By Marcus Thompson II | The Athletic, 2025-12-23 13:56:54
维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 似乎发布了一项宣言，一份以感激为外衣、以讽刺为印记的宣言。
“我很高兴能成为这件日益美好的事业的一部分，”他说。
“纯粹而合乎道德的篮球。”
这番话听起来如同传令官的宣告，带着一种立法提案般的派头。尤其是在一场战胜俄克拉荷马城雷霆队——这支卫冕冠军凭借其统治地位，已然成为联盟“操纵比赛”新代名词的球队——的比赛后，文班亚马似乎陶醉于一场英雄战胜反派的甜美胜利中。仿佛这位篮球未来的门面人物，向下一代的超级巨星们发起了挑战。
少来那些花招。
看，这位圣安东尼奥马刺队的大个子并非这个词的发明者。作为一种话题，“道德篮球”诞生于一场已在网上持续多年的意识形态之争。它孕育自假摔时代和NBA的移动自由（freedom of movement）规则。曾经的小众现象——比如雷吉·米勒 (Reggie Miller) 在投三分时伸腿，或是迈克尔·乔丹 (Michael Jordan) 得到幽灵哨——似乎已经演变成一种流行病，球员们纷纷倒地，仿佛一触即犯的判罚是狙击手的子弹。因此，“道德篮球”的概念赞扬了像斯蒂芬·库里 (Steph Curry) 和凯文·杜兰特 (Kevin Durant) 这样不刻意在罚球线上“大吃大喝”的球员。同时，它也斥责了像詹姆斯·哈登 (James Harden) 和乔尔·恩比德 (Joel Embiid) 这样将公然操纵规则当作日常餐食的球员。
“道德篮球”是对大多数人从小接触的那种光明磊落的篮球比赛的颂歌。在那种比赛里，重点不是钻规则的空子，不是指望靠威逼利诱，也不是寄希望于模棱两可的规则能带来帮助。它的核心是为投进而出手，而非为博取犯规而投篮。是专注于防守，而非寄望于“传球后撞人”式的进攻犯规。是在无需依赖任何这些伎俩中找到荣誉感。
对一些人来说，寻找优势本就是比赛的一部分，也是一种别样的天才。就连库里也承认制造犯规是一项技巧。如今他也在吉米·巴特勒 (Jimmy Butler) 身上看到了这一点。他新秀赛季曾与科里·马盖蒂 (Corey Maggette) 并肩作战。库里的职业生涯可以说是被职业造犯规大师们所“首尾呼应”的。
谢伊·吉尔杰斯-亚历山大（左）和球风极具侵略性的雷霆队，已经成为“道德篮球”辩论中的焦点。(David Berding / Getty Images)
“撕裂”动作（rip-through）。不易察觉的伸腿。在行进中夸大身体接触的能力。精于利用杠杆原理，让防守者失去平衡，并惩罚他们的失位。这些技巧与运球过人一样，需要一丝不苟的精巧工艺。哈登对NBA收球步（gather-step）规则的运用，既可以被视为一种艺术，也可以被认为不甚体面。
听起来，文班似乎将他的旗帜插在了后者的阵营里。仿佛他在法国长大，遵循的是街头篮球场上“不见血不算犯规”的规矩，在那里吹罚一次进攻犯规都会激起公愤。
在一场主场战胜菲尼克斯太阳队的比赛后，刚刚结束力量训练的库里花了一点时间来思考文班亚马可能引领新时代走向篮球纯粹主义誓言的想法。然后他给出了一个简洁的反应：“我太喜欢了。”
上周NBA杯决赛前，当被要求进一步解释时，文班亚马阐明了他的意思。
“在现代篮球中，”他说，“我们看到很多篮球风格，它们能给对手造成的威胁种类并不丰富。大量的单打，有时甚至是某种意义上被强迫的篮球。而我们尝试提供一种有时可以被描述为更老派的篮球风格——也就是马刺之道。所以，在我看来，这是一种战术上更正确的篮球。”
无可否认，他的解释听起来并不具备革命性。他的后续发言听起来更像是一位NCAA二流联盟的教练在抨击AAU篮球，而不像是一位头戴贝雷帽的“道德篮球”活动家。
但如果他无意站队，他其实也应该这么做。因为他早已身在其中。
截至周日，文班亚马职业生涯场均获得5.0次罚球。从2023-24赛季至今，这一数据在所有球员中排名第35位——仅比库里高出六位。
在此期间，只有八名球员的场均罚球次数达到或超过七次：扬尼斯·阿德托昆博 (Giannis Antetokounmpo)、恩比德、卢卡·东契奇 (Luka Dončić)、谢伊·吉尔杰斯-亚历山大 (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander)、保罗·班凯罗 (Paolo Banchero)、锡安·威廉姆森 (Zion Williamson)、巴特勒和特雷·杨 (Trae Young)。
但问题不在于球员获得罚球。纵观NBA历史，站上罚球线一直是成为伟大得分手的核心部分。
在NBA历史总得分榜前30名中，只有两位球员的每次罚球出手平均对应至少四次投篮出手：库里（4.13次）和阿历克斯·英格利什 (Alex English)（4.09次）。另外只有六名球员的这一数据达到至少三次：雷·阿伦 (Ray Allen)（3.9次）、约翰·哈夫利切克 (John Havlicek)（3.6次）、文斯·卡特 (Vince Carter)（3.5次）、凯文·加内特 (Kevin Garnett)（3.4次）、卡里姆·阿卜杜尔-贾巴尔 (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar)（3.0次）和埃尔文·海耶斯 (Elvin Hayes)（3.0次）。
联盟中大多数顶级得分手的每次罚球出手大约对应2.5次投篮出手。最强的得分手总能走上罚球线。这才是篮球。
问题不仅仅在于制造犯规，更关乎比赛的美感，关乎那些不正当手段的流行。世界上最高大、运动能力最强的一群人，在下巴被轻轻擦过后就猛地后仰，仿佛他们平时从不练脖子。同一个球员可以被允许推人，但当他被推时却能得到哨子。那些挥臂动作和假摔——以及当这些伎俩无效时的喋喋不休——与此同时，一些真正的身体接触却被认为是微不足道的。在这个伟大的联赛，比赛却演变成了法律程序，裁判走向技术台的样子就像律师走向法官席。
就连洛杉矶湖人队主教练JJ·雷迪克 (JJ Redick) 也表达了他对吹罚不一致的担忧。要知道，罚球之于湖人，就好比土豆之于爱达荷州。
从近期教练们失控的次数来看，这背后显然有更大的问题。甚至可能即将到达一个临界点。这无疑与比赛的观赏性息息相关。博彩因素的乱入更是让场面雪上加霜。
明尼苏达森林狼队主教练克里斯·芬奇 (Chris Finch) 上周在对阵雷霆队时暴怒离场的事件，让人们重新关注他今年早些时候对俄克拉荷马城的评论。
克里斯·芬奇谈雷霆队：
“跟这支球队比赛太令人沮丧了，因为他们犯规实在太多了。真的。他们一直都在犯规。然后你又基本不能碰谢伊。这真的非常让人泄气。” pic.twitter.com/EWTarUcqAa
— Oh No He Didn’t (@ ohnohedidnt24) February 25, 2025
在幕后，人们讨论此事时，更多是将其视为一种需要应对的现实，而非抱怨。俄克拉荷马城的窒息式防守充满运动能力、身高臂长、身体对抗激烈且极具侵略性。他们的运作方式似乎基于一种理解：裁判不可能吹掉每一次犯规。他们并非刻意犯规，只是根本不介意犯规。这就是蜂群战术的本质。
芬奇和越来越多非俄克拉荷马城球迷一样，觉得一支拥有如此防守风格的球队，阵中同时还有一位联盟罚球次数名列前茅的球员，这实在是一种令人不快的讽刺。
需要明确的是，针对俄克拉荷马城的批评只是其统治力地位的自然产物。雷霆队并非靠着这些细枝末节的优势取胜，即便他们确实打得很好。他们赢在卓越。他们带着冠军级的自信打球，这催生了另一个让他们看起来不可战胜的境界。因此，他们成为了首要目标。所有伟大的球队都会经历这些。
但这也揭示了关于“道德篮球”的一个更深层次的真理：它是赢得大场面的必要条件。
人们常说“篮球之神”和“用正确的方式打球”。这宣扬了一种观点，即篮球的因果报应终将降临在那些投机取巧的人身上。事实是：在冠军级别赢球是如此艰难，光靠小聪明是远远不够的。依赖那些伎俩只能在一定程度上奏效。
当比赛悬于一线，当赌注达到更高层面时，胜利需要纯粹。世界顶尖的球员不会被小伎俩所阻挠。投篮必须命中。犯规必须实打实地赢得。防守必须密不透风。压力必须被承受。球队必须名副其实。
文班亚马还未满22岁，但别忘了他去年夏天在巴黎奥运会上的经历。他所目睹和体验的一切。正是“道德篮球”在金牌争夺战中击败了他，也为他立志成为世界最佳的火焰增添了燃料。
这才是文班所坚守的立场，即使他还没有公然宣之于口。至少现在还没有。
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：Victor Wembanyama is preaching ethical basketball. There's a larger truth to it all
Victor Wembanyama is preaching ethical basketball. There’s a larger truth to it all
Victor Wembanyama, it seemed, issued a decree. One veiled in gratitude and sealed with sarcasm.
