The NBA gave the Spurs the perfect opportunity to prove last season was no fluke

The NBA was both considerate and ruthless with the Spurs' opening schedule. They only have 13 total back-to-backs, which is tied for the fewest, but two of them happen before October 30th.

It sets them up to play four games in six nights, and the teams they'll play from the start of the season to Halloween are all formidable except for one. That at least gives it a chance to wind up as a trap.

• Oct. 20 Oklahoma City Thunder
• Oct. 23 Houston Rockets
• Oct. 24 Dallas Mavericks
• Oct. 27 Sacramento Kings
• Oct. 28 Utah Jazz
• Oct. 31 Minnesota Timberwolves

The Kings aren't projected to be a very good team, but that doesn't mean they can't get hot if the Spurs let them build confidence.

The rest of the stretch speaks for itself. It's composed of rivals, playoff teams, and dangerous up-and-comers. It won't be a cakewalk for the Silver and Black, but as the saying goes, "Iron sharpens iron."

The Spurs can use their tough opening schedule as a launchpad

San Antonio should look at this as an opportunity to grab hold of the Western Conference early. They only have three meetings with OKC all season, so winning their head-to-heads is important.

While the hope is that the Spurs run away from the competition in the standings, there's a reasonable chance the race for the number one seed will come down to the wire.

In a race for home-court advantage for the playoffs, the margins will matter as much as the Spurs allow them to. They must win big games, games against tough opponents, and they have to take care of business against inferior teams.

Doing so will also help Victor Wembanyama win what was taken from him last season by the stiffness of a tradition of offensive favoritism.

Wembanyama can start his MVP campaign early and he must maintain it

The award season voters made very clear what they value when Shai Gilgeous-Alexander won his second Most Valuable Player award—this time, by a landslide. Offense is king in the NBA.

It doesn't matter how transcendent your defense is. They'll acknowledge its impact, yet disregard it when it's time to assign value to guys.

If that's what they want, that's what Wembanyama has to give, and he understands that now. San Antonio's franchise star played at an MVP level all year, but he tried to do it his way: with his defense.

When he realized that wasn't going to be enough to secure the trophy last year, he picked up his scoring and made a serious push. Unfortunately, it was too late to make up ground in the voters' eyes by then. He'll need to start early and keep up the pressure all year this time.

October 20 brings a new day with fresh challenges that Wemby and the Spurs can attack from the beginning. There won't be a soft landing after reaching the Finals, but that's exactly what they need.

If San Antonio wants to prove last season was the start of a championship era rather than a one-year wonder, they couldn't ask for a better opportunity to start proving it.

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