SAN ANTONIO — During the San Antonio Spurs’ win over the Phoenix Suns on Thursday, a video of a woman in the crowd sending a message disparaging Hispanic fans went viral. On Saturday, the fans responded.
TikTok user @inluvwganineee posted a video from Thursday’s game showing a woman responding to a message from a person named Chris that said, “A lot of crazy Hispanic fans,” with the response, “All Hispanic! How can they afford it.”
After the video went viral, the Spurs released a statement on Friday saying, “All of us in the Spurs organization are proud to live in San Antonio, a city that shines and thrives because of the culture and contributions of our Latino community. Inclusion is a foundation for the San Antonio Spurs. We strive to provide an environment, in our facilities and across our community, that celebrates belonging and respect regardless of race or ethnicity. Por Vida.”
The final phrase says the most about the organization and city. The Spurs’ official slogan is the Spanish phrase “for life.” It’s the official hashtag on X and is used on Spurs promotions everywhere.
Latino culture is central to San Antonio culture. Of San Antonio’s 1.5 million residents, 64.6 percent are Hispanic or Latino, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Of the four major Texas cities with more than 1 million residents, San Antonio is the closest to Mexico. People regularly commute between San Antonio and Mexico for work throughout the week. Preparations are already underway across the city for the annual Fiesta San Antonio, starting April 16, an 11-day citywide celebration established in 1891 that is the city’s signature annual festival.
After the video went viral, Spurs fans mobilized to respond with pride. Renowned basketball author and Spurs fan Shea Serrano posted on X that he was planning to legally change his name to “Crazy Hispanic Fan.”
Spurs All-Star De’Aaron Fox was shocked to learn about the video during his postgame news conference.
“My high school was 60 percent Hispanic. I’m from Texas. Like, what do you expect?” Fox said. “It’s like going to Boston and complaining that there’s a bunch of White people. What kind of sense is that? That makes zero sense.”
Fox explained that his children are a quarter Mexican, as the mother of his wife, Recee Fox, was born in Mexico.
“All his uncles are Black, all his tias are Mexican,” Fox said about his kids. “So for someone to complain about that, especially being in San Antonio, I don’t know why that would make any sense. But this should be normalized. You’re going to see people that don’t look the same as you, that probably have a different accent as you. So, at this point, you would think it would be normal. But to each their own.”
Throughout the arena during Saturday’s 134-119 win over the Indiana Pacers, fans donned various “Crazy Hispanic Fan” shirts they had custom-made over the past 24 hours.
San Antonio Spurs fans AJ Reygadas (left) and Frank Soliz (right) are shown wearing their “Crazy Hispanic Fans” shirts after the Spurs’ win over the Indiana Pacers. (Jared Weiss / The Athletic)
Une polémique a agité les fans des Spurs ces derniers jours. Dans une vidéo prise pendant un match, on voyait une femme se plaindre par SMS des « crazy Hispanic fans » dans les tribunes.
Certains supporters ont choisi de répondre par l’humour ce soir, en portant ces t-shirts : pic.twitter.com/Zepm9ss3nD
— Maxime Aubin (@MaximeAubin1) March 22, 2026
We do not tolerate any discrimination. That being said, we will not give power to the ignorant. We are proud of our heritage, our cultura, and our city. There’s a reason our hashtag is #PorVida . So yeah, we are crazy Hispanic fans, but don’t think for a second that’s an insult. pic.twitter.com/vIUJzUpQz7
— Spurs Jackals (@SpursJackals) March 22, 2026
Frank Soliz, a 37-year-old owner of a commercial maintenance business and member of the Jackals fan section, which was started by Victor Wembanyama, worked with a friend to quickly design and print shirts for fellow Jackals members ahead of Saturday’s game.
“We got to do something about that. We’re undeniable. We’re the Jackal out here. We’re family,” Soliz said. “So majority of us, San Antonio, we’re Hispanic fans. So I said, ‘Let’s put it on this shirt and see where it goes.’ So I just felt good. It was good to do it.”
Soliz said he received requests from 10 people in the Frost Bank Center to buy more shirts. His first reaction to seeing the video was just to feel motivated, wanting to find a creative and confident way to respond to the moment.
“My mom’s from Mexico and every time I come to the game, it’s always love,” Soliz said. “I want to bring something to the table and it just made me motivated, more than anything.”
Soliz coordinated with Aidan Sterling, president of the Jackals, as they helped fellow fans organize with flags, sombreros and anything else they felt represented their Latino heritage.
“The whole city came through with camaraderie to come support what the Spurs fan base is, and that is, first and foremost, familia,” Sterling said. “You talk about the culture of San Antonio, that culture is family first and, believe it or not, that culture is, for the most part, Hispanic.”
Sterling was moved by the plethora of Mexican and Puerto Rican flags he saw in the stands, saying that he loved that the response went far beyond just the Jackals section.
While Soliz was speaking with The Athletic, he spotted another fan walking by in his own custom “Crazy Hispanic Fan” shirt and yelled for him to come over. AJ Reygadas, a 42-year-old real estate brokerage owner, explained how he posted to social media in search of a shirt and had 10 offers to make one. One of his agents at his firm printed a shirt for him and he became one of many fans to bring their own version to the game.
Reygadas explained that he wanted to run with the moment and have fun with it, but only because the woman from the video making the disparaging remarks has not been identified.
“One thing I could say for most Mexicans, we don’t take that stuff for personal. We’ll make fun of it. We’ll make the best of it,” Reygadas said. “We’re not going to take it personally, and regardless of whatever she is. She could be White. She could be a Hispanic grandma for all we know. We don’t know. And so I’m glad that no one got her face, because, at the end of the day, that’s someone’s mom, that’s someone’s grandma. She made a mistake and I’m sure that she’s going to regret that even though it didn’t show her face. We’re all San Antonio people, man.
“Do I condone it? No. But at the same time, I’m not going to go and say, ‘Oh, she should lose her job. Oh, she should be condemned.’ We’re San Antonio people, dude. We embrace anybody,” Reygadas continued. “You can say what you need to say, and at the end of the day, we’ll still embrace you and give you a hug. I want to speak for most Spurs fans in saying that. We’re not going to go and say, ‘Oh, that lady should lose her job.’ I don’t believe in that.”