By Mike Finger, Columnist | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2025-11-03 14:22:13
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。
圣安东尼奥马刺队后卫迪伦·哈珀（2号）在2025年10月26日（周日）于圣安东尼奥霜冻银行中心举行的主场揭幕战中，第四节命中一记反超比分的投篮后庆祝。马刺队最终以118-107击败篮网队。
菲尼克斯——还剩几分钟，迪伦·哈珀 (Dylan Harper) 应该能赶上。周日晚上，马刺队更衣室手写的白板信息警告说，“大巴车轮将在晚上9点50分滚动”。
即便瘸着一条腿，这位新秀也清楚最好别去挑战规矩。
拐杖真的有必要吗？他左脚上的保护靴只是预防措施吗？当时情况尚不明朗，但到了周一下午晚些时候，马刺队的医疗团队确认，哈珀在一场以118-130惨败给太阳队的比赛中遭遇了左小腿拉伤。
这次受伤预计将让哈珀缺阵数周。但在他缓慢、费力地走出按揭对决中心时，哈珀收到了来自维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 的一个鼓励的点头，后者当时正与他的母亲和祖父进行简短的赛后探访。
那时，这位法国人的家人已经和所有人一样明白了：那个拄着拐杖、挣扎着想准时赶上大巴的少年？他已经拥有了让文班亚马在场上打得轻松许多的能力。
“他打得这么好，简直让人难以置信，”文班亚马说。
就在几个小时前，当哈珀在第二节干扰菲尼克斯队尼克·理查兹 (Nick Richards) 的投篮后左脚落地受伤之前，这位去年六月NBA选秀的榜眼秀正打出他年轻职业生涯中最出色的一场比赛。
在11分钟内砍下12分，哈珀丝毫没有了职业生涯前几场比赛初期的犹豫不决，而专注于包夹文班亚马的太阳队防线，也无法阻止这位新秀控卫杀入油漆区。
这正是圣安东尼奥管理层去年春天决定保留选秀权、选中哈珀，并将他加入到已拥有德阿龙·福克斯 (De’Aaron Fox) 和斯蒂芬·卡斯尔 (Stephon Castle) 的后场时的设想。尽管那两位后卫都充满活力，但马刺队坚信哈珀拥有足够特别的才华，能让这套后场组合产生化学反应。
他的速度不如福克斯，毕竟在NBA几乎没人能比福克斯更快。他也尚未成为像卡斯尔那样已被证明的顶级防守者。但当对手将整个比赛计划都围绕着同时派上多名防守球员围剿文班亚马时，哈珀则凭借他一次又一次利用其6英尺5英寸的强壮身躯冲击篮筐的诀窍，盘活了球队的其他进攻点。
我们必须耐心等待，才能知道哈珀何时能再次杀入禁区。马刺队没有明确给出预计的复出日期，但小腿拉伤通常很棘手，而球队向来处理得十分谨慎。
这意味着，对于这支一个月前还被认为控卫过多的球队来说，接下来的一段时间情况可能会变得有些棘手。自训练营开始以来就因腿筋伤病缺阵的福克斯，预计将于周一和周二在洛杉矶，与马刺的替补球员和双向合同球员一起，继续进行逐步提升强度的5对5对抗训练。与此同时，教练米奇·约翰逊 (Mitch Johnson) 仍未就卢克·科内特 (Luke Kornet)、杰里米·索汉 (Jeremy Sochan)、凯利·奥利尼克 (Kelly Olynyk) 或林迪·沃特斯 (Lindy Waters) 的预计复出时间给出任何具体信息，他们都已连续缺阵至少三场比赛。
但在球队首场失利的第四节初段，约翰逊明确表示，他不会接受任何来自健康球员的借口。当马刺队逆转的希望逐渐渺茫时，他叫了暂停，并发表了一番连格雷格·波波维奇 (Gregg Popovich) 都会认可的激昂训话。
据后卫德文·瓦塞尔 (Devin Vassell) 透露，训话内容主要是关于专注度和执行力。最后，约翰逊用手指着面前的每一个人——包括卡斯尔、朱利安·尚帕尼 (Julian Champagnie) 和文班亚马——并表示他的话适用于“你，你，还有你”。
“他把信息传达到了，”瓦塞尔笑着说。“我们都感受到了。”
考虑到阵容相对年轻且缺乏经验，在这场比赛之后紧接着一个充满教训的夜晚，或许并非巧合——正是在这场失利之前，马刺队在取得队史首次5胜0负的开局后，在场上进行了额外的庆祝。
是的，良好的氛围总比糟糕的强。是的，一支六年没进季后赛的球队表现出一些兴奋也无可厚非。但即便是像卡斯尔这样的二年级球员也意识到，马刺队可能需要一剂现实的猛药了。
“我们开始有点安逸了，”卡斯尔说。“所以这算是一记警钟。”
好消息是，正如文班亚马所指出的，马刺队应该很快就会迎来一些援军。科内特，在本赛季前两场比赛中看起来是文班亚马梦幻般的内线搭档，目前正随队出征，尽管有脚踝伤病的报道，但他走动时并无明显跛行。福克斯和索汉参与类似队内对抗赛的训练也已超过一周。
所以，如果马刺队不得不在缺少他们明星新秀的情况下继续前行一段时间呢？他们会做必须做的事，因为他们深知，当他回归时，他将带来多大的帮助。
希望届时，他能有远超几分钟的富余时间。
San Antonio Spurs guard Devin Vassell (24) talks to guard Dylan Harper (2) as they take a break on the bench during the Spurs’ second home game of the season at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Monday, Oct. 27, 2025.
