By Mike Finger, Columnist | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2025-03-15 15:50:02
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。
“你打球就是要赢！”一位名叫赫尔姆·爱德华兹(Herm Edwards)的NFL教练在二十多年前喊出了这句话，而当职业体育球队的老板也持有这种信念时，那确实是一件好事。
没有球迷会支持球队一直留在工资帽以下。
除了少数杰里·琼斯(Jerry Jones)最狂热的追随者之外，没有球迷会以球队的周边商品销量领先全联盟而自豪。
没有球迷会喜欢为了获得更好的选秀顺位而摆烂。
有时候，那些富得流油的球队老板们会忘记这一点。值得赞扬的是，执掌菲尼克斯太阳队的亿万富翁并没有忘记。
马特·伊什比亚(Mat Ishbia)，这位前密歇根州立大学的非奖学金篮球运动员，接管了他父亲的公司，并在批发抵押贷款业务中积累了巨额财富，他希望太阳队赢得比赛。
每一场比赛。
每一个赛季。
如果这听起来像是你希望自己支持的球队拥有的老板？
几年后再回来看看，你是否还会有同样的想法。
在过去的一周里，在霜冻银行中心，肯定有一些观众至少想和那些为了破釜沉舟、拥有臃肿薪资和年迈球星的球队的球迷交换位置。
看着一支毫无希望的球队被一支只有八名健康球员的达拉斯球队击溃，这并不令人愉快，而更令人不快的是，亲眼目睹被弱小可怜的夏洛特黄蜂队赛季横扫。凯文·杜兰特(Kevin Durant)和德文·布克(Devin Booker)追逐季后赛席位听起来不是更有吸引力吗？
从表面上看，当然是这样。而在表面上，这正是伊什比亚本周在ESPN发表的一篇文章中所谈论的内容，这篇文章讲述了他拒绝采取更传统的方式来构建一支长期有竞争力的球队。
“令我惊讶的是，其他人，其他球迷，他们实际上喜欢重建的过程，”伊什比亚告诉ESPN。“比如，‘哦，让我们重建它。’ 你疯了吗？！你觉得我会花七年时间去努力达到那个目标吗？ 你喜欢我们持有的2030年的选秀权吗？ 我想看到今天的比赛。 我希望我们今天就赢，而且我们会努力。”
当然，问题在于伊什比亚的太阳队目前尝试的方式并不奏效，而且很可能永远不会奏效。 NBA总冠军球队不再是通过购买市场上最昂贵的三名球员，然后用随机的老将围绕他们来建立的。 如今，即使你的超级球星再出色，也很难用这种方式组建一支季后赛球队。
现代NBA的比赛节奏很快，高质量的阵容深度和以往一样重要。 这个时代的赢家——波士顿、俄克拉荷马城、克利夫兰和丹佛——之所以能够获胜，是因为他们通过选秀、适时的交易和周到的自由球员投资的健康组合，有目的地进行设计。
在批发抵押贷款业务中，那些仓促做出冲动、不明智购买行为的人会让像伊什比亚这样的商人变得富有。 令人惊奇的是，他未能意识到自己在篮球方面犯下的所有愚蠢错误，和他的客户在财务方面犯下的错误如出一辙。
在2022年购买太阳队后，伊什比亚做的第一件事就是着手组建一支超级球队，收购了布拉德利·比尔(Bradley Beal)和他附带不可交易条款的巨额合同，与布克和杜兰特搭档。 太阳队未来几年都将超过工资帽，这意味着他们能够对阵容进行有意义的改变的能力受到限制，并且他们在可预见的未来已经交易掉了所有可以交易的首轮选秀权。
诚然，这个比喻有点太直白了，但他们已经抵押了他们的整个未来，而联盟的其他球队则持有这张期票。
截至周六，菲尼克斯队本赛季的战绩为31胜36负，在西部联盟排名第11位，落后最后一个附加赛席位一个半胜场。 他们表现不好。 明年他们可能也不会好多少。 但是，伊什比亚坚持认为没有必要拆掉一切，试图收回一些选秀资产，并拥抱一个长期计划。
他描述自己的方法是因为他很有竞争力。
“我可以带着较低的期望而来，说，‘嘿，在未来的五年里，我们将尝试以正确的方式来建立它。 在八年后，也许我们会赢得一个总冠军，’”伊什比亚告诉ESPN。“（但是）我来的时候说，‘让我们现在就努力赢得胜利。’ 你猜怎么着？ 我明年和后年还会再说一遍，总有一天我们会赢得它。”
对一些球迷来说，这听起来可能很棒。 毕竟，你应该为了胜利而战，对吧？
但纪律也很重要。 如果五年后，伊什比亚的太阳队仍然在努力赢得下一场比赛，不愿意着眼于更大的局面？
那些本周在霜冻银行中心遭受痛苦的人可能会回顾过去，并为当时的痛苦感到庆幸。
San Antonio Spurs forward Jeremy Sochan (10) and San Antonio Spurs guard Devin Vassell (24) block Phoenix Suns guard Bradley Beal (3) under the net during the first half at Moody Center on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025, in Austin, Texas. The Spurs defeated the Suns 120-109.
