🎧 Spurs Insider️ 播客: 圣安东尼奥马刺队这个疯狂的赛季是否达到了预期?

Spurs Insider Podcast, 2025-04-16 06:05:00

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。

专栏作家迈克·芬格以及马刺队记者杰夫·麦克唐纳和汤姆·奥斯本讨论了马刺队起伏不定的赛季,主教练格雷格·波波维奇遭遇中风,两位球星维克托·文班亚马(Victor Wembanyama)和达龙·福克斯(De’Aaron Fox)都因伤倒下。不知何故,克里斯·保罗打满了全部82场比赛。

建议阅读:

克里斯·保罗给马刺新秀斯蒂芬·卡斯尔布置暑假作业

马刺队的米奇·约翰逊接下来要做什么?

芬格:为什么马刺队在重大的休赛期问题出现时要求人们给予一点信任

马刺队的维克托·文班亚马已经渴望下个赛季

以下是播客的文字稿:

从南德克萨斯州高度安全的顶级秘密地点网络,这里是马刺内幕,2025年的第一个季后赛版本。我是迈克·芬格,一如既往地与圣安东尼奥快报的杰夫·麦克唐纳、汤姆·奥斯本和体育编辑尼克·塔尔博一起。

我们将回顾一下你当地球员们相当不正常、相当不寻常、相当难忘的24、25赛季。我们将展望一个引人注目的、广阔开放的休赛期,其中有各种各样未解答的问题和需要做出的决定。我将从伟大的杰夫·麦克唐纳开始,他完成了作为圣安东尼奥快报的马刺队记者生涯的第18个赛季,我相信。就为一家媒体报道一支球队而言,他是整个美国国家篮球协会(NBA)中任期最长的记者之一。杰夫,你做到了。对于完成又一个赛季,你有什么要说的?我正在追赶艾拉·温德曼。

艾拉·温德曼。我把他放在了我的视线里。报道迈阿密热火队。他可能是唯一一个比你强的人?是的,谁会想到我会比肖宁活得更久。

伟大的比尔·肖宁挂靴了。伟大的比尔·兰德去年也挂靴了。杰夫·麦克唐纳仍然在这里。你有什么可以告诉听众关于你报道多年的这支球队的状况?好吧,你想谈论这件事,这可能是我报道的18个赛季中最奇怪的赛季,也许是最奇怪的赛季。

从那开始说。当你说到在赛季开始五场比赛后失去你的主教练时,不仅仅是任何一位主教练,而是一位名人堂级别的主教练。篮球历史上获胜次数最多的教练。NBA任期最长的教练。格雷格·波波维奇,你知道,在赛季开始五场比赛后失去他,整个赛季都由代理主教练米奇·约翰逊代替他的位置。然后到了二月份,你做了一笔交易。马刺队从不做重大交易,但这次他们为达龙·福克斯(De’Aaron Fox)做了一笔重大交易,但他在几场比赛后就因拇指手术而停赛了。当然,在这期间,你还失去了维克托·文班亚马(Victor Wembanyama),你最好的球员,因为血栓问题而赛季报销。所以有很多戏剧性。你再加上其他一些小事情,比如,哦,是的,马刺队当时在洛杉矶,因为那里的野火,你知道,有一场比赛因此被推迟了。他们还在巴黎度过了一整个星期。他们在纽约打了圣诞节比赛。这个赛季发生了很多事情,需要报道。这很有趣。从来没有不有趣的时候。无论是好的有趣还是坏的有趣,都取决于旁观者的看法,但它从来没有不有趣的时候。

我们在圣安东尼奥快报的印刷版、expressnews.com 和马刺国家通讯中报道了很多这些内容。但你刚才提到的所有事情中,有一件有趣的事情是,所有这些前所未有的事情发生了,你可能永远无法预见的事情发生在马刺队身上。而他们最终以一位专栏作家在赛季开始时在报纸上预测的完全一样的战绩结束了这个赛季。我认为我们这个播客上的很多人都在34胜48负的最终战绩的一两场之内。在某种程度上,他们最终达到我们认为的战绩水平,并经历了杰夫刚才提到的所有事情,这为这支球队的未来提供了更多的乐观情绪。就像如果我们预测34胜48负,我们并没有预见到文班亚马会在赛季的最后三分之一的时间里缺席。我们没有预见到格雷格·波波维奇缺席后,一位代理主教练会在赛季开始五场比赛后接任。我们没有预见到野火的事情。我想我们确实看到了他们去巴黎。但我们也没有预见到斯蒂芬·卡斯尔(Stephon Castle)会一路拿下年度最佳新秀奖。我认为我们都认为他会很棒。但是汤姆·奥斯本,有很多小细节,如果事情按照马刺队希望的方式在休赛期进行,会带来很多的乐观情绪。

是的,而且还必须提到,杰里米·索汉(Jeremy Sochan)和查尔斯·贝西(Charles Bassi),你知道,因为伤病而被剥夺了从头到尾可能拥有的赛季。是的,所以他们也必须处理这些问题。他们能够在所有这些事情发生的情况下赢得34场比赛,这非常值得注意。这是一项成就。他们为此感到自豪,他们应该为此感到自豪。正如米奇·约翰逊多次说过的那样,他借鉴了波波维奇多年来向工作人员和组织宣扬的东西,那就是你现在所做的一切,都希望在未来的某个时候得到回报。他们希望这个赛季,经历逆境,团结在一起,帮助建立友谊等等,都会在未来得到回报。是的,我的意思是,就像我说的那样,我认为考虑到所有发生的事情,他们赢得34场比赛是一项非常值得注意的成就。

我告诉你,如果给他们一个完整的查尔斯·贝西赛季,那他们就是一支季后赛球队。是的,我知道。我听懂了你说的,但是缺少篮板,你知道,文班亚马不在,贝西也不在,这真的伤害了他们。你知道,他们在没有文班亚马的情况下赢了11场比赛。如果他们有更多的篮板,他们可能会赢得更多。这就是我的意思。我不是在夸大查尔斯·贝西对组织或未来的重要性,但是的,他缺席的时间太长了,确实伤害了他们。当我们用播客谈论一些泛泛而论的东西,说一些烟雾弹的时候,有些人说那是赛季开始的时候。