San Antonio Spurs head coach Mitch Johnson talks to San Antonio Spurs guard Dylan Harper (2) during the NBA game against the Miami Heat at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025.
点击查看原文：Why Spurs look forward to Dylan Harper's return, whenever it comes
Why Spurs look forward to Dylan Harper’s return, whenever it comes
San Antonio Spurs guard Dylan Harper (2) reacts after making a shot against the Brooklyn Nets to take back the lead during the fourth quarter of the Spurs’ home opener at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Sunday, Oct. 26, 2025. The Spurs defeated the Nets, 118-107.
PHOENIX – With minutes to spare, Dylan Harper was going to make it. The handwritten whiteboard message in the Spurs’ locker room Sunday night warned of “bus wheels moving” at 9:50 p.m.
Even on one leg, the rookie knew better than to test the rules.
Were the crutches really necessary? Was the walking boot on his left foot just a precaution? It wasn’t clear then, but by late Monday afternoon the Spurs’ medical team had confirmed Harper suffered a left calf strain in a 130-118 drubbing by the Suns.
The injury is expected to keep Harper sidelined for multiple weeks. But during his slow, labored slog out of Mortgage Matchup Center, Harper received a nod of encouragement from Victor Wembanyama, who was sharing a quick postgame visit with his mom and grandfather.
By then, the Frenchman’s family understood what everybody else did: That teenager on crutches, struggling to make it to the bus on time? He already has the power to make Wembanyama’s on-court life a whole lot easier.
“It’s actually been hard to believe,” Wembanyama said, “how good he’s played.”
Just a couple hours earlier, before Harper landed on his left foot while contesting a second-quarter shot by Phoenix’s Nick Richards, the No. 2 overall pick in last June’s NBA draft was on his way to the best game of his young career.
Scoring 12 points in 11 minutes, Harper showed none of the tentativeness that marked the early stages of his first few pro appearances, and a Suns defense intent on swarming Wembanyama could not keep the rookie point guard out of the paint.
This was exactly what the San Antonio brain trust envisioned when it committed last spring to keeping its selection, taking Harper, and adding him to a backcourt that already included De’Aaron Fox and Stephon Castle. As dynamic as both of those guards are, the Spurs were convinced Harper offered something special enough make the mix work.
He’s not as fast as Fox is, because almost nobody in the NBA is. He’s not yet the elite defender that Castle already has proven to be. But when opponents build their entire game plan around sending multiple defenders at a time at Wembanyama, Harper unlocks the rest of the offense with his knack for getting his strong 6-foot-5 frame to the front of the rim, over and over again.
We’ll have to wait to find out when Harper will be venturing into the lane again. The Spurs did not specify a projected return date, but calf strains tend to be tricky, and the team tends to be cautious.
This means that for a team that supposedly had too many point guards a month ago, things might get a little dicey for a while. Fox, sidelined with a hamstring injury since the start of training camp, was expected to continue his 5-on-5 ramp-up against the Spurs’ backups and two-way players on Monday and Tuesday in Los Angeles. Meanwhile, coach Mitch Johnson still hasn’t given any specifics on a projected return for Luke Kornet, Jeremy Sochan, Kelly Olynyk or Lindy Waters, who’ve all missed at least three consecutive games.
But early in the fourth quarter of the team’s first loss, Johnson made it clear he wasn’t about to entertain any excuses from his healthy players. With chances for a Spurs’ comeback slipping away, he called a timeout and delivered a fiery exhortation that Gregg Popovich would have endorsed.
According to guard Devin Vassell, it was mainly about focus and execution. It ended with Johnson pointing a finger at each of the guys sitting in front of him – including Castle and Julian Champagnie and Wembanyama – and saying his words applied to “you and you and you.”
“He got the message across,” Vassell said, smiling. “We all felt it.”
Considering the relative youth and inexperience of the roster, it probably was no coincidence that an evening filled with teaching moments followed the game in which the Spurs did some extra on-court celebrating after going 5-0 for the first time in franchise history.
Yes, good vibes are better than bad. No, there’s nothing wrong with a team that hasn’t made the playoffs in six years showing some excitement. But even a second-year player like Castle realized the Spurs probably were due for a dose of reality.
“We were starting to feel a little comfortable,” Castle said. “So this is kind of a wake-up call.”
The good news, as Wembanyama noted, is that the Spurs should get some reinforcements relatively soon. Kornet, who looked like a dream big-man complement to Wembanyama during this season’s first two games, is traveling with the team and moving around with no apparent limp despite a reported ankle injury. Fox and Sochan have been taking part in scrimmage-like workouts for more than a week.
So if the Spurs have to forge on for a while without their star rookie? They’ll do what they have to do, knowing how much he’ll help when he makes it back.
Hopefully with more than mere minutes to spare.
By Mike Finger, Columnist, via San Antonio Express-News