San Antonio Spurs

San Antonio Spurs guard Chris Paul knows he is near the end of his career, but he's not ready to hang up the sneakers just yet.

The future Hall of Famer talked about retirement among a number of other topics during a discussion with Spurs legend Tony Parker (h/t RealGM) and said he would like to play for "maybe a year or two. I'm still trying to feel it out.

"I think the hardest part is—like I love this, like practice today, I love hooping, I love all of that. The hardest part is when I get home and I have to watch my kids' games on the iPad or whatnot, so that's the tug of war right now."

The 39-year-old admitted that sacrificing time with his family is the most difficult part about playing at this stage of his career and added, "If I'm gonna sacrifice my family and be away from them, then I at least need to be playing."

Paul is playing and has started all 24 of San Antonio's games this season.

While he is no longer at the peak of a career that has featured a Rookie of the Year, 12 All-Star nods, 11 All-NBA selections, five assist titles, six steal titles and nine All-Defensive selections, he is providing veteran leadership for a Spurs team with a young core.

The Wake Forest product is averaging 10.2 points, 8.5 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game while shooting 35.2 percent from deep.

San Antonio is also just a half-game behind the Phoenix Suns and Minnesota Timberwolves for the final spot in the Western Conference play-in tournament and would be a dangerous matchup for any opponent with Victor Wembanyama dominating on both ends of the floor.

For now, Paul is setting up his talented teammate with ideal looks as they work in pick-and-rolls and different offensive sets. He looks like he can continue doing so for the immediate future, and it seems like NBA fans will get to watch him play for at least another season or two.

In his 20th NBA season, Chris Paul just reached another milestone.

The San Antonio Spurs veteran passed legendary point guard Jason Kidd for second on the NBA's all-time assists list. Paul recorded his 12,092nd assist against the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday.

CP3 to Wemby.

Assist No. 12,092.

Chris Paul is now 2nd all-time in dimes! pic.twitter.com/h6yZt2cDZR

— NBA (@NBA) December 9, 2024

He now only trails Utah Jazz great John Stockton for the most assists in NBA history.

Chris Paul has moved to SECOND on the NBA all-time assists leaderboard, passing Jason Kidd 👏 pic.twitter.com/QHgAAg5A7S

— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) December 9, 2024

While Paul now has the second-most assists of all time, that's likely as far up on the list as he will get considering Stockton has 15,806 assists. As great of a passer as Paul is, it's probably unrealistic for him to reach that mark before he retires.

Paul, who has led the league in assists in five seasons, has averaged 9.3 assists per game across his career, recording a career-high of 11.6 in the 2007-08 season. Though Paul's scoring has declined a bit in the late stages of his career, his passing has stayed sharp.

Just four seasons ago while on the Phoenix Suns, he was the league's assists leader with 10.8. He didn't have his usual assist numbers a season ago while coming off the bench for the Golden State Warriors, but he's returned to his usual self with the Spurs.

With one of the most exciting players in the league playing alongside him, Paul has averaged 8.5 assists per game this year. His game has been reminiscent of his time with the Lob City Los Angeles Clippers as he's found Wembanyama on the tail end of lobs.

Chris Paul becomes the 3RD PLAYER EVER with 12,000 assists!

And he does it on a lob to Wemby 😍 pic.twitter.com/qkwjCbu9dN

— NBA (@NBA) November 16, 2024

Paul will look to keep racking up assists while guiding a young Spurs team for the rest of the season.

The San Antonio Spurs' Zach Collins was fined $35,000 by the NBA after making a gesture with his middle finger following his ejection from Friday's loss to the Sacramento Kings.

The following has been released by the NBA. pic.twitter.com/D1TTgpOtFN

— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) December 8, 2024

The incident occurred after Collins was called for fouling Kings star Domantas Sabonis in the second quarter. He earned two technicals and an automatic ejection while protesting the call.

Collins was starting in place of an injured Victor Wembanyama. He recorded two points and three fouls in nine minutes before exiting the contest.

He could be heard cursing on the broadcast after the call. The broadcast then showed him pacing the sideline before extending a middle finger.

The start marked Collins' fourth of the season. He also started three games between Nov. 16 and Nov. 21 when Wembanyama missed time with a bruised right knee.

The Spurs have gone 2-3 with Wembanyama on the sideline this season. Interim head coach Mitch Johnson called the star's back soreness a "day-to-day" injury and said that "the hope" is he will return on Sunday to face the New Orleans Pelicans.

