SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Before the opening game of the NBA Finals, Victor Wembanyama briefly left the basketball court to receive greetings from several supporters wearing San Antonio Spurs uniforms, then lowered his head to participate in a brief prayer with them.
These supporters are the Salesian Sisters of St. John Bosco.
During basketball games, they go by the name Spurs Nuns.
While New York boasts celebrity superfans like Ben Stiller, Tina Fey, and Tracy Morgan, San Antonio features a collection of nuns who don Spurs uniforms over their religious clothing. This connection spans approximately two decades, and the sisters believe it serves their purpose perfectly.
“We’re serving the poor and the young,” said Sr. Bernadette Mota, the director of the department of mission advancement for the Salesian Sisters. “And in order to reach the young where they’re at, you have to love what they love and then they’ll love who you love. So, we have that affinity with the Spurs because it gives us an avenue to do our mission with the young people that we serve.”
This unusual story began in an extraordinary manner.
According to the account, approximately twenty years ago, some retired sisters — who were Texas natives and devoted Spurs supporters — would follow the games through television or radio broadcasts, with some even watching from hospital beds. They would root for every player and coach Gregg Popovich. However, when Popovich appeared frustrated during games, several sisters decided to send him correspondence.
“They would write to Coach Popovich and let him know when they thought he was he doing great and let him know when he lost his temper — but they were really supporting him,” Mota said. “He’s the one that actually responded back to them, thanking them for their support for him and for the Spurs. It was really just a very organic conversation that started all of this.”
Indeed, the sisters would gently correct Pop when he misbehaved.
“They would, in a nice way, in a very nice way,” Mota said. “They’d be like, ‘Coach, you lost your temper there, come on, we’re praying for you, you can do better.’”
Popovich and the Spurs have maintained their connection with the sisters ever since. Popovich’s deceased wife Erin, who passed away in 2018, also maintained strong relationships with the sisters and supported their work. The partnership has benefited both sides; the Spurs enjoy having the sisters attend games, and publicity about the nuns’ activities beyond basketball has resulted in numerous people volunteering to support their cause.
“We’ve had a number of individual people reach out and they’ve been donating anywhere from $10 to $100 and we’ve had a few ones who have larger capacity reach out, too,” Mota said. “All of this is divine providence, God’s gift, because we’re actually very much in need. Our mission, we rely on the generosity of people who are our partners and collaborators in our mission.”
The sisters represent just one fan organization that the Spurs have welcomed. This season also introduced the Jackals — a supporter group conceived by Wembanyama with goals of recreating the atmosphere found at European soccer games, featuring coordinated cheers, percussion, and similar activities throughout contests.
The nuns offer prayers. The Jackals sing “Olé, Olé, Olé.”
Different methods, identical goals.
“I’ve known for years that the Spurs community had this strength in them,” Wembanyama said. “Now to finally see it being channeled into something organized and efficient and effective, it’s a great joy.”
Joy. That’s the same term the sisters employ.
Those within the Spurs organization certainly observed that the sisters provided Luke Kornet with a special blessing during the Western Conference finals, and he subsequently made an amazing defensive block late in the fourth quarter of Game 7 in Oklahoma City, helping secure San Antonio’s victory in that contest and their advancement to this championship series.
Divine intervention? Perhaps.
The sisters also recognize that Pope Leo XIV’s prayer intention for June focuses on the importance of sports and their ability to foster peace and respect worldwide.
“I don’t know if his people who helped him out in terms of creating prayer intentions were also in tune with what’s going on with the sisters and the San Antonio Spurs,” Mota said. “Maybe, maybe not. I have no idea. But I just thought it was pretty awesome that his prayer intention for June is for sports.”
