By Tom Orsborn, Staff writer | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2024-12-25 12:42:46
由生成式人工智能翻译，译文内容可能不准确或不完整，以原文为准。
2024年12月24日，星期二，在纽约麦迪逊广场花园对阵纽约尼克斯队的比赛开始前的投篮训练中，圣安东尼奥马刺队后卫斯蒂芬·卡斯尔(Stephon Castle)收到了他的全国冠军戒指。
纽约 – 圣诞礼物各有不同，而斯蒂芬·卡斯尔(Stephon Castle)在周二于麦迪逊广场花园进行的马刺队训练结束后收到的这份惊喜礼物，更是令人感动。
在球队邀请作为嘉宾到场的家人面前，这位新秀后卫为周三50岁生日的母亲昆内特(Quannette)唱起了“生日快乐”歌。在小夜曲接近尾声时，其他马刺队球员也加入了进来，昆内特示意停止演唱，以便她能送给儿子一份特别的礼物：一枚纪念康涅狄格大学爱斯基摩犬队在去年四月夺冠的2024年NCAA冠军戒指。
“我完全不知道，”卡斯尔在周三对阵尼克斯队的比赛前说道。
作为上赛季的一年级新生，卡斯尔帮助爱斯基摩犬队赢得了他们的第二个冠军，之后马刺队以第四顺位选中了他。
“这枚戒指意义重大，”他说道。“它展现了我们上个赛季付出的所有努力。从我第一次踏进校园到这一刻，我们一直都在为此努力。它表明我们所有的付出都得到了回报。”
这枚戒指对他的母亲来说也是一个惊喜。爱斯基摩犬队今年早些时候将戒指寄给了马刺队，他们选择在这趟旅程中送给他，以使他的圣诞节更加特别。在工作人员得知他的家人，包括他的父亲斯泰西(Stacey)——一位20世纪90年代纽约的明星高中球员——将会来到这座城市观看比赛后，他们决定让他们把戒指送给他。
一份提前的圣诞礼物
@ StephonCastle的家人今天送给了他一枚惊喜——他的@ UConnMBB全国冠军戒指！
pic.twitter.com/2O9dqQLBir
— 圣安东尼奥马刺队 (@ spurs) 2024年12月24日
“在（到）50岁之前，我一直在做50件事，而这可能是马刺队想到让我参与其中的头等大事，”昆内特告诉《The Athletic》。“为他送上戒指真是太令人激动了。……我和女儿一起吃了一顿特别的午餐，还举办了一个派对，但即便我没有计划，也不知道这件事，这仍然是一件特别的事情。”
马刺队代理教练米奇·约翰逊(Mitch Johnson)称这是球队的一个“酷炫时刻”。
“这很有趣，因为我们并没有参与其中（卡斯尔赢得冠军），但现在他是我们重要的一员，所以我们能够以这种方式与他一起庆祝，这真的很酷，”约翰逊说道。
马刺队控球后卫特雷·琼斯(Tre Jones)说，卡斯尔最近“提到”他还没有收到他的戒指。
“他肯定有点惊讶，”琼斯说。“平安夜在麦迪逊广场花园为他母亲唱‘生日快乐’歌，这真是太酷了。然后她转过身来给了他一个惊喜，这真的很酷。你可以看出她很激动，也很高兴能和他一起经历这一刻。我想他在麦迪逊广场花园从他妈妈那里收到戒指时也有些激动。”
曾在另一所篮球名校杜克大学打球的琼斯明白，对于卡斯尔来说，得到这枚戒指是多么重要。
“我看到了我的兄弟（泰厄斯·琼斯(Tyus Jones)）在2015年为杜克大学赢得了一个冠军，”琼斯说道。“显然，那是非常重要的时刻，没有多少人能够体验到。这太酷了。你可以看出这对卡斯尔来说意义重大。”
2024年12月25日，星期三，在纽约举行的NBA篮球比赛上半场，圣安东尼奥马刺队的斯蒂芬·卡斯尔（右）带球突破纽约尼克斯队的迈尔斯·麦克布莱德。 (美联社照片/Seth Wenig)
马穆克拉什维利举办格鲁吉亚盛宴
渴望品尝来自东欧家乡的正宗美食，马刺队前锋桑德罗·马穆克拉什维利(Sandro Mamukelashvili)在平安夜前往位于曼哈顿切尔西区的格鲁吉亚餐厅Chama Mama。
他并没有独自前往。
“我们差不多有30个人，”马穆克拉什维利谈到这个聚会时说道，其中包括他的家人，队友朱利安·尚帕尼(Julian Champagnie)和他的未婚妻卡西迪(Cassidy)，以及几位马刺队的工作人员。
“这是一个非常非常棒的地方，”马穆克拉什维利说。“我觉得人们并不真正了解格鲁吉亚菜，但它真的很好吃。我们有一个套餐菜单，以确保每个人都能尝到各种各样的菜。”
马穆克拉什维利说他的兄弟是“餐桌上的领袖”，是“所有祝酒词”的发起者。
“因为在格鲁吉亚，我们有一个传统，那就是在你喝酒之前，你要说祝酒词，”马穆克拉什维利说道。“所以这是一个完整的流程，非常传统。当然，运动员不喝酒，所以我没有喝葡萄酒。但其他人玩得很开心。”
奥斯汀三人组加入马刺队之旅
随着奥斯汀马刺队G联赛赛程的休整，马刺队将双向合同球员大卫·杜克(David Duke Jr.)、哈里森·英格拉姆(Harrison Ingram)和莱利·米尼克斯(Riley Minix)加入了他们的四人客场之旅。
“这些球员在赛季初表现得非常好，所以只要我们能让他们加入进来，让他们获得一些这样的经验，那就很好，”约翰逊说道。
对英格拉姆来说，这是一次回到了熟悉的场地。
“这太疯狂了。去年这个时候，我和北卡罗来纳大学队在麦迪逊广场花园打过球，”这位二轮秀新秀指的是北卡罗来纳大学在2023年12月5日纽约举行的吉米·V经典赛中以76-87输给卡斯尔和康涅狄格大学队的比赛。
英格拉姆说，他很高兴在平安夜与家人一起参观曼哈顿所有的圣诞景点。
“我昨晚和全家一起出去了，然后今天对阵尼克斯队，这就像做梦一样，”他说道。
San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle poses for a photo with his national championship rings during shootaround before the game against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden in New York, New York Tuesday, December 24, 2024.
