Bassey’s return gives Spurs a key missing ingredient from the team dynamic

When fans look back at historical champions, there’s one specific thing they notice about how the roster was constructed—a physical presence down low below the basket. Sure, the NBA game has changed in recent years and moved away from physical, low-post style play, but there’s still plenty of it to find.

It’s necessary, too. Look at current-day big men like Joel Embiid or Domantas Sabonis. Both players can make an impact on the low block. When looking into the past, there are plenty of players who played that style of game and became all-time greats—think Tim Duncan, Charles Barkley, Shaq and plenty of others.

Historic teams of the past had players who could do that, but they also had guys who played the role of enforcers. Bill Laimbeer from the Pistons, Bill Cartwright and then Bill Wennington from the Bulls (this isn’t a list of Bills), Charles Oakley from the Knicks of the 90s, Ben Wallace from the Pistons—the list goes on and on. Teams feared players like this.

Charles Bassey being healthy gives the Spurs a physical dynamic

Bassey is a bruising forward who’s made an impact on the defensive end of the floor in the minutes he’s had when healthy. Per 36 minutes over his three-year career, Bassey has averaged 13.5 rebounds. He’s added 2.7 blocks per 36 minutes as well.

A bonus to this style is that it endears itself to fans. Most of the people filling up arenas are blue-collar, hard-working people, and those fans can identify with someone who plays that same style on the court. Recency bias in the Silver and Black speaks to players like Malik Rose or even as far back as Dennis Rodman to prove this point.

The style that Bassey will bring to this team will be invaluable. The Spurs are still a young team looking for an identity. They’ve got key players at key positions and are building towards something special.

The star-type players are already here and now the team is attracting big-name free agents. They will gel together and get into the playoffs this season, if all goes well. The missing piece is a bruising, physical player that other teams fear.

The playoffs bring a tighter, more physical game than the regular season offers, and the Spurs will need a player like Bassey to bring that physical tone when that time comes.