By Mike Finger | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2025-12-23 16:40:50
2025年12月13日，星期六，在拉斯维加斯举行的一场NBA杯半决赛中，圣安东尼奥马刺队前锋维克托·文班亚马 (1) 在俄克拉荷马城雷霆队后卫杰伦·威廉姆斯 (8) 附近投篮。 (美联社/朗达·丘吉尔)
维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 已经击败过勒布朗·詹姆斯 (LeBron James)、凯文·杜兰特 (Kevin Durant) 和尼古拉·约基奇 (Nikola Jokic)。然而，在圣诞节的下午，他将迎战迄今为止最强大的对手。
在他击败杰里·琼斯 (Jerry Jones) 之前，他或许能先在一场比赛中砍下100分。
这并不丢人。毕竟，相当一部分美国人宁愿花三个小时在线观看达克·普雷斯科特 (Dak Prescott) 那些无关紧要的战术口令，也不愿欣赏西部联盟两支顶级篮球队的对决，这不是文班亚马的错，而这位身高7英尺4英寸的法国人对此也几乎无能为力。
但如果文班亚马能持续上演精彩表现——正如他的球队以及整个联盟所坚信的那样呢？
即便是琼斯和他那些最贪婪的同僚们，也将不得不承认，他们无法独占整个节日。
而圣安东尼奥的球迷们或许会意识到，NBA联盟也想和他们一样，深爱着这支马刺队。
我们承认，要习惯最后这一点，还需要一些时间。长久以来，联盟对这支五冠王球队的宣传和青睐，几乎总带着一丝不情不愿，其中的原因也不难理解。
在经历了“魔术师”约翰逊 (“Magic” Johnson) 对决拉里·伯德 (Larry Bird)、迈克尔·乔丹 (Michael Jordan) 的全盛时期，以及沙奎尔·奥尼尔 (Shaquille O’Neal) 与科比·布莱恩特 (Kobe Bryant) 时代的湖人之后，马刺队既不具备为电视转播量身打造的神秘色彩，也没有一个能与之相提并论的媒体市场。
由蒂姆·邓肯 (Tim Duncan)、大卫·罗宾逊 (David Robinson)、马努·吉诺比利 (Manu Ginobili) 和托尼·帕克 (Tony Parker) 领衔的马刺队备受尊重、钦佩，甚至赞誉有加。
但要说市场推广？那始终是个真正的难题，随着像马刺对阵篮网、马刺对阵活塞这类系列赛的收视率暴跌，NBA始终没能找到解决之道。
邓肯的球队成了圣诞大战的常客，但这并不一定是因为广告商或观众们强烈要求看到更多马刺队的比赛。他们就像是圣诞树上的糖果拐杖，或是晚宴餐桌上的青豆砂锅。所有人都认同他们理应出现在那里。但除了那些对15英尺打板投篮和奶油蘑菇汤最为痴迷的拥趸之外，又有谁会真正期待他们的登场呢？
文班亚马改变了这一切的氛围，而且他是在一个市场规模已不像过去那般重要的时代做到了这一点。如今，在密尔沃基或孟菲斯也能引爆网络，在南德克萨斯也能打造一个全球品牌。
本月早些时候，当联盟试图为其仍在成长中的NBA杯造势时，掌权者们是否更希望看到卢卡·东契奇 (Luka Doncic) 和湖人队挺进拉斯维加斯？或许吧，但也有一个相当有说服力的论点是，拥有比赛中最大牌的22岁以下超级巨星、并首次登上一个有分量的舞台的马刺队，正是联盟最为渴望的参与者。
事实证明，拥有文班亚马的马刺队，对生意大有裨益。
这一新的共识反映在了圣诞大战的电视转播时间表上。既然NFL已经将其对圣诞档期的“槲寄生入侵”变成了永久性的策略，NBA便再也无法独享这一天了。今年，Netflix将在下午直播两场比赛，亚马逊Prime则会在晚上直播一场，这意味着NBA将全天候与橄榄球正面交锋。
当然，橄榄球会赢。去年Netflix报告其两场圣诞比赛的平均观众人数为2400万，虽然无法证实这一数字，但这与NFL前一年在广播电视网上的收视数据基本吻合。
与此同时，NBA庆祝了其所谓的2020年代以来收视率最高的圣诞大战，其中的亮点是马刺对阵尼克斯的午间比赛吸引了490万观众，而湖人对阵勇士的黄金时段比赛则有770万观众收看。
今年，马刺对阵雷霆的比赛——一场惊心动魄的NBA杯半决赛重演，西部目前头号和二号种子之间的巅峰对决，以及可能在未来五年甚至更长时间里定义联盟霸权归属的系列赛的最新篇章——客观上是当天最具吸引力的比赛。
然而，联盟的赛程制定者并未将其安排在黄金时段。相反，这场比赛将于下午1:30在俄克拉荷马城开球，将正面对抗牛仔对阵指挥官比赛的下半场，以及雄狮对阵维京人比赛的第一节。
诚然，斯蒂芬·卡斯尔 (Stephon Castle) 和亚历克斯·卡鲁索 (Alex Caruso) 精湛的外线防守，其吸引力恐怕也难以企及布莱恩·肖滕海默 (Brian Schottenheimer) 和丹·奎因 (Dan Quinn) 之间史诗般的斗智斗勇。但当NBA试图阻止琼斯窃取圣诞节仅存的关注度时呢？
联盟正将希望寄托在圣安东尼奥及其最大牌的明星身上。
这一次的拥抱，已不再带有丝毫的勉强。
San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama (1) blocks a jump shot by Oklahoma City Thunder center Chet Holmgren (7) during the second half of their NBA game at the Frost Bank Center on Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024. San Antonio beat Oklahoma City 132-118.
