Tim MacMahon
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Tim MacMahon
ESPN Workers Author
Joined ESPNDallas.com in September 2009
Covers the Dallas Cowboys and Dallas Mavericks
Seems often on ESPN Dallas 103.3 FM
Michael C. Wright
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Michael C. Wright
ESPN Workers Author
Joined ESPN in 2010
Beforehand coated Bears for ESPN.com
Performed faculty soccer at West Texas A&M
Dec 23, 2025, 07:00 AM ET
VICTOR WEMBANYAMA SHOUTED as he snatched the ball and flexed, standing on the trophy painted into the lane at T-Cell Area.
With the Spurs main by three factors, Oklahoma Metropolis‘s Chet Holmgren had simply missed the primary of a pair of free throws with eight seconds remaining within the Emirates NBA Cup semifinal on Dec. 13, basically punching San Antonio‘s ticket to the ultimate.
Maybe Wembanyama unleashed some private animosity in that roar. In any case, he has had a frosty aggressive relationship with Holmgren because the supremely gifted, skinny 7-footers first met within the 2021 FIBA Beneath-19 World Cup championship sport, the place Wembanyama’s French squad misplaced to Crew USA.
No matter any particular person grudge, this was a win value celebrating for the Spurs. That they had snapped the defending champions’ 16-game profitable streak in probably the most high-stakes sport of the Wembanyama period, a sign the younger Spurs had been already a pressure to be reckoned with regardless of no person on the roster having ever performed a playoff sport in a San Antonio uniform.
Keldon Johnson queued up Miley Cyrus’ “Party in the USA” minutes after the victory and blasted it within the locker room on his transportable speaker. Because the Spurs celebrated an NBA Cup ultimate berth, the Thunder had been already wanting ahead to their three rematches with San Antonio over the subsequent month, beginning with a home-and-home on Tuesday in San Antonio and Christmas Day (2:30 p.m. ET, ESPN) in Oklahoma Metropolis.
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The Thunder, which adopted up changing into the second-youngest NBA championship crew ever with a record-tying 24-1 begin, look like a growing dynasty. The Spurs, nonetheless, have all the weather to emerge as an actual rival: a star-studded younger core, geographical proximity, historical past between the franchises and perhaps a little bit of dangerous blood.
“Yeah, there’s a good chance,” reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander stated of the prospect of a rivalry after the Thunder’s Cup loss. “They’re younger, actually good, have plenty of expertise, play the correct approach. They play an excellent model of basketball.
“I’ve noticed that anything can happen in a couple years. So, yeah, it’s definitely a possibility.”
GILGEOUS-ALEXANDER’S REMARKS had been a obscure reference to the opposite Texas crew that appeared destined to be longtime rivals with the Thunder. The Dallas Mavericks had been the final crew to remove Oklahoma Metropolis within the playoffs, beating the Thunder within the 2024 West semifinals en path to an NBA Finals look — after which, months later, shockingly traded pre-prime, perennial MVP candidate Luka Doncic.
Relaxation assured, the Spurs totally intend to construct round their trio of top-four lottery picks — Wembanyama and guards Stephon Fort and Dylan Harper — for the foreseeable future. It may very well be this era’s model of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili in San Antonio.
The final time Oklahoma Metropolis and San Antonio confronted off within the postseason — within the 2016 Western Convention semifinals — the Spurs featured Duncan, Parker and Ginobili alongside youthful stars LaMarcus Aldridge and Kawhi Leonard, recent off his first All-Star look and second NBA Defensive Participant of the 12 months award. The Thunder, in the meantime, had been anchored by Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and Steven Adams.
OKC would knock off the Spurs in six video games, because the Thunder trio mixed for 80 factors in a 113-99 rout in Sport 6.
Duncan left the ground at Chesapeake Power Area (now referred to as Paycom Middle) with confetti embedded in his hair and uncertainty in his coronary heart about persevering with his Corridor of Fame profession. Leaning again towards a cinder block wall within the guests’ locker room, a dejected Duncan was requested about his future.
“I’ll get to that after I get out of here and figure out life,” he stated.
Duncan would announce his retirement two months after the loss in Oklahoma Metropolis.
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San Antonio Spurs vs. Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder: Sport Highlights
San Antonio Spurs vs. Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder: Sport Highlights
The rivalry between the groups by no means lived as much as its potential. The Thunder fell within the opening spherical of the playoffs over the subsequent 4 seasons, earlier than lacking the postseason the subsequent three years. San Antonio, in the meantime, superior to the convention finals the subsequent season, earlier than struggling elimination within the opening spherical the subsequent two seasons, adopted by a six-year postseason drought.
The Thunder and Spurs have battled it out in three postseason collection because the former’s transfer to Oklahoma Metropolis. The Thunder received two (2012 and 2016), posting a 10-8 playoff document towards San Antonio.
Maybe now the rivalry is again, or no less than within the early phases of growth. Fort believes the Spurs despatched a message with their semifinal win.
“It just showed that we’re serious,” he stated. “It shows our maturity down the line with whatever five is in the game. We have a lot of guys that can do it any given night. People are saying that they were unbeatable. But we come into every game with that same mindset, so I think it just shows what kind of team we are.”
A COMMENT BY Wembanyama throughout his postgame media availability after the Cup semifinal raised eyebrows, notably from the hordes of parents hopeful the Spurs can turn out to be thorns within the Thunder’s aspect.
“I’m just glad to be a part of something that’s growing to be so beautiful,” Wembanyama stated, answering a query about San Antonio’s success in profitable 9 of the 12 video games he had missed as a result of a left calf pressure earlier than his return that night time.
Wembanyama paused and contemplated, in search of simply the correct phrases: “Pure and ethical basketball, you know.”
Was {that a} delicate jab on the Thunder? Was it a sly nod to the rampant social media rumbling from opposing followers who whine that Gilgeous-Alexander attracts so many fouls calls whereas Oklahoma Metropolis will get away with flexing a football-style physicality on protection? What precisely did Wembanyama imply by the phrase “pure and ethical basketball?”
It was such a topic of intrigue that the primary two questions of his subsequent media availability, performed two days later earlier than observe, had been variations of that inquiry in French and English.
“Basically, my answer is simply going to be that in modern basketball we see a lot of brands of basketball that don’t offer much variety in the dangers they pose to the opponents,” Wembanyama stated. “Numerous isolation ball. Typically sort of compelled basketball.
“We try to propose a brand of basketball that can be described as more old-school sometimes, the Spurs’ way, as well. It’s tactically more correct basketball, in my opinion.”
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That response despatched no shade Oklahoma Metropolis’s approach. Wembanyama additionally struck a respectful tone when requested whether or not the Spurs believed there’s a rivalry brewing with the Thunder.
“I think we’re not quite there yet, but it’s a good sign that people see that it’s possible because it’s not like we’re the second seed right now,” he stated. “I don’t suppose anyone proper now can declare to have a rivalry with them within the league. They’re in their very own tier.
“But in the future if we can provide a stage this good and we reach that level, of course it would be great to have a rivalry because if you’re at the top and you have a rivalry, it means you’re in the best position to win titles. I’m very interested by it.”
