By Jeff McDonald, Spurs Writer | San Antonio Express-News, 2024-04-14 16:49:31

由Gemini Pro人工智能翻译，译文内容可能不准确或不完整，以原文为准。



圣安东尼奥马刺队中锋文班亚马（1号）在 2024 年 4 月 9 日星期二对阵孟菲斯灰熊队的 NBA 篮球比赛的上半场结束后走下球场。(美联社图片/布兰登·迪尔)

现在，文班亚马可以承认了。他完全不知道自己要做什么。

六月初，当他第一次踏出圣安东尼奥国际机场时，这位 NBA 状元秀考察了他的新家乡，并注意到它的缺陷。

没有沙漠。没有仙人掌。没有马或牛仔，至少在他的附近没有。

“不像电影里的那样，”文班亚马在星期日带着微笑回忆道。

在成为马刺队宇宙中心的九个月里，文班亚马开始接受圣安东尼奥不仅仅是德克萨斯州多尘的刻板印象。

他还了解到，不像电影中那样，并非一切都如剧本一样发展。

文班亚马的新秀赛季提前一场比赛就结束了，他因为脚踝酸痛被排除在周日赛季收官战中 123-95 战胜利特罗的海滨活塞队之外，为他在奥林匹克夏季赛中的繁忙日程做好了准备。

他的缺席没有关系。文班亚马已经超出了他六月份到来时所伴随的过高的期望，创造了 NBA 历史上最具统治力的新秀赛季之一。

他也尽力为了一支战绩并不比他加入时同队的球队。马刺队以 22-60 结束了比赛，与上赛季相同。

他们将以第五好的几率进入五月的选秀抽签，来选到状元秀。众所周知，弗兰克·西纳屈 (Frank Sinatra) 有一些遗憾。文班亚马只有一个——他的新秀赛季已经结束了。

“我希望下个赛季不要这么早结束，”文班亚马说。“我想继续比赛，进入季后赛。”

波波维奇也表示，在这个他球队表现最好的时候，这个赛季即将结束，他感到失望。

“我希望下个赛季（尽快）开始，”波波维奇说。“我需要大约一个半星期的时间， 我准备好了。”

对于这位 75 岁的教练来说，这是他能明确表达回教练席执教第 29 个赛季的意图的。

对于他、总经理布莱恩·赖特和俱乐部首席执行官 R.C. 布福德来说，还有很多工作要做，才能让俱乐部从西部联盟积分榜的底部上升到季后赛。

正如 20 岁的文班亚马在他的首个 NBA 赛季中所证明的那样，马刺队拥有联盟中任何人相同的基石。

文班亚马在 NBA 的第一场比赛中场均得到 21.4 分、10.6 个篮板、3.9 次助攻、1.2 次抢断和联盟领先的 3.6 次盖帽。他是联盟历史上唯一一个在同一个赛季中超越这些具体门槛的球员。

他几乎肯定能赢得年度最佳新秀，并成为自 1997 年蒂姆·邓肯以来第一位入选最佳防守阵容的新秀。文班亚马也可能至少会获得年度最佳防守球员的选票，这个荣誉还没有哪个新秀获得过。

“我对他最深刻的印象是他的一致性，”波波维奇说。“每场比赛他都会抢篮板，盖帽。他改变了投篮。他是一个出色的传球手，得到了助攻。对于一个新秀来说，夜复一夜地做到这一点，并且还能得到他得到的数字，那是相当令人印象深刻的。”

文班亚马是 NBA 历史上第一位在所有期望和压力之下，仅在一个赛季中就累积 1500 分、250 次助攻和 250 次盖帽的新秀。只有三位任何年龄段的其他球员在他们职业生涯的任何时候都达到了这些数字——贾巴尔·阿卜杜勒、哈基姆·奥拉朱旺和马刺队巨星大卫·罗宾逊。

他也仅仅是 NBA 历史上的第十位场均 20 分、10 个篮板和 3 次盖帽的球员。

“他今年仅仅在一个赛季就做到了这么多伟大的事情，背负着所有的期望和所有对他施加的压力，”控球后卫特雷·琼斯说。“他能够做很多疯狂的事情。每晚他都会做一些我们以前从未见过的新事情。”

