SAN ANTONIO — The San Antonio Spurs franchise has embraced the city's Mexican culture since it relocated from Dallas in 1973.
From the Fiesta colors, the X (formerly Twitter) #porvida ("for life") Spanish hashtag to celebrating Tejano music with "Selena Night" a few seasons ago, the Spurs do an incredible job recognizing the city's Mexican heritage.
And rookie Sidy Cissoko appreciates it as well.
The 19-year-old French basketball player knows a lot about Hispanic culture.
His early basketball career took him to Spain where he played professionally for Baskonia and Baskonia's satellite club, Iraurgi SB from 2021-22.
There he learned how to speak fluent Spanish and is enjoying that he can speak with Spanish-speaking Spurs fans.
"I went to Spain so it's kind of nice to talk with San Antonio people who speak Spanish," he said.
Obviously, the Spanish and Mexican cultures are different but for Cissoko he's enjoying all of San Antonio's Mexican culture that is woven into the fiber of the city.
"It's a different culture here and I like it," he said.
When it comes to fanbases, whether in Spain or now in San Antonio, Cissoko notes there is nothing different and basketball is a great unifier.
In other words, fans will be fans no matter what part of the world they may be and the rookie is impressed with the Spurs fan's passion for the local NBA team.
Fans endured 100-degree temperatures to welcome him at the San Antonio International Airport with chants of "Go Spurs Go" after the 2023 NBA Draft.
"I know when I am in a city in Spain, the fanbase is crazy and here [San Antonio] it's kind of like the same thing. It's pretty nice," he said.
During the "Meet The Rookies" media conference, Cissoko (who also speaks French) impressed the San Antonio fanbase when he spoke perfect Spanish.
That automatically endeared him to the city's Spanish-speaking population and it instantly created a connection to him as he explained that it is a pleasure sharing the same language with the majority of Spurs fans.
From that moment, fans speak with him in Spanish when he is out in San Antonio.
"Some, yeah. When I go downtown for sure. Even here [Frost Bank Center] they speak to me in Spanish," he said.
And what do they say to him?
"They say, 'vamos' or 'vamanos a ganar' and it's nice," he said. "And that's special because I play for the Spurs."
Since his arrival, Cissoko has toured the city.
Ahead of training camp, he visited the Riverwalk and took in all San Antonio offers. He says he also took a Riverwalk boat ride.
And he is absorbing the "puro" San Antonio Mexican roots and is loving everything about it.
"It's way different than the Spanish culture," he said. "They're [Spurs fans] great. The whole fanbase. Great people every time with a smile."
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