How the San Antonio Spurs history timeline works

Spurs milestones fill this deck, each with a short description under the headline. Order them by the year they happened. From the start, one card is on the line with its year showing. Choose a gap for every new card: a correct choice reveals the year, a wrong one still places it correctly but costs one of three lives.

The Spurs began in another city and another league, but most of this deck is about remarkable stability: one coach and a handful of franchise players across a long run of winning. That makes the championship cards the trickiest, since they come from the same broad era and carry similar headlines. Award cards help, and so do details about which star was arriving or leaving at the time.

Want a longer game? On the deck tree you can tick this deck alongside any other one measured in release years and dates, and they shuffle into a single timeline together.

What's in the deck

Here are 25 of the 25 cards you might be dealt. Their values stay hidden until you place them.

Franchise debuts as the ABA Dallas Chaparrals The team joins the American Basketball Association in Texas
Team moves to San Antonio and is renamed the Spurs New owners relocate the ABA club to South Texas
Spurs join the NBA in the merger The ABA franchise enters the NBA with three others
George Gervin wins his first scoring title The 'Iceman' leads the NBA in scoring
Reached the conference finals Gervin's Spurs make a deep playoff run
Drafted David Robinson first overall Selected the Navy center who would join after his service
David Robinson named Rookie of the Year The 'Admiral' debuts after his naval commitment
David Robinson wins the scoring title The center pours in 71 in the final game to claim it
David Robinson named league MVP The Admiral wins the award in a dominant season
Gregg Popovich takes over as head coach The GM steps down to the bench midseason
Drafted Tim Duncan first overall Selected the Wake Forest big man with the top pick
Won the first championship in franchise history The 'Twin Towers' beat the Knicks as Duncan wins Finals MVP
Drafted Tony Parker Added the French guard who completed the championship core
Tim Duncan named league MVP The forward wins his first of back-to-back MVPs
Won the second title in Robinson's finale Duncan wins Finals MVP as the Admiral retires a champion
Won the third championship Duncan earns Finals MVP beating the Pistons in seven games
Won the fourth championship Tony Parker wins Finals MVP in a sweep of Cleveland
Blew a 3-2 Finals lead to the Heat Ray Allen's shot denies a fifth title
Won the fifth championship Kawhi Leonard wins Finals MVP avenging the Heat
Signed LaMarcus Aldridge in free agency Added an All-Star big man to the veteran core
Won a franchise-record 67 games as Duncan retires The best regular season in team history ends an era
Traded Kawhi Leonard to the Raptors A dispute sends the star north for DeMar DeRozan
Popovich becomes the NBA's all-time wins leader The longtime coach passes Don Nelson for the record
Drafted Victor Wembanyama first overall Won the lottery to select the French phenom
Victor Wembanyama named Rookie of the Year The generational big man wins the award unanimously