Quest For A Win: Behind the San Antonio Spurs' Historic Losing Streak and Home Triumph
SAN ANTONIO — 18,534 fans. 43 days. 18 games. 14 points. One outcome.
Frost Bank Center had seen it all. The humble home of the San Antonio Spurs stood while Gregg Popovich coached Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker to numerous championships, while David Robinson was showered in title-winning confetti and when Victor Wembanyama spurred a light show prior to his home debut.
But as many good things that it witnessed, it also watched while opposing stars took control of games to send the Spurs to the locker room disappointed, sometimes again and again. That crowd had been there for everything.
And it was about to witness history once more.
Wembanyama was all about winning. It was his initial promise after being drafted to one of the NBA's more storied franchises. He wanted to win a ring "ASAP," and not only imagined it happening, but he said he knew it would.
"It's no secret that it's very hard to win a [championship] ring," he told national media just a few weeks into his Spurs tenure. "But I'm patient. I know it will happen at one point or another."
In his first few months of NBA exposure, he didn't get to win, however. That was going to be more difficult than it let on. Nobody expected San Antonio to become a winning city instantly after the 7-4 rookie came to town, but they also expected more early success. Instead, they got 18 straight losses and over a month of waiting for just one win. One.
Waiting for that single occurrence made it even more special when it happened.
And with 1:23 remaining in the fourth quarter against LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers on a Friday night, it did. Wembanyama was subbed out alongside the rest of the Spurs' starters, and in the moment, all he could think to do was hug Devin Vassell.
The giant rookie embraced his teammates. He celebrated — both of his arms raised to the sky as he took a look around at the crowd he brought to a standing ovation — and he relished in a feeling he knew all too well. One that he'd been missing.
“It’s not like I forgot about that feeling,” Wembanyama said after the game, careful to put into perspective how long it had been since winning an NBA game, “But I’m addicted to winning. This is what I love, and it’s what I live for. I have to show it.”
Wembanyama showed it. His teammates loved it, and the Spurs' fanbase felt it.
"The crowd was great," Gregg Popovich said following the game. "They want to win, too. They were having fun, and we heard that. It was a good lift."
So, Frost Bank Center got its win. Finally.
But how did it get there?
How did San Antonio reach the one win it had been coveting for over a month and do so against a player like James and a team like Los Angeles? How did it rally?
The answer came from more than just one game. The Spurs' triumphant home victory was a long time in the making, especially with the numerous close games that they played both at home and on the road. They knew that.
But they also knew that rebuilding was a process of ups and downs. And in the story of their fourth win of the season and first in 18 games, there were quite a lot of those.
Quite a lot.
Nov 2, 2023; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama (1) prior to the game against the Phoenix Suns at Footprint Center.
© Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
November
The first loss is usually easy to brush off.
For the San Antonio Spurs, that came on opening night against the Dallas Mavericks in a game that didn't feature Wembanyama. But only because he was on the bench.
The rookie had a debut to forget, finding himself in foul trouble which ultimately forced him to sit out most of the action. San Antonio went down as Mavs center Derek Lively II made clear that he'd be a special piece for his team. Wembanyama had already proven that, but he couldn't do it on the biggest stage he'd played on that far in his career. He only got 23 minutes as the Spurs lost and faced a stinging defeat.
Despite the loss, however, Popovich commended the rookie for his attitude.
"I thought his maturity showed," the veteran coach said of Wembanyama dealing with foul trouble. "He had a wonderful outing considering [his situation]. ... He came in with the last, I think, seven minutes and just played.”
San Antonio went 2-1 to close out October and then began November with a 1-0 record. Things were looking up. Maybe the Spurs would be as good as the expectations led many to believe. Just maybe.
Putting an uncertainty on that was a good idea for San Antonio.
Instead of building on a 3-2 start — the highlight of which was a two-game win streak against the Phoenix Suns at home — the Spurs started to accrue losses. First it was a mega comeback by the Toronto Raptors that broke up their win streak. Then, it was giving up over 150 points to the NBA's top offense rating-wise. And the list went on.
