Hector Ledesma Articles - Page 11

San Antonio Spurs superstar Victor Wembanyama is getting his wish to play more minutes, and it’s not coming as naturally as he might’ve thought. “With my minutes increasing, I think I need a little bit of time to adapt to it. I was kind of struggling in the game, but at the end of the game, […]

The NBA Rookie of the Year will be announced two months from now. What was shaping up before Thursday night to prove a mere formality has seemingly taken shape. That is, to everyone but San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama. “No, because there’s still 22 games left. So, no, it’s not over,” is how Wemby […]

With a month and a half left in the NBA regular season, the San Antonio Spurs are on track to suffer their worst season record in franchise history. Showing 11 wins through February, the Silver and Black aren’t on pace to exceed the 20 victories the 1996-1997 team mustered. Amid the struggles, the young team […]

The two rookies who’ve combined to win the Western Conference Rookie of the Month this season meet for the third time in the NBA when Victor Wembanyama hosts Chet Holmgren on Thursday. But it’ll mark the first time they’ll see each other since this season’s top overall pick overtook the 2022 draft’s second selection in […]

Coming on the heels of a game against a team they may want to emulate, the San Antonio Spurs get set for a matchup against the franchise that may have laid a blueprint. The Oklahoma City Thunder, who are right near the top of the Western Conference, visit the Frost Bank Center on Thursday night. […]

The San Antonio Spurs’ annual Rodeo Road Trip turned 22 years old this season. And just as the name of the arena that annually hosts the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo has changed a couple times, so have the team’s fortunes. A stretch that once honed Spurs teams for championship runs now hits low […]

A 114-105 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday ended this season’s version of the annual San Antonio Spurs’ “Rodeo Road Trip.” 11-48 for the season, SA won just one of the nine game games that took up most of February. With that, Black and Silver linings may be hard to find. In fact, when […]

San Antonio Spurs super rookie Victor Wembanyama turned the ball over 43 seconds into the second half. Sixteen seconds after that, he was headed to the bench in Tuesday’s 114-105 loss at the Minnesota Timberwolves. The memo was loud and clear to the man who’s already taken the league by storm with some incredibly impressive […]

San Antonio Spurs center Zach Collins believes his superstar teammate should win one of the NBA’s top individual honors. But that doesn’t mean he thinks Victor Wembanyama will win Defensive Player of the Year. “He should be the Defensive Player of the Year but he’s not…I’m sure they won’t give him every single award but […]

Not that they have a ton of options, but the San Antonio Spurs can tell you with certainty which is their best win of the season. Following a 113-112 victory over a Minnesota Timberwolves team that continues to sit atop the Western Conference, Devin Vassell and Gregg Popovich put it at the top of the […]

Save for two of his last four games, San Antonio Spurs guard Devin Vassell is becoming the continued force his team envisions. Overshadowed for a month by teammate Victor Wembanyama’s stat stuffing efforts, Vassell hadn’t scored less than 15 points since January 15th vs. the Atlanta Hawks. That is, until a loss right before the […]

After posting a rare “5×5” game, San Antonio Spurs phenom Victor Wembanyama followed with 22 points, 10 rebounds, and five blocks in a loss to the Utah Jazz. Such outings are now the norm for the generational prospect and beg the question of how much more he can improve before the end of his rookie […]

Unlike their previous three games against the Dallas Mavericks, Sacramento Kings and Los Angeles Lakers, Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs faced a team that’s not expected to make the 2024 NBA playoffs. But like the Mavs, Kings and Lakers, the Utah Jazz proved too much for the “sloppy” Silver and Black. A 128-109 […]

At 75 years old, Gregg Popovich is certainly at an age in which he could be Victor Wembanyama’s grandfather. Heck, there’s a world in which the Hall of Fame coach is old enough to be a freshly-turned 20-year-old’s great grandfather. One thing’s for sure. The San Antonio Spurs’ legendary coach is already making a mark–and […]

From the moment the San Antonio Spurs won the 2023 NBA Draft lottery and the right to draft Victor Wembanyama, the linkage was inescapable. The same franchise that had previously won the right to draft David Robinson and Tim Duncan was set to land another generational seven-footer. It turns out, San Antonio’s “Twin Towers” are […]

Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs faced off against LeBron James and Los Angeles Lakers on Friday night. Afterward, it was the legend with whom many often compare to James who took center stage in one of the Spurs superstar’s answers. With five steals and five blocks in the 123-118 loss to the Lakers, […]

The San Antonio Spurs were on the verge of knocking off a team that’s expected to make the playoffs. They’d rallied to lead the Sacramento Kings by four with just over two minutes remaining in the game. From that moment on, one team showed why it’s looking for a second straight postseason appearance while the […]

The San Antonio Spurs aren’t going to win a lot more games over the last third of their season.  But that doesn’t mean they won’t improve. In fact, be prepared to see significant individual growth from several key players. Combine a trade deadline move that didn’t make them better, an 11-44 record at the All-Star […]

The San Antonio Spurs’ only move at the NBA trade line was their biggest mistake. And not by default. ClutchPoints reported on Doug McDermott’s affection for San Antonio and the Spurs leading up to a deal that sent him to the Indiana Pacers. In parting ways with one of their few veteran players, the franchise […]

While Victor Wembanyama covered many topics during the NBA’s All-Star break, his biggest headline probably came with how much he gushed over the San Antonio Spurs. But, he also countered one of the franchise’s tried and true mantras. “About not skipping steps, I’ve been told never to skip steps my whole life but it didn’t […]

