Spider Ledesma
William Stephan Spider Ledesma II, (born April 6, 1964) is a Christian, American businessman, entrepreneur, business and social media consultant, public speaker and former professional basketball player and is the current CEO of the Native American National Team, iChristianAuctions.com and faithbookAD.com. He is also involved in economic, political and social activism and the current Chief Social Officer at LivingALifeOfVictory.org.
Biography
Born in Santa Clara, California, Ledesma is of Native American and Native Mexican descent from his late father's family and Irish American descent from his mother's family. Spider is single, having never married. Ledesma's Indian name, Spider, was given to him as a young boy by his uncle Jess 'Joe Butch' Ledesma and confirmed upon him by his elder Clinton Pilcher, a member of the Oglala (Lakota) Sioux tribe. Spider, son of the late William Otilio Ledesma I and Judith Marie Ledesma, is one of three children. His older sibling Cristie Diane, and his younger sister, Stephanie Marie, both reside in California and have full-time careers as mothers and professionals.
Spider's late father, William O. Ledesma I, was a former sergeant with the Santa Clara SHERIFF's Office for approximately 30 years and the highest ranking sergeant upon his retirement. His mother, Judith Marie Ledesma, worked for Gilroy High School, in real estate and currently heads a homeless shelter operations for the last several years in Gilroy, CA. Spider's has a total of twelve surviving aunts and uncles and numerous cousins from his late father's side, most of which reside in Northern California.
Spider hometown is Santa Cruz, CA but he currently lives in Houston, TX. He loves traveling and spending time absorbing culture, society, media and art while visiting with friends in Amsterdam, Paris, Vancouver, Montreal, Toronto, Nicosia, New York City and Cebu City among many other global destinations.
Christian Background & Beliefs
Spider is a born again, non-denominational, Christian. He is an advocate and believer in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ whom he identifies as the Son of God and his personal Lord and Savior. Ledesma was baptized at the age of 18 by Dr. Donald F. Nelson in Gilroy, CA. Ledesma's faith and understanding in God matured and developed with a greater Sense of Purpose under his former pastor John Osteen (& Miss Dodie), the founder of Lakewood Church in Houston, TX. John Osteen educated Spider to God's character, His seven names, the overcoming, supernatural life of Jesus and the goodness of God in general. His current pastor, Joel Osteen (& Miss Victoria), has educated Spider to the favor of God, Godly encouragement, that God is on the believer's side, that He rewards faithfulness and defined clearly what it meant to 'live a life of victory' as a Christian. Ledesma has been a tithing member of Lakewood Church since 1993.
Spider also credits pastor Rick Warren and his NY Times Best-Selling book, The Purpose Driven Life, with reinforcing God's expectation within his spiritual intellect for selflessness and lucidity concerning living with purpose in this generation within the blueprint and framework of God's Word and intelligent design.
Ledesma believes that the Christian faith should manifest itself in several forms which includes but is not limited to glorifying God, witnessing, agape love & forgiveness, justice, leadership, honoring our word, encouragement, altruism, good works, volunteering, truth, integrity, civic responsibility and serving the world's poor, struggling and broken hearted with every resource a believer possesses. He embraces the scripture that 'faith without works is dead' and that faith (and/or prayer) alone is an entirely insufficient response for the myriad of challenges humanity FACES on a moment-to-moment basis. He agrees with the words of President Kennedy who said at the end of his inaugural speech in 1961 that, "... here on earth, God's work must truly be our own." He believes Christians should show no partiality in any matters, are blessed to be a blessing and should live their lives as servants of Jesus Christ and the Father's will.
Spider has been associated with several formal and informal outreaches since his youth, particularly starving children and issues related to starvation, and the homeless, among others.
Basketball career
Ledesma first began playing basketball in the 7th grade at Brownell Jr. High School in Gilroy, CA. After graduating he attended Gilroy High School where as a sophomore he became a starter on the varsity team under Head Coach Richard Freedman. He earned First-Team All-League honors as a junior and was named Co-MVP of the Monterey Bay League during his senior year in 1982. During his senior year, growing to 6'8, he broke several records including becoming the all-time leading scorer in Gilroy High School history, a record which had stood for 20 years. Senior year honors included being named to the San Jose Mercury News first-team All-Central Coast Section (CCS) as well as being selected to play in the prestigious 1982 North-South All-Star Classic.
