By Jeff McDonald, Staff Writer | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2025-10-18 11:45:33
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10月10日，在圣安东尼奥举行的一场NBA季前赛中，圣安东尼奥马刺队中锋维克托·文班亚马（中）在加时赛中为队友大卫·琼斯·加西亚（左）的进球而庆祝。(美联社图片/Darren Abate)
无论法语还是英语，维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 都听懂了那些词。
只是，无论用哪种语言，他都不愿相信。
深静脉血栓。
紧随其后的是一个更不祥的词组：赛季报销。
在去年二月首次听到这些话的八个月后，这位马刺队21岁的明星对这些经历给他带来的影响坦言不讳。
“这改变了我的人生，”文班亚马说，“在医院里度过那么长时间，听到的坏消息比我希望听到的要多得多。”
上赛季，文班亚马在旧金山开启了他意气风发的首次全明星之旅，却自此再也未能回到NBA的赛场。
他右肩的血栓提醒了这位冉冉升起的年轻巨星和他所效力的球队一个不容置疑的人生事实：世事无常，明日难料。
如今，在获得医疗许可、精神焕然一新——甚至还长高了一两英寸之后，文班亚马即将开启他的第三个NBA赛季，决心弥补失去的时光。
而这一切，将从周三马刺客场挑战达拉斯的2025-26赛季揭幕战开始。
“我感觉他肩负着使命，”前锋凯尔登·约翰逊说，“就好像他有东西需要证明。”
有一件事是确定的。
马刺队能否打破连续六个赛季无缘季后赛的魔咒，其希望完全寄托于文班亚马能否迅速重拾席卷联盟之势。
自二月份以来，总经理布莱恩·莱特 (Brian Wright) 已采取诸多行动，对这位法国高塔身边的阵容进行了升级：交易得到全明星后卫德阿龙·福克斯 (De’Aaron Fox)，签下老将中锋卢克·科内特 (Luke Kornet)，并选中了两位激动人心的乐透秀——迪伦·哈珀 (Dylan Harper) 和卡特·布莱恩特 (Carter Bryant)。
2025年10月10日，圣安东尼奥，在一场对阵犹他爵士队的NBA季前赛上半场，圣安东尼奥马刺队中锋维克托·文班亚马（1号）与队友卢克·科内特（7号）庆祝一次得分。(美联社图片/Darren Abate)
这些新援将加入一个包括上赛季NBA年度最佳新秀斯蒂芬·卡斯尔，以及德文·瓦塞尔、凯尔登·约翰逊、杰里米·索汉、哈里森·巴恩斯和朱利安·尚帕尼等实力不俗的留队球员的阵容。
但所有这一切，都取决于文班亚马能否王者归来。
“我们希望这支球队能成为维克托的缩影，”教练米奇·约翰逊 (Mitch Johnson) 说。在名人堂教练格雷格·波波维奇 (Gregg Popovich) 中风后，约翰逊于五月被正式任命为他的继任者。“他是我们最好的球员，是我们的领袖。”
文班亚马的二年级赛季，在他正打出职业生涯最佳篮球表现之一时戛然而止。
在赛季被迫中止前，他场均贡献24.3分、11个篮板以及冠绝联盟的3.8次封盖，并很有可能荣获年度最佳防守球员和入选NBA最佳阵容。
文班亚马复出后的初步表现令人鼓舞。
在马刺队季前赛的全部五场胜利中，文班亚马均有出场，在场均20.4分钟的时间里得到17分、8个篮板、4次助攻和2次封盖，并且每晚都能上演那种让最资深的NBA观察家也目瞪口呆、叹为观止的惊艳集锦。
“我就是想不起来有哪个球员能在攻防两端都拥有如此巨大的影响力，”印第安纳步行者队主教练里克·卡莱尔 (Rick Carlisle) 表示。
出自卡莱尔之口，这绝非寻常的赞美。
作为NBA的资深人士，现年65岁的卡莱尔几十年来一直享有前排座位，见证着这个星球上最顶尖的篮球运动员。
卡莱尔曾与拉里·伯德并肩作战，执教过德克·诺维茨基和卢卡·东契奇。他曾与迈克尔·乔丹、“魔术师”约翰逊和卡里姆·阿卜杜尔-贾巴尔同场竞技。他也曾作为教练与勒布朗·詹姆斯、科比·布莱恩特、凯文·杜兰特、斯蒂芬·库里、沙奎尔·奥尼尔——当然，还有蒂姆·邓肯交手。
但他从未见过像文班亚马这样的球员。
“他可以封盖一个距离篮筐10英尺远的球员的投篮——而且是原地起跳，”卡莱尔说，“这简直令人震惊。他作为控球手的技巧——他能使出‘山姆高德’过人和其他各种动作。这简直就像，‘哇哦’。”
这自然引出了下一个问题：面对一个看起来根本不像地球人的球员，教练到底要怎么去研究他？
“你只能看着，”卡莱尔说，“难以置信地看着。”
确实，即使已在联盟征战两个赛季，关于文班亚马的一切，包括他的官方身高，仍然让人觉得不可思议。
在前两个赛季，马刺队将他的身高定为7英尺3.5英寸，本赛季则上调至7英尺4英寸。今年秋天的某个短暂时期，球队官网甚至将文班亚马的身高列为7英尺5英寸。此后又被修改回7英尺4英寸。
世上有谎言，有该死的谎言，还有文班亚马的真实身高。
围绕他身高的模糊和微调，反而更增添了他身上巨人般的传奇色彩。
文班亚马到底有多高？
“我得站到这把椅子上，再拿个卷尺来量，”米奇·约翰逊说，“我们谁也够不着他，所以都只是猜测。”
去年二月将马刺队的这头巨兽击倒的血栓，似乎并不在乎卷尺上的数字。无论是7英尺3英寸、7英尺4英寸、7英尺5英寸，还是其他任何数字，都无关紧要。文班亚马的赛季已经结束了。
