By Jeje Gomez | Pounding The Rock (PtR), 2025-05-01 09:19:17
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。
帕蒂·米尔斯和科里·约瑟夫在他们的巅峰期之后仍然留在联盟，因为他们带来的不仅仅是场上的影响。希望圣安东尼奥能够继续找到像他们这样的球员。
季后赛首轮中，马刺球迷看到了许多熟悉的面孔。大部分的注意力可能——而且可以理解——都集中在德里克·怀特(Derrick White)身上，他是真正争冠球队的关键一员；以及科怀·伦纳德(Kawhi Leonard)，他在一段时间内看起来像回到了巅峰状态。这两位都在圣安东尼奥留下了印记，无论好坏，都与NBA的话题息息相关。
其他前马刺球员也在努力，但并没有扮演重要的角色。尽管如此，看到两位曾经参与圣安东尼奥辉煌历史的球员仍然留在联盟，真是令人高兴。他们在NBA阵容中的存在表明，做一个专业的，总的来说，一个好人，是开创长久职业生涯的明智之举。
第一个例子不出所料是帕蒂·米尔斯(Patty Mills)。这位36岁的双能卫在过去的两年里效力于四支球队，并且两个赛季的出场时间都没有超过500分钟。米尔斯或许还能投进几个三分球，并在极短的时间内干扰防守端的持球人，但他作为一名有影响力的角色球员的时代已经结束了。然而，他仍然留在联盟，如果下个赛季还能看到他，也不会令人惊讶，因为他是一位出色的队友。他必须在犹他州成为一名领袖，并且胜任这项任务。
“他与我们许多年轻球员进行的对话对他们产生了影响，但我认为他也树立了我们希望每个人都看到的行为榜样，” 爵士队主教练，前马刺队助教威尔·哈迪(Will Hardy)在将米尔斯和德鲁·尤班克斯(Drew Eubanks)交易到洛杉矶后说道。“他为人处世的方式，他对每天工作的勤奋，无论他是否在轮换阵容中，他每天都以同样的方式做好准备。我认为他的队友们肯定看到了这一点。”
现在，米尔斯加入了拥有多位老将的快船队，他又回到了一个熟悉的角色：保持良好的氛围。多年前，当他没有在圣安东尼奥打球时，他因为挥舞毛巾的庆祝动作而闻名。多年以后，在赢得了总冠军并成为他这一代最受欢迎的角色球员之一后，他仍然乐于成为集体的一部分。
提前到达。
大声欢呼。
像 @ Patty_Mills 一样使用你的助威毛巾 pic.twitter.com/RbTC8RLdcX— LA Clippers (@ LAClippers) April 24, 2025
另一位季后赛球队的后卫——现在已经被淘汰——也许并非巧合的是，他和米尔斯同时在马刺队效力过，那就是科里·约瑟夫(Cory Joseph)。看看他的职业生涯数据，一个不带偏见的观察者可能会想知道他是如何在联盟中待了14年的。他没有一个赛季的场均得分达到两位数，从未打出接近30的助攻率，投篮命中率不高，产量也很低，也不是一个锁防型的防守者。他六年来首次参加季后赛，仅仅是因为奥兰多缺少了杰伦·萨格斯(Jalen Suggs)。为什么他仍然在NBA阵容中占有一席之地？哈里森·巴恩斯(Harrison Barnes)在4月1日马刺对阵魔术之前回答了这个问题。
“科里的独特之处在于，他做到了，这也是我试图告诉我们更衣室里的球员的事情，那就是如果不能提供价值，人们就不会在这个联盟中待那么久，”巴恩斯在谈到他在萨克拉门托的前队友时说。“而且每支球队只能有一两个20分的得分手，每支球队总是会有一两个全明星球员，对吧？所以这就为球员们提供了很多机会，让他们以其他方式带来价值。科里在他的职业生涯中一直都在这样做。”
“巴恩斯也说：“他可能必须防守对方球队中最好的控球后卫，或者最好的外线球员，他可能只有4分，6个篮板和3次助攻，但他的努力和能量才是赢得比赛的关键。”“所以我认为，那些能够上场并影响比赛，而不一定需要一些惊人数据的球员，总是具有价值的。”
知道这些完美的职业球员和总体来说的好人在联盟中，所带来的喜悦并不是因为声称他们的长寿和成功是作为马刺球员的结果。也不是通过说他们仍然在这里的唯一原因是他们的高尚品格来侮辱他们。他们在加入球队时都是成年人，并在衰落之前保持了十年的高效表现。
强调米尔斯和约瑟夫在马刺队的帮助下，为自己开创的伟大职业生涯，是为了记住，成功不仅仅在于天赋，还存在着对队友、教练和总经理来说都很重要的无形因素，这些因素可以像他们的技能一样，决定球员留下的遗产。
多年以后，当到了对这个充满希望的时代进行总结的时候，希望我们能够回顾过去，发现新的马刺队，像老马刺队一样，拥有独特的天赋，但也有一些帕蒂·米尔斯和科里·约瑟夫，他们可能不是明星，但拥有许多令人钦佩的品质，不仅圣安东尼奥，而且整个联盟都能轻易地认识到。
点击查看原文：A couple of former Spurs prove that one of the keys to NBA longevity is being a good guy
A couple of former Spurs prove that one of the keys to NBA longevity is being a good guy
Patty Mills and Cory Joseph have stayed in the league past their best years because they bring more than just on-court impact to the table. Hopefully San Antonio can continue to find players in their mold.
