1997–98 San Antonio Spurs season

The 1997–98 NBA season was the 22nd season for the San Antonio Spurs in the National Basketball Association, and their 31st season as a franchise. This season is most memorable when the Spurs selected power forward Tim Duncan out of Wake Forest University with the first overall pick in the 1997 NBA draft. After finishing with the third-worst record in 1996–97, the Spurs won the NBA draft lottery, dubbed as the "Tim Duncan Sweepstakes". During the off-season, the team signed free agents, three-point specialist Jaren Jackson, and second-year forward Malik Rose.

The Spurs got off to a mediocre 10–10 start to the regular season, but then won 17 of their next 19 games, and held a 34–14 record at the All-Star break. Despite losing Sean Elliott for the remainder of the season to a knee injury after 36 games, the Spurs finished in second place in the Midwest Division with a 56–26 record, earned the #5 seed in the Western Conference, and returned to the NBA playoffs after a one-year absence. The Spurs had the second best team defensive rating in the NBA.

Duncan averaged 21.1 points, 11.9 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game, and was named the NBA Rookie of the Year, and was also named to the All-NBA First Team, and to the NBA All-Rookie First Team, while David Robinson averaged 21.6 points, 10.6 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per game, and was named to the All-NBA Second Team. In addition, Avery Johnson provided the team with 10.2 points and 7.9 assists per game, while Vinny Del Negro contributed 9.5 points per game, and Elliott provided with 9.3 points per game. Off the bench, Jackson contributed 8.8 points per game and led the Spurs with 112 three-point field goals, while three-point specialist Chuck Person contributed 6.7 points per game, and Will Perdue averaged 5.0 points and 6.8 rebounds per game.

Both Duncan and Robinson were named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team, and selected for the 1998 NBA All-Star Game in New York City, New York, which was Duncan's first ever All-Star appearance. Duncan finished in fifth place in Most Valuable Player voting, while Robinson finished in seventh place; Robinson also finished in third place in Defensive Player of the Year voting, while Duncan finished tied in fifth place.

In the 1998 NBA playoffs, the Spurs defeated the 4th-seeded Phoenix Suns, 3–1 in the Western Conference First Round, but lost 4–1 to the Utah Jazz in the Western Conference Semi-finals. The Jazz would go on to lose in six games to the Chicago Bulls in the 1998 NBA Finals for the second consecutive year. Following the season, Del Negro signed as a free agent with the Milwaukee Bucks, while Person signed with the Charlotte Hornets, Monty Williams was released to free agency, and Carl Herrera was traded to the Vancouver Grizzlies.

Following the 1997–98 season, the Spurs enjoyed immense levels of success, winning five championships between 1999 and 2014, and qualifying for the playoffs every year until 2019, the longest playoff streak in NBA history, tied with the Syracuse Nationals/Philadelphia 76ers from 1950 to 1971.