Bruise Brothers were the six big men who played for the San Antonio Spurs in the early 1980s: Dave Corzine, Reggie Johnson, Paul Griffin,

Mark Olberding Mark Allen Olberding (born April 21, 1956) is an American former professional basketball player born in Melrose, Minnesota. A 6'8" forward from the University of Minnesota, Olberding played 12 seasons (1975–1987) in the American Basketba ...

Kevin Restani Kevin Gilbert "Big Bird" Restani (December 23, 1951 – April 25, 2010) was an American professional basketball player from San Francisco, California. After being selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 1974 NBA draft, Restani played in ei ...

and

George T. Johnson George Thomas Johnson (born December 18, 1948) is an American retired professional basketball player. A 6'11" forward/center born in Tylertown, Mississippi and from Dillard University, he played in 13 National Basketball Association (NBA) seasons ...

. In the 1980–81 season, they led the

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

in rebounds, blocked shots (3rd in fouls) and led the Spurs to a 52–30 record and a division title, while showing San Antonio a new brand of basketball built on hustle, physical play and a blue collar work ethic. In December 1980, the team recognized the "Bruise Brothers" nickname when it gave away 10,000 free posters using it to identify their front line. The name evoked the recently released hit film, '' The Blues Brothers''. During this period, many fans would show up to the HemisFair Arena dressed as the characters played by

Dan Aykroyd Daniel Edward Aykroyd ( ; born July 1, 1952) is a Canadian actor, comedian, producer, musician and writer. He was an original member of the "Not Ready for Prime Time Players" on ''Saturday Night Live'' (1975–1979). During his tenure on ''SNL'' ...

and John Belushi in the film. Music used in the film was also played by the arena's loudspeaker. The group was broken up in the fall of 1982, when Olberding and Corzine were traded to the Chicago Bulls for Artis Gilmore.''Texas Monthly'' (Dec 1982), Vol. 10, No. 12, p. 126.

References

External links

San Antonio Spurs History: 1980–81: Key Moves In Store-New Players And A New Division
{{San Antonio Spurs Nicknamed groups of NBA players San Antonio Spurs 1980–81 NBA season 1990s in San Antonio