Wembanyama lost his Madison Square Garden debut. He lost to former No. 1 pick Anthony Edwards in the pair's first matchup. He lost to Chet Holmgren and the Oklahoma City Thunder in a battle that didn't even feature either rookie. He even lost to a Memphis Grizzlies team that wasn't much better than San Antonio without Ja Morant — that one stung extra hard.
Nov 18, 2023; San Antonio, Texas, USA; San Antonio Gregg Popovich yells at Spurs center Zach Collins (23) during the second half against the Memphis Grizzlies at Frost Bank Center.
© Scott Wachter-USA TODAY Sports
As many losses as San Antonio began to experience, even more questions arose, all demanding answers. How could a team with a 7-4 generational talent sink to the bottom of the NBA?
The questioning made sense. Wembanyama knew that, but as much as he likely hated to be asked about his team's continuous failure, he made a promise at the beginning of the season to be good at everything. That included media availabilities.
So, he did his best to provide an answer.
"I think it comes down to how important we individually consider our dedication and efforts to respect the game plan," the rookie explained after the Spurs' 120-108 Grizzlies loss. "I think sometimes we forget, all of us, to do some of these efforts and it costs us."
Dedication, effort and consistency made of a three-headed dragon that plagued the Spurs throughout their losses. But even still, Popovich stuck by his team, stating that not only were they trying to win, but they were getting better.
"The effort is there, and I can see the wheels turning," the veteran coach said. "They're learning about each other, [and] I'm really proud of them.
"Nobody likes to lose, but they're getting smarter with every game."
As the Spurs' smartness grew, however, so, too, did their awareness. They realized the hole they were in, what it implied on a larger scale and how dire the situation was becoming. Yes, losing consecutive games during your future franchise cornerstone's first year while simultaneously being the league's youngest team isn't reason to blow anything up. But it is concerning.
So, the players sat and talked about it.
"I don’t let being a young team make any excuses on why we don’t come out on top each and every night," Keldon Johnson explained. "We learn, we compete and we want to win. We don’t go out there and say ‘Aw man. At the end of the day, we’re a young team, it’s fine.’
"No. We lost, and we’re trying to make the right corrections so that we can win."
According to Jeremy Sochan, that kind of open dialogue was what made the Spurs' players-only meeting a success.
"Definitely," the point-forward said when asked if the meeting was helpful. "That was a really important meeting for us. We talked a lot. It was a pretty good session for us to just communicate ... get things out, and just be on the same terms."
At that point, the Spurs' losing streak was 10. It had been 20 days since their last win and between being outplayed and being detrimented by their own lineup experiments — Sochan's move to point being one of them — there weren't too many reasons for San Antonio to be looking up.
But they did anyway.
"[We] just take it day-by-day," Johnson said. "We want to go out there and win each and every game, regardless of whoever we play. We're prepared to win and beat teams. There are going to be ups and downs, and there’s going to be a learning curve.
"But I think [we're] doing a great job."
Call it misplaced positivity, but the Spurs continued to rally behind each other. They showed that when they refused to let Wembanyama be the last one on the team bus following their loss to the Knicks.
As for the rookie, he heeded his pre-season expectations with great care and not only played to the potential he was expected to, but proved his greater desire to help his team win games. And as November waned, San Antonio accepted that it perhaps wasn't the month for winning basketball.
There was always December — and plenty more games to secure a win.
But little did they know, it was only set to get worse.
The Wrong Side of History
Victor Wembanyama hadn't lost this bad since he was a grade-school goalkeeper.
Sitting on the heels of what would be a 13-game losing streak just a few days later, the rookie was asked about how long it had been since he'd lost as many consecutive games as he had with the Spurs. And his response?
San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama (1) on the court before a game vs. the Chicago Bulls at the Frost Bank Center.
© Daniel Dunn-USA TODAY Sports
"Probably back when I was playing soccer. We really didn't have a good team."
The rookie swears the streak wasn't his fault, but then again, neither were the Spurs' losses. Yes, he was inconsistent at times with his production, but it wasn't so much him as it was the entire team. They won together and lost together.
San Antonio has the youngest roster in the NBA, which would explain the woes it faced to begin the season, but it's also far from talentless. It's simply new to the league and the competitiveness of it
That was noted by Wembanyama, though his comments weren't a knock on the state of the Spurs, just that things were still being figured out.
