LOS ANGELES — A decade earlier, it wouldn’t have meant much.
50 wins?
It used to be a surprise when the San Antonio Spurs didn’t cross that mark.
You remember the Spurs dynasty. Sorry, dynasties. David Robinson’s team became Tim Duncan’s team which became Kawhi Leonard’s team. Along the way, the Spurs didn’t miss a beat. In Gregg Popovich’s first 19 full seasons, San Antonio didn’t fail to crack 50 wins in any of them.
Yet the Spurs’ 50th win this season, courtesy of a scrappier than expected win over the undermanned Clippers, felt significant. It has been nine years since San Antonio’s last 50-plus win season. In two of the last three years, they have failed to crack 22 wins. The rebuild has been long—not Sacramento Kings-long, or Washington Wizards-long, or Utah Jazz-long, but you get the idea—and the Spurs eclipsing 50 felt like the official end of it.
“You don't just stumble upon winning 50 games,” said De’Aaron Fox.
Added Stephon Castle, “It's hard to win 50 in this league, no matter what point in the season it's in.”
Indeed. Monday’s win wasn’t pretty. The Spurs fell behind by 14 points early. They clawed their way back to lead by 14 at the half. It was 24 before the Clippers emptied the bench … and proceeded to whittle the lead down to four in the final minute. A Victor Wembanyama block, some Castle defense and a few timely free throws and San Antonio escaped with a win.
“Sometimes when basketball is not working,” said Wembanyama, “we got to get nasty a little bit.”
Remember when the Spurs were a fun story? Those days are gone. Long gone. San Antonio has won 18 of its last 20 games. The Spurs have the NBA’s No. 1 offense since the All-Star break. The defense (sixth) is right behind it. The team’s net rating trails only Atlanta. In the last two months, the Spurs have wins over the Thunder, Celtics and Lakers; and two apiece over the Clippers and Pistons.
Fun story? No, San Antonio is a real story.
It starts with Wembanyama. A few months ago, Wembanyama wasn’t in the MVP conversation. Now, he may be the front-runner. By his own admission, Wembanyama didn’t play well against the Clippers. He had two points in the first quarter. He shot 2 of 9 from three. Still, he finished the game with 21 points, collecting 13 rebounds and four blocks while changing countless more shot attempts.
There’s a surliness to Wembanyama this season. You see it in his matchups with Oklahoma City, when he collided with Chet Holmgren. You saw it last week, when the Frenchman dropped Jayson Tatum with a forearm shiver. His physicality has leveled up. His voice has raised up. Inside the locker room, teammates are seeing it, too.
“He’s talking a lot more than when I got here last year,” said Fox. “As far as defensive assignments, watching film, if he sees something, he says something. That’s actually one thing that we talked about at the beginning of this year was, that’s just a team motto. You see something, you say something.”
Added Castle, “I feel like his voice this year is up tremendously since last year. Obviously that’s trending in the right direction. He just tries to do everything the right way. He has no ego even with how good he is. He’s a great guy to be around. Having somebody like that, that’s so selfless as a leader, I feel like he just brings everybody up.”
Last week, Wembanyama made it clear: He wants to win MVP. Wemby’s second-half surge has pushed him into the mix, alongside Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nikola Jokić and Jaylen Brown. But the Spurs have been judicious with Wembanyama’s minutes. He’s averaging a career-low 29.3 per game. No player has ever won MVP averaging less than 30 minutes per game. Giannis Antetokounmpo, in 2019–20, averaged 30.4.
Before the game, I asked Spurs coach Mitch Johnson about how he balanced Wembanyama’s pursuit of more hardware against the Spurs' need to protect him. There’s a trust level there, Johnson said. Trust, when the Spurs brought him off the bench following a weekslong absence with a calf injury. Trust, when Johnson didn’t play Wembanyama in the entire first quarter of the Cup final against Oklahoma City.
“Vic’s goals and aspirations are clear and direct,” said Johnson. “He’s trusted us just undoubtedly about everything. And I think he knows that we respect all of his goals and aspirations, and also in the light of how he wants to do them, which is in a unique way in itself. And I think that partnership that we have with our organization and him is probably the most important thing for all us, because it is so unique.”
It’s not just Wembanyama. Castle is a star, a 6' 6" menace on both ends of the court. That 14-point hole San Antonio fell into in the first quarter on Monday? Without Castle, it would have been a whole lot worse. He made shots (9 of 19), handed out assists (eight) and hounded Darius Garland all over the floor.
“Just trying to play free,” said Castle. “I feel like everybody comfortable over like the past month and a half, so obviously that trickles down to everybody. Everybody is just playing free, just trusting each other. I think when we play like that, everybody has fun and then you see play like that.”
There’s more. Devin Vassell is a proven shot maker. Julian Champagnie is a reliable wing. Dylan Harper and Luke Kornet, who didn’t play on Monday, are weapons off the bench.
As is Keldon Johnson. Before the game, (Mitch) Johnson heaped praise on (Keldon) Johnson. Johnson was a full-time starter in four of his first five seasons. In 2021, he played for the gold medal winning USA Basketball team. When Mitch Johnson took over, he asked Keldon to move to the bench, which Johnson accepted willingly.
“I can’t remember a player that embraced that transition from leading scorer to bench at the age that he is and on the same team,” said Mitch Johnson. “Keldon came off the bench when we weren’t winning games for the vision that Pop and we had of today, but to do that at 24, 25, 26 with the same team that you're doing it, with younger players as the lead dogs. I haven’t studied it hard, but I can’t remember that ever happening. And so, for him, it’s just a reflection of his desire to want to win and to be here to do it.”
They all do. After the game, players accepted media back slaps for reaching 50 wins. None, though, saw it as an accomplishment. Just a stop along the way. Asked about reaching 50 after the game, Wembanyama shrugged. “It means growth,” said Wembanyama, adding, “Still not enough.” The memories of his 22-win rookie season are still fresh, Wembanyama said. He wants to get 60.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Looks Like the Spurs Are Forming Their Latest Dynasty.
