Matthew2531_46 | Spurs

553 | 5 hours ago

Breaking Timmy, Manu and Tony records when they all had a 70 win % is truly crazy

moby323 | 76ers

371 | 5 hours ago

Tbf back then winning by 12 points 92-80 was basically the same lol

Realistic_Warthog_23

81 | 4 hours ago

This is the truth 😆

OjiikunVII

39 | 4 hours ago

Similarly when I watch college basketball I always double the difference in score in my head. When a team is up 8 it feels like 16 to me. Anyone else feel the same?

I_Hate_Humidity | Kings

26 | 4 hours ago

Same, a double digit lead in the back of the second half to me is practically game over.

No_Chilly_bill

1 | an hour ago

I seen times having starters out down by 18 in start of 4th quarter. its still funny to see. No such thing as a save lead in NBA anymore

1gnominious | Rockets

1 | 12 minutes ago

We lost a 13 point lead in just over 2 minutes of OT last week. It’s wild how quickly games can swing. Bad shots/turn overs lead to easy transition buckets which leads to giving their defense time to get set which leads to more bad shots/turnovers and repeat.

Even 20+ point leads in the 3rd are not really safe.

GravelLot

1 | 9 minutes ago

Kinda? I get what you mean for sure. But also so many college teams suck sooooo bad against full court pressure that sometimes no lead feels safe.

ASK_ABT_MY_USERNAME | Warriors

19 | 3 hours ago

Today the league ppg is 115.

Back when the Spurs won it in ‘99 it was 91.6.

EmphasisOk8298

16 | 4 hours ago

Back then the games weren’t against G League teams with coaches terrified of accidently winning a game.

_meltchya__

13 | 3 hours ago

Lol are you suggesting that teams weren’t tanking in the early 2000s?

mr_seggs | Jordan

5 | an hour ago

Tanking 100% has gotten more egregious over the past two decades. Process Sixers changed what was acceptable

EmphasisOk8298

1 | 3 hours ago

The odds back then incentivized 3 or 4 teams to race to the absolute bottom. Which was a problem in its own way.

What we have now is at least 8 teams making it very clear they prefer a loss to a win and will sit players who could help them win and egregiously manipulate lineups in the 4th quarter of a close game.

So in terms of the % of the league not genuinely trying to compete in any way this season is absolutely significantly worse than the 2000s yes.

The smoothing of the odds made it less valuable to tank to the absolute bottom for just 1 guy like Duncan or Wemby. But the smoothed odds still make it so finishing 6th is much better than 11th. This draft having an insane top 3 makes the value in tanking far too high for these teams to ignore.

On any given day in the league about 40% of the games are not genuine competitions. The Spurs playing 3 of these teams out 4 on the road is something that happened way less frequently in the 2000s yes.

Also there used to be a tension between management and fans when it came to tanking. Fans have caught up to it being clearly smart for the Jazz to lose so they don’t have to worry about upsetting their fanbase.

Armanewb | Spurs

1 | 2 hours ago

Part of it is also pick protections. I dont think they were really a thing back then, so you don’t have teams like the Jazz tanking just to keep their own pick.

EmphasisOk8298

2 | 2 hours ago

Oh absolutely the pick protections have made it way worse.

There are a handful of factors. Teams are way more analytically focused now and it’s obvious the current rules of the game reward losing more than winning for a third of the league.

Fans and Media will absolutely shit on teams for being stuck in the middle. We could talk about the reasons all day but it’s very obvious to anyone watching the games what has been happening the last 2 months.

g1rlchild | Spurs

1 | 21 minutes ago

Part of the problem is that I feel like back then there were maybe 2 guys at the top of a draft that could legit impact your team. No point in tanking to be 5th. Now the 5th best guy in the draft is often an actual impact player.

Ok-Name-5504

3 | 2 hours ago

I’m gonna assume you didn’t watch back then. The compete level might be lower today, but the average skill level is significantly higher. Compared to the 98-99 season, teams are shooting 28 more 3’s per game while also shooting 43(!!) points better from the field (0.470 vs 0.437).

EmphasisOk8298

1 | 2 hours ago

I 100% agree the skill level is way higher. Zero argument there.

I’m saying there are more teams in February and March that are actively preferring a loss to a win.

This years Utah Jazz roster I have zero doubt could make a deep playoff run in the 1999 if they tried. But that’s really not my point because they are benching their good players and losing on purpose.

It’s not about the talent level at the bottom of the league. It’s them choosing to genuinely not compete.

I don’t see the point in diving in to the statistics and point differentials of fake basketball games.

torrinage | Trail Blazers

1 | 2 hours ago

think they’re talking about the 24-2 in 26 being best span in team history, as the 25+ points is a leaguewide record

ViewFromHalf-WayDown | Knicks

1 | 2 hours ago

We got inflation even in the nba 🥲

Entire-Joke4162

1 | an hour ago

Lol, they would completely dominate a team and just grind it out and win by single digits but it was never close

Robinsson100

0 | 4 hours ago

Very true! Most people don’t recognize that point differential is always going to be affected when scoring trends go up.

EmphasisOk8298

30 | 4 hours ago

Only one of these 4 games was a real basketball game against a team that wanted to win. Probably worth mentioning.

