SAN ANTONIO - Before Victor Wembanyama ever played a game in the NBA, the Spurs were already convinced they had something different on their hands.
That was the message Mitch Johnson carried with him during an August visit to Seattle, where the Spurs coach sat down with Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald as part of Episode 2 of the latest season of NFL Films’ "Hard Knocks," which aired on HBO Max Tuesday night. Johnson had already spent time earlier in the offseason with Steve Sarkisian’s Texas Longhorns, but this trip was about something else entirely: telling the story of the 7-foot-4 French phenom who changed the Spurs’ direction.
Macdonald cut right to the point. “When did everybody know that he existed?”
he asked Johnson about 22-year-old Victor Wembanyama. “And (that he) was a good player?”
Spurs general manager Brian Wright, who was with Johnson in Seattle, answered first and pointed back to R.C. Buford. According to Wright, Buford happened to see Wembanyama almost by accident in France when the big man was just about to turn 16.
“He just happened to be in the gym,” Wright said, leaning against a door frame. “He actually wasn't planning to see him. (Wembanyama) was just about to turn 16.”
Buford came back from that trip convinced he had seen something extraordinary.
“I think I saw the greatest player I've ever seen in my life,” Buford told Wright.
At that point, the Spurs still had DeMar DeRozan and LaMarcus Aldridge on the roster, the pair that had helped get San Antonio to the playoffs in 2019 before the franchise slid into a six-year drought. But once Wembanyama entered the picture, the front office started thinking long-term and adjusting accordingly.
“We put the plan in motion,” Wright said, “to ... have a chance to draft (Wembanyama).”
That process included moving on from Aldridge, whose contract was bought out in March 2021 so he could reach free agency. He later signed with the Brooklyn Nets and finished his career there after 16 seasons. DeRozan’s time in San Antonio ended five months later, when he joined the Chicago Bulls in a sign-and-trade ahead of the 2021-22 season.
The Spurs’ patience eventually paid off. Two years later, after a 22-60 season that set the stage for Wembanyama’s arrival, San Antonio held the best odds at No. 1 in the 2023 NBA Draft. A month after the final game of that rough 2022-23 season, the Spurs won the Draft Lottery.
Buford had spent much of his career watching Tim Duncan, Manu Ginóbili and Tony Parker lead championship runs in San Antonio, and his eye for talent was validated again with Wembanyama. In just three seasons, the French star had carried the Spurs back to the NBA Finals.
Johnson praised that drive after Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals in May.
“That young man has a rare desire to step into every moment that’s in front of him," Johnson said. "He has some rare, God-given ability. He puts in even more work and preparation into maximizing that."
Wembanyama’s first postseason backed up the hype. Across 22 games, he averaged 23.8 points, 10.9 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 3.5 blocks while shooting 49 percent from the field. The Spurs lost to the New York Knicks in five games in the NBA Finals, but still became the third-youngest team in league history to reach the championship round.
The postseason also brought a personal milestone for Wembanyama, who was in the mix for MVP, won his first Defensive Player of the Year award and earned his first All-NBA First Team selection. In his final postgame interview, he framed the loss as a turning point.
“This is the biggest lesson of my life," he said. "The biggest learning moment."
Johnson said that response only strengthened his belief in the young star. He closed his conversation with Macdonald by echoing the original evaluation Buford made years earlier in France.
Even at 15, the Spurs knew they had found a future centerpiece. Now, with Wembanyama heading into his fourth season, even NFL coaches are hearing the story.
“He wants to be the best player ever,” Johnson said. “He'll tell you that in a blink ... which is a crazy statement ... (but) he's never done anything that puts himself above the team. Ever.”
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