By Mike Finger, Columnist | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2025-12-16 15:39:27
圣安东尼奥马刺队前锋维克托·文班亚马（1号）在2025年12月13日于拉斯维加斯举行的一场NBA杯半决赛的下半场比赛中，于俄克拉荷马城雷霆队后卫杰伦·威廉姆斯（8号）附近出手投篮。在马刺战胜雷霆后，文班亚马称马刺正开始打一种“纯粹且合乎道德”的篮球，此言论引起了热议。
拉斯维加斯电 — 他那独特的口音是个加分项，个人魅力也是。
在美国，不知为何，我们总期望那些功成名就的运动员对我们撒谎。我们要求他们展现出一种与他们非凡能力相悖的虚伪谦逊。我们在电视广播里充斥着关于个人奖项和历史地位的无休止讨论，却又坚持要求超级巨星们假装对此毫不在意。
年轻、有思想且充满法式风情的维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama)，认为这种虚伪毫无意义。他正是那种会坦率告诉你他有多出色、以及他志在达到何种高度的超级巨星，而且他总能安然无事，因为他说出来的话听起来是那么悦耳。
而当谈到垃圾话——这种能让一些使用者成为反派的国际化艺术形式时，又当如何？正如他在周二晚对阵纽约尼克斯队的NBA杯总决赛前提醒众人的那样，文班亚马在这方面也同样口无遮拦。
“在球场上的某些事，”这位马刺队中锋说道，“是你不想去控制的。”
在周六帮助圣安东尼奥淘汰俄克拉荷马城的NBA杯半决赛中，文班亚马仅用21分钟就贡献了卓越表现。而他最具代表性的画面出现在比赛的最后几分钟，当时他在命中一记后仰跳投后欣喜若狂，指着雷霆队的阿莱克斯·卡鲁索 (Alex Caruso)，对他倾泻出一连串纯粹而不加掩饰的垃圾话。
卡鲁索是一位防守悍将，在他生涯的前两个赛季里曾给文班亚马制造了无数麻烦。在那个回合中，他已经竭尽所能。当这位7英尺4英寸的法国人起跳准备投篮时，卡鲁索拍击他的手想把球断掉，接着用臀部顶撞，最后在他出手最高点时再次进行手部干扰。
但球还是应声入网。
圣安东尼奥马刺队前锋维克托·文班亚马（1号）在2025年12月13日于拉斯维加斯举行的一场NBA杯半决赛的下半场比赛中，于俄克拉荷马城雷霆队后卫阿莱克斯·卡鲁索（9号）附近控球。在马刺战胜雷霆后，文班亚马称马刺正开始打一种“纯粹且合乎道德”的篮球，此言论引起了热议。
赛后，当文班亚马在回答一个关于他与俄克拉荷马城7英尺长人切特·霍姆格伦 (Chet Holmgren) 之间交锋的问题时，宣称他很高兴马刺队打的是“纯粹且合乎道德的篮球”，这番话引起了不小的争议。
文班亚马这是在再次向雷霆队开炮吗？
嗯，这在某种程度上是见仁见智的。文班亚马和霍姆格伦之间素来不睦，这确是事实，他们从青少年时期在国际赛场上交手开始，就一直是对手和激烈的竞争者。而雷霆队依然是马刺队重夺西部霸主地位道路上最强大的障碍，这也是事实。
但文班亚马在周一解释说，他那句“合乎道德”的评论，更多的是在欣赏一种与他所谓的“单打篮球”或“勉强的篮球”背道而驰的风格。
“我们尝试呈现一种有时可被描述为更复古的篮球风格，”文班亚马说。“即‘马刺之道’。在我看来，这是一种战术上更为正确的篮球。”
需要澄清的是，他并没有直接说雷霆队打得不道德。事实上，当被追问对圣安东尼奥和俄克拉荷马城之间正在萌芽的宿敌关系的看法时，他很快指出，马刺队在这方面并没有好高骛远。
“我认为目前联盟中没有任何人能声称与他们（雷霆）构成宿敌关系，”文班亚马说。“他们自成一档。”
圣安东尼奥马刺队中锋维克托·文班亚马在2024年2月29日星期四于弗罗斯特银行中心举行的对阵俄克拉荷马城雷霆队的NBA比赛下半场命中一记三分球后，比出了“三”的手势。周六，文班亚马在马刺队于NBA杯半决赛战胜雷霆队后表示，马刺正开始打一种“纯粹且合乎道德”的篮球，此言论引起了热议。
但他表示，自己对赢得宿敌地位的想法“非常感兴趣”，而这种关系或许会在未来几周内升温。12月23日和25日，他们将在圣安东尼奥和俄克拉荷马城进行一场主客场系列赛。
至于那之后会发生什么？这在某种程度上取决于马刺自己。毕竟，他们已经连续六年无缘季后赛。即使在本赛季前25场比赛中表现超出预期，他们目前也仍并列西部第三。如果他们想赢得雷霆队的尊重，就必须继续用表现去争取。
尽管卫冕NBA总决赛最有价值球员谢伊·吉尔杰斯-亚历山大 (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander) 没有明确表示马刺还有很长的路要走，但当被问及马刺与雷霆的对决是否有可能成为联盟最佳恩怨对决时，他给出了一个意味深长的回答。
“不能说百分之百，”吉尔杰斯-亚历山大说，“但绝对有这个可能。”
换句话说，他会等着看马刺队如何继续进步，以防万一。与此同时，文班亚马并没有计划收敛他的垃圾话。
“在球场上，合乎道德与否的界限，”文班亚马说，“是更难去划分的。”
如果这对美国人来说还不够谦逊呢？
至少，他那独特的口音和个人魅力，让他们没那么容易注意到这些。
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 trash talk and charm, why Wembanyama is honest on and off court
With trash talk and charm, why Wembanyama is honest on and off court
San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) shoots the ball near Oklahoma City Thunder guard Jalen Williams (8) in the second half of an NBA Cup semifinals basketball game, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, in Las Vegas. Wembanyama raised eyebrows following the Spurs’ win over the Thunder, saying the Spurs were beginning to play a “pure and ethical” brand of basketball.
