Spurs players juggle NBA focus with NFL conference title rooting interests
As the NBA season continues, members of the San Antonio Spurs are still tracking the NFL postseason, citing hometown ties and family connections. Their rooting interests highlight how athletes across leagues follow major games even while preparing for their own.
With the NFL postseason reaching its final stretch, several San Antonio Spurs players and staff shared which teams they plan to support in the conference championship games, balancing fan loyalties with the routines of an NBA season. The conversation offered a small but telling view of how major sports moments cut across leagues.
Spurs coach Mitch Johnson, a Seattle native, said he will be pulling for the Seahawks, framing it as a hometown attachment and a chance for a positive sports memory after other recent disappointments for Seattle teams. The comments were shared as the Spurs prepared for their own matchup schedule.
Guard De’Aaron Fox identified a different stake: he is backing the Denver Broncos, linked to a family connection involving safety Talanoa Hufanga. In the telling, the rooting interest is less about geography and more about relationships, a common theme among pro athletes whose circles span multiple leagues.
The broader backdrop is the calendar: the conference championship weekend is a major national sports event, and it arrives in the middle of the NBA grind when travel, recovery and game planning dominate players’ lives. Even so, many follow high-profile games as a way to unwind or stay connected to friends and family.
The Spurs’ comments also served as a reminder of the Super Bowl’s proximity, with the league’s title game scheduled for February 8 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara. As the NFL’s spotlight intensifies, conversations like these become part of the cultural cross-current among athletes.
For fans, it is a relatable moment: even professionals who treat sports as work still have teams, connections and personal narratives that shape how they watch. For the Spurs, though, the NFL talk remains secondary—something to track between film sessions, practice and tipoff.