Spurs guard Patty Mills decided to go puro San Antonio rather than palatial when he bought a century-old house in King William two years ago.

“It was us just trying to immerse ourselves more into what San Antonio has to offer,” said Mills, who eschewed the Dominion and other exclusive enclaves north of Loop 1604 in favor of the hip, historic neighborhood south of downtown.

“There are no chains or strip malls down there,” Mills added. “It’s very authentic and genuine San Antonio.”

Walking or riding their bicycles down streets shaded by crepe myrtles and pecan and loquat trees, Mills and his wife, Alyssa Levesque, soak up Southtown like a towel absorbing sweat from his brow after a workout.

Whether feeding his caffeine addiction at Don Martin’s Coffee Co. on South Presa, dining at Battalion on South Alamo or strolling with Levesque along the San Antonio River, the Australian is at home in one of the city’s coolest neighborhoods.

Spurs Nation: Get the latest Spurs news, analysis and features sent directly to your inbox

A new season The Spurs’ 2019-20 season begins Wednesday with a 7:30 tipoff against the New York Knicks at the AT&T Center. Watch on KENS.

Read More

“He’s so hip, his jeans even look tighter,” said Brent Barry, the Spurs’ vice president of basketball operations. “And I think he’s got all the scooter companies on retainer.”

Mills, by planting roots in King William, is following in the footsteps of Barry and so many other Spurs players — past and present — who have embraced San Antonio.

With its rabid but respectful fan base, family friendly features, sunny weather, low cost of living and affordable real estate market, San Antonio unofficially ranks among the leaders in NBA cities when it comes to retaining their retired players.

“I had always believed that after my playing career, I would return to Tucson,” former Spurs star-turned-TV analyst Sean Elliott said. “But somewhere along the line, you just fall in love with San Antonio. It has everything I want.

“I enjoy the people, the atmosphere, and it’s the right size. A lot of guys come here, and they feel that same kind of vibe.”

Franchise greats George Gervin, David Robinson, Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker have all felt that vibe and stayed put. So did many others, including Larry Kenon, Mike Gale, Coby Dietrick, Mark Olberding, William Franklin, Paul Griffin, Ed Nealy, Antonio Daniels, Bruce Bowen and Matt Bonner.

On ExpressNews.com: For the Spurs, a season hinges on a youth movement

“Players have homes here, kids here, and tend not to move away because they enjoy the life experiences around all that,” said Barry, whose 14-year NBA career included four seasons and two championships with the Spurs. “But what stands out most about San Antonio is the Spurs are the only game in town, and that makes it unique and special.”

‘Once a Spur, always a Spur’

The first players to fall in love with San Antonio’s charm were those from the 1970s, the vanguard of a franchise that would eventually win five NBA titles and become one of the league’s great dynasties.

The Spurs careers of Gervin, Kenon, Gale and Dietrick began when the team was still playing in the colorful American Basketball Association. They later were part of the team that advanced to the NBA’s 1979 Eastern Conference Finals under coach Doug Moe, who also retired in San Antonio after a long, successful stint coaching Denver. Stan Albeck is another former Spurs coach who calls the city home.

“There is nothing not to like about San Antonio,” said Moe, 80. “It’s just a friendly, good place.”

The story of how Dietrick ended up buying a house in Alamo Heights that he has lived in for 40-plus years begins with a conversation he had early in his Spurs career with team chairman Angelo Drossos at the Plaza Club on the top floor of the Frost Bank Tower.

“Angelo told me, ‘I need two things,’” Dietrick recalled. “He said, ‘I need somebody to market our team, and I need somebody to take care of the three guys we have who probably aren’t going to get into a fight (stars Gervin, Kenon and James Silas).’”

Determined to make the Spurs “work as a business” after playing in two cities (Memphis and Dallas) that didn’t embrace their ABA teams, Dietrick said he was “highly motivated” to fulfill Drossos’ requests.

On ExpressNews.com: Spurs’ LaMarcus Aldridge finding groove as season nears

“He even offered to pay all my fines and got me in to Trinity (University’s athletic facilities) to work out,” Dietrick said. “That kind of treatment gets you invested like it is your home.”

With his surfer good looks and his ease in front of the camera, the 6-foot-10 power forward became the first Spur to do print, radio and TV ads.

“I had been going to the Luby’s on Broadway fairly anonymously, but then suddenly everyone knew who I was,” he said.

With his ties to the community strengthened and the team gaining popularity, Dietrick decided to live full time in San Antonio rather than return to his native Southern California. He chose what he called an “odd-looking” house in Alamo Heights because of its proximity to both Blossom Athletic Center, where the Spurs practiced, and HemisFair Arena, where they played.

“I grew up in an adobe brick house my father and his brothers built, so I was used to living in something unusual, not your stick-built, Ray Ellison home,” he said.

Dietrick spent three seasons in Chicago after signing with the Bulls in free agency in the summer of 1979, but he never thought of living anywhere other than San Antonio.

“I understand why people love Chicago, to go there and visit. … But I can’t understand why anyone lives there,” he said. “I was packed and ready to get back to San Antonio the second the season was over. I grew up in the desert, so I prefer the hot weather.”

