Spurs fans may get to attend Jan. 1 game.
The AT&T Center will remain silent for the rest of 2020. What happens come January remains to be seen.
Friday, the Spurs announced a target date for playing a home game in front of fans again: A scheduled Jan. 1 meeting against the Los Angeles Lakers.
“We’ve been planning for this moment for months and are confident in the health and safety protocols we have in place,” Spurs Sports & Entertainment CEO R.C. Buford said. “Waiting until Jan. 1 will allow us to run through real ingame scenarios to ensure that we are doing everything possible to responsibility celebrate the start of the new season with our Spurs Family.”
The Spurs have not hosted a game inside the AT&T Center since March 10, when they defeated Dallas 119-109. The following day, the NBA suspended operations amid fears of the growing COVID-19 epidemic.
When the league resumed play in August, it was in the sterilized bubble of the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Fla. Players could not leave the campus and games were played with no fans in attendance.
With the 2020-21 season slated to begin later this month, teams across the league are having to weigh the health risks of allowing fans to congregate in their arenas against the need to increase revenue after a shortened 2019-20 campaign.
The NBA released the first half of what will be a 72-game slate for each team Friday, choosing to keep the second-half schedule flexible to accommodate potential games postponed by pandemic.
The Spurs will not entertain fans in the arena for their Dec. 12 preseason opener against Oklahoma City.
Likewise, the team is committed to playing the first two home games of its regular-season schedule — Dec. 26 against Toronto and Dec. 30 against the defending NBA champion Lakers — without fans in attendance.
When LeBron James and company return to the AT&T Center two nights later on New Years Day — the second of a two-night stand in San Antonio meant to mitigate travel risk — the Spurs are hopeful it
will be safe to have fans on hand in what the team calls “a limited capacity.”
Though the club has announced Jan. 1 as a target date, team officials understand it could be a moving target. The organization will continue to work with state, local and national officials and follow public health guidelines, especially with a spike in coronavirus cases expected nationwide after Christmas.
“Our priority remains protecting the health and wellness of our community, our fans, our staff and out
players,” Buford said. “All of us are excited for the day we can safely welcome our Spurs Family back to the AT&T Center. We are hopeful that Jan. 1 will be that day.”
Here are some other dates worth circling on the Spurs calendar, based off Friday’s partial schedule announcement:
Dec. 23 at Memphis: The Spurs’ regular-season opener marks their first foray with traveling during a pandemic. Once on Beale Street, they could have their hands full with Ja Morant — last season’s Rookie of the Year — and the Grizzlies.
Jan. 9 and 10 at Minnesota: These games are notable not necessarily due to
the opponent, but due to the lack of travel involved. The Spurs will play a back-toback doubleheader at the Target Center, part of the NBA’s plan to reduce travel amid health concerns. This is one of five sets of “two games in one venue” on the Spurs’ docket in the first half, but the only one to come on the road.
Jan. 14 and 16 vs. Houston: In another one of the aforementioned travel twofers, the Rockets visit AT&T Center in mid-January. The over-under for combined James Harden free throw attempts is 40.
Jan. 21 at Golden State: In the not-to-distant past, the Warriors and Spurs were
Western Conference nemeses. Both fell to the draft lottery last season. Golden State returns with a healthy Steph Curry in tow, but was dealt a blow when fellow Splash Brother Klay Thompson suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon before the start of training camp.
Feb. 12-Feb. 27: Though the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo has relocated to the Freeman Coliseum for the year, the Spurs will still face their annual mid-February rodeo jaunt. This year’s trip spans seven games at Atlanta, Charlotte, Detroit, Cleveland, New York, Indiana and Oklahoma City. Despite the unnecessary rodeo trek, the Spurs will play19 of their first 31 games at home.
March 1 vs. Brooklyn: The Spurs haven’t faced three-time NBA scoring champ Kevin Durant — remember him? — since March 18, 2019 when he was with the Warriors. Having overcome an Achilles tear of his own, and moved to Brooklyn, Durant will make his first appearance against the Spurs as a member of the Nets. If all goes to plan, there will even be fans in the stands at the AT&T Center to see it.