The biggest knock on the San Antonio Spurs heading into the 2026 postseason was their youth.
The vast majority of the Spurs’ roster had no previous playoff experience. In fact, 28-year-old point guard De’Aaron Fox is the only member of the starting lineup with any, suffering a first-round playoff exit with the Sacramento Kings in 2023.
But, led by 22-year-old Western Conference Finals MVP Victor Wembanyama, the Spurs took down the reigning-champion Oklahoma City Thunder to punch their ticket to the NBA Finals.
In the wake of the Spurs’ Game 7 victory, NBA Hall of Famer Paul Pierce explained why San Antonio’s youth isn’t an issue.
“Everybody said they’re young, they should be afraid of the moment. But they looked at OKC’s roster and they looked them in the eye and they like, ‘Man, we’ve been playing against each other through AAU. What am I going to be afraid of,'” Pierce said on the “No Fouls Given” podcast.
“Like a lot of them, they played in the circuit young. You know what I’m saying? So, it ain’t nothing new to face some of these guys,” Pierce continued. “You know, Wemby obviously had a history against Chet [Holmgren] and you know, [Stephon] Castle and [Dylan] Harper and all these guys playing with [Jared] McCain and all these in the circuit. They all played against each other. It ain’t like coming into it’s like damn that’s what’s his name now? Like you got some familiarity with these guys.”
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With their Western Conference Finals victory over the Thunder, the Spurs now advance to an NBA Finals matchup against the New York Knicks.
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Game 1 will tipoff on June 3 at San Antonio’s Frost Bank Center.
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