By Michael C. Wright | ESPN, 2025-10-22 19:00:00
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。
编者按：本文最初发表于10月8日。
在德克萨斯州凯蒂市 ，休斯顿正西方向约30英里处，一座占地400英亩的广袤牧场内，坐落着一间静谧的体育馆。在这里，维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 正在篮下背打圣安东尼奥马刺队的新任助理教练拉沙德·刘易斯 (Rashard Lewis)。
这位21岁的门徒此行是为了参加篮球界最神秘、最富传奇色彩的大个子训练营之一。这所训练营的导师曾悄然指导过扬尼斯·阿德托昆博 (Giannis Antetokounmpo)、勒布朗·詹姆斯 (LeBron James)、德怀特·霍华德 (Dwight Howard) 及其他众多巨星，就连科比·布莱恩特 (Kobe Bryant) 也曾在这片圣地上挥洒过汗水。
马刺队的其他助理教练，马特·尼尔森 (Matt Nielsen) 和肖恩·斯威尼 (Sean Sweeney)，正注视着球场，在这里，NBA大个子的未来正在向其过往的偶像之一学习。
球场被漆成休斯顿火箭队的红色，中央印着一个巨大的34号。号码上方，是他那闻名遐迩的草书绰号。
大梦。
今年四月，在圣安东尼奥阿拉莫穹顶体育馆举行的NCAA男子大学篮球全国冠军赛上，文班亚马见到了62岁的哈基姆·奥拉朱旺 (Hakeem Olajuwon)。他们并排坐在场边。
“他说他很想和我一起训练，”奥拉朱旺告诉ESPN。这位名人堂成员的NBA生涯包括两座总冠军、12次入选全明星和一座MVP奖杯。“我跟他说，‘你已经拥有一切了。’他说，‘不，不，不。我看过你打球，现在我只想知道所有那些脚步动作背后的秘密。我非常想学。’”
就这样，一段师徒关系开始了，也为文班亚马的这个蜕变之夏画上了圆满的句号。
六个月前，他被诊断出右肩患有深静脉血栓，这是一种足以威胁职业生涯乃至生命的病症。
据一位与他关系密切的消息人士透露，这段经历深深地影响了这位2023-24赛季的NBA年度最佳新秀，以至于激发了他“踏上一段通过非传统方式推动自己身心变得更强大的旅程”。
他在哥斯达黎加和东京踢过足球。他曾在中国郑州的一座少林寺进行了为期10天的著名心灵静修，与僧侣们一同学习和训练。
他在自己位于法国勒谢奈的球场上举办了一场象棋与篮球的锦标赛。他参观了美国宇航局的约翰逊航天中心，了解了宇航员佩吉·惠特森 (Peggy Whitson) 的事迹，她保持着美国人在太空停留675天的记录。
他还与另一位标志性大个子球员凯文·加内特 (Kevin Garnett) 共度时光，寻求提升自己对比赛精神层面的掌控力。
“那次创伤性的经历……与我夏天所做的所有事情都紧密相关，”文班亚马说。“在医院里待了那么长时间，和医生们在一起，听到的坏消息比我希望听到的要多得多，这当然是创伤性的。但从长远来看，我认为这将非常有益，因为尽管我不希望任何人经历这些，但它让你明白了其他任何事情都无法让你明白的道理。”
马刺队主教练米奇·约翰逊 (Mitch Johnson) 表示，他从未在如此年轻的球员身上看到过这样的洞察力或好奇心。
“他在提升自己作为球员和个人方面所尝试的各种方式都非常有目的性，”约翰逊说。“他不断地尝试将自己推出舒适区，学习新事物。有时，他所达到的境界和他思考的东西可能只是一个微小的细节，但他觉得，如果我能把这个加到我的世界观、心态或其他任何方面，它就能有所帮助。”
在今年7月 ，文班亚马上演了一次失败的倒挂金钩，并在东京的球场上轰入一记弧线任意球，这些画面在社交媒体上引起轰动。而在此之前，他前往了一座始建于5世纪、历史悠久的少林寺。
一位球队消息人士告诉ESPN，当文班亚马将他的打算告知马刺管理层时，所有人都表示支持，这忠实于俱乐部鼓励其当家球星成长的承诺。
“这种创造力从第一天起就存在了，”约翰逊说。“我们希望这支球队能成为维克托的写照。他是我们最好的球员，他是我们的核心。”
