By Mike Finger, Columnist | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2025-09-13 15:01:00
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。
2025年9月10日，星期三，在英格拉姆的汤姆·摩尔高中，圣安东尼奥马刺队的维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 与学生们互动。在克尔县7月4日致命洪水发生数月后，马刺队为当地初高中的学生们举办了一场社区活动，以示支持。
英格拉姆电 — 当身材高大的职业篮球运动员们重新登上大巴，数百名尖叫的孩子们涌出小体育馆后，这里又恢复了平静。
校长布兰迪·古兹曼 (Brandie Guzman) 脸上挂着微笑，在球场边的一把椅子上坐下，她此前曾是美国陆军的一名战地医护人员，此刻显然很享受这难得的片刻宁静。
在汤姆·摩尔高中，这是漫长的一天。而对于整个希尔乡村地区来说，这是一个无比残酷的夏天。所以，当一位来访的报社专栏作家向这位校长问出一个略显天真的问题——她学区里有多少孩子“亲身受到”七月那场悲惨洪水的影响时——她尽量礼貌地作答。
“这真是个很有意思的问题，”古兹曼说。“‘亲身受影响’仅仅意味着失去亲人或家园吗？如果从这个意义上说，人数并没有你想象的那么多。但真正的答案是，他们所有人都亲身受到了影响。”
他们又怎能不受影响呢？根据州和地方官员的数据，7月4日瓜达卢佩河决堤时，有超过130人遇难。但这些遇难者又曾触动过多少人的生命？在克尔县这样的地方，投入水中的每一滴水都能泛起绵延数英里的涟漪，并非所有的创伤都是直接降临的。
但问题是，并非所有的疗愈也都是如此。
这就是为什么周三马刺队的到访意义非凡。这就是为什么与维克托·文班亚马的自拍、斯蒂芬·卡斯尔 (Stephon Castle) 的扣篮，以及凯尔登·约翰逊 (Keldon Johnson) 的一声怒吼，几乎要将这个地方的屋顶掀翻——这里充满了比NBA总决赛赛场还要热烈的欢呼。
是的，认为任何一支篮球队都能让这里的孩子们感到自己被重视，这种说法听起来或许是老生常谈，甚至有些荒谬。
但不妨去问问那些孩子。
“能见到马刺队球员，和他们握手，我以前从没想过能做到，”一位名叫克里斯托弗·阿尔瓦 (Christopher Alva) 的高年级学生敬畏地说道。“这意义重大，因为它告诉我们，我们不仅仅是一个小镇。”
阿尔瓦可能没有意识到，一些马刺队球员也为能见到这位身材魁梧、肩膀宽阔的橄榄球锋线球员兼铅球运动员而感到同样荣幸。
洪水发生后的最初几小时和几天里，急救车辆和救援人员难以抵达需要帮助的人们身边。据古兹曼说，阿尔瓦就是那些清理道路障碍、让救援人员得以通行的学生之一。
他远非学校里唯一的志愿者。每个人都尽其所能地伸出援手。初中体育老师莉伯蒂·戴维斯 (Liberty Davis) 说，在一个月的时间里，英格拉姆的教练们每天都从“慈善厨师 (Mercy Chefs)”组织为洪水幸存者运送餐食。
“人们都非常感激，”戴维斯说。“即使在你累到不想出门的日子里，只要你到了那里，你就会想，‘天啊，这一切太值得了。’”
戴维斯说，周三就是这样的感觉，当时马刺队给了大家一个惊喜，让整个体育馆的孩子们欢欣鼓舞了一个小时。那天早上，当有关特殊访客的传言开始在校园里流传时，几乎没人相信像文班亚马这样的国际巨星真的会来到一所从幼儿园到高三总共只有约1200名学生的学校。
而当身高7英尺3英寸的文班亚马带领队友们走进大门，张开双臂，让整个场馆瞬间陷入名副其实的狂热时呢？目瞪口呆的不仅仅是学生们。
“这，”戴维斯笑容满面地说，“太不可思议了。”
“面对师生们的情绪倦怠和筋疲力尽，我们真的需要一些希望和一些能让我们兴奋起来的事情，”高中校长古兹曼说。“这显然是一个充满挑战和令人心碎的时期，但其中一件美好的事情就是我们社区凝聚在一起的方式。”
对于马刺队而言，这就是他们的目标，就像他们在2022年尤瓦尔迪小学枪击案后进行的类似访问一样。此行并非为了抹去任何人的损失，也不是为了让任何人忘记悲剧，而是为了传递一个信息。
“他们是我们的邻居，是我们的社区的一部分，”马刺队教练米奇·约翰逊 (Mitch Johnson) 说。“我们只是想让他们知道，我们与他们同在。”
从体育馆里人们的反应来看，这个信息被很好地接收了。周三下午，当成群结队、兴高采烈的学生们离开时，一位老师走近与马刺队共同组织这次活动的高中体育总监泰特·德马斯科 (Tate DeMasco)。
“你在这里所做的一切，”这位老师把手放在德马斯科的肩膀上说，“这些孩子会记一辈子的。”
这并非因为投入水中的那一滴水。
而是因为它荡开的层层涟漪。
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 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 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 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 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.
