On older Players, once the Tray has closed, the first thing that happens is that the Laser lights and then the Focus Coils are energised (usually three times on older players) so it appears to go up and down three times as it attempts to Focus on the inserted Disc.
Once it gets enough light reflected from the disc a Focus Lock signal is generated, then, and only then is the Spindle servo activated.
As technology moved on, some players did indeed give the Spindle Motor a kick before everything above happened. However, my first thought on older players is always the Laser.
JVC did suffer from Spindle Motor failure. On an older player I would just change both anyway, once the actual cause has been discovered.
Jim.