By Jared Weiss | The Athletic, 2025-12-24 17:14:14
圣安东尼奥电——一场对决，从何时起才能称之为宿敌之争？
核心宿敌——那种能让整个NBA为之瞩目的球队对决——的消失，是联盟短暂的均势时代所带来的后果之一。一段宿敌关系，通过历史与竞争的沉淀而稳定形成，它所带来的那种激情、火花与深远影响，早已超越了常规赛排名的意义。然而，如今联盟的重心转移得如此之快，以至于很难有两支球队，甚至两名球员，能够长久地吸引全世界的目光。
俄克拉荷马城雷霆的崛起十分迅速，并且从天赋到薪金结构都决定了他们拥有持久的竞争力。考虑到自2018年以来联盟再无卫冕冠军，谈论他们将统治未来十年还为时过早，但他们看起来确实势不可挡。
但这已是过去时。无论此前人们对雷霆掌控2020年代有多么确信，现在都必须面对一个事实：圣安东尼奥马刺在10天内双杀了他们。
周二，马刺在主场以130-114取胜，这并不会就此撕掉雷霆故事的下一章节，但也到了需要改写剧本的时候。马刺正在证明，他们是雷霆征途上的主要角色之一，而当两队在圣诞大战再度于俄克拉荷马城交锋时，整个NBA世界将不得不正视这一事实。
那么，是什么让一个竞争者变成了宿敌？
“我猜，宿敌之争的标志大概是每场比赛都座无虚席，场上的能量与众不同，从第一分钟到第四十八分钟身体对抗都拉满，”维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 说。
全中。全中。全中。
虽然真正的宿敌关系源于胜负难料的紧张感，但对决本身的质感——比赛的氛围、在线上线下定义关键时刻的球员个性——则将其提升到了新的层次。总得有人看对方不顺眼才行。
文班亚马和切特·霍姆格伦 (Chet Holmgren)，这两位年轻的七尺“独角兽”，从青少年时期在青年巡回赛上就开始交手，他们之间的一些瞬间总能让追逐戏剧性的镜头对准自己。当文班亚马在第三节末段持球冲击霍姆格伦，将这位雷霆大个子撞倒在地并被判进攻犯规时，这个画面感觉会让我们在下一次他们针锋相对时记忆犹新。
尽管两队之间尚未有太多历史恩怨，但文班亚马与霍姆格伦的对位显然是一个催化剂。
“不，我不考虑这个，”文班亚马赛后用法语对《队报》记者马克西姆·奥班 (Maxime Aubin) 表示。“至少从篮球角度来看，我们之间没有可比性。”
但最重要的是，宿敌关系需要回答一个更深层次的问题。它必须超越季后赛对阵图让老对手们不断相遇的范畴，必须有比“晋级下一轮”更重大的利害关系。
雷霆和马刺具备成为定义联盟格局的宿敌对决的一切要素，因为他们之间的联系引发了几个关乎篮球本质的难题。特别是，文班亚马在他宣称自己为能成为一支打“纯粹且符合篮球道德”的球队一员而感到自豪时，点燃了其中一个导火索。
他的这番言论发表于圣安东尼奥在NBA杯半决赛战胜雷霆之后，这让马刺扮演起了英雄的角色，在当今的篮坛巨擘面前捍卫这项运动的灵魂。他声称他的马刺队所展现的篮球风格在战术上更为正确——这是一个对主观追求的客观判定。无论他是否有意直接抨击雷霆的打法风格（雷霆的打法常被批评为对规则的操纵），他都清楚地意识到了篮球世界正在发生的变化。
在一项打法风格每隔几年就会演变的运动中，所谓战术上更正确的，就是能奏效的。雷霆的战术适合他们的天赋，马刺的战术亦然。但像这样的时刻撕下了篮球场上温文尔雅的面纱，揭示了其本质：一场硬碰硬的正面交锋。
当然，就连文班亚马也清楚地表示，在马刺能达到雷霆那样的赢球水平之前，这还算不上是宿敌对决。事实上，在当事人看来，现在就称其为宿敌有些不合时宜。
“感觉现在就说这是宿敌对决会有点奇怪，”文班亚马说。“这是一种自然而然形成的东西。我没说未来不可能成为宿敌，我希望那一天能早日到来。但我们无疑正在不断接近。”
马刺队教练米奇·约翰逊 (Mitch Johnson) 表示，他并不认为马刺与雷霆正在成为宿敌，因为他的球队才刚刚组建了三分之一个赛季，而雷霆刚刚赢得了总冠军。
“我不想不尊重他们的建队体系和他们所取得的成就，”约翰逊说。“我们正在努力建设一些东西，我们在追赶联盟中的每一支其他球队，而他们显然处于领跑地位。”
马刺侧翼德文·瓦塞尔 (Devin Vassell) 也没有“上钩”。
“如果媒体非要这么说，那就这样吧，”瓦塞尔在周二的比赛前说。“对我们来说，这只是又一场我们想要赢下的比赛。”
他可以这样告诉自己来保持心态平稳，而且这对他似乎很有效。但比赛本身所呈现的证据再清楚不过了：马刺的球员、教练和球迷都将这场比赛视为本赛季的决定性一战。当文班亚马在第四节面对亚历克斯·卡鲁索 (Alex Caruso) 命中一记三分，将马刺的领先优势扩大到12分时，霜冻银行中心球馆爆发出了本赛季以来最热烈的欢呼声。这甚至可能是这十年来最响亮的一次。
FBC IS ROCKIN’
Vote #NBAAllStar: https://t.co/frD28T3bmx
@ FanDuelSN_SW pic.twitter.com/HfWc9GtrRn
— San Antonio Spurs (@ spurs) December 24, 2025
而且，马刺选择在这个夜晚揭晓他们全新的胜利庆祝仪式，也绝非巧合。在文班亚马所支持的、具有欧洲足球风格的“胡狼”球迷区的激励下，他与队友们一同敲响战鼓，点燃全场气氛。
马刺老将哈里森·巴恩斯 (Harrison Barnes) 在效力于金州勇士队期间，曾经历过一些影响深远的宿敌对决。他见证了勇士王朝的初期，当时他们在一个赛季内从首轮出局的队伍一跃成为总冠军，并在接下来的赛季取得了73胜9负的战绩，最终在总决赛中输给了勒布朗·詹姆斯 (LeBron James) 和克利夫兰骑士。
“我认为宿敌关系是好事，”巴恩斯说。“当两支球队都对自己的未来目标和成就怀有崇高抱负时，这种竞争是健康的。”
雷霆是自那支勇士队以来，第一支给联盟投下如此巨大阴影的球队。他们上赛季经历了一段非凡的总冠军之旅，然后将那种统治力提升到了一个似乎无人能挡的高度。
