By Jeff McDonald, Staff Writer | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2025-09-10 16:46:28
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。
圣安东尼奥马刺队的维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 于2025年9月10日星期三，在英格拉姆的汤姆·摩尔高中与学生们互动。在克尔县7月4日的致命洪水发生数月后，马刺队为当地初中和高中的学生们举办了一场社区活动以示支持。
英格拉姆电 — 7月4日清晨，马刺队教练米奇·约翰逊 (Mitch Johnson) 正在圣安东尼奥国际机场，等待飞往旧金山的航班，准备开启NBA夏季联赛的征程。
那一天，天正下着雨。
当时已有报道称德州山区遭遇严重洪水，但约翰逊并未太过在意。
“我当时一无所知，可能很多人都和我一样，”约翰逊说。“那时天还早，我完全沉浸在自己的世界里。”
数小时后，当约翰逊和其他马刺队工作人员抵达西海岸时，情况已经明朗——这并非一场普通的德州中部天气事件。
一场灾难性洪水不期而至，洪水的闸门被真正打开，最终导致至少135人丧生，造成超过十亿美元的财产损失，并不可逆转地永远改变了该地区每个人的生活。
周三下午，约翰逊和马刺队来到了英格拉姆的汤姆·摩尔高中，置身于一个闷热、嘈杂又紧凑的体育馆里。这片地区的心脏地带，在独立日的洪水中遭受了撕心裂肺的重创。
看台上挤满了来自该地区的初中生和高中生，马刺队此行举办一小时迷你训练课的目标很简单。
“我们只是想给他们带来一些微笑的理由，”前锋凯尔登·约翰逊 (Keldon Johnson) 说。
在这个距离马刺队位于圣安东尼奥的庞大总部一小时车程、人口仅1800人的小镇上，他们的任务至少在这一天下午圆满完成了。几乎所有马刺球员都来到了现场，包括球星维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama)。
学生们早已准备好手机进行拍摄，球员们则上演了一场三分、扣篮和半场远投的表演。学生们还与球员们一起，进行了一轮名为“淘汰投篮赛”的传统投篮游戏。
自始至终，这座紧凑的体育馆内的分贝水平，堪比“NBA总决赛”和“奥利维亚·罗德里戈演唱会”的现场。
不出所料，文班亚马是全场的焦点，他时常把学生从人群中拉出来进行即兴自拍。
“当我看到他从更衣室里走出来时，我的心情简直无法用语言形容，”汤姆·摩尔高中的高年级学生克里斯托弗·阿尔巴 (Christopher Alba) 说。“所有人都沸腾了。”
圣安东尼奥马刺队的斯蒂芬·卡斯尔 (Stephon Castle) 于2025年9月10日星期三，在英格拉姆的汤姆·摩尔高中与学生们互动。在克尔县7月4日的致命洪水发生数月后，马刺队为当地初中和高中的学生们举办了一场社区活动以示支持。
汤姆·摩尔高中的橄榄球主教练兼体育总监泰特·德马斯科 (Tate Demasco) 表示，对于一个仍处于疗愈阵痛初期的社区而言，马刺队周三的到访是一次受欢迎的慰藉。
“这是此刻的一场小小的胜利，”德马斯科说。“最重要的是，我们知道有人在关心我们，关心这个社区的遭遇。”
周三这场活动的种子在七月就已埋下，当时这片土地仍被洪水浸泡。洪水发生的第二天，也就是7月5日，马刺队的成员就联系了英格拉姆的官员，询问能为他们提供什么帮助。
短期内，马刺队与NBA以及德州另外两支球队合作，向洪水救援工作捐赠了200万美元。
八月初，米奇·约翰逊、总经理布莱恩·莱特 (Brian Wright) 以及马刺体育娱乐公司首席执行官R.C.·布福德 (R.C. Buford) 亲自前往英格拉姆勘察灾情。
这次探访让他们确信，球队能做的远不止开一张支票捐款。
“我们所有人能来到这里，这非常重要，”米奇·约翰逊说。“这里是我们社区的一部分。当你看到社区里的人们需要帮助时，你会想尽一切办法去支持他们。”
周三并非马刺队最后一次踏足德州山区。一场计划于九月下旬举办的庆典活动细节正在筹备中，届时德州其他职业体育俱乐部也将参与其中。
“我们想传达的信息是，我们在这里，”米奇·JOHNSON说，“而且我们会一直在这里。”
周三，在马刺队的大巴抵达高中之前，球员们在向导的带领下游览了连接克尔维尔、亨特和英格拉姆三镇并沿瓜达卢佩河延伸的公路，这里是7月4日洪灾中大部分死亡和破坏事件的发生地。
带领他们参观的是一线急救人员，他们详细描述了那天凌晨在黑暗中目睹的恐怖景象。
“这太令人瞠目结舌了，”凯尔登·约翰逊说。“能够与亲历者交谈，了解事件发生的时间线以及一切发生得有多快。灾难来得如此迅猛，而造成的创伤将是永久性的。”
人们希望，马刺队周三在英格拉姆留下的记忆也能同样持久。
对于像阿尔巴这样的青少年来说，能与文班亚马这样的明星近距离接触的喜悦，必将留下深刻的印象。
“他比我想象的还要高，”阿尔巴说。
如果说马刺队周三的行动触动了那些被悲剧影响的人们，那么这种感动是相互的。英格拉姆社区同样也深深打动了他们。
“能够来到这里，和这些经历了如此多苦难的家庭一起感受这一切，”凯尔登·约翰逊说，“这对我自己来说，也是一次永生难忘的经历。”
San Antonio SpursÕ Victor Wembanyama interact with students at Ingram Tom Moore High School in Ingram on Wednesday, September 10, 2025. The Spurs put on a community event for the students of the middle and high schools to show support in the months after the deadly July 4 flood in Kerr County.
The San Antonio Spurs perform drills and interact with students at Ingram Tom Moore High School in Ingram on Wednesday, September 10, 2025. The Spurs put on a community event for the students of the middle and high schools to show support in the months after the deadly July 4 flood in Kerr County.
The San Antonio Spurs perform drills and interact with students at Ingram Tom Moore High School in Ingram on Wednesday, September 10, 2025. The Spurs put on a community event for the students of the middle and high schools to show support in the months after the deadly July 4 flood in Kerr County.