你知道,当我们做这些事情的时候,你会谈论一些东西,比如找到身份,找出你需要的东西。很多时候这只是愚蠢的行为。但在某种程度上,今年发生在马刺队身上的一切都定义了,就像它明确地指出了他们在休赛期到底需要什么,因为他们在赛季中期交易得到了达龙·福克斯。我们不确定这是否会发生。所以他们进入这个休赛期时,现在知道了,我认为我们都可以同意,这支球队是围绕着维克托·文班亚马建立的,他可能是他这一代人中最受关注的球员,也可能是他这一代人中最好的球员。达龙·福克斯,他现在是现在和未来的控球后卫,一位经过验证的全明星球员,一位处于马刺队正在建立的东西的中心位置的人,以及年度最佳新秀斯蒂芬·卡斯尔,我认为如果他今年做了什么,那就是证明他是马刺队正在建立的东西的关键部分。你知道现在,你们知道你们正在围绕着这三个人建立,马刺队未来所做的一切都是关于这三个人成为一支试图成为竞争者的球队的中心人物。在今年年初,六个月前,他们只有这三个人中的一个。他们还不知道斯蒂芬·卡斯尔。他们还没有达龙·福克斯。所以现在他们知道了。他们知道这个休赛期,不仅仅需要一些球员,你知道,我们需要一些球员。我们都知道这一点。现在他们具体地知道了他们需要什么。他们需要投篮,他们需要文班亚马身后的内线。我认为当你考虑到所有这些,再加上他们获得了我们认为他们会获得的34场胜利时,这是一件非常成功的事情。他们获得了34场胜利,他们向前迈出了一步,他们确切地知道他们需要在这个休赛期填补围绕着他们核心的位置。我不认为这应该被低估,不应该被忘记。我认为当你在组建一支你希望能够在未来的很多季后赛席位和总冠军中竞争的球队时,这是一个重要的步骤。是的。你说的很有道理。说得好。

杰夫,你有什么要补充或反驳的吗?很遗憾,没有。我希望我能和你争论,但我认为你难得地提出了一些精辟而令人信服的观点。现在,既然你不打算对这一点进行阐述,你没有什么有价值的东西可以提供。这让我想到了另一件出现在快报上的东西,那就是看看我认为马刺队在这个休赛期正在处理的两个最重要的长期问题。马刺队会让你相信,也许是正确的,这两个问题都不是什么大问题。好吧,但它们是两个非常重要的问题。第一个问题是,当维克托·文班亚马回归时,如果他回归,他还是以前的他吗?是否会有任何长期限制?他能完全恢复到以前的状态吗,我们在他患上这种深静脉血栓,也就是他右肩上的血栓之前认为他会是什么样子?他能从这当中恢复过来吗?他没事吗?我想更简单的事情是,维克托·文班亚马没事吗?我们已经从马刺队,从维克托·文班亚马本人那里得知他没事。这是我们需要在本播客中讨论的事情。自从二月份以来,我们第一次和维克托谈话。他说这是一个小问题。这是他现在已经克服的事情。他会和以前一样好,但我们没有关于这方面的细节,因为马刺队和维克托·文班亚马都没有透露这些信息。他们完全有权这样做。我们被要求相信他已经克服了这个问题,他可以恢复到以前的状态。我们有奥萨尔·汤普森和布兰登·英格拉姆的证据。有一些NBA球员已经克服了这个问题,并且一切都很好,但我们不知道他做了什么手术,如果他做了手术的话。我们不知道他的治疗计划是什么。我们只是相信马刺队的话,他会在十月份做好上场比赛的准备。我认为他会的。但这仍然是一个问题,因为我们没有任何关于这方面的细节。但这是关于这个休赛期的一个总体问题。我想插一句。

继续,先解决第一个问题。我们确实至少知道关于维克托的一些细节,那就是他去过医院,或者至少去过一家医院,也许多次去过医院。一个人去医院有很多原因。但他在过去三个月里去过一家医院。对于那些在家、在车里或在自行车上,或者无论你如何收听这个播客的听众来说,他们想知道为什么这位粗鲁的主持人在提到去医院时会笑。就像为什么主持人会如此粗鲁地拿这件事开玩笑?无情。这是一个好词。因为杰夫在这里开了一个小玩笑,嘲笑著名的审问者汤姆·奥斯本,他也在这个播客中,他认为他已经抓住了维克托·文班亚马的一个逻辑陷阱,那是一个弗罗斯特·尼克松式的时刻,当时维克托在周日马刺队对阵多伦多猛龙队决赛之前的媒体采访中提到了去医院。汤姆·奥斯本插话说,啊,所以维克托,年轻的维克托,你说你去过医院。那么这是否意味着你确实做过手术?对此,维克托·文班亚马比汤姆·奥斯本可能预料的还要狡猾,他毫不眨眼地反驳说,一个人可能因为很多原因去医院。并非所有原因都包括手术。所以他既没有证实也没有否认他做过手术。汤姆没有抓住这位21岁的超级球星,他比他的年龄还要成熟,比他的年龄还要聪明,我们仍然没有官方确认维克托·文班亚马做过手术。

他做了什么手术?我们认为他可能做了,但马刺队没有证实。可能,他可能喜欢那里的食物。有可能。这是一个需要提出的问题,我认为。确实。但这是一个有趣的时刻,当维克托轻松地绕过了汤姆设置的所谓陷阱。这不是一个陷阱。这只是一种提问的方式。好吧,这是一个很好的尝试,汤姆。谢谢你。这些问题确实需要被提出。但它们没有得到回答。这让我想到了马刺队这个休赛期面临的第二个总体问题。那就是当圣安东尼奥马刺队明年开始他们的赛季时,谁将成为他们的主教练?我们不知道。与维克托·文班亚马的问题不同,马刺队不回答这些问题,或者关于谁将执教他们的问题的原因是,我不认为马刺队知道这个问题的答案。我不认为任何人知道这个问题的答案。但这是一个巨大的问题,因为只是为了说明,格雷格·波波维奇,他已经是NBA比赛中最年长的主教练,他赢得的NBA比赛比历史上任何一位教练都多。名人堂成员。五支总冠军球队的主教练正在试图在他去年11月遭受轻微中风后回归。他将得到这个机会。马刺队正在等待他。如果你问组织中的任何人,他们都认为他正在努力回归。他们希望他回归。他有权回归并按照他自己的方式离开。我们只是不知道这是否会发生,因为我刚才说的所有原因。他已经是NBA比赛中最年长的主教练了。他刚刚遭受了轻微中风。这是一个复杂的问题。所以在此期间,米奇·约翰逊,杰夫·麦克唐纳本周在快报上发表了一篇关于他的精彩文章,只是涵盖了他为球队所做的一切,他被投入的所有奇怪的职位,他帮助球队度过难关的方式,他蓬勃发展的方式等等。在他被告知不再是代理主教练之前,他仍然是代理主教练。当我在周日问他这个问题时,他有点反对。在你被告知不再是代理主教练之前,你仍然是代理主教练吗?他说在休赛期,这并不重要。这是协作的。每个人都计划休赛期。那里如果没有比赛,你就不需要主教练。但他仍然被这样看待,因为在波普回到训练馆之前,他仍然是负责人。这个问题还包括,如果波普没有回来,那是否会自动是米奇·约翰逊?也许?有可能。马刺队非常看好他,因为杰夫在他的快报文章中概述的所有原因。当波普中风时,他们将这个责任交给了他,因为他们非常相信他领导一个组织的能力。但是如果你向每一位想要这个职位的主教练开放这个职位,世界上的每一位主教练都会想要它。我的意思是,哪一位篮球教练不想在维克托·文班亚马的巅峰时期执教他。这是一个令人垂涎的工作。所以在所有这些复杂的事情中,马刺队正在问自己,格雷格·波波维奇能回来吗?如果他没有回来,那是否会自动是米奇·约翰逊,或者我们是否需要找出是否有更适合的人选?所有这些事情都会在接下来的长达六个月的时间里展开,杰夫。