如今，在两次输给圣安东尼奥之后，这片阴影看起来淡了一些。现在要知道有多少光芒开始穿透这片阴影还为时尚早，这两场比赛（以及圣诞大战的重赛结果）也不足以弥合两队之间的差距。但差距正在缩小。
“我们还需要多赢几场才能追上他们，但这肯定意味着一些东西，”文班亚马说。
周二比赛结束时有一个值得注意的时刻，凸显了这一瞬间的重要性。在比赛还剩不到四分钟时，马刺叫了暂停，暂停回来后，前锋凯尔登·约翰逊 (Keldon Johnson) 立刻命中一记三分，将马刺的领先优势扩大到18分。随后，雷霆教练马克·戴格诺特 (Mark Daigneault) 立即叫了暂停并换下了他的首发球员。考虑到48小时后就是一场重赛，此举被看作是戴格诺特在球队连续两次输给马刺后向队员传递的一个信息，尤其是在文班亚马因为出场时间限制可能只发挥了七成功力的情况下。
连续两场对决，马刺对雷霆所做的一切，正是雷霆此前对联盟几乎所有其他球队所做的事情。无论你称之为初露萌芽、正在形成、含苞待放，还是已经赫然成型，这种宿敌关系确实存在。在不到48小时后，当两队再次交锋时，雷霆将有机会回应这些对决所带来的根本性问题。
“他们会比以往任何时候都更加专注，很可能，”文班亚马说。“我知道他们是一支足智多谋的球队，但我们也会奉陪到底。”
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：Why Spurs-Thunder has all the makings of the NBA's rivalry of the future
Why Spurs-Thunder has all the makings of the NBA’s rivalry of the future
SAN ANTONIO — When does a matchup become a rivalry?
The vanishing of a core rivalry — a pairing of teams whose matchups bring the NBA to a halt — has been one of the consequences of the NBA’s brief parity era. A rivalry, steadily nurtured through history and competition over time, brings a fire, passion and consequence that lives beyond the standings. But the center of gravity moves so swiftly through the league these days that it’s hard for teams, or even two players, to hold the world’s attention for too long.
The Oklahoma City Thunder arrived quickly and have staying power, from their talent to their payroll. The talk of them taking over the next decade was premature considering there hasn’t been a repeat champion since 2018, but they certainly seemed inevitable.
But that is the past tense. Whatever certainty there was about the Thunder’s grasp on the 2020s must now contend with one fact: The San Antonio Spurs have beaten them twice in 10 days.
The Spurs’ 130-114 home win on Tuesday does not scrap the next chapter of the Thunder’s story. But it’s time for some rewrites. The Spurs are proving to be a main character in OKC’s journey, and the wider NBA world is about to have that fact thrust in their faces when the two teams match up again in Oklahoma City on Christmas.
So what makes a competitor a rival?
“I guess the signs are every night is packed, energy is different, physicality from the first to the 48th minute is up there,” Victor Wembanyama said.
Check. Check. Check.
While true rivalry grows from the tension of uncertainty, the texture of the matchup — the feel of the games, the personalities that define the moments inside and outside the lines — brings it to the next level. Someone needs to be sick of somebody.