The San Antonio SpursÕ Victor Wembanyama performs a dunk for an audience of students at Ingram Tom Moore High School in Ingram on Wednesday, September 10, 2025. The Spurs put on a community event for the students of the middle and high schools to show support in the months after the deadly July 4 flood in Kerr County.
The San Antonio SpursÕ Keldon Johnson performs a dunk for an audience of students at Ingram Tom Moore High School in Ingram on Wednesday, September 10, 2025. The Spurs put on a community event for the students of the middle and high schools to show support in the months after the deadly July 4 flood in Kerr County.
The San Antonio Spurs perform drills and interact with students at Ingram Tom Moore High School in Ingram on Wednesday, September 10, 2025. The Spurs put on a community event for the students of the middle and high schools to show support in the months after the deadly July 4 flood in Kerr County.
The San Antonio Spurs perform drills and interact with students at Ingram Tom Moore High School in Ingram on Wednesday, September 10, 2025. The Spurs put on a community event for the students of the middle and high schools to show support in the months after the deadly July 4 flood in Kerr County.
San Antonio SpursÕ Victor Wembanyama interact with students at Ingram Tom Moore High School in Ingram on Wednesday, September 10, 2025. The Spurs put on a community event for the students of the middle and high schools to show support in the months after the deadly July 4 flood in Kerr County.
The San Antonio Spurs perform drills and interact with students at Ingram Tom Moore High School in Ingram on Wednesday, September 10, 2025. The Spurs put on a community event for the students of the middle and high schools to show support in the months after the deadly July 4 flood in Kerr County.
The San Antonio Spurs Coyote throws merch and interact with students at Ingram Tom Moore High School in Ingram on Wednesday, September 10, 2025. The Spurs put on a community event for the students of the middle and high schools to show support in the months after the deadly July 4 flood in Kerr County.
The San Antonio Spurs Coyote throws merch and interact with students at Ingram Tom Moore High School in Ingram on Wednesday, September 10, 2025. The Spurs put on a community event for the students of the middle and high schools to show support in the months after the deadly July 4 flood in Kerr County.
The San Antonio Spurs Coyote throws merch and interact with students at Ingram Tom Moore High School in Ingram on Wednesday, September 10, 2025. The Spurs put on a community event for the students of the middle and high schools to show support in the months after the deadly July 4 flood in Kerr County.
点击查看原文：Wemby, Spurs give flood-ravaged Texas Hill Country a reason to cheer
Wemby, Spurs give flood-ravaged Texas Hill Country a reason to cheer
San Antonio SpursÕ Victor Wembanyama interact with students at Ingram Tom Moore High School in Ingram on Wednesday, September 10, 2025. The Spurs put on a community event for the students of the middle and high schools to show support in the months after the deadly July 4 flood in Kerr County.