哇,是的,希望不要花六个月的时间,你知道。但我的意思是,有可能。有可能。是的,有可能。是的,这很复杂。这很复杂,我不知道正确的答案是什么,或者正确的答案会是什么,因为显然你想尽可能长的时间让波普决定或者在医学上被允许恢复全部工作。这意味着需要多长时间?没人知道。所以你只是日复一日地等待。每一天过去,如果你要向所有人开放这个职位,你可能会想采访或者考虑的其他家伙会被抢走,就像这种情况持续到夏天一样。比如说,泰勒·詹金斯在下一个十月份执教一支NBA球队的几率有多大?我想说是100%。非常好。如果他想的话。是的,你知道。迈克尔·马龙,他会找到工作的。我不确定巴德教练是否会找到工作,但他可能会有人雇佣他。有这样的人。我的意思是有很多你想要的名牌大学教练,你想要的名牌退役教练,随便你想说什么都行。如果有人打电话问,你想执教维克托·文班亚马吗,很多人都会感兴趣的?斯蒂芬·卡斯尔。

我的意思是,你几乎可以选择现在正在NBA执教的任何一个人。他们不一定失业。可能会有五个人说绝对不。对,对。或者,是的,谁会说我的工作现在太好了。诸如此类的事情。所以我们在这里不是说。当我们讨论这件事的时候,我总是重复这一点。我们不是说马刺队不想留住米奇·约翰逊。只是情况是他们有一个职位,他们可以选择任何人。这几乎是太多选择带来的瘫痪。就像你可以去任何地方。我们也不知道格雷格·波波维奇不会回来。他正在努力回来。他是一个意志坚强的人。我不会和他打赌的。但是当你为整个组织,整个重建项目,维克托·文班亚马职业生涯的巅峰时期制定这样的计划时,你必须为一切做好准备。马刺队确实必须为格雷格·波波维奇不会回来的可能性做好准备,无论这种可能性有多大,无论这种可能性有多小。我确信他们有应急计划,他们只是现在没有分享这些计划。我想这是可以理解的原因。

如果文班亚马可信的话,那么无论如何他都很好。他说,你知道,他相信波普会尽他所能回来,恢复他的精力。但他也说,我也相信米奇会成长为那个角色,我认为这很有趣。这几乎就像一个球员说,是的,他有一个很好的新秀赛季,但是你知道,那里还有很大的成长空间。我认为那是一个有趣的评论。与此同时,他也在赞扬他的队友们在比赛结束时的表现,我认为这在某种程度上是对他嫉妒。是的。是的,好吧,我是说就像这是对米奇所做的工作的某种致敬,他认为米奇让他继续以那种方式比赛。是的,是的,这是一个好观点。还有一件事。唯一一个可以做出决定并说教练绝对会是这个人,无论那个人是谁,就是维克托·文班亚马,但他现在就是没有这种个性。我不认为他会这样做。他可能会说我在为他效力。他可以这样做,我甚至不知道那会是什么。他可以进来说,我在为米奇·约翰逊效力。你必须让米奇·约翰逊继续担任这个角色。我要为他效力,或者他可以进来说,你必须去雇佣迈克·布登霍尔泽。就像我唯一的选择就是迈克·布登霍尔泽是马刺队的下一任主教练。就像如果维克托·文班亚马这样说,你几乎必须这样做。但但维克托不会这样做。那不是他的风格。是的。公开地,他说我相信这个组织会做出好的决定。是的。是的。他所说的是,我认为私下里他也是这么说的。也许,也许不是。但是的,我们所知道的只是他公开说的话。这是一个重要的赛季。就像他即将到来的第三年。我们开始接近你有点在时间线上了。你知道,我们对第一年他们赢得22场比赛没有意见,第二年一切都很奇怪,但他们仍然比前一个赛季多赢了12场比赛,并且展现出了希望,但我们正接近,你知道,在未来一两年内,如果你每年都不能进入季后赛,那就是出了问题。所以你必须把所有这些重要的部分都放在合适的位置上,而主教练的位置是非常非常重要的。所以只是为了让它稳定下来,无论如何,无论它会是什么样子,我认为那是最佳的情况,只是要知道它会是谁。我不知道。杰夫,当我说六个月时,你有点倒吸了一口气,回过头来想想,这可能太久了。但这引出了一个后续问题,你认为是否有一个确切的日期,但你是否认为存在一个日期,他们希望或者作为一个团队,你想知道波普是否会在赛季开始时加入或退出。应该有,因为我的意思是,我不知道你在不知道教练是谁的情况下如何进入自由球员市场,你知道,我的意思是,我认为。我认为为了唱反调,你进入自由球员市场就像首先向球员提供金钱一样。金钱说话。其次是与维克托·文班亚马、达龙·福克斯和斯蒂芬一起打球的机会。你知道球队是什么样的。我不认为你需要知道波普是否会在7月1日之前回来。我想,我想。但是,嘿,来为这支球队效力吧。我们不知道。我认为这会很棒,但我不确定你是否必须在自由球员市场之前做好这件事。嘿,你想来为这支球队效力吗?我们不知道教练是谁,最好的球员正在从血栓中恢复过来,我们也不知道他是否会上场。这不是一个好的卖点。我不认为他们会在这个休赛期吸引他们想要的自由球员方面遇到任何问题。如果仅仅是因为他们没有追求顶级球员,因为他们没有。这不是今年的目标。今年的目标是在边缘填补。但这有点像大学里的招募,对吧?就像当你没有教练的时候很难招募一样。好吧,现在更容易了,因为你可以提供NIL,就像马刺队提供合同和上场时间一样。我们之间存在一些小分歧。但我不认为教练的情况是一个成败的交易类型在自由球员市场。也许这对某些人来说是这样。但我我不认为如果他们提供你想要的人,中产阶级例外类型的球员,射手,替补中锋。我不认为那种类型的球员会说绝对不行,直到我知道,是的,我只是不认为我们不知道教练会是谁,我们甚至不能给你一个我们知道教练会是谁的日期。这是一个问题。这是一个问题。我一开始就说这是一个问题。我认为这是最好的说法。这是一个问题。是的。我认为你是对的迈克,你知道,考虑到他们会寻找的自由球员的级别,不应该是最重要的,但这是一个问题。是的。现在,这将导致我们将,顺便说一句,现在是一个很好的时间点,我们正在为马刺内幕播客制定一个休赛期的时间表。我们不会再像以前那样,每个周三早上都会出现在你的数字播放器中,在你的车里,在你的家庭办公室里,在你的自行车上,在你的耳塞里。我们会每两周与你见面一次。到4月30日星期三早上,你应该再次听到我们,我们将在休赛期一段时间内每两周一次。所以你必须在没有杰夫阳光的性情的情况下度过一段时间。你认为有多少人现在正在标记他们的日历,圈出4月30日?我敢打赌有一些人。我敢打赌有一些人有他们的墙上日历,他们的桌面日历,他们手机上的日历应用程序。他们正在标记马刺内幕。下一个将在4月30日早上,如果不是4月29日晚上早些时候到来。那是他们下次见到我们的时候。就像你在围绕这些东西计划度假一样。乘飞机旅行,所有这些类型的事情。我们有忠实的听众,我们衷心感谢他们多年来一直陪伴着我们。这很有趣。

