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I would have given my kidney to Sean Elliott. And, no, it’s not just because he hit the miracle shot to deflate Portland in the 1999 conference finals, or, people forget, the defensive play on Latrell Sprewell to secure the San Antonio Spurs’ first championship that year.

Less nobly, I would have had Stephen Jackson’s back during the brawl at Auburn Hills earlier this season. And, yes, that is just because he was a starting guard and occasionally key contributor to the Spurs’ 2003 title run.

The Spurs, who I would guess are only liked nationwide by Laker-haters (the same way my Central Texas friends and I appreciated the old Pistons for beating the Celtics and Lakers back in the day), inspire mad loyalty in South Texas. It’s a hinterland microcosm of the Raiders and Red Sox Nations. It’s impossible to say if it matches the unconditional love of a Cub or Met fan, because the Spurs have really never been bad.

This may amaze even sports fans outside of San Antonio, but the Spurs have made the playoffs 25 out of 29 times since the NBA-ABA merger. They were a strong contender in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, making the conference finals three times in that period (the first one going to a Game 7 against the eventual champion Bullets—who won the last three games of the series after falling behind 3-1-- and the other two losses to the Showtime Lakers—no disgrace there).

Three of the four playoff absences were in the interim between the great George Gervin, one of the top two or three shooting guards of all time, and David Robinson, one of the top six or seven centers. Robinson could win 50 games with mediocre talent around him; when he had a Terry Cummings or Dennis Rodman at the top of their game, the Spurs would win 55 to 61 games and go deep in the playoffs.

The Spurs are also one of the luckiest franchises in the NBA. Since the start of the lottery, there have been about three or four times when a consensus first pick could turn around a team immediately. The Spurs drafted two of them: Robinson and Tim Duncan. The acquisition of Duncan turned the team from a middle of the pack playoff team to a championship contender. After the first championship, subsequent losses to the Shaq-led Lakers showed the team’s need for speed, since answered by the amazing draft picks of French point guard Tony Parker (last pick in the first round, who became the starter at 19) and Argentine shooting guard Manu Ginobili (drafted in the second round before becoming a star in the European league).

While Duncan, Parker, and Ginobili provide offensive skills, the team is based on defense. The starting small forward, Bruce Bowen, can impact a game without scoring a point, as he did against the Pistons in Game 1. It’s a versatile team: all five starters and most of the key bench players defend well and, as shown against the high-octane Phoenix Suns, can run with the best of them.

I missed the second half of Game 1 because my band was playing, but the national aftermath reminded me of the 2003 championship run. “The Pistons suddenly couldn’t make shots,” in a way that suggested or in some cases outright said that the Spurs’ defense had nothing to do with it. That was the refrain in 2003, when the three-time defending champion Lakers, the prolific Dallas Mavericks, and the Jason Kidd-led New Jersey Nets suffered similar mysterious droughts (while the Spurs’ outside shooters and pressuring guards were lighting it up on the other side). In 2003, the Spurs were an immensely talented yet generally young and thus occasionally erratic team (all of the guards on the team who saw substantial playing time were in their first or second year) that could turn it on at will.

This year, they are much more talented. Duncan is playing injured and not near the dominant force he was in the first two championship runs, but he can make it happen when he needs to. Parker, Bowen, and especially Ginobili have improved mightily in the two years, and Nazr Mohammed is the decent center the Spurs have lacked since the retirement of Robinson.

Even though the Spurs are better than in 2003, that doesn’t mean the championship is a lock. In 1999 and 2003, the finals were an afterthought. The Spurs had already gone through the toughest teams in the league: sweeps of the Lakers and Portland in 1999, and a tougher victory over a more seasoned Lakers team four years later. The Knicks and Nets paled by comparison. This year, however, the Pistons are tougher than the three talented teams the Spurs beat on the way: a loaded Denver team with tons of momentum, an injured Seattle squad that nonetheless matched up well with the Spurs, and the league’s best regular season team, the Phoenix Suns. If the Spurs win this year, there won’t be any asterisk: Detroit is a great team, a defending champion which has proven amazingly resilient in the last two years.

Players on the original Spurs—from stars like Gervin and Larry Kenon to bench contributors like Coby Dietrich-- still can’t go to restaurants and grocery stores in S.A. without being noticed and appreciated. I think the Spurs will win this series. But even if they don’t, they’ll be the toast of San Antonio for the rest of their lives. At least one couple has already named their child Ginobili. I predict it’ll be one of the most popular baby names in South Texas for years to come.