在为期10天的时间里，文班亚马每天凌晨4:30起床，早餐是素食的西葫芦米粉，并沉浸在禅修之中——这是一种强调直接体验而非理论学习的哲学流派。他学习了少林功夫，还剃了光头。
他说，他想去那里，是为了让自己的身心承受非同寻常的压力，通过不同的练习来扩大自己的活动范围，增强力量、柔韧性和平衡感。
“那是一次不可思议的经历，”他说。“可能是我习惯的体育活动之外最遥远的一种了。无论是在训练方面，还是作为一个好奇之人的生活体验方面，都收获颇丰。”
今年夏天在球场上见过文班亚马的人都说，他变得更强壮了，在身体对抗中打得更有控制力，并且对他那前所未有的技术组合也越来越得心应手。
“我们知道他是什么级别的天才，”他的队友德阿龙·福克斯 (De’Aaron Fox) 说道。“我想人们也正在了解他是什么样的人……他用不同的眼光看待生活，能够去旅行并带着对体育、对生活不同的看法归来，这正是维克托这个人的证明。我想这栋楼里的任何人都不会对此感到惊讶。”
时间来到9月初 ，德州100华氏度（约38摄氏度）的高温终于开始消退。训练营的开始日益临近，这让已经连续六个赛季无缘季后赛的圣安东尼奥球迷们的兴奋之情愈发高涨。
今年一月，当马刺在法国对阵印第安纳步行者队时，文班亚马和他的队友们观看了一场巴黎圣日耳曼队的比赛。在那里，约翰逊第一次见识到了巴黎圣日耳曼的“ultras”球迷团体——一群狂热的球迷，他们通过巨大的横幅、震耳欲聋的口号，甚至使用焰火和烟火，在容量为47,929人的王子公园体育场营造出令人生畏的氛围。
文班亚马当时向约翰逊透露，他希望在霜岸中心球馆（Frost Bank Center）营造出类似的场景。
于是，在9月14日一个凉爽的早晨，球迷们涌入与霜岸中心相邻的弗里曼博览馆（Freeman Expo Hall），他们自豪地高喊着“加油马刺加油！（Go Spurs Go!）”大多数人穿着马刺队的装备，戴着假发，身着节日主题的服装，脸上涂着彩绘。有些人甚至打扮成海盗，来报名参加首届球迷后援会选拔，而文班亚马是唯一的评委。
文班亚马身体前倾，坐在一张马刺主题的椅子上，这张椅子仿照了乔治·“冰人”·格文 (George “Iceman” Gervin) 在他1978年那张标志性的耐克海报中坐过的冰块王座。在离文班亚马仅几英尺远的一道幕布后面，紧张的球迷们——许多人都是第一次见面——正在排练他们稍后要一起即兴呼喊的口号。
“文-V-P！（Wem-V-P!）”是当时最响亮的口号，这让文班亚马露出了微笑，他此前承诺为五位最令人难忘的球迷支付整个赛季的门票费用。他专注地在一本黑色的马刺记事本上记录着每一位参选者的情况，并倾听他们的故事。在每位参选者离开前与他合影时，他会询问他们的名字、对这项事业的投入程度，甚至问一些个人问题。轮到一些球迷试音时，他们会敲响房间后方的一面马刺大鼓。
文班亚马也敲了敲鼓，并带头喊起了口号。
圣安东尼奥总经理布莱恩·莱特 (Brian Wright) 和首席执行官RC·布福德 (RC Buford) 站在出口附近的幕布后，静静地观察着这一幕。他们双臂交叉，仔细地看着，几乎对文班亚马充满感激地拥抱整个上午与球迷们数十次互动中的每一秒钟感到敬畏。对于球迷们来说，这些短暂的介绍是永远铭刻在他们心中的时刻。
就在四天前，文班亚马还带领马刺队走进了德州英格拉姆市的汤姆·摩尔高中（Tom Moore High School）的球场。今年7月，一场特大洪水导致该地区至少136人丧生，受灾社区包括英格拉姆、克尔维尔、森特波因特、梅森和亨特。
文班亚马从体育馆后面走出来，向人群中投掷黑色的马刺T恤，并鼓掌致意，而学生们的尖叫声划破了闷热的午后空气。文班亚马与前排的一个小男孩击掌。全队跟在这位法国人身后走到球场中央，进行了一次轻松的训练，包括上篮、三人传切上篮训练、一场半场投篮比赛以及数十次雷霆万钧的扣篮，其中一些扣篮来自砸向篮筐后方墙壁的离谱传球。
文班亚马完成了一次自抛自扣的空中接力，他在空中接球，完成胯下换手，将球扣进篮筐，引来一片欢呼。
现在，留给文班亚马的，只剩下重返赛场了。
回到奥拉朱旺的 体育馆，这位火箭队的传奇人物问文班亚马他想实现什么目标——在经历了这样一个充满国际体验的夏天之后，这个问题与其说是陈词滥调，不如说更具存在主义的意味。
