Beginnings are full of promise and hope. Volumes have been written about Spring, about the start of a new year, about babies, about children and the future. The next thing is not ruined or done, and can be anything. It its natural and right, but also a trap. One can be overly captivated by the promise of possibility and forget about the present.
In pro basketball, the symptoms are getting overly enamored of draft picks and young players and never competing in the present. The Spurs have found something like the sweet spot. They ended the Tim Duncan era — 20 years! — and attempted a transitionary period to Kawhi and DeRozan/Aldridge before planting new seeds. It took a couple of years, and tremendously good fortune but they were ready.
It is October, traditionally harvest time, and the Spurs are a'reapin’.
The other night the “evolutionary Kevin Garnett” competed with another athletic marvel in Chet Holmgren, both looking to cash in on some of that promise. It was merely a preseason game, but there was a level of competing, and caring that was infectious. Victor Wembanyama did the kinds of things that only a lengthy monster like he can: he rebounded over 7’1” Holmgren and got a put-back early. He did a backtap and a run out like a guard and got an easy dunk. He drove the lane and scored plus the foul. He recovered from being crossed up and got a block. He’s good.
Meanwhile, Chet was nice in the game also, displaying his ball-handling ability and all the things that made him a ridiculous prospect out of Gonzaga. Both guys are hungry and present some matchup problems from mortal NBA players. Now, that said, being preternaturally gifted is something of a norm in the Association. Giannis Antetekoumpo, LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Nikola Jokic et al are all genetic freaks in once sense or another. Every game plan has some amount of “this guy is freaky and will get a bucket or a defensive play from just being [too big, too fast, too quick] but we will take away [whatever he’s comfortable doing].”
That’s the game. That’s what makes this league so fun. The challenge is beating a collection of superior athletes who have dedicated themselves to the cause (in a like, four teams’ cases) and testing yourself against the best in the crucible of a playoff matchup.
Wembanyama is far away from that level of test now. Giannis had a few playoff series where he realized his limitations and had to take multiple summers adding to his game to become the MVP level that he is now. It is a journey, even if for some it is shorter than others.
In a preseason game in Oklahoma that we otherwise would not have cared about, we saw some sparks of greatness.