"I believe I will keep getting better and better every year, so it's promising," Wembanyama said.
"This is probably the worst Victor we'll ever see."
Wembanyama did begin to find a level of consistency — he set the record for most consecutive double-doubles by a teenager in NBA history — throughout the losing streak, but nothing was able to translate to wins. And still, the Spurs searched for an answer to their woes. Both at the individual and collective level.
“It starts with individual effort," Spurs forward Julian Champagnie said. "We all have to know our assignments … [but] then, individual effort turns into team effort. [That's when] we're all on the same page [and] all in sync. And that starts somewhere. We've just got to keep getting better at it."
Doug McDermott concurred.
"We know it's going to be a process," he said in the same shoot-around. "[We're] the youngest team in the NBA. We're doing a lot of film work trying to correct our mistakes ... [but] we've got to try and flush whatever happened the night before."
Throughout each loss, that was the cadence for San Antonio: Get better, get better, get better.
No matter how many times they said it, though, it didn't show on their record. That didn't mean it wasn't happening, but it certainly did begin to feel like the same story, different day. And as such, the Spurs prepared to face the Minnesota Timberwolves for the second time of the season.
They lost. Again. 102-94.
San Antonio didn't completely roll over, though it constantly felt as if it was playing keep-up, and not just score wise. Between keeping up with Rudy Gobert and slowing down Edwards — among others, as five Minnesota players finished in double digits — the Spurs just didn't match up.
On the night, San Antonio shot just 22 percent from behind the arc and under 40 percent from the field. They didn't get the advantage of more rebounds, nor did they get to the line enough — Minnesota made more from the charity stripe than San Antonio attempted. There were simply outplayed.
And Osman was the first to speak on it.
Dec 6, 2023; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves forward Kyle Anderson (1) drives past San Antonio Spurs forward Cedi Osman (16) in the third quarter at Target Center.
© Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports
"I think we gave up a lot of offensive rebounds," the forward said. "I think we could get better in terms of rebounding, but I think we’d be in a good spot. We have a great opportunity now [against] Chicago to go ahead and play our best game.
"Everybody’s done with losing."
San Antonio had tried everything: moving Sochan to the point guard position, trying Tre Jones in the starting lineup, putting Wembanyama at the center and moving Zach Collins to the bench after he'd started the entire season.
None of it worked, as the Spurs officially tied their franchise record for most losses in a row at 16 following their loss to the Bulls. But the latter move, especially, seemed to pave the way for a potential win — at least according to Collins.
"Having more firepower coming off the bench is always going to help us take some relief off the starters," the center said of his change in role. "Hopefully this, spacing-wise, will work a little better. I thought it was good."
Collins' move was a way for San Antonio to show that it was still committed to winning despite the struggles, so off it went to face Houston. A win would keep them on the right side of history, and a loss would do the opposite.
The first year with Wembanyama sitting atop the franchise record books for most consecutive losses? Not a great look.
Unfortunately for San Antonio, that's what happened. They fell short both at the end of the game and on their shots from behind the arc — the game marking 17 straight losses and an unfortunate reaching of history.
Despite the continued woes — which told the primary story of the losing Spurs to that point — however, nothing could have prepared them to lose something far more valuable than just a game.
A Further Setback
An hour prior to the San Antonio Spurs welcoming an East-side middle school to the Frost Bank Center for a chance to give back to the community, spirits were high.
Doug McDermott, Julian Champagnie and Tre Jones waited in the tunnel for their chance to come out and surprise 30 middle school girls with a basketball clinic and Q&A, but just 30 minutes prior their spirits were dampened.
Charles Bassey was going to miss the remainder of the 2023-24 season.
"San Antonio Spurs center Charles Bassey underwent an MRI in San Antonio yesterday," the team announced via press release. "It revealed a torn left anterior cruciate ligament. ... Bassey will miss the remainder of the season and the team will provide updates as appropriate."
Bassey went down in Dallas during an Austin Spurs game against the Texas Legends after posting 30 points and 13 rebounds. His performance there hadn't quite been replicated on the mainstream Spurs, but he was making an impact.