Collins will return to the Spurs' reserves if Wembanyama is able to slot back into the lineup in Sunday. He is averaging 6.0 points and 3.3 rebounds, his lowest offensive outputs since his sophomore 2018-19 season, through 23 games with the Spurs this season.

Collins' fine matches those accrued earlier this season for similar gestures made by the Denver Nuggets' Russell Westbrook and Minnesota Timberwolves' Anthony Edwards.

The NBA fined Edwards $35,000 after the Wolves guard looked into the crowd and held out a middle finger during a Nov. 15 win over the Kings.

Ten days later, Westbrook was fined $35,000 after gesturing a middle finger toward the New York Knicks bench during a Nov. 25 loss.

That's not the only gesture the NBA has been cracking down on this season. The league recently fined the Boston Celtics' Jaylen Brown $25,000 for what they called an "inappropriate gesture" after the forward drew a hand over his throat during a Dec. 4 win over the Detroit Pistons.

A 17-point third-quarter lead wasn't enough to protect the Golden State Warriors from the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday night.

Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs went on a 40-13 run through the final 13 minutes of play to hand Stephen Curry and the Warriors just their fourth loss of the season.

Warriors have started looking more average offensively lately now that they’re not shooting 40% from 3 every game.

— Kino (@bigkino217) November 24, 2024

Warriors playing like a team on a back to back

— Travis Wali (@sfgiantsfan15) November 24, 2024

Very much an offensive struggle, even with the lead. Nothing left in that 4th quarter. #Warriors #DubNation

— Daniel Mora (@Daniel_A_Mora) November 24, 2024

This team is so unserious at times. Honestly these lapses are just killer. I can’t see the warriors winning the chip this year if they don’t fix stuff like this up. The spurs should NOT be in this game all

— Kenny (@Kenneth84613883) November 24, 2024

Curry and Wembanyama traded three-point shots late in Saturday night's game as the Spurs chipped away at the Warriors' lead.

Wemby 3.
Curry 3.

Warriors up 2 with 4:34 to go.

GSW-SAS | NBA League Pass
📲 https://t.co/W3qGY5qtwJ pic.twitter.com/w5wmVCPs3a

— NBA (@NBA) November 24, 2024

Rookie guard Stephon Castle then scored on a 27-foot jumper to pull the Spurs ahead with 3:48 left on the clock.

STEPH CASTLE FOR THE LEAD 😤😤😤 pic.twitter.com/0fTw1vM1AO

— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) November 24, 2024

Stephon Castle!!

What a sequence!

This rookie is becoming a star.

— Eric Salinas (@EricSal_7) November 24, 2024

San Antonio got an absolute hooper with Stephon Castle, his impact down the stretch has been incredible

No veteran to learn from better than CP3

— Sean Davis (@Sean_Davi) November 24, 2024

The thing I respect about Stephon castle is when his threes not falling he finds other ways to score and impact the game

— AyoDiamante (@DiamanteAyo) November 24, 2024

Curry finished out the night with fewer than 15 points for the third time this season. He recorded 14 points and seven rebounds on 5-of-16 shooting in the loss.

Spurs defense was insane vs. Steph Curry

Steph Castle + Victor Wembanyama are about to lead top 5 defenses for the next decade

— Kevin O'Connor (@KevinOConnorNBA) November 24, 2024

YOU KNOW HOW GOOD STEPHON CASTLE’S DEFENSE HAS TO BE TO SHUT DOWN STEPH CURRY

— FrankySpurrito (@Frankyburrito) November 24, 2024

Andrew Wiggins led the Warriors with 20 points, while Draymond Green was held to just one point in the loss.

Andrew Wiggins last four games:

22 PTS • 3 REB • 2 3PM
27 PTS • 7 REB • 4 AST
30 PTS • 4 AST • 3 3PM
20 PTS • 5 REB • 4 3PM

His four consecutive 20-point games ties the longest streak of his Warriors career. pic.twitter.com/WLKiDpSlaF

— Polymarket Hoops (@StatMamba) November 24, 2024

Andrew Wiggins playing with purpose alongside Steph and Draymond is an extremely valuable player (as we saw in 2022).

— Steve Berman (@BASportsGuy) November 24, 2024

Andrew Wiggins might mess around and win Western Conference Player of the Week.

— Bonta Hill (@BontaHill) November 24, 2024

Wembanyama, who led the Spurs on Saturday night with 25 points and nine assists, recorded three blocks against the Warriors.

