Study Reveals Spurs' Peter J. Holt Among 'Most Liked' NBA Owners

While NBA owners aren't commonly in the limelight, they do play a large role in their team's success. Luckily for San Antonio Spurs owner Peter J. Holt — who is still relatively unknown among the young team's fanbase — he's well liked by the fans that do recognize him.

Compared to some of the San Antonio Spurs' big names like Victor Wembanyama, Jeremy Sochan or even Gregg Popovich, Peter J. Holt hardly gets any of the team's limelight.

It's not an outlandish idea. Naturally, any team's players and its head coach are far more likely to be known given their status within the NBA. They're the ones bringing in the money.

But behind the scenes? Owners have their own set of tasks to complete, and while many fans might not know these executives by name, they're of utmost importance — Holt being no exception.

As the saying goes, more power brings more responsibility. And while the Spurs' owner has plenty of the latter, he also gets to be the face representing his team in big moments.

Winning the draft lottery was one of them. And Holt was happier than anyone that night.

"I might faint," he said immediately after receiving his team's card from NBA Deputy Commisioner Mark Tatum. "I'm so excited. The city of San Antonio, our fans, we just have so many people that love the Spurs."

A large share of Spurs fans likely learned who Holt was that night, and perhaps, learned to like him. At least, that's what a study conducted on 3,000 NBA fans suggests.

Those who were surveyed that identified the Spurs as their favorite team were asked to name the owner, and while only a shade-less-than 30 percent of fans named Holt, they gave the second-generation owner an average "likability" score of nine out of ten — 40 percent higher than average.

A good portion of that excitement and "likability" likely stems from bringing in Wembanyama, but while that wasn't his doing, the approach of building around him certainly is.

"We don't believe there is a deadline for success," Holt told French media while in France earlier in the season. "Some people try to take shortcuts to the top, to short-circuit the process, [and] it usually backfires. Having a generational talent like Victor, with other quality players, while having extended Pop for five years ... is the right thing to do."

There's no predicting a ceiling for the Spurs behind Wembanyama just yet, but if one thing's for certain, he's likely to make noise in the league for plenty more years to come.

And while he's doing that, Holt will be following right along.