And losing him hurt his teammates greatly.
Dec 1, 2023; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; San Antonio Spurs center Charles Bassey (28) dunks the ball against New Orleans Pelicans center Jonas Valanciunas (17) during the first half at the Smoothie King Center.
© Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports
"Prayers up for C. Bass," Vassell said of Bassey's injury. "We've all got our arms around him, trying to help him out. We've got to be there for him mentally. I had knee surgery, and for me, that was mentally tough. But that's nowhere near an ACL. Everybody's just got to put their arms around him. It's tough for him [and] for us.
"It sucks, truthfully."
Missing the remainder of 60-plus games wasn't going to be easy for Bassey to handle as it was. Being absent from games while watching your teammates rally together hurts, but what made matters worse is that he'd been in a similar position before.
Just one season prior, he had to miss the last month of games with a knee injury.
"Poor guy," Popovich said of the center after the news broke. "He was just learning how to play."
Bassey wasn't a superstar by any means — he was averaging just 3.3 points and four rebounds in limited minutes — but that didn't minimize his impact in the slightest, and with another year set to be stolen from his career by injuries, it hurt for his teammates almost as much as it did him, especially with the excitement he entered the season with.
"I've been working all summer on my body," Bassey said. "I'm feeling great. I'm in shape. I'm conditioned, so I'm feeling good."
Acquired midway through the 2022-23 season, the center didn't get a chance to experience a full training camp with his teammates, and that ended up being his least-favorite part about moving over from Philadelphia. In fact, he loved everything else.
"This is a perfect spot," Bassey said of his new city and team when he arrived. "[We have] a young team, I'm still learning everything out there. Everything's going smoothly. I'm just so locked in with my team ... [but] I wish I started preseason training camp with them."
As much as he loved the Spurs, the Spurs loved him. Just like every other teammate.
“We have a very healthy locker room, healthy [relationships] with each other," Wembanyama said. "This is not an issue at all. When we're losing, we’re losing together. When someone puts their head down, we go help them. When someone falls on the court, all of us rush to help him up.”
Specifically for Bassey, they showed that togetherness during practice, making sure to encourage him despite missing extended time for a second straight season.
Nov 9, 2022; San Antonio, Texas, USA; San Antonio Spurs guard Devin Vassell (24) celebrates a play by San Antonio Spurs center Charles Bassey (28) in the first half against the Memphis Grizzlies at the AT&T Center.
© Daniel Dunn-USA TODAY Sports
"He's battled, man," Collins said. "He's been through a lot. He had a great year last year and that got cut short. He was playing great this year, and then again that happened."
"[But] he smiled today when I talked to him. That's important."
With Bassey out, San Antonio would have to get used to playing without a natural backup to Wembanyama. They'd have to deal with the mental strain of missing a teammate for not just one game, but 60. They'd have to deal with the pressure of losing games with an incomplete roster, and with the rest of the wins already piling up past the history point, that was tough.
The entire situation was tough. From the beginning of November to the December stretch of facing the Lakers and Pelicans every other day. But they couldn't focus on the negative, nor the height of the challenge it was going to be hosting some of the league's top teams. And without Bassey? Forget it.
But they couldn't think that way. They had to remain positive, no matter what.
No matter who they were going to face. The Lakers included.
"What choice do we have?" Collins said. "What's happened has happened. We can't look at that and say that people will feel bad for us. We can't feel sorry for ourselves.
"We just have to move on and keep playing."
Quest For A Win: Dethroning 'The King'
LeBron James streaked down the court completely alone.
He'd just read the San Antonio Spurs' offense to-a-T on their second possession of their Friday night matchup, poking the ball out from behind Wembanyama as soon as he received it in the post. Then, he ran toward the basket, received the pass, and threw down his signature tomahawk dunk to equalize the score.
It was an utter display of dominance.
"When we’re healthy, we’re one of the better teams in the league," James said following the game. "I’ve said it over and over, when we’re healthy and we have our group, we can compete [against] anybody.”
Anybody meant Wembanyama. James had just proven that.
Dec 15, 2023; San Antonio, Texas, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard LeBron James (23) goes up for a dunk during the second half against the San Antonio Spurs at Frost Bank Center.