He is the first player this season to record multiple blocks in 13 straight games, per ESPN's Michael C. Wright.

Wemby double block ‼️

No fly zone in San Antonio!

GSW-SAS | 4Q | NBA League Pass
📲 https://t.co/W3qGY5qtwJ pic.twitter.com/6JHnDFUBDa

— NBA (@NBA) November 24, 2024

Wemby was a game changer on defense in the 4th quarter. No hate here

— anand (@ARavindranJr) November 24, 2024

man wemby really a monster on defense bruh

— Az😴 (@gbaziyee) November 24, 2024

The Spurs improve to 9-8 on the season, while the Warriors fall to 12-4 overall.

Curry and the Warriors return to action on Monday against the visiting Brooklyn Nets, while Wembanyama and the Spurs wrap up NBA Cup group stage play with a road game against the Utah Jazz on Tuesday.

Following the Los Angeles Lakers' 120-115 road win over the San Antonio Spurs on Friday night, Lakers superstar and NBA legend LeBron James gave some words of encouragement to Spurs rookie guard Stephon Castle.

When asked what he said to Castle when they convened on the court after the game, James replied: "Keep going, keep going, man. He's going to be special. He's going to be special, man."

"Keep going, keep going, man. He's going to be special. He's going to be special, man." - LeBron James on Stephon Castle pic.twitter.com/vaYs8LFgrC

— Spurs Culture (@SpursCulture) November 16, 2024

Castle, who was the No. 4 overall pick in the 2024 NBA draft, enjoyed arguably the best game of his young career Friday, going 7-of-12 for 22 points to go along with five assists and two rebounds.

After starring at UConn to the tune of a national title and Big East Freshman of the Year honors in his only season with the Huskies, Castle entered the 2024 NBA draft and didn't have to wait long to hear his name called.

San Antonio seemed like the perfect landing spot for Castle since it allowed him to join forces with the 2023 No. 1 overall pick in 7'3" center Victor Wembanyama.

The Spurs initially eased Castle into the fold due to the presence of veteran point guard likely future Hall of Famer Chris Paul. That led to Castle failing to score double digits in points in each of his first six career NBA games.

However, Castle has started each of the past six games, and over his past five contests, he is averaging 15.8 points, 5.0 assists, 2.4 rebounds and 1.8 three-pointers made, while shooting 50.0 percent from the field and 40.9 percent from beyond the arc.

Given the inconsistency of some of the other top picks in the 2024 draft, including No. 1 overall selection Zaccharie Risacher and No. 2 overall pick Alex Sarr, Castle is playing his way into the Rookie of the Year conversation.

There is perhaps no player in NBA history with a better knowledge of having huge expectations at a young age than James, who was heralded as the next Michael Jordan from the time he was in high school.

James met and exceeded all expectations, putting himself in the greatest of all time conversation along with Jordan.

The expectations aren't quite as high for Castle, but he is thriving with the opportunities he has been given at just 20 years of age, and he will likely be a huge part of the Spurs' future success.

If both Castle and Wembanyama continue to develop and thrive, the Spurs could be trending toward another golden era, much like the one they enjoyed thanks to players such as David Robinson, Tim Duncan, Manu Ginóbili, Tony Parker and Kawhi Leonard.

James, who will turn 40 in December, is approaching the end of his career despite continuing to play at a high level.

Once he, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and other aging stars are gone, the new generation will have to step up to keep the NBA on an upward trajectory, and LeBron seems to have identified Castle as one of the players who can do that.

San Antonio Spurs point guard Chris Paul became the third player in NBA history to amass 12,000 or more career assists on Friday during his team's home game against the Los Angeles Lakers.

1️⃣2️⃣,0️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ ASSISTS FOR CHRIS PAUL 👏

CP3 becomes just the third player in NBA history to reach 12K assists 🔥 pic.twitter.com/Qves4htSg1

— ESPN (@espn) November 16, 2024

Paul, who entered Friday with 11,997 assists, only needed 3:34 of game time to hit the 12K mark. The 20-year NBA veteran got there after finding Victor Wembanyama for an alley-oop dunk to give the Spurs an early 13-4 lead.

Paul joined assist leader John Stockton (15,806 career dimes) and current Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd (12,091) on the list.

It may not be long until Paul finds himself alone in second on the career assist list.

