By Jeff McDonald, Staff Writer | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2025-10-02 14:44:36
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1月25日，星期六，在巴黎举行的一场2025年NBA巴黎赛中，圣安东尼奥马刺队中锋维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) (1) 在下半场与后卫克里斯·保罗 (Chris Paul) (3) 交谈。(美联社照片/Thibault Camus)
在Victory Capital训练馆内，篮球的拍击声依旧熟悉，橡胶鞋底摩擦地板的吱吱声依然在墙壁间回响。
教练们在一次次的训练中不断督促着球员，而球员们则在训练结束后的投篮游戏中互喷着必不可少的垃圾话。
然而，在马刺队2025年训练营的开端，一个声音却缺席了——那是一个既严厉又充满关怀，并因数十年NBA生涯“身经百战，见多识广”而沉淀出智慧的声音。
这个声音属于格雷格·波波维奇 (Gregg Popovich)，没错。但也属于克里斯·保罗。
在圣安东尼奥执掌了一个赛季的“教鞭”后，这位11次入选全明星的控球后卫——保罗，已经重返洛杉矶快船队，开启他40岁的赛季。
失去他之后，马刺队已然不同。
球队阵容中有足够的人手来填补保罗的位置——上赛季他打满了全部82场首发——但要找到一位能取代他成为场上指挥官和更衣室领袖的人，球队仍在寻觅之中。
“我不认为这会是某一个人的事，”后卫德文·瓦塞尔 (Devin Vassell) 说。“作为一个整体，我们都清楚自己想做什么，想达到什么高度，我们必须为此相互激励。”
想要模仿保罗的发声方式并非易事。
在圣安东尼奥效力的这唯一一个赛季里，从训练营的第一天到常规赛的最后一天，保罗的嘴就没停过——他循循善诱年轻球员，与裁判据理力争，还时常在暂停期间主导战术讨论。
他既像助理教练，又像魔鬼教官，有时还像个爱唠叨的叔叔。
在功勋主帅波波维奇于11月初因中风缺席后，接替他执教的米奇·约翰逊 (Mitch Johnson) 教练，在整个赛季中都毫不掩饰对保罗的倚重。
“我认为联盟中没有哪支球队比我们更需要他了，”约翰逊说。“尤其是我自己。”
本赛季，约翰逊将尽其所能，在主教练的位置上领导球队。然而，所有优秀的球队都需要一名球员挺身而出，成为更衣室领袖。
保罗的离开显然在此留下了一个空白。
“我认为今年的重点是每个人都需要发声，”尚帕尼 (Champagnie) 说。“我们每个人都有权发言。我们都在这里待了很长时间了。我们有足够的老将，积累了足够的经验，知道场上发生了什么，并且能够告诉队友，‘嘿，你在干嘛？’反之亦然。”
虽然有候选人可以填补保罗作为发声领袖的角色，但要一字不差地复刻他，无异于让凡人去穿上巨人的鞋履。
哈里森·巴恩斯 (Harrison Barnes) 是马刺队年龄最大的球员，为33岁零125天，以微弱优势超过了33岁零35天的俾斯麦·比永博 (Bismack Biyombo)。这两位老将都经验丰富、见识广博，并且在全联盟备受尊敬。
凯尔登·约翰逊 (Keldon Johnson) 和瓦塞尔是队中效力时间最长的球员，分别将进入第七和第六个赛季。巴恩斯和新援卢克·科内特 (Luke Kornet) 都曾效力于赢得过NBA总冠军的球队。
然而，21岁的文班亚马仍在学习和适应这个联盟。在他职业生涯的这个阶段，他需要先有一个“克里斯·保罗式”的领袖来引导他，然后他自己才能成为那样的领袖。
这位27岁的得分大师在二月份的交易截止日从萨克拉门托加盟而来，在他即将迎来第九个NBA赛季之际，他渴望承担起领导角色。
“这是一种幸事，因为我仍然能以极高的水平打球，”福克斯 (Fox) 说道。“这和那些三十多岁、巅峰期已过的球员有些不同。他们努力去教导，但归根结底，我能亲自上场，践行我向他们‘说教’的内容。这是一种两全其美的状态。”
其他马刺球员表示，福克斯的身份——连接老将与年轻一代的桥梁——应该能帮助他与更衣室里的每一个人打成一片。
“他能够与任何人交谈，无论对方是19岁还是33岁，”同样在萨克拉门托与福克斯做过队友的巴恩斯说。“我认为他能与两个年龄段的人都建立起联系。”
在这个比去年更安静的训练营初期，马刺队对这一点深信不疑。
要在球场上、板凳席和更衣室里取代保罗的声音，需要的不仅仅是一名球员。本赛季，这需要一整个“合唱团”来共同发声。
“要填补他留下的空缺会很困难，”尚帕尼说。“但我认为，如果我们全员一心，就能够做到。”
Victor Wembanyama and Chris Paul of the San Antonio Spurs high five during the first quarter of the game against the Miami Heat at Kaseya Center on January 19, 2025 in Miami, Florida.
