By Mike Finger, Columnist | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2025-09-25 16:54:06
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4月21日，周一，在丹佛举行的一场NBA季后赛首轮系列赛第二场比赛的下半场，洛杉矶快船队前锋科怀·伦纳德(Kawhi Leonard)抢断了丹佛掘金队中锋尼古拉·约基奇(Nikola Jokic)的传球。随着围绕伦纳德和快船队可能规避工资帽的质疑声四起，NBA总裁亚当·萧华(Adam Silver)正面临一个马刺队再熟悉不过的窘境。
这事儿没有两全其美的解法。
这正是如今NBA在处理科怀·伦纳德的棘手问题时开始意识到的。而这，也正是七年前马刺队所意识到的。
随着时间的推移，当初那个痛苦的决定，正一点一滴地被证明是正确的。
至于下一个决定，我们还需拭目以待。
这一次的不同之处在于，NBA总裁亚当·萧华需要交待的对象，可比2018年时的R.C.·布福德(R.C. Buford)多得多。当年，这位马刺的掌舵人只需向一支球队的球迷群体证明他关于伦纳德的决定是合理的。而最终，萧华将不得不向联盟全部30支球队做出交代。
这真是一团乱麻。而作为局外人，如今回看此事，很难不认为马刺队其实处理得相当不错。
是的，多伦多猛龙队赢得了那笔关于伦纳德的交易，也赢得了一面将永远悬挂的NBA总冠军旗帜。
是的，自从放走伦纳德后，马刺队再未赢过任何一轮季后赛系列赛，并且目前正经历着联盟中最长的季后赛荒之一。
是的，伦纳德依然走在他那条必将通往奈史密斯篮球名人堂的道路上，这是他当之无愧的荣誉。
但如果让马刺重来一次呢？
我们能确定他们会做出任何改变吗？
如今，随着调查记者巴勃罗·托雷(Pablo Torre)爆出的大量猛料引发了关于洛杉矶快船队可能规避工资帽的质疑，以及多篇报道揭露伦纳德的舅舅曾提出所谓奢侈要求，联盟中的许多人都在重新审视马刺与伦纳德分道扬镳的往事。
2025年1月29日，周三，在圣安东尼奥马刺队主场冰霜银行中心举行的NBA比赛上半场，马刺队前锋维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) (1号) 在试图防守洛杉矶快船队前锋科怀·伦纳德 (2号) 时手臂被卡住。随着围绕伦纳德和快船队可能规避工资帽的质疑声四起，NBA总裁亚当·萧华正面临一个马刺队再熟悉不过的窘境。
时至今日，这件事几乎和当初一样令人费解。起初看似只是对伤病治疗方式的意见分歧，最终却演变成了无法挽回的局面。这位低调的超级巨星，曾被看作是NBA最成功的低调王朝的完美拼图，却最终认定自己再也无法为圣安东尼奥效力了。
无论出于何种原因，这段关系都无法修复。无论出于何种原因，这支在负荷管理方面堪称先驱、并以对待球员伤愈复出问题上出了名地保守的球队，就是无法说服伦纳德他们是真心为他的长远利益着想。
于是，马刺发现自己陷入了与如今萧华所处位置极为相似的困境：陷入僵局。
面前全是糟糕的选项。
马刺没有选择试探伦纳德是否只是虚张声势，并寄望他最终会撤回交易请求，而是在公开市场上接受了他们能得到的最好报价，然而回报并不尽如人意。为了这位不久前还在联盟最有价值球员(MVP)评选中高居前三的攻防一体的核心球员，圣安东尼奥得到了德玛尔·德罗赞 (DeMar DeRozan)、雅各布·珀尔特尔 (Jakob Poeltl) 和一个首轮选秀权。
这样的交易筹码远不足以让马刺继续留在西部冠军争夺者的行列中。当伦纳德在次年六月率领猛龙队夺得NBA总冠军时，这笔交易看起来就更糟了。
但此后的几年，时间似乎对马刺在这笔交易中的所得友善了一些。那个选秀权变成了凯尔登·约翰逊，而后续通过交易德罗赞和珀尔特尔，又换来了最终变为德阿隆·福克斯 (DeAaron Fox) 和凯利·奥利尼克 (Kelly Olynyk) 的资产，以及更多马刺尚未兑现的选秀权和选秀权互换权。
至于伦纳德呢？事实证明，他对猛龙而言是值得的投资，但对于从多伦多签下他的那支球队来说，却并非如此。过去六年，尽管快船在伦纳德身上花费了数以千万计的美元——包括账面上的和（据称）账面外的——他们仍未打进过NBA总决赛，并且仅有一次突破季后赛第二轮。
伦纳德持续不断的健康问题是其中的一个重要原因，而他如今的不可靠性，又给萧华面临的困境增添了另一层麻烦。
如果联盟的调查发现快船队确实试图规避工资帽，那么萧华被允许施加的最严厉惩罚是宣布伦纳德的合同无效。但考虑到伦纳德去年仅出战37场比赛，且未来两个赛季还有1亿美元的薪水，这难道不反而是帮了快船一个大忙吗？
萧华大概不希望在赛季开始前——甚至赛季期间——因为一位全明星级别（All-NBA）的球员引发自由球员市场的疯狂争夺。他大概也不想在快船即将举办全明星赛的同一年，去处理暂停史蒂夫·鲍尔默 (Steve Ballmer)——这位联盟中最受欢迎和最具影响力的老板之一——职务所带来的头疼问题。但如果他对此睁一只眼闭一只眼，让鲍尔默看起来像是违背了旨在确保联盟公平性的规则后却安然脱身，那情况可能会更糟。
再说一次，这事儿没有两全其美的解法。
如果说还有一线希望的话？
萧华只希望，他不必像马刺那样，等上七年才看到这线希望。
Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard (2) passes the ball as he drives past San Antonio Spurs forward Harrison Barnes (40) during the first half of their NBA game at the Frost Bank Center on Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025 in San Antonio. With questions regarding possible salary cap circumvention surrounding Leonard and the Clippers, NBA commissioner Adam Silver faces a dilemma all too familiar to the Spurs.
