With lesson learned, Spurs’ trust in Wembanyama builds

Keldon Johnson’s failure was necessary. It was necessary for the success of the season and the franchise.

He needed to be reminded of what doesn’t work. On opening night, with the Spurs’ game against Dallas on the line and millions of viewers expecting the ball to go to Victor Wembanyama, Johnson needed to put his head down and aggressively attack the defense, attempting to win the game on his own.

And then he needed to spend the next two days dwelling on his mistake.

“I wish people knew, man,” the Spurs’ normally energetic fifth-year forward said. “I watched that play over and over.”

This is how progress is made. It does not come from a smooth, uninterrupted rise, but from the small stumbles that reinforce lessons that need to be learned. Johnson believed he was above those lessons already, but for a moment — “for one split-second,” he admitted — he regressed back to old habits.

But then he reflected on it. And the next time he found himself with the ball in a game-deciding moment, down by two points in the final minute against Houston on Friday night? He took one quick dribble to his left. He glanced at Wembanyama on the right block, raising his long left arm.

And everything fell into place.

“I said (sheesh), let’s get this to the big fella,” Johnson said with a smile. “Let’s get this post game going.”

What unfolded next will happen many times again in the future. The most exceptional basketball prospect in generations made an extraordinary play, overpowering the elite defender trying to guard him, and the adoring crowd erupted. Wembanyama tied the score with a ruthless baseline drive, sparking a thrilling finish that propelled the Spurs to a 126-122 overtime victory at Frost Bank Center.

It was the first time Wembanyama tasted victory in a real NBA game. It was the first time his teammates trusted him to win it for them. And it was the first time he showcased how straightforward the plan can be when everyone is on the same page.

“I mean, when it’s time to get a bucket,” Wembanyama said, “you’ve got to get it done.”

Even though it may appear blatantly obvious from an outsider’s perspective that the Spurs are building everything — including their strategy in crunch-time situations — around their 7-foot-3 rookie, a professional locker room can be an unpredictable place. No one gets there by automatically deferring to someone presumed to be superior.

As a Spurs staff member observed on Friday, it wasn’t that Wembanyama’s new teammates doubted his potential when he arrived as the top pick, but it’s different when professionals witness his skills firsthand.

In the season opener, the veterans may not have been certain if Wembanyama was ready to take charge in clutch moments.

But now?

“There are times in the game where I just sit there and I think, ‘Wow, good luck defense,'” guard Devin Vassell said. “I don’t know how they’re going to stop that.”

This doesn’t mean that Vassell, Johnson, and their teammates are going to solely rely on Wembanyama to take every crucial shot. In his first two games this season, Vassell has been averaging 24 points, establishing himself as a go-to scorer in his own right. And in overtime against the Rockets, five different Spurs players contributed to the scoring.

However, Johnson’s entry pass to Wembanyama in the final minute of regulation was a defining moment, because of the details. Gregg Popovich did not draw up that play. He allowed his players to figure it out, and this is how they did it:

Vassell swung the ball from the top of the key to Johnson on the right wing, trusting that his teammate had learned from his previous mistake.

Then Johnson delivered the ball to the rookie, trusting that Wembanyama would know exactly what to do.

“And that trust, of course, is earned,” Wembanyama later reflected. “But it’s also the relationships we have as teammates on and off the court. And that’s why I love this team.”

He genuinely appears to mean it. In the final seconds of overtime, as Johnson soared for a powerful two-handed dunk to seal the victory, Wembanyama leaped into the air at the 3-point line at the exact same moment, like a synchronized swimmer above the court.

What both of them understood was what led to that celebration.

“Learning from the mistake,” Johnson stated.

For the sake of the season.

For the sake of the franchise.

For the progress that comes from one small failure at a time.