Spider's Native American athletic career started at the age of 14 at an Indian tournament at San Jose City College in 1978. At 16 he played in his first Canadian Indian tournament on an Indian reservation approximately 90 minutes outside of Calgary, AB with his elder Clinton Pilcher and uncle Lance Ledesma. Ledesma's notoriety began to grow as a native athlete and basketball player as he continued to grow in stature. Ledesma ultimately became a 5-Time National Indian Athletic Association (NIAA) national champion and 3-Time MVP. His first national championship was in 1991 on the Bemidji (Chippewa) rez in Bemidji, MN where he led the Santa Clara Itashans, coached by his elder Clinton Pilcher, to a resounding defeat of the North DAKOTA Warriors who were led by the famed Tex Hall, future NCAI President. Along the way the Itashans also defeated an Indian squad led by Ernie Stevens Jr., current chairman of the National Indian Gaming Association (NIGA) in Washington, DC. Ledesma played several years at some of his favorite tournaments in the Northwest on various Indian reservations which included but were not limited to: Chiloquin (Klamath), Hoopa (Hupa), Warm Springs, Yakima and others.
Spider's FIBA experience includes the finest all-around season in his professional career while playing for Club Achilleas in Cyprus. In the 1992/93 season, Ledesma's prolific scoring established him as the 6th leading scorer in Div.I FIBA, at 31.5ppg. Ledesma led Achilleas to a 10-0 preseason and then league-best record of 17-1. Ledesma then led Achilleas through the playoffs as they defeated Club Apoel and John Flowers of UNLV 4 games to 1 in the Finals. Club Achilleas went 12-1 in the post season for a total record of 39-2, a 95.12% winning percentage. Spider was named League MVP, Finals MVP and declared the 'greatest foreigner to ever play in Cyprus' as voted on by the Cypriot sports media. In Spider's last year in FIBA and Cyprus, he led the world in Div.I scoring averaging 35.8ppg, including scoring 40 points or more in 5 straight league contests, during the 1995/96 season.
Spider's international competition experience included playing in the 1987 (X) Pan American Games in Indianapolis, IN representing the country of Mexico and the European Cup while representing Club Achilleas in 1992/93 (vs former Yugoslavia mens league champion) and again in 1993/94 as the defending Cypriot league champion (vs the Bulgarian mens league champion). Ledesma's Pan American Games hi-lites came against the formidable US National Team. Though Mexico was overwhelmed by the US in a Group A matchup, Ledesma, lining up against future NBA MVP and champion David Robinson of the San Antonio Spurs, shared game-high scoring honors with 22 points and led Mexico with 8 rebounds.
The exposure and success of Ledesma's play at the Pan American Games led to an NBA tryout and invitation from the Los Angeles Clippers to participate in their 1987 preseason Veterans camp. Ledesma attended as a free agent and played with Norm Nixon, Quintin Dailey (late), Ken Norman, Joe Wolf, Benoit Banjamin and others. During Veterans camp physicals Ledesma's height was recorded at 6'11. Spider started at center on opening night of the preseason vs. the Utah Jazz and 7'4 center Mark Eaton. Spider led the Clippers in rebounding in the preseason averaging 6.5rpg in 12mpg in 4 preseason games before his release.
Leagues and international competition Ledesma has participated in includes: Monterey Bay League, California Community Colleges, NCAA, Los Angeles Summer Pro League, Circuito Mexicano de Básquetbol, National Superior Basketball, FIBA, European Cup, Pan American Games and the NBA.
Native American National Team
In 1997 Ledesma announced he would form an international basketball team and program intending to honor the sovereignty of Native American tribes to provide a vocational opportunity for Native American athletes and basketball players in particular. Spider is the acting CEO & President Basketball Operations Native America.
In 1999 Ledesma made history by forming the first professional, All-Indian basketball team and international program.
On November 10, 2000 Spider's tireless efforts to establish a recognized Olympic and international program culminated with the Native American National Team being recognized as an official Olympic team and international program in competition vs UC Riverside, on live Charter Cable TV. At 36 years of age Spider's hi-lites include leading Native America with 26pts, 14rbs. and in free throw percentage shooting 13 of 14 from the free throw line in a 106-90 loss.
In 2004 Ledesma attempted to enter the Native American National Team into the fledgling ABA (American Basketball Association) but failed to receive the necessary financial backing from Native American casinos and as a result could not finance team operations and was forced to pass on the opportunity.
On May 4, 2010 the Native American National Team opened up its official fan page on Facebook.com and received great support from team fans all across the world. Currently Native America's fan page has over 4,700 global fans which puts it in the top 5% of all fan pages on Facebook. Team popularity as a whole continues to soar on social media networks Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.
On February 6, 2011, as acting President Basketball Operations Native America, Spider provided a global video update, shot on location in Mandaue City, Cebu Philippines, for the Native American community and all team fans worldwide. The video update entitled 'A Word from the Native American National Team' was socially optimized with HD video postings on YouTube and Facebook and with links on Twitter and LinkedIn.