The San Antonio Spurs haven't just exceeded expectations, they've taken over as one of the most dominant teams in the NBA.
The San Antonio Spurs are the real deal. After missing the postseason last year--and every year since 2019--not only are they back in contention, but there's an argument to be made that they are the best team in the Western Conference.
Scratch that; since they blew out the Detroit Pistons on Monday and boast a 4-1 record against the Oklahoma City Thunder, there's an argument to be made that they are the best team in the entire league.
So far, the Spurs have toppled any argument surrounding their standing as a dominant team. "They struggle with physicality." Tell that to Cade Cunnninggham and Jalen Duiren. "They're injury prone." Victor Wembanyama is still in the running for NBA awards.
The only concern left to conquer is their lack of playoff experience, but the Spurs shouldn't be too worried about that.
Spurs Emerge As Title Frontrunners
Ever since the Spurs blew out the Dallas Mavericks in their season debut, we've been claiming that the Spurs can go on a Finals run. However, with "Spurs Roundtable" on our banner, it's easy to write us off as biased.
Well, no more! Not only are the Spurs dominant, but they're dominating the best teams in the league.
"San Antonio is 10-3 against the Pistons, Celtics, Knicks, Thunder, Nuggets, and Rockets combined. (Although one of those losses was the NBA Cup final, which only counts in the bank accounts of the Knicks.)," pointed out The Athletic's Zach Harper.
Maybe they'll hit a wall in the postseason, although it's worth noting that De'Aaron Fox has made the postseason before, Stephon Castle was a national champion at UConn, and Harrison Barnes and Luke Kornet both have a ring.
"The Spurs have roughly the same average age as last year’s championship Thunder squad," Harper added. "But they don’t have that one playoff run of experience to learn from. Not yet, at least. So what would be the equalizer to jump them into contention status? Wemby is that equalizer. He’s the reason everybody is wondering if this is possible, because he bends the realm of basketball as we’ve known it."
Not only is Wemby an "equializer," but he has playoff experience. He led Metropolitans 92 to the French League Final. Since then, his former team has been relegated to a lower division. Plus, he shouldered France in the Paris Olympics.
Meaningful basketball isn't new to Wemby, and his track record suggests he will step things up in the postseason. The rest of the league needs to watch out.