嘿,你还记得上周我们在谈论所有我们预测正确或错误的吗。真的吗?好的。我想到了一个我知道我搞砸的。哦,好的。我记得专门进行过这场对话,因为我们正在谈论即将到来的赛季。我不知道你是否记得这个休赛期,他们签下了一个名叫克里斯·保罗的人。嗯哼。而且,你知道,他们已经有一个球员已经担任控球后卫很长时间了,名叫特雷·琼斯。而且,你知道,除此之外,他们还选中了斯蒂芬·卡斯尔。所以我们正在讨论阵容会是什么样子,显然特雷将不得不去替补席,他的角色会更加减少。但我说,不要害怕,因为克里斯·保罗不会来这里首发82场比赛。仍然会有空间让特雷·琼斯或其他球员在首发位置上打几场比赛。好吧,我错了。克里斯·保罗来了,在这里打了82场比赛。他真了不起,伙计。这个赛季有他在身边真有趣。

是的。他做这件事的方式非常合适,非常图画书式。他在赛季还剩20秒的时候发生了一场争执。对。是的,他在还剩大约1分43秒的时候投中了一个巨大的跳投,中距离跳投。然后在最后的20.3秒,他有三分,三个罚球,他投进了。他有一个篮板,他有一个助攻。他有一个抢断。他正在与其他球员和裁判发生争执。斯科蒂·巴恩斯在一场无关紧要的比赛中。他以控制球结束了比赛。我的意思是,它完美地总结了他是什么样的人,他是什么样的人。如果你在周日环顾整个联盟,所有那些比赛,我认为最重要的一场是勇士队和快船队的比赛,那场比赛打到了加时赛,对吧?所以你在那场比赛中看到了一些轮换球员。但在所有其他的比赛中,比如马刺队,他们正在朝着本赛季的第34场胜利前进,以34胜48负的战绩在西部联盟排名第13位,他们在比赛结束时在地板上拥有最有成就的五名球员。这有点疯狂。你有克里斯·保罗和哈里森·巴恩斯和斯蒂芬·卡斯尔,还有朱利安·尚帕尼也在那里,他是一个非常重要的角色球员,他也打了82场比赛。哈里森·巴恩斯也打了38场82场比赛。但那些家伙全年都像比赛很重要一样打球,那是克里斯·保罗的一大影响力。就像克里斯·保罗对这支球队产生了影响。他对他们来说很棒。从体育记者的角度来看,这只是一个快乐的,一个快乐的报道。很高兴有另一个有点脾气暴躁的人在那里。

我的一个他做到了。我的一个最喜欢的米奇·约翰逊的引言来自赛季的最后一周,因为你正在写一篇关于克里斯接下来要做什么的文章?他会退役吗?他会回来吗?他会在其他地方打球吗?所有这些选择。就像联盟中的每个人都说,是的,他有一天会成为一个伟大的教练。或者你知道,如果你不想这样做,他会在电视上很棒,你知道,作为一名电视分析师。但米奇说,你知道,他只是那种很难想象的人。他在地板上作为联盟的一员太久了。很难想象克里斯·保罗教练或克里斯·保罗电视分析师。米奇说,克里斯属于在地板上,手里拿着球,对着某人吼叫。那就是克里斯·保罗。谁能反驳这一点?在周日的离队采访中,我最喜欢的两个时刻之一,那总是一个有趣的日子,因为每个球员都会进来,我们能够与每个球员交谈。我认为杰夫甚至出去向桑德罗告别。顺便说一句,朱利安·桑德罗想回来。他将成为一名自由球员,但他想回来。我就把它放在那里。我们真的,真的希望桑德罗回来。令人震惊的消息,桑德罗想回来。那是休赛期我最大的兴趣,希望马刺队重新签下桑德罗·妈妈。你知道吗?如果他们能给弗拉沃·弗莱夫季票,桑德罗将成为全明星。

是的。我认为那应该是马刺队在休赛期的首要任务。忘记我之前在这个播客中浪费所有时间讨论的两个总体问题。整个播客应该是一个重新签下桑德罗的宣传。但是,是的,我们周日与每个人交谈,其中一个有趣的时刻是,当克里斯·保罗被问及在最后20秒,当他与斯科蒂·巴恩斯和裁判比利·肯尼迪争吵,并竭尽全力完成比赛时,你真的那么在乎最终的胜利吗?他只是说,当然。就像他真的对斯科蒂·巴恩斯和比利·肯尼迪非常生气,非常想要那场胜利。他的家人在人群中,这可以被视为一个迹象,表明他可能至少正在考虑这可能是他最后一场比赛的可能性。他在赛后甚至没有暗示这一点。你可以随时问他。他一直保持着那个样子直到最后,那很有趣。另一个是当我偷了汤姆的一个笑话,我现在要为此道歉,因为当有人问到凯尔登·约翰逊时,汤姆正在给我带来痛苦,当然,凯尔登·约翰逊度过了一个伟大的赛季,并且与中国鞋业公司有赞助协议,对吧汤姆?他被问及他是否会去中国,就像他经常在休赛期做的那样,他说会的,他很期待,鞋公司做得很好。在汤姆·奥斯本的呼吸中,他喃喃地对我说了一些东西,但没有大声说出来。所以我是一个大声说出来的小丑。我说我对凯尔登说了一些关于关税的事情,就像关税是否会影响你的鞋类交易。凯尔登对这件事的反应,我无法公正地描述,但那只是这种令人恼火的,上帝怜悯。

他立刻变成了一个80岁的祖母。他看着我摇了摇头说,上帝怜悯。这总结了很多关于2024年,2025年马刺队赛季的事情。只是这三个字。我们度过了难关。有时令人恼火,有时令人疲惫。但我们度过了难关,我们将在休赛期有很多东西可以谈论。我们将在两周后见面。杰夫和汤姆有什么吗?就像这是回顾赛季的最后一次。在我们走之前,你们有什么要补充的吗?这是一个快乐,大家好。我每周都很享受。我一直在想是的,对不起杰夫。你先说。他只是在撒谎。不,没关系。他只是在撒谎。汤姆没有,给我们一些真相。我一直在想这些人,你知道,球员只是从你的生活中路过,你可能再也见不到他们了,但你知道,你会记住他们,并且会怀念他们。比斯马克·比永博,我将通过向他致敬来结束。很高兴能与他在一起。就像克里斯·保罗、哈里森·巴恩斯一样,一个真正的职业球员。所以这很棒。真的很喜欢那家伙。是的,克里斯·保罗,你知道,说你想说的,斯蒂芬应该打更多,虽然我不这么认为。我认为向他学习,看着他,看着他如何运作和运行控球后卫,对斯蒂芬来说非常棒。我认为这是一个很好的平衡,既能打球又能观看,这对他的帮助会很大。绝对的。但是你知道,只是让他们路过,你知道,

点击查看原文:Did San Antonio’s wild season meet expectations?

