Fred VanVleet thinks the hype around the San Antonio Spurs has started running a little too fast. During a recent episode of his Unguarded podcast, the veteran guard spoke bluntly about the sudden wave of praise surrounding the young team, urging fans and analysts to pause before declaring anything finished.
He spoke with the tone of someone who has seen the long road before. One strong season does not close the argument.
“Because I can only talk about the last three years. I don’t know what they was doing before I got here, for us or them. We were better than them the last two years. Okay, so they’re better than us this year. You would say they’re a better team than us this year. Okay, what’s the finish line?”
“Have they won a playoff series? They haven’t yet.”
“Okay, so everybody slow the f**k down. It’s a marathon. It’s not a sprint. They in front of us right now, literally in the standings. And then yeah, you could judge everything based upon they look like this or they look like this or this player is better than this player.”
“Yeah, Wemby is an alien. Castle is a really good player. Harper is like a really good player. They’re having a good year. But what’s the finish line though? You know what I’m saying? It’s easy to say that now in the moment. And being a hundred, they beat our ass. They beat the skin off our ass.”
“But I don’t remember, and this is my ignorance to the fandom and the social media verse of how we consume the game, everybody taking all these victory laps.”
The comment came after someone pointed out how dominant the Spurs have looked this season. VanVleet did not deny their talent or the jump they made in the standings. He simply questioned where the celebration was headed. The finish line still matters most.
That question hangs over the debate. Because on paper, the Spurs look like one of the best teams in basketball right now, and the numbers support that claim from almost every angle.
The team currently ranks fourth in offensive rating at 117.7 and third in defensive rating at 110.5, which together build a powerful net rating of +7.2. Efficiency on both ends keeps them near the top of the league.
The record jumps off the page, too. San Antonio sits at 49-18, the second-best mark in the entire NBA, trailing only the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder by three games. With fifteen games left, the race for the top seed in the West is still open.
And they have beaten strong opponents all season.
The Spurs hold a 28- 12 record against teams above .500, the best mark in the league against winning teams. They also own a surprising 4- 1 record against the Thunder this season. The victories were not narrow either.
More wins keep stacking up. San Antonio holds a 3-1 record against the Los Angeles Lakers, another 3-1 mark against the Houston Rockets, and even swept both the Boston Celtics and Detroit Pistons in cross-conference matchups.
But the center of everything remains Victor Wembanyama.
The towering forward averages 24.2 points, 11.1 rebounds, 2.9 assists, and 3.0 blocks per game, placing him firmly inside both the MVP and Defensive Player of the Year conversations. Every possession seems to bend around him.
One player can tilt a series.
San Antonio also has a growing supporting cast. De’Aaron Fox adds 19.1 points and 6.4 assists, while Stephon Castle continues developing with 16.6 points and 7.0 assists per game in his second season. Devin Vassell contributes steady scoring as well.
Still, VanVleet’s point sits quietly next to all those numbers. The regular season can start a story, but it rarely finishes one. Playoff series decide which teams truly belong among contenders.
And until that moment arrives, the veteran guard believes the excitement should stay a little more measured.
