody Center in July or something. Lessening opportunities for your hometown crowd to see their team is disrespectful, because you're essentially telling them, "Make do with what we leave you." That's no way to treat your biggest supporters.

San Antonio Express-News journalist Jeff McDonald recently published an article in which the senior vice president of business development for Spurs Sports & Entertainment gave a quote that rubbed me the wrong way.

"We do have a lot of Spurs fans who can't get here (to San Antonio) but can get to Austin, so it's great for them. It's hard to keep everyone fully happy, but we're trying to find a balance." - Tim Salier

The quote reads like there's a real issue that needs addressing, as if you're required to satisfy the needs of fans in cities that are not your own. Believe it or not, there are Pelicans fans in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Celtics fans in Springfield, Massachusetts exist.

You know what those teams aren't doing: playing home games in different cities to placate a subsection of the fan base. The Spurs are the only team in the league that does this every single year for another city in their own state.

Three Spurs home games in Austin is too many

Since the 2022-23 season, the Silver and Black have taken two home games from the city to play in Austin per season. They took three this year, using one to be part of the Formula 1 Grand Prix weekend. Another option was on the table if participating in this event was that important. Take one of the February games and move it up to October.

Instead, they petitioned Bexar County to remove another home game from the calendars of San Antonio residents. It's not like the Spurs are hurting financially. With the brightest young core in the NBA led by the next face of the league, profits were bound to soar regardless of these Austin events. They don't need to risk splitting our crowd when a college fan favorite shows up.

That's what makes tonight a different kind of test. The Spurs are asking Texas' weirdest city to function as their home crowd against an in-state rival whose star already has a following here. It creates a risk that comes with taking home games outside of SA. I just don't get it.

PS. Don't forget that a fourth "home" game will be played in Paris in January. The total number of games taken from San Antonio has grown from two to four this season.

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