By Mike Finger | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2025-12-12 16:18:42
圣安东尼奥马刺队的德阿龙·福克斯 (De’Aaron Fox) (4号) 与队友维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) (1号) 击掌。在2025年11月14日星期五于圣安东尼奥Frost Bank中心举行的一场NBA杯比赛的第一节中，文班亚马被吹罚了一次进攻犯规。此后，文班亚马因小腿拉伤缺席了所有比赛，但在周六马刺对阵俄克拉荷马城雷霆的NBA杯半决赛中，他的出战状态已被升级为大概率出战。
拉斯维加斯——这是拉斯维加斯大道上最古老的伎俩。
向人们兜售一个他们心甘情愿相信的谎言。
向他们许诺巴黎的小酒馆、威尼斯的运河，以及城里最容易中奖的老虎机，他们便会觉得自己能来到这里已是三生有幸，哪怕埃菲尔铁塔是赝品，沙漠依旧干涸，抵押贷款早已输个精光。
在十二月的一场NBA常规赛旁，铺上红毯，摆上闪亮的奖杯，他们就会认为，场内正在发生的一切必定是举足轻重且意义非凡的。
来自圣安东尼奥的年轻访客们或许天真到足以相信这个谎言。但与那些在二十一点牌桌和轮盘赌前可怜的输家不同，马刺队有能力让这一切成真。
周六晚上，在T-Mobile球馆，世界上最著名的篮球明星之一将走上那条红毯，迎接他迄今为止最盛大的舞台。是维克托·文班亚马的队友们将他带到了这里，而他本人也有望在因伤缺阵12场比赛后，于NBA杯对阵俄克拉荷马城的半决赛中盛大回归。
这正是联盟在构想季中锦标赛时所期待的那种对决。让一位冉冉升起的国际巨星对阵强大的卫冕冠军，对于痛失湖人队这样的收视率保障而言，这不失为一个上佳的补偿。而且，当联盟办公室周五得知马刺将文班亚马列为大概率出战时，他们无疑是乐见其成的。
在2025年11月8日于圣安东尼奥举行的一场NBA比赛的下半场，圣安东尼奥马刺队前锋维克托·文班亚马 (1号) 试图持球突破新奥尔良鹈鹕队前锋萨迪克·贝 (Saddiq Bey) (41号)。因小腿拉伤已缺席过去12场比赛的文班亚马，在周六马刺对阵俄克拉荷马城雷霆的NBA杯半决赛中，其出战状态已被升级为大概率出战。
就像那些宣传拉斯维加斯大道上唯一屋顶溜冰场的广告牌一样，联盟正试图推销一些东西，而人们当初是否真的需要它，其实并不重要。
事实是，尽管NBA杯令人费解的赛制和夸张的地板设计吸引了大量关注，但在争夺总冠军的宏大叙事中，它至今仍未占据太多分量。
在NBA杯创立的前两年里，在拉斯维加斯发生的一切，就只留在了拉斯维加斯。两届冠军——2023年的湖人队和去年的雄鹿队——最终都在季后赛首轮即遭淘汰。
然而，这并不意味着参赛者不想赢得它。每一位球员，无论薪酬多高，都能找到用武之地——那笔颁发给冠军队伍每位成员的50万美元奖金。即便他们大多数人的挥霍方式，可能都不如南德州农场主凯尔登·约翰逊 (Keldon Johnson) 那样有趣——他计划用奖金买一头美洲驼。
但与前几届冠军的收获相比，马刺队可能从NBA杯中得到的，还有着另一层显著的不同。
与湖人和雄鹿那些球队不同——也与同为半决赛对手的雷霆、尼克斯和魔术不同——这支马刺队从未在类似季后赛的环境中并肩作战过。哪怕这只是一个人为制造的、赛季初期的、“假埃菲尔铁塔”版本的季后赛。
那么，即便周六输掉比赛，马刺队难道不才是这场盛会最大的受益者吗？如果他们如愿在春天闯入真正的季后赛，能够提前消除一些“不赢就回家”的紧张感，难道不是一件好事吗？
这不仅仅是因为舞台是全新的。令人难以置信的是，如果文班亚马在周六晚上登场，这将标志着他首次在一场比赛中与德阿龙·福克斯、斯蒂芬·卡斯尔 (Stephon Castle) 和迪伦·哈珀 (Dylan Harper)——马刺过去18个月里最重要的几笔引援——同场竞技。
这四位球员本赛季至今都各自缺席了相当长的一段时间，这让马刺队能走到今天显得更加令人钦佩——他们不仅是NBA杯的半决赛队伍，更是一支名副其实的西部强队。
现在，他们可以开始探索球队全员健康时究竟是何模样；现在，他们可以开始观察这些球员在一种不同形式的压力下会作何反应。
在马刺队轮换阵容的前10名球员中，只有三位——福克斯、哈里森·巴恩斯 (Harrison Barnes) 和卢克·科内特 (Luke Kornet)——拥有季后赛经验，而福克斯的经验也仅限于三个赛季前的一轮系列赛。
所以，就让年轻人们相信NBA杯至关重要吧。让卡斯尔和哈珀相信这可以是他们的成名之战。让约翰逊和德文·瓦塞尔 (Devin Vassell) 相信他们能向全世界的篮球观众展示过去五年里人们所错过的一切。让文班亚马相信这可以是他通往伟大之路的又一步。
而如果那条NBA杯的红毯，只是拉斯维加斯大道上又一个人们乐于相信的谎言呢？
或许，马刺队能向他们证明，为什么他们应该相信。
San Antonio Spurs guard De’Aaron Fox (4) talks to forward Victor Wembanyama (1) as the Spurs leave the floor for a time out during the second half of an NBA game with the Golden State Warriors in San Antonio, Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2025. Golden State beat San Antonio 123-120.
