After the 2024 Paris Olympics concluded, I wrote a piece entitled “Age does not defeat joy, even in sports“. I talked about how some of the “senior members” of the USA Olympic basketball teams, and in particular, Steph Curry and LeBron James, had conquered the world joyfully.
For me, that same word “joy” describes the 2025-26 regular season for the Spurs. Regardless of how the playoffs end, Spurs fans should remember the joy we all experienced watching our team this season, game after game after joyful game.
At the start of the season, we dreamed of the Spurs getting back into the playoff hunt, if everything went well. We hoped to be one of “those teams” — the lower seeded team that no one wants to play. Indeed, last September, a Pounding the Rock writer wrote this:
“While the 2025-26 Spurs cannot realistically expect to challenge the top five from last year, they can set their sights on the next three, along with Play-In losers Mavs and Kings.
“Let’s aim for that 6-spot. And maybe face the Clippers in Round One. Does that sound about right?”
That guy’s hopeful outlook seems ridiculous now. The Spurs both challenged and exceeded the top five from last year, even going 4-1 against the mighty Thunder. 62 wins!! I am sure glad I was not the guy who wrote that the Spurs would be happy with a sixth place finish and a first-round match-up with the third place Clippers.
Oh, wait. That guy was me. I have only one excuse. The article was entitled: “The Spurs got better this summer, but so did most of the Western Conference. Wait, did all the good Western Conference teams get better?”
I must have decided my conclusion should match the title.
However, I did much better on another preseason prediction. I wrote:
“The basketball universe unanimously approved the Spurs’ selection on Dylan Harper as the clear second best player in the 2025 NBA draft. The only concern I have heard is that Harper’s skills overlap with those of the anticipated starting backcourt of De’Aaron Fox and Stephon Castle.
“Having coached a bit, I know that having three good guards for the two backcourt spots is a good thing, not a bad one. The reason is simple: players don’t play all 48 minutes. Indeed, the Spurs’ best player last year (you know his name) averaged just 33 minutes per game. In 17 games with the Spurs, Fox averaged 34 minutes while Castle averaged 27. If Fox and Castle play the same amount this season, they will play a total of 61 minutes out of the 96 minutes available. That leaves 35 minutes for Harper or others — for instance if Devin Vassell splits his time between the 2 and the 3. Harper will be not be 20 years old until March 2026 — and 20 is probably about the right number of minutes for such a young player in his rookie season. There probably won’t be enough playing time for Harper to win the Spurs’ third consecutive Rookie of the Year award, but with that other rookie in Dallas starting for the Mavs, Harper probably won’t win the award anyway.”
I absolutely nailed that one. The Spurs’ three top guards were great, and sharing those 96 minutes was not an issue at all. Fox and Castle combined to average 61 minutes per game, exactly the number I predicted, while young Harper averaged 22 minutes – and those 22 minutes were fabulous. While I correctly stated that he would not win Rookie of the Year, Harper will almost certainly be on the First Team All-Rookie Team. And he brought Spurs fans much joy throughout the season.
As did Castle and Fox, Keldon Johnson, who thrived as Sixth Man (of the Year?), our shooting wings (Devin Vassell and undrafted and therefore very Spursian Julian Champagnie), the back-up center (and sometimes starter) Luke Kornet (also undrafted), unheralded rookie Carter Bryant (who plays with a joyful abandon, enthusiasm and skill), Harrison Barnes (who adjusted well to coming off the bench for the first time ever), and the coaching staff — also essentially rookies.
After a Spurs win in Miami, one of the more joyous recent games to watch, our Frenchman said this, which we could all see as we watched the team compete:
“It’s unselfishness,” said Wemby postgame. “We get along super well on and off the court, and we see the results.”
KJ, who recently had a group of reporters visit his ranch, just had a piece published in The Player’s Tribune about his time with the Spurs and how much of a home San Antonio has become, had this to say:
The best way I can describe our group is like a rodeo. Everybody on the team has their own unique vibe and personality, and when it all comes together it’s just wild. And we thrive off that. We thrive off that chaotic energy of yelling and screaming, and laughing and joking 24/7. And on the floor, that turns into something special.
They say it is the journey, not the destination. For this regular season, I can’t imagine a more joyful journey, without even knowing the ultimate destination. Perhaps I should I have entitled this piece “Youth and inexperience do not defeat joy, they enhance it.”
Speaking of journeys and destinations, I intended this post to be a look back at my preseason over/under predictions for the Western Conference. Unlike prior seasons, I am very joyous about how my preseason predictions this time. Most importantly, I got the Spurs right. My preseason prediction for the Spurs:
“Vegas has projected the Spurs to improve more in 2025-26 than every other team except one . . . Who am I to disagree? I am also contractually obligated to say OVER, and I know better than to breach my contract before ‘the powers that be’ decide on my Christmas bonus. OVER, OVER, OVER”
Of course, even though Vegas projected the Spurs to increase from 34 wins to 43.5, Vegas was wildly pessimistic. My “OVER, OVER, OVER” did so much better than Vegas.
I also went “UNDER, UNDER, UNDER” on the Clippers, who Vegas pegged for 48.5 wins. Wrong! Clips won only 42 games, so I beat Vegas again.
The Spurs’ loss to the Nuggets Sunday put Denver’s win total at 54, just over the 53.5 Vegas prediction — and I had the Nuggets as an Over. That brought my overall record this season to a remarkable 11-4. I would much rather the Spurs won, which would have put me at 10-5, but I would accept that in a heartbeat rather than having to beat both Denver and OKC to get to the NBA Finals.
Unfortunately, losing that last game means that the Spurs will likely need to go through both Denver and OKC to get to the NBA Finals. But let’s not focus on that right now. If I would have predicted before the season that as of the start of the Play-In Round, the Spurs would have finished 62-20 (62 wins!!), second place in the tough Western Conference, with home court for the first two rounds of the playoffs (and the NBA Finals if they get there), and dominate the defending champs in their regular season match-ups, everyone would have understandably called me crazy.
But now? Call me joyous.
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