在被迫远离篮球的日子里，文班亚马周游了世界——他在中国与少林武僧一同训练，在日本和哥斯达黎加踢足球，在巴黎下国际象棋。
文班亚马说，这么做的想法是，尽管遭遇了健康危机，但“不要因此而束缚自己，不去做想做的事”。
“职业运动员的身份并不重要，”他说，“作为一个人，我仍然会去做我想做的事情。”
有趣的是。
事实证明，在那个命中注定的二月天里，文班亚马听到的那些可怕词语确实改变了他的人生。
而且是向好的方向改变。
“我学到了很多，远非一次采访所能言尽，”文班亚马说，“这些经历已经铭刻在我的身体里，永世难忘。但说到底，我心怀感激。”
San Antonio Spurs forward/center Victor Wembanyama (1) shoots around Indiana Pacers forward Isaiah Jackson, left, during the first half of a preseason NBA basketball game in Indianapolis, Monday, Oct. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)
San Antonio Spurs Victor Wembanyama (1) blocks shot of Guangzhou Loong-Lions Frank Kaminsky (44) in a Spurs preseason opener vs. Guangzhou Loong-Lions on Monday, Oct. 6, 2025 at Frost Bank Center.
Chuck’s Global Stars’ Victor Wembanyama (1) gestures after sinking a basket against the Kenny’s Young Stars during Game 1 of the NBA All-Star Game at Chase Center in San Francisco, Sunday, Feb. 16, 2025. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group via AP)
San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama dunks past Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro during the NBA All-Star basketball game Sunday, Feb. 16, 2025, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)
点击查看原文：As Victor Wembanyama goes, so will the San Antonio Spurs
As Victor Wembanyama goes, so will the San Antonio Spurs
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)
Victor Wembanyama understood the words, in French and in English.
He just didn’t want to believe them in either language.
Deep vein thrombosis.
Followed by an even more sinister phrase: Out for the season.
Eight months after the Spurs’ 21-year-old star first heard those words last February, he does not sugarcoat how they affected him.
“It is life changing,” Wembanyama said, “spending so much time in hospitals hearing more bad news than I wish I heard.”
Last season, Wembanyama left for his triumphant first All-Star appearance in San Francisco and never came back to an NBA floor.
The blood clot in his right shoulder reminded both the blossoming young superstar and the team that employs him of one unassailable fact of life: Not a day in this world is guaranteed.
Medically cleared, mentally rejuvenated — and now an inch or two taller — Wembanyama enters his third NBA season bent on making up for lost time.