Warm weather was also a big selling point for Gale, who has lived in Hollywood Park, Universal City and Stone Oak.

On ExpressNews.com: For Spurs and Dejounte Murray, it’s four more years

“Everyone complains about the heat, but I grew up in Philadelphia,” said Gale, whose family includes two children who graduated from MacArthur High School. “I had enough of the cold.”

Even though they haven’t worn a Spurs uniform in decades, Dietrick, 71, and Gale, 69, say they can’t go out in public without fans greeting them warmly. That kind of attention made the city even more attractive.

“They say, ‘Sugar! Sugar!’ when they see me,” Gale said, referring to his nickname from his 11-year career, which included six seasons with the Spurs.

Fan loyalty is a factor in why so many former Spurs call San Antonio home, said Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr, who helped the Spurs win two NBA titles as a player while living with his wife, Margo, in Terrell Hills.

“It’s once a Spur, always a Spur,” Kerr said. “You feel loved by the organization. You feel loved by the community.”

That’s certainly the case with franchise icons such as Robinson and Parker, who told ESPN after he announced his retirement this summer that he would remain in San Antonio.

“I’ve been there 17 years,” said the 37-year-old Parker, who helped the franchise win four titles and was MVP of the 2007 Finals. “All my friends are there now.”

Parker, who has been tabbed to head the sports, arts and entertainment division at global advisory firm NorthRock Partners’ newest offices in San Antonio, told ESPN he likes “everything” about the city.

“The people, the air, the culture, everything, all the memories,” he said. “I have a (routine) there now. Schools for the kids, movie theaters, different restaurants. It’s just home.”

More bang for the buck

That’s a view also shared by Robinson, the Hall of Fame center and Naval Academy graduate who logged two years of active duty in the Navy before a 14-season career with the Spurs that included two NBA championships and a league MVP trophy in 1995.

Robinson said it was a “stroke of luck” he wound up in “Military City U.S.A.,” a reference to the Spurs selecting him No. 1 overall after they won the 1987 draft lottery.

“It fit who I am,” he said. “The relationship we have had with this city has been beyond what I could have imagined.”

On ExpressNews.com: Derrick White finding ‘fun’ in move to bench

In addition to the city’s pervasive military presence, it has several other assets that checked important boxes for Robinson. “The Admiral” has lived with his wife, Valerie, at the Broadway luxury residential tower at Broadway and Hildebrand after selling their $3 million-plus, 8,175-square-foot home in the exclusive Huntington Estates area in 2014.

“It is very family oriented and very welcoming,” Robinson, 54, said of San Antonio. “It is a low-stress place, and there is so much to like here, weather, people, cost of living, everything.”

Robinson wasn’t the only former player living in San Antonio to mention “cost of living” when asked to list reasons why they stayed.

“Your dollar does go far in San Antonio,” said Elliott, 51. “It would be impossible to buy the kind of house I want to live in in California unless I want to live in the middle of the desert or in a small town nobody has heard of.”

It also helps that Texas has no state income tax.

“Players know that playing for any team in California, they are going to tax the heck out of you,” said Barry, 47.

Elliott and his wife, Claudia, recently bought a near North Side home built in 1927 and updated in the 1980s.

“I am not an old home fan because I think I am going to see a ghost or something like that — ‘the old lady died in there,’ that kind of thing — or hear someone creaking around at night, but I got past that when I saw this place,” Elliott said. “It’s really cool.”

Barry lives near Elliott.

“I try to be as normal as possible,” Barry said of his neighborhood choices.

Although he joked about Mills becoming cooler while living in Southtown, Barry can relate, having lived in the hip, culturally rich Queen Anne neighborhood in Seattle while playing for the SuperSonics for five seasons before joining the Spurs.

“I used to walk to get my hair cut, walk to the grocery store,” he said. “I would be in familiar places and see familiar faces, to the point where people know you for you and not for what it is you do.”

Southtown vibe

Mills, 31, is well on his way to achieving that kind of familiarity in Southtown.

“He gets out and enjoys the neighborhood,” said Janet Correa, who along with her husband, Brian, owns Don Martin’s Coffee Co.

“You see him come in with his dog and his wife, just walking over from their home,” Correa said. “We love having him come in and support local businesses. We don’t get to see that a lot from athletes or any other person of his stature.”

Harkening back to the 1970s and 1980s when Spurs players frequently mingled with crowds at Fiesta and other citywide events, Mills and Levesque last year attended the San Antonio Coffee Festival and Muertos Fest at La Villita.

On ExpressNews.com: For Spurs’ DeMar DeRozan, three’s a conundrum

During Muertos Fest, which celebrates Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) in late October and early November, the couple sported traditional Mexican calavera (skull) makeup like so many of the other revelers.

“We are everyday people,” Mills said.

But their home is anything but ordinary.

“We like the characteristics an old house brings,” Mills said.

While Mills said he and Levesque are undecided on how much time they will spend in his native Australia after he retires, he made it clear Southtown will be home in San Antonio.

“We just have a good feeling of community there,” Mills said. “It’s just the ability to walk everywhere and see people out and about. It’s a real neighborhood feel. I don’t know if it’s the trees or the edge that it has down there, but there are good vibes, really good vibes.”