How Devin Vassell serves as a quiet constant on the star-studded Spurs

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  Michael C. WrightNov 4, 2026, 07:00 AM ET

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  • Joined ESPN in 2010
  • Previously covered Bears for ESPN.com
  • Played college football at West Texas A&M

IT'S AN OVERCAST MONDAY at Harlandale High on the south side of San Antonio, and the campus is abuzz in anticipation of the 60th Frontier Bowl, set for kickoff at the end of the week between the Indians and rival Cowboys of McCollum.

In football-obsessed Texas, cowbells, tailgating and the smell of burgers sizzling over hot coals typically dominate high schools in October. So when Harlandale's boys' and girls' varsity basketball teams sat in an empty auditorium waiting for a surprise visitor, nobody knew what to expect.

"What up guys?" San Antonio Spurs forward Devin Vassell said, emerging from backstage.

"How y'all doing?"

The room instantly erupted into applause. Finally, Harlandale's basketball teams felt seen.

In some ways, Vassell said he can relate to that anonymity. The longest-tenured starter on the Spurs, Vassell usually isn't mentioned in conversations about the team's vaunted starting lineup, which also features De'Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle, Dylan Harper and phenom Victor Wembanyama.

Vassell has been a three-and-D player, a near-20-point-per-game scorer, and a primary creator and shotmaker. He has played small forward and shooting guard for the Spurs. Now, Vassell mans the power forward position. When he signed a five-year, $145 million extension in 2023, Vassell became the highest-paid player in franchise history (he has since been surpassed).

Yet outside of San Antonio, Vassell seems like an afterthought among the names populating a star-studded starting lineup with two All-Stars in Wembanyama and Fox and a pair of guards in Castle and Harper destined for plenty of All-Star nods in the future.

"I feel like that's kind of been my whole life," Vassell told ESPN. "I wasn't a five-star [recruit], wasn't one of the big names. So, I've worked my way for everything, and I've never really cared about what anybody else has to say. I don't worry about the headlines. I don't worry about points. It's just a matter of how I can impact the team. It's been in many different ways. And I think that helped me so much for where I'm at today."

Coming off of its first NBA Finals appearance since 2014, San Antonio signed veteran power forward Tobias Harris in free agency. Harris has started in 913 of his 1,033 career games over more than a decade. The club also wanted to add Harper to the starting lineup alongside its other dynamic guards.

Vassell seemed likely to be relegated to a role off the bench this season, but it was never under serious consideration, even during the team's free agency discussions with Harris. Spurs coach Mitch Johnson considers Vassell to be the "most consistent person on the roster." It's a designation earned from the plethora of roles mastered over the course of a career in San Antonio that heads into Year 7. And his most important role happens off the court.

"I think that's a fair statement," Johnson told ESPN. "I also think we thought of everything. But I don't know how long we gave that one a thought. I'm not saying he's the best. I'm not saying it's just on the court. I just think he's reached this level of consistency, whether it's being comfortable in his own skin, being at ease with who he is as a person, as a player. I feel he's reached his prime, which can be a little bit of a lightning-rod word, I know. But it just feels like he's so dependable in every single way, regardless of production or outcome."

JOHNSON SERVED AS Vassell's player-development coach when the forward arrived in San Antonio in 2020 as the No. 11 pick. The Spurs were entering the second year of a six-year playoff drought that ended with last season's Finals run, and Johnson had just been promoted to Gregg Popovich's bench as the replacement for Hall of Famer Tim Duncan, who spent only one season as the longtime coach's assistant.

Johnson handled Vassell's development and film study, providing the forward with honest feedback that was never sugarcoated while praising him for the strides he was making. Johnson's relationship with Vassell and the rest of the players who had previously played for Popovich helped him earn the team's trust.

Johnson called Vassell's evolution "really fun to see and be a part of," throwing up air quotes when describing him as a shooting guard and wing earlier in his career that morphed into a player capable of guarding frontcourt opponents.

Vassell and his rebounding ability are key to making San Antonio's smaller guard-heavy starting lineup work. It's worth noting that lineup was on the court when OG Anunoby tipped in the winning basket in Game 4 in the NBA Finals in June, making rebounding this season a priority.

"[Rebounding] is a huge thing [in the new starting lineup]," Johnson said. "Devin's growth in that is a huge thing that is a huge part of that idea, [and] the group working. The idea of them and him being a big part of the rebounding has to happen, or it won't work."

Johnson watched Vassell compete in starting lineups over the years alongside players such as Keldon Johnson, the longest-tenured Spur, as well as Dejounte Murray, Tre Jones, Jakob Poeltl, Doug McDermott, Jeremy Sochan and Zach Collins. Hall of Fame coach Popovich was still at the helm when Vassell became the highest-paid player in franchise history, just as Wembanyama started his rookie season.