I love Wemby and am rooting for the Spurs to win it all but I genuinely find it insane that this entire thread is ignoring the fact that only one of these games was an actual basketball game. We’re just so conditioned to teams throwing games that it’s not even mentioned.

Otherwise_Key_759

-5 | 4 hours ago

So then why aren’t other teams beating them by the same amount?

Nope, that excuse doesn’t hold up to basic scrutiny

fisheggsoup | Jazz

11 | 4 hours ago

Of course it does, these score differential “records” are ultimately arbitrary.

What’s the meaningful difference between beating someone by 25 versus beating them by 19?

Otherwise_Key_759

-11 | 4 hours ago

Going up by 15 in the first quarter doesn’t matter? Weird logic

lukewwilson | Lakers

5 | 4 hours ago

It literally doesn’t matter, why are you picking an arbitrary number like 15? Does going up by 10 points in the first quarter matter? what if you went up by 15 in the first quarter but won by one point, doesn’t that affect the win?

EmphasisOk8298

4 | 4 hours ago

Brother you are missing the point.

The Spurs are incredible and have been the best team in the league for months.

This stat is still talking about fake basketball games and I replied to a comment comparing to the Tim Duncan spurs who were also amazing but did not play in a league where 10 teams were actively trying to lose.

Nothing I’m saying is disrespecting this spurs team. It’s just a fact that 3 of the 4 games were not legitimate.

Otherwise_Key_759

-6 | 4 hours ago

The phrase “fake basketball games” has no meaning. Your feelings about something doesn’t make the game illegitimate. This is a lot of feelings, not an argument

EmphasisOk8298

7 | 4 hours ago

Basketball is a competition between two teams trying to win.

If both teams want the same team to win it’s not a legitimate competition. That’s the definition of sports and competition. There has to be an opposition force trying to prevent you from winning for it to actually mean anything.

Otherwise_Key_759

-1 | 4 hours ago

The average W% of the bottom 10 right now is around .290, nearly identical to the 2024–25 final standings and 2023–24 final standings.

Just zero evidence of your claim that this year is somehow worse

EmphasisOk8298

3 | 4 hours ago

Yes because for the first couple months before teams tanked the league actually has decent parity and a team like the Nets can compete on any given night.

Then when February hit and teams start to tank suddenly these teams hardly ever win and are running out fake lineups.

Look at the gargantuan gap between the 10 seed and the 11 seed in each conference. That doesn’t happen organically.

Most people understand that there are at least 8 teams actively losing on purpose right now. If you can’t admit that then this conversation isn’t going to go anywhere.

The fact that these teams actually had an okay record at the beginning of the year makes what they are doing now even more embarrassing for the league.

I don’t have a problem with the league having some really bad teams. I have a problem with those teams GMs, Coaches, Owners and Fans actively preferring a loss to a win. That’s more prevalent this season than any in NBA history for a variety of reasons. 3 of the 4 teams included in this stat meat that criteria. Their fans and management would be actively upset if they won a game.

Otherwise_Key_759

0 | 4 hours ago

Most people understand that there are at least 8 teams actively losing on purpose right now. If you can’t admit that then this conversation isn’t going to go anywhere.

Yes, agree. Now convince me this is any different than any other year, and that blowing those teams out by 25+ doesn’t matter. That’s core to your argument.

EmphasisOk8298

3 | 3 hours ago

the fact that Adam Silver and the owners are picking this season to make dramatic change is pretty solid evidence. Or you could just look at the box scores on an gameday in March and if you see a close game with one of these teams watch what lineups they chose to close with in the 4th quarter.
you’d rather win by 25 than 10. I’m not saying it literally doesn’t matter at all dude. I’m saying as a historical accomplishment if we are going to try to contextualize what the stat means and compare it across decades it’s probably worth mentioning that these are basically exhibition games.

The Spurs have so many Incredible stats against real basketball teams. I don’t know why we would focus on one that is against G Leaguers.

The Spurs are literally my favorite team to watch right now idk why you are acting like I’m discrediting them. I make a point to try to watch all of their real basketball games if I’m free but it’s not worth my time to tune into the fake ones.

JMoon33 | NBA

1 | 3 hours ago

So then why aren’t other teams beating them by the same amount?

They just didn’t happen to have 4 fake basketball games on the road in a row.

Otherwise_Key_759

0 | 3 hours ago

What does my comment have to do with the schedule? They aren’t beating them by that margin at all.

JMoon33 | NBA

1 | 3 hours ago

What does my comment have to do with the schedule?

I really can’t help you if you don’t understand that. 😅

EmphasisOk8298

1 | 2 hours ago

I disagree with the other guy. Everyone has spots of their schedule like this.

The Spurs deserve credit for being better at beating fake teams by 25 than the other teams. I just don’t think that accomplishment is worth much discussion compared to the Spurs accomplishments in real basketball games.

You dominated the Thunder why are we talking about the spring training games?

vegetableJuiceee

1 | an hour ago

Yet they’re gonna need experience in the playoffs 😂😂😂

Does Reddit not see the gap in talent OKC/SPURS then everybody else?

Old_Supermarket_7575 | Thunder

270 | 5 hours ago

Their defense is obviously godly, but their dribble penetration with all those slashers really raises their offensive floor

tskillz187 | SAS

124 | 4 hours ago

Castle, Fox, and Harper all do their slashing differently too. They’re all athletic, but Castle is explosive and powerful, Fox is quick and fast, Harper is footwork/euro wrong foots.

