From the Archives: What Spurs History Says About This Team

By the Spurs Nightly Desk · Saturday, October 10

San Antonio's history runs through Gervin's scoring brilliance, Robinson's overnight turnaround and Popovich's two decades of 50-win seasons. Victor Wembanyama's team, fresh off a trip to the Finals, is writing the next chapter against that backdrop.

Spurs Nightly artwork — Illustration by Hoops Nightly.

What happened the last time the Spurs played on this date?

On Oct. 10, 1980, San Antonio beat Denver 113-112 on the road, mid-way through the Gervin era that produced five division titles in the franchise's first seven NBA seasons. Forty-six years later, the Spurs open preseason tonight at Phoenix, still searching for consistency with a roster that has not yet played a full game together.

Why do the Thunder and Knicks loom so large over this roster already?

Oklahoma City and New York are this era's version of the playoff heartbreak that defined the Gervin teams against the Bullets, Celtics and Lakers. San Antonio beat the Thunder in both the 2025 NBA Cup semifinals and last season's seven-game Western Conference finals, then lost to the Knicks in five games in the franchise's first Finals since 2014.

Is there precedent for a lottery pick changing the franchise this fast?

Yes. David Robinson's arrival in 1989-90, after a year in the Navy, turned a 21-61 team into a 56-26 division winner, the biggest one-season turnaround in NBA history. Victor Wembanyama's third season now carries the same weight: last season's 62-20 record and run to the Finals came with him anchoring a defense that ranked third in the league.

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

Gregg Popovich stepped down as head coach in May 2025 after titles in 1999, 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2014, staying on as president of basketball operations. Mitch Johnson now runs the daily culture Popovich built, ball movement and defense, with that same group reaching the Finals in his first full season.

Where do this year's rookies fit into a franchise that has seen rebuilds before?

San Antonio's last full rebuild followed Gervin's 1985 trade, a 115-213 stretch across four seasons before Robinson's lottery pick reversed it. The six rookies on this year's roster, led by Dylan Harper, are not arriving into that kind of collapse; they are joining a team that just won 62 games, a different kind of pressure entirely.

The verdictThe Spurs have been here before: a scoring star carrying early hope in Gervin, a lottery pick flipping the franchise overnight in Robinson, two decades of sustained excellence under Popovich and Duncan. This season asks whether Wembanyama's group can finish what last year's run to the Finals started.

When did the Spurs last win an NBA championship?

The Spurs won their most recent title in 2014, the last of five championships that came under coach Gregg Popovich between 1999 and 2014.

How did the Spurs join the NBA?

San Antonio entered the NBA in June 1976 as part of the ABA-NBA merger, one of only four ABA franchises to survive intact.