Spurs set NBA regular-season attendance record as Steve Kerr, Sean Elliott return to Alamodome

The history of the San Antonio Spurs is forever intertwined with Arizona Wildcats basketball greats Sean Elliott and Steve Kerr, who led the Spurs to their first NBA championship in 1999.

On Friday, Elliott and Kerr were back in the Alamodome to partake in another historic milestone: setting the NBA’s all-time regular season attendance record.

More than 68,000 fans returned to the Spurs’ former home arena to set the league’s official attendance record and watch San Antonio take on Kerr’s Golden State Warriors. Elliott serves as a Spurs broadcast analyst.

The Spurs played at the Alamodome in honor of the franchise’s 50-year anniversary. San Antonio now plays its home games at AT&T Center.

To celebrate the Alamodome homecoming, the Spurs laid out the original locker room with jerseys from the 1998-99 championship team. The Spurs beat the New York Knicks 4 games to 1 in the NBA Finals that year.

Kerr and Elliott reportedly met up for dinner with Gregg Popovich, Avery Johnson, R.C. Buford, and others.

After Friday’s game, which the Warriors won 144-113, Kerr was asked about his favorite memories in the Alamodome.

“Sean Elliott’s shot, Memorial Day miracle, his tightrope act on the sideline,” Kerr said. That’s the play I think of when I think of the dome.”

Popovich shared with ESPN’s broadcast team another Elliott moment when asked about his favorite memories from the Alamodome. Popovich thought of Elliott’s return to the court March 14, 2000 after undergoing a kidney transplant.

Elliott became the first professional athlete to play after an organ transplant, according to a Los Angeles Times story.

Elliott and Kerr previewed their return to the Alamodome earlier this month.

The Alamodome also holds a special place in the history of Arizona men’s and women’s basketball game. It’s where the Wildcats men secured their most recent Final Four berth in 2001, beating Illinois in the Elite Eight. The Arizona women played their first-ever Final Four at the Alamodome in 2021, beating UConn in the national semifinals before falling to Stanford in the championship game.

On Friday, two more former Arizona Wildcats took the court at the Alamodome, as Andre Iguodala had five points for the Warriors, while Stanley Johnson scored three points for the Spurs.