San Antonio Spurs: Should this season be considered a success or failure?

For the second straight season, the San Antonio Spurs finished with a losing record and didn't make the playoffs. However, despite meager preseason forecasts, a momentum-crashing COVID outbreak, and the ascent of the youth movement, the Silver and Black still made it to the play-in tournament in the Western Conference.

Surprisingly, the playoffs were still possible for the Spurs even with a losing record — a rare occurrence in the ever-competitive conference. To say that this season has been up and down for San Antonio is an understatement.

After an encouraging start to the campaign, the Spurs quickly faltered and came crashing down the standings, going from as high as 5th to 10th as things started to go awry due to a myriad of reasons — things that are both within and outside their control.

As painful as it may sound, the San Antonio Spurs were not a threat in the league this season, just as they haven't been for the last two years. The Alamo City no longer houses a team that strikes fear to everyone. However, this is a prideful franchise accustomed to winning and unlike other teams with much better talent on paper, this organization still has one of the best team cultures and stability in sports.

With that said, should this season be counted as a success or a failure for the San Antonio Spurs?