Did San Antonio’s wild season meet expectations?

Columnist Mike Finger and Spurs beat reporters Jeff McDonald and Tom Orsborn discuss the Spurs’ topsy-turvy season that saw head coach Gregg Popovich suffer a stroke and both of its star players, Victor Wembanyama and De’Aaron Fox, go down with injuries. Also somehow Chris Paul started all 82 games.

Suggested reading:

Chris Paul leaves Spurs rookie Stephon Castle with summer homework

What’s next for Spurs’ Mitch Johnson?

Finger: Why the Spurs ask for a little faith as big offseason questions loom

Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama already eager for next season

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Here is the transcript of the podcast:

From a highly secured network of top secret locations across South Texas, this is the Spurs Insider, the first postseason edition of 2025. I am Mike Finger, joined as always by Jeff McDonald, Tom Orsborn and sports editor Nick Talbot of the San Antonio Express News.

We’re going to look back at the quite abnormal, quite unusual, quite memorable 24, 25 season for your local cagers. We’re going to look ahead at what figures to be a compelling wide open off season with all kinds of questions unanswered, decisions to be made. I’m going to start with the great Jeff McDonald, who made it through season number 18, I believe, as the Spurs beat writer for the San Antonio Express News. One of the longest tenured beat writers in the entire National Basketball Association in terms of covering one team for one outlet. Jeff, you made it. What do you have to say about making it through another one? I’m coming after Ira Winderman.

Ira Winderman. I have him in my sights. Covers the Miami Heat. He might be the one guy who who has you beat? Yeah. Yeah, who would have thought I would outlast Shoning.

The great Bill Shoning hung him up. The great Bill Land hung him up last year. Jeff McDonald still around. What can you tell the listeners about the state of this team that you have covered low so many years? Well, you want to talk about this it was probably one of the weirdest seasons, maybe the weirdest season of the 18 that I have covered.

Start with that. When you talk about, you know, losing your head coach five games into it, not just any head coach, but a Hall of Fame head coach. The winningest coach in basketball history. The longest tenured coach in the NBA. Greg Popovich, you know, losing him five games in the season, going through the entire season with a with an acting head coach, Mitch Johnson in his spot. And then you get to February and you you you make a trade. The Spurs never make major trades, but this time they made a major trade for De’Aaron Fox, who lasted a handful of games before shutting it down with a to have his thumb operated on. And then of course, in the middle of all that, you also had Victor Wembanyama being lost for the season, your best player, being lost for the season with a blood clot issue. So it was a lot of dramatics. And you throw in other little things like, oh yeah, the Spurs were in LA for the wildfires, you know, and had a game postponed because of that. And they spent a whole week in Paris. And they played Christmas Day in New York. There was just a lot going on this season to cover. It was interesting. It was never it was never not interesting. Whether that was good interesting or bad interesting, it was in the eye of the beholder, but it was never not interesting.

We have covered lots of this in the San Antonio Express News print editions on expressnews.com Spurs Nation newsletter. But one thing that’s kind of funny about everything that you just mentioned is all this unprecedented stuff happened, stuff that you could have never foreseen happened to the Spurs. And they ended up with exactly the record that one columnist predicted in the newspaper to start the season. I think a lot of us on this podcast were within a game or two of the 34 and 48 final record. In a way it’s it it provides even more optimism about the future of this franchise that they ended up exactly where we thought they would be record wise, but made it through all of the things that Jeff just mentioned. Like if you would have when we predicted 34 and 48, we did not see Victor Wembanyama sitting out for the last third of the season. We did not see an acting head coach take over for five games into the season with Greg Popovich gone. We did not see, you know, the wildfire stuff. We did not see, I guess we did see them going to Paris. But we also did not see Stefan Castle just kind of running away with the rookie of the year award. I think we all thought he was going to be good. But there are lots of little details, Tom Orsborn, that if if things work out the way the Spurs hope they do this offseason, lends themselves to a lot of optimism.

Yeah, and also have to mention, you know, Devon, Jeremy and Charles Bassi, you know, were robbed because of injuries of having the seasons they might have had from start to finish. And yeah, so they they they had that to deal with as well. It’s it’s pretty noteworthy that they won 34 games with all of that going on. It’s it’s it’s it’s it’s an accomplishment. And they were proud of it and they should be proud of it. And you know, as Mitch Johnson said several times, playing off something Pop preached to you know, the staff, the organization for years, I guess, is that everything you do at the current moment is going to hopefully pay off down the road at some point. And they’re hoping that this season, you know, getting through the adversity and and coming together, helping to build camaraderie and so forth and so on will pay off down the road. And yeah, I mean, it it like I said, I think it was a pretty pretty noteworthy achievement for them to win 34 games considering all that happened.

I tell you what, give them a full give them a full season of Charles Bassi and that’s a playoff team. Yeah, I know. I I I I hear I hear what you’re saying, but but the lack of rebounding, you know, with Victor out, with Bassi out that that really hurt them. You know, they won 11 games without Victor. They probably win a little more. They have a little more rebounding. That that’s my point. I’m not overstating What’s your point, Tom?

What’s your point? Not overstating Charles Bassi’s importance to the organization or the future, but yeah, it it was it did hurt them that he was out as much as he was. Well, when we were speaking in our podcast generalities, kind of blowing smoke some people say to start the season.

You know, we when when when you do this stuff, you talk about stuff like finding identity, finding out what you need. And a lot of times it’s just it’s it’s silliness. But in a way, everything that happened to the Spurs this year defined, like it it it brought into focus exactly what they do need this off season because they made the trade for De’Aaron Fox during the middle of the season. We weren’t sure that was going to happen. And so they head into this off season knowing now, I think we can all agree, that this team is built around a nucleus of Victor Wembanyama, who might be who is the the most hyped player of his generation, might be the best player of his generation. De’Aaron Fox, who is now the point guard of the present and the future, a a proven all star, a a guy who is at the center of what the Spurs are building here and rookie of the year Stefan Castle, who I think is if if if he did anything this year was prove that he is a key key part of what the Spurs are building. You know now that those are the three guys that you’re building around, that everything that the Spurs do in the future is about those three guys being in the middle of a team that’s trying to become a contender. They didn’t they only had one of those guys to start the year, six months ago. They did not know about Stefan Castle yet. They did not have De’Aaron Fox yet. So now they know that. They know that this off season, rather than just a bunch of pieces, you know, you need a bunch of pieces. We all knew that. Now they know specifically what they need. They need shooting and they need size behind Victor. And I think when you consider all of that, in addition to them getting the 34 victories that we thought they were going to get, like that’s a pretty successful thing. They got the 34 victories, they took their step forward and they know exactly what they need this off season to fill around their nucleus. And I I I think that shouldn’t be understated, shouldn’t be forgotten. I think that’s a significant step when you’re putting together a team that you hope will compete for a lot of playoff spots and championships down the road. Yes. That’s a good point that you made. Well said.

