The San Antonio Spurs are a professional basketball team based in San Antonio that competes in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
 They were founded in Dallas, Texas as the Dallas Chaparrals, one of the eleven charter franchises of the American Basketball Association (ABA), in 1967.
 During the 1970–71 season, in an attempt to make the team a regional one, the name "Dallas" was dropped in favor of "Texas" and some home games were played in Fort Worth and Lubbock, but low attendance figures prompted the team to return full-time to Dallas the following season.
 In 1973 the franchise relocated to San Antonio and was renamed the San Antonio Spurs.
 Three years later the Spurs were one of four ABA franchises who joined the NBA as a result of the ABA–NBA merger.
The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio, Texas.
 They are a member of the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
 The franchise was founded as the Dallas Chaparrals of the American Basketball Association (ABA) in 1967.
 The team suffered from poor attendance and general disinterest by fans in Dallas, and the name "Dallas" was dropped in favor of "Texas" during the 1970–71 season in an attempt to make the team regional.
 This also proved to be a failure, and the team returned full-time to use "Dallas" for the 1971–72 season.
 The team was put up for sale after missing the playoffs in the 1972–73 season.
 The team was acquired by a group of 36 San Antonio businessmen, led by Angelo Drossos and Red McCombs, who relocated the team to San Antonio, Texas and renamed it to Spurs.
 In 1976, the ABA folded, threatening the future of San Antonio's sole professional sports franchise.
 The NBA, however, decided to admit four ABA teams into the league, including the Spurs, along with the Denver Nuggets, the Indiana Pacers and the New York Nets.
The 1973–74 Virginia Squires season was the 4th season of the Squires in the American Basketball Association.
 The team finished 6th in points scored at 106.3 points per game and 9th in points allowed at 111.3 points per game.
 The team was 15–27 midway through the season, but they went 13–29 in the second half of the season.
 Their biggest losing streak was 6 games, with their highest winning streak being 3 games, done twice.
 Despite this, they clinched the fourth and final playoff spot by 7 games.
 The Squires lost to Dr. J and the New York Nets in the Semifinals in 5 games.
 The money troubles that had troubled the franchise meant that the Squires were forced to trade away pivotal players of the franchise in order to provide short term stability.
 Julius Erving (along with Willie Sojourner) was traded to the New York Nets for George Carter and cash before the season started.
 Swen Nater was traded on November 21, 1973 to the San Antonio Spurs.
 The night of the All-Star Game, it was announced that the Squires sold George Gervin to the San Antonio Spurs for $225,000.
 Gervin's last game with the team was on February 1, but a court battle delayed his play with the Spurs, though it was all settled in favor of the Spurs by March 3.
 This was the last season the Squires made the playoffs as they went into a tailspin for the next two season, losing over 60 games each season.
The San Antonio Rampage are an ice hockey team in the American Hockey League based in San Antonio, Texas.
 They are currently the top affiliate of the Colorado Avalanche of the NHL after signing a 5-year affiliation deal prior to the 2015–16 season.
 The Rampage are owned by the San Antonio Spurs of the NBA, who purchased a dormant AHL franchise with the NHL's Florida Panthers and moved it to San Antonio.
 The Rampage play in the AT&T Center in San Antonio, the same arena as the Spurs.
The Twin Towers is a name applied to the combination of Tim Duncan and David Robinson playing as the frontcourt of the San Antonio Spurs from 1997–2003.
 Both players were selected first overall by the San Antonio Spurs in their draft years with Robinson's selection coming in the 1987 NBA draft and Duncan's selection coming ten years later and both played their entire careers with the San Antonio Spurs.
The Big Three were a trio of basketball players for the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 2002–2016.
 The Big Three consisted of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginóbili.
 Each player of the Big Three was drafted by the San Antonio Spurs and played their entire NBA careers with the San Antonio Spurs.
 The Big Three won four NBA Championships during their time together in San Antonio, in 2003, 2005, 2007, and 2014.
 The trio is widely regarded as the greatest trio of teammates in NBA history, as they have won over 1,000 games together.
Spurs Sports & Entertainment L.L.C. (SS&E) is a San Antonio, Texas based sports & entertainment organization.
 The company owns and operates several sporting franchises including the 5-time National Basketball Association (NBA) champions San Antonio Spurs, the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)'s San Antonio Stars, AHL's San Antonio Rampage, NBA G League's Austin Spurs, and the USL club San Antonio FC.
 SS&E also operates the Bexar County owned multi-purpose facility, AT&T Center.
The 2016–17 San Antonio Spurs season was the 50th season of the franchise, 41st in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and 44th in the San Antonio area.
 It was the first season since the 1996–97 season without Tim Duncan, who retired on July 11, 2016.
 With the elimination of the Detroit Red Wings from the 2017 Stanley Cup playoffs on March 28, 2017, the San Antonio Spurs now hold the longest active playoff streak in any of the major North American professional sports leagues with 20 consecutive NBA Playoffs appearances.
The 1996–97 NBA season was the Spurs' 21st season in the National Basketball Association, and 30th season as a franchise.
 During the offseason, the Spurs signed free agent and former All-Star Dominique Wilkins, who played in Greece last season, while re-signing free agent Vernon Maxwell.
 However, without All-Star center David Robinson, who played just six games due to back and foot injuries, and Chuck Person, who was out for the entire season with an offseason back injury, the Spurs struggled losing 13 of their first 15 games in November.
 After 18 games, head coach Bob Hill was fired and replaced with General Manager Gregg Popovich.
 Wilkins appeared in 63 games and led the team with 18.2 points per game.
 However, it would not be nearly enough as the Spurs finished sixth in the Midwest Division with an awful 20–62 record.
Jacques Dominique Wilkins (born January 12, 1960) is an American retired professional basketball player who primarily played for the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association (NBA).
 Wilkins was a nine-time NBA All-Star, and is widely viewed as one of the best dunkers in NBA history, earning the nickname The Human Highlight Film.
 In 2006, Wilkins was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Question: What was the nickname of the former All-star who San Antonio Spurs before the 1996-97 season ?
Answer: The Human Highlight Film