Preparing for the Madness

Cinco 2014 Spurs Championship Celebration On June 15, 2014, the San Antoni o Spurs defeated the Miami Heat 4-1 in the NBA Finals to secure their 5th NBA Championship in franchise history and their first in seven seasons. I led the preparation for the in-arena ceremony, river parade, Alamo- dome celebration, and ring ceremony. Preparing For The Madness Once the Spurs advanced to the 2014 NBA Finals to face off versus the Miami Heat for a second consecutive season, preparation for a possible airport return, river parade and Alamodome celebration promptly began. Since it had been seven years since the last time the organization had celebrated an NBA championship, there were several questions to be answered. Luckily, we’d prepared the season before when the Spurs lost a heartbreaking seven-game series to Miami in the 2013 NBA Finals. First, we needed to plan the river parade. This parade starts in downtown San Anto- nio and several barges float the San Antonio River in front of more than 100,000 Spurs fans. The culmination of the river parade takes place at the historic Arneson River Theatre. It is here that a band and DJ perform and players and coaches stop to address the crowd. Among the elements that needed to be planned were Riverwalk and barge décor, the booking of entertainment acts for the stage, start and ending logistics, distribution of individuals on the barges and most importantly, creating a schedule for television and the execution of the timing. Several staff from Spurs Sports & Entertainment, including myself, worked with the City of San Antonio and the CE Group, a local event-planning company, to plan the hundreds of tasks that would need to be turned around in 3-5 days depending on if and when we secured a title. Once the river parade concluded, we would then need to transition players, basketball staff, city leaders, ownership and executives to the Alamodome for an on-stage celebration. I took the lead in planning and directing this event. We would need to secure a technical group to secure a stage and rig lighting. I arranged to have pyro- technics and a balloon drop as part of the show. Other elements included coordinat- ing back-of-house VIP parties and décor, staging all entertainment teams, mascots, and staff in dressing rooms. We also booked our entertainment teams and several local performers to be included in the run-of-show. local performers to be included in the run-of-show. Because the size of the Alamodome is not fit a normal NBA event, we had to strategi- cally plan where we would set up the stage for optimal crowd viewing and easy access to the players and coaches. We also had to be strategic about the timing of the event in order to give fans a chance to transition from the river walk to the Alamo- dome. Luckily, we had a large staff, several of who had gone through this experience and could contribute to the tasks. I had experienced a championship celebration in 2007 as an intern and used my knowledge from that event to serve as a jumping point seven years later. Once the Spurs returned from Miami with a 3-1 series lead, I then collaborated with the NBA to plan the ceremonies should the Spurs close out in Game 5. Internally, we created a marketing campaign should we be fortunate enough to close out. I booked a local company to provide confetti for the possible celebration. Next up, I delegated tasks to our Game Operations team should we celebrate and communicated the details to our entertainment teams and support staff. When the final buzzer sound- ed and It Feels Like The First Time blared in the AT&T Center, everybody was properly prepared and we helped create a memory that will be etched in the memories of Spurs fans for years. The iconic image of Tim Duncan with his arms stretched out with confetti falling will serve as a moment when the Spurs conquered the NBA platform. We Are The Champions Once we celebrated and the dust settled, we were tasked with turning around a city celebration in three days. Because we’d prepared during the Finals, it was a case of completing the to-do list that we’d created should we close out. We worked around the clock and took care of every single detail leading up to the celebration. When June 18th rolled around, everybody was in place on the river, at the Alamodome, and at several auxiliary locations to help execute a celebration for more than 150,000 San Antonians. While barges cruised down the San Antonio River in front of hollering fans, several thousand fans awaited at the Alamodome, watching coverage of the parade intermixed with images from Game 5 three days later. Once the parade concluded, everyone transitioned, and the Spurs Coyote led off the celebration riding into the Alamodome in a motorcycle, more than 77,000 fans had assembled to witness the coronation of their beloved Spurs. Players shared stories, jokes, and feelings from what had just occurred. When the players marched out to We Are The Champions, two weeks of madness had concluded. The preparation of the last two years had been executed flawlessly in front of a fan base who had waited seven years for this moment. Four months later, the championship was capped off with a ring ceremony inside the AT&T Center before the Spurs home opener. I worked with NBA to collaborate on timing and ceremony logistics, and to coordinate the look of the court. The celebration began with a 13-minute video narrated by Hollywood star Samuel L. Jackson that chronicled the rode to the 2014 NBA Championship and ended with the unveiling of the newest championship banner. In between, fans were able to savor one more time what had occurred four months earlier and the months leading up. For the crew behind the scenes, it was gratifying to have a front row seat to witness NBA History. It was even more satisfying to prepare tirelessly and execute several events that went according to vision. 2014 NBA FINALS TROPHY PRESEN TATION SAN ANTONIO SPURS SCORER'S TABLE MIAMI HEAT ABC AS TEAM HC SP REP REP TROPHY TABLE ABC NBA ENTERTAINMENT AND ABC CREDENTIAL HOLDERS ONLY MEDIA MEDIA ALL OTHER MEDIA ALL OTHER MEDIA.

Load more