Spurs Treating Big-Stage Christmas Test ‘Business As Usual’

SAN ANTONIO — Self-burn or not, San Antonio Spurs acting coach Mitch Johnson has features.

If you ask him, he’d tell you it’s his ears. “(They) stick out,” he said, a little flustered at the idea of being made into a Mickey Mouse-esque animation for the early game of the Christmas Day slate.

“I’m sure they’ll do something,”

Wednesday evening, the coach will find out. Maybe “they” — referring to the animators in charge of turning the Spurs’ road contest against the New York Knicks into a cartoon remake on Disney+ — will exaggerate his beard the same way “they” did Victor Wembanyama, Jalen Brunson or Chris Paul.

Maybe they’ll give him a head of extra curly, naturally colored hair, setting him apart from the bright green Grinch-like hairdo that Jeremy Sochan has been sporting for a few weeks.

READ MORE: Green-Haired Sochan Back in Form at Best Possible Time

Or perhaps they won’t put half the effort into the coaches as they did the players. Maybe Johnson will be replaced by Donald Duck or Clarabelle; he won’t know until long after the game is over.

But his hope, if not to see his animated caricature?

To win a game on Christmas Day.

“It’s definitely a cool opportunity, and their excitement is justified,” Johnson said. “Our job will be to continue to make it one of the 82 games and have the same approach.”

These young Spurs aren’t used to such pomp and circumstance. After landing Wembanyama with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, all eyes have been on them, but the results haven’t followed. As a result, there wasn’t a rush to include San Antonio in a Christmas Day marquee.

Over the summer, that changed. Instead of opting for the numbers — a continued nuisance for any-and-all-things Wembanyama — the NBA decided to leave out the Oklahoma City Thunder and Milwaukee Bucks in favor of the Spurs, who haven’t made the playoffs since the 2018-19 season and are now set to get their first holiday action since 2016.

If its goal was to spark something eight hours North of San Antonio, it worked.

“Disappointed for sure,” Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said of missing out on the Christmas Day slate. “I’d love to play on Christmas Day and I think we’re that caliber of a team. The NBA makes their decisions. You can’t slight them for it.

“The ball is in our court to prove to them why we deserve to play on that day.”

READ MORE: Is NBA Sending Message With Christmas Day Slate?

As it goes on one end, it goes on the other. The Spurs didn’t ask for a trip to a snowless New York City on Christmas, but they got it. And they’re certainly not complaining.

“It’s going to be fun, exciting,” Spurs shooting guard Devin Vassell said. “You wake up when you’re a young kid … open your gifts and after that, it’s pretty much basketball. For it to be us this year, it’s a blessing. We don’t ever take that for granted.”

Opportunity in mind, the Spurs will continue “business as usual.” Like they did when four rotational pieces were missing over a week-long span. Or when Gregg Popovich suffered a mild stroke to give Johnson indefinite control of the reins.

“We play like it’s Pop, too,” Sidy Cissoko said of playing under Johnson. “We don’t think of (Mitch) as a different coach. We just play hard.”

Such a mindset, however, doesn’t take away from the magnitude of the stage they’ll be on or the pageantry that comes with it.

“It’s crazy,” Sochan said. “As a kid, that’s all you really dreamed of.”

With an opponent as dangerous as the Knicks — riding a four-game win streak into their annual holiday contest — the Spurs will certainly need to land their punches. Luckily for them, they’re completely healthy, and as the record shows, that tends to work in their favor.

Since returning to full strength, the Spurs are a few late-game turnovers away from being undefeated in three tries. Wembanyama is averaging just shy of 30 points with four assists and four blocks to pair with 40 percent shooting from 3-point range over his last 15 games and he’s fresh off of breaking a multitude of league records.

Around him, San Antonio’s supporting cast is beginning to gel and build up the continuity it’s been searching for since the beginning of the season. Health might be the primary catalyst for it, but it can’t help but take in the added joy that comes from the holidays.

READ MORE: San Antonio to Kick Off NBA’s Christmas Day Slate

Wembanyama might be wishing for a little snow on Christmas, but if you asked him, perhaps a win at Madison Square Garden would suffice. One that makes success feel about as regular as his young squad’s season mantra.

If that’s the case, “business as usual” it is.

“I’m sure it’s going to be special,” the 20-year-old said. “Spending Christmas in New York is going to be like the movies.”

What Does Wembanyama’s Unique Record Mean in Context?

Spurs Not Taking Victor Wembanyama’s Confidence For Granted

Anomalous Performance Won’t Rob Spurs ‘Pleasure’ of Fitting In