From the Archives: The Turnarounds That Built This Era

By the Spurs Nightly Desk · Thursday, October 1

The 2026-27 Spurs are still at 0-0, with training camp underway and the roster largely set. Franchise history offers two different blueprints for how this team got here — and why the next step looks different.

Spurs Nightly artwork — Illustration by Hoops Nightly.

Has a Spurs rebuild ever moved as fast as people think this one has?

Not this one. The fastest rebuild in franchise history came in 1989-90, when the 1987 draft lottery delivered David Robinson and, under new coach Larry Brown, the Spurs jumped from a 21-61 bottom to 56-26 — the biggest one-season turnaround in NBA history. This group reached 62-20 and the franchise's first Finals trip since 2014 only after several seasons together with Wembanyama, Fox, Vassell and Castle.

Why do the Thunder and Knicks feel like bigger games now?

Oklahoma City has lost to San Antonio twice in a row in big spots — the 2025 NBA Cup semifinals and last season's seven-game Western Conference finals that sent the Spurs to the championship round. New York flipped that script, beating San Antonio in the Cup final and then in five games in the Finals. Both rematches are now unfinished business.

What actually changed when Gregg Popovich stepped back from coaching?

Popovich's teams won at least 50 games every season from 1999-2000 through 2016-17, an 18-year streak, and took five titles along the way: 1999, 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2014. He stepped down as head coach in May 2025 and stayed on as president of basketball operations. Mitch Johnson took over then and is now entering his first full season in charge.

Is this the first time in a while the Spurs are the ones being chased?

Close to it. San Antonio tied the NBA record of 22 consecutive playoff appearances in 2018-19, then went through a rebuild before climbing back. Last season's 62-20 record and Finals trip put the franchise back at the top of the conversation, which means every opponent's circled date is now San Antonio's, not the other way around.

The verdictThe Spurs have reinvented themselves before, through a league merger, a single-season climb and a near-two-decade run of 50-win seasons. The current group's job is different: hold the standard last season set, not build toward it.

How many NBA titles have the Spurs won?

Five — 1999, 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2014.

When did the Spurs last reach the NBA Finals before 2026?

2014, the year of their fifth and most recent title.