Spurs’ Devin Vassell sends confident warning to NBA amid San Antonio’s breakout year

Though the San Antonio Spurs are historically one of the most successful franchises in all of sports, the team’s second-longest tenured player, Devin Vassell, will experience the postseason for the first time since he arrived in the Alamo City. It’s reality for the longest-serving current Spur, Keldon Johnson, as well. Fellow veteran De’Aaron Fox is set for his second taste of the playoffs. Given the makeup of the rest of their roster, Vassell says it’s a bad omen for the rest of the NBA.

“I keep saying it, but the league’s in trouble,” the sixth-year pro declared.

The Silver and Black’s lineup includes the reigning Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle and the second overall pick of the 2025 draft, Dylan Harper. Of course, everything centers on 22-year-old Victor Wembanyama.

“We’ve got a lot of young talent that is really good and the sky’s the limit for really all of them and really all of us,” Vassell added. “You still look at KJ (Keldon Johnson), me, Fox. All of us are still 25, 26, 27 years old. It’s an exciting time to be a Spur and to be a Spurs fan for sure.”

Devin Vassell reflects on Spurs’ struggles

The 11th overall pick of the 2020 NBA Draft, Vassell joined the Spurs after the first of what would prove six straight losing seasons. His teams have since won 33 (in a 72-game season), 34, 22, 22 and 34 games.

“I think that, honestly, we were all just trying to work on our habits and I think KJ has talked about it a lot of times,” Vassell shared. “Even when we were losing, we were still building good habits and trying to translate good habits into now, where it looks like there’s clips going around where you see two, three, four or five extra passes, then we’re getting shots. That’s what we were trying to instill these past couple years.”

Before their six-year postseason drought, the Spurs tied an NBA record by making 22 straight playoff appearances. It’s an organization so accustomed to success that though this marks their 53rd season in San Antonio, fans can more easily remember the years in which they didn’t qualify for the second season.

“Honestly, great,” is how Vassell described clinching at least the second seed in the Western Conference.

“I mean, we haven’t accomplished anything yet,” the former Florida State Seminole cautioned. “We’ve still got to get to the playoffs and finish out the season strong and get this thing going. But it’s great compared to these past couple years to be in this position and not being on the opposite side of some of these teams that we’ve been facing.”

The Spurs could still catch the Oklahoma City Thunder for the best record in the West. Either way, this year’s results already speak for themselves.

And, as Vassell sees it, they’ve been a time coming.

“With the team and the talent that we have now, it’s able to show. But I think we were always trying to build the right habits. It just wasn’t coming into winning.”

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