Congrats to @CP3 of the @spurs for becoming the 3rd player in NBA history to reach 12,000 ASSISTS! pic.twitter.com/B55oDFb9a7

— NBA (@NBA) November 16, 2024

Paul began Friday needing 95 assists to move to solo second on the list. He's averaged 8.6 assists per game until Friday, so if he continues around that pace, Paul could get there in about 11 or 12 games. That would mean hitting the mark either Dec. 6 versus the Sacramento Kings or Dec. 8 against the New Orleans Pelicans. Both games are in San Antonio.

Paul, a future first-ballot Hall of Famer, has excelled in San Antonio. The 39-year-old has averaged 10.3 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.3 steals to go along with his 8.6 assists. Thanks in part to his efforts, the Spurs have improved this year, starting 6-6 after finishing 20-62 last season.

It's inevitable that he'll end his career second in all-time assists, but for now, he and the Spurs are looking to return to the playoffs for the first time since 2019.

San Antonio Spurs second-year phenom Victor Wembanyama isn't letting his career-high 50-point performance in Wednesday night's 139-130 win over the Washington Wizards go to his head.

Per ESPN's Michael C. Wright, Wembanyama said after the game that while he takes pride in his historic outing, he's already looking ahead to San Antonio's next matchup against the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday.

"I love to celebrate the small wins and the big wins for a certain amount of time," he said. "But tomorrow, we're already locked in on the Lakers. I'm going to give myself a little bit of time to reflect. It's definitely a big milestone. It's kind of a private club. It's certainly something I'm proud of."

Last night @wemby had a record night. This morning he has a gift for his city.

The ’24/25 NBA City Edition jerseys are available now. #YourJerseyNotMine #CityEdition pic.twitter.com/fg7aCgey4s

— Fanatics (@Fanatics) November 14, 2024

Wembanyama is now the fourth-youngest player in NBA history to score 50 points in a game (20 years, 314 days). At 7'4", he's the tallest player to achieve the feat. It was the Spurs' first 50-point performance since LaMarcus Aldridge in 2019.

The reigning NBA Rookie of the Year also had a career-high eight three-pointers while adding six rebounds, two assists, three blocks and a steal for San Antonio. No other player on the team had more than 17 points in the win.

Wembanyama will look to keep his hot streak going when the Spurs (6-6) meet the Lakers (7-4) on Friday.

Victor Wembanyama has had a somewhat underwhelming start to his second season in the NBA, but it was his night on Wednesday.

The San Antonio Spurs star dropped 50 points to lead his team to a 139-130 win over the Washington Wizards, marking a new career-high for the 20-year-old. He reached the 50-point mark after his first 26 minutes in the game, which gives him the fastest 50-point game in NBA history.

He finished the night shooting 18-of-29 from the field and 8-of-16 from deep. He is now the first center to have three consecutive games with five or more made threes.

After the big night from Wemanyama, fans hyped up the exciting second-year player.

WEMBY CAREER-HIGH 50 PTS 😱👽

There's still seven minutes left 🤯 pic.twitter.com/k5s2DcrOD9

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) November 14, 2024

https://twitter.com/SpursCulture/status/1856895225198735442

Wemby is only 20 years old and just scored his 50th point in 28 minutes.

First thing he did when he went to the bench? Talk with his teammates about what they can do better.

This kid is going to be one of the greats. pic.twitter.com/YRXTj2risV

— WembyMuse (@Wemby_Muse) November 14, 2024

Wemby after people told him to stop shooting threes pic.twitter.com/ysFjIHT2US

— Spurs Culture (@SpursCulture) November 14, 2024

I’m noticing that when wemby shoots 60% on 14 threes nobody is mad at him for taking threes🤔

— subscribe to the state of the league patreon (@JoestarJokic) November 14, 2024

Youngest players to score 50+

1. B. Jennings, 20-052 (55)
2. LeBron, 20-080 (56)
3. Booker, 20-145 (70)
4. Wemby, 20-314 (50)

— NBA University (@NBA_University) November 14, 2024

wemby has 50?!

— ZUBAC IS DPOY MIP All-Defense All-NBA🥝 (@kawhibyamile) November 14, 2024

Wemby did what now?

