San Antonio Spurs Rumors
Get a free trial Wednesday’s NBA opening week doubleheader on ESPN averaged 1.6 million viewers, down 42% from last year — when coverage featured #1 pick Victor Wembanyama’s debut — but up 5% from 2022. Bucks-Sixers had a 1.0 rating and 1.71 million viewers, down a third from Celtics-Knicks last year (1.5, 2.55M), and the Suns-Clippers nightcap followed with 1.52 million (-49%). Keep in mind both games were absent some key players, including Sixers stars Joel Embiid and Paul George and the Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard.
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Jonathan Feigen: Rockets center Steven Adams is again questionable to make his Rockets debut. Third time’s a charm? Nothing new with the Spurs. Tre Jones and Devin Vassell are out.
Victor Wembanyma scored 29 points, Jeremy Sochan added a 17-point, 12-rebound double-double and Keldon Johnson chipped in 16 points off the bench as the Spurs survived for their first victory of the season before a sold-out Frost Bank Center. “We are all still learning each other, figuring it out,” Paul said. “We just talked about it here in the locker room: We want to learn and win at the same time.”
The 19-year-old was out there mostly for defensive purposes, trying to cool off a rapidly catching-fire Green. Castle also handled the ball a bit – even with Paul on the floor – and made three of four free throws in the final 17.5 seconds to ice the victory. Asked if this was a sign of his early confidence in the No. 4 overall pick, Popovich answered a question with a question. “Well he was out there, right?” Popovich said. “I didn’t do that because I’m not confident in him.”
Tom Orsborn: Chris Paul says there was nothing to see when Dillon Brooks was rolling around on the floor with Wemby: “I’m just saying y’all done seen a lot worse. Steve Nash ran into the doggone scorer’s table, right? They bleeding and all that stuff…Come on man. We are NBA players.”
Eurohoops: Wemby and Dillon Brooks got into it😬
Victor Wembanyama is celebrating his Rookie of the Year season with furry footwear. The San Antonio Spurs center brought a player edition of the Nike Hustle GT nicknamed “Wookiee of the Year” to the team’s home opener Saturday against the Houston Rockets. The kicks are a nod to “Wookiees,” the species of tall, furry animals in the “Star Wars” series — the most famous of whom is Chewbacca. Wembayama said on a June 2023 episode of “The Old Man and the Three” podcast that “Star Wars” was his favorite movie.
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich expressed concern Saturday about the corrosive effect Donald Trump’s demeaning rhetoric and lies about the 2020 election might have on the nation’s children and future generations. “The biggest whiner that ever walked the face of the earth,” Popovich said of the Republican candidate for president. “He’s like the poorest example of a fifth-grade bully I’ve ever seen. I mean, would you want your kids to act like he does?”
