The 2002–03 NBA season was the 36th season of the franchise, 30th in

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

, and 27th in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

. This was also the Spurs' first season playing at the SBC Center (now AT&T Center). During the off-season, the team signed free agents

Kevin Willis Kevin Alvin Willis (born September 6, 1962) is an American former professional basketball player mostly known for playing with the Atlanta Hawks in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was a 7-foot power forward/ center. Excluding playe ...

, acquired second-year guard Speedy Claxton from the

Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, also known colloquially as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlan ...

, and re-acquired former Spurs guard and three-point specialist

Steve Kerr Stephen Douglas Kerr (born September 27, 1965) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the United States men's national ...

from the

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (N ...

. Argentinian future star Manu Ginóbili, who was drafted by the team in

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

, would make his debut for his first NBA season. This would also be the fourteenth and final season for former All-Star center, and long-time Spurs star David Robinson. The Spurs played strong basketball, posting a nine-game winning streak at midseason, holding a 33–16 record at the All-Star break, then winning eleven straight games near the end of the season. The Spurs would win 60 games for only the second time in franchise history, finishing with a league-best 60–22 record. The season saw Tim Duncan earn his second consecutive NBA MVP Award, averaging 23.3 points, 12.9 rebounds and 2.9 blocks per game. He was named to the All-NBA First Team, the NBA All-Defensive First Team, and was selected for the 2003 NBA All-Star Game. In addition, second-year guard Tony Parker showed improvement, averaging 15.5 points and 5.3 assists per game, while Stephen Jackson provided the team with 11.8 points and 1.6 steals per game, and sixth man Malik Rose contributed 10.4 points and 6.4 rebounds per game off the bench. Robinson averaged 8.5 points, 7.9 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game, which were career lows, while Ginóbili contributed 7.6 points per game off the bench, and was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team, and Bruce Bowen provided with 7.1 points per game, and was named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team. Head coach

Gregg Popovich Gregg Charles Popovich (born January 28, 1949) is an American professional basketball executive and former coach who is the president for the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was the List of current NBA head co ...

was named Coach of the Year. Duncan also finished in fourth place in Defensive Player of the Year voting, while Parker finished in fourth place in Most Improved Player voting. This season marked the official beginning of the Big Three era, and the end of the Twin Towers era. The trio of Duncan, Parker, and Ginóbili would lead the Spurs to win 3 more championships (

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

, and

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

). In the Western Conference First Round of the

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

, the Spurs defeated the Phoenix Suns in six games after losing Game 1 in overtime, then defeated the defending three-time NBA champion

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

in the Western Conference Semi-finals in six games. In the Western Conference Finals, they defeated the

Dallas Mavericks The Dallas Mavericks (often referred to as the Mavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Divisi ...

in six games to advance to the

NBA Finals The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern and Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven series to determine the league ...

, where they beat the

New Jersey Nets New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

in six games and won their second championship, their first title since 1999 NBA Finals. Following the season, Jackson signed as a free agent with the

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Easte ...

, while Steve Smith signed with the New Orleans Hornets, and Robinson, Kerr and Danny Ferry all retired. For the season, the Spurs changed their primary logo, adding black and silver colors, and slightly changed their uniforms. The primary logo remained in use until 2017, while the uniforms lasted until 2010.

NBA draft

Roster

Regular season

Standings

Record vs. opponents

Game log

October

Record: 1–1; Home: 0–1; Road: 1–0

November

Record: 10–6; Home: 6–2; Road: 4–4

December

Record: 8–6; Home: 5–1; Road: 3–5

January

Record: 11–3; Home: 5–1; Road: 6–2

February

Record: 9–1; Home: 3–0; Road: 6–1

March

Record: 14–3; Home: 9–3; Road: 5–0

April

Record: 7–2; Home: 3–1; Road: 6–1

Playoffs

, - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 1 , April 19 , Phoenix
L 95–96 (OT)
, Stephen Jackson (23) , Tim Duncan (13) , Tony Parker (7) , SBC Center
19,217 , 0–1 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 2 , April 21 , Phoenix
W 84–76
, Stephen Jackson (23) , Tim Duncan (12) , Speedy Claxton (7) , SBC Center
19,217 , 1–1 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 3 , April 25 , @ Phoenix
W 99–86
, Tony Parker (29) , Tim Duncan (23) , Tim Duncan (6) , America West Arena
19,023 , 2–1 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 4 , April 27 , @ Phoenix
L 84–86
, Tim Duncan (24) , Tim Duncan (11) , Manu Ginóbili (5) , America West Arena
18,756 , 2–2 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 5 , April 29 , Phoenix
W 94–82
, Malik Rose (27) , Tim Duncan (17) , Tim Duncan (6) , SBC Center
19,217 , 3–2 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 6 , May 1 , @ Phoenix
W 87–85
, Stephen Jackson (21) , Tim Duncan (20) , Tim Duncan (10) , America West Arena
18,913 , 4–2 , - , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 1 , May 5 , L.A. Lakers
W 87–82
, Tim Duncan (28) , David Robinson (11) , Tim Duncan (7) , SBC Center
18,797 , 1–0 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 2 , May 7 , L.A. Lakers
W 114–95
, Bruce Bowen (27) , Tim Duncan (13) , Tim Duncan (7) , SBC Center
18,797 , 2–0 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 3 , May 9 , @ L.A. Lakers
L 95–110
, Tim Duncan (28) , Tim Duncan (11) , Jackson, Parker (4) ,

Staples Center Crypto.com Arena (originally and colloquially known as Staples Center) is a multi-purpose indoor arena in downtown Los Angeles. Opened on October 17, 1999, as Staples Center, it is located next to the Los Angeles Convention Center complex along F ...

