From the Archives: What Spurs History Says About This Roster

By the Spurs Nightly Desk · Monday, September 21

The Spurs enter 2026-27 with no games played, but the questions around this roster echo moments from the franchise's history. From coaching transitions to center lineages to trade-built cores, the past offers a frame for what comes next.

Spurs Nightly artwork — Illustration by Hoops Nightly.

How does Mitch Johnson's rebuild compare with the last coaching transition here?

Gregg Popovich stepped down as head coach on May 2, 2025, after five championships, and stayed on as president of basketball operations. The last comparable jolt came in 1989-90, when Larry Brown took a 21-61 team and, with rookie David Robinson, produced the biggest single-season turnaround in NBA history. Johnson inherits no such rebuild — a 62-20 team and a Finals trip — but the same demand for a fast, defined identity.

Does last season's Finals run belong with the franchise's title years?

San Antonio's five championships came in 1999, 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2014, all under Gregg Popovich. Last season's 62-20 record and Western Conference finals win over Oklahoma City got the franchise back to the Finals for the first time since 2014, but New York beat San Antonio in five games. It is the deepest run since the last title, not a sixth banner.

Where does Victor Wembanyama fit among the Spurs' historic centers?

David Robinson and Tim Duncan anchored all five championship teams from the paint. Wembanyama, the first overall pick in 2023, posted 25.0 points and 11.5 rebounds last season, and Air Alamo's Jahlil Williams has flagged him as one block title away from a new record. He is three seasons into a lineage that has never lacked for a dominant center.

How does the Fox-Wembanyama pairing echo past Spurs cores?

The championship era paired Robinson, brought in through the 1987 draft lottery, with Duncan, whose career here began in 1997; both developed for years within the same system. Fox arrived differently, in a three-team trade-deadline deal with the Bulls and Kings, joining a core Wembanyama started building as the 2023 first overall pick. It is a faster, trade-built version of the same idea: pair a dominant big with a proven scorer.

The verdictThe Spurs have done this before: a young center, a retooled roster, and a coach asked to define an identity fast. What is new is starting from a 62-20 season and a Finals trip instead of a losing record.

When did the Spurs last make the NBA Finals?

Last season, 2025-26, when they lost to the New York Knicks in five games.

How many championships have the Spurs won?

Five, in 1999, 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2014, all under head coach Gregg Popovich.