SAN ANTONIO — Hundreds of drivers honked their horns all over San Antonio and into the heart of downtown Sunday night. It’s a playoff ritual, where Spurs fans celebrate as the silver and black are back in the postseason.

The Spurs’ 111-98 victory over the Trail Blazers in Game 1 marked San Antonio’s first playoff appearance since 2019. Hours after the honking, another Spurs tradition came back: free coffee after a Spurs playoff victory, thanks to Eightball Coffee co-owners Joseph Ontiveros and Benjamin Ontiveros alongside Spurs star Keldon Johnson. 

“Keldon had kind of wanted to work with us, collab in some sort of way, so we presented this logo right here, the idea,” Joseph Ontiveros said, showing a caricature of Keldon Johnson plastered onto a coffee cup. “He said, ‘Let’s run it,’ so here we are.” 

A Texas gas station chain started the free coffee trend but discontinued it in the late 2010s. Johnson is covering the cost of the coffee to keep the tradition alive. After every Spurs playoff win, Eightball Coffee will give out free drip coffee from 8 to 10 a.m. 

Johnson is a regular at Eightball Coffee, which is like a coffee version of “Cheers.”

“The intention was to bring everybody together because we, ourselves, have different things in our lives, like skateboarding or working on cars,” Ontiveros said. “So everybody’s welcomed.” 

Everyone from blue-collar workers to food industry employees to artists like Albert Gonzales and Mando Zimmerle grabbed free coffee on Monday.

“Being a kid and watching those games and going downtown after that — just a good time,” Zimmerle said. “When the Spurs are winning, it’s a good time in San Antonio.” 

The Spurs are the only major professional sports team in town, so when the Spurs are up, spirits are up.

Magdalena Perez wore a Spurs bomber jacket, Spurs T-shirt and a 1999 championship hat to claim her free coffee. 

“To see the momentum in the city, Fiesta is here, so everybody is in good spirits, high spirits,” Perez said. 

It’s the same feeling Spurs fans had during the Tim Duncan era.  

“It’s always been hanging out with friends, family, of course honking downtown,” Ontiveros said. “I think it’s a standard of Spurs playoffs and championships.” 

Eightball Coffee handed out 150 cups of drip coffee Monday morning, and Ontiveros hopes to hand out more through the Spurs’ playoff run.