Brad Penner-Imagn Images/Scott Wachter-Imagn Images
The NBA has made a concerted effort to crack down on tanking and push back against the teams that have had plenty of incentive to lose games to set themselves up for success in the future. It was no secret the Spurs followed that blueprint before drafting Victor Wembanyama, but their GM may regret saying the quiet part out loud while appearing on an episode of Hard Knocks.
There aren’t many team sports where the addition of a single player can have a bigger impact than basketball, and there have been a number of situations where NBA franchises have had plenty of incentive to finish near the bottom of the standings in the hopes of landing a potential savior in the form of a rising prospect positioned as a generational player.
That was the case with Victor Wembanyama, the French phenom who has more than lived up to the lofty expectations surrounding him since the Spurs scooped him up with the top overall pick in 2023.
The freakishly athletic superstar played an instrumental role in San Antonio snapping a six-year playoff drought before they lost to the Knicks in the NBA Finals last season, and it sure seems like the stretch of mediocrity and downright awfulness that preceded that turnaround was worth it based on how the future is looking.
That stretch began after Brian Wright took over as the GM of the Spurs in 2019, and he may have been a bit too candid about how he orchestrated the reversal of fortune while visiting the Seahawks at training camp.
Spurs GM Brian Wright openly admitted the team spent multiple seasons tanking for Victor Wembanyama on Hard Knocks
The Spurs were far from the only team that engaged in a race to the bottom in the hopes of landing Wemby. The Pistons actually finished with the worst record in the league that season at 17-65, but San Antonio (which was tied with the Hornets for the second-worst at 22-60) made a number of moves that made it clear they were tanking in the hopes of securing the top pick in the draft.
All three of those teams had a 14% chance to land the first overall selection in a system that has since been overhauled as the NBA prepares to adopt a “3-2-1” approach it has rolled out to combat its tanking scourge, and the Spurs won the sweepstakes that ended up having a dramatic impact on the direction of the franchise.
Wright and Spurs head coach Mitch Johnson recently headed up to Washington to watch the Seahawks do their thing at training camp, and the Hard Knocks cameras were rolling when they sat down and chatted with Mike Macdonald for a conversation that made its way into the most recent episode.
It started with Johnson’s picking Macdonald’s mind about his coaching philosophy, but things took an interesting turn when the latter inquired about the series of events that led to the Spurs drafting Wemby, who Wright said CEO R.C. Buford described as “the greatest player I’ve ever seen in my life” when the rising prospect was around 16 years old.
Seahawks HC Mike Macdonald and Spurs coach Mitch Johnson share leadership tips and talk Victor Wembanyama on Hard Knocks tonight 9pm ET on @hbomax. pic.twitter.com/yAyG8u2PZ9
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 11, 2026
However, Wright may have been a bit too honest while recounting what happened after he popped up on their radar, saying:
“Literally, 12 months later, we put a plan into motion to turn the team over and have the chance to draft him in a couple of years.”
I can’t think of a more straightforward way to say “We tanked to get him” without actually uttering those words, and I don’t think it would be a stretch to suggest the NBA could consider hitting the Spurs with a hefty fine when you consider it docked the Jazz $500,000 last season for what Adam Silver positioned as “behavior…that prioritizes draft position over winning” and “undermines the foundation of NBA competition.”
I’m sure the franchise would be more than happy to eat it based on how things have panned out for them, but it’s still not the best look and a bit of an unforced error in the current environment.