“他基本上是想知道如何利用优势。让我们利用你所拥有的任何机会，无论是在内线还是外线，在不同情况下抓住机会，同时不浪费精力，”奥拉朱旺告诉ESPN。“我知道他技术有多好。所以，我们的理念不是针对‘大个子’，而是‘高个后卫’。你不想像一个大个子那样运球。我们是高个后卫，你可以打1、2、3、4或5号位，可以自由地在内线外线创造机会，可以交叉步、急停跳投，而面对任何球员都不会浪费任何精力，因为你每晚对上任何人都有优势。”
在9月初的四次、每次两个半小时的训练中，文班亚马开发出了属于他自己版本的名人堂成员的“梦幻脚步”，此外还有其他一些紧凑的转身动作，可能会让对手在即将到来的赛季中晕头转向。
然后，还有文班一直秘而不宣的勾手跳投。
“是的，那是他脚步动作的一部分，”奥拉朱旺说。“你知道他投篮有多准，对吧？你能想象将这些脚步动作与他的投篮终结结合起来吗？如果像他这样的球员能用勾手跳投，你就只能任他摆布了。你根本防不到。你防不到他的跳投，也防不到他的勾手跳投。”
队友杰里米·索汉 (Jeremy Sochan) 说，他已经见证了这种进化。
“你可以看到他有多努力，多有动力，”索汉说。“看到他令人超级兴奋，他已经准备好了。我想你们将会看到很多让你们震惊的东西。”
而文班亚马本人，则将这一切归功于他最不寻常的休赛期。
“我可以向你保证，没有人在这个夏天像我这样训练过，”他说。“我想我已经把一个夏天能做的事情发挥到了极致。现在，我需要打篮球了。”
点击查看原文：Inside Victor Wembanyama's summer of transformation
Inside Victor Wembanyama’s summer of transformation
Editor’s note: This story was originally published on Oct. 8.
INSIDE A QUIET gym located on a sprawling 400-acre ranch in Katy, Texas, some 30 miles due west of Houston, Victor Wembanyama backed down new San Antonio Spurs assistant coach Rashard Lewis near the basket.
The 21-year-old pupil was there to attend one of the most secretive, legendary big man camps in basketball – one whose teacher has quietly mentored Giannis Antetokounmpo, LeBron James, Dwight Howard and many others. Even Kobe Bryant spent time on this most hallowed of grounds.
Other Spurs assistants, Matt Nielsen and Sean Sweeney, looked toward the court, where the future of NBA big men was learning from one of the icons of its past.
The court, painted in Houston Rockets red, was emblazoned with a No. 34 at the center of it. Above it was his famed nickname in cursive.
Dream.
Wembanyama met the 62-year-old Hakeem Olajuwon in April at the NCAA men’s college national championship game at the Alamodome in San Antonio. They sat courtside.
