By Mike Finger, Columnist | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2025-09-16 16:23:40
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。
马刺队球星维克托·文班亚马在评选新的马刺球迷助威团成员时做出反应。这场选拔于2025年9月14日（周日）在圣安东尼奥的弗里曼体育馆展览中心举行。约100名决赛入围者向维克托·文班亚马展示了他们的口号、活力和马刺精神，以争取入选助威团，为每个主场比赛加油助威。
蒂姆·邓肯 (Tim Duncan) 从未举办过公开选拔，以褒奖那些能与他的热情相匹配的马刺球迷，但若有他的专属球迷团，那想必会是一道奇特的风景线。
想象一下，几十个穿着工装短裤、面无表情的家伙，就坐在篮筐正后方，在庆祝一记压哨绝杀时：
每个人都只是快速而无声地挥一下拳头。
邓肯退役后，这群人或许会被“科怀狂热粉”所取代，当然，后者会因其球迷身份而获得丰厚的报酬。他们也不会更吵闹，部分原因在于他们的俱乐部会员协议中并没有强制要求他们到场。
所以，考虑到在他之前圣安东尼奥的几位球队基石的性格，或许没有人比维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 更早想到在霜冻银行中心设立一个欧式“球迷助威团”也就不足为奇了。正如我们两年来所了解的，他是新千年以来第一位真正拥抱“超级巨星”一词中“明星光环”的马刺球员。
这对这支长期保持低调、与潮流脱节的球队来说，好消息是什么？
他们或许才刚刚开始释放一位懂得如何与观众互动的Z世代年轻人的力量。
这不仅仅是代沟的问题。正如文班亚马不是一个典型的21岁青年——他花在读书上的时间比玩手机的时间还多——邓肯对聚光灯的厌恶也并非他那个时代所有人的共性。毕竟，他与佩顿·曼宁 (Peyton Manning) 同年出生，而后者在自我营销方面从未遇到过任何问题。
但自四分之一个多世纪前邓肯和曼宁大学毕业以来，市场营销的方式已经发生了变化，而文班亚马足够年轻，也足够自知，能够理解这一点。
马刺队球星维克托·文班亚马在评选新的马刺球迷助威团成员。这场选拔于2025年9月14日（周日）在圣安东尼奥的弗里曼体育馆展览中心举行。约100名决赛入围者向维克托·文班亚马展示了他们的口号、活力和马刺精神，以争取入选助威团，为每个主场比赛加油助威。
当文班亚马向马刺队提出组织一个球迷助威团的想法时，他知道这个概念对于不熟悉欧洲足球的德州人来说可能有些陌生，但这无关紧要。如果他能将其打造成一个社交媒体事件，并使其成为一场奖励“最疯狂球迷”的竞赛，人们必定会全身心投入。
果不其然，当马刺队在周日清晨打开弗里曼体育馆展览中心的大门时，数百名声音沙哑、精力充沛的参与者早已等候在此，渴望向文班亚马证明自己能够入选。
“非常感谢你们，”文班亚马在马刺队发布的一段社交媒体视频中说道。“这完全符合我们的预期，甚至超出了预期。”
这段文班亚马对着镜头讲话的视频总共只持续了11秒，但他明白这11秒的重要性。正是基于同样的理解，在上周马刺队前往希尔乡村地区进行社区外展活动时，他让英格拉姆市数百名欢呼雀跃的初高中生们为他痴迷。
文班亚马不仅对每一次自拍都报以微笑，与每一位粉丝击拳，为每一只递到他面前的球鞋签名，他甚至还向一位试图捕捉现场画面的球队摄影师提供了站位建议。
从功利的角度看，这不过是一场摆拍作秀。
但如果一名球员要参与一场摆拍，而这场摆拍的目的是为了让一项慈善事业获得关注，那么确保照片拍得好不是理所应当的吗？
过去，无论你是教师、水管工、体育记者、全明星中锋，还是一支赢得五次总冠军的职业体育队，自我推销总会带有一种负面色彩。人们认为，工作本身就应该能说明一切，刻意引人注目不是自负就是粗俗。
尽管我们这些头发花白的“老家伙”可能很难理解，但如今大多数企业的目标受众已经不再这样看待世界了。年轻人并不认为为 Instagram 摆拍照片或在 TikTok 上求互动是掉价的行为。如今，这已是大家习以为常的操作。
这并不是说形象应该比实质更重要，也不是说像马刺这样的球队应该为了追逐点赞和转发而放弃他们长期坚持的“捶石”精神。
但现实是：他们上一次夺冠已是11年多以前，而距离他们上一次进入季后赛也已过去了六年。目前只有一支NBA球队——夏洛特黄蜂——的季后赛荒比他们更长。最重要的是，圣安东尼奥是联盟中规模最小、财富水平最低的媒体市场之一。
马刺队正努力填满他们的球馆，努力吸引赞助商，并试图在今年十一月贝尔县的选举中赢得支持。这些都对赢得单场比赛没有直接影响，但所有这些都有助于打造一支胜利之师。
所以，如果他们最好的球员、最具魅力的个性人物，既愿意又渴望释放他所有的魅力来吸引更广泛的大众呢？
马刺队对此心怀感激。
曾几何时，一次快速而无声的挥拳，就是他们需要从一位超级巨星身上得到的全部热情。
那个时代已经过去。他们的新核心，是为下一个时代而生的。
San Antonio Spurs 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.
San Antonio Spurs 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 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.
San Antonio Spurs 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.
Spurs star Victor Wembanyama judges tryouts for a new Spurs Supporter Section at Freeman Coliseum Expo Halls on Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025 in San Antonio. About 100 finalists showed off their chants, energy, and Spurs spirit to Victor Wembanyama for a chance to be selected for the supporter section to cheer at every home game.
