The Spurs' slow start is teaching Victor Wembanyama a lesson the NBA should fear

At 1-2, San Antonio hasn't quite hit the ground running. That's been frustrating for fans, but Victor Wembanyama isn't frustrated. I know that because I asked him on Saturday night.

After the Spurs put Dallas away 122-106 for their first win of the season, I asked Vic if it was frustrating to not pick up where they left off last season, while other teams clearly have. He declined to characterize it that way.

"I don't know if frustrating is the word, but I would say I'm experiencing, you know, learning how to navigate it, having less preparation time than every other team in the league, except one. It's a different sort of challenge, but I guess it's like everything. The best, or maybe the only, way to learn is to go through it.” - Victor Wembanyama

The thoughtful French star makes a great point. It's not an excuse, so much as a reality. Look no further than how the defending champions have begun their season.

Only the Knicks had a summer as short as the Spurs'

Game 5 ended on June 13 at the Frost Bank Center. I remember the date clearly because, for me, the defeat was the birthday gift from hell. The Silver and Black went home with 28 other teams already at least a couple of weeks into vacation. SA bounced Oklahoma City in seven, ending their season on May 30. Everyone else started earlier than that, but training camp opened in late September for all.

So Wemby got about two months, and he still squeezed chess, rugby training, and World Cup qualifiers into it. When speaking about the offseason days before the start of the 2026-27 campaign, he told reporters explicitly: "It was short."

Now look at the only other team working off a mid-June finish. The Knicks dropped their home opener to Philadelphia 106-100, then lost in Boston 107-103. They're 0-2. The two teams that played for a championship are a combined 1-4, while Houston sits at 3-0 and OKC, Memphis, Minnesota, Portland, and the Lakers are all unbeaten. That's not a coincidence.

Mitch Johnson wasn't happy with the Spurs effort in the win

The part that matters most here is the timing of his response. The Spurs just won the game, so he didn't need the kind of cover one might reach for following a loss. He was just telling you what the first week of the season actually feels like when your last one ended in June.

That tracks with what Mitch said when I asked about post-ups: that everyone can be better, himself included. These are the remarks of a very self-aware group.

If the remarks don't convince you, the tone of Mitch Johnson's presser would have. He was visibly irritated after a 16-point win, telling the media the Spurs' floor is currently "too low." He's right. The Mavericks were without Cooper Flagg and Kyrie Irving, but it was only a three-point game heading into the fourth quarter of a high-scoring affair, 92-89.

The 92 points were great. The 89 given up were egregiously bad. San Antonio's culture still leans on defense first. That will never change, and right now, they're inconsistent on that end at best. But as Wembanyama also said last night, there are 79 games left to get this thing headed in the right direction.

If the price of playing in June is a slow start, that's a fair trade. This experience will help them understand how to navigate future shortened offseasons, but for now, Spurs Nation will just have to wait for them to figure things out. The Alien is learning. Adapting. The rest of the league gets to be on the other end of it when he does. I don't envy them.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow