By Jeff McDonald, Spurs Writer | San Antonio Express-News, 2024-04-29 13:39:03

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。


2024 年 4 月 2 日星期二，在丹佛与丹佛掘金队的 NBA 篮球比赛前，圣安东尼奥马刺中锋文班亚马（右）向锋线球员桑德罗·马穆克拉斯维利问好。（美联社照片/大卫·扎鲁博夫斯基）

二月，马刺队来到了纽约，而桑德罗·马穆克拉斯维利则产生了思乡之情。

为了寻找一个用餐伙伴陪他去一家专门供应他祖国格鲁吉亚美食的餐厅，马穆克拉斯维利只在马刺队的旅行团中找到了一位响应者。

文班亚马。

马穆克拉斯维利承认，对于其他口味而言，格鲁吉亚美食可能很难推销。

“很多人不会吃这种食物，”马穆克拉斯维利说。“（文班亚马）喜欢这道菜。他狼吞虎咽地把它吃光了。这就是我爱他的原因。”

明年 1 月，文班亚马有机会用自己的家常菜回敬一下。

NBA 在周一下午宣布，马刺队计划在文班亚马的主场——巴黎进行两场常规赛，1 月 23 日和 25 日连续对阵印第安纳步行者队。比赛场地和开球时间尚未确定。

这将是 NBA 首次在同一赛季在法国首都举办两场比赛。

马刺体育和娱乐公司的首席执行官 R.C. 布福德说，俱乐部已经期待着这个机会。

布福德说：“这是支持和尊重篮球在法国和整个欧洲发展的一种方式。”“我们很自豪能够成为 NBA 国际愿景的一部分。”

马刺队即将前往巴黎的旅行——正式称为“巴黎比赛”——早在周一正式宣布之前就已经有人报道过。

马刺队 20 岁的新秀文班亚马，他已经成为国际篮球界的轰动人物，今年早些时候被问及这种可能性。

文班亚马当时说：“我非常期待。”“很明显，这可能是我非常重要的比赛。这是我回到家乡。”

尽管马刺队之前曾在海峡对岸打过季前赛，包括在法国本土的 3 场表演赛，但下赛季的巴黎比赛将是该队首次在北美以外打常规赛。

马刺队之前曾在 NBA 的全球比赛中亮相过 3 次，均在墨西哥城举行，最近的一次是 2022 年 12 月。

马刺队即将前往巴黎的种子在将近一年前就已播下，当时该队在 5 月赢得了 NBA 选秀抽签并获得了选择文班亚马的权利。

当马刺队在去年夏天用他们的第二轮选秀权选择了另一位法国人西迪·西索科时，它几乎确定了球队的出国门票。

布福德说：“随着去年夏天的选秀中包括两名法国球员，对每个人来说，这都是有意义的。”

马刺队和步行者队都将放弃一场主场比赛来参加巴黎比赛。布福德说，前往法国的行程不一定影响马刺队继续在奥斯汀踢特定比赛的能力，就像过去两个赛季一样。

随着巴黎在今年夏天举办奥运会，文班亚马还将为法国队效力，布福德预计，当马刺队在 1 月份到达时，篮球热度不会消退。

布福德说：“围绕体育和篮球的能量将是不可思议的。”

无论是在奥运会还是在 NBA 的巴黎比赛中，身高 7 英尺 3 英寸的文班亚马都是显而易见的吸引力。

文班亚马去年 6 月作为几十年来最受吹捧的 NBA 新秀来到马刺队，在为几支法国职业队效力时为自己赢得了名声。

在托尼·帕克在俱乐部的名人堂生涯期间在法国站稳脚跟后，马刺队希望让文班亚马的回家成为一种互利共赢的经历。

布福德说：“我们渴望将我们的品牌与对法国篮球以及对维克托和他的家人来说长期都很重要的品牌结合起来。”

作为一个组织，马刺队长期以来一直被誉为国际篮球的火炬手，有 50 多名外国球员为俱乐部效力。

在 2022 年和 2023 年的连续夏季，马刺队将包括马努·吉诺比利和帕克在内，分别将第一位阿根廷和法国球员送入奈史密斯篮球名人堂。

事实上，马刺队有意培养他们的国际篮球避风港声誉。

通往福斯特银行中心球场的大厅陈列着标牌，上面以每位球员的母语描绘着雅各布·里斯的“猛击岩石”名言。

今年的成果中第一次出现了格鲁吉亚语标语，这要归功于马穆克拉斯维利。为了纪念杰迪·奥斯曼，其中还有一个是土耳其语标语。为查尔斯·巴塞，其中有一个是尼日利亚方言标语。

布福德说：“我认为这表明我们正在参与一些非常独特的事情。”“能想到这一点，感到很谦虚。”

多年来，马刺队更衣室里说得最多的外语一直是法语。

该球队共聘用了七名来自法国的球员——帕克、文班亚马、西索科、鲍里斯·迪奥、南多·德科洛、伊安·马辛米和杰弗里·劳弗涅。第八位球员——利维奥·让-查尔斯——是球队在 2013 年的第一轮选秀，但从未入选阵容。

随着本夏季选秀中预计有 3 名法国球员 (Alex Saar、Zacharie Risacher 和 Tidjane Salaun) 被选中，马刺队有可能在 1 月份带上更多的法国球员前往巴黎。

布福德说：“由于我们与球员和计划中分享项目的人，我们在国际篮球运动中积累了丰富的经验。”“我们对我们的国际未来的长寿感到兴奋。”

然而，巴黎的最大看点将是文班亚马。其他马刺球员只是为这次旅程而来的。

如果马穆克拉斯维利打好他的牌，他甚至可能让文班亚马请吃饭。

原文如下：

Wembanyama's appeal makes Spurs' Paris trip a no-brainer

[Image] San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama, right, greets forward Sandro Mamukelashvili before the team's NBA basketball game against the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday, April 2, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

The Spurs were in New York in February, and Sandro Mamukelashvili was homesick.