San Antonio Spurs superstar Victor Wembanyama enjoyed his first NBA All-Star Weekend experience. At the same time, while the Rising Stars and Skills Challenge competitions gave him a taste, he considers it just that. “Next year, hopefully, the big game,” Wemby said, alluding to the actual NBA All-Star Game. A packed All-Star weekend for Victor […]

Initially not chosen for the NBA’s Rising Stars game, Jeremy Sochan is in Indianapolis, Indiana over the weekend as an injury replacement. It’s the latest recognition for a player who’s hit several marks for the San Antonio Spurs through his season and a half with the franchise. Named to the event by NBA Commissioner Adam […]

It’s not quite what he was looking for, but San Antonio Spurs superstar Victor Wembanyama will take it. As the generational prospect gets set for Friday’s Rising Stars Game, he’d rather be taking part in the NBA All-Star Weekend’s main event. “It’s great,” Wemby said about the exhibition that features some of the top rookies, […]

Victor Wembanyama scored only six points in the second half of the San Antonio Spurs’ 116-93 loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday.  The thing is, he scored 20 in the game’s first half. Asked afterward what may have caused the difference in production, Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich put Wemby’s night in perspective with a […]

As good as Victor Wembanyama was during the San Antonio Spurs’ Wednesday night game against the Toronto Raptors, he may have had a better moment afterward. Following the NBA’s first triple-double with blocks by a rookie in nearly 35 years, the generational prospect was asked if, because he also registered five assists, a potential quadruple-double […]

Doug McDermott, the only player on the season’s initial roster over the age of 30, is no longer with the San Antonio Spurs. The team acquired veteran forward Marcus Morris in the trade that sent McDermott to the Indiana Pacers, but he’s yet to report to the team and is headed for a buyout. Without […]

Victor Wembanyama’s San Antonio Spurs teammates see what we see. Even more, they feel it. And in real time. Almost as if officially putting the NBA on notice, Devin Vassell isn’t holding back after the Spurs blew out the Raptors 122-99 on Monday. “He’s a tremendous player and this is his rookie year so it’s […]

The San Antonio Spurs get ready for the third game of their Rodeo Road Trip off the heels a franchise-record performance. One that didn’t come from super rookie Victor Wembanyama. Instead, Devin Vassell’s 23 points in the third quarter against the Orlando Magic are the most a Spur has scored in a quarter since 1996-1997 […]

Take Two. Four and half years after he spurned the San Antonio Spurs, Marcus Morris is now reportedly set to get bought out by the Silver and Black. The 13-year veteran is part of a three-team deal with the Philadelphia 76ers and Indiana Pacers that includes a 2029 second round pick and cash considerations in […]

Victor Wembanyama has followed the San Antonio Spurs since he was a boy. Combine Tony Parker’s legend in France with the Silver and Black’s championship history – not to mention fellow French star Boris Diaw’s impact on San Antonio’s legendary run – and Wemby considered himself a Spurs fan. Another franchise he tracked was the […]

One down, eight to go. The San Antonio Spurs started their annual Rodeo Road Trip Wednesday night with a 116-104 loss to the Miami Heat. The grueling trip which won’t have the Silver and Black play another home game until Feb. 29 also represents a chance for Victor Wembanyama to bond with his teammates. “Road […]

It would surprise almost no one—and you may be able to remove the word almost’—if the San Antonio Spurs trade sharpshooter Doug McDermott this week. The franchise is rebuilding and McDermott’s skill and experience are exactly what contenders need down the stretch. What the Silver and Black would get, or wouldn’t get, in return may […]

With all the attention that surrounded him leading up to the NBA Draft and for the lofty expectations laid upon him, San Antonio Spurs generational prospect Victor Wembanyama tops all NBA rookies in just about every major statistical category and leads the entire league in blocks. ClutchPoints talked with the 7-foot-four big man about the […]

While their annual rodeo road trip is supposed to represent the San Antonio Spurs’ ultimate test of stamina, the grind started at least a week and a half early this season. Saturday’s 117-101 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers marked the Spurs’ seventh game in eleven days dating back to a January 24 blowout to the […]

Even Victor Wembanyama, the 7-foot-4 international marvel loosely nicknamed an “Alien,” isn’t immune to South Texas’ well-chronicled allergens. Following a 19 point, 14 rebound effort in a 117-101 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers, the generational prospect met with the media in front of his locker instead of at the usual post-game availability table. With his […]

The back and forth that led to the ejections of Cleveland Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell and San Antonio Spurs center Zach Collins started with around a minute left in the Spurs 117-101 loss to the Cavs on Saturday night. It continued verbally after – and with words almost as sharp as elbows. Cavs coach J.B. […]

The final play of the San Antonio Spurs’ 114-113 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday night may serve as the most obvious example, but it wasn’t the only instance in which the home team didn’t rely on super rookie Victor Wembanyama down the stretch. In fact, the top pick in last summer’s draft […]

The San Antonio Spurs have been asked related questions numerous times this season. Too many to count. Unfortunately for them, so are the turnovers. For a second straight game, the Spurs lack of ball security took big portions of the press-game post conference. ClutchPoints asked point guard Tre Jones about the continued issue. “Honestly, just […]

San Antonio Spurs Hall of Fame coach Gregg Popovich didn’t need to say a lot and didn’t need to name any names to make his displeasure known over his team’s final shot. Instead of passing to Victor Wembanyama, who was open and heading to the basket, Devin Vassell missed a three-pointer at the buzzer with […]