Heat game postponed after virus breakout
With a long, arduous trip that includes three sets of back-to-back games looming, the Spurs received some unexpected rest the day before their scheduled departure.
The NBA postponed Wednesday night’s game between the
Spurs and Miami at the AT&T Center after a flurry of positive COVID-19 tests and injuries left the Heat without the required eight available players.
Despite its efforts to play the game as scheduled, including pushing the Heat to sign players from the Spurs’ G League affiliate in Austin, the league finally announced the postponement about four and a half hours before the contest’s scheduled 7:40 tipoff.
The league apparently dropped its show-must-go-on approach after it learned the players the Heat tried to bring in could not be cleared from protocols, the South Florida Sun-sentinel reported.
It was the 10th game postponed by the NBA this season because of the virus. None have been rescheduled.
Spurs Sports & Entertainment informed ticket holders to the game via email and text that “tickets and parking will be valid for the rescheduled game, which will be announced at a later date.”
Upon learning of Miami’s precarious situation Wednesday morning at shootaround, the
Spurs (14-19) quickly adopted a wedon’t-care attitude that stemmed in part from them having lost to a Covid-depleted Sacramento Kings squad on Dec. 19.
“We can’t take any game for granted,” Spurs guard Devin Vassell said. “That’s the biggest lesson we learned (from losing to Sacramento). It doesn’t matter who is
Jones said after shootaround, “and crazy things continue to happen.”
Given the chaotic year that was 2021, it is perhaps fitting the final home game on the calendar was something of an omnishambles. For better or worse, it was an eventful year for the Spurs.
With that in mind, here is a look back and the good, the bad and the crazy of the Spurs’ 2021:
COVID comes calling
During the past calendar year, COVID-19 has become a fact of life in the NBA and around the world.
The virus hit the Spurs hard in February, when an outbreak short-circuited the team’s rodeo trip after two games.
Having arrived for a Feb. 14 contest in Charlotte with one player already in health and safety protocols — Quinddary Weatherspoon — four more players hit the list after a 122-110 victory over the Hornets.
With Derrick White, Keldon Johnson, Rudy Gay and Devin Vassell joining Weatherspoon, the entire Spurs traveling party was forced to remain in Charlotte until clearing quarantine.
When the Spurs returned to the floor 10 days later in Oklahoma City, they did so with a skeleton crew and lost 102-99.
In all, the Spurs had five games from the first half of their season rescheduled to the second half, resulting in a brutal close of 40 games in 68 nights.
Duncan gets his due
Spurs great Tim Duncan was initially elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame class of 2020, but the pandemic postponed his enshrinement into May of 2021.
The timing was less than ideal. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich had to skip a game against Phoenix to attend the ceremony in Uncasville, Conn.
The wait was worth it, of course. Duncan became the fourth player to spend at least five seasons with the Spurs to end up in the Hall, joining David Robinson, George Gervin and
Patty Mills says adios
Mills spent 10 years in San Antonio fashioning himself into Mr. Spur. When the last vestiges of the team’s Big Three era faded in 2018, Mills remained as the team’s longest-tenured player and last link to the club’s championship era.
So though it was not surprising to see Mills part ways with the Spurs last summer, it still resulted in something of a culture shock.
Mills is in Brooklyn now, playing alongside the likes of Kevin Durant, James Harden and, yes, Lamarcus Aldridge, with a chance to become a champion again.
Aldridge leaves, then (briefly) retires
By the time of the March All-star break, it had become clear Aldridge’s time with the Spurs was done.
The seven-time All-star was coming off the bench at age 35, with the Spurs moving toward a new era.
Unable to deal Aldridge by the trade deadline, the Spurs bought him out. That allowed him to sign with Brooklyn for the stretch run.
Aldridge’s initial stint with the Nets ended abruptly in mid-april, when the onset of a recurring heart condition caused him to retire.
The former Texas Longhorn has since come out of retirement and rejoined the Nets, with the hopes of adding a long-missing championship to his NBA résumé.
Goodbye, Demar
In another move that was not all that surprising, but was nevertheless consequential, Demar Derozan peaced out for Chicago over the summer.
The All-star spoils of the July 18, 2018, trade that sent Kawhi Leonard to Toronto, Derozan was ever the good soldier in his three seasons with the Spurs.
Uninterested in being part of a full-scale rebuild in San Antonio, Derozan headed to Chicago where he and the Bulls are thriving together.
Popovich’s golden summer
The pandemic pushed the 2020 Olympics into 2021, which meant the moment Gregg Popovich calls the best of his athletic life happened in this calendar year.
The U.S. club Popovich guided in Tokyo had to overcome some adversity to win gold, with some last-minute drop-outs due to health concerns, a few late arrivals from the NBA Finals and an early loss to France.
For Popovich, it made the eventual gold medal victory all the sweeter.
Hat tip to Johnson, one of those 11th-hour injury replacements who is now an Olympic gold medalist for life.
The rise of DJ
On the court, no development has been more encouraging for the rebuilding Spurs than Dejounte Murray’s ascension.
The 25-year-old point guard is the team’s leader in scoring, assists and steals. He has posted six triple-doubles this season, bringing his career total to 10.
All of those have come during this calendar year.
Robinson remains the Spurs’ all-time leader in triple doubles with 14. It would not be surprising to see Murray overtake The Admiral by the All-star break.
Spurs draft a teen
Armed with their second lottery pick in as many years, the Spurs turned heads with their selection of Alabama freshman Josh Primo with the No. 12 overall pick in the July draft.
At 18 years and 217 days, Primo became the club’s youngest draftee since joining the NBA in 1976.
Primo was the youngest player in college basketball last season, the youngest player in the 2021 draft pool and is now the youngest player on an NBA roster.
He has also become something of a fan favorite at the AT&T Center, with the crowd chanting his name any time there is a chance the rookie might get in a game.
An ownership shift
In June, the Spurs’ ownership group added some heft with the additions of Austin billionaire Michael Dell and the global investment firm Sixth Street.
The Holt family remains the largest shareholder in the group, with Peter J. Holt promoted to managing partner.
The move was billed as one to bolster the Spurs’ commitment to San Antonio, with Holt assuming a level of authority his father, Peter M. Holt, never reached.