San Antonio Spurs guard Dylan Harper (2) celebrates with San Antonio Spurs guard De’Aaron Fox (4) during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the New Orleans Pelicans in New Orleans, Monday, Dec. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Matthew Hinton)
San Antonio Spurs guard Dylan Harper, right, shoots over Orlando Magic forward Jonathan Isaac (1) during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
San Antonio Spurs guard Dylan Harper (2) drives between Memphis Grizzlies /center Jock Landale (31) and guard Cam Spencer (24) during the first half of an NBA game in San Antonio, Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025.
San Antonio Spurs guard De’Aaron Fox (4) signals to his teammates as he leads a play around Atlanta Hawks guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker (7) at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025.
San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle (5) puts up a shot under defense by Los Angeles Lakers forward Rui Hachimura (28) during the second half of an NBA Cup basketball game Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle (5) dunks a ball during the second half of an NBA game with New Orleans in San Antonio, Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025. The Spurs beat the Pelicans 126-119.
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。
点击查看原文：With Victor Wembanyama back, how Spurs can make NBA Cup matter
With Victor Wembanyama back, how Spurs can make NBA Cup matter
San Antonio Spurs’ De’Aaron Fox (4) high-fives his teammate Victor Wembanyama (1) after an offensive foul was called on Wembanyama during the first quarter of an NBA Cup game at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Friday, Nov. 14, 2025. Wembanyama has sat out every game since with a calf strain, but he was upgraded to probable for the Spurs’ NBA Cup semifinal game Saturday against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
LAS VEGAS — It’s the oldest trick on The Strip.
Tell the people a lie they want to believe.
Promise them the bistros of Paris, the canals of Venice, and the loosest slots in town, and they’ll consider themselves lucky to be here at all, even if the Eiffel Tower is fake and the desert is dry and the mortgage money is gone.
Show them a red carpet with a shiny trophy next to a regular season NBA game in December, and they’ll assume that what’s happening inside must be especially important and consequential.
The young, impressionable visitors from San Antonio might be naïve enough to believe that lie. But unlike the poor saps at the blackjack tables and roulette wheels? The Spurs have the power to make it come true.
Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena, one of the most famous basketball stars in the world will walk down that red carpet toward his biggest showcase yet. Victor Wembanyama’s teammates were the ones responsible for getting him here, but he’s expected to make his grand return from a 12-game injury absence in an NBA Cup semifinal against Oklahoma City.
This is the kind of matchup the league imagined when it devised an in-season tournament. Pitting a rising international superstar against the juggernaut defending champions is not a bad consolation prize for losing out on the TV draw of the Lakers, and it’s no secret that those in the NBA offices were pleased to hear the Spurs listed Wembanyama as probable Friday.
San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) looks to drive into the lane on New Orleans Pelicans forward Saddiq Bey (41) during the second half of an NBA game in San Antonio, Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025. Wembanyama, who has missed the last 12 games with a calf strain, was upgraded to probable for the Spurs’ NBA Cup semifinal game Saturday against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Like the signs advertising the only rooftop ice skating rink on The Strip, the league is trying to sell something, and it doesn’t matter that nobody asked for it in the first place.
The truth is, for as much attention the Cup’s confounding format and ridiculous floor designs have generated it hasn’t meant much in the grand scheme of the title chase yet.
During the first two years of the Cup’s existence, what happened in Vegas has stayed in Vegas. Both champions — the Lakers in 2023 and the Bucks last year — went on to be eliminated in the first round of the playoffs.
This doesn’t mean, though, that the participants don’t want to win it. Every player, no matter how well-compensated, could find use for the $500,000 prize awarded to each member of the winning roster, even if most of their splurges aren’t as fun as South Texas rancher Keldon Johnson’s plan to purchase a llama.
But there’s another significant difference to what the Spurs might get from the Cup as opposed to what previous champions have taken away from it.
Unlike those Lakers and Bucks teams — and unlike their fellow semifinalists in the Thunder, Knicks, and Magic — these Spurs never have competed together in a playoff-like environment. Not even in a contrived, early-season, fake Eiffel Tower version of one.
So don’t the Spurs have the most to gain from this spectacle, even if they lose Saturday? If they make it to the real playoff bracket in the spring, as they hope to, won’t it be nice to have some of the win-or-go-home jitters out of the way?
It’s not just that the stage will be new. Incredibly, if Wembanyama plays on Saturday night, it will mark the first time he’s ever shared the court with De’Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper — the Spurs’ most significant acquisitions of the past 18 months — in a game.
Each of those four guys has missed a significant stretch of this season so far, which makes it all the more impressive that the Spurs are here, not just as Cup semifinalists, but also as a legitimate Western Conference power.
Now they can start figuring out how this mix looks when they’re at full-strength, and now they can start seeing how the pieces react under a different form of pressure.
Of the top 10 players in the Spurs’ rotation, only three — Fox, Harrison Barnes and Luke Kornet — have playoff experience, and Fox’s is limited to a single series three seasons ago.
So let the youngsters think the Cup matters. Let Castle and Harper think this can be their coming-out party. Let Johnson and Devin Vassell think they can show the rest of the basketball-watching world what they’ve been missing for the last half-decade. Let Wembanyama believe this can be another step on his way to greatness.
And if that Cup red carpet is just another example of The Strip telling a lie that people want to believe?
Maybe the Spurs can show them why they should.
By Mike Finger, via San Antonio Express-News