Count De'Aaron Fox among those surprised that the San Antonio Spurs are second in the Western Conference standings and have already clinched home court advantage in the first round of the NBA playoffs. Well, kind of.
“I saw potential in it. I don't know if I'd say I thought it would happen that quickly,” the Spurs star admitted when his team clinched a post-season spot.
Fox quickly added a caveat though.
“I was out the first eight games. Then we won five in a row. I was like, ‘We can be really, really good.' I got back in the lineup and, obviously that momentum kept going.”
That 5-0 start was the first ever in the history of the storied Spurs franchise. Thanks to several impressive wins, including three huge triumphs against an Oklahoma City Thunder squad that started the season 24-1, San Antonio ended 2025 24-9. An 11-0 February and a stretch which they've won 23 0f 25 games through late March has all but guaranteed the franchise the second seed in the West. At the very least.
“Throughout the season, when we're playing good teams or when we're playing bad teams, I feel like we always give ourselves a chance to win, even when we're not playing well because of what we're able to do defensively,” Fox continued. “And obviously, a lot of that has to do with Vic [Victor Wembanyama]. And that's why we have so much confidence in ourselves, because we have a lot of guys that can put the ball in the basket. And even when we're not making shots – and it's not every day that nobody on our team is making shots – we give ourselves a chance to win because of the way we guard.”
"I saw potential. I don't know if I'd say I thought it would happen that quickly…
I was out the first eight games..We won five in a row, I was like, 'We can be really, really good"-De'Aaron Fox on #Spurs, 19-2 in last 21, in Superior Tax Service https://t.co/riXwx24cXf Report pic.twitter.com/SsRUOvGg1k
— Hector Ledesma (@HectorLedesmaTV) March 19, 2026
De'Aaron Fox gushes about Spurs' selflessness
A career 21.2 points per game scorer who's averaged at least 25 in three seasons recently, Fox is scoring 18.9 per contest in his first full year in the Alamo City. A big reason he's fine with that dip?
“We have guys that can put the ball in the basket themselves, but we enjoy playing together,” the 29-year-old guard shared. “We enjoy seeing each other succeed.”
Fox shares the Spurs backcourt with reigning Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle, 2026 second overall draft pick Dylan Harper, and Devin Vassell, who scored 19.5 points per night as Wembanyama's sidekick in Wemby's rookie year.
“That makes sharing the ball that much easier, because, obviously, Vic can isolate, I can isolate. Steph, Dylan, we have a bunch of guys that can just go out there and go get it, but we don't play that way,” Fox said. “And we know that throughout the course of a game, there are times where we do have to just be able to go out and get a bucket. But, we continue to move the ball and, like I said, just try to make our offense that's already good, try to make it easier on ourselves. Being able to move the ball does that.”
Following a 119-109 Boston Celtics victory vs. the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Spurs trail the defending NBA champions by just two losses. San Antonio has nine games remaining in the regular season and holds the tie-breaker against OKC.