Jeff, would you have anything to add or argue with there? Unfortunately no. I wish I could argue with you, but I think you made some some trenchant and cojan points for once. Now, that leads me since you’re not going to riff off of that. you have nothing worthwhile to offer there. It leads me to something else that appeared in the Express News this week, which was a look at the at what I consider the two overarching long range important questions that your Spurs are dealing with this off season. And the Spurs would have you believe, maybe correctly that neither one is a big deal. Okay, but they’re they’re two pretty huge questions. The first of which is when Victor if and when Victor Wembanyama returns, is he still what he was before? Are there any long-term restrictions? Can he be exactly what he was, what we thought he’d be before he suffered this deep vein thrombosis, the the blood clot in his right shoulder. Can he recover from this? Is he okay? I guess the simpler thing is, is Victor Wembanyama okay? We have been told that he is by the Spurs, by Victor Wembanyama himself. This is something we need to discuss during this podcast. We talked to Victor for the first time since February. And he said it’s a it’s it’s a minor issue. It’s something that he’s over with now. He’s going to be as good as new, but we don’t have details on that because the Spurs and Victor Wembanyama are not divulging them. And that’s perfectly within their rights to do that. We’re sort of being asked to take it on faith that he is over this, that he can be what he was before. We have evidence from Aasar Thompson from Brandon Ingram. There have been NBA players that have gotten over this and been just fine, but we don’t know what surgery he had, if he had surgery at all. We don’t know what his treatment plan is. We’re just kind of taking it taking the Spurs at their word that he’s going to be ready to play in October. And I think he will be. But it remains a question because we don’t have any details on that. But that’s that’s kind of one overarching question about this off season. I want to I want to jump in one time.

Go ahead, address this first one now. We do know at least some details on Victor is that he visited hospitals or at least one hospital, maybe multiple visits to hospitals. There are there are many reasons one could go to a hospital. But the he has been he has been in a hospital in the last three months. For the listeners at home or in the car or on your bike ride or however you listen to this podcast, who are wondering why the the the the rude host is laughing at the mention of hospital visits. Like why would why would the host be that crude as to as to make light of this? Caliss. It’s it’s callous. there that’s a good word. It’s it’s it’s because Jeff is making a little jokey joke here about the the noted inquisitor Tom Orsborn, who’s also on this podcast, who thought he’d he’d caught Victor Wembanyama in a in a web of of of logic in a in a in it was a Frost Nixon type moment when uh when Victor had mentioned going to the hospital during his availability on Sunday before the Spurs finale against Toronto. And Tom Orsborn had had had piped up and said, ah, so Victor, young Victor, you uh, you you say that you’ve been to the hospital. So does that not mean that you did indeed have a surgery? To which Victor Wembanyama, cager than Tom Orsborn could have possibly expected, retorted without a blink of the blink of an eye, without a a beat of sweat on his brow says, there are many reasons why one might visit the hospital. Not all of them include surgery. So he neither confirmed nor denied that he had surgery. Tom did not trap the 21-year-old, older than his years, wiser than his years superstar and we still do not have official confirmation that Victor Wembanyama had surgery.

What kind of surgery he had? We think he probably did, but uh the Spurs have not confirmed. It could be, it could be that he likes the food. Could be. It’s a question that needed to be asked, I thought. So. It was. But it it was it was it was a it was a fun little moment when when Victor danced right around the supposed trap that Tom had set. Wasn’t a trap. It was just a way to ask the question. Okay. Well, it was a good effort, Tom. Thank you. Uh the questions did needed to be asked. They were not answered. And that that leads me to overarching question number two facing the Spurs this off season. And that is who will be the head coach of said San Antonio Spurs when they open their season next year? We do not know. And one unlike the Victor Wembanyama questions, the reason why the Spurs aren’t answering these questions or that question about the about who’s going to coach them, is because I don’t think the Spurs know know the answer to that question. I don’t think anybody knows the answer to that question. But it is a huge one because just to lay it out there, Greg Popovich, who already was the oldest person ever to serve as a head coach in an NBA game, has won more NBA games than any coach in history. Hall of Famer. The head coach of five championship teams is uh is trying to return after suffering a mild stroke last November. He will be given that opportunity. The Spurs are waiting on him. They they all, if you ask anybody in the organization, they think that he’s trying to come back. They want him to come back. He has the right to come back and and go out go out on his terms. We just don’t know if that’s going to happen because of all the reasons I just said. He’s the oldest person ever to coach an NBA game already. He just had a mild stroke. It’s a complicated deal. So in the interim, Mitch Johnson, who Jeff McDonald wrote a great story about in the Express News this week, just kind of covering all that he did for the team, all the the weird position he was thrown into, the way he helped the team kind of make it through, the way he thrived and prospered and all that kind of stuff. He continues to be the acting head coach until told otherwise. He sort of quibbled with that when I asked him about it on Sunday. Are you you still the acting head coach until until somebody tells you that you’re not? He said in the off season, it doesn’t matter. It’s collaborative. Everybody plans the off season. there if there’s no games, you don’t need a head coach. But he’s still the he’s still looked at that way because he’s the guy in charge until Pop is back in the gym. And and the what goes what also falls under this question is if it’s not if Pop doesn’t make it back, is it automatically Mitch Johnson? Maybe? It could be. The the Spurs think a lot of him for all the reasons that Jeff outlined in his story in the in the Express News. They they gave him this responsibility when Pop had his stroke because they have a lot of faith in his ability to lead an organization. But also if you open this job up to every head coach who wanted it, every head coach in the world would want it. I mean, who which basketball coach would not want to coach Victor Wembanyama into his prime. It’s a it’s a coveted job. And so in the middle of all this complicated stuff, the Spurs are asking themselves, can Greg Popovich come back? If he does not come back, is it automatically Mitch Johnson or do we need to find out if there’s a better fit out there? And all of that is something that will uh I guess unfold over the next up to six months, Jeff.

Wow, yeah, hopefully not six months, you know. But I mean it could. It could. But it could. Yes, it could. Um, yeah, it’s it’s it’s complicated. It’s complicated and I don’t know what the right answer is or what the right answer is going to be because obviously you want to give Pop as long as it takes to um decide or to be cleared medically to you know, resume full you know, full job. And that I mean how long does that take? No one knows. So you’re just waiting day by day. And every day that goes by, if you were going to open this job up to to you know, the full field. Um, you know, other guys out there that you might want to interview or be considered for the job are going to be snatched up like the longer this goes into the summer. So just just for instance, uh, what are the odds that Taylor Jenkins is coaching at an NBA team next October 20 whatever. Like I would say 100%. Pretty good. Yeah, if he wants to. Yeah, you know. Um, Michael Malone, like he’s going to get Michael Malone, he’s going to get a job. I’m not sure if coach Bud’s going to get a job, but he probably somebody, I mean, he’s somebody might hire him. There are there are guys out there. I mean there you know, the and it’s not just the unemployed guys. Yeah. I mean they name your call name your elite college coach, name your retired coach, name your whoever. Um, a lot of people would be interested if if someone called and asked, hey, do you would you like to coach Victor Wembanyama? Steph Castle.

