Married to the game 🏀💍

Kon Knueppel thought a Division 3 offer was probably his ceiling entering high school. Four years later he went to Duke, went #4 overall in the NBA Draft, runner-up ROTY, and now a rising NBA star. He had no idea how good he was about to become.

Stephon Castle has always been a problem! The Georgia native had 23 PTS, 5 REB and 5 AST in Game 3 last night 👀

Josh Hart says that last year was the first time he truly accepted his role as an effort and energy guy In turn, he has had his 2 best seasons as a pro There is something to be learned in that lesson for many young hoopers

Washington State Klay Thompson scoring reel

Best way for me to evaluate a guard at any level is to watch them in Pick &Roll situations. Why? 1. I look to see if they have a “solution” for each coverage. (They’ll see roughly 8 coverages in the NBA, 4 in college and 3 in high school.) @SteveNash 2. I look to see if they have the passing vision and basketball IQ to destroy the tag help. Can they make the cross-court corner pass like @Hali did in college? 3. Do they have the size, speed and quickness to handle traps? 4. Do they have the ball skills and agility to back up out of traps with the dribble? (Thank you, Bob Hurley) 5. Can they keep the defense guessing until the last possible moment to make a decision. @CP3 @Huertas09 6. Can they score behind the screen, can I shoot the floater vs. “drop” coverage and can they finish at the rim?

Victor Wembanyama in 2026: All Star All Defensive 1st Team All NBA 1st Team DPOY Magic Johnson WCF MVP Trophy

Victor Wembanyama hooping at 10 years old 😳 (Via @PlayoffSports_ 🎥)

Gameday baby. We really got a game 5 on our hands.

Wichita State Landry Shamet. Had to be there, what a baller

WHO DAT IN THE BACKGROUND🔥🔥🔥🔥

2019… Spurs draft Keldon with Pick 29 2020… Spurs draft Vassell with Pick 11 2023… Spurs draft Wemby with Pick 1 2024… Spurs draft Castle with Pick 4 2025… Spurs draft Harper with Pick 2 2025… Spurs draft CBryant with Pick 14 Insanity.

“I sat down with him and talked to (Manu). Obviously, I've played a role I'm not used to, but he kinda put it in my head that you gotta impact the game any way you can" Everyone’s role is different but everyone’s role is important

Spurs/Thunder going to be a battle for the next 10 years

Keldon Johnson on his role with the @spurs: “I remember a couple years ago, I had a hard conversation with Pop. One morning, we were getting ready to play Dallas, and he pulled me to the side and told me that he thought it would be best for the team if I started coming off the bench. I said, ‘Yeah, of course. Whatever’s best for the team, I’ll do it.’ And I truly meant that, too. But I’m also just human, man. And I was like 24 years old. If I said that I fully bought into this role from the jump, I’d be lying. I had averaged 22 points in the NBA. I’d won a gold medal with Team USA at the Olympics. So I just didn’t understand. I couldn’t wrap my head around it. And ultimately, I didn’t take it well. I sulked. I let the outside noise affect my play. I didn’t present the best version of myself as I was coming off the bench for the rest of that season. And I knew that I was much better than that. I’ve been reflecting on that part of my journey a lot lately, with the position we’re in right now. To backtrack a little bit…. When I was drafted in 2019, that was probably one of the most stressful nights of my life. I’d had a great year at Kentucky, and I thought I was going 9 or 10. In my mind, my floor was 15 to Detroit. The crazy thing is, I didn’t even work out for San Antonio. We talked a little bit on FaceTime, but I honestly didn’t think I’d still be on the board at 19 when the Spurs picked. Definitely not at 29, where I ended up going. I don’t know why I slipped so much, but thank God I did, because I landed at a proven organization with vets who could mold me. That situation could have gone one of two ways. Thankfully, it went the good way. Dejounte was young, too, but he knew the ropes better than me, and he made sure that I did everything the right way. I can’t thank him enough to this day for how much he’s helped my career. Same thing with DeMar DeRozan. Those guys really embraced me and took me under their wing as a young guy, and showed me how it was done. I feel like I had such a great group of vets, whether it was LaMarcus Aldridge, Patty Mills, Rudy Gay — all those guys went out their way to make sure I was solid. I feel like they knew how good I could be before I even knew how good I could be. They didn’t let me skip any steps, which was huge for my career early on. And yeah, fast-forward to summer 2024, and I got to thinking back on my first couple years here in San Antonio, and how I could get that spark back, get back to being me. That’s when I started to see the bigger picture. We had picks. There were all these signs that we were building something that was gonna be special, all these bright green flags. But there was this one red flag. Me. In that moment, I had to take a hard look in the mirror. And man, I just got embarrassed. I hated that feeling — the feeling that I had let my vets down, and especially let my younger teammates down. This organization believed in me since day one, when Pop and our GM at the time R.C. Buford took a leap of faith on a player who was sliding in the draft and didn’t even have a workout at their facility. They had a plan, and I was a big piece of that plan. I just needed to get out of my own way. Period. I knew that I could either be the person who tries to fight the change, who makes it about them and their ego, and tries to do everything their way (which never really works). Or, I could trust the process. And the Spurs never gave me a reason not to trust it. So I bought into my role, and I put my best foot forward each and every night. Whatever I had to do to be the best version of myself, I did it. And I feel like this season has been a testament to that. I’m just really at home here. I think that’s probably obvious, right? The cowboy hat isn’t a gimmick. San Antonio is all me. Being a country boy, that’s just a part of who I am. From Huntington Prep to Oak Hill Academy to Kentucky, I feel like I just carried that country boy vibe with me everywhere I went.” playerstribu.ne/KJ