点击查看原文：After San Antonio Spurs' visit to Hill Country, healing continues
After San Antonio Spurs’ visit to Hill Country, healing continues
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 — Once the gigantic professional basketball players climbed back on their bus and the hundreds of shrieking kids cleared out of the little gym, it was quiet again.
Brandie Guzman, the school principal who in a previous career served as a U.S. Army combat medic, smiled as she settled into a chair next to the court, clearly appreciating a rare moment of calm.
At Tom Moore High School, it had been a long day. All around the Hill Country, it had been an impossibly brutal summer. So when a visiting newspaper columnist asked the principal something silly about how many kids in her district were “personally affected” by July’s tragic flooding, she tried to be nice about it.
“It’s a really fascinating question,” Guzman said. “Does ‘personally affected’ only mean losing loved ones or homes? In that sense, not as many as you’d think. But the real answer is all of them were personally affected.”
How could they not have been? According to state and local officials, more than 130 people died when the Guadalupe River surged beyond its banks on July 4, but how many lives had those victims touched? In a place like Kerr County, where every drop in the water makes ripples that can spread for miles, not all devastation happens directly.
But the thing is, not all healing happens that way, either.
That’s why seeing the Spurs on Wednesday meant something. That’s why selfies with Victor Wembanyama and dunks from Stephon Castle and a roar from Keldon Johnson dang near blew the roof off a place filled with more per-capita joyful noise than an NBA Finals arena.
Yes, it sounds almost absurdly cliché to suggest that any basketball team can make kids in a place like this feel they matter.
But try telling the kids that.
“Just getting to meet (the Spurs) and shake their hands, I never thought I would do that,” an awestruck senior named Christopher Alva said. “It means a lot because it shows that we’re not just a small town.”
What Alva might not have realized is that some of the Spurs felt just as privileged to meet the strapping, broad-shouldered football lineman and shot-putter.
In the first hours and days after the flood, emergency vehicles and first responders had difficulty reaching those who needed help. According to Guzman, Alva was among those clearing debris from the roads to allow workers through.
He was far from the school’s only volunteer. Everybody tried to pitch in however they could. Liberty Davis, a middle-school physical education teacher, said Ingram coaches delivered meals from Mercy Chefs to flood survivors every day for a month.
“People were so grateful,” Davis said. “Even on days when you felt too tired to go, you’d get there and say, ‘Oh, my gosh. This is so worth it.’”
That’s how Davis said it felt Wednesday, when the Spurs made their surprise visit and delighted a gym full of kids for an hour. That morning, when rumors of special visitors started spreading throughout campus, almost nobody could believe that an international superstar like Wembanyama really would come to a school that serves only about 1,200 students from K-12.
And when the 7-foot-3 Wembanyama led his teammates through the door, spreading his arms wide and sending the place into a certified frenzy? It wasn’t just the students whose jaws dropped.
“This,” a beaming Davis said, “is incredible.”
“With all that emotional burnout and that exhaustion for staff and students, we just really needed some hope and something to get excited about,” said Guzman, the high school principal. “It has been, obviously, really challenging and heartbreaking, but one of the beautiful things is the way our community comes together.”
For the Spurs, who made a similar visit to Uvalde after the elementary school shooting in 2022, that was the objective. Not to erase anyone’s loss, not to make anyone forget about a tragedy, but to make a point.
“These are our neighbors, our community,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. “And we just want to make sure they know we’re a part of it.”
Judging by the reaction of those in the gym, that message was well-received. As the hordes of giddy students filed out Wednesday afternoon, a teacher approached high school athletic director Tate DeMasco, who’d worked with the Spurs to organize the event.
“What you did here,” the teacher said, placing her hand on DeMasco’s shoulder, “will be remembered by these kids forever.”
Not because of one drop in the water.
But because of the ripples.
By Mike Finger, Columnist, via San Antonio Express-News