What was your best moment as a Spurs fan during the Dark Ages? (2017-2025)

[Millennial_Messiah]

I didn't watch hardly any basketball after the Zaza Pachulia moment and falling apart in that ensuing fourth quarter, remember watching that game from a bar in The Colony, Texas. Put all my effort into football and money making.

I think for me apart from drafting Wemby was watching Manu's last game, watching Kawhi proceed to take down the Golden Showers dynasty and then immediately spurn the Lakers in favor of the Clippers, and then proceed to fail and suffer and get injured a lot beyond that. Karma.

 

[Fabbs]

May 16th, 2023
Watching Spurs get #1 pick in the Lotto by far. Which we knew was Wemby.

Kawhi taking down the Golden Frauds was extremely nice. SpursTalk ex runner/current writer-whatever with insider info said all in all he considered it a 50-50 on who screwed who so i had no problem pulling for the Raptors.

 

[bozhemoi]

I wanted to draft Castle so bad

 

[John B]

First getting to draft Wemby, then somehow Castle falling on Spurs laps at 4th pick?? Then drafting probably one of the most polished PG ever to have come off the Draft in Harper? The basketball gods are smiling back again, clearing the dark sky from the Kawhi Zaza injury, and led to ungrateful sabotage, the apparent trade-off Derozan wouldn’t take open 3’s, borderline-star instagram-baller Dejounte jumping off ship and showing giddiness joining the Hawks, and Spurs had to ship fan favorite Derrick to complete the tank. Samanich, Primo, wasted picks after another. And finally Wemby, but without being shaken with the news of blood clotting that could end his career… 8 long years since that 2017 Kawhi injury that seemed to have started that downward spiral. Being a loyal fan will just make this comeback even more sweeter. Let’s goooooooo!!! GSG!

 

[poopbox]

Being wrong about keeping Dillingham with the 8th pick

 

[ffadicted]

Easily watching the 23 draft lottery, as shameful as it is to say.

 

[CGD]

I think the draft luck has to be at the top, but there were some honorable mention games that were fun as hell:

1. Mamu game v Knicks (+ Flava)

2. Wemby explosion and Devonte Graham game winner against Denver (had playoff implications for Denver too).

3. First win against OKC last year when Wemby stuffed Chet

The tear down trades were sad in the moment, but now that we see the vision those were also key moments.

 

[LeBowen]

No point in considering any of the games after Wemby got drafted.
I guess Barnes fucking over the Warriors was the non-Wemby highlight.

 

[Millennial_Messiah]

No point in considering any of the games after Wemby got drafted.

meh, the last 2 years were still very dark, it wasn't like drafting Duncan onto an already playoff team with an at least 60% healthy David Robinson.

 

[spurraider21]

i know its not the one, but the pistons double OT game in devonte graham's debut in the tankathon game comes to mind lol

 

[LeBowen]

meh, the last 2 years were still very dark, it wasn't like drafting Duncan onto an already playoff team with an at least 60% healthy David Robinson.

They were dark, but Wemby is always must see TV and we had Castle showing great progress after Wemby/Fox got shut down last season.

 

[Millennial_Messiah]

They were dark, but Wemby is always must see TV and we had Castle showing great progress after Wemby/Fox got shut down last season.

I just wasn't interested at the slightest bit in spending valuable time in the prime of my life watching a lottery team. At least with football it's a season-to-season league and you don't have intentional 3+ season rebuilds, and there are only 16-17 games per season instead of 82, and only once per week and a few months out of the year compared to the long haul of basketball or baseball.

 

[Chinook]

I liked a lot of the years folks consider to be dark. Like one of my favorite seasons was 2017-2018. The last year of Manu and Tony, Aldridge anchoring an elite defense. Danny Green's swan song. DeJounte breaking out. I only wish that Kawhi had just been ruled out for the year (and yes, I know that wasn't the Spurs' fault) so that cloud wasn't hanging over the team. Rudy Gay came in and was the closer the Spurs needed. I actually believe there was a pathway to contention that following year had the FO played its cards right. Instead, it went with DeRozan and nothing else.

Another year that sticks out is 2021-2022 when the Spurs were able to get Pop the all-time wins record shortly after trading away Derrick White. Because the team wasn't really trying to win games, we could sit back and enjoy Murray's development into a lesser star. Dude was basically Temu Castle, but we didn't know that at the time. Before Wemby became the dream, a lot of us wanted to pair DJM and Banchero with Lavine and Collins. Obviously, it's great that it didn't go down that way, but the point is there was still hope and interest and plenty of things for fans to engage with.

This is out of order, but I enjoyed the bubble play as well. This year, we're finally seeing Pop's vision of a hydra offense in full fruition. The modern version of the concept really started in the bubble with Murray, White, Walker, DeRozan and Poeltl. It's crazy how far things have come. It's also strange to see how Keldon's the only guy on the team from that time, but both the bubble and now were arguably his most effective stretches in his career so far.

 

[fafo]

Lonnie Walker’s big game against Houston pre-haircut was really fun. Before he came down to earth, it was nice seeing him go off and wondering what he could become.

 

[timtonymanu]

Manu having a vintage game against Golden state and preventing the Spurs from being swept in the playoffs during his final year in 2018.

Looking back, it’s very much F U nephew for tainting Manu’s last season with the Spurs.

 

[STAT88]

1. Wemby lottery

2. Kawhi kicking the Warriors teeth in in 2019 was beautiful for me. Kind of felt like revenge for Zaza in 2017 albeit with the Raps.

3. Klay and Durant getting Zaza’d during the same series kind of felt like karma for 2017 too. But I don’t wanna say that part out loud.

3. Trading Dejounte. Finally felt like the Spurs could exit the treadmill of mediocrity (35-40 wins) which I knew by then was the ceiling with a Dejounte led team.

4. Trading DeRozan. See number 3.

5. Stephon Castle emergence.

I also enjoyed the 2019 playoffs with Derick White going off against the Nuggets. But that was so short lived it doesn’t count. Then in game 7 White went 0-7 and DeRozan went 7-21 I knew it was fools gold.

 

[Dex]

Easily watching the 23 draft lottery, as shameful as it is to say.

Easy choice, but this is also mine just because there was so much buildup to it.

The years of pretending until we realized DeRozan/Aldridge/Gay wasn't it.

The first rebuild before realizing Murray/White/Walker wasn't it.

The years of just plain sucking as we slowly traded those guys for future assets.

The pipedream season of full-on tanking for Wemby all leading to the moment it actually became a reality...I was literally shouting at the TV when it happened.