That starts Wednesday, when the Spurs open the 2025-26 campaign at Dallas.
“I feel like he’s on a mission,” forward Keldon Johnson said. “Like he has something to prove.”
One thing is certain.
The Spurs’ hopes for breaking a six-season playoff hiatus lie with Wembanyama promptly resuming the work of taking the NBA by storm.
Since February, general manager Brian Wright has done much to upgrade the roster around the towering Frenchman, trading for All-Star guard De’Aaron Fox, signing veteran center Luke Kornet and drafting a pair of scintillating lottery prospects in Dylan Harper and Carter Bryant.
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)
Those newcomers join a cast that includes Stephon Castle, last season’s NBA Rookie of the Year, as well as capable holdovers Devin Vassell, Keldon Johnson, Jeremy Sochan, Harrison Barnes and Julian Champagnie.
None of it matters unless Wembanyama returns to being Wembanyama.
“We want this team to be in the reflection of Victor,” said coach Mitch Johnson, who in May was formally anointed the successor to Gregg Popovich following the Hall of Famer’s stroke. “He’s our best player. He’s our guy.”
Wembanyama’s sophomore campaign ended prematurely as he was playing some of the best basketball of his life.
He finished the season averaging 24.3 points, 11 rebounds and a league-best 3.8 blocks and was on his way to a likely Defensive Player of the Year and All-NBA honors before being shut down.
The earliest returns on Wembanyama’s comeback have been promising.
Wembanyama appeared in all five of the Spurs’ preseason victories, averaging 17 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two blocks in 20.4 minutes, all while nightly delivering the kind of jaw-dropping highlights that leave even the most grizzled NBA observers gob smacked.
“I just don’t ever recall a player who has so much influence on both ends of the floor,” Indiana coach Rick Carlisle said.
That’s no faint praise coming from Carlisle.
An NBA lifer, the 65-year-old Carlisle has for decades enjoyed a front row seat to witness the best basketball players the planet has produced.
Carlisle played with Larry Bird and coached Dirk Nowitzki and Luka Doncic. He played against Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. He has coached against LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, Shaquille O’Neal — and yes, Tim Duncan.
He has never seen anything like Wembanyama.
“He can block a shot from a guy shooting the ball from 10 feet away — without jumping,” Carlisle said. “It’s just staggering. His skill as a ball-handler — he’s doing the ‘Shammgod’ move and all that stuff. It’s just like, ‘Whoa.’”
Asked the natural follow-up: How on Earth does a coach go about scouting against a player who doesn’t appear to be from, well, Earth?
“You just watch,” Carlisle said. “In disbelief.”
Indeed, even after two seasons in the league little remains believable about Wembanyama — including his listed height.
The Spurs pegged him at 7-3 ½ in his first two campaigns, before bumping him up to 7-4 this season. For a short spell this fall, the team’s official website listed Wembanyama at 7-5. That has since been amended back to 7-4.
There are lies, damn lies and Wembanyama’s true height.
The fuzziness and fudging around his measurements have only served to heighten the Bunyan-esque mythology Wembanyama attracts.
How tall is Wembanyama really?
“I’d have to stand on this chair and get a measuring stick,” Mitch Johnson said. “None of us are close, so it’s all a guess.”
The blood clot that leveled the Spurs’ Leviathan last February did not seem to care what the tape measure said. Whether 7-3 or 7-4 or 7-5 or another number entirely, it didn’t matter. Wembanyama’s season was over.
Wembanyama spent his forced break from basketball traveling the world — training with Shaolin monks in China, kicking soccer balls around in Japan and Costa Rica, playing chess in Paris.
The idea, Wembanyama said, was “to not keep myself from doing stuff” despite the health scare.
“Being a professional athlete doesn’t matter,” he said. “I’m still going to do the things I want to do as a human.”
Funny thing about that.
It turns out the awful words Wembanyama heard that fateful day in February did indeed change his life.
For the better.
“I learned a lot, more than I could tell in just one interview,” Wembanyama said. “Things I’m never going to forget because they’re marked in my body. And at the end of the day, I’m grateful.”
By Jeff McDonald, Staff Writer, via San Antonio Express-News