After historic outing, Victor Wembanyama put focus on Mitch Johnson's 100th win

PORTLAND, Ore. – Spurs superstar Victor Wembanyama left the court with the game ball in his large hands after his magnificent, history-making performance in Wednesday’s 112-111 victory over Dallas.

He didn’t keep it long, though.

Rather than take the ball home as a cherished keepsake from his 52-point, 24-rebound, eight-block masterpiece, the 22-year-old Frenchman presented it to Mitch Johnson in the locker room to honor him on the occasion of his 100th career coaching win.

“I haven’t checked the data, but it’s got to be up there with one of the fastest hundred wins. We’re all just proud of him and he deserves it,” Wembanyama said after posting 30 points, 14 rebounds and two blocks to lead the Spurs to a 124-109 triumph over the Kings on Friday in Sacramento.

Teammates applauded Wembanyama’s unselfish gesture on a night he joined Wilt Chamberlain as the only NBA players to finish a game with 50-plus points, 20-plus rebounds and eight-plus blocks.

“It just shows the type of person he is,” Dylan Harper said. “A player of that stature could be very self-centered. He could be very to himself, but he pours into us and he pours into the team, the coaching staff, the whole organization. And that’s a testament to how he grew up, his family and just who he is as a person.”

Johnson, 39, called the gift he received from Wembanyama “one of the many examples of how team-oriented” the 7-foot-4 center has been since he joined the Spurs as the No. 1 overall pick of the 2023 NBA Draft.

“It can get lost at times with his talent and greatness and potential greatness and all the moments that are surrounded by individual accomplishments or moments he creates,” the coach said. 

Johnson, who joined the Spurs as a G League assistant in 2016 before going on to serve on Hall of Famer Gregg Popovich’s staff, became the Spurs acting head coach in November 2024 after Popovich suffered a stroke. After guiding the Spurs to a 32-45 record in a season filled with challenges, the club named Johnson head coach in May 2025 after Popovich, the NBA’s all-time winningest coach, announced his retirement from coaching.

The Spurs finished 62-20 last season before starting this season 7-2 after recording their seventh win in a row Friday. After the young, inexperienced team secured the No. 2 seed in the West last season, Johnson guided it all the way to the NBA Finals, where they lost in five games to the New York Knicks.

As for Wembanyama’s question about Johnson’s rapid rise to winning No. 100, Tom Thibodeau reached the milestone the fastest, doing it in just 130 games while guiding Chicago in 2012. Previous record holders include Avery Johnson (131 with Dallas), Red Auerbach (135 with Dallas) and Jon Kundla (138 with the Minneapolis Lakers). In recent years, Joe Mazzulla needed just 137 games to hit 100 wins with Boston. Johnson did it in 167 games.

Johnson was one of the three finalists for NBA coach of the year last season, an honor that highlights how far he’s come since taking over for Popovich two years ago.

“When I think back on that time, it’s been a lot, and I’m just very grateful for the support and the people I’ve been blessed to work with and work for and coach,” Johnson said. “I’m very fortunate for a lot of circumstances beyond my control I benefit from every day.”

Keldon Johnson, the Spurs’ current longest-tenured player, said Mitch Johnson’s brief tenure leading team has been marked by how “very honest” he is in conversations with the players.

“Honest and upfront. You know what he’s thinking. There’s no guessing,” the eighth-year pro said. “He’s an amazing person. For me and my career, he’s been there every step of the way.  He helped me develop into a professional and has always been honest with me.”

Indeed, Mitch Johnson enjoys the give-and-take that often exists between coaches and players.

“Players and coaches will have, in my opinion, an infinite conflict of interest because every player at some stage wants to reach to be the best player they can,” Johnson said. “And the job of a coach is to take a group of players and try to put together the best team or best group of players. And so even if you’re the biggest puzzle piece or you’re the ‘best player’ on the team, there will be times that if you took a moment and put it in a vacuum, that could technically be taken or perceived as keeping that player from being the best player they could be.

“And I respect that. It’s supposed to be that way. The player’s job is to be the best player they can be. If they also try to be the best teammates they can be, then it’s the coach’s job and the organization’s job to educate them, prove to them, show them the value of what that mix can look like when done right.”

There’s no disputing Wembanyama was a good teammate after the Dallas game.

“It just shows the type of person he is,” Keldon Johnson said. “Everything you see is authentic. That’s just who Vic is as a person. He cares about each and every person that’s a part of this organization. It just shows. He had an amazing night, but he gave the ball to Mitch.

“It just speaks volumes. I feel like you can’t replicate that. You can’t fake that. That’s genuine love right there.”

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This article originally published at After historic outing, Victor Wembanyama put focus on Mitch Johnson’s 100th win.