© Scott Wachter-USA TODAY Sports
Frost Bank Center erupted as 'The King' gloated down the baseline for the cameras, and in the moment, it seemed like the Spurs were about to be in for another rough night. It seemed like they were about to drop 19 straight games — and second in a row to the visiting Los Angeles squad.
But that didn't happen.
San Antonio started hot right away and used momentum to carry it throughout the game. It rallied behind a career high for Vassell, another double-double from Wembanyama and a strong defensive outing from Sochan.
The Spurs finally looked the way they had hoped to look all season long. They didn't let the Lakers lead for a single second of the matchup and sent James back through the tunnel he warmed up in a loser. The Lakers had lost.
Not before putting on a show, however.
Wembanyama and his 38-year-old "No. 1 prospect" predecessor seldom matched up one-on-one during the matchup, but when they did, you could've heard a pin drop.
If there weren't any fans, that is.
With James backed into a corner with no room to pass and a giant rookie in his view, it seemed the NBA world — and all 18,354 fans in attendance at Frost Bank Center —was about to get the block highlight of the century, or another reason to praise the 21-year vet for his timeless-ness.
“[I was] just trying to get his hands to go down just a little bit," James said, recounting the moments he spent behind the arc. "Because I know his wingspan, and I know he's able to block shots outside his comfort. So, [I] just tried to create a little bit more room and shoot it a little bit higher."
The shot left James' hands and barely cleared Wembanyama's outstretched arms that might have deterred any other player from trying the shot. But James wasn't any other player. The shot went in, the Lakers' half of Frost Bank Center cheered and San Antonio's once 25-point lead was cut to just six with the first half winding down.
"That was a very high arcing shot," Wembanyama said when asked about the moment.
“It kind of felt like a playoff game to me,” the rookie added. "Of course we have to feel good about it. We love that feeling. We want to repeat it, so yeah, we’re going to keep working our ass[es] off.”
Dec 15, 2023; San Antonio, Texas, USA; San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) dunks during the first half against the Los Angeles Lakers at Frost Bank Center.
© Scott Wachter-USA TODAY Sports
If it was treated like a playoff game, then the Spurs did well for themselves. They've proven they can play strong basketball for certain stretches, but not on a consistent basis. Knocking off the Lakers was a strong start, however. And the players knew it.
“Any win feels great, but yeah this feels good," Johnson said. "I could get used to this feeling. It felt great. But you want to know what really felt great to me?
"I saw Jermey play amazing defense tonight, Victor block shots, rebound, do what he does, but did y’all see Devin Vassell? We’ve got so many doubters, this and that. He had a couple of bad games, but like I say all the time, that's what he does. He put in the time for that.
"It feels good to see my teammates flourishing. That’s one of the best feelings.”
Vassell notched his career high — which he jokingly admitted he was beginning to worry about not happening — by crossing the 30-point mark on his season. His performance was representative of how the Spurs played as a whole against the Lakers. They played the kind of basketball they'd been needing to play.
That was largely due to the crowd.
"It's big time," Vassell said, referring to the Spurs' fan support. "I've got to give a huge shutout to the fans. It's not easy to stick with a young group like this going through a stretch like [the one we had]. We appreciate all the support. At the end of the day, we need them.
"For a young group with that kind of support, it's huge. Shout out to the fans. They do more than they think that they do."
Dec 15, 2023; San Antonio, Texas, USA; San Antonio Spurs fan reacts when greeted by guard Devin Vassell (24) before a game against the Los Angeles Lakers at Frost Bank Center.
© Scott Wachter-USA TODAY Sports
Those fans packed Frost Bank Center for all 10 games of San Antonio's losing streak, and never stopped cheering "Go Spurs Go" the entire time. Even when James was stretching before taking the court for the first time of the night, it was loud and clear.
And under the bright lights, the Spurs performed.
“You know as well as everybody that when you go through those experiences, trials and tribulations, you learn from it," Popovich said. "And until you go through it, since you can’t practice it, you do it all you want. But you got to be in it when the lights are on ... [that's when you] finally get it right."
The Spurs had broken their losing streak against the Lakers in excellent fashion, doing so against one of the game's All-Time greats. It was the moment they'd been waiting for for over a month, and it was every bit as sweet as expected.