LA Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard (2) drives around San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama during the first half of an NBA basketball game in San Antonio, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. With questions regarding possible salary cap circumvention surrounding Leonard and the Clippers, NBA commissioner Adam Silver faces a dilemma all too familiar to the Spurs.
Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard (2) shoots over San Antonio Spurs forward Harrison Barnes (40) during the first half of their NBA game at the Frost Bank Center on Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025 in San Antonio. With questions regarding possible salary cap circumvention surrounding Leonard and the Clippers, NBA commissioner Adam Silver faces a dilemma all too familiar to the Spurs.
点击查看原文：LA Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard creating dilemma for NBA
LA Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard creating dilemma for NBA
Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard steals a pass by Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic in the second half of Game 2 of a first-round NBA playoff series Monday, April 21, 2025, in Denver. With questions regarding possible salary cap circumvention surrounding Leonard and the Clippers, NBA commissioner Adam Silver faces a dilemma all too familiar to the Spurs.
There’s no good way out of this.
That’s what the NBA is beginning to realize about its Kawhi Leonard predicament today. It’s the same thing the Spurs realized seven years ago.
Little by little, one painful decision has been vindicated over time.
We’ll have to wait and see about the next one.
The difference this time is that NBA commissioner Adam Silver has more folks to answer to than R.C. Buford did in 2018. Back then, the man in charge of the Spurs had to justify his decision regarding Leonard to the fan base of one franchise. Eventually, Silver will have to justify his ruling to 30 of them.
It’s a mess, and from the outside, it’s hard to look at it now without thinking the Spurs made out pretty well in retrospect.
Yes, the Toronto Raptors won the Leonard trade, along with an NBA championship banner that will hang forever.
Yes, the Spurs have failed to win a single postseason series since letting Leonard go, and currently own one of the longest playoff droughts in the league.
And yes, Leonard remains on track for his inevitable, well-deserved enshrinement in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
But if the Spurs had it all to do over again?
Are we sure there’s anything they’d change?
These days, with a deluge of scoops from investigative reporter Pablo Torre raising questions about possible salary-cap circumvention by the Los Angeles Clippers and multiple stories about alleged extravagant demands made by Leonard’s uncle, many people around the league are revisiting the story of the Spurs-Leonard split.
San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) gets his arm stuck while trying to defend Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard (2) during the first half of their NBA game at the Frost Bank Center on Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025 in San Antonio. With questions regarding possible salary cap circumvention surrounding Leonard and the Clippers, NBA commissioner Adam Silver faces a dilemma all too familiar to the Spurs.
It remains almost as confounding now as it was at the time. What began as an apparent difference of opinion about treatment of an injury spiraled into something irreparable, and the low-key superstar who always seemed like a perfect fit for the NBA’s most accomplished low-key dynasty decided he simply couldn’t play in San Antonio anymore.
For whatever reason, there was no fixing it. For whatever reason, the franchise that had been a pioneer in load management — and had been known as one of the most notoriously conservative teams in the league when it came to bringing players back from injury — couldn’t convince Leonard it had his best long-term interests in mind.
And so the Spurs found themselves in a spot much like the position Silver is in now: Stuck.
With nothing but undesirable options.
Instead of calling Leonard’s bluff and hoping he’d eventually renege on his trade demand, the Spurs took what they could get on the open market, and the return was underwhelming. For a two-way dynamo that had recently finished in the Top 3 of the league’s Most Valuable Player voting, San Antonio received DeMar DeRozan, Jakob Poeltl and a single first-round draft pick.
That package wasn’t nearly substantial enough to keep the Spurs among the ranks of Western Conference title contenders, and it looked worse when Leonard led the Raptors to an NBA title the following June.
But the years since have been a little kinder to the Spurs’ end of the deal. The draft pick became Keldon Johnson, and subsequent trades of DeRozan and Poeltl led to pieces that have turned into DeAaron Fox and Kelly Olynyk and more draft selections and pick swaps that the Spurs have yet to make.
As for Leonard? He proved to be worth the investment for the Raptors, but not for the team that signed him away from Toronto. For all the millions and millions of dollars they’ve paid Leonard over the past six years — on and (allegedly) off the books — they still haven’t made the NBA Finals and made it past the second round of the playoffs only once.
Leonard’s constant health woes have been a big reason for that, and his unreliability now adds another problematic layer to the dilemma now facing Silver.
If the league’s investigation finds that the Clippers did try to circumvent the salary cap, the most severe form of punishment Silver is allowed to impose is voiding Leonard’s contract. But considering that Leonard played only 37 games last year and is still owed $100 million over the next two seasons, might that actually be doing the Clippers a favor?
Silver probably doesn’t want the mayhem associated with a free-agent frenzy for an All-NBA caliber player at the start of — or even during — a season. He probably doesn’t want the headache associated with suspending Steve Ballmer — one of the league’s most popular and influential owners — the same year the Clippers are set to host the All-Star Game. But if he looks the other way, and makes it appear Ballmer got away with violating a rule that is supposed to ensure the league’s sense of fairness, that might be even worse.
Again, there’s no good way out of this.
And if there’s a bright side?
Silver just hopes that, unlike the Spurs, he doesn’t have to wait seven years to find it.
By Mike Finger, Columnist, via San Antonio Express-News