文班亚马的队友从文班亚马强劲的新秀赛季中明白了一个信息。

“他就像，‘我在此，我已经到了，没有任何人能对此有任何作为’，”德文·瓦塞尔说。

联盟的其他球队也知道了这一点。



德克萨斯州圣安东尼奥——4 月 14 日：圣安东尼奥马刺队的文班亚马 1 号，他没有对阵底特律活塞队，在 2024 年 4 月 14 日在德克萨斯州圣安东尼奥的弗罗斯特银行中心花时间签名。用户须知：用户明确承认并同意，通过下载或使用此照片，用户同意盖帝图像许可协议的条款和条件。

在本月早些时候的一场比赛之前，当被问及他是否相信文班亚马满足了从法国而来时所伴随的过高的炒作时，孟菲斯教练泰勒·詹金斯说他做到了——并且不止于此。

“炒作标签必须去掉，”詹金斯说。“他已经证明了这一点。”

据看来唯一不相信文班亚马在新秀赛季超越期望的人是文班亚马本人。

“也许是这样，但这并不是我的感受，”文班亚马说。“我每天都努力更加努力，做更多的事情——更多成就，更多纪录，更多胜利。但第二天我总是告诉自己，我做得还不够，要更加努力。”

马刺队前锋桑德罗·马穆克拉什维利用一句话总结了文班亚马体验的第一年，这句话应该会出现在这位法国人下一部耐克广告中。

“我觉得即使天空都不是极限，”马穆克拉什维利说。“他是一个外星人。”

文班亚马的下一步是一个巨大的飞跃。他想带领马刺队进入季后赛。

六月，在他刚得知圣安东尼奥看起来不像约翰·韦恩电影后不久，文班亚马在福斯特银行中心的新闻发布会上被介绍给了这座城市。

在那里，他宣布计划增加头上的五个 NBA 冠军横幅。

正如文班亚马在这个自豪和痛苦的赛季中学到的那样，这不仅仅是一年的过程。

在他进入他的第一个完整的 NBA 休赛期时，文班亚马终于确切地知道了他在做什么。

“我们不会因为说我们想赢得冠军或真的进入季后赛就建立一些伟大的东西，”文班亚马说。“这是一天一砖地建造，然后我们建造一所房子。”


德克萨斯州圣安东尼奥——4 月 14 日：圣安东尼奥马刺队的桑德罗·马穆克拉什维利 54 号与底特律活塞队的詹姆斯·怀斯曼 13 号在上半场的弗罗斯特银行中心争抢篮板球。 2024 年 4 月 14 日在德克萨斯州圣安东尼奥。用户须知：用户明确承认并同意，通过下载或使用此照片，用户同意盖帝图像许可协议的条款和条件。

原文如下：

Rookie season over, Spurs' Wembanyama already eyeing Year 2

[Image] San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama (1) walks off of the court after the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Memphis Grizzlies Tuesday, April 9, 2024, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Brandon Dill)

Victor Wembanyama can admit it now. He had no idea what he was getting into.

When he stepped off the plane at San Antonio International Airport for the first time back in June, the NBA’s No. 1 overall draft pick surveyed his new hometown and took note of what it lacked.

No desert. No cactus. No horses or cowboys, at least not in his immediate vicinity.

“It was not like in the movies,” Wembanyama recalled Sunday with a smile.

After nine months of settling into his life as the center of the Spurs’ universe, Wembanyama has come to embrace San Antonio as more than the sum of its dusty Texas stereotypes.

He has also learned that, unlike in the movies, not everything goes entirely to script.

Wembanayma’s rookie season ended a game early, as he was ruled out of the teams 123-95 victory over Detroit in Sunday's season finale to get a head start on what should be a busy Olympic summer for him.

His absence did not matter. Wembanyama had already defied the outsized expectations that accompanied his arrival in June, turning in one of the most dominant rookie seasons in NBA history.

He also did it for a team, record-wise, was no better than the team he joined. The Spurs finished 22-60, the same as last season.

They will enter the May draft lottery with the fifth-best odds to pull the No. 1 pick. Regrets, Frank Sinatra famously had a few. Wembanyama has only one – that his rookie season is already over.