Looking for a dining companion to accompany him to a restaurant serving food exclusively from his homeland of the Republic of Georgia, Mamukelashvili found only one taker in the Spurs’ traveling party.

Victor Wembanyama.

Mamukelashvili acknowledges Georgian cuisine can be a tough sell to other palates.

“A lot of people won’t eat the food,” Mamukelashvili said. “(Wembanyama) loved the food. He devoured it. That’s why I love him.”

Come January, Wembanyama could have a chance to return the favor with some home cooking of his own.

The Spurs are scheduled to play two regular-season games on Wembanyama’s home turf in Paris, the NBA announced Monday, with consecutive contests against the Indiana Pacers on Jan. 23 and 25. The venue and tipoff times are to be determined.

It will mark the first time the NBA has hosted a pair of games in the French capital in the same season.

R.C. Buford, the CEO of Spurs Sports and Entertainment, said the club is already looking forward to the opportunity.

“It’s a way to support and honor the growth of basketball in France and throughout Europe,” Buford said. “We’re proud to be a part of the NBA’s international vision.”

The Spurs’ impending trip to Paris – officially dubbed “The Paris Games” – had been reported long before Monday’s formal announcement.

Wembanyama, the Spurs’ 20-year-old rookie, who has already become an international basketball sensation, was asked about the possibility earlier this year.

“I’m looking forward to it very much,” Wembanyama said then. “Obviously it’s going to be probably the game or games that are going to be very important for me. It’s me coming back from where I come from.”

Though the Spurs have played preseason games across the Atlantic before, including three exhibitions on French soil, next season’s Paris Games will be the first time the team has played a regular-season contest outside of North America.

The Spurs have previously appeared in three of the NBA’s Global Games, all in Mexico City, with the most recent coming in December 2022.

The seeds for the Spurs’ upcoming jaunt to Paris were planted nearly a year ago, when the team won the NBA draft lottery – and the right to select Wembanyama – in May.

When the Spurs used their second-round pick last summer to take another Frenchman, Sidy Cissoko, it all but punched the team’s ticket across the pond.

“With our draft last summer including two French players,” Buford said, “it just made sense for everybody.”

The Spurs and Pacers will each give up a home game to participate in the Paris Games. The trip to France will not necessarily affect the Spurs’ ability to continue to play select games in Austin as they have the past two seasons, Buford said.

With Paris hosting the Olympics this summer, with Wembanyama set to play for the French squad, Buford expects the basketball buzz will not have worn off by the time the Spurs arrive in January.

“The energy around sport and basketball will be incredible,” Buford said.

In both the Olympics and the NBA’s Paris Games, the 7-foot-3 Wembanyama is the obvious drawing card.

Wembanyama came to the Spurs last June as the most hyped NBA prospect in decades, making a name for himself while playing for a handful of French pro teams.

Having gained a foothold in France during Tony Parker’s Hall of Fame career with the club, the Spurs aim to make Wembanyama’s homecoming a mutually beneficial experience.

“We’re eager to align our brands with brands that are important to French basketball and to Victor and his family for the long haul,” Buford said.

As an organization, the Spurs have long been hailed as a torchbearer for international basketball, with more than 50 foreign players having suited up for the club.

In successive summers in 2022 and 2023, the Spurs sent the first Argentine and French players to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame with the inductions of Manu Ginobili and Parker.

In fact, the Spurs have purposefully cultivated their reputation as an international basketball haven.

The hallway leading to the court in the Frost Bank Center is famously lined with signage depicting Jacob Riis’ “pounding the rock” quote in the native language of each player.

This year’s crop included a sign in Georgian for the first time, thanks to Mamukelashvili. It included one in Turkish, in honor of Cedi Osman. There was one in a Nigerian dialect for Charles Bassey.

“I think it shows we're part of something that is pretty unique,” Buford said. “It’s humbling to think about.”

Over the years, the most oft-spoken foreign language in the Spurs’ locker room has been French.

The team has employed seven players from France – Parker, Wembanyama, Cissoko, Boris Diaw, Nando De Colo, Ian Mahinmi and Joffrey Lauvergne. An eighth – Livio Jean-Charles – was the team’s first-round pick in 2013 but never made the roster.

With three French players projected to be selected early in this summer’s draft (Alex Saar, Zacharie Risacher and Tidjane Salaun), there is a chance the Spurs could land in Paris in January with even more Frenchmen in tow.

“We’ve had great experiences across international basketball because of the players and people we’ve shared the program with,” Buford said. “We’re excited about the longevity of our international future.”

The marquee attraction in Paris, however, will be Wembanyama. The other Spurs will just be along for the ride.

If Mamukelashvili plays his cards right, he might even get dinner out of it – on Wembanyama.

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