Last season, the San Antonio Spurs beat the OKC Thunder in the Western Conference Finals. In the regular season, the Spurs were 3-1 against the reigning champs. They even beat them in the NBA Cup.
It’s only a rivalry if both teams stand a chance. The Spurs, it seems, have put the Thunder in their place, and OKC will have to scrap their way back on top.
Win or lose, the Thunder tend to lean into a “nonchalant gimmick,” saying things like “it’s just one game” or “we’re not worried” in postgame press conferences. The Spurs, meanwhile, wear their excitement and emotions on their sleeve.
Maybe that’s a hidden advantage?
After being embarrassed all season long by the Spurs, some players on the Thunder don’t really seem that invested in improving. Victor Wembanyama, meanwhile, led a contingent of teammates to France to spend weeks training.
It’s no wonder why the Spurs are favored to win the West for the second season in a row. Last summer, while Chet Holmgren played Powerball, Wemby was training with KG, Hakeem, and Chinese monks.
One Thunder player, though, understands that he has an uphill battle ahead of him.
Cason Wallace Speaks on Spurs Rivalry
Over the last two seasons, Cason Wallace has broken out as one of the best perimeter defenders in the NBA. In the Western Conference Finals, he upped his scoring average from 8.6 points per game to 10.1, and was deadly from long range.
Role players like Wallace only find adoration and expensive new contracts when the team does well, so winning is extra important to him. It’s why guys like Derrick White weren’t recognized until they joined a contender.
To Wallace, the nonchalant gimmick is only fun when the Thunder are on top, and he knows the Spurs are standing in his way.
“I feel like they’ve got the best of us,” Wallace said on The Cousins podcast. “They beat us, if we’re just keeping it a hundred, they beat us. They beat us in the season, they beat us in the playoffs. So we got to fight back. And for us to have the best record in the league two or three years in a row, and then for them to come in and this past season and do what they did, it’s like our competitive spirit is like, ‘Yo, we got to beat them.’”
By all accounts, guys like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams are excellent locker room leaders, but for Wallace to publicly say the Spurs are his focus suggests that he might be the most competitive player on the Thunder.
Don’t expect San Antonio to take their foot off the brakes. But as they passed up the Thunder, OKC noticed a target on the Spurs’ backs.
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