“He said he would love to work out with me,” Olajuwon, whose Hall of Fame NBA career included two championships, 12 All-Star appearances and an MVP award, told ESPN. “I said, ‘You’ve got everything already.’ He said, ‘No, no, no. I’ve watched you play, and I’d like to know now just the secrets behind all the moves. I would love that.’”
And so began a relationship that would cap a summer of transformation for Wembanyama.
Six months earlier, he had been diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis in his right shoulder, a condition both career- and life-threatening.
The ordeal, one source close to him says, deeply affected the 2023-24 NBA Rookie of the Year, so much so that it inspired “a journey to push himself to be great physically and mentally with things that were outside the box.”
He played soccer in Costa Rica and Tokyo. He famously spent 10 days at a spiritual retreat at a Shaolin temple in Zhenzhou, China, where he studied and trained with monks.
He hosted a chess and basketball tournament at his court in Le Chesnay, France. He visited NASA’s Johnson Space Center, where he learned about astronaut Peggy Whitson, who owns the American record for spending 675 days in space.
He spent time with another iconic big man, Kevin Garnett, seeking to tighten his grip on the mental side of the game.
“The traumatic experience … is very much linked to all the stuff I’ve done in the summer,” Wembanyama said. “Spending so much time in hospitals, around doctors and hearing more bad news that I wish I hadn’t heard, of course, it is traumatic. But in the long run I think it’s going to be very beneficial because even though I don’t wish it on [anybody], it makes you understand lessons that nothing else could have made you understand.”
Spurs head coach Mitch Johnson says he’s never witnessed such perspective, or curiosity, from such a young player.
“He is so intentional in the variety of ways that he tries to improve as a player and person,” Johnson said. “It’s constantly trying to push himself out of his comfort zone and learn new things. Sometimes, the levels he goes [to] and the things he thinks about that may be a small nuance, but he feels like if I can add this to my world being, mindset, [or] whatever it may be, it can help.”
BEFORE CAPTIVATING SOCIAL media in July with a failed bicycle kick in Costa Rica, in addition to smashing a looping free kick on the pitch in Tokyo, Wembanyama traveled to a historic Shaolin temple, one that was founded in the 5th century.
When Wembanyama informed Spurs brass of his intentions, everyone was on board, one team source told ESPN, remaining true to the club’s commitment to encourage the growth of its franchise player.
“The creativity is something that’s been there from Day 1,” Johnson said. “We want this team to be in the reflection of Victor. He’s our best player. He’s our guy.”
For 10 days, Wembanyama woke up at 4:30 a.m., ate vegetarian breakfast bowls of zucchini and rice noodles and immersed himself in Chan meditation, a school of thought that emphasizes direct experience over intellectual learning. He studied Shaolin kung fu. He shaved his head.
He wanted to go, he said, to put his mind and body under unusual stress, to increase his range of motion, to add strength, flexibility and balance through different exercises.
“It was an incredible experience,” he said. “Probably as far [off] a physical activity as I’m used to doing. It really paid off in terms of training and as a life experience as a curious person.”
People who have seen Wembanyama on the floor this summer say he’s stronger, more under control playing through physicality and increasingly comfortable with his unprecedented skill set.
“We know the type of talent he is,” teammate De’Aaron Fox said. “I think people are learning the type of person that he is, as well. … Him just looking at life differently, being able to travel and kind of come out with a different view on not only the sport, but on life, that’s just a testament to the person that Victor is. I don’t think it surprises anybody in this building.”
IT WAS EARLY September, and the 100-degree temperatures were finally subsiding in Texas. The start of training camp approached, heightening the excitement among a San Antonio fan base that hasn’t seen its team reach the postseason in six seasons.
Wembanyama and his teammates attended a Paris Saint-Germain game in January when the Spurs played the Indiana Pacers in France. While there, Johnson caught his first glimpse of the PSG ultras, a rowdy group of passionate fans that create a formidable atmosphere in the 47,929-capacity Parc de Princes stadium through monstrous banners, booming chants and even the use of flares and pyrotechnics.