It’ll likely come down to how well Vassell, Champagnie, Barnes, and Keldon shoot from 3 in the playoffs. Someone can beat them if they all suck at the same time. It’s going to be very hard to beat them if they’re playing steady though.

tagen | Spurs

41 | 4 hours ago

for all the talent we’ve had over the years, when was the last time we had a truly elite 3 pt shooter? like one or two years of Bellinelli before he got washed, but overall we could always use more sharpshooters

EWool

15 | 4 hours ago

Too true- we had the green ranger who was a sharpshooter but not quite legendary (defense was the compliment to his game). And we had the red rocket who could always reliably put up a high percentage 3pt but didn’t offer much else for defense or offense.

IAmTheGeezer

23 | 4 hours ago

Don’t forget about Patty Mills!

EWool

9 | 3 hours ago

How could i??? Love Patty - another great shooter of Spurs lore

namewithak | Spurs

7 | 3 hours ago

Danny was nicknamed IcyHot for a reason.

EWool

1 | 3 hours ago

Bloody hell man the guy took yrs off my life! So many great hits and great misses. Always kept the right attitude tho which made it hard to be mad at him. And I’d always believe its the coaches that tell these guys to keep shooting even when it ain’t dropping

plantedank

4 | 3 hours ago

The erasure of Douggy McBuckets!

Cletus_Starfish | POR

1 | an hour ago

Not sure I’d call him a sharpshooter, but Kawhi was a really good three point shooter his last few years with the Spurs.

SirArthurConanSwole | NBA

1 | 21 minutes ago

Wasn’t the Latvian Laser good for you guys?

StyMaar

-6 | 3 hours ago

Harper is a phenomenal prospect, but not picking Kon will possibly haunt you for the coming years.

Armanewb | Spurs

4 | 2 hours ago

Ehhhhhhhhh… guess we’ll see, I think Harper’s upside is way higher and his 3 point shot has come along tremendously since the start of the season.

supersonicnat45 | Knicks

3 | 2 hours ago

It’s been less than a season, let’s let the rookies play and more importantly develop before saying a team will be “haunted” for not picking one over the other. Kon may regress, harper may breakout, it’s literally been 5 months why are we even trying to talk about whether the spurs made a mistake?

tskillz187 | SAS

2 | an hour ago

Don’t think so. I think it’s easier to find 80-90% of a Kon that it is to find 80-90% of Harper. But I think all of Wemby, Castle, and Harper are 1st Team NBA level guys in their careers.

Kon I don’t think has quite that high of a ceiling.

PoonGo0n | Spurs

5 | 3 hours ago

If like 80% of our hot shooting from these last few months translates into the playoffs then I’m not sure there’s a team that can beat us. But that’s a very big ask from guys that have never played in the playoffs across 4 rounds.

WalterDwight | TOR

2 | an hour ago

I bet that makes it tough for defenders to time their contests and defensive positioning. Always getting a different look

legend023 | Pelicans

57 | 4 hours ago

They simply have a very well balanced roster with a good blend of defense, shooting, and playmaking around a 7’4 defensive freak that can also score effectively.

It doesn’t hurt they’ve been exceptionally healthy this year as well. The only thing stopping them is experience and Wemby’s halfcourt offense not being fully there yet

OurHorrifyingPlanet | Spurs

46 | 4 hours ago

‘Exceptionally healthy’ is a bit of a stretch when our first half of the season was riddled with injuries to all our key players. It’s not as bad as some other teams, but it’s not been entirely smooth either. It does help a lot that no one has to play much more than 30min thanks to our depth though

TerrySaucer69 | Spurs

12 | 4 hours ago

We lost Vassel for a while, we lost Wemby for a while, castle has been in and out. We’ve definitely been healthy - especially compared to OKC or Denver - but not “exceptionally”.

Uncle_Freddy | SAS

4 | 2 hours ago

Eh, I saw a comparison, our key rotation guys outside of Wemby have missed under 70 games (that’s like players 2-9 in our rotation) while the Thunder, Nuggets and Lakers have all missed 120+. The first half of the year was rough, but we’ve been quite lucky in the second half of the year

sloBrodanChillosevic | Supersonics

18 | 4 hours ago

Yeah, the Spurs have been lethal in the halfcourt for a while now. They’re not just young & thriving in transition - they can wear you down & score while wasting some time as well. They get into the lane and generate corner triples at will.

Old_Supermarket_7575 | Thunder

0 | 4 hours ago

They have a few guys that Dort can’t neutralize too

Like when the lakers play OKC ik Luka is gonna shoot 33% from the floor and take 25 shots

When Fox and Harper are on Lu they’re going ⁹⁄₁₂. He struggles more against speed

EWool

17 | 4 hours ago

Man putting Dort and neutralized the same sentence scares me I seen too many trips and slips from this MF

Kertia

13 | 4 hours ago

Thunder can’t play Dort with wallace or Caruso for defense either because that’s just going to let wemby sit in the paint. And if they play mccain for offense he’s going to get targeted like crazy.

