Friday’s NBA matchup between the San Antonio Spurs and the Golden State Warriors was a special event taking place at the Alamodome in San Antonio, and the incredible event broke a long-standing NBA record.
The event was made to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Spurs organization, and Spurs fans undoubtedly packed the arena in a huge way.
The game itself was largely non-competitive, with the Warriors easily taking care of the Spurs with an over 30-point margin of victory. Regardless, they were able to break the NBA’s record for attendance of an NBA game with 68,323 fans in attendance.
The Warriors defeat the Spurs in front of an NBA record 68,323 fans.
The previous record was 62,046 in a game between the Michael Jordan-era Bulls and Hawks at the Georgia Dome. pic.twitter.com/RfINh4Lf7q
— The Comeback (@thecomeback) January 14, 2023
This breaks the previous record held by a game in 1998 between the Chicago Bulls and the Atlanta Hawks that took place at the Georgia Dome.
NBA stadiums typically do not have this level of capacity to break the record nowadays, with the only other NBA game to go over 60,000 in attendance being between the Boston Celtics and Detroit Pistons at the Pontiac Silverdome, the season before the Detroit Pistons moved into the The Palace of Auburn Hills.
Those two, and a January 1988 game at the Silverdome between the Pistons and Celtics, are the only regular season NBA games to top 60,000.
— The Comeback (@thecomeback) January 14, 2023
Many around the NBA world took to social media to react to this awesome event on Friday night.
“Spurs/Warriors at the Alamodome is phenomenal,” tweeted Barstool Sports.
Spurs/Warriors at the Alamodome is phenomenal https://t.co/n236Txzwz8
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) January 14, 2023
“The Spurs are in their original arena, the Alamodome, for their 50th anniversary and have broken an NBA attendance record with 63,592 fans. An amazing sight in San Antonio tonight,” tweeted Jomboy Media.
The Spurs are in their original arena, the Alamodome, for their 50th anniversary and have broken an NBA attendance record with 63,592 fans
An amazing sight in San Antonio tonight pic.twitter.com/lr1qxX1g6O
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) January 14, 2023
While the Alamodome isn’t the Spurs original arena in San Antonio (they played at HemisFair Arena from 1973-1993), they did play at the Alamodome from 1993-2002 until their current venue, the AT&T Center, opened.
Warriors star Draymond Green discussed the atmosphere in the arena after the game, comparing it to a Final Four in college basketball.
“It was very fun,” said Green via NBA Sports Warriors on Twitter. “I said to someone at the beginning of the game that it felt like playing in the Final Four all over again. You never think you’ll get to experience that again and I think this is a great thing that the Spurs organization has done.”
Draymond talks about what it was like to play in the Alamodome
Warriors Postgame Live is airing right now on NBC Sports Bay Area and streaming here: https://t.co/kCqfKOmLMq pic.twitter.com/k2ObfqkBjV
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) January 14, 2023
Considering how big of a turnout this event did on Friday, it certainly seems plausible that these special events could be more frequent in the NBA.
[The Comeback on Twitter, NBC Sports Warriors on Twitter] Photo Credit: ESPN