I mean you could have your pick almost of anybody that are you is coaching in NBA currently. Right. They don’t have to be out of a job. There might be five guys who would say absolutely not. Right, right. Or yeah, who would I my job is too good now. That type of thing. So it it it and we are not saying here. I always repeat this when we discuss this. We’re we’re not saying that the that the Spurs do not want to keep Mitch Johnson. It’s just the situation where they have this job that where they could pick anybody. And it’s almost paralysis by by too many options. Like you could go anywhere. Um, and we also don’t know that Greg Popovich is not going to be back. He’s trying to come back. He’s he’s a strong willed guy. Um, I wouldn’t bet against him. But uh, you when you’re when you’re making plans like this for an entire organization, an entire rebuilding project, uh the the the prime of Victor Wembanyama’s career, you have to be ready for everything. And the Spurs do have to be ready for the possibility, however likely, however remote, that Greg Popovich won’t be back. And and I’m sure they do have contingency plans in place, they’re just not sharing those right now. I think for for understandable reasons.

And if Victor Wemba, if if Wembies to be to be believed, he’s okay either way. He said, you know, he trusts Pop to do all he can to come back uh to get his energy back. But he also said, I also trust Mitch to grow into that role, which I thought, which I thought was interesting. Um, it’s it’s almost like a player saying, yeah, he had a he had a good rookie season, but you know, there’s there’s a lot of room for growth there. That I thought that was an interesting comment by. He also, along with that time, was effusive in his praise for the way his uh his teammates competed down the stretch, which I think is sort of a a tribute to the. He was jealous of it. Yeah. Yeah, well I I’m saying like it’s sort of a tribute to the the job that he thinks that Mitch did to keep them playing that way. Yeah, yeah, that’s a good point. Um, and and here here’s the other thing. Um, the one guy who could put his foot down and say the coach is absolutely going to be this person whoever that person is, is Victor Wembanyama and he just that’s just not his personality right now. I don’t see him doing that. He could say I’m playing for. He could and I don’t even know what it would be. He could come and say, I am playing for Mitch Johnson. You have to keep Mitch Johnson in this role. I’m going to play for him or he could come in and say, you have to go hire Mike Buer. Like the only way I’m going to play is if Mike Buer was the next head coach of the Spurs. Uh like if Victor Wembanyama says that, you pretty much have to do it. But but Victor’s just not going to do that. That’s not his style yet. Yeah. Publi publicly he’s saying I trust the organization to make good decisions. Yes. Yes. What he’s saying And I think privately he’s saying that too. maybe, maybe not. But but yeah, all we know is what he did say publicly and. It is it is an important season. Like it’s his third year coming up. We’re starting to get to where you’re on on the clock a little bit. You know, we were we were okay with the first year when they win 22 games and the second year that was all wonky and they but they still won, you know, 12 more games than they did the prior season and showed showed promise, but we’re getting, you know, in the next year or two, we’re getting to where if you’re not in the playoffs every year, it’s something wrong. And so you have to have all these important pieces in place and the head coaching position is pretty pretty a pretty important part of that. So just to have it stabilized, one way or another whatever it’s going to be, I I think that’s that’s that’s that’s the optimal situation is just to know who it’s going to be. And I don’t know. You kind of gasped, Jeff, when I said six months and uh I realized thinking back on it now, that’s probably too too far. But it it it leads to the follow question of is there do you do you think there is a a a not a drop dead date, but a a date when they would like to or or as as as a team, you’d like to know if Pop is in or out for the start of the season. There there should be because I mean I I don’t I don’t know how you go into free agency, you know, without how do you attract a free agent if they don’t know who the coach is going to be? You know, I mean, I think. I think that I think the the to to play devil’s advocate, you you go into free agency of like offering guys first of all money. Money talks. And and second of all, the chance to play with Victor Wembanyama and De’Aaron Fox and stuff. You know what the team is. I don’t think I don’t think you need to know if if Pop is back by July 1st. I guess, I guess. But it’s like, hey, come play for this team. We don’t know. I think that would be great, but I don’t know I’m not sure you it has to be by free agency. Hey, you want to come you want to come play for this team? We don’t know the coaches and and the best player uh is coming off a blood clot and you know, hasn’t we we don’t know if he’s going to play either. Like it’s not a great cell. It’s not a great selling point. I think I don’t think they’re going to have any issues um attracting the the free agents that they want this off season. Um if for no other reason than they’re not going after the top of the class because they they don’t have. That that’s not the objective this year. The objective this year is to fill in around the uh the edges. It’s kind of like recruiting in college though, right? Like it’s hard to recruit when you don’t have a coach in place. Well, it’s easier these days because you can offer NIL and which is what like the Spurs are offering contracts and playing time. Um, this this is a minor disagreement we’re having. But I don’t I don’t think I don’t think the coach situation is a make or break type of deal in in free agency. Maybe it is for for some guys. I But I I don’t think if if they offer name your guy, uh the mid-level exception type player, shooter uh back up center. Um, if I don’t I don’t think that type of player is going to say absolutely not until I know Yeah, I just I just don’t think we don’t know who the coach is going to be and we can’t even give you a date by which we know the coach who the coach is going to be. It’s it’s an issue. It’s an issue. I opened this by saying it’s an issue. You’re I think that’s the best way to say it. It it is an issue. Yeah. It’s I think you’re right Mike, uh you know, considering the class of free agent they will be looking for, shouldn’t be the overriding issue, but it’s an issue. Yeah. Now what um that leads into we’re going to have uh by the way, this is a good time to note that we’re moving to an off season schedule for the Spurs Insider podcast. We will not be in your digital players, in your cars, in your home offices, on your bicycles, in your earbuds every Wednesday morning anymore. It will be we will we will see you next in two weeks. Uh by Wednesday morning the uh on April 30th, you should have us again and we’ll go on a two week schedule for a while this off season. So you’re going to have to you’re going to have to get by without Jeff sunny disposition. How many people do you think are marking their calendars right now, circling April 30th. I bet there’s some. I bet there’s some who have their who have their uh you know, wall calendars, their desk calendars, the calendar applications on their cellular telephone telephones. They’re they’re they’re they’re marketing in Spurs Insider. The next one will be here uh early the morning of April 30th if not the evening of of April 29th. That’s that’s when they’re going to see us next. Like you’re planning vacations about this around this stuff. Plane rides, all that type of stuff. I we have devoted listeners, who we sincerely are appreciative of standing by us listening to us for another year. It’s been fun.