"My role, you know, it's changed a lot over the years," Vassell said. "My first year, being a three-and-D player, similar to Carter [Bryant's] position, DNP sometimes, barely playing. If I made a mistake, I was out of the game. My second and third year I was kind of just growing into an NBA player, starting to get in that starting role. Then, once Dejounte and all of them were traded, it was me and KJ (Keldon Johnson). We were both trying to get 20, trying to win games. Obviously, it wasn't enough."

But as the years passed, the Spurs upgraded the talent, starting with a generational superstar in Wembanyama, followed by the additions of Castle, Fox and Harper. Now a veteran leader on the team, Vassell laughs when he tells younger teammates stories about how good they've now got it with Johnson running the show.

"Even though Pop is not around as much as he was, he's always in my ear," Vassell said. "He's always talking to me. And I tell Dylan [Harper] and Carter [Bryant] all the time, 'Look, y'all got Mitch. He's a little bit different.' But Pop, he was always just on me, and he saw something in me that maybe I didn't even see in myself yet. That has really helped me out to this day."

WEMBANYAMA HAD JUST dropped a season-high 43 points in a win over Minnesota as he searched for Vassell in the locker room. Vassell is a sought-after mentor at the team's facility and within the locker room at Frost Bank Center, often telling younger players such as Harper and Bryant, "I was once in your shoes."

Four nights earlier, Vassell passed for a team-high eight assists in an Oct. 27 victory against Sacramento. Afterward, he quietly counseled Bryant in front of their adjacent lockers after they finished dressing. Fox -- one stall over next to Carter on the left -- was standing within earshot listening to the conversation about overcoming the urge to overthink situations on the court.

Bryant said he wanted to "keep learning from him as long as he's willing to teach me." The second-year forward added that he receives a mix of tough love and encouragement from Vassell, whether that's off the court "just chilling," on the court in games and practices, or on team flights.

"Devin's increase in leadership, it coincides with our increase as a contender," Wembanyama said. "He embodies our progress."

Vassell's maturity was on display as the Spurs notched their third win of the season in an overtime victory over the Jazz.

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San Antonio Spurs vs. Utah Jazz: Game Highlights

Vassell shot just 2-of-9 over the first three quarters that night but poured in 17 of his 21 points in the second half, connecting on 4 of 5 shots in the fourth quarter. Then, in overtime, Vassell hit a 10-footer before logging a two-handed putback jam with 1:53 left after Josh Green blocked a Harper layup.

"He was [2]-for-9 going into the fourth quarter," Johnson said. "But he was playing the game appropriately. Next thing you know, he kind of helped walk the game down. On the surface level, it's like, 'Oh, he's going to play off Victor, Fox, Steph and Dylan.' Next thing you know, we're running action for him to close the game. You have to have mental toughness to go back and forth ... of this 'role' that you're playing at the given time."

San Antonio embarked on a 12-0 run to put away the game. Vassell scored 12 points in the fourth quarter and overtime.

"His years of being here give him this feeling of being sure of what he does," Wembanyama said. "He is sure of what he does, but we are also sure. We've got full trust in him. We like the ball to find him in these moments."

Perhaps more importantly, Vassell personifies the selflessness needed for this young San Antonio squad to ascend to the next level. The 26-year-old averaged 13.9 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists during the regular season in 2025-26. In 23 playoff outings, he averaged 13.0 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists while drawing the responsibility of guarding Karl-Anthony Towns in the Finals.

"Dev became probably my favorite player in the NBA after last year," Bryant said. "I hit him after the season. I was like, 'I have so much respect for you.' If Dev was on any other team in the NBA, he'd be a 20-to-25 points a night guy. Easily. He's so skilled, so talented. The sacrifices he took for us to make that next step as a team [have] been amazing."

The veteran showcased that same selflessness and mentorship in the auditorium at Harlandale High in October. Seconds after he addressed the basketball teams, Vassell's mother, Cynthia, yanked a maroon flag from a long table to reveal stacks of orange and hot pink Nike boxes. Vassell had gifted the boys' team pairs of Devin Booker's signature shoe, the Book 2, in silver and black to start its basketball season. The girls received pairs of A'ja Wilson's A'Two shoe.

Vassell also presented a $10,000 check.

Soon after, he would depart through the courtyard at Harlandale toward a Lamborghini truck wrapped in a color-shifting film he described as "just depends on what your eye can see," with students scurrying from around buildings with phones in hand itching to snap a photo of a bona fide NBA player.

To the students, Vassell wasn't just the "other" Spurs starter.

But that doesn't mean he's uncomfortable stepping back into anonymity for San Antonio to secure the ultimate prize that eluded the club in last season's Finals.

"People always ask me, 'What do you want to average?'" he said. "It's hard to say when you have so many great players on your team. There's probably four or five of us [who could average 20 points]. But that's not what we need. We just need somebody who comes in every day and helps the team out however it needs. That's what I've been."