LAS VEGAS — The accent helps. So does the charm.
In America, for whatever reason, we expect our most accomplished athletes to lie to us. We demand they carry themselves with a degree of false modesty that belies their spectacular abilities. We inundate the airwaves with endless chatter about individual awards and legacies, and then we insist that the superstars pretend not to care about them.
Victor Wembanyama, young and thoughtful and oh so French, does not see the point of such insincerity. He is the type of superstar who will tell you exactly how good he is and exactly how good he intends to be, and he almost always gets away with it because he makes it sound so darn pleasant.
And when it comes to trash-talking, the international art form that can turn some of its practitioners into villains? As he reminded everyone during the run-up to Tuesday night’s NBA Cup championship game against the New York Knicks, Wembanyama has no use for a filter there, either.
“Some things on the court,” the Spurs center said, “you don’t want to control.”
In his remarkable 21-minute performance that lifted San Antonio past Oklahoma City in the Cup semifinals Saturday, the defining image of Wembanyama came in the closing minutes, when he exulted in the immediate aftermath of a fallaway jumper by pointing at the Thunder’s Alex Caruso and unleashing a verbal torrent of pure, adulterated smack.
Caruso, a defensive whiz who’d provided Wembanyama with plenty of frustration during his first two seasons in the league, had done everything he could on that play. As the 7-foot-4 Frenchman gathered to shoot, Caruso slapped at his hands to poke the ball away, then shoved his hip, then hand-checked him again at the top of his release.
The ball found the net anyway.
San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) commands the ball near Oklahoma City Thunder guard Alex Caruso (9) during the second half of an NBA Cup semifinals basketball game, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, in Las Vegas. Wembanyama raised eyebrows following the Spurs’ win over the Thunder, saying the Spurs were beginning to play a “pure and ethical” brand of basketball.
And afterwards, when Wembanyama answered a question about his back-and-forth with Oklahoma City 7-footer Chet Holmgren by declaring how glad he was that the Spurs play “pure and ethical basketball,” it raised lots of eyebrows.
Was Wembanyama taking another shot at the Thunder there?
Well, that’s sort of in the eye of the beholder. It’s true that there is no love lost between Wembanyama and Holmgren, who’ve been adversaries and fierce competitors ever since they tangled in international competitions as teenagers. And it’s true that the Thunder remain the most imposing obstacle standing the way of the Spurs’ hopes to rule the Western Conference again.
But Wembanyama explained on Monday that his “ethical” comment was more about appreciating a style that runs counter to what he called “isolation ball,” or “forced basketball.”
We try to propose a brand of basketball that can be described as more old-school sometimes,” Wembanyama said. “The Spurs’ way. It’s tactically more correct basketball, in my opinion.”
To be clear, he stopped short of saying the Thunder were unethical. In fact, when pressed for his thoughts on the budding rivalry between San Antonio and Oklahoma City, he was quick to note that the Spurs aren’t getting ahead of themselves on that front.
“I don’t think anybody right now can claim to have a rivalry with them in the league,” Wembanyama said. “They’re in their own tier.”
San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama signals “three” after hitting a three-pointer during the second half of their NBA game with the Oklahoma City Thunder at the Frost Bank Center on Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024. Wembanyama raised eyebrows following the Spurs’ NBA Cup semifinal win over the Thunder on Saturday, saying the Spurs were beginning to play a “pure and ethical” brand of basketball.
But he said he’d be “very interested” in the idea of earning rival status, and perhaps that can intensify in the next couple of weeks. On Dec. 23 and 25, they play a home-and-home in San Antonio and Oklahoma City.
As for what happens beyond that? It’s sort of up to the Spurs. They have, after all missed the playoffs six years in a row. Even after exceeding expectations through their first 25 games this season, they’re still tied for the third seed in the West. If they want the Thunder’s respect, they’re going to have to keep earning it.
And even though reigning NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander wouldn’t say explicitly that the Spurs have a long way to go, he gave a telling answer when asked about the chances that Spurs-Thunder could turn into the best grudge match in the league.
“Not a hundred percent,” Gilgeous-Alexander said, “but definitely a possibility, for sure.”
In other words, he’ll wait to see how the Spurs keep progressing, just in case. In the meantime, Wembanyama has no plans to scale back the trash-talking.
“The border of ethical and not ethical on the court,” Wembanyama said, “is more difficult to observe.”
And if that’s not humble enough for Americans?
At least the accent and the charm make it harder for them to notice.
By Mike Finger, Columnist, via San Antonio Express-News