By Mike Finger, Columnist | San Antonio Express-News, 2024-04-30 16:16:10

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。


亚利桑那州菲尼克斯 - 11 月 2 日：在 2023 年 11 月 2 日于菲尼克斯 Footprint 中心举行的 NBA 比赛后，菲尼克斯太阳队的凯文·杜兰特 (35 号) 与圣安东尼奥马刺队的维克多·文班亚马 (1 号) 交谈。 马刺队以 132-121 战胜了太阳队。

在本周连续两个晚上，篮球界的象征主义毫不含蓄地表达着。它从电视屏幕上蹦出来，狠狠地扇了观众一巴掌。

经过一个极具魅力的年轻人做出一次荒谬的扣篮，凯文·杜兰特被惊得后退大约 24 小时后，勒布朗·詹姆斯遭受了几乎同样的侮辱。

NBA 季后赛正在进行中。在这个时间里已经定义了十多年的白胡子老人们现在已经不在了。

如果这一切对一位 20 岁、与其他人一起在家观看比赛的超级明星来说意味着什么，那就是：

当他到达目的地时，维克多·文班亚马不会试图击倒老传奇。

他将尝试超越新一代。

职业篮球界期待已久的代际更替已经发生，而第一轮季后赛让这件事变得正式了。首先，斯蒂芬·库里甚至没有走得那么远。然后，由杜兰特和詹姆斯组成的所谓超级球队被更快、更强、更顽强的对手轻松地抛在一边，后者在向长辈们表达了应有的敬意之后，委婉地表示那些老家伙们可以出发前往马萨诸塞州斯普林菲尔德了。

如果这个月有什么迹象的话，那么在出现在另一场 NBA 总决赛之前，库里、杜兰特和詹姆斯都可能入选奈史密斯篮球名人堂。

自 2005 年以来，詹姆斯、杜兰特和库里都不会参加季后赛第二轮。在那段时间的 11 年里，每一届总决赛都会出现至少其中一​​人，而且通常更多。

这是联盟“三巨头”之后的未来，不仅仅是“三巨头”这个词的一个含义。最近事实已经证明，让三位或更多已确立的全明星球员成为同一个团队 - 哈登-威斯布鲁克-保罗、杜兰特-哈登-欧文、詹姆斯-戴维斯-威斯布鲁克、乔治-伦纳德-哈登、库里-汤普森-格林-保罗、杜兰特-布克-比尔 - 并不是赢得冠军的有效方式。同时，这些“三巨头”中最成功的三个个人成员现在也过了巅峰期。

一批更年轻、具有 MVP 水平的基石球员已经出现在他们身后。三年前，是扬尼斯·阿德托昆博带领密尔沃基队获得冠军。上个赛季，是丹佛队的尼古拉·约基奇，在他的帮手贾马尔·穆雷的帮助下。

而本周，穆雷再次展示了事情是如何改变的。在明尼苏达州的安东尼·爱德华兹扣篮击败杜兰特以宣告系列赛战胜太阳队后的一晚，穆雷在篮筐处遇到了詹姆斯，并重击篮框，成为掘金队淘汰湖人的终结者之一。

这些人将成为圣安东尼奥希望围绕文班亚马建立的竞争者所面临的最大挑战。当马刺队回到季后赛第二轮时，他们不会再考虑詹姆斯、杜兰特或库里。

相反，他们会想知道是否有任何人能够防守爱德华兹，这位不可遏制的森林狼后卫，他持续让考虑一种可能性变得越来越不神圣——尽管仍然很疯狂——即现代球员可能与年轻的迈克尔·乔丹有一些共同点。

他们会尝试找到一个能够跟上穆雷的投篮手，后者现在看来可以在睡眠中击败季后赛蜂鸣器。

他们会在其他联盟找寻能够超过谢伊·吉尔杰斯-亚历山大、卢卡·东契奇以及贾伦·布伦森或泰雷斯·哈利伯顿的方法。当马刺队走到那一步时，那些球员都会拥有文班亚马所缺乏的季后赛经验。

也许到那时，那一代的另一位明星将与他联手。或者文班亚马可能会找到一个比他更年轻且可靠的搭档。无论哪种方式，这都会是一场精彩的表演。

在我们等待这些的时候，回顾一下我们经常听到的“时间线”可能会有所帮助。

在明尼苏达州在 2020 年选秀中将其选为第一顺位后四年，爱德华兹正跃入超级巨星的行列。哈利伯顿也于同一年被选中。吉尔杰斯-亚历山大在六年后刚刚赢得了他的第一个季后赛系列赛。

