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Spurs Hall of Famers Gregg Popovich, David Robinson, Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and George Gervin were in attendance amongst a sell-out crowd at the Frost Bank Center adorned in a sea of bright T-shirts in the team's Fiesta colors. Was the pressure of having the hopes of a city and so many Hall of Famers on his shoulders too weighty for the 22-year-old Wembanyama? “I wouldn’t say weight. I would say it feels safe,” Wembanyama said. “It feels like if you trip, there’s a lot of hands that’s ready to catch you.”

Yahoo! Sports

Jordan Howestine: Most points in NBA Playoff debut for the Spurs: 1. Victor Wembanyama - 35 (2026) 2. Tim Duncan - 32 (1998 at PHX) 3. Mike Mitchell - 30 (1982 at SEA) 4. Willie Anderson - 27 (1990 vs DEN) 5. David Robinson - 26 (1990 vs DEN)

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Even Spurs legends David Robinson and Tim Duncan bought in, wearing their orange shirts courtside.

Yahoo! Sports

Included in that stretch is five straight games of at least 15 rebounds, which is the longest run by a Spurs player since Dennis Rodman in 1995, passing Tim Duncan's and David Robinson's career-best four-game streaks of 15 or more rebounds. "Wow," Victor Wembanyama said of the statistic. "I watched a lot of highlights [of Rodman], mostly on the Bulls than anything else. They don't make them like [him] anymore."

ESPN

Jordan Howenstine: Victor Wembanyama has 15+ rebounds for the fourth straight game - tying Tim Duncan and David Robinson’s longest streaks of their careers. Only Dennis Rodman has a longer streak with 15+ rebounds for the Spurs (7 streaks of 5+ games, longest 9 in a row).

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Jordan Howenstine: Stephon Castle just moved into the Top 5 in Spurs history in triple-doubles: 1. Dejounte Murray - 17 2. David Robinson - 14 3. Alvin Robertson - 8 4. Johnny Moore - 6 5. Tim Duncan - 4 Victor Wembanyama - 4 Stephon Castle - 4

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Spurs star Victor Wembanyama returned from a one-game absence Saturday against the Charlotte Hornets and showed off his full arsenal of skills in leading San Antonio to a 115-102 victory to close a six-game homestand at Frost Bank Center. Wembanyama poured in a game-high 32 points with 12 rebounds, eight assists, four blocks and two steals. The performance marked Wembanyama's second career outing with at least 30 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, multiple blocks and multiple steals, tying him with George Gervin for the third most such games in franchise history, according to ESPN Research. Wembanyama trails Tim Duncan (9) and David Robinson (19). "It's just a progression, in general," Wembanyama said. "There were many aspects of the game where we dominated them, and that shows because we won three out of four quarters."

ESPN

RC Buford: “I think it was it wasn't intentional just on France. I think it was more intentional in 1999 when 97 we get Tim Duncan. We already had David Robinson. We won our first championship in 1999 and we believed that we were going to be good for a while while those guys were going to play together. And that being the case, we needed to we were going to draft at the end of the first round. And if we were drafting at the end of the first round and we were just watching American college players, we'd be drafting a player that 25 other teams would have passed on. And so we became intentional about let's get in gyms where other people aren't and start looking for players differently than maybe the league was at the time. And it really fit the way Pop wanted to coach. He wanted to team build with a very internationally diverse group of people so that we could all learn together."

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Jorge Sierra: Andre Drummond is now a Top 30 rebounder in NBA history. ALSO: Nikola Vucevic passed David Robinson in rebounds. Brook Lopez moved ahead of Magic Johnson in scoring.

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Even when the right players go high, they don’t always provide those teams with the relationship to winning that they hoped for. Take the top pick. The last No. 1 pick to win an NBA championship with the team that drafted him is Kyrie Irving, who went No. 1 to the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2011. He is one of just six No. 1 picks since 1980 to do that: Irving, LeBron James (2004, Cleveland Cavaliers), Tim Duncan (1997, San Antonio Spurs), David Robinson (1987, Spurs), Hakeem Olajuwon (1984, Houston Rockets) and James Worthy (1982, Los Angeles Lakers).

New York Times

In January 1999, Kerr found himself in Popovich's office in San Antonio, after agreeing to a sign-and-trade deal with the Spurs. Kerr had won three consecutive championships with the Bulls, who were dismantling their dynasty following Jordan's retirement. Popovich, meanwhile, hadn't won any. "He wasn't 'Pop' yet," Kerr told ESPN. "He was Gregg Popovich." "I instantly liked him. Everything that we know about him now was true then," Kerr said. "He has this unique ability to connect with people of any background, any player, any person near him, he can relate." It was an unusual season shortened by the NBA lockout, and it didn't begin until Feb. 5. The Spurs, with Tim Duncan and David Robinson, started slowly, posting a 6-8 record. "By some accounts, [Popovich] was on the hot seat," Kerr said. "I remember how well he handled that in front of the team, just not paying much attention to that and just getting us focused on how to get better. He was incredibly fiery, more so than a decade later, I would say, because it was a different era. “

ESPN

Rich Paul: But I say all that to say—it’s not on the players. Those guys can go out and score 30 and 40 and 50—they can do all that. But it’s going to—it’s a race of the front offices, right? Who’s going to make the proper moves to put the proper talent around for each one of those guys to be successful? You can say what you want about anybody. When it was the Detroit Pistons and they were winning back when Isaiah was playing—they drafted Dumars. They went and got Aguirre. They had got Rodman and Rick Mahorn. You know, like when it was the Lakers—they got Worthy and Magic and Kareem, you know, and winning Michael Cooper and Byron Scott. It’s—as much as you want to lean on how great an individual was and/or is—you also have to factor in the decision makers to help place the proper pieces around them that allows them to be great in those moments as well. And we get confused. Take Tim Duncan—attempt. No offense to any franchise—but he was drafted to the Spurs. David Robinson was already there. When they took Tony Parker, people didn’t know who Tony Parker was. When they took Manu in the second round, people looking around like, ‘What’s...?’ But again, Tim Duncan wasn’t making those picks or those decisions at all.

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NBA Communications: Stephon Castle is the fourth player to win the Kia NBA Rookie of the Year Award with the Spurs, joining David Robinson (1989-90), Tim Duncan (1997-98) and last season’s recipient, Victor Wembanyama (2023-24).

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Jorge Sierra: Jaylen Brown passed Byron Scott in playoff scoring and is now No. 45 in NBA history. Giannis Antetokounmpo moved ahead of David Robinson for No. 53. Luka Doncic passed eight players and is No. 98 all-time.

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