And that was exactly what Wembanyama had been hoping for.
"I wish [the streak] would have been over earlier," the rookie said. "But it shows character. We never put our heads down and we never gave up. The easy option would have been to just give up, but nobody in the locker room has had that attitude.
"I'm glad we have the group that we have."
So, the Spurs did it. With the win accomplished and under their belt, they now had to look ahead to the remainder of their schedule — post-losing streak.
But what was that? What comes after a historic victory against the Lakers?
Looking to the Future
Victor Wembanyama might not have been starstruck by LeBron James playing against him for the first time, but he had good reason for it.
Besides not knowing what the word 'starstruck' meant, he also wasn't focused on the spectacle of his matchup against James, nor was he caught up in the moment.
Just the basketball part of it. He just wanted to win.
"I thought I would feel some type of way," Wembanyama admitted following his victory over Los Angeles. "But honestly, on the court I was just trying to win, trying to defend and make the right plays. I didn't have any kinds of feelings on the court."
Focusing solely on basketball is certainly a strong mindset to adopt as the Spurs' season rages on. They'll face countless more tough opponents, all of which won't be taking it easy on a team whose wins can be counted on one hand. But San Antonio already knew that.
"It's the NBA," Collins said. "There's another game every other day."
Dec 15, 2023; San Antonio, Texas, USA; San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich talks with players during a timeout in the first half against the Los Angeles Lakers at Frost Bank Center.
© Scott Wachter-USA TODAY Sports
“The struggle every day is what makes us better,” Wembanyama added.
Those struggles came back quickly after San Antonio lost yet again on its home court to the New Orleans Pelicans. It couldn't defend the perimeter or "shoot into the ocean" — as Popovich briefly put it — and found itself once again in the losing column. But as much as it may seem like it, it wasn't a snap back to reality.
Yes, the party was over for San Antonio. But it wasn't done winning.
"Not at all," Osman said when asked about if the Spurs were defined by their loss to New Orleans. "We are definitely better than this. The way we played against the Lakers, both games, I could say there was a lot of growth for us. Today was [just] a bad day for us."
On the basketball court, the Spurs need to find consistency. They need to shoot better, utilize Wembanyama in the paint more, solidify rotations and have clear second first and second units. They need to work on a lot of aspects of their game as they continue to grow.
But off of the court, they need to do the same thing with each other. They need to rally behind one another and continue to stick by one another. Vassell knows that.
“[Biggest thing I learned] is to stay together," the shooting guard said about San Antonio's historic losing streak. "Don’t point fingers. At the end of the day, just look in the mirror and know you have to be better. I take that on myself to be a leader. We've got a really young team, and I feel like a lot of people look up to me to be that leader on the team."
He'll continue to be a leader as much as Wembanyama will. And Sochan. McDermott even, being the resident "old guy" on an otherwise youthful team.
Those leaders wee active during the Spurs' victory, and they were active the next day at practice, which was strongly evident in the team's general mood. Saturday morning, Victory Capital Performance Center housed a team relieved to get a win and excited about getting back to work for the first time in what felt like ages.
"Everybody was happy about the win," Osman said. "Seeing everybody happy in the locker room, it was just another motivation for [future games]. We just have to keep going. ... It's a great mood. Everybody's in a great mood."
McDermott agreed.
"We can't celebrate too much," he said. "But it did feel good to see a smile on each other's faces."
As much as McDermott, Osman and Wembanyama liked it, so, did the Spurs' fanbase. Achieving the first win in over a month was nothing to glance over, but rather a chance for them to celebrate their team. For the team to celebrate its fans.
In other words, the Spurs got their win. They redeemed their 18-game losing streak and got themselves back on track. Now, they're looking for more.
"We're back now," Wembanyama aid. "We’re underdogs. We're taking every game like it’s the last one and competing every night. ... I'm sure there's going to be many more [wins] this season and in the future.
"And I like that."
Dec 15, 2023; San Antonio, Texas, USA; San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) greets fans before the game against the Los Angeles Lakers at Frost Bank Center.
© Scott Wachter-USA TODAY Sports