Chris Paul, 3, and Victor Wembanyama of the San Antonio Spurs react against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first quarter at Target Center on December 29, 2024 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama (1) talks with guard Chris Paul (3) and guard Devin Vassell (24) during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Miami Heat, Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama (1) is congratulated after scoring by Chris Paul (3) and Keldon Johnson, right, during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Sacramento Kings in Sacramento, Calif, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn)
点击查看原文：For Spurs, replacing Chris Paul's voice will require a choir
For Spurs, replacing Chris Paul’s voice will require a choir
San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama (1) talks with guard Chris Paul (3) during the second half of a Paris Games 2025 NBA basketball game against the Indiana Pacers in Paris, Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
The sound of bouncing basketballs still hit the same inside the Victory Capital Performance Center. The squeak of rubber-soled shoes still echoes off the walls.
Coaches still exhort players through drill after drill, while players talk the requisite amount of trash during end-of-practice shooting games.
Yet there has been a voice missing from the opening days of the Spurs’ 2025 training camp, at once gruff and caring and wizened by decades of “been-there, done-that, seen-everything” in the NBA.
Gregg Popovich’s, yes. But also Chris Paul’s.
After one season spent cracking the whip in San Antonio, Paul – an 11-time All-Star point guard – is back with the Los Angeles Clippers for his age-40 season.
The Spurs are not the same without him.
The team has the bodies to replace Paul in the lineup, where he started all 82 games a season ago, but the search is on to replace Paul as a floor general and locker room leader.
“I don’t think can be just one person,” guard Devin Vassell said. “We all as a collective know we want to do, know where we want to be and we just got to push each other for that.”
Mimicking Paul’s voice will not be easy.
From the first day of training camp to the final day of the regular season, Paul’s mouth never stopped moving during his sole tour of duty in San Antonio – cajoling young players, haranguing referees and more than occasionally commandeering timeout huddles.
He was part assistant coach, part drill sergeant, part annoying uncle.
Coach Mitch Johnson, who took over for Popovich after the Hall of Famer’s early-November stroke, made little bones of leaning on Paul throughout the season.
“I don’t think any team in the league needed him as much as ours did,” Johnson said. “Especially me.”
Johnson will do his best this season to lead from the head coach’s seat. All good teams, however, need a player to step up as a locker-room leader.
Paul’s departure leaves an evident void there.
“I think the focus this year is everybody needs to talk,” Champagnie said. “We’re all empowered to talk. We’ve all been here for a long bit of time. We have enough veterans, we have enough years of experience under us to know what’s going on on the floor and be able to tell our team that, ‘Yo, what are you doing?’ And vice versa.”
There are candidates to fill Paul’s role as a vocal leader, though matching him word-for-word is a bit like asking a mere mortal to fill Bigfoot’s Birkenstocks.
Harrison Barnes is the Spurs’ oldest player at 33 years and 125 days, narrowly surpassing Bismack Biyombo at 33 years and 35 days. Both veterans are experienced, knowledgeable and respected throughout the league.
Keldon Johnson and Vassell have been with the team the longest, entering their seventh and sixth seasons, respectively. Barnes and newcomer Luke Kornet have both played for clubs that won an NBA championship.
Wembanyama, however, is still learning the ropes of the league at age 21. At this stage of his career, he still needs a Chris Paul type before he can be a Chris Paul type.
The 27-year-old scoring maven, acquired from Sacramento at the trade deadline in February, is eager to assume a leadership role on the cusp of his ninth NBA season.
“It’s a blessing because I’m still able to play at an extremely high level,” Fox said. “It’s a little different when someone could be in their late 30s and kind their primes pass them. They’re trying to teach, but at the end of the day, I can go out there and I can still do what I’m kind of preaching to them. It’s the best of both worlds.”
Fox’s status, bridging the gap between the older players and younger generation, should help him navigate all corners of the locker room, other Spurs say.
“He’s able to have conversations, whether it’s with someone who’s 19 or someone who’s 33,” said Barnes, who also played with Fox in Sacramento. “I think he can kind of connect with people on both sides.”
The Spurs are certain of this much in the early throes of a training camp quieter than the last.
It is going to take more than one player to replace Paul’s voice on the court, on the sidelines and in the locker room. This season, it is going to take an entire choir to do the preaching.
“It’s going to be hard to fill those shoes,” Champagnie said. “But I think we can if we have everybody.”
By Jeff McDonald, Staff Writer, via San Antonio Express-News