PressureMiserable | Spurs

4 | 3 hours ago

I think that’s what people forget when trying to say things will be different with McCain, but he’s gonna get bullied by everyone on the spurs anytime he’s in the game and hes an obvious weak link defensively which they really didn’t have before

Old_Supermarket_7575 | Thunder

2 | 4 hours ago

I don’t mind Dort or Caruso on wemby tbh

In those matchups the problem was the guards

Didn’t matter what we did we could not stop them from beating out guys on the perimeter and I’m not really sure how we change that

LAMonkeyWithAShotgun | Spurs

5 | 3 hours ago

The problem is when they forget how to shoot. We won 2 entire games vs you this year because we stuck Wemby on Dort and Caruso and they forgot how to shoot in one game each. 5 out spacing is easily the hardest thing for the Spurs to defend and you cant do that with them on the floor

Old_Supermarket_7575 | Thunder

1 | 3 hours ago

Our biggest issue vs you is the dribble penetrators to our defense and make anyone but Shai beat us offense

Tbf with jdub’s wrist seemingly recovered and Ajay Mitchell healthy we should have the penetrators now

But we had both in the first game we played and still lost shooting 25% from 3

mercfan3

8 | 3 hours ago

The fact that they are making perimeter shots now is really the biggest difference.

The team went in a slump in January and it impacted all of the offense because

Now obviously getting Vassell back is a big part of “now they are making their shots” but Harper and Castle have shot a very high percentage on their catch and shoot threes too.

thecrunchcrew | SAS

6 | 4 hours ago

And the guards, Castle and Harper particularly, have been knockout shooters in this stretch. League is fucked if this is their new norm.

LAMonkeyWithAShotgun | Spurs

2 | 3 hours ago

Castle is a bit fake with them all being wide open catch and shoot

But Dylan has been hitting some harder stuff as well

SkyCrossSteel

2 | an hour ago

Castle has basically almost entirely taken away off the dribble 3s so that helps.

nixhomunculus

1 | 43 minutes ago

Fake is alright. If he makes them at a high enough clip teams will have to adjust which gives the team an advantage.

jl_theprofessor | Spurs

1 | 41 minutes ago

Big fan of the Slam Antonio moniker.

heat_fan_ | Raptors

139 | 5 hours ago

Okc vs SA better be the WCF

Nails__DeChamp | Magic

76 | 4 hours ago

I feel like the desired matchups never end up happening. I pray for everyone’s health.

leftoverrice54

21 | 4 hours ago

Depends on if the spurs can deliver when the lights get bright. Personally I believe they can make WCF, but it will be curious to see if they can take it all this year.

pick-and-hoop | Spurs

5 | 3 hours ago

Great defensive teams tend to be amplified in the playoffs, let’s see what happens

dont-YOLO-ragequit | Raptors

12 | 4 hours ago

Everyone wants a Disney ending and podcast, + journalists are paid to talk no matter what so they’ll also find a way to not give it it’s credit.

dearth_karmic | Warriors

0 | 3 hours ago

I feel like the desired matchups never end up happening.

Like the Warriors vs the Rockets 2 years in a row?

frozen2665 | Heat

6 | an hour ago

You will get the Timberwolves in the WCF again, and you will like it!

Cletus_Starfish | POR

2 | an hour ago

Whenever someone says the NBA is rigged I always think of things like this. For every “oh my god how did Dallas win the lottery?” moment, you have like five “Minnesota in the conference finals” type of events.

fisheggsoup | Jazz

25 | 4 hours ago

It’s gonna’ be future Western Conference Champion vs. the Minnesota Timberwolves… again.

lukewwilson | Lakers

5 | 4 hours ago

I know everyone is super high in the Spurs right now, and they have been very good, but let’s remember that have very little playoff experience on that roster and their top 3 players have none. History of the game says a team like that doesn’t normally go far into the playoffs, look at OKC 2 years ago, best record in the west, no playoff experience and they were bounced in the second round.

Amazinc | Minneapolis Lakers

7 | an hour ago

You’re being Downvoted for disagreeing with the hype train but you’re completely right

PressureMiserable | Spurs

-5 | 3 hours ago

Okc lost to the eventual wcf champion and took them to 7. Really, nothing changed except they added Caruso and hartenstein. So experience is being overvalued here cus not a lot changed besides adding a couple guys and jdub not shitting the bed quite as bad. Experience wasn’t the biggest reason they lost it was bad shooting

Amazinc | Minneapolis Lakers

5 | an hour ago

Caruso had already won a ring + everyone had 2 playoff series under their belt. What are you talkin about

LovesBodyx2 | Spurs

1 | 15 minutes ago

them adding caruso and hartenstein was huge. I remember making a phantom bet on them to win the chip the moment I heard about those moves (I don’t actually gamble). I think seeing what your weaknesses are in a “highly successful season” and retooling accordingly is a critical part of the process of winning a championship. which is why people are right to be skeptical about the spurs winning it all this year. that being said, they have a single player that complicates game plans so much that historical precedent may very well be flipped the bird.

SirArthurConanSwole | NBA

1 | 7 minutes ago

Mavs won in 6

ViewFromHalf-WayDown | Knicks

3 | 2 hours ago

OKC is praying SA loses before then

persianx6_

0 | 3 hours ago

Classic “the real finals”

Nails__DeChamp | Magic

112 | 4 hours ago

Dude this playoffs is going to be soooo fucking fun. Cannot wait

CauliflowerNo3904

29 | an hour ago

The Wolves Hornets final will be fantastic but all the series leading up to it will be pretty good too. Luxurious year for the playoffs.

someguyfromtecate | Spurs

1 | an hour ago

Dillon Brooks defense on Jalen Johnson for the game 7 final shot is going to be lit.