The first round of the playoffs has featured a lot of familiar faces for Spurs fans. Most of the attention has probably — and understandably — been paid to Derrick White, a key piece on a bona fide contender, and Kawhi Leonard, who has looked like his prime self for stretches. Those two left a mark in San Antonio, for better or for worse, and are relevant to NBA discourse.
Other former Spurs are kicking around, but not in major roles. Still, it has been a joy to see two guys who were a part of something special in San Antonio still in the league. Their presence on NBA rosters shows that being a professional and, in general, a good guy is a smart way to carve out a long career.
The first example is unsurprisingly Patty Mills. The 36-year-old combo guard has been on four teams over the past two years and didn’t log 500 minutes in either season. Mills can probably hit a few threes and annoy a ball handler on defense in extremely short bursts, but his time as an impactful role player on the court is over. Yet he’s still in the league, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see him in it next season because he’s a fantastic teammate. He had to be a leader in Utah and was up to the task.
“The conversations he had with a lot of our young players were impactful on them, but I also think that he modeled behavior that we want to see from everybody,” Jazz coach and former Spurs assistant Will Hardy said after the trade that sent Mills and Drew Eubanks to Los Angeles. “The way he carried himself, the way he was diligent about his work every day, whether he was in the rotation or not, he prepared every single day the same way. And I think that that’s something that his teammates for sure saw.”
Now that he’s with the veteran Clippers, Mills has gone back to a familiar role: keeping the vibes up. He gained some notoriety back when he wasn’t playing in San Antonio years ago with his towel-waving celebrations. Years later, after winning championships and becoming one of his generation’s most beloved role players, he is still fine with being a part of something.
ARRIVE EARLY.
BE LOUD.
USE YOUR RALLY TOWELS LIKE @ Patty_Mills pic.twitter.com/RbTC8RLdcX— LA Clippers (@ LAClippers) April 24, 2025
Another guard in a playoff team, now eliminated, who perhaps not coincidentally spent time with the Spurs at the same time as Mills, is Cory Joseph. Looking at his career stats, an unbiased observer could wonder how he has stayed in the league for 14 years. He has no season averaging double-digits in scoring, has never posted an assist percentage close to 30, is a mediocre shooter on low volume, and is not a lockdown defender. He’s played in his first playoffs in six years only because Orlando is missing Jalen Suggs. Why does he still have a roster spot in the NBA? Harrison Barnes answered that before the Spurs faced the Magic on April 1.
“The unique thing about Cory, which he’s done, and the thing that I try to tell our guys in our locker room is that people don’t stay in this league that long without providing value,” Barnes said of his former teammate in Sacramento. “And there can only be one or two 20-point scorers in every team, there’s always going to be one or two All-Stars on every team, right? So that leaves a lot of opportunity for guys to bring value in other ways. And Cory has done that throughout his career.”
“He might have to guard the best point guard on the other team, or the best perimeter guy in every team, and he might have four points, six rebounds and three assists, but his effort and energy was what won a game,” Barnes also said. “So I think there’s always value in guys who can go out and impact the game without necessarily having some absurd stat line.”
The joy of knowing those consummate professionals and overall nice dudes are still in the league is not about claiming their longevity and success as a result of being Spurs. It’s also not to insult them by saying that the only reason they are still around is because of their high character. Both were adults when they joined the franchise and were productive for a decade before declining.
The point of highlighting the great careers Mills and Joseph carved out for themselves, with help from the Spurs, is to remember that there’s more to success than talent and there are intangibles that matter to teammates, coaches, and general managers and can determine the legacy players leaves behind as much as their skills.
Years from now, when it’s time to take stock after this very promising era ends, hopefully we’ll be able to look back and find that the new Spurs, like the old, had unique talents but also a few Patty Millses and Cory Josephs, who might not have been stars but had plenty of admirable traits that not only San Antonio but the rest of the league could easily recognize.
By Jeje Gomez, via Pounding The Rock