San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle (5) reacts as fans cheer following his dunk over Phoenix Suns center Bol Bol (11) during the first quarter at Moody Center on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025, in Austin, Texas.
San Antonio Spurs forward Keldon Johnson (0) reacts after making a dunk on the Phoenix Suns at Moody Center on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025, in Austin, Texas. The Spurs defeated the Suns 120-109.
San Antonio Spurs guard Chris Paul (3) yells towards Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant (35) during the first half at Moody Center on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025, in Austin, Texas. The Spurs defeated the Suns 120-109.
Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant (35) grabs a rebound during the third quarter against the San Antonio Spurs at Moody Center on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025, in Austin, Texas. The Spurs defeated the Suns 120-109.
San Antonio Spurs guard Devin Vassell (24) makes a pass over Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker (1) during the first quarter at Moody Center on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025, in Austin, Texas.
点击查看原文：Who enjoys a rebuild? In the NBA, misery can be worth the price
Who enjoys a rebuild? In the NBA, misery can be worth the price
“You play to win the game!” an NFL coach named Herm Edwards yelled more than two decades ago, and it’s a good thing when owners of professional sports teams believe that, too.
No fan roots for a franchise to stay under the salary cap.
No fan, aside from perhaps a few of Jerry Jones’ most fervent acolytes, takes pride in leading the league in merchandising.
No fan enjoys tanking for draft position.
Sometimes, the preposterously wealthy people who own these franchises forget that. To his credit, the billionaire running the Phoenix Suns hasn’t.
Mat Ishbia, the former Michigan State walk-on basketball player who took over his father’s company and amassed a fortune in the wholesale mortgage business, wants the Suns to win the game.
Every game.
Every season.
And if that sounds like the kind of owner you’d want your favorite team to have?
Check back in a few years and see if you still feel the same way.
Over the past week at Frost Bank Center, there surely were some folks in the crowd at least tempted to trade places with fans of a franchise going for broke with a bloated payroll and aging superstars.
It’s no fun to watch a team headed nowhere get walloped by a Dallas roster with only eight healthy players, and it’s even less enjoyable to witness the back end of a season sweep by the lowly, miserable Charlotte Hornets. Kevin Durant and Devin Booker chasing a postseason berth sounds much more compelling than that, doesn’t it?
On a surface level, sure. And on a surface level, that’s what Ishbia was talking about in a story published by ESPN this week about his refusal to take a more traditional approach to constructing a long-term contender.
“It’s surprising to me that other people, other fans, they actually like the rebuild process,” Ishbia told ESPN. “Like, ‘Oh, let’s rebuild it.’ Are you crazy?! You think I’m going to go for seven years and try to get there? You enjoy the 2030 draft picks that we have holding? I want to try to see the game today. I want us to win today, and we’re going to try.”
The problem, of course, is that the way Ishbia’s Suns are trying isn’t working, and is never likely to work. NBA championship teams are not built anymore by buying the three most expensive players on the market and surrounding them with random veterans. These days, it’s hard even to build a playoff team that way, no matter how good your superstars are.
The modern NBA is played at a fast pace, with quality depth as important as it’s ever been. The teams that win in this age – Boston, Oklahoma City, Cleveland and Denver – do so because they were designed with purpose, through a healthy mix of the draft and well-timed trades and thoughtful free-agent investment.
In the wholesale mortgage business, people who are rushed into making impulsive, ill-advised purchases make businessmen like Ishbia rich. What’s sort of amazing is that he fails to recognize all the ways he’s making the same sucker mistakes in basketball that his clients do with their finances.
After he bought the Suns in 2022, one of the first things Ishbia did was set about forming a super team, acquiring Bradley Beal and his giant contract with a no-trade clause to go with Booker and Durant. The Suns are over the salary cap for years to come, which means they’re limited in how they can make meaningful changes to their roster, and they’ve traded away all of their moveable first-round picks for the foreseeable future.
Granted, this metaphor is a bit too on the nose, but they’ve mortgaged their entire future, and the rest of the league is holding the note.
Heading into Saturday, Phoenix was 31-36 this season, in 11th place in the Western Conference, a game and a half out of the last play-in spot. They’re not good. They probably won’t be much better next year. But instead of tearing it all down, trying to recoup some draft capital, and embracing a long-term plan, Ishbia insists there’s no need.
The way he describes his approach, it’s because he’s competitive.
“I could have come in with low expectations, say, ‘Hey, in the next five years, we’re going to try to build this the right way. In eight years, maybe we’ll win a championship,’” Ishbia told ESPN. “(But) I came in and said, ‘Let’s try to win now.’ And guess what? I’ll say that again next year and the year after, and one of these years we’re going to win it.”
To some fans, that might sound great. After all, you’re supposed to play to win, right?
But discipline helps, too. And if, five years from now, Ishbia’s Suns still are trying to win the next game, unwilling to look at the bigger picture?
Those who suffered at Frost Bank Center this week might look back and be grateful for the misery.
By Mike Finger, Columnist, via San Antonio Express-News