Spurs coach Mitch Johnson believes Devin Vassell has the look of a leader entering his seventh NBA season and following his strong performance in the 2026 postseason.
“Devin’s in a place where we’ve kind of seen him mature from young player to young veteran, and he’s established himself as a veteran on this team in the way he played last year and through the playoffs and the way he’s held himself and conducted himself in the offseason and into camp,” Johnson said before the Spurs’ 123-116 preseason-opening victory over Atlanta.
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“He is a leader now without question,” the coach added before watching Vassell score 12 points on 4 of 8 from the field and 2 of 4 from deep at the Frost Bank Center.
Johnson’s comments came a week after Vassell said his biggest takeaway from last season’s surprising run to the Finals was that he is indeed ready to embrace a leadership role.
“I’ve seen a lot,” Vassell said.
In that vein, Vassell has been more vocal in training camp.
“We’ve got to talk to each other between the lines and help each other on offense and defense,” he said. “That’s something I’ll keep challenging myself to do.”
Entering his seventh season, forward Devin Vassell has grown into one of the Spurs’ leaders off and on the court. (Courtesy of San Antonio Spurs)
Vassell’s growth as a leader has been particularly pleasing to Johnson, who encouraged the 26-year-old Georgia native two years ago to become a better all-around player.
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Vassell clearly met that goal in the playoffs last season when he turned in strong performances on both ends of the court.
Vassell’s leadership shows “in how he plays, how he conducts himself, how he interacts with his teammates, in how he executes the game plan, and in his attention to detail,” Johnson said. “And so it’s been really fun for me to watch the growth, and it’s been very impactful for the team for a player like that to have the type of evolution and development.”
Spurs superstar Victor Wembanyama said he noticed Vassell taking on more of a leadership role during the regular season in 2025-26.
“Devin’s increase in leadership, it coincides with our increase as a contender,” Wembanyama said. “He embodies our progress and, yeah, with (seven-year vet) Keldon (Johnson), they are the (longest-tenured) Spurs here. They know it. They know the power they got on us. They know how much they can make us better, and they do it very well and very intelligently.”
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This article originally published at Spurs coach Mitch Johnson lauds Devin Vassell’s growth as leader.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com