Spurs star Victor Wembanyama signs a fan’s jersey while judging tryouts for a new Spurs Supporter Section at Freeman Coliseum Expo Halls on Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025 in San Antonio. About 100 finalists showed off their chants, energy, and Spurs spirit to Victor Wembanyama for a chance to be selected for the supporter section to cheer at every home game.
Spurs star Victor Wembanyama takes a photo with fans while judging tryouts for a new Spurs Supporter Section at Freeman Coliseum Expo Halls on Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025 in San Antonio. About 100 finalists showed off their chants, energy, and Spurs spirit to Victor Wembanyama for a chance to be selected for the supporter section to cheer at every home game.
Spurs star Victor Wembanyama judges tryouts for a new Spurs Supporter Section at Freeman Coliseum Expo Halls on Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025 in San Antonio. About 100 finalists showed off their chants, energy, and Spurs spirit to Victor Wembanyama for a chance to be selected for the supporter section to cheer at every home game.
Spurs star Victor Wembanyama signs a fan’s jersey while judging tryouts for a new Spurs Supporter Section at Freeman Coliseum Expo Halls on Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025 in San Antonio. About 100 finalists showed off their chants, energy, and Spurs spirit to Victor Wembanyama for a chance to be selected for the supporter section to cheer at every home game.
Marsha Sheilds, daughter of the late Red McCombs talks with Spurs Victor Wembanyama during the opening of the Red McCombs Community Court Monday in Hemisfair’s Tower Park.
点击查看原文：Playing to the crowd, Victor Wembanyama gives Spurs a new edge
Playing to the crowd, Victor Wembanyama gives Spurs a new edge
Spurs star Victor Wembanyama reacts while judging tryouts for a new Spurs Supporter Section at Freeman Coliseum Expo Halls on Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025 in San Antonio. About 100 finalists showed off their chants, energy, and Spurs spirit to Victor Wembanyama for a chance to be selected for the supporter section to cheer at every home game.
Tim Duncan never held public tryouts to reward Spurs fans for matching his enthusiasm, but his spirit section would have been a spectacle to behold.
Picture dozens of stone-faced folks in cargo jorts, seated right behind the basket, celebrating a buzzer-beating game-winner:
With one quick, silent fist pump apiece.
