AUSTIN - By the time the Spurs' season-opening loss to Oklahoma City ended Tuesday night, their next home game was already on the move.
In the wee hours of Wednesday morning, two 18-wheelers idled at the Frost Bank Center loading dock, preparing to haul the Spurs' home-court operation 77 miles up Interstate 35. The cargo included bags, equipment, hardware and all 250 individual hardwood panels that make up the court.
By Friday morning, the entire traveling circus had been reassembled inside Moody Center on the University of Texas campus, where the Spurs were preparing to face the Houston Rockets that night.
"Austin's been great to us over the years," Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. "It feels a little unique being here this early."
Unique, indeed.
The Spurs have played in Austin every season since 2022-23, eight times in all. They have just never done it in October.
Until now.
The early-season detour to the state capital was no accident.
With Formula 1 rolling into town for the United States Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas and the Texas Longhorns looking to snap their home skid against Mississippi on Saturday, Austin was already gearing up for a monster sports weekend.
The Spurs wanted in.
The club petitioned the NBA for a place on Austin's crowded sporting calendar, hoping to share the spotlight with two of the biggest events on the local docket.
"It's a huge stage," said Tim Salier, vice president of business development for Spurs Sports & Entertainment.
One the Spurs organization intends to make the most of. Several years ago, the club launched a strategy to expand its fanbase along the Interstate 35 corridor.
"Keeping San Antonio as the center point," Salier said, "but looking from Austin to Mexico and every point in between."
The team's previous eight games at Moody Center have helped advance that mission. This weekend's visit offers a chance to take it to another level.
Formula 1 alone typically draws upward of 400,000 fans from around the world to Austin for the United States Grand Prix weekend. The Spurs hope to get in front of a few of them, along with the deep-pocketed corporate sponsors descending on Central Texas for the weekend's festivities.
Last season, Salier said, Spurs games in San Antonio attracted fans from 96 countries. The team hopes to add to that international reach by catching a little of Formula 1's global draft.
MORE SPURS IN AUSTIN:Spurs arrive in Thursday in Austin for exciting sports weekend
"They are a massive global brand," Salier said. "It's a different kind of platform."
Of course, moving an NBA game to Austin in October comes with a few speed bumps. From a basketball standpoint, playing the second home game of the season on a neutral court is less than ideal.
Off the court, racing fans, Texas football diehards and NBA aficionados are likely to spend much of the weekend jockeying for position on Austin's already jam-packed roads.
Hotels are packed, too. The Spurs could not secure rooms at their preferred luxury hotel downtown, forced to relocate to another five-star property a few blocks away.
Hey, not all heroes wear capes.
Still, the Spurs players were happy to return to a city that has come to feel like a home away from home.
"It's always good playing out here," guard Devin Vassell said. "It's definitely different playing out here (for) our second game of the season, but it's going to be a big weekend. … It's always great energy in here."
At least one member of the visiting Rockets was equally eager for the Austin engagement as well.
Houston star Kevin Durant played his lone season of college basketball at Texas in 2006-07.
Friday marked his second visit to Moody Center as an NBA player, the first coming two seasons ago as a member of the Phoenix Suns.
"For them to come down here and play a couple games a year is always great for the fanbase," Durant said after Houston's morning workout. "They love the Spurs, man. And to have such a great young team and trying to connect that bridge from San Antonio to Austin has been great to see."
Friday's contest is the first of four designated home games the Spurs will play outside of San Antonio this season.
In January, the Spurs take the show overseas for a Paris matchup against New Orleans in the hometown of All-Star center Victor Wembanyama.
They return to Moody Center twice in February for games against Memphis and Denver. Those unconventional home dates fit the Spurs' broader mission of "meeting fans where they are," Salier said.
"We've learned it's important to be present," Salier said.
The Spurs also know they can't be everywhere all at once, and taking home games away from the Frost Bank Center can ruffle feathers among hometown fans.
"We do have a lot of Spurs fans who can't get here (to San Antonio) but can get to Austin, so it's great for them," Salier said. "It's hard to keep everyone fully happy, but we're trying to find a balance."
By Saturday morning, the Spurs' traveling home court will be packed up and hauled back to its rightful place inside the Frost Bank Center.
The players, meanwhile, will be headed to Dallas for a matchup with the Mavericks, their first true road game of the season.
"We play and then they ship us away and the weekend seems to continue to crescendo without us," Johnson said. "But it's a heck of a weekend for Austin. I think the city's ready for it and hopefully they enjoy it."
Subscribe
There’s more to San Antonio with the Express-News. Subscribe today for just 25¢.This article originally published at Why are the Spurs in Austin this weekend? Thank F1.