18,997 , 2–1 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 4 , May 11 , @ L.A. Lakers
L 95–99
, Tim Duncan (36) , Stephen Jackson (10) , Tim Duncan (5) ,

18,997 , 2–2 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 5 , May 13 , L.A. Lakers
W 96–94
, Tim Duncan (27) , Tim Duncan (14) , Tim Duncan (5) , SBC Center
18,797 , 3–2 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 6 , May 15 , @ L.A. Lakers
W 110–82
, Tim Duncan (37) , Tim Duncan (16) , Tony Parker (5) ,

18,997 , 4–2 , - , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 1 , May 19 ,

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

L 110–113
, Tim Duncan (40) , Tim Duncan (15) , Tim Duncan (7) , SBC Center
18,797 , 0–1 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 2 , May 21 ,

W 119–106
, Tim Duncan (32) , Tim Duncan (15) , Duncan, Jackson (5) , SBC Center
18,797 , 1–1 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 3 , May 23 , @

W 96–83
, Tim Duncan (34) , Tim Duncan (24) , Tim Duncan (6) ,

American Airlines Center The American Airlines Center (AAC) is a multi-purpose List of indoor arenas, indoor arena located in the Victory Park, Dallas, Victory Park neighborhood in downtown Dallas, Texas. The arena serves as the home of the Dallas Stars of the National ...

20,695 , 2–1 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 4 , May 25 , @

W 102–95
, Tony Parker (25) , Tim Duncan (20) , Tim Duncan (7) ,

20,561 , 3–1 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 5 , May 27 ,

L 91–103
, Tim Duncan (23) , Tim Duncan (15) , three players tied (6) , SBC Center
18,797 , 3–2 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 6 , May 29 , @

W 90–78
, Stephen Jackson (24) , Duncan,

Rose A rose is either a woody perennial plant, perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred Rose species, species and Garden roses, tens of thousands of cultivar ...

(11) , three players tied (4) ,

20,812 , 4–2 , - , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 1 , June 4 ,

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

W 101–89
, Tim Duncan (32) , Tim Duncan (20) , Tim Duncan (6) , SBC Center
18,797 , 1–0 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 2 , June 6 ,

L 85–87
, Tony Parker (21) , Tim Duncan (12) , Tony Parker (5) , SBC Center
18,797 , 1–1 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 3 , June 8 , @

W 84–79
, Tony Parker (26) , Tim Duncan (16) , Tim Duncan (7) , Continental Airlines Arena
19,280 , 2–1 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 4 , June 11 , @

L 76–77
, Tim Duncan (23) , Tim Duncan (16) , Parker, Jackson (3) , Continental Airlines Arena
19,280 , 2–2 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 5 , June 13 , @

W 93–83
, Tim Duncan (29) , Tim Duncan (17) , Duncan, Parker (4) , Continental Airlines Arena
19,280 , 3–2 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 6 , June 15 ,

W 88–77
, Tim Duncan (21) , Tim Duncan (20) , Tim Duncan (10) , SBC Center
18,797 , 4–2 , -

Player statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

NBA Finals

Summary

The following scoring summary is written in a line score format, except that the quarter numbers are replaced by game numbers.

Schedule

*Game 1 – June 4: Wednesday 8:00pm EST @San Antoni
San Antonio 101, New Jersey 89
''San Antonio leads series 1–0'' *Game 2 – June 6: Friday 8:00pm EST @San Antoni

''Series tied 1–1'' *Game 3 – June 8: Sunday 8:00pm EST @New Jerse

''San Antonio leads series 2–1'' *Game 4 – June 11: Wednesday 8:00pm EST @New Jerse

''Series tied 2–2'' *Game 5 – June 13: Friday 8:00pm EST @New Jerse

''San Antonio leads series 3–2'' *Game 6 – June 15 Sunday 8:00pm EST @San Antoni

''San Antonio wins series 4–2''

Award winners

* Tim Duncan, NBA Most Valuable Player Award * Tim Duncan,

NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award The Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player (formerly known as the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player) is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) award given since the 1969 NBA Finals. The award is decided by a panel of eleven media ...

, NBA Coach of the Year Award * Tim Duncan, All-NBA First Team * Tim Duncan,

NBA All-Defensive First Team The NBA All-Defensive Team is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) honor given since the 1968–69 NBA season to the best defensive players during the regular season. The All-Defensive Team is generally composed of ten players in tw ...

* Bruce Bowen,

NBA All-Defensive Second Team The NBA All-Defensive Team is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) honor given since the 1968–69 NBA season to the best defensive players during the regular season. The All-Defensive Team is generally composed of ten players in two ...

* Manu Ginóbili,

NBA All-Rookie Second Team The NBA All-Rookie Team is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) honor given since the 1962–63 NBA season to the top rookies during the regular season. Voting is conducted by the NBA head coaches who are not allowed to vote for play ...

Transactions

Overview

Player Transactions Citation:

References

*
San Antonio Spurs on Basketball Reference
{{DEFAULTSORT:2002-03 San Antonio Spurs Season San Antonio Spurs seasons NBA championship seasons San Western Conference (NBA) championship seasons