From the Archives: What San Antonio's Turnarounds Teach…

By the Spurs Nightly Desk · Tuesday, September 15

San Antonio's history runs through two engineered turnarounds: the 1987 lottery that delivered David Robinson, and the Popovich-Duncan era that followed. Last season's 62-20 finish and first Finals trip since 2014 suggest the Wembanyama era is following a similar arc, only faster.

Spurs Nightly artwork — Illustration by Hoops Nightly.

Has San Antonio built a contender this fast before?

The 1985-86 through 1988-89 stretch was five losing years, bottoming out at 21-61, before the 1987 lottery brought David Robinson and a 56-26 turnaround the following season. Victor Wembanyama arrived by design in 2023, and by his third season the Spurs had already reached the Finals at 62-20 last season, losing to the Knicks in five games. A rebuild that once took years came together in three seasons.

What does the Popovich-to-Johnson handoff mean for how this team plays?

Gregg Popovich stepped back to president of basketball operations in May 2025, and Mitch Johnson enters his first full season as head coach. San Antonio still finished third in the league in both offense and defense last season, the same identity — pace, passing, defensive accountability — Popovich built with Robinson and Duncan. Johnson's job is keeping that identity intact, not replacing it.

Why does the Oklahoma City rivalry matter more than any other on the schedule?

San Antonio upset the defending champion Thunder in the 2025 NBA Cup semifinals, then beat them again in a seven-game Western Conference finals to reach last season's Finals. No other current opponent carries that history. Every future meeting now measures whether last season's run was real or a single hot stretch.

What does the 1976 ABA merger have to do with tonight's championship chase?

San Antonio is one of only two former ABA teams, along with Denver, to win an NBA title, and the only one to win more than one. That survival through the 1976 merger is why a title chase in San Antonio carries different stakes than in an expansion market. The five championships since are the standard this roster is chasing.

Does the current roster fit the franchise's history of developing its own?

Robinson, Duncan, Gervin and Castle all became featured players inside San Antonio's own system rather than through outside additions. Dylan Harper and Carter Bryant, the second and 14th picks in the 2025 draft, are the newest test of that pattern, with no games played yet to show how minutes split. Chris Kent's September 12 hire as G League head coach feeds the same pipeline.

The verdictSan Antonio has turned a losing stretch into a championship before. The difference is that Robinson arrived by lottery luck nobody predicted, while Wembanyama has been the plan since 2023 — and last season's Finals trip, lost to the Knicks in five games, is the clearest evidence yet that the plan is working.

When did the Spurs last win an NBA championship?

2014, the franchise's fifth title, closing out the Tim Duncan-Gregg Popovich era.

Who won Rookie of the Year for the Spurs most recently?

Stephon Castle won it in 2024-25 and is entering his second NBA season in 2026-27.