The budding Spurs-Thunder rivalry that could shape the West

VICTOR WEMBANYAMA SCREAMED as he collected the ball and flexed, standing on the painted trophy in the lane at T-Mobile Arena.

With the Spurs trailing by three points, Oklahoma City’s Chet Holmgren had just missed the first of a pair of free throws with eight seconds left in the Emirates NBA Cup semifinal on Dec. 13, punching San Antonio into the final.

Perhaps Wembanyama unleashed some personal animosity in this roar. After all, he’s had a frosty competitive relationship with Holmgren since the slender, extremely talented 7-footers first met in the 2021 FIBA ​​Under-19 World Cup championship game, where Wembanyama’s French team lost to Team USA.

Regardless of any individual grudges, it was a victory worth celebrating for Spurs. They had ended the defending champions’ 16-game winning streak in the highest-stakes game of the Wembanyama era, an indication that the young Spurs were already a force to be reckoned with even though no one on the roster had ever played a playoff game in a San Antonio uniform.

Keldon Johnson queued up Miley Cyrus’ “Party in the USA” minutes after the win and blasted it in the locker room on his portable speaker. As the Spurs celebrated their berth in the NBA Cup Finals, the Thunder were already looking forward to their three rematches with San Antonio over the next month, starting with a home-and-home matchup Tuesday in San Antonio and Christmas Day (2:30 p.m. ET, ESPN) in Oklahoma City.

The Thunder, who went on to become the NBA’s second-youngest championship team with a record 24-1 start, appear to be a dynasty in development. The Spurs, however, have all the elements to emerge as a real rival: a star-studded young core, geographical proximity, history between the franchises and perhaps a little disagreement.

“Yeah, there’s a good chance,” reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said of the prospect of a rivalry following the Thunder’s Cup loss. “They’re young, really good, have a lot of talent, play the right way. They play good basketball.

“I’ve noticed that anything can happen in a few years. So yeah, it’s definitely a possibility.”

GILGEOUS-ALEXANDER’S REMARKS were a vague reference to the other Texas team that seemed destined to be a long-time rival of the Thunder. The Dallas Mavericks were the last team to eliminate Oklahoma City in the playoffs, beating the Thunder in the 2024 West semifinals en route to an NBA Finals appearance — then, months later, they shockingly traded perennial pre-prime MVP candidate Luka Doncic.

Rest assured, the Spurs have every intention of leaning on their trio of top-four lottery picks — Wembanyama and guards Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper — for the foreseeable future. This could be this generation’s version of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili in San Antonio.

The last time Oklahoma City and San Antonio met in the postseason — in the 2016 Western Conference semifinals — the Spurs featured Duncan, Parker and Ginobili alongside young stars LaMarcus Aldridge and Kawhi Leonard, fresh off his first All-Star appearance and his second NBA Defensive Player of the Year award. The Thunder, meanwhile, were led by Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and Steven Adams.

OKC would eliminate the Spurs in six games, as the Thunder trio combined for 80 points in a 113-99 rout in game six.

Duncan left the field at Chesapeake Energy Arena (now called the Paycom Center) with confetti embedded in his hair and uncertainty in his heart about whether his Hall of Fame career would continue. Leaning against a cinder block wall in the visitors’ locker room, a dejected Duncan was asked about his future.

“I’ll come back to it after I get out of here and figure out life,” he said.

Duncan would announce his retirement two months after the loss in Oklahoma City.

The rivalry between the teams never lived up to its potential. The Thunder fell in the first round of the playoffs the next four seasons, before missing the playoffs the following three years. San Antonio, meanwhile, advanced to the conference finals the following season, before suffering first-round elimination the next two seasons, followed by a six-year playoff drought.

The Thunder and Spurs have faced each other in three playoff series since the former’s move to Oklahoma City. The Thunder have won two (2012 and 2016), going 10-8 in the playoffs against San Antonio.

Perhaps the rivalry is back, or at least in the early stages of development. Castle believes Spurs sent a message with their semi-final win.

“It just shows we’re serious,” he said. “It shows our maturity, regardless of who five players are in the game. We have a lot of guys that can do it on any given night. People say they were unbeatable. But we approach every game with the same mindset, so I think that just shows what kind of team we are.”

A COMMENT FROM Wembanyama, during his postgame media availability following the Cup semifinal, raised eyebrows, especially from the hordes of people who are hoping the Spurs can become thorns in the Thunder’s side.

“I’m just happy to be a part of something that’s becoming so beautiful,” Wembanyama said, responding to a question about San Antonio’s success in winning nine of the 12 games he missed with a sprained left calf before his return that night.

Wembanyama stopped and thought, searching for the right words: “Pure and ethical basketball, you know.”

Was it a subtle move against the Thunder? Was this a sly nod to the frenzied social media rumblings from opposing fans who complain that Gilgeous-Alexander draws so many fouls while Oklahoma City gets away with playing a physical style of football on defense? What exactly did Wembanyama mean by the phrase “pure and ethical basketball”?

The subject was so intriguing that the first two questions in his next press briefing, asked two days later before training, were variations of this survey in French and English.

“Basically, my answer will just be that in modern basketball, we see a lot of basketball brands that don’t offer a lot of variety in the dangers they pose to opponents,” Wembanyama said. “A lot of isolation ball. Sometimes kind of forced basketball.

“We’re trying to offer a brand of basketball that can be described as more old-school sometimes, like the Spurs too. It’s a more tactically correct basketball, in my opinion.”

This response sent no shadows to Oklahoma City. Wembanyama also struck a respectful tone when asked if the Spurs thought there was a rivalry with the Thunder.

“I think we’re not there yet, but it’s a good sign that people see it’s possible because it’s not like we’re second seed right now,” he said. “I don’t think anyone can currently claim to have a rivalry with them in the league. They are in their own level.

“But in the future, if we can come up with such a good step and reach that level, of course it would be great to have a rivalry, because if you are at the top and you have a rivalry, that means you are in the best position to win titles. That interests me a lot.”