而当他们本周 revel 中超越了前辈们的象征意义时？

至少有一位 20 岁的观众在考虑有一天做同样的事情。

原文如下：

Wemby waits his turn as new NBA playoff generation is here

[Image] PHOENIX, ARIZONA - NOVEMBER 02: Kevin Durant #35 of the Phoenix Suns talks with Victor Wembanyama #1 of the San Antonio Spurs following the NBA game at Footprint Center on November 02, 2023 in Phoenix, Arizona. The Spurs defeated the Suns 132-121.

On back-to-back nights this week, basketball symbolism did not mess around with subtlety. It jumped off the TV screen and smacked viewers right in the face.

Approximately 24 hours after Kevin Durant was sent reeling by an absurdly charismatic youngster who soared up, up, up and over him for a dunk that made the whole league shake, LeBron James experienced a near-identical indignity.

The NBA playoffs are moving on. The graybeards who have defined this time of year for well over a decade are not anymore.

And if this means anything to a 20-year-old superstar watching from home with the rest of this, it’s this:

By the time he gets where he’s going, Victor Wembanyama won’t be trying to bring down the old legends.

He’ll be trying to overtake the new ones.

Pro basketball’s long-awaited generational shift already is happening, and the first round of these playoffs made it official. First of all, Stephen Curry didn’t even make it that far. Then the so-called super teams of Durant and James were casually tossed aside by faster, stronger, tougher opponents, who paid their due respect to their elders before suggesting that the old fellas might as well start driving to Springfield, Mass., already.

If this month has been any indication, Curry, Durant and James all might be in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame before they appear in another NBA Finals.

For the first time since 2005, neither James nor Durant nor Curry will be in the second round of the playoffs. During an 11-year stretch of that period, every Finals featured at least one of them, and usually more.

This is the league’s post-“big three” future, in more than one sense of the term “big three.” Putting a trio or more of established All-Stars on the same team — Harden-Westbrook-Paul, Durant-Harden-Irving, James-Davis-Westbrook, George-Leonard-Harden, Curry-Thompson-Green-Paul, Durant-Booker-Beal — has not proven to be an efficient way to win a championship lately. Meanwhile, the three most accomplished individual members of those “big threes” now are past their primes, too.

A younger generation of MVP-caliber cornerstones has stepped in behind them. Three years ago, it was Giannis Antetokounmpo carrying Milwaukee to a title. Last season, it was Denver’s Nikola Jokic, with some help from sidekick Jamal Murray.

And this week, Murray drove home again how things have changed. One night after Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards dunked on Durant to punctuate a series victory over the Suns, Murray met James at the rim and slammed home one of the finishing touches of the Nuggets’ elimination of the Lakers.

These are the guys who will present the biggest challenges to the contender San Antonio hopes to build around Wembanyama. By the time the Spurs get back to the second round of the playoffs, they won’t be thinking about James, or about Durant, or about Curry.

Instead, they’ll be wondering if they have anybody capable of guarding Edwards, the irrepressible Timberwolves guard who keeps making it seem less and less sacrilegious — albeit still pretty crazy — to consider the possibility that a modern player might have a thing or two in common with a young Michael Jordan.

They’ll be trying to find a shot-maker who can keep up with Murray, who now looks like he can beat a playoff buzzer in his sleep.

They’ll be searching for ways to get past Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and past Luka Doncic, and past Jalen Brunson or Tyrese Haliburton in the other conference. And by the time the Spurs get that far, those are the players who will have the kind of postseason experience Wembanyama lacks.

Maybe another star from that generation will have teamed up with him by then. Or maybe Wembanyama will have found a reliable running buddy even younger than he is. Either way, it’s going to be a blast to watch.

While we wait for that, it might be helpful to look at these playoffs as a reminder about the “timelines” we hear about so often.

Edwards is making his giant leap into superstardom four years after Minnesota made him the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 draft. Haliburton was selected that same year. Gilgeous-Alexander just won his first playoff series, in year six.

 And as they revel this week in the symbolism of vaulting over those who preceded them?

 At least one 20-year-old viewer contemplates doing the same someday.

By Mike Finger, Columnist, via San Antonio Express-News