By Jeff McDonald, Staff Writer | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2025-01-26 12:36:02
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。
1月25日，星期六，在巴黎举行的2025年巴黎奥运会NBA篮球比赛中，圣安东尼奥马刺队中锋文班亚马(Victor Wembanyama)(1号)在上半场下场时庆祝。(美联社照片/Thibault Camus)
巴黎——上周，近16000名球迷两次挤满了巴黎雅高体育馆(Accor Arena)，观看马刺队对阵印第安纳步行者队的比赛，几乎所有人都是为了支持本土英雄文班亚马(Victor Wembanyama)而来。
文班的最大粉丝之一一路从纽约飞来，只为一睹这位马刺队球星在法国本土的首场NBA比赛的风采。
NBA总裁亚当·萧华(Adam Silver)也是那些为看到文班亚马成为联盟新面孔之一而感到兴奋的人之一。
“他超出了我的预期，”萧华在离开巴黎前说道。“一方面，是因为他在球场上的表现，另一方面，是因为他渴望与球迷互动。”
萧华上次在巴黎观众面前谈到文班亚马是在2023年1月，当时芝加哥公牛队和底特律活塞队在法国首都进行比赛。
当时距离文班进入NBA选秀还有几个月的时间，他以球迷的身份来到现场。
当被问及文班亚马的未来时，萧华采取了谨慎的态度。
“我们见过很多预测中的状元秀，也许不是因为他们自己的原因，或者是因为伤病，事情并没有如愿以偿，他们也没有达到人们对他们的高期望，”萧华说。“所以我尽量对一名球员的潜力保持冷静的头脑。”
虽然对文班亚马的未来仍然保持谨慎，但萧华已经很难抑制对这位21岁的法国人对联盟的意义的期待。
1月25日，星期六，在巴黎举行的2025年巴黎奥运会NBA篮球比赛中，圣安东尼奥马刺队中锋文班亚马(Victor Wembanyama) (1号)在上半场走上球场。(美联社照片/Thibault Camus)
根据NBA的数据分析，文班亚马已经成为全球社交媒体上观看人数第三多的球员，仅次于勒布朗·詹姆斯和斯蒂芬·库里。他在2023-24赛季的新秀赛季就产生了10亿次的点击量，成为最快达到这一参与度水平的球员。
不出所料，他的球衣在法国销量最高，在整个欧洲仅次于詹姆斯，排名第二。
与此同时，萧华提到了文班亚马上个月在纽约的一个举动，当时他邀请球迷到华盛顿广场公园参加一个临时象棋比赛。
“那是他自己选择做的，”萧华说。“联盟与此无关。我只是觉得他喜欢与人互动。他热爱人们。”
曾经对预测文班亚马的道路持谨慎态度的萧华，现在发现自己开始想象这位法国球星未来二十年代表NBA的景象。
“他刚满21岁，而勒布朗刚满40岁，”萧华说。“这是一个拥有未来19年辉煌成就的机会。我只想说，能与文班亚马一起参与到这个联盟中来，是我的荣幸。”
西索科(Cissoko)也在巴黎短暂亮相
文班亚马并不是唯一一位在巴黎回归的法国本土马刺队球员。
替补前锋西迪·西索科(Sidy Cissoko)在两场比赛中总共上场7分钟，但在周六以98-136输给步行者队的比赛中，他在第四节头部受到撞击后离场。
2025年1月25日，法国巴黎：圣安东尼奥马刺队的西迪·西索科(Sidy Cissoko)25号在第四节雅高体育馆的比赛中被印第安纳步行者队的贾拉斯·沃克(Jarace Walker)5号犯规。
尽管马刺队代理教练米奇·约翰逊(Mitch Johnson)并没有在本周一开始就计划让西索科在法国上场，但两场比赛的大比分差距提供了这个机会。马刺队在周四的第一场比赛中以140-110战胜了步行者队。
“我们不会仅仅因为我们身处某个特定的地方就给予球员上场时间，”约翰逊说。“西迪做得很好。他最近和我们的奥斯汀（G联赛）球队一起打球，并且打出了一段非常强势的篮球表现。他的发展符合我们的预期，尤其是最近。”
20岁的西索科在巴黎的两场比赛中总共得到3分。在周六的比赛中，贾拉斯·沃克(Jarace Walker)试图阻止他扣篮时击中了他的头部，他被迫下场。
“（运动训练师）威尔·塞文宁(Will Sevening)认为让他退出比赛是合适的，”约翰逊说。“很明显，头部受到撞击，我相信威尔。希望他没事。”
点击查看原文：NBA commissioner Adam Silver a big Victor Wembanyama fan
NBA commissioner Adam Silver a big Victor Wembanyama fan
San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama (1) celebrates as he comes off the court during the first half of a Paris Games 2025 NBA basketball game against the Indiana Pacers in Paris, Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
PARIS – Nearly 16,000 fans packed Paris’ Accor Arena on two separate occasions last week to watch the Spurs face Indiana, almost all of them there to root on local hero Victor Wembanyama.