Wembanyama revealed to Johnson then that he wanted to create a similar setting at Frost Bank Center.
So, on a cool Sept. 14 morning, fans traipsed into the Freeman Expo Hall adjacent to Frost Bank, loud and proud, screaming “Go Spurs Go!” Most sported Spurs gear, wigs, fiesta-themed clothing and face paint. Some even dressed as pirates to register for the first fan supporter tryouts with Wembanyama serving as the lone judge.
Wembanyama leaned forward on a Spurs-themed chair resembling a replica of the ice block throne that George “Iceman” Gervin made famous in his iconic Nike poster back in 1978. Behind a curtain sectioned off just feet away from Wembanyama, nervous fans – many meeting for the first time – rehearsed the impromptu chants they would scream together minutes later.
“Wem-V-P!” was the prevailing chant, drawing smiles from Wembanyama, who had pledged to cover the cost of tickets all season for the five most memorable fans. Intently, he scribbled notes in a black Spurs notepad on every auditioner and listened to their stories. He asked their names, level of dedication to the cause and even some personal questions before posing for pics as each exited. Some fans beat on a Spurs drum stationed in the back of the room once their turn to audition came.
Wembanyama hit the drum, too, and led a chant.
San Antonio general manager Brian Wright stood in the background near a curtain close to the exit next to CEO RC Buford taking in the scene. Arms folded, they watched carefully, almost in awe of how Wembanyama appreciatively embraced each second of dozens of interactions all morning with a fan base that treated those brief intros as moments forever seared into their hearts.
Just four days prior, Wembanyama had led the Spurs onto the court at Tom Moore High School in Ingram, Texas, where a massive flood in July had left at least 136 people dead in a region that included communities in Ingram, Kerrville, Center Point, Mason and Hunt.
Wembanyama emerged from the back of the gym, tossing black Spurs T-shirts into the crowd and clapping while the sounds of shrieking students pierced the stuffy afternoon air. Wembanyama slapped hands with one young boy in the front row. The rest of the team took center court behind the Frenchman for a light workout consisting of layups, three-man weave drills, a half-court shot competition and dozens of thunderous dunks, some coming on ridiculous lobs thrown off the wall behind the baskets.
Wembanyama tossed a self alley-oop and caught the ball midair, taking it through his legs for a jam drawing delighted cheers.
Now, all that’s left for Wembanyama is to return to the court.
BACK INSIDE OLAJUWON’S gym, the Rockets icon asked Wembanyama what he wanted to accomplish, a question more existential than cliché after this summer of international experience.
“He basically wanted to know how to leverage. Let’s leverage any opportunities you have, inside, outside, with opportunities in different situations without wasting energy,” Olajuwon told ESPN. “I know how skilled he is. So, our concept was not for ‘big men.’ Our concept was ‘big guards.’ You don’t want to dribble like a big man. We are big guards where you can play 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 with the freedom to create outside, inside, crossover and pull up without wasting any energy with any player because you have the advantage every night on everybody.”
Through four 2½-hour workouts in early September, Wembanyama developed his own variation of the Hall of Famer’s “Dream Shake” in addition to other tightly wound spin moves that might leave opponents dizzy this upcoming season.
Then, there’s the jump hook Wemby is keeping under wraps.
“Yeah, that’s part of his moves,” Olajuwon said. "You know how well he can shoot, right? Can you imagine putting in the moves with him finishing his shots? If somebody like him can jump hook, you’re at his mercy. You can’t get to it. You can’t get to his jump shot or jump hooks. "
Teammate Jeremy Sochan says he’s already witnessed the evolution.
“You see how hard he works and how motivated he is,” Sochan said. “He’s super exciting to see and he’s ready. I think you guys are going to see a lot that’s going to shock you.”
Wembanyama, for his part, credits his most unusual offseason.
“I can assure you nobody has trained like I did this summer,” he said. “I think I’ve maxed out what I could do in one summer. Now, I need to play basketball.”
By Michael C. Wright | ESPN, via ESPN