Cletus_Starfish | POR

1 | an hour ago

Adam Silver would be apoplectic lol.

dearth_karmic | Warriors

14 | 3 hours ago

It really is. As someone who has always argues you can’t win it all without getting to the playoffs 3 straight years, the Spurs might be an outlier.

PressureMiserable | Spurs

22 | 3 hours ago

I mean the thunder already did that

WalterDwight | TOR

1 | an hour ago

I love all the “can the spurs win without battle scars??” talk when we kinda just saw the same thing last year

InsideProblem2625

69 | 4 hours ago

People will glaze Wemby and it is deserved but the Spurs org needs to get MORE praise and glaze. Drafting has been impeccable, the trades as well. Getting Fox for that cheap is crazy after he basically had a top 5 mvp season two years prior…

They built another dynasty

Thehelloman0 | Spurs

78 | 4 hours ago

Nah the drafting hasn’t been impeccable at all. We waived two lottery picks from the last 4 years and salary dumped two late first round picks. The smaller moves like getting Champagnie, signing Kornet, trading for Barnes, and sticking with Keldon and Devin have been nice moves but mostly it’s been getting high draft picks and trading for Fox as the big reason for the team being as good as it is.

Matthew2531_46 | Spurs

37 | 4 hours ago

This. We were one pick away from drafting Scoot and we would still be terrible right now

Thehelloman0 | Spurs

12 | 4 hours ago

I dunno about terrible but we likely don’t trade for Fox in that scenario. A building block of Castle and Harper is still very good.

I also think signing Champagnie has been huge for us and isn’t really talked about much. He’s played every game for us, is part of most of our best lineups, and he’s on a minimum contract. He’s honestly one of the highest value of contribution vs pay in the entire league.

Delanorix | Knicks

8 | 4 hours ago

IMO, Scoot on the Spurs looks much different than Scoot on the Blazers.

Matthew2531_46 | Spurs

7 | 4 hours ago

Maybe, but I doubt he would be ‘carrying a team to the 2nd seed’ good

Robinsson100

9 | 4 hours ago

Agreed. The Spurs got very lucky and landed Wemby with 14% odds. If that doesn’t happen, everything else changes: Fox & his agent don’t try to go to San Antonio to pair him with the best young player in the league, and the Spurs are a relatively mid tier team. Kornet, Barnes, and Champagnie all work with Wemby, but without his presence would be quite a bit less impactful ( and I really like those three guys).
Utah had the same plan that year and missed out on Wemby because Markkanen was much more impactful than Danny Ainge had anticipated. Pre-season that year, the Jazz were picked by most as the favorites to land the #1 pick after tanking/trading Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert. Since then, the fortunes of those two teams have been completely different.

ekray | Spurs

5 | 3 hours ago

The Jazz tried to have a competitive team and soft tank while the Spurs fully committed to it and stripped the team of almost any valuable asset. That’s the difference between them.

Of course the Spurs got lucky, but the unlucky teams were the Pistons, Hornets, Rockets, not the Jazz with their horrible way of tanking.

WhiteHeterosexualGuy | Hawks

2 | 3 hours ago

Nah, you guys were ahead of the curve drafting the 7’6’ guy that can dribble, shoot, and defend better than anyone in the league

vondawgg | Thunder

32 | 4 hours ago

more praise for having 3 top 5 picks in a row? the future was looking dark pre-wemby lmao

OurHorrifyingPlanet | Spurs

14 | 4 hours ago

3 top 5 isn’t as rare as people make it out to be. The truly rare thing was getting Wemby, obviously every team needs to luck to get a superstar. But a lot of tanking teams get multiple top picks in a short period (e.g. in last 15 years: Detroit, Rockets, Philly, Lakers, Celtics, Cavs, Magic, Wizards)

fisheggsoup | Jazz

5 | 4 hours ago

All those teams got three straight Top 5 picks? Were the odds of them doing so high (like, were they bottom 5 teams going into the lottery)?

Are you telling me stockpiling high picks is a… winning strategy?

OurHorrifyingPlanet | Spurs

8 | 4 hours ago

It’s a winning strategy if you draft well, make the right moves around them, and get lucky with player development. Lots of the examples completely fumbled their high draft picks.

All those teams got three straight Top 5 picks?

All of them got between multiple top 5 picks within a ³⁄₄ years window, yes.

EWool

7 | 4 hours ago

Kind of just what happens after 5 ring 20 yr dynasty and the guy who was chosen to take the reigns has his mgmt (and the clippers tamper) to abort SA for LA. Not saying we weren’t lucky picking up Wemby just giving some context to the “dark days”

mallllls | Spurs

1 | 4 hours ago

Classic thunder fan

vondawgg | Thunder

19 | 4 hours ago

am i wrong?

Renzel0311

11 | 4 hours ago

You’re not lol only credit is them choosing castle. Back2back years in the top 5 lottery talk about luck especially wemby and Harper.

meteoric_vestibule | NBA

8 | 4 hours ago

Back2back2back, technically. Wemby (1), Castle (4), Harper (2).

mallllls | Spurs

4 | 3 hours ago

Yes, there’s more to a team than just your star players. The Cavs drafted LeBron #1 overall and werent able to draft well outside of that / sign or trade for players good enough for them to win.

