SAN ANTONIO — When does a matchup become a rivalry?

The vanishing of a core rivalry — a pairing of teams whose matchups bring the NBA to a halt — has been one of the consequences of the NBA’s brief parity era. A rivalry, steadily nurtured through history and competition over time, brings a fire, passion and consequence that lives beyond the standings. But the center of gravity moves so swiftly through the league these days that it’s hard for teams, or even two players, to hold the world’s attention for too long.

The Oklahoma City Thunder arrived quickly and have staying power, from their talent to their payroll. The talk of them taking over the next decade was premature considering there hasn’t been a repeat champion since 2018, but they certainly seemed inevitable.

But that is the past tense. Whatever certainty there was about the Thunder’s grasp on the 2020s must now contend with one fact: The San Antonio Spurs have beaten them twice in 10 days.

The Spurs’ 130-114 home win on Tuesday does not scrap the next chapter of the Thunder’s story. But it’s time for some rewrites. The Spurs are proving to be a main character in OKC’s journey, and the wider NBA world is about to have that fact thrust in their faces when the two teams match up again in Oklahoma City on Christmas.

So what makes a competitor a rival?

“I guess the signs are every night is packed, energy is different, physicality from the first to the 48th minute is up there,” Victor Wembanyama said.

Check. Check. Check.

While true rivalry grows from the tension of uncertainty,  the texture of the matchup — the feel of the games, the personalities that define the moments inside and outside the lines — brings it to the next level. Someone needs to be sick of somebody.

Wembanyama and Chet Holmgren, the two young 7-foot unicorns who have gone at each other since they were teenagers on the youth circuit, have had some moments that point the drama-seeking camera in their direction. When Wembanyama drove through Holmgren and sent the Thunder big to the ground on what was deemed an offensive foul late in the third quarter, it felt like a moment we’ll remember the next time they get in each other’s face.

Though there is not much history yet between these teams, the Wembanyama-Holmgren matchup is a clear catalyst.

“No, I don’t think about that,” Wembanyama said in French after the game, per L’Equipe’s Maxime Aubin. “At least from a basketball standpoint, there’s no comparison (between us).”

But most of all, rivalries need to answer a deeper question. It has to be more than just the playoff bracket leading familiar faces toward one another. There needs to be something more at stake than advancing.

The Thunder and Spurs have the makings of a league-defining rivalry because their connection poses several existential quandaries. In particular, Wembanyama ignited one when he proclaimed how proud he was to be a part of a team that played “pure and ethical basketball.”

His comments, which came after San Antonio’s NBA Cup semifinal win over the Thunder, placed the Spurs into the role of the hero, defending the soul of the sport against the current titans of the game. He claimed his Spurs were performing a brand of basketball that is more tactically correct, an objective determination to a subjective pursuit. Whether he meant it as a direct swipe at the Thunder’s style of play, which has often been criticized as a manipulation of the rulebook, he is aware of the way the basketball world is churning.

In a sport where play styles are evolving every few years, what is more tactically correct is what works. The Thunder’s tactics work for their talent. So do the Spurs’. But moments like these pull back the veneer of basketball chivalry for what this all really is: a head-on collision.

Of course, even Wembanyama was clear that this can’t be a rivalry until the Spurs win on the same level as the Thunder. In fact, to those involved, calling it a rivalry was a bit gauche.

“It feels like saying it is a rivalry would be a weird thing,” Wembanyama said. “It’s something that feels natural. I didn’t say that it’s impossible that it can be in the future, and I hope it will be soon. But we’re definitely getting closer.”

Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said he doesn’t view Spurs-Thunder as a budding rivalry because his team has been together for a third of a season, while the Thunder just won a title.

“I don’t want to disrespect their program and what they built,” Johnson said. “We are trying to build something, and we’re chasing every other single team in this league, and they’re obviously at the forefront of it all.”

Spurs wing Devin Vassell also didn’t take the bait.

“If the media says it is, I guess,” Vassell said before Tuesday’s game. “To us, it’s just another game that we want to win.”

He can tell himself that to keep his mindset level, and that appears to work for him. But the evidence of the game itself was clear: Spurs players, coaches and fans treated this like a defining game of the season. When Wembanyama hit a 3 over Alex Caruso to push the Spurs’ lead to 12 in the fourth quarter, it was the loudest the Frost Bank Center has been all year. It may have been the loudest it has been all decade.

FBC IS ROCKIN’ 🎉

🌟 Vote #NBAAllStar: https://t.co/frD28T3bmx
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— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) December 24, 2025

And it hardly seems a coincidence that the Spurs chose this night to unveil their new victory celebration, when Wembanyama, spurred on by the European soccer-style Jackals fan section he’s championed, banged a drum alongside his teammates to spur on the crowd.

Spurs veteran Harrison Barnes has been around some rivalries of consequence in his time with the Golden State Warriors. He was there in the early stages of the Warriors’ run, when they went from first-round exit to champion in one season, then followed that up with a 73-9 campaign that ended in a loss to LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

“I think rivalries are good,” Barnes said. “They’re healthy, when two teams have high aspirations of where they want to go and what they want to do.”

The Thunder are the first franchise since those Warriors to cast that daunting a shadow over the league. They had a phenomenal championship run last season, then heightened that dominance to the point where there didn’t seem to be a way out of their path.

Now, after two losses to San Antonio, the shadow looks a bit lighter. It’s too soon to know how many lumens are starting to poke through, nor are these two games (and the result of the rematch on Christmas) enough to close the gap between these two teams. But the gap is shrinking.

“Still got a few wins before we can catch up on them, but it means something for sure,” Wembanyama said.

There was a notable moment at the end of Tuesday’s game that illustrated the importance of this moment. After the Spurs took a timeout with just under four minutes left in the game, forward Keldon Johnson hit a 3 right out of the break to push the Spurs’ lead to 18. Then, Thunder coach Mark Daigneault immediately called a timeout and pulled his starters. With a rematch just 48 hours away, it came across as Daigneault sending a message to his team after the Spurs had beaten them twice in a row, with Wembanyama playing at maybe 70 percent of his capability due to a minutes limit.

For two straight matchups, the Spurs have done to the Thunder what the Thunder have done to virtually every other team in the league. Whether you call it a rivalry that’s budding, emerging, blossoming or just straight up here, it does exist. And in less than 48 hours, the Thunder will get their chance to address the existential questions these teams present when they go at each other again.

“They’re going to be locked in more than any time before, probably,” Wembaynama said. “I know it’s a resourceful team, but we’re gonna be there too.”