The men wear better watches and get more glam, but the women play the same game. Here’s a look at how San Antonio’s two professional basketball franchises — the Spurs and Silver Stars — stack up:

TRADITION

Spurs: One of the greatest franchises in league history with four championships in the past 10 years, the team is consistently listed as one of the top teams in the Western Conference.
Silver Stars: Showed signs of greatness last season with a playoff run, but the franchise was a loser of Corey Haim proportions its first four years in the Alamo City.
Edge: Spurs

FAN AFFORDABILITY

Spurs: Unless you are willing to spend $100 or more — Tim Duncan will look like Gary Coleman from the rafters.
Silver Stars: For $100 you can sit within earshot of the players, bring your drunk uncle Leo and anybody else you can cram into your Toyota Corolla, and enjoy all you-can-eat nachos and a few beers with your basketball.
Edge: Silver Stars

MASCOT

Spurs: The Coyote. A beloved San Antonio icon, his act is always entertaining between game breaks.
Silver Stars: The Fox. Ummmmm, this thing isn’t even acknowledged on the team’s Web site.
Edge: Spurs

MOST ENTERTAINING PLAYER

Spurs: Manu Ginobili. He’s flashy and the only player in the NBA who can score from any position on the court, but his real magic is on the defensive side where he’s able to act like a Spaghetti Western extra shot from his horse to force an extra foul on the opposition. He also occasionally rocks the mullet.
Silver Stars: Becky Hammon. The four-time All Star plays like a 7-year-old keyed up on a quart of Mountain Dew, but completely void of the annoyance. She holds an entry in the Guinness Book of World Records for most free throws made in one minute (38) and has a sandwich named after her in New York’s famed Carnegie Deli — the Hammon, Egg and Cheese.
Edge: Tie

PLAYER BLING

Spurs: Last season, 13 players made $1 million or more. Duncan alone made more than $17 million, which can buy an awful lot of crap at Dollar General. But to the Spurs’ credit, they did win the championship for their Benjamin’s.
Silver Stars: Regular working-class heroes, the max contract in the WNBA is $95,000 per season, while rookies get $34,500. Now these are some salaries most of us can relate to.
Edge: Spurs

UNIFORMS

Spurs: Various combinations of silver, black and white.
Silver Stars: Various combinations of silver, black and white.
Edge: Tie

GREATEST FRANCHISE BREAK

Spurs: Fortuitous ping-bong balls in the NBA Draft lottery provide the Spurs with two of the league’s greatest players of all-time: David Robinson and Duncan.
Silver Stars: After being dropped by the Utah Jazz ownership group in 2002, the franchise moved to Texas where it was able to experience rock ’n’ roll music, stay up past 10 p.m. on a Friday night and enjoy caffeinated beverages for the first time.
Edge: Spurs — this one was so close it needed a recount.

HEARTBREAKING MOMENT

Spurs: Los Angeles Lakers guard Derek Fisher’s 3-pointer with .04 seconds remaining in Game 5 in the second round of the 2005 playoffs. The kick in the nuts doomed the teams’ chances of defending its 2004 championship, as the Lakers went up 3-2 in the series and proceeded to end it in six.
Silver Stars: A phantom foul call on Shanna Crossley in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals with 2.1 seconds remaining and the score tied at 100 against Phoenix sent Mercury guard Cappie Pondexter to the line. She sunk both shots.
Edge: Spurs

Chuck Blount | 210SA contributor