A MASSIVE 80-BY-60-FOOT tifo, black with the San Antonio Spurs logo in the background, covered Section 114 at Frost Bank Center on Saturday, jittering wildly as the noise reached deafening levels.
Unfurled after the introduction of the starting lineups for Game 5 of the NBA Finals, the tifo, in all caps with white letters and outlined in San Antonio's fiesta hues of yellow, orange, turquoise and pink read: BELIEVE.
The organization has taken that message to heart. Even in the dizzying aftermath of a 4-1 series loss to the New York Knicks, the Spurs still believe they were the better team. San Antonio led by double digits in every game of the NBA Finals, only to fall at the finish each time, as the Knicks captured their first championship in 53 years. The Spurs spent more time leading (62 minutes, 21 seconds) by double digits than the Knicks spent ahead by any margin (56 minutes, 42 seconds) in the series. But in the moments of truth, when the games were decided, that belief wasn't enough to carry the Spurs to victory.
"As a team, there's no better experience than [the one] we just lived," Victor Wembanyama said.
Still, it hurts, as reflected by the result and the somber scene in the losing locker room, where NBA Sixth Man of the Year Keldon Johnson tearfully dapped up teammates one by one, as the squad finally broke for the summer. San Antonio understands the experience gained in this latest failure remains germane in the learning process conducive for long-term success.