Austin Moody Center road trip gets horrendous adjustment for Spurs

The San Antonio Spurs have been trying to expand their reach to more fans over the last few years. Part of that mission has involved playing games at the Moody Center in Austin, which a large section of Spurs fans call home. The plan has been met with some controversy since the games scheduled up the road in the neighboring city are considered 'home' games, taking action away from San Antonio residents.

There's no doubt that it's been a success thus far. The games in Austin are packed, and the atmosphere is electric, but that's not the problem. Games played in the Frost Bank Center aren't lacking in enthusiasm. The sentiment is really quite simple: home is home.

The Spurs Rodeo Road Trip is much longer this season

San Antonio is set to lose three home games this season due to the games played in Paris on January 23 and 25. Those games are against Indiana and will be counted as one away and one home game. When you add in the Moody Center games, those are three games that will force the players to adjust their routines. That matters.

It makes no difference that the Moody Center isn't 'that far away'. If you only play there twice a year and you have to travel a longer distance than a normal home game, it is not a home game. The NBA has unknowingly bolstered this argument by packing those games in the middle of the Spurs' annual Rodeo Road Trip. The Spurs will play in Austin immediately following the NBA All-Star break on February 20 and 21 before heading out of the state to face the Pelicans.

That means San Antonio won't be playing a single game at the Frost Bank Center. That's an outrageous development for Spurs fans in the city that houses their favorite team.

It's an awesome idea for fans in Austin. Not so much for the fans in San Antonio, who remain the only fan base in the NBA to have games taken away from them yearly. Every team in the league has a surrounding city they could expand to. They don't because it's unnecessary. Those fans will come to the games in town if they want. It's not their fault they don't have their own NBA team, but it's not the fault of San Antonio residents either.