Early critics owe the Spurs an apology for inflammatory Wemby takes

When people saw how good Victor Wembanyama was during his rookie season, they began picking apart every Spurs' personnel decision. An annoying warning fabricated out of nothing but manufactured fearmongering permeated San Antonio discussions. "They better be more aggressive, or Wemby may get fed up and demand to be traded. He wants to win now," they'd say.

Meanwhile, the jolly French giant confirmed his love for the organization that drafted him every time he was asked. Playing for the house Tony Parker helped to build was a goal of his, and he was on board with a patient plan of organic growth and development from the beginning. He couldn't have been more clear about it, yet the unwanted cautions persisted from the outsiders.

There were articles written and debates had over whether the Spurs were doing enough to make their superstar happy. It was absolute madness. Funny enough, San Antonio didn't make any radical changes to their strategy and still made their way to title contender status in Wemby's third season. I think all of those people owe this franchise an apology.

The Spurs proved they still have a strong toolkit

The way this team was built was masterful. They drafted core role players, co-stars, and their franchise cornerstone and then developed them. Every guy who has had his name called on draft day to the tune of San Antonio's call is a major contributor on one of the elites in a strong Western Conference.

Grabbing Harrison Barnes and De'Aaron Fox weren't incredibly aggressive moves. They were opportunistic ones. When they could have used some of their assets over the summer to make a play for Kevin Durant or some other big-name player, they exercised restraint and added Luke Kornet instead.

They've constantly found ways to squeeze value out of their guys or find it on the open market, and that's no different from how they've always operated. A Michael Finley here, a Brent Barry there, and you've built a strong, cohesive team that knows how to play basketball.

The Spurs have always been strong at team building

Teams can chase trends all they want, but if the pieces don't fit together, they'll always struggle to reach the ultimate goal. The Spurs understand that. The three-ball is an important part of the game, but after Boston won the 2024 title, there was an uptick in mentions of how critical shooters are in basketball conversations.

Well, there are only so many reliable guys who can shoot 40% from the outside, and sometimes specialists struggle to step up in other areas. San Antonio opted to zig when everyone else zagged. They'll jack up their fair share of shots from the outside, but this is an inside-out offensive attack.

They were criticized for building it this way, and now veteran journalists, who are usually reserved when naming contenders, are starting to believe the Spurs can buck the trends. This franchise went on a run of unbelievable sustained success not too long ago.

You would have thought that they'd get the benefit of the doubt when it came time to build another beast. The fact that they didn't is comical, and the people who suggested Vic would want to leave based on organizational ineptitude, of all things, need to pen their apologies.