One of Wembanyama’s biggest fans flew all the way from New York to catch the spectacle created by the Spurs star’s first NBA games on French soil.
Count league commissioner Adam Silver among those excited to see Wembanyama become one of the new faces of the league.
“He’s exceeded my expectations,” Silver said before leaving Paris. “One, just by his play on the floor, but also in terms of his desire to engage with the fans.”
The last time Silver spoke about Wembanyama before a Parisian audience was in January 2023, before Chicago faced Detroit in the French capital.
Still months away from entering the NBA draft, Wembanyama was there as a fan.
When Silver was asked about Wembanyama’s future then, he took a cautious tack.
“We’ve seen lots of projected No. 1 picks who, maybe due to no fault of their own or because of an injury, things just didn’t work out and they didn’t meet the high expectations people had of them,” Silver said. “So I tried to stay level-headed in terms of what the potential is for a player.”
While remaining circumspect about Wembanyama’s future, it has become difficult for Silver to temper expectations about what the 21-year-old Frenchman could mean for the league.
San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama (1) walks up the court during the first half of a Paris Games 2025 NBA basketball game against the Indiana Pacers in Paris, Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
According to NBA analytics, Wembanyama has become the third-most viewed player globally on social media, behind mainstays LeBron James and Stephen Curry. He generated a billion clicks during his rookie season of 2023-24, becoming the fastest to reach that level of engagement
Not surprisingly, his jersey is the top-seller in France, and ranks second throughout Europe behind only James.
Silver, meanwhile, made note of a move Wembanyama pulled off last month in New York, when he invited fans to Washington Square park for a pop-up chess tournament.
“That was something he chose to do,” Silver said. “The league had nothing to do with that. I just think he loves to engage with people. He loves people.”
Once cautious about predicting Wembanyama’s path, Silver now catches himself imagining two more decades of the French star representing the NBA.
“He just turned 21, and LeBron just turned 40,” Silver said. “There’s an opportunity there for 19 more years of excellence. I would just say it’s a pleasure to be part of a league with Victor Wembanyama."
Cissoko gets Paris cameo, too
Wembanyama was not the only French-born Spurs player to make a homecoming in Paris.
Reserve forward Sidy Cissoko found his way onto the floor for seven minutes between the two games before leaving Saturday’s 136-98 loss to the Pacers after taking a blow to the head in the fourth quarter.
PARIS, FRANCE - JANUARY 25: Sidy Cissoko #25 of the San Antonio Spurs is fouled by Jarace Walker #5 of the Indiana Pacers during the fourth quarter at The Accor Arena on January 25, 2025 in Paris, France.
Though Spurs acting coach Mitch Johnson did not enter the week necessarily planning to get Cissoko minutes in France, the blowout nature of both games presented the opportunity. The Spurs won the first game against the Pacers 140-110 on Thursday.
“We won’t give minutes just because we’re in a certain location,” Johnson said. “Sidy has done a great job. He’s played with our Austin (G League) team recently and he’s had a really strong stretch of basketball. His development has been what we want it to be, especially recently.”
The 20-year-old Cissoko totaled three points in his two-game cameo in Paris. He was forced from Saturday’s game when Jarace Walker whacked him across the head trying to prevent a dunk attempt.
“(Athletic trainer) Will Sevening thought it was appropriate to get him out of the game,” Johnson said. “Obviously with a blow to the head, I trust Will. Hopefully he’s OK.”
By Jeff McDonald, Staff Writer, via San Antonio Express-News