[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 7]
[House]
[Pages 10224-10225]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  SAN ANTONIO SPURS SET GREAT EXAMPLE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Gallego) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GALLEGO. Madam Speaker, I rise today to take note not only of a 
wonderful victory, but of a great example. The most popular NBA team in 
the 23rd District and one of the most popular NBA teams in the entire 
country, the San Antonio Spurs, are now the NBA champions, for the 
fifth time--the drive for five.
  There are some interesting things that Congress and the American 
people can learn from the Spurs. It is the most culturally diverse team 
in the NBA. In addition to Americans, there are folks from Canada, 
Argentina, Brazil, Italy, and Australia.
  Tim Duncan, who has spent his entire career with the San Antonio 
Spurs, started out playing basketball in the ninth grade, after he was 
not able to swim anymore because the swimming pool he used in the 
Virgin Islands was destroyed.

                              {time}  1215

  None of the players are among the highest paid in the league. In 
fact, Tony Parker is the highest paid player and he ranked number 37 in 
the NBA. Five championships, some heartbreakingly close calls. In fact, 
last year they lost in the very last minute, but they never gave up. 
They continued working. They came back, and this year they won it all.
  The Spurs have the greatest coach in the NBA. Coach Popovich has been 
in San Antonio since 1996. He is the longest-tenured active coach in 
all Big Four sports leagues, and he has the most consecutive winning 
seasons, including playoffs, of any coach in the NBA--17.
  The Spurs have so much they can share. Their cultural diversity is 
their strength. They won because they played together and they played 
as a team. They trusted each other. They worked together. They didn't 
care who got the credit. One second you would be watching Tony Parker 
on a drive, the next second somebody else had the ball, and the next 
second they scored.
  All of these examples of working together, teamwork, understanding, 
and knowing that cultural diversity is a strength, all of these things, 
that drive and that determination, that practice every day, day in and 
day out, all of those things are examples that are well-suited to those 
of us who serve in Congress and well-suited to the American public at 
large. Never give up; never quit. That patchwork quilt of a basketball 
team is the same mosaic that represents all of America.
  And you know what? They weren't arrogant. They weren't hardcore. They 
come across just as they are, as humble, decent, good-hearted human 
beings. They are clearly the 23rd District's favorite basketball team. 
In fact, I have the privilege of representing several of them who live 
in the 23rd District. I think the more that America gets to know them, 
they will soon be America's most popular basketball team.
  Congratulations to each and every member of the NBA champs, the San 
Antonio Spurs, their coaches, their staff, their owners, and 
congratulations to each and every one of their fans.

[[Page 10225]]



                          ____________________