By Mike Finger, Columnist | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2025-10-11 14:59:15
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。
在2025年10月10日星期五于圣安东尼奥举行的一场对阵犹他爵士队的NBA季前赛加时赛中，圣安东尼奥马刺队中锋维克托·文班亚马（中）因队友后卫大卫·琼斯·加西亚（左）得分而庆祝。(美联社图片/Darren Abate)
对于那些信奉阴谋论的人来说，万事皆有另一番解读。而当涉及匿名调查时，这种解读的可能性便更引人遐想。
或许，刚带领俄克拉荷马城雷霆队豪取总冠军的萨姆·普雷斯蒂 (Sam Presti)，需要找到一种方法来重新激励他的头号球星。或许，仍在达拉斯感觉需要自我辩护的尼科·哈里森 (Nico Harrison)，想让人们相信，除了卢卡·东契奇 (Luka Doncic) 之外，联盟下一位新科MVP（最有价值球员）另有其人。
又或者，新奥尔良的决策者，因为忙着白白送出未来的乐透签而分了心，一不小心勾错了选项。
不管这一切是如何发生的，我们能确定的是：在NBA官网对其联盟总经理进行的年度季前赛调查中，有7%的总经理（换言之，30人中的2位）预测，今年联盟的最佳球员将是一个单赛季从未出战超过71场、且从未接近过季后赛的家伙。
这种细节几乎让你对整个调查的可信度产生怀疑。
直到，你意识到那两票投给了维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama)。然后你又会想，这两位总经理是不是只是走在了时代前沿。
当然，这位马刺队7英尺5英寸的法国人有朝一日将统治联盟的想法，并非什么新奇或有争议的观点。在本周发布的同一份NBA.com调查中，83%的总经理表示，如果他们今天要组建一支新球队，并可以签下联盟中的任何一名球员作为建队基石，他们会选择文班亚马。这个数字比一年前的77%有所上升。
但那是关于长远未来的。MVP的问题关乎的是当下。它关乎的是本月即将开打的比赛中的卓越表现，届时文班亚马将自二月份被诊断出体内有血凝块以来，首次回归到有意义的比赛中。它关乎的是在面对那些已经赢得过总冠军的球队，以及那些为明年六月夺冠而建队的强队时，他能否带来改变。
文班亚马，尽管他看起来如同天外来客，真的为此做好准备了吗？一个21岁、即将进入NBA第三个赛季的年轻人，真的准备好在三月和四月的冲刺阶段，比东契奇、尼古拉·约基奇 (Nikola Jokic)、谢伊·吉尔吉斯-亚历山大 (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander) 和扬尼斯·阿德托昆博 (Giannis Antetokounmpo) 打得更好吗？要知道，他可从未打过春天里那些真正关键的比赛。
那两位总经理是疯了吗？
还是说，他们看到了一种连圣安东尼奥的一些人自己都尚未完全领悟的可能性？
在马刺队内部，每个人都试图保持现实。随着文班亚马回归，卫冕年度最佳新秀斯蒂芬·卡斯尔 (Stephon Castle) 准备在第二年迎来飞跃，再加上德阿隆·福克斯 (De’Aaron Fox) 和迪伦·哈珀 (Dylan Harper) 能打满整个赛季，球队最低的目标也应该是进入附加赛。
但通常情况下，附加赛级别的球队是出不了MVP的。如果文班亚马发现自己进入了MVP的讨论范围，那一定是因为马刺队一跃成为季后赛首轮主场优势的有力争夺者。
这似乎有些遥不可及，或者说是文班亚马常说的“跳过步骤”。西部联盟的竞争依然如以往般激烈，前面提到的总经理调查也很好地反映了马刺要成为真正的竞争者所必须克服的困难。
有七支球队——雷霆、掘金、火箭、森林狼、勇士、快船和湖人——获得了至少两张进入西部前四的选票。独行侠和马刺则各获得一票。
如果马刺证明了那唯一一位投票者的眼光是正确的，那么为文班亚马投出MVP选票的两个人，或许也将被证明是极具先见之明的。因为即便他今年能得到如此多的帮助，但如果没有他打出超神般的表现，圣安东尼奥是绝无可能拿到50或55场胜利的。
更可能出现的情况则没有那么夸张。那就是马刺队与勇士/快船/湖人/独行侠/国王这堆球队纠缠在一起，或许能在一两支球队被伤病击垮时抓住机会。同样可能的是，圣安东尼奥能从相对轻松的早期赛程中获益，然后随着文班亚马和福克斯在一起稳定地磨合而不断进步。
如果一切按计划进行，不难预见马刺队最终会排在西部第六或第七，这或许能为文班亚马赢得一些MVP的提名，即便最终无法在投票中排进前三。
但是，真的有人——包括那两位匿名的总经理——相信他能在明年春天赢得整个奖项吗？
对于那些寻找潜在动机的人来说，总能找到理由解释为何那可能不是认真的投票。
但如果文班亚马最终真的证明了他们是对的呢？
那可就太疯狂了。
甚至比任何阴谋论都更疯狂。
San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama (1) celebrates after a basket with teammate Luke Kornet (7) during the first half of a preseason NBA basketball game against the Utah Jazz, Friday, Oct. 10, 2025, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Darren Abate)
San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama (1) celebrates after a basket with teammate Dylan Harper, center left, during the first half of a preseason NBA basketball game against the Utah Jazz, Friday, Oct. 10, 2025, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Darren Abate)
San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama, left, speaks with teammate Dylan Harper, right, during the first half of a preseason NBA basketball game against the Utah Jazz, Friday, Oct. 10, 2025, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Darren Abate)
San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama (1) shoots over Miami Heat forward Andrew Wiggins (22) and forward Nikola Jovic during the first half of a preseason NBA basketball game, Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
San Antonio Spurs forward/center Victor Wembanyama catches a pass defended by Miami Heat center/forward Bam Adebayo during the first half of a preseason NBA basketball game, Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
点击查看原文：Victor Wembanyama for MVP? Crazy or not, some NBA GMs believe already
Victor Wembanyama for MVP? Crazy or not, some NBA GMs believe already
San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama, center, celebrates after a basket by Spurs guard David Jones Garcia, left, in overtime during a preseason NBA basketball game against the Utah Jazz, Friday, Oct. 10, 2025, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Darren Abate)
To the conspiratorially minded, there’s always an alternative explanation. And when it comes to anonymous surveys, those alternatives become even easier to imagine.
