By Express-News Editorial Board | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2025-12-19 07:00:14
1999年6月25日，星期五，在马刺队于纽约以78-77击败尼克斯队赢得NBA总冠军后，圣安东尼奥马刺队的球迷们驾车穿过市中心，鸣笛庆祝并挥舞着横幅。(美联社照片/帕特·苏利文 (Pat Sullivan))
上周六晚，圣安东尼奥马刺队的球迷们做了一件多年未曾做过的事。在一场酣畅淋漓地战胜卫冕冠军俄克拉荷马城雷霆队后，他们涌入市中心鸣笛庆祝。
按照传统，这种庆祝通常发生在六月——当球队赢得NBA总冠军，或者至少是西部联盟冠军并晋级总决赛之后。
然而这一次，庆祝却发生在十二月，在马刺队击败NBA总冠军俄克拉荷马城雷霆队，成功晋级联盟季中锦标赛——NBA杯的决赛之后。
人们或许会轻易地认为，一支手握五座总冠军奖杯的球队，其球迷不应该因为打进了一项由NBA为激发球迷兴趣而策划的、噱头十足且无关紧要的季中锦标赛决赛，就“屈尊”去鸣笛庆祝。
但事实是，马刺球迷已经很久没有理由去鸣笛庆祝了。马刺队刚刚经历了连续六个胜率不过半的赛季。他们的复兴之路，是由2023年的乐透选秀以及划时代天才 维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 的到来所铺就的。当初选中 文班亚马 时，球迷们也曾涌入市中心鸣笛欢庆。
上周六，在一场NBA杯半决赛的下半场，马刺球星维克托·文班亚马正迎着俄克拉荷马城雷霆队后卫杰伦·威廉姆斯 (Jalen Williams)的防守投篮。正是因为文班亚马，马刺才得以重现冠军风采。
马刺队在周二的NBA杯决赛中负于纽约尼克斯队，但球迷们无需担忧。赢得NBA杯并非赢得NBA总冠军的前兆。然而，对于马刺队而言，在NBA杯上取得的成功标志着 文班亚马 时代的到来，以及球队重返胜利轨道。
周三上午，《纽约时报》旗下的The Athletic栏目发表文章，标题赫然写道：“马刺输掉了NBA杯，但雷霆——以及整个联盟——都收到了警告。”
圣安东尼奥的篮球黄金时代始于1999年，止于2014年。在此期间，马刺队在名人堂成员 大卫·罗宾逊 (David Robinson) 、 蒂姆·邓肯 (Tim Duncan) 、 马努·吉诺比利 (Manu Ginobili) 、 托尼·帕克 (Tony Parker) 以及主教练 格雷格·波波维奇 (Gregg Popovich) 的率领下，五次夺得NBA总冠军。市中心那胜利的喇叭声，为那些神奇的夜晚画上了最完美的句点。
我们在十二月听到的喇叭声，正是为了迎接未来六月的再度轰鸣。
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：Opinion: The Spurs are back to championship form in new Wemby era
Opinion: The Spurs are back to championship form in new Wemby era
San Antonio Spurs fans drive through downtown San Antonio on Friday, June 25, 1999, honking horns and waving banners after the Spurs beat the Knicks 78-77 in New York to win the NBA Championship. (AP Photo/Pat Sullivan)
Last Saturday night, San Antonio Spurs fans did something they had not done in years. They went downtown to honk their horns after a big Spurs win over the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder.
Traditionally, this happens in June after the team has won the NBA Championship or at least the Western Conference championship to advance to the Finals.
This time, though, it happened in December after the Spurs defeated the NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder to advance to the championship game of the NBA Cup, the league’s in-season tournament.
It’s easy to say fans of a franchise that has won five titles shouldn’t lower themselves to honking their vehicle horns for making it to the final game of a gimmicky, meaningless, in-season tournament the NBA concocted to stoke fan interest.
But it’s been a while since Spurs fans have had anything to honk for. The Spurs are coming off six consecutive losing seasons. Their road back to relevancy was paved with the 2023 lottery draft and arrival of Victor Wembanyama, a generational talent. Drafting Wembanyama also sent fans to honk their horns downtown.
Spurs star Victor Wembanyama shoots over Oklahoma City Thunder guard Jalen Williams in the second half of an NBA Cup semifinals basketball game last Saturday. The Spurs are back in championship form thanks to Wembanyama.
The Spurs lost the NBA Cup final Tuesday to the New York Knicks, but fans need not worry. Winning the NBA Cup isn’t a precursor to winning an NBA Championship. For the Spurs, though, success in the NBA Cup marks the arrival of the Wembanyama era and a return to winning form.
On Wednesday morning, the headline of the New York Times’ The Athletic announced, “The Spurs lost the NBA Cup. But the Thunder — and the league — remain on notice.”
San Antonio’s golden era for basketball ran from 1999-2014, when the Spurs won five NBA Championships led by Hall of Famers David Robinson, Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobli, Tony Parker and Gregg Popovich. Those championships were magical nights punctuated by the triumphant sound of horns downtown.
We heard those horns in December in anticipation of hearing them in June.
By Express-News Editorial Board, via San Antonio Express-News