Fast forward the cavs had the 1st and 4th picks in 2011, the 4th pick in 2012, the 1st pick in 2013, and the 1st pick in 2014. Over those years they improved somewhat but didn’t make the leap until Lebron decided to come back home. It wasn’t because of the org making good decisions and the right moves.

The spurs have had lottery luck but also capitalized by drafting the right players (cavs drafted Anthony Bennett lol) and have traded for or signed the correct role players to put around wemby.

Perceval_009 | Hornets

5 | 4 hours ago

He’s completely right. There is not a single team in the NBA that has the luck of San Antonio, got handed every lottery pick on a silver platter.

Thehelloman0 | Spurs

18 | 4 hours ago

The Lakers had the number two pick three years in a row and the cavs had 3 number one picks in 4 years and got the fourth pick the year they didn’t get 1

lukewwilson | Lakers

-6 | 4 hours ago

so there’s three examples of it every happening? seems like those three teams got lucky. No one is saying the Spurs is the only team this has ever happened to, just that they got lucky.

Thehelloman0 | Spurs

12 | 3 hours ago

The guy I responded to literally said the Spurs were the only team to get this lucky

mallllls | Spurs

5 | 3 hours ago

Well he said not a single team has had our luck and it took about 2 mins for him to be proven wrong lol

TheAlmightyConch | Spurs

5 | 2 hours ago

“Not a single team in the NBA has had the luck of San Antonio.”

thecrunchcrew | SAS

16 | 4 hours ago

lol we had ONE top-10 pick between Duncan and Wemby, and we waived him before giving him a 2nd contract (Sochan). Rockets have had 4 consecutive years of top 4 picks. Cavs had 3 #1 overall picks in 4 years PLUS two #4 picks in the same timeframe AFTER drafting LeBron.

Organizations get top picks all the time. We’ve had some luck but we are farrrr from the only organization to be lucky.

mallllls | Spurs

4 | 3 hours ago

They really weren’t prepared for this argument dude

Perceval_009 | Hornets

-2 | 2 hours ago

I mean it’s a good argument, other teams got lucky as well. But that doesn’t disprove that Spurs are still the luckiest team, only the early 2010 Cavs can compare to that level of luck. You will never ever in a billion years see a team like the Jazz, Wizards, Kings or Nets get picks like that. The shit is obviously rigged for big market teams such as Spurs, Rockets, Cavs, Lakers.

mallllls | Spurs

2 | 2 hours ago

I mean several spurs fans including myself have laid out pretty simply how we have had luck but also made a ton of good decisions around that luck, and several other teams have had luck that had rivaled ours (in recent years). I do agree things seem rigged like the mavs getting #1 overall right after stupidly trading away Luka but to call the Spurs a big market team is hilarious. For two decades no free agents wanted to come here to join us. Actual big market teams like the lakers never had that problem.

ElGoddamnDorado | Spurs

1 | 5 minutes ago

shit is obviously rigged for big market teams such as Spurs

Come again?

jdjdthrow

8 | 3 hours ago

It’s a lot, but it’s not unprecedented. Not that long ago the Cavs had three #1 picks and two #4 picks in four years.

2011- 1st and 4th
2012- 4th
2013- 1st
2014- 1st

mallllls | Spurs

3 | 3 hours ago

The cavs had #1 in 2011, #4 in 2012, and then back to back #1 in 2013 and 2014 lmao what are you talking about? They also wasted one of those 1st on Anthony Bennett. The spurs have had good luck lately but have capitalized on that luck, while also signing and trading for good role players that fit around wemby.

So no he isn’t correct. There’s more to a team than drafting a good player first overall.

I almost forgot to mention us fleecing the kings for fox. Another great move by the front office!

SpecialistAstronaut5 | Spurs

5 | 4 hours ago

Fox had a top 5 mvp season 2 years prior?

Ok_Possible_5702

4 | 3 hours ago

Getting Fox for that cheap is crazy after he basically had a top 5 mvp season two years prior…

There’s a bit of revisionism here.

Trading for Fox was a decent trade, but Fox had tanked his trading value saying he only wanted to go to SAS and would not sign an extension anywhere else. Therefore, you should consider the supermax extension as part of the trade… and I’m not convinced that supermax extension will age well.

Obviously so far the trade has been a success, but let’s see what happens in 2 years when Castle’s rookie max kicks in.

Also, Fox was never even close to a “top 5 MVP finish”.

Fa1lenSpace | Timberwolves

1 | 4 hours ago

The Spurs were looking like a disaster until the NBA handed them Wemby lmao

bihari_baller | Trail Blazers

9 | 4 hours ago

Not everything is a conspiracy. Can you provide any proof the draft was rigged for the Spurs?

