Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama reveals Mitch Johnson’s advice on blocking out the noise

After three wins against the Oklahoma City Thunder, including two in three days, The San Antonio Spurs have risen to the top of everyone’s radar. Two games later, they are failing to live up to expectations due to an unexpected losing streak. It’s left Victor Vembanyama in search of balance.

ClutchPoints asked the generational talent if the young team can handle the growth on his way to fight he may have played a role in home losses to the Utah Jazz and Cleveland Cavaliers.

“Coach (Mitch Johnson) said that after the last game. We’re not as good as everybody said we were after the last as many games before. We’re not as bad as we’ve shown these last two games.”

A 113-101 setback to the Cavs it came after a 127-114 loss to the Jazz. Utah is well below .500. Cleveland is just above that line.

“Yeah, we’ve got to be able to handle it, you know,” Wemby continued, alluding to swing prevention.

“Coach said that… We’re not as good as everyone said we were after those games before. And we’re not as bad as we’ve shown these last two games.”

– He asked Wemby if these were the last 2 #Spurs L for Cavs & Jazz are part of the growing pains that come with the competition#PorVida #GoSpursGo pic.twitter.com/Sk43JKuP5k

— Hector Ledesma (@HectorLedesmaTV) December 30, 2025

Victor Wembanyama admits Spurs need to do better

Monitoring loss to the CavaliersThe Spurs are still second in the Western Conference. That’s the position they’ve put themselves in thanks to eight straight wins, considering the league doesn’t count the result of the NBA Cup Finals in the standings. The longest winning streak in the Wembanyama era set the backdrop for recent back-to-back defeats at the Frost Back Center.

“We’ve got to handle the dynamics better,” replied the top pick in the 2023 draft. “Never get too high when we’re winning, never get too low when we’re losing.”

It’s a lesson Vembanyama says extends beyond the game.

“We’re doing everything to win. Everyone is locked in training, scouting, but we can’t waste efforts on mistakes that we can control like this.”

Spurs’ leading scorer certainly gave Cleveland credit in what turned out to be Spurs’ ninth loss of the season compared to 23 wins.

“I don’t think we can overlook their defense. I think they did a great job. I think they had a good scouting report,” Wemby said before turning his attention to his team.

“But in the end, there were a lot of things we could control. A lot of mistakes that weren’t us. So I don’t know about the anxiety, but it’s definitely a moment in the season where we tried some things, some worked, some didn’t. And teams are trying new things and it should be a calmer game than 20 games ago.”

The NBA All-Star 2025 he said the word ‘anxiety’ because that’s the term his head coach used earlier in the postgame press conference to describe the team’s offensive approach in the loss. The 7-foot-5 superstar is making other appointments in an attempt to seek a diagnosis.

“Trust the process. Don’t skip steps and be more calm. I don’t know how to say it in English, but to maybe take a step back and look at things. Yeah, that’s it.”

The Spurs are hoping that’s it for a string of small losses coming before a New Year’s Day matchup with the Eastern Conference powerhouse New York Knicks.