Keldon Johnson’s most endearing side quest of the season just got an official progress report.
After the Spurs forward famously floated the idea of using NBA Cup winnings to add a llama to the growing animal lineup at his ranch outside San Antonio, Johnson was asked this week whether the purchase actually happened, and he delivered the kind of deadpan update that instantly belonged on a T-shirt.
“Llama is in transit, llama is on the way,” Johnson said.
Keldon Johnson on whether he eventually bought a lama: “Llama is in transit, llama is on the way”. He was suggested to name the llama Lamar.
(Keldon Johnson gained online attention in December 2025 for saying he’d use his Emirates NBA Cup prize money to buy more llamas for… pic.twitter.com/L6XNEBbzJk
— MrBuckBuck (@MrBuckBuckNBA) January 1, 2026
It’s a perfect continuation of a storyline that started as a throwaway broadcast nugget and turned into a full-blown Spurs meme. During San Antonio’s NBA Cup quarterfinal against the Lakers, sideline reporter Cassidy Hubbarth explained on-air that Johnson already had a plan for the prize money: a llama for “Longhorn Ranch,” the property he owns outside the city, where he’s already caring for goats, cows, horses, a donkey and chickens, “no staff,” just Johnson, family and friends keeping the place running.
The team leaned into it, too, because Johnson leaned into it. In a December feature from The Athletic, Johnson played along with the bit midgame, “And the llama will be within reach,” he said, while framing it in the larger context of the Spurs taking the NBA Cup seriously.
Now comes the inevitable next step: the name. According to the same clip that captured Johnson’s “in transit” update, someone suggested he name the llama “Lamar”…