Agile_Variety_632

5 | 2 hours ago

Don’t even bother with these nuts. Just ask them what a billion dollar corporation’s main motivation is for rigging lotteries and then ask why the Pelicans and Grizzlies were given the most exciting prospects in the 2019 draft.

thecrunchcrew | SAS

0 | 4 hours ago

If he’s the reason for us going from bottom feeders to title contenders in 3 years, he’s the MVP

2coolcaterpillar | Thunder

2 | 4 hours ago

Spurs have obviously done well with their picks and are a top tier front office, but back to back to back top 4 picks in 3 consecutive years (including mf wemby) is a cheat code and I’m totally not salty about it

White-Gravity | Raptors

4 | 4 hours ago

They didn’t do anything, they’re just the luckiest franchise in the league

ShowdownValue

2 | 3 hours ago

Most of it was just given through the lottery

SignificantNatural11 | Thunder

2 | 3 hours ago

Aren’t they on the hook for paying Fox a 4 year max extension starting next year?

albatrossSKY | Nuggets

68 | 5 hours ago

the spurs machine just doesnt stop.

MuchAbouAboutNothing | Thunder

55 | 4 hours ago

3 straight years of top 5 draft picks
4 straight years of top 10 draft picks
6 straight years of top 12 draft picks

That’ll help 😭 Especially as the Spurs org is one of the most competent in the league regardless.

It’ll take a hell of a team to stop them this year, let alone in the next few years as they continue to develop

WhiteHeterosexualGuy | Hawks

24 | 3 hours ago

It’s insane how lucky they have been. For context, even if they had the worst record in the league for three straight years (they didn’t), their odds of getting a #1 pick, top 2 pick, and top 4 pick are less than 2%. And that doesn’t take into consideration their #4 pick was in the worst draft for those 3 years, the #1 pick was in a once in a lifetime draft, and the #2 pick was for another strong prospect.

They did not have to think at all about picking Wemby, did not have to think much at all about picking Harper, and while Castle was the consensus pick at #4, there were other viable options so they should absolutely get credit for that one.

Compare that Spurs generational lottery run to a team like the Pistons who had to pick 5th three years in a row or a team like Charlotte who got a pair of #2 picks, and it’s easy to see why one team is destined for a dynasty run and the other teams, while good, are not. Wemby really makes most of the difference but the other pieces fell into place so nicely for them as well.

cashappmebitch | Wizards

6 | 3 hours ago

Yeah tell me about it lol

butterball85 | Lakers

6 | an hour ago

Not only did they get the #1 pick that year, but it also happened to be one of the best if not the best #1 pick since lebron

DWhitePlusMinusKing

1 | 30 minutes ago

At the same time though the Spurs have made plenty of moves that capitalized on this luck. Through good management of assets the Spurs were able to get Fox and Barnes while still having a surplus of draft assets. They signed CP3 and had him work with Castle and Wemby. The first pick of the Murray trade got them Carter Bryant. They picked up and developed a guy like Champagnie who is was not in anyone plans. They’ve developed Keldon and Devin into solid role player veterans who fit needed roles around their young guys.

So yea sure, they got some lottery luck, but without all this other stuff they did they would not be capitalizing on that luck like they have.

WhiteHeterosexualGuy | Hawks

1 | 10 minutes ago

You can do a similar exercise with half the teams in the league and come up with “success stories” of the FO but the reality is none of these guys would be on any of our radars even today if the Spurs didn’t have insane lottery luck. These role players only seem like gems found in the rough because of the top-end talent on the team. This always happens to the role players on top 3 players teams.

ShowdownValue

8 | 3 hours ago

Yup. Built through historic luck

PoonGo0n | Spurs

19 | 3 hours ago

Its better to be lucky than good, agreed. But plenty of teams have gotten lucky and screwed it up.

Vast_Combination_110 | Spurs

1 | 24 minutes ago

The Thunder/Sonics got three Top 4 picks between 2007 and 2009, drafted three consecurive future HoFers, and it did not bring them a title. They had to break everything up and start collecting assets like pokemon to get it in 2025.

Historic luck is not enough to be successful.

Amazinc | Minneapolis Lakers

-4 | an hour ago

Because they shamelessly tanked for 6 years and got rewarded with insane luck, I’m annoyed they’re this good again

cvampet | Spurs

6 | an hour ago

That’s straight up not true we never really tanked before wemby’s year. The year after we were one of the worst teams ever literally and starting getting a lot of wins towards the end of the season because Wemby was playing really well and we dropped to 5th worse record instead of staying at the worst spot on purpose. Last year was straight up not a tanking year but wemby got his blood clots and fox needed surgery so there was nothing to play for and we lacked talent as well.

prettymuthafucka | Wizards

31 | 4 hours ago

And they’re actually fun to watch unlike some other team

SpecialistAstronaut5 | Spurs

32 | 4 hours ago

This is why i dont understand people saying Wemby should play more minutes. Also 1 loss was against Denver when Wemby didnt play.

Then-Response8324 | NBA

23 | 4 hours ago

as long as they spank okc, i’ll forever be a fan of theirs

Kaladin_Depressed | Thunder

23 | 4 hours ago

“Beat OKC while I watch”

No_Chilly_bill

-4 | 4 hours ago

did you want it to join NBA and do it himself?

Kaladin_Depressed | Thunder

6 | 3 hours ago

Presumably the team they ~~route~~ root for, but that too sure

Edit: can’t be caught slipping on grammar with a Thunder flair

Fidel_Cashflows | Spurs

-3 | 3 hours ago

“route” god the jokes write themselves. Never change Oklahoma.

