Houston Rockets guard Fred VanVleet is not buying into the growing hype surrounding the San Antonio Spurs as championship contenders this season.
Speaking on the latest episode of the Unguarded podcast, VanVleet cautioned against premature expectations for San Antonio despite the team holding the second-best record in the Western Conference at 48–18.
“I could only talk about the last three years, I don’t know what they was doing before I got here, us or them. We were better than them the last two years, correct? So, they’re better than us this year you would say?” VanVleet said.
When asked what the ultimate goal should be for San Antonio, VanVleet pointed to the lack of postseason success.
“Have they done that? Have they had a playoff series?”
After the show’s host responded that they had not, VanVleet offered a blunt reminder about the long road required to reach championship contention.
“Have they [won] a playoff series? Everybody slow the f*ck down. It’s a marathon. Not a sprint… They're having a good year, but what’s the finish line, though? It’s easy to say all this in the moment.”
Fred VanVleet on the Spurs hype 🤔pic.twitter.com/oVAkCRqBE2
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) March 14, 2026
“Ok, so everybody slow the f*ck down. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. They in front of us right now, literally in the standings and yeah, you could judge everything based on upon, ‘they look like this or they look like this, or this player is better than this player.’ Yeah, Wemby is an alien. [Stephon] Castle is a really good player. [Dylan] Harper looks like a really good player. I actually played with his brother in Toronto. So, yeah I like the team they got… [De’Aaron] Fox was a great addition, they’re rolling. They are having a good year, but like what’s the finish line, though? It’s easy to say all that now in the moment.”
Fred VanVleet pushes back on Spurs hype as Rockets chase West standings
San Antonio has backed up much of the hype on the court this season. The Spurs won the season series against the Houston Rockets 3–1, including a 145–120 victory at home in their most recent matchup last Sunday.
VanVleet acknowledged that result as well.
“Being a 100, they beat our a**. They beat the skin off our a**, but I don’t remember – and this is my ignorance to the fandom and the social media verse of how we consume the game – everybody taking all these victory laps when we was just beating them.”
VanVleet, meanwhile, has yet to play this season while continuing his recovery from a torn ACL in his right knee that he suffered during training camp last September. The veteran guard’s absence has been notable for Houston as the team remains firmly in the Western Conference playoff race.
The Rockets (41–25) currently sit third in the conference standings and will host the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday at 9:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN and Peacock before facing them again Wednesday at 9:30 p.m. ET on ESPN in a pivotal matchup in the race for the No. 3 seed.
San Antonio, meanwhile, will look to maintain its momentum when it faces the Charlotte Hornets (34–33) at 3:30 p.m. ET on Prime Video.