Hey, you remember uh last week when we were talking about all the predictions we got right or wrong. Really okay. I thought of one that that I know that I botched. Oh okay. I remember having this specifically having this conversation as we were talking about the season to come. I don’t know if you remember this off season they signed a a guy named Chris Paul. Uh-huh. And uh, you know, and and and they already had a a guy that had started at point guard for them a lot named Trey Jones. And they also, you know, in addition to that, they they drafted Steph Castle. So we were having a discussion about what the lineup would look like and obviously Trey is going to have to go to the bench and he’s going to be have a more diminished role. But I said, never fear because it’s not like Chris Paul is going to come in here and start 82 games. Like there’s still going to be room for Trey Jones to to or another another uh player to to start there for several games probably. Well, I was wrong. Chris Paul dad come it, came in here and played and started in 82 games. He’s he’s been something else, man. That was a fun part of this season to have him around.

Yeah. And in the way he did it it was so so fitting, so picture book for. He got in a fight with 20 seconds left in the season. Right. Right. Yeah, he hit, he hit a huge jumper with about 143 left, mid-range jumper. Then in the final 20.3, he has three points, three three free throws that he sinks. He has a rebound, he has an assist. He has a steal. He’s going at it with the other with the other players with the refs. Scotty Barnes in a game that did not matter. And he ends the game with control of the ball. I mean it was it was so it summed up who he is and what he’s about so perfectly. If you looked around the the league on Sunday all those games, um, I think there was the the big one that mattered was Warriors and Clippers and that went to OT, right? So you had some some rotation players in that one. But of all the others like the Spurs, who were on their way to their 34th victory of the season, finishing 34 and 48 in 13th place in the Western Conference, had the the most accomplished five on the floor at the end of it. It was kind of wild. You had Chris Paul and Harrison Barnes and Stefan Castle and like Julian Champagne’s out there who’s a pretty a significant role player, who also played 82 games. Harrison Barnes also played 38 82 games. But those guys played like it mattered all year and that was a huge uh piece of influence from Chris Paul. Like Chris Paul made an impact on this team. He was um he was great for them this year. And and there’s a very devoted listener of the Spurs Insider who who mentioned to me not too long ago, hey man, you guys got to you you guys are a little out of touch and that you don’t realize that not every not every Spurs fan loves Chris Paul. Like there’s still some animosity there like he’s this old guy uh sure we appreciate some of the contributions that he’s made, but like uh he uh like he he he’s not a fan favorite because you know like got fans think that that Steph Castle should be playing more and role players should be playing more. And I understand that sentiment. Like it’s not easy to appreciate the impact that Chris Paul made on this team from the outside. And he’s not part of the future necessarily. Like I’d be surprised if he’s back with the Spurs next season. But he played a real role with this team and uh just selfishly from a sports writer standpoint, just a joy to uh joy to cover. Uh it was fun to have another kind of ornery guy in there.

One of my whoop and whoop he did. One of my favorite Mitch Johnson quotes coming down the last week of the season, um, because you’re working on the story about what what Chris is going to do next? Is he going to retire? Is he going to come back? Is he going to play somewhere else? All those options. And like everyone in the league says, yeah, he’ll he’ll make a great coach one day. Or you know, if you don’t want to do that, he’ll be awesome on on television, you know, as a TV analyst. But Mitch says, you know, he’s just one of those guys it’s hard to envision. He’s just been such a part of the league for so long on the floor. It’s hard to envision Chris Paul the coach or Chris Paul the TV analyst. Mitch says, Chris belongs on the floor with the ball in his hands yelling at somebody. And that’s Chris Paul. Who can argue with that? Two of my two of my favorite moments from um Sunday’s exit interviews, which uh that’s always a fun day because every player comes in we’re able to talk with every player. I think uh Jeff even went out and bid farewell to Sandro. Uh Julian Sandro wants to come back, by the way. He’s going to be a free agent, but he’s he wants to come back. I’ll just put that out there. We really, really hope that Sandro comes back. Yeah. Shocking news, Sandro wants to come back. That’s my biggest rooting interest of the off season is hoping that the Spurs resign Sandro Mama. You know what? If they could give flavor flave season tickets, Sandro would be an all star.

Yeah. I think that’s that should be priority one for the Spurs in the off season. Forget those two overarching questions that I wasted all that time with earlier in this podcast. It should have been the whole this whole podcast should have been a pitch to resign Sandro. Um, but yeah, we talked to everybody on Sunday and uh uh one of the one of the fun moments was when Chris Paul was asked if in in those final 20 seconds when uh he was bickering with Scotty Barnes and bickering with Billy Kennedy, the referee and and uh and trying like heck to uh to finish that game out. Do do you really care that much about winning at the end? And he just says, absolutely. Like he really was that mad it was not an act. He was that legitimately mad at Scotty Barnes and Billy Kennedy and wanted that victory that badly. His his family was in the crowd, which could be taken as a sign that maybe he he is considering at least the remote possibility that that might have been his last game. He did not even come close to uh to hinting at that after the game. You can ask anytime you want. He remained that guy till the end and that was that was fun. The other one was when I stole uh I stole a joke from Tom and I’m going to apologize for that now because Tom is giving me grief when uh someone had asked Keldon Johnson, who of course, had a great season and has a a sponsorship deal with the uh with with the Chinese shoe shoe company, right Tom? And uh uh if he was asked if he was going to go to China and and as he often does in the off season and he said yes and he’s looking forward to that and the shoe company’s doing great. And under Tom Orsborn’s breath, he mumbles something to me and doesn’t say it out loud. And so I’m the, you know, the clown that said it out loud. I said uh I said I said something to Keldon about uh, what about the what about the tariffs? Like what’s going to happen with the with the is is the te are the tariffs going to affect your uh your shoe deal. And Keldon’s response to that, I cannot do it justice, but it’s just this exasperated Lord have mercy.

He turned into an 80-year-old grandmother right in front of you. He looked over at me shook his head and said, Lord have mercy. And that sums up so much about the 2024, 2025 Spurs season. Uh just those three words. We made it through. It was exasperating at times, tiring at times. But uh but we made it through and we’ll have lots to talk about in the off season. We’ll see you in two weeks. Uh Jeff and Tom anything uh like this is the last one looking back at the season. Do you have anything to add before we go? It was it was a pleasure everybody. I enjoyed it every single week. I was thinking about yeah, I’m sorry Jeff. Go ahead. He was just lying. No, no, that’s okay. He was just lying. Tom No, I didn’t give us some truth. I I was thinking about how these guys, you know, the players just kind of pass through your lives and you may never see him again, but you know, you remember him and remember him fondly and uh Bismack Biyombo, I’m I’m going to uh close by just tipping my hat to him. It was a pleasure to be around him. Um, you know, uh much like Chris Paul, Harrison Barnes, a true pro. So that was neat. Uh really liked that guy. And yeah, Chris Paul, that you know, say what you want, Steph should have played more, although I don’t think so. I think learning from him and watching him, watching how he operates and runs runs the point and everything was was great for Steph. I think it was a great balance of playing and watching that’s going to help him a lot. Absolutely But you know, just just having uh those guys come through, you know,