Keldon Johnson is 'Serious' About Being Leader for Spurs

Johnson enters the 2022-23 season as the go-to player - and possibly leader - for San Antonio.

Keldon Johnson appears soft-spoken and boyish on the surface, which some might see quite fitting for a team like the San Antonio Spurs. 

But one step onto the court and his exuberant emotion combined with his bullish 6-6, 220-pound frame is anything but. His screams of enthusiasm after a big play are oftentimes both endearing and hilarious, but he's now fixing to take on a newfound voice this upcoming season.

With Dejounte Murray gone, and potentially more trades to follow, Johnson is now the second-longest tenured Spur behind center Jakob Poeltl. As the team's second-leading scorer after Murray last season, with averages of 17 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 2.1 assists per game and starting the most games of anyone on the roster (74), Johnson's role on the hardwood was never in question. 

But along with being the primary offensive catalyst next season, he's now seeing himself being thrust into a new position as a leader, a role he said he's "taking serious" during a postgame appearance to the ESPN broadcast table following the Spurs' 87-86 loss to the Atlanta Hawks at Vegas Summer League Thursday. 

"It's definitely big," Johnson said of the team's vision for him. "They believe in me and trust me to come in and lead these guys in the right direction. I'm definitely taking that serious. I'm definitely out here every game showing my face to the young guys because they're gonna be a part of our team this year. So just stay checking in and continue to be a leader and hope it just leads these guys to something special."

Johnson has been in Vegas watching the Summer League squad over the past few days, even being spotted chatting it up with Spurs legend Tony Parker. The fourth-year forward could very well have chosen to enjoy his offseason at home, but his presence in Vegas shows a strong willingness to develop some early-offseason relationships with rookies like Malaki Branham, Blake Wesley, and Jeremy Sochan.

"I haven't really got to workout with the young guys yet, but I'm definitely in the gym out here working. No days off," he said. "Just trying to set a great example for those guys. We had a couple of the young guys out, they was at the workouts but I wasn't able to work out with them. They're definitely great young players. I think that the Spurs did a great job of drafting those young guys. Like you said, Malaki and Blake, they totally different but definitely can go. They can play. I think they'll fit in great."

Given the team's trajectory toward future success in the draft after the haul of picks from the Murray trade, winning isn't exactly expected next season for a 34-48 team that just lost its best player. Johnson, however, isn't going out there to lose games. He's confident in how the new rookies can contribute to wins next season, even though he's not blind to the rebuild process. 

"They were aggressive, showed some great flashes of what they gonna do next year for us," Johnson said. "They'll definitely get a chance to play. As everyone knows, we're rebuilding, but we expect to come in and play hard and win."

His numbers prove he's nearing the All-Star threshold, which could be a major reason for some of the Spurs' wins next season. Johnson had a impressive nine-game streak of 20 points or more leading up to the Spurs' play-in loss to the New Orleans Pelicans. He had already found a nice scoring groove prior to the streak, reaching the 30-point mark three times in about a month following the All-Star break.

Johnson has also more than doubled his 3-point makes in each of his three seasons. After going an efficient, but low total of 13-22 from that range as a rookie, he bumped it up to 60-181 during his second season. And following the conclusion off year three in April, he tied former Spurs great Patty Mills for ninth-most 3s in a single season in franchise history after going 159-399 from deep, which led the team and was good for a respectable 39 percent. 

But this 3-point prowess didn't translate to the season finale in New Orleans. Johnson had 15 points in a game-high 40 minutes but struggled from the field, shooting 6-20 overall and 0-5 from deep.  

It was the first time in his career that Johnson had been in a playoff atmosphere of that type. Despite coming up short, he's taking the feeling from the loss and using it as motivation to get back to a similar stage, even if the Spurs might take some time to get there. 

"It was big, it was packed in there," Johnson said of Smoothie King Center. "It was a different type of environment. Hopefully we can be in something similar like that next season, if not in the playoffs. That's definitely our goal. But it was definitely big for me to be able to go in that environment, back against the wall, and play against a good team like the Pelicans."

The chemistry should continue to build for a young Spurs squad throughout the summer as long as Johnson continues to insert himself as a leader. And along the way, he'll be developing into a real NBA veteran, something unforeseen a few short months ago. 

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You can follow Zach Dimmitt on Twitter at @ZachDimmitt7

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