San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) celebrates a 3-pointer during the second half of an NBA game in San Antonio, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025. San Antonio beat Washington 119-94. Wembanyama had four blocks and 15 points in 17 minutes to help San Antonio beat Washington 119-94.
San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) looks to drive on Washington Wizards guard Bilal Coulibaly (0) during the first half of an NBA game in San Antonio, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025. San Antonio beat Washington 119-94.
San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) blocks a shot by Washington Wizards center Alex Sarr (20) during the first half of an NBA game in San Antonio, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025. Wembanyama had four blocks and 15 points to help San Antonio beat Washington 119-94.
由生成式 AI 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：Wemby vs. the NFL? Why the NBA is ready to embrace Spurs hype
Wemby vs. the NFL? Why the NBA is ready to embrace Spurs hype
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. (AP Photo/Ronda Churchill)
Victor Wembanyama already has taken down LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Nikola Jokic. On Christmas afternoon, though, he’ll square off with his most formidable opponent yet.
He’ll score 100 points in a game before he ever beats Jerry Jones.
There’s no shame in that. It’s not Wembanyama’s fault that a plurality of Americans would prefer to stream three hours of inconsequential Dak Prescott audibles instead of watching the top two basketball teams in the Western Conference, and there’s little the 7-foot-4 Frenchman can do to change their minds.
But if Wembanyama keeps putting on a show the way his team — and his league — believes he can?
Even Jones and his greediest cohorts will concede they can’t own an entire holiday.
And the people of San Antonio just might realize the NBA wants to love the Spurs as much as they do.
That last part, we admit, will take some getting used to. For so long, the league’s hype and embrace of a five-time champion felt almost begrudging, and it was easy to understand why.
After Magic Johnson-vs.- Larry Bird, the heyday of Michael Jordan, and the Shaquille O’Neal-Kobe Bryant Lakers, the Spurs offered none of the made-for-TV mystique, nor anything close to a comparable media market.
The Spurs of Tim Duncan, David Robinson, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker were respected, and admired, and even lauded.
But marketed? That always was the real challenge, and as ratings for series like Spurs-Nets and Spurs-Pistons cratered, the NBA never figured out how to solve it.
Duncan’s teams became regulars on Christmas Day, but not necessarily because the advertisers or the audiences were clamoring for more Spurs. They were the candy canes on the tree, the green-bean casserole on the dinner table. Everybody agreed they belonged there. But did anyone other than the most devoted aficionados of 15-foot bank shots and cream of mushroom soup look forward to their arrival?
Wembanyama has changed the whole vibe, and he’s done so at a time when market size doesn’t matter as much as it used to. Nowadays, it’s easier to go viral from Milwaukee or Memphis, and it’s possible to build a global brand from South Texas.
Earlier this month, when the league was trying to drum up interest for its still-growing NBA Cup, might those in charge have preferred Luka Doncic and the Lakers to make it to Las Vegas? Maybe, but there’s also a pretty convincing argument that the Spurs — with the game’s biggest under-22 superstar, on a meaningful stage for the first time — were exactly the participant the league coveted most.
Wembanyama’s Spurs, it turns out, are good for business.
That new common knowledge is reflected in the Christmas TV schedule. Now that the NFL has made its mistletoe invasion permanent, the NBA doesn’t get the day to itself anymore. This year there will be two afternoon games on Netflix and another at night on Amazon Prime, which means the NBA will be up against football all day.
Football will win, of course. Last year Netflix reported an average of 24 million viewers across its two Christmas games, and while there’s no way to confirm that, it jibes with the numbers the NFL drew on broadcast networks the year before.
The NBA, meanwhile, celebrated what it called its most-watched Christmas slate of the 2020s, highlighted by 4.9 million midday viewers for Spurs-Knicks and 7.7 million prime-time viewers for Lakers-Warriors.
This year, Spurs-Thunder — a rematch of a thrilling Cup semifinal, a showdown between the teams currently seeded No. 1 and No. 2 in the West, and the latest renewal of a series that might come to define league supremacy for the next half-decade or more — objectively is the most appealing game of the day.
The league’s schedule-makers didn’t slot it into prime time, though. Instead, it will tip off in Oklahoma City at 1:30 p.m., up against the second half of Cowboys-Commanders and the first quarter of Lions-Vikings.
Granted, exquisite perimeter defense from Stephon Castle and Alex Caruso probably won’t come close to outdrawing the epic battle of wits between Brian Schottenheimer and Dan Quinn. But as the NBA tries to keep Jones from stealing what’s left of Christmas?
The league is counting on San Antonio and its biggest star.
The embrace isn’t begrudging anymore.
By Mike Finger, via San Antonio Express-News