Over two-and-a-half weeks have passed since the Spurs’ 2023-24 season came to an end, and while they only barely managed to match last season’s win total of 22, that doesn’t mean there wasn’t anything memorable about it. Quite the contrary, actually. In that spirit, I thought it would be fun to look back at some of the most moments moments from the season. They could be entire games, certain plays, notable stat lines — really anything that will stick with us for a while, beginning with…

Early miniseries sweep in Phoenix

Similar to last season’s 5-2 start, the Spurs gave us a bit of false hope early with a 3-2 start (before the dreaded 18-game losing streak), which was capped off by consecutive wins at the home of a Phoenix Suns team that had championship aspirations behind a new big three of Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal. The first game featured a huge rally by the Spurs who were still down by three late before a Victor Wembanyama putback slam with six seconds left, followed by a Keldon Johnson steal and layup in the backcourt to secure the 115-114 win on their only lead of the game.

The second game was almost a mirror image of the first, with the Spurs holding a double-digit lead most of the night before staving off a late Suns rally, but more importantly, it was Wemby’s “breakout” NBA game, showing the hype was real with 38 points and 10 rebounds in just his fifth career game.

After the early success, it was all downhill for quite a while for the Spurs, but a turning point in the season overall was a tight 111-115 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks in January. While it wasn’t a win, it was the game where Tre Jones finally returned to starting point guard, and the difference in the Spurs’ level of play was palpable. However, in the long term, the most memorable thing about that game will be the first matchup between two European unicorns in Wemby and Giannis Antetokounmpo. While the latter had himself a night with a dominant 44 points, the former held his own against the 2x MVP, including making a statement with one epic block that gave the Spurs a chance to force overtime.

It’s nearly impossible to keep track of how many historic feats Wemby accomplished throughout his rookie season, but one big one was not just recording a triple-double, but two using different stats. The first came via assists, with a 16-12-10 stat line in a January blowout win at Detroit, and the other was a more rare type with blocks, going 27-14-10 in their one Rodeo Road Trip win in Toronto.