INGRAM — In the early morning hours of July 4, Spurs coach Mitch Johnson was at San Antonio International Airport awaiting a flight to San Francisco for the start of NBA Summer League.
It was raining that day.
There were already reports of heavy flooding hitting the Texas Hill Country, but Johnson didn’t think much of it.
“I was ignorant, as probably many were,” Johnson said. “It was early morning, and I was in my own selfish world.”
By the time Johnson and other Spurs staffers landed on the West Coast hours later, it had become apparent this was no ordinary Central Texas weather event.
The floodgates had opened, literally, on a catastrophic flood that killed at least 135 people, caused more than a billion dollars in property damage and inexorably altered the lives of everyone in the area forever.
On Wednesday afternoon, Johnson and the Spurs were inside a sweaty, noisy bandbox of a gymnasium at Tom Moore High School in Ingram, in the heart of an area that had much of its own heart ripped out by the Independence Day deluge.
With the bleachers overstuffed with middle school and high school students from the area, the Spurs’ goal in a one-hour mini-practice session was simple.
“We just wanted to give them something to smile about,” forward Keldon Johnson said.
For one afternoon at least, it was mission accomplished in this town of 1,800 an hour west of the Spurs’ sprawling headquarters in San Antonio. Almost the entire Spurs roster turned out, including star Victor Wembanyama.
With students’ cell phones at the ready and recording, players put on a display of 3-pointers, dunks and half-court heaves. Students joined players for a round of a traditional shooting game called “knockout.”
All along, the decibel level inside the compact gym ranged somewhere between “NBA Finals” and “Olivia Rodrigo concert.”
Not surprisingly, Wembanyama was the main attraction, often pulling students out of the crowd for impromptu selfies.
“I can’t even explain my emotions when I saw him come out of the locker room,” said Christopher Alba, a senior at Tom Moore. “Everyone was going crazy.”
The San Antonio SpursÕ Stephon Castle interacts with students at Ingram Tom Moore High School in Ingram on Wednesday, September 10, 2025. The Spurs put on a community event for the students of the middle and high schools to show support in the months after the deadly July 4 flood in Kerr County.
Tate Demasco, the head football coach and athletic director at Tom Moore, said the Spurs’ appearance Wednesday was a welcome distraction for a community still in the early throes of healing.
“It’s a small win right now,” Demasco said. “The big thing is, we know somebody else cares and cares about what happens to this community.”
The seeds for Wednesday’s event were planted in July, while the ground was still waterlogged from the rain. Members of the Spurs organization reached out to officials in Ingram on July 5, the day after flood, to ask what could be done to help.
In the short term, the Spurs teamed with the NBA and the other two Texas teams to donate $2 million to flood relief efforts.
In early August, Mitch Johnson, general manager Brian Wright and Spurs Sports & Entertainment chief executive officer R.C. Buford made a trek to Ingram to survey the damage themselves.
They left convinced the team could do more than write a check.
“It’s important for all of us to be out here,” Mitch Johnson said. “It’s part of our community. When you see people who are part of your community in need, you want to be able to support them anyway you can.”
Wednesday will not be the last time the Spurs set foot in the Texas Hill Country. Details are in the works for a festival in late September that will include other Texas professional sports clubs as well.
“The message is that we are here,” Mitch Johnson said, “and we are going to continue to be here.”
Before the Spurs’ buses pulled up to the high school Wednesday, players were led on a guided tour of the road connecting the towns of Kerrville, Hunt and Ingram along the Guadalupe River, where the bulk of the July 4 deaths and devastation occurred.
The tour was led by first responders who detailed the horror they witnessed in the early morning darkness that day.
“It’s jaw dropping,” Keldon Johnson said. “Being able to talk to someone who experienced it and the timeframe and how quick everything happened. It happened so quick, and then the damage is going to last forever.”
There is hope that the memories the Spurs provided Wednesday in Ingram might last a while as well.
For a teenager like Alba, the joy of getting up close and personal with a star like Wembanyama is sure to leave a lasting impression.
“He’s taller than I thought,” Alba said.
If the Spurs did something to touch the lives of those touched by tragedy Wednesday, the feeling was mutual. The community of Ingram touched them, too.
“Being able to come up here and experience this with some of the families that have been through so much,” Keldon Johnson said. “It’s something I will never forget myself.”
By Jeff McDonald, Staff Writer, via San Antonio Express-News