— Darth Dub (@xDarthDubx) November 14, 2024

Wemby is insane. 🔥

— 👈🏽Q (@AKidNamedQuee) November 14, 2024

Wemby 50 ball, the end of time is upon us

— ⭕️❌ (@_yakwtfgo) November 14, 2024

https://twitter.com/seaslug420/status/1856900305524326444

WEMBY IS GOING NUCLEAR MY GOD

— Jordan Barham (@Bigshot_Barham5) November 14, 2024

Heading into Wednesday's matchup, Wembanyama was averaging 19.7 points, 10.5 boards, 3.9 blocks and 1.4 steals per game. Those are solid numbers, but perhaps not the kind of play many expected from him in Year 2.

With one of his best performances behind him, Wembanyama will look to build on the big scoring night and continue getting better. His 50-point night on Wednesday is a good indicator that he is capable of dominating on offense just as he has done on defense, and the future continues to look bright for him.

The San Antonio Spurs announced Wednesday that head coach Gregg Popovich suffered a mild stroke on Nov. 2.

The team said he's expected to make a full recovery but that there's no timeline for his return to the bench.

pic.twitter.com/8ymPjBU8Oj

— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) November 13, 2024

Mitch Johnson has been San Antonio's acting head coach while Popovich is out.

ESPN's Shams Charania first reported on Nov. 5 that Popovich had experienced a "serious health issue," one that aroused "a great level of concern" from those involved.

"There is a great level of concern around the situation."@ShamsCharania with the latest on Gregg Popovich being out indefinitely after suffering a health issue Saturday. pic.twitter.com/FXePQNlu1M

— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) November 5, 2024

The 75-year-old is midway though his 29th season as the head coach. He replaced Bob Hill midway through the 1996-97 campaign and hasn't left the role since then.

Popovich is widely considered to be one of the greatest coaches in NBA history. He has guided the Spurs to five championships, and his 1,393 wins in the regular season are the most ever.

The Hall of Famer affirmed his long-term commitment to the organization in July 2023, when he signed a new five-year contract. San Antonio winning the draft lottery probably had something to do with his decision because he knew he'd have the luxury of coaching French phenom Victor Wembanyama.

Wembanyama's arrival didn't prevent the Spurs from having the second-worst record (22-60) in the Western Conference, but his performance on the court pointed to a bright future for the organization.

San Antonio is off to a 5-6 start in 2024-25 and has won two of its five games since Popovich suffered his health scare.

Just 80 games into Victor Wembanyama's NBA career, the critiques about his game are already starting from people within the league.

One scout for an opposing team told ESPN's Tim Bontemps that Wembanyama is "not impactful at all on offense" right now.

Bontemps did note the scout "firmly believes" in Wembanyama's long-term potential, but it looks like he's playing without a lot of direction from the San Antonio Spurs.

The shooting numbers for Wembanyama aren't good through his first nine games this season. He's averaging 17.7 points per game on 41.3 percent shooting overall and 22.6 percent from three-point range.

As a rookie, Wembanyama put up 21.4 points on 46.5 percent shooting (32.5 percent from three) in 71 starts.

Some of the shooting issues for Wembanyama can be attributed to the Spurs wanting him to take more threes so that he can improve in that area.

Head coach Gregg Popovich told reporters after an Oct. 31 win over the Utah Jazz he "absolutely" wants to see Wembanyama get off as many threes as he can, calling him "more of a perimeter player than a post player" and they want him to be able to do everything on the floor (starts at 1:03 mark).

Of the 15.3 shot attempts Wembanyama is averaging per game this season, more than 45 percent of them are from behind the arc (6.9). This was always going to be a process for the 20-year-old because shooting consistency was considered an area he needed to improve upon when he was still a prospect.

Another factor is the Spurs are still a rebuilding team without a great infrastructure around Wembanyama to make things as easy as possible for him. Chris Paul has provided stability at point guard, but this wasn't a roster analysts were looking at as ready to challenge for a playoff spot in a loaded Western Conference.

Wembanyama also didn't have much of an offseason. After the Spurs season ended in April, he led France to a silver medal in the Olympics.

Even within the poor shooting numbers for Wembanyama, there are reasons to be encouraged. He's shooting 91.2 percent from the free-throw line, an increase of almost 12 percentage points from his rookie campaign (79.6).

Wembanyama is still a force on defense, averaging an NBA-high 3.7 blocks per game. He is one of three players in league history with multiple 5x5 games after putting up 25 points, nine rebounds, seven assists, five steals and five blocks in the win over Utah.

The Spurs might have a more efficient offense right now if Wembanyama reduced his three-point output, but it's in the best long-term interest of both parties to let him work out his issues right now with the hope he will become a league-average or better shooter from behind the arc as he continues to get acclimated to the NBA.