Maybe Sam Presti, coming off a dominant championship run in Oklahoma City, needed to find a way to re-motivate his best player. Maybe Nico Harrison, still feeling defensive in Dallas, wanted to convince people that someone other than Luka Doncic might be the league’s next new Most Valuable Player.
Or maybe whoever is in charge in New Orleans, distracted by giving away future lottery picks for free, just checked the wrong box by accident.
Regardless of how it happened, here’s what we know for sure: When the NBA’s official website polled the league’s general managers for its annual preseason survey, 7% of them (two of 30, in other words) predicted that the best player in the sport this year will be a guy who’s never played more than 71 games in a season, and never come close to making the playoffs.
It’s the kind of detail that almost makes you call into question the trustworthiness of the entire survey.
Until, that is, you realize that those two votes went to Victor Wembanyama. And then you wonder if those two general managers are just ahead of the curve.
It’s not as though the thought of the Spurs’ 7-foot-5 Frenchman running roughshod over the league at some point is a new idea, or a controversial one. In the same NBA.com survey released this week, 83% of the general managers said they’d choose Wembanyama if they were starting a new franchise today and could pick any player in the league to sign first. That number was up from 77% a year ago.
But that’s about the long-term future. The MVP question is about now. It’s about excellence in games that will be played this month, when Wembanyama will return to meaningful action for the first time since being diagnosed with a blood clot in February. It’s about making a difference against teams that already have won championships, and against teams that are built to win them next June.
Is Wembanyama, as otherworldly as he appears, really ready for that? Can a 21-year-old entering his third NBA season really be prepared to outplay Doncic and Nikola Jokic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Giannis Antetokounmpo during a stretch run in March and April, when he’s never played in spring games that mattered before?
Were those two general managers out of their minds?
Or do they see a possibility even some in San Antonio can’t quite fathom yet?
Around the Spurs, everyone is trying to be realistic. With Wembanyama back, reigning rookie of the year Stephon Castle ready to make a second-year jump, and a full season of De’Aaron Fox and Dylan Harper, it’s time to expect a play-in appearance at minimum.
But play-in teams generally don’t produce MVPs. If Wembanyama finds himself in that discussion, it will be because the Spurs leap all the way into the race for home-court advantage in the first round.
That seems like a stretch, or a case of what Wembanyama often refers to as “skipping steps.” The Western Conference remains as loaded as ever, and the aforementioned general manager survey provided a good snapshot of what the Spurs will have to overcome to become true contenders.
Seven teams — the Thunder, Nuggets, Rockets, Timberwolves, Warriors, Clippers and Lakers — received at least two votes to finish in the Top 4. The Mavericks and Spurs received one apiece.
If the Spurs prove that single voter right, the two Wembanyama MVP votes probably will prove prescient, too. Even with as much help as he’ll have this year, there’s no way San Antonio will get to 50 or 55 victories without him playing out of his mind.
The more likely scenario is less outlandish. It’s the one where the Spurs hang in there with that Warriors/Clippers/Lakers/Mavericks/Kings jumble, perhaps taking advantage when one or two of those teams get torpedoed by injuries. It’s also the one where San Antonio benefits from a relatively easy early schedule, then improves as Wembanyama and Fox get steady repetitions together.
If all goes as planned, it wouldn’t be hard to see the Spurs finish sixth or seventh in the West, which might garner Wembanyama some MVP mentions, if not a top-three finish in the voting.
But does anyone — including those two anonymous general managers — really believe he can win the whole thing next spring?
To those looking for hidden motives, there are explanations for why those might not have been serious votes.
If Wembanyama somehow proves them right, though?
That would be crazy.
Crazier than a conspiracy, even.
By Mike Finger, Columnist, via San Antonio Express-News