Spurs fans are showing the world how to take an insult and turn it into a point of pride.

During the Thursday, March 19, home game against the Phoenix Suns, a woman went viral for a text exchange filmed over her shoulder. In the video, a man named Chris writes, “A lot of crazy Hispanic fans,” to which the woman replies, “All Hispanic! How can they afford it?” The video sparked outrage, but it also brought about a bunch of merch crafted by San Antonio creators, and local businesses are helping spread the word.

At the following home game on March 21, many of the Spurs Jackals pulled up wearing shirts reading “Crazy Hispanic Fan,” and the team brought a mariachi band onto the court to play Selena’s song, “Si Una Vez.” It wasn’t long before creators across the city came out with custom welcome mats and T-shirt designs, turning the jibe into something more like a badge of honor.

Karolina’s Antiques, a family-owned novelty shop that recently moved from Beacon Hill to Southtown, was among those “reclaiming the ‘crazy Hispanic fans’ and taking that with pride.” The boutique sold baseball caps featuring the phrase on the front and “Nombre GSG” on the back in classic Spurs Fiesta colors. Co-owner and social media manager Uriel Diaz told MySA in a direct message that the store sold out of the item in less than a day. Karolina’s opened at 11:30 a.m. and the hats were gone by 4:30 p.m.

Diaz said they “weren’t really surprised” at the text because “those kind of people always exist.” What did surprise him, however, was that someone could go to a Spurs game in San Antonio — a city where more than 60 percent of the population is Hispanic — “and not expect to have Hispanic people or Latino people around you.” 

“That is who we are, and we’re not going to shy away from it for anybody,” he said.

As for when the hats will be back in stock, Diaz said they hope to have more at some point in the coming week, and they may also have tees and signs.

“I love how the community and the city took those words that she was spreading or texting and, like, flipped it around and reclaimed it and turned it on its back and made something funny out of it, made merch out of it,” Diaz said. He added that his takeaway from fans’ reaction to the situation was that “I belong here.”

“I love that about our city, and I love that about the Spurs as well,” Diaz said. 

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