“I don't want next season to stop so early,” Wembanyama said. “I want to keep going, go to the playoffs.”

Popovich, too, said he was disappointed the season was ending at a time in which his team was playing its best.

“I wish the next season started (soon),” Popovich said. “I need about a week and a half, and I'll be ready to go.”

It was about as definitive as the 75-year-old coach could be about his intention to return for a 29th season on the bench.

For him, general manager Brian Wright, and club CEO R.C. Buford, there is plenty of work to be done to get the club from near the bottom of the Western Conference standings to the postseason.

As the 20-year-old Wembanyama proved in his inaugural NBA campaign, the Spurs have as good of a cornerstone to build around as anyone in the league.

Wembanyama finished his first pass through the NBA averaging 21.4 points, 10.6 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 1.2 steals and a league-leading 3.6 blocks. He is the only player in league history to pass those specific thresholds in the same season.

He is almost certain to win Rookie of the Year honors and become the first rookie to be named to an All-Defensive team since Tim Duncan in 1997. Wembanyama is also likely to at least receive votes for Defensive Player of the Year, an honor no rookie has ever won.

“I’ve been most impressed with his consistency,” Popovich said. “Every game he rebounds and blocks shots. He changes shots. He’s a heck of a passer, gets his assists. For a rookie to do that night after night, with the numbers that he’s getting, it’s pretty impressive.”

Wembanyama is the first rookie in NBA history to amass 1,500 points, 250 assists and 250 blocks. Only three other players of any age have reached those numbers at any point in their career – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Hakeem Olajuwon and Spurs great David Robinson.

He is also only the 10th player in NBA history to average 20 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks.

“He was able to do so many great things this year just in one season with all the expectations and all the pressure on him,” point guard Tre Jones said. “He was able to do so many crazy things. Every single night he’s doing something new we haven’t seen before.”

Wembanyama’s teammates see a message in Wembanyama’s strong rookie season.

“He’s like, ‘I’m here, I’ve arrived and there’s not nothing anybody can do about it,’ “ Devin Vassell said.

The rest of the league knows it too.

[Image] SAN ANTONIO, TX - APRIL 14: Victor Wembanyama #1 of the San Antonio Spurs, who was not playing against the Detroit Pistons, takes time to sign an autograph at Frost Bank Center on April 14, 2024 in San Antonio, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement.

Asked before a game earlier this month if he believes Wembanyama has lived up to the outsized hype that accompanied his arrival from France, Memphis coach Taylor Jenkins said he had – and then some.

“The hype label has got to go,” Jenkins said. “He’s proven it already.”

It appears the only person who doesn’t believe Wembanyama surpassed expectations in his rookie season was Wembanyama himself.

“Maybe it’s the case, but it’s not how I feel,” Wembanyama said. “Every day I try to push harder and to do more – more achievements, more records, more wins. But the next day I always tell myself that I didn’t do enough and to push me even more.”

Spurs forward Sandro Mamukelashvili summed up Year 1 of the Wembanyama experience with a line that ought to make it into the Frenchman’s next Nike ad.

“I feel like even the sky's not a limit,” Mamukelashvili said. “He's an alien.”

The next step for Wembanyama is a giant leap. He wants to get the Spurs to the playoffs.

In June, not long after he first learned San Antonio looks nothing like a John Wayne film, Wembanyama was introduced to the city at a news conference at the Frost Bank Center.

There, he announced plans to add to the five NBA championship banners overhead.

As Wembanyama learned in this season of pride and pain, that is more than a one-year process.

Heading into his first full NBA offseason, Wembanyama at last knows exactly what he is in for.

“We're not going to build something great by saying we want to win championship or really go to the playoffs,” Wembanyama said. “It's set a new brick every day, and then we'll build a house.”

[Image] SAN ANTONIO, TX - APRIL 14: Sandro Mamukelashvili #54 of the San Antonio Spurs battles James Wiseman #13 of the Detroit Pistons for a rebound in the first half at Frost Bank Center on April 14, 2024 in San Antonio, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement.

By Jeff McDonald, Spurs Writer, via San Antonio Express-News