How the Spurs Cracked the Top 3 in NBA Social Media

Gimbal Podcast

30 Dec 2025 — 2 min read

Most teams obsess over perfecting every video before posting. Kent Heckel took the opposite approach with the San Antonio Spurs. It worked.

The Framework: Output First, Quality Second

When Kent joined the Spurs during the offseason, they sat at 27th out of the 30 teams on TikTok, and 12th on YouTube.

His solution wasn't to hire a thumbnail artist or overhaul their creative. It was simpler: post more.

"We are just at the free throw line taking shots," Kent explained. "That's literally what I'm trying to set my team up to do."

The framework works in two phases:

Phase 1: Solve for Output

Stop waiting for perfect. Double your volume. The Spurs went from scattered uploads to hundreds of videos a month. Every horizontal hits YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter. Every vertical hits Reels, TikTok, Shorts, and Facebook. No exceptions, no hesitation.

Here's the thing most people forget: we feed content into algorithm platforms. Most people scroll feeds, not profiles. You're not spamming anyone—you're giving yourself more chances to connect.

Phase 2: Iterate on Quality

Once the volume is flowing, study what works. Kent runs weekly reviews with the entire team, from leadership down to part-time editors. Everyone gets homework: find a video from your feed, bring it to the group, and explain why it worked or why it flopped.

Week over week, the team adds what they learned to their toolbelt.

By October, the Spurs sat 3rd in total social media views (only Golden State and the Lakers were ahead of them) and 5th on YouTube.

How to Use This

Audit your current output. How many videos are you actually posting per week? Per platform? Write it down. Be honest.
Remove the friction. If your content team and social team operate separately, blur the lines. Everyone should be creating, not just uploading.
Go everywhere. Every horizontal goes to YouTube, Facebook, Twitter. Every vertical goes to Reels, TikTok, Shorts, Facebook. Build this into your workflow so it happens automatically.
Schedule weekly team reviews. Bring examples. Dissect what worked. Make learning everyone's job, not just the strategist's.
Trust the reps. Quality comes from volume. The data will show you what's working. Adjust and keep shooting.

What Else Kent Revealed

The secret ranking system the NBA sends every team each month (and why it changed how Kent thinks about competition)
Why he Googled "KPI" during his first strategy meeting with the Spurs CEO
The software tool he's building to auto-optimize your entire back catalog while you sleep
His unconventional hiring take: "I want the 21-year-old making memes in his dorm room getting more views than us"

Connect with Kent

Watch the Full Episode

[YouTube link coming soon]

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