San Antonio Spurs’ Stephon Castle, top, reacts after dunking the ball during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the New York Knicks, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
点击查看原文：Spurs' Stephon Castle receives surprise Christmas gift
Spurs’ Stephon Castle receives surprise Christmas gift
San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle receives his national championship ring during shootaround before the game against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden in New York, New York Tuesday, December 24, 2024.
NEW YORK – There’s Christmas gifts, and then there’s the emotional, surprise one Stephon Castle received after the Spurs practice Tuesday at Madison Square Garden.
With his family in attendance as guests of the team, the rookie guard sang “Happy Birthday” to his mother, Quannette, who turned 50 on Wednesday. Near the end of the serenade, which the rest of the Spurs eventually joined in on, Quannette signaled to stop the singing so she could present a special gift to her son: His 2024 NCAA championship ring commemorating the Connecticut Huskies’ triumph last April.
“I had no clue,” Castle said before Wednesday’s game against the Knicks.
As a freshman last season, Castle helped the Huskies win their second straight title before the Spurs drafted him fourth overall.
“It means a lot,” he said of the ring. “It just shows all the hard work that we put in all last season. We had manifested it from when I first got on campus to this point. It just shows that all the work we put in paid off.”
The ring was a surprise to his mother as well. The Huskies shipped it to the Spurs earlier this year, and they opted to give it to him during this trip to make Christmas more special for him. After staffers learned his family, including his father Stacey, a star prep player in New York in the 1990s, would be in the city for the game, they decided to have them present it to him.
An early Christmas present
— San Antonio Spurs (@ spurs) December 24, 2024
“I was actually doing 50 things until (turning) 50, and this is probably number one that the Spurs would think of me to be involved with this,” Quannette told The Athletic. “Providing him the ring was so very exciting. … I’ve had a special lunch with my daughter, I had a party, but this is one of those special things even though I didn’t plan it, didn’t know about it.”
Acting Spurs coach Mitch Johnson called it a “cool moment” for the team.
“It’s funny just because we weren’t a part of it (Castle winning the championship), but now he’s such a big part of us, so for us to be able to celebrate with him in that way is pretty cool,” Johnson said.
Spurs point guard Tre Jones said Castle had “mentioned” recently that he had not received his ring yet.
“He was little surprised for sure,” Jones said. “It was so cool for us singing ‘Happy Birthday’ to his mother on Christmas Eve in the Garden. And then she turned around and surprised him, it was really cool. You could tell she was emotional and very happy to experience that moment with him. And I think he was a little emotional as well to receive the ring from his mom on her birthday (eve) in MSG.”
Having played at Duke, another blue blood program, Jones understood how important it was for Castle to get the ring.
“I got to see my brother (Tyuus) win a championship (for Duke in 2015),” Jones said. “Obviously, that’s big time and not a lot of people get to experience that. It was so cool. You could tell it just meant so much to him (Castle).”
San Antonio Spurs’ Stephon Castle, right, drives to the basket past New York Knicks’ Miles McBride during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Mamukelashvili hosts Georgian feast
Hankering for some authentic cuisine from his Eastern European homeland, Spurs forward Sandro Mamukelashvili headed to Georgian restaurant Chama Mama in the Manhattan neighborhood of Chelsea on Christmas Eve.
He didn’t go alone.
“It was close to 30 of us,” Mamukelashvili said of a party that included his family, teammates Julian Champagnie and his fiance Cassidy, and several Spurs staffers.
“It’s a great, great, great spot,” Mamukelashvili said. “I feel like people don’t really know about Georgian food, but it is delicious, man. We had a prix fixe menu to make sure everybody tried a little bit of everything.”
Mamukelashvili said his brother was “chief of the table,” the one making “all the toasts.”
“Because in Georgia, we have a tradition that before you drink, you say a toast,” Mamukelashvili said. “So it was a whole thing, very traditional. Of course, athletes don’t drink, so no wine for me. But other people had a lot of fun.”
Austin trio joins Spurs on trip
With a break in the Austin Spurs’ G League schedule, the Spurs added two-way players David Duke Jr., Harrison Ingram and Riley Minix to their traveling party for this four-game trip.
“Those guys have done a really nice job at the start of the season, so anytime we can pull them in and allow them to get some of this experience it is good,” Johnson said.
For Ingram, it was a return to a familiar venue.
“It’s crazy. I played at Madison Square Garden last year with UNC around this time,” the second-round rookie said referring to North Carolina’s 87-76 loss to Castle and UConn in the Jimmy V Classic on Dec. 5, 2023 in New York.
Ingram said he enjoyed seeing all the Christmas sites in Manhattan with his family on Christmas Eve.
“I went out with the whole family last night, and then to face the Knicks today, it’s a dream,” he said.
By Tom Orsborn, Staff writer, via San Antonio Express-News