“I’m just glad to be part of something that’s growing to be so beautiful,” he said.
“Pure and ethical basketball.”
This rang as from a herald, with the panache of a proposed law. Especially because it came after a win over the Oklahoma City Thunder — the NBA’s new face of manipulation, given their position as dominant defending champs — Wembanyama seemed to revel in a sweet victory of a hero over a villain. As if the future face of basketball threw down a challenge to the next generation of superstars.
Cut the shenanigans.
See, the San Antonio Spurs’ big man didn’t invent the term. Ethical basketball as a talking point was born in an ideological battle waged online for years now. Conceived by the flopping era and the NBA’s freedom of movement edict. What was once niche — Reggie Miller extending his leg on 3-pointers, and Michael Jordan getting phantom whistles — seemed to grow into an epidemic of players falling like touch fouls were sniper fire. So the concept of ethical basketball praised players such as Steph Curry and Kevin Durant for not intentionally feasting at the free-throw line. And, simultaneously, it chided players such as James Harden and Joel Embiid for unabashedly manipulating the rules as a steady diet.
Ethical basketball is an ode to a straight-up version of the game most people grew up playing. When it wasn’t about milking loopholes. Or banking on coercion. Or hoping for help from ambiguous rules. It’s shooting to make instead of aiming to draw a foul. It’s playing defense instead of hoping for a pass-and-crash charge. It’s finding honor in not needing any of that.
For some, finding an edge is part of the game and its own version of genius. Even Curry acknowledged the skill of drawing fouls. He sees it with Jimmy Butler now. He played with Corey Maggette as a rookie. Curry’s career is bookended by professional foul-drawers.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, left, and the aggressive Thunder have been a lightning rod in the “ethical basketball” debate. (David Berding / Getty Images)
The rip-through. The subtle leg kick. The ability to exaggerate contact on the fly. The expertise at manipulating leverage, getting defenders off balance and punishing them for being out of position. It’s as meticulous and crafty as dribbling through traffic. The way Harden negotiated the NBA’s gather-step rules could be considered artistic or unbecoming.
It sounded as if Wemby planted his flag on the side of the latter. As if he chose the era when footwork didn’t require expertise at Twister because traveling was an easy call. As if he grew up in France playing the no-blood-no-foul rules of blacktop, and calling a charge provoked a flagrant reaction.
Curry, fresh off a weight-lifting session after a home win against the Phoenix Suns, took a moment to process the idea of Wembanyama potentially leading the new era into a basketball purity vow. Then he gave a succinct reaction: “I love it.”
Wembanyama, when asked to explain further ahead of last week’s NBA Cup final, clarified his meaning.
“In modern basketball,” he said, “we see a lot of brands of basketball that don’t offer much variety in the dangers they pose to the opponents. Lots of isolation ball and, sometimes, kind of forced basketball. And we try to propose a brand of basketball that can be described as more old-school sometimes — the Spurs way as well. So it’s tactically more correct basketball, in my opinion.”
