Beyond Wemby's brilliance, a stellar supporting cast fuels the Spurs' rise. Their starting five earns an elite grade, proving they're far more than a one-man show.
Through just over half the NBA season, the San Antonio Spurs find themselves in second place in the Western Conference, and they are now just one and a half games back from the No. 1 seed Oklahoma City Thunder.
Whenever people think of the Spurs, they often think of the dominance of superstar center Victor Wembanyama. But the rest of the team's starters have also been exceptional.
In a recent article by Bleacher Report's Grant Hughes, he gives a grade to every NBA team's starting lineup now that All-Star Weekend has come and gone. For the No. 2 seed in the West, he gives them an 'A' for their group of De'Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle, Devin Vassell, Julian Champagnie, and Wemby.
The most obvious and well-known of this unit is the French giant, who has been every bit as good as was promised whenever the Spurs took him first overall in the 2023 NBA Draft. He has dealt with some injury trouble, but when he has been on the court, he has been absolutely incredible.
San Antonio traded for Fox at the deadline last season, which gave the team a true star point guard to pair with Wemby. He is averaging 19 points and six assists per game this season, and has been worth the picks the team gave up for him.
Two of the team's young guards, Castle and Vassell, have also been very solid, both averaging around 15 or so points per game on some fairly efficient shooting. And with them being 21 and 25 years old, respectively, they could be near the center of what the team is looking to do going forward.
And last but not least, Champagnie has been a true hidden gem for the Spurs in his fourth year in the league. He started in just 29 games in the 2024-25 season, but has already started in 45 this season, and he has been able to average double-digit points for the first time so far in his career.
The team's leading scorer has been Wemby at just under 24 points per game, meaning the team does not have anyone near the top of the league in scoring the basketball. But they would much rather spread the ball around if it means they play better as a whole.
This unit has helped them climb the Western Conference rankings to dang near the top, and if they keep going like they are, could claim the top spot on the coming weeks.