Kaladin_Depressed | Thunder

4 | 3 hours ago

Oh nooooo I used the wrong word. It MUST be an indictment on the entire education system! 🙄 jackass

Lickmytitsorwe

17 | 4 hours ago

I know it’s more impressive to say 24-2 since Feb. 1 but don’t forget that the Spurs also have had the best record in the NBA since Jan. 1! They’re 32-9 since January 1, basically half the season

fuzzynavel34 | IND

6 | 3 hours ago

Wemby MVP

jokesters123 | Hawks

4 | 4 hours ago

Spurs will finish the season with the best record in the NBA

SebastianC1

4 | 4 hours ago

They’re going to blitz la or Denver in round 2 while pundits pick the other team for looking great against Houston while the spurs get pushed to 6 in round 1 against a demonic kawhi and the media will look dumb as fuck

GGTae | Spurs

3 | 3 hours ago

yeah Kawhi is the only one that scares me fr, if it’s them in the first round I will eat my fingers

trappist13

-1 | 2 hours ago

Spurs get bounced by whatever team makes the second round, Minnesota is def clapping them if they matchup.

_felagund | Spurs

5 | 4 hours ago

Good good

Poopicus | Raptors

5 | 3 hours ago

and theyre still developing

First_Explorer_6075

4 | 4 hours ago

The capitalization in this title is crazy

wonder2848

2 | 4 hours ago

Good defense and Victor is the key.

roadfoolmc

2 | 4 hours ago

League truly fucked. Okc and spurs WCF gonna be legendary.

MaccTHC | Spurs

2 | 3 hours ago

To be fair all those blowouts came against miserable and/or tanking teams lol

maskedcow

2 | 2 hours ago

These cherry picked stats are a clear sign of either being dumb as shit or biased as fuck.

Robinsonirish | Finland

1 | 4 hours ago

If you don’t directly link the source mods will always delete your post FYI.

[deleted]

1 | 4 hours ago

[deleted]

bndwgnfn

24 | 4 hours ago

No other team has ever played 4 bad teams in a row

ajloves2code | Lakers

-8 | 3 hours ago

Woah woah, I never said they are bad…

bndwgnfn

5 | 3 hours ago

They mostly are!

ajloves2code | Lakers

0 | 3 hours ago

True. The heat and three maybe tanking teams with less than 10 games left, perfect opportunity for this kind of stat.

NoFuckToGive

1 | 3 hours ago

Wemby has lost 1 game since February 1st. But all the wins have somehow come against bad teams it’s so wild. Spurs are 4-1 against OKC but they were just having bad nights.

Methamine | Knicks

1 | 4 hours ago

their last 3 losses in order: charlotte, knicks, denver

ObiOneKenobae | Knicks

1 | 2 hours ago

Definitely rooting for them to make the finals

trappist13

1 | an hour ago

I need to watch some Spurs games, I dont know how such a bad roster on paper is just winning games. Crazy

Matthew2531_46 | Spurs

1 | an hour ago

It’s Wemby.

ytuux

1 | an hour ago

Mvp voters: 😴

tomzi9999

1 | 19 minutes ago

But Luka scores 40, he should be MVP. /S

itsme32

0 | an hour ago

Now that they have completed their tank fest, Adam Silver is suddenly all up in arms against it. Sorry Utah, Sac and Indy you’re just not the Spurs.

Titronnica | SAS

1 | 10 minutes ago

Translation for the kind of hilariously cherry picked numbers: Spurs have been a good team for the past two months

TheAgmis | Thunder

-5 | 4 hours ago

Casuals and ESPN wish he was in a bigger market

anemonaeae

7 | 3 hours ago

Do they though? I feel like the Spurs are one of those franchises that everyone expects to be good.

TheAgmis | Thunder

-7 | 3 hours ago

Nobody else out of San Antonio likes the Spurs and that is not a knock on San Antonio because it’s so easy and lazy to be a Lakers fan Warriors fan LeBron fan.

Aggressive-Sun-9006 | Spurs

5 | 3 hours ago

the Spurs are literally the international team, fanbase wise.

Argentina, Australia, France, Brazil all have significant Spurs fandoms

TheAgmis | Thunder

-4 | 3 hours ago

You ignore the last part of my sentence

jdjdthrow

2 | 3 hours ago

That’s not totally true. Back in the Duncan years we had a fair amount of non-local support. Nothing compared to Lakers/Warriors/Lebron, but way more than normal small market.

I think it was the sustained winning, and the uniform colors.

lachdanan13

-8 | 3 hours ago

The team is real good, their fans generally suck.

[deleted]

-9 | 4 hours ago

[deleted]

Matthew2531_46 | Spurs

7 | 4 hours ago

your comment history is hilarious. The absolute cope that bubbles from having to watch a 40 year man child and a fat turkish crybaby must make your life miserable

But then again, you comment on reddit 20+ times every single day. So you would be miserable no matter what ;)

Burgerkiller69 | Spurs

6 | 4 hours ago

You need to relax OP. I think he is just trolling. Haha I know he is a Rocket fan, but his post is not believable enough to come back at him.

The San Antonio Spurs Are The First Team in NBA History to Win 4 Straight Road Games by 25+ Points. The Spurs are also 24-2 in their last 26 games (best record in NBA since Feb. 1) and tied the best 26-game span in team history