Admittedly, his explanation didn’t scream revolutionary. His follow-up sounded much more like a mid-major coach throwing shade at AAU hoops than a beret-ed activist of ethical basketball.
But if he didn’t mean to pick a side, he should have. It’s the one he’s already on.
Wembanyama, through Sunday, has averaged 5.0 free throws per game for his career. That ranks 35th among all players from the start of the 2023-24 season until now — just six spots ahead of Curry.
Only eight players have averaged seven or more free throws in that span: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Embiid, Luka Dončić, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Paolo Banchero, Zion Williamson, Butler and Trae Young.
But the problem isn’t players getting free throws. Throughout the history of the NBA, getting to the free-throw line has been a central part of being a great scorer.
Of the top 30 in NBA scorers in NBA history, by total points, only two average at least four shots for every free throw: Curry (4.13) and Alex English (4.09). Only six others average at least three shots per free throw: Ray Allen (3.9), John Havlicek (3.6), Vince Carter (3.5), Kevin Garnett (3.4), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (3.0) and Elvin Hayes (3.0).
Most of the league’s best scorers fall somewhere near 2.5 shots per free throw. The best scorers will get to the free-throw line. That’s basketball.
The issue is bigger than drawing fouls. It’s the aesthetic. It’s the popularization of the underhandedness. Some of the largest men in the world, and some of the best athletes, snapping their heads back after the slightest graze to the chin, as if they routinely skip neck day. It’s the same player being allowed to push off but getting the whistle when he’s pushed. It’s the flailing and flopping — and the constant complaining when neither yields returns — while some real contact gets deemed as marginal. It’s this great league having games morph into legal proceedings, with officials approaching the scorer’s table like a lawyer approaches the bench.
Even Los Angeles Lakers coach JJ Redick voiced his concerns about the inconsistency of officiating. And free throws to the Lakers are like potatoes to Idaho.
Judging by the number of coaches losing it lately, this reeks of something bigger. Perhaps even something coming to a head. Something without a doubt connected to watchability. It certainly doesn’t help to have the gambling connection photobombing the scene either.
Minnesota Timberwolves coach Chris Finch’s crash out against the Thunder last week brought to light his comments about OKC from earlier this year.
Chris Finch on the Thunder:
“It’s so frustrating to play this team because they foul a ton. They really do. They foul all the time. And then you can’t really touch Shai. And it’s a very frustrating thing” pic.twitter.com/EWTarUcqAa
— Oh No He Didn’t (@ ohnohedidnt24) February 25, 2025
It’s discussed behind the scenes, more as a reality to deal with than a complaint. Oklahoma City’s suffocating defense is athletic, long, physical and aggressive. It seems to operate with the understanding that the refs can’t call every foul. They don’t intentionally foul as much as they simply don’t mind fouling. That’s the nature of swarms.
Finch, as more and more non-Oklahoma City fans do, finds it unpleasantly ironic for a squad with that defensive bent to also feature one of the NBA leaders in free-throw attempts.
To be clear, the criticism aimed at OKC is just a natural part of its dominance. The Thunder don’t win because of the margins, even if they play them well. They win because of excellence. They play with championship confidence, which produced another level that makes them seem invincible. Thus, they’ve become prime targets. It happens to all great teams.
But it also points to a larger truth about ethical basketball. It’s required to win big.
People often refer to basketball gods and playing the right way. It purports this idea that the karma of basketball catches up with the people who hustle their way through. The truth: Winning at the championship level is so hard; gimmicks aren’t enough. Living by those schemes only works to a certain point.
When the game’s on the line, when the stakes reach higher levels, victory demands purity. The best in the world won’t be thwarted by tricks. Shots must be made. Fouls must be earned. Defense must be stingy. Pressure must be handled. Teams must be worthy.
Wembanyama is just shy of 22 years old, but remember what he went through last summer in the Paris Olympics. What he witnessed and experienced. Ethical basketball is what beat him in the gold-medal game, what added fuel to his fire to be the best in the world.
That’s what Wemby stands on, even if he won’t say it blatantly. Yet.
By Marcus Thompson II, via The Athletic