At the start of the current NBA season, league MVP candidate Victor Wembanyama made his expectations for the Spurs clear. Defense was “nonnegotiable” regardless of player status, and “success would be getting into the playoffs and not the play-in,” meaning at least the sixth seed in a stacked Western Conference.
Wembanyama was recently named Western Conference Defensive Player of the Month for the third consecutive month, and San Antonio’s defensive rating has improved from 23rd in the league last season to third-best overall.
The Spurs also return to the NBA playoffs for the first time in six seasons as the second seed in the West, ending the longest postseason drought in franchise history.
“After he [Wembanyama] said that, I was hoping for them to be somewhere around the six seed,” said Spurs superfan Shea Serrano, author of five New York Times bestsellers, including Basketball (and Other Things). “I didn’t think that they would be as good as they are as quickly as they’ve gotten this good, so it’s been a tremendous amount of fun.”
In his latest bestseller, Expensive Basketball, Serrano reminds us that NBA legacies are forged in the playoffs. For the Spurs, this includes defining moments such as Sean Elliott’s Memorial Day Miracle in Game 2 of the 1999 Western Conference Finals, Tim Duncan’s stellar performances in Game 6 of the 2003 conference semis against the Lakers and Game 6 of the 2014 conference finals versus the Thunder.
High spirits
San Antonio’s longest tenured player, Sixth Man of the Year candidate Keldon Johnson, recently described the team’s focus on forward momentum as the playoffs approach.
“We can’t backtrack now,” Johnson told reporters after a convincing home win versus the Chicago Bulls. “I feel like we’re preparing for something that only a few of us have been a part of. We can’t get complacent. We can’t be satisfied with what we have going on. We just gotta continue to strive for perfection.”
The Spurs were a perfect 11-0 in February and rattled off another double digit winning streak after that. Earlier this month, San Antonio crossed the 60-win mark for the first time since the 2016-17 season, when Hall of Famers Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili were still on the roster.
Wembanyama has been phenomenal on both ends of the floor, and the backcourt trio of veteran De’Aaron Fox, rising star Stephon Castle and rookie Dylan Harper has the Spurs primed for a postseason run.
“We kind of knew Castle was going to be pretty good, but I don’t think anybody was expecting this,” Serrano said. “I was at the game against the Mavericks when he had that 40-plus point triple-double, and everybody was just looking around like, ‘Is this who this guy is now?’ Because that would be pretty great.”
‘All the tools’
Serrano also praised Harper’s growth during the season.
“I mean a rookie obviously, but [he’s] still showing those Tony Parker signs or those Manu Ginobili signs where you’re like, ‘Man, do we have a Big Three?’” Serrano said. “I think we have a Big Three again.”
Although lack of playoff experience remains a concern, with six of the team’s seven top scorers making their postseason debut, spirits are high in San Antonio. While no one is planning any river parades just yet, echoes of the Spurs’ signature beautiful game and the team’s egalitarian offense have fans on cloud nine.
“There’s clips going around where you see two, three, four, five extra passes, then we’re getting shots,” swingman Devin Vassell told reporters after a win against Milwaukee. “That’s what we were trying to instill these past couple of years, and with the team and talent we have now it’s obviously able to show.”
At the center of it all is Wembanyama, whose gravity and defensive impact is undeniable. After recovering from last season’s deep vein thrombosis, the center is the overwhelming favorite for Defensive Player of the Year honors and is in the conversation for NBA MVP.
As the increased speed and physicality of the playoffs settles in, the experience of veterans including Fox, Harrison Barnes and Luke Kornet on the floor and former players such as Rashard Lewis and Corliss Williamson on the coaching staff should prove beneficial.
“I just think we have all the tools to do it,” Stephon Castle told reporters last month after another resounding win. “We have the right guys and we have great coaches that put us in great positions to succeed and win every game. I feel like we’ve shown what we can do throughout the season. I feel like we have a lot of aspirations for this team, and obviously we’re still a young group, but I don’t think it’s too early for us.”
The NBA is better when the Spurs are in the playoffs, and so is San Antonio. After enduring consecutive 22-win seasons just two years ago, the Race for Seis resumes in April as the promise of a playoff run unites a hopeful fanbase. Adversity awaits.
“There’s a whole generation of Spurs fans who grew up and don’t know what that feels like,” Serrano said. “They don’t know what it feels like to have that confidence that you’re going to win a title or that you can at least have a chance to win a title. I’m very excited to see what that feels like in the city.”
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