After Duncan’s retirement, that group might have been replaced by the Kawhi Krazies, who of course would have been compensated handsomely for their fandom. They wouldn’t have been any louder, but that’s partly because their club membership agreement contained no requirement to show up.
So maybe, considering the personalities of the franchise players who preceded him in San Antonio, it’s no surprise that nobody beat Victor Wembanyama to his idea for a European-style “supporter section” at Frost Bank Center. As we’ve known for two years, he’s the first Spur of the millennium to embrace the “star” part of the word “superstar.”
The good news for his long low-profile, long untrendy organization?
It might only be beginning to unleash the power of a Zoomer who knows how to play to a crowd.
This isn’t merely about a generational gap. Just as Wembanyama isn’t a typical 21-year-old — he spends more time with books than with his cell phone — Duncan’s disdain for attention wasn’t shared by everyone his age. After all, he was born the same year as Peyton Manning, who never had a problem marketing himself.
But the way marketing works has changed since Duncan and Manning were coming out of college more than a quarter-century ago, and Wembanyama is young enough — and self-aware enough — to understand it.
Spurs star Victor Wembanyama judges tryouts for a new Spurs Supporter Section at Freeman Coliseum Expo Halls on Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025 in San Antonio. About 100 finalists showed off their chants, energy, and Spurs spirit to Victor Wembanyama for a chance to be selected for the supporter section to cheer at every home game.
When Wembanyama approached the Spurs with the idea of organizing a supporters’ section, he knew it didn’t matter that the concept might have been foreign to Texans unfamiliar with European soccer. If he turned it into a social media event, and made it a competition that rewarded the “craziest fans,” people were guaranteed to jump in with both feet.
And sure enough, when the Spurs opened the doors of the Freeman Coliseum Expo Halls early Sunday morning, hundreds of hoarse-voiced, high-energy hopefuls were waiting to prove to Wembanyama they could make the cut.
“Thank you so much,” Wembanyama said on a social media video released by the Spurs. “It was all we expected, and even more.”
The clip of Wembanyama speaking to the camera lasted a grand total of 11 seconds, but he realized how important those 11 seconds were. It was the same understanding that, during the Spurs’ community-outreach visit to the Hill Country last week, had hundreds of cheering middle school and high school students in Ingram eating out of the palm of his hand.
Not only did Wembanyama smile for every selfie and bump every fist and autograph every sneaker thrust in his face, he offered pointers on positioning to a team photographer who was trying to capture the scene.
The cynical view of this is that it was just a photo op.
But if a player is going to take part in a photo op, and if the purpose of that photo op is to bring attention to a charitable cause, then doesn’t it make sense to ensure the photos are good?
There used to be a stigma against self-promotion, whether you were a teacher, a plumber, a sports writer, an All-Star center, or even a professional sports team that won five championships. The work was supposed to speak for itself. Drawing attention to it was either conceited or uncouth.
As difficult as it might be for some of us graying elders to wrap our heads around, the target demographic for most businesses don’t view the world that way anymore. Kids don’t see staging shots for Instagram or fishing for engagement on TikTok as desperate. It’s what everyone expected to do these days.
This isn’t to say image should be more important than substance, or that a franchise like the Spurs should abandon their long-held pound-the-rock principles in a chase for likes and retweets.
But here’s the deal: It’s been more than 11 years since they won a championship, and six years since they last made the playoffs. Only one NBA team — the Charlotte Hornets — has a longer current drought. On top of that, San Antonio is one of the smallest and least affluent media markets in the league.
The Spurs are trying to fill their arena, and they’re trying to attract sponsors, and they’re trying to get their way at the Bexar County ballot box this November. None of that has a direct impact on winning individual games, but all of it contributes to building a winner.
So if their best player and most charismatic personality is both willing and eager to unleash all of his charm to appeal to even more of the masses?
The Spurs are grateful for it.
There was a time when a quick, silent fist bump was all the enthusiasm they needed from a superstar.
That era is gone. Their new guy is built for the next one.
By Mike Finger, Columnist, via San Antonio Express-News