Wembanyama and Chet Holmgren, the two young 7-foot unicorns who have gone at each other since they were teenagers on the youth circuit, have had some moments that point the drama-seeking camera in their direction. When Wembanyama drove through Holmgren and sent the Thunder big to the ground on what was deemed an offensive foul late in the third quarter, it felt like a moment we’ll remember the next time they get in each other’s face.
Though there is not much history yet between these teams, the Wembanyama-Holmgren matchup is a clear catalyst.
“No, I don’t think about that,” Wembanyama said in French after the game, per L’Equipe’s Maxime Aubin. “At least from a basketball standpoint, there’s no comparison (between us).”
But most of all, rivalries need to answer a deeper question. It has to be more than just the playoff bracket leading familiar faces toward one another. There needs to be something more at stake than advancing.
The Thunder and Spurs have the makings of a league-defining rivalry because their connection poses several existential quandaries. In particular, Wembanyama ignited one when he proclaimed how proud he was to be a part of a team that played “pure and ethical basketball.”
His comments, which came after San Antonio’s NBA Cup semifinal win over the Thunder, placed the Spurs into the role of the hero, defending the soul of the sport against the current titans of the game. He claimed his Spurs were performing a brand of basketball that is more tactically correct, an objective determination to a subjective pursuit. Whether he meant it as a direct swipe at the Thunder’s style of play, which has often been criticized as a manipulation of the rulebook, he is aware of the way the basketball world is churning.
In a sport where play styles are evolving every few years, what is more tactically correct is what works. The Thunder’s tactics work for their talent. So do the Spurs’. But moments like these pull back the veneer of basketball chivalry for what this all really is: a head-on collision.
Of course, even Wembanyama was clear that this can’t be a rivalry until the Spurs win on the same level as the Thunder. In fact, to those involved, calling it a rivalry was a bit gauche.
“It feels like saying it is a rivalry would be a weird thing,” Wembanyama said. “It’s something that feels natural. I didn’t say that it’s impossible that it can be in the future, and I hope it will be soon. But we’re definitely getting closer.”
Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said he doesn’t view Spurs-Thunder as a budding rivalry because his team has been together for a third of a season, while the Thunder just won a title.
“I don’t want to disrespect their program and what they built,” Johnson said. “We are trying to build something, and we’re chasing every other single team in this league, and they’re obviously at the forefront of it all.”
Spurs wing Devin Vassell also didn’t take the bait.
“If the media says it is, I guess,” Vassell said before Tuesday’s game. “To us, it’s just another game that we want to win.”
He can tell himself that to keep his mindset level, and that appears to work for him. But the evidence of the game itself was clear: Spurs players, coaches and fans treated this like a defining game of the season. When Wembanyama hit a 3 over Alex Caruso to push the Spurs’ lead to 12 in the fourth quarter, it was the loudest the Frost Bank Center has been all year. It may have been the loudest it has been all decade.
FBC IS ROCKIN’
— San Antonio Spurs (@ spurs) December 24, 2025
And it hardly seems a coincidence that the Spurs chose this night to unveil their new victory celebration, when Wembanyama, spurred on by the European soccer-style Jackals fan section he’s championed, banged a drum alongside his teammates to spur on the crowd.
Spurs veteran Harrison Barnes has been around some rivalries of consequence in his time with the Golden State Warriors. He was there in the early stages of the Warriors’ run, when they went from first-round exit to champion in one season, then followed that up with a 73-9 campaign that ended in a loss to LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
“I think rivalries are good,” Barnes said. “They’re healthy, when two teams have high aspirations of where they want to go and what they want to do.”
The Thunder are the first franchise since those Warriors to cast that daunting a shadow over the league. They had a phenomenal championship run last season, then heightened that dominance to the point where there didn’t seem to be a way out of their path.
Now, after two losses to San Antonio, the shadow looks a bit lighter. It’s too soon to know how many lumens are starting to poke through, nor are these two games (and the result of the rematch on Christmas) enough to close the gap between these two teams. But the gap is shrinking.
“Still got a few wins before we can catch up on them, but it means something for sure,” Wembanyama said.
There was a notable moment at the end of Tuesday’s game that illustrated the importance of this moment. After the Spurs took a timeout with just under four minutes left in the game, forward Keldon Johnson hit a 3 right out of the break to push the Spurs’ lead to 18. Then, Thunder coach Mark Daigneault immediately called a timeout and pulled his starters. With a rematch just 48 hours away, it came across as Daigneault sending a message to his team after the Spurs had beaten them twice in a row, with Wembanyama playing at maybe 70 percent of his capability due to a minutes limit.
For two straight matchups, the Spurs have done to the Thunder what the Thunder have done to virtually every other team in the league. Whether you call it a rivalry that’s budding, emerging, blossoming or just straight up here, it does exist. And in less than 48 hours, the Thunder will get their chance to address the existential questions these teams present when they go at each other again.
“They’re going to be locked in more than any time before, probably,” Wembaynama said. “I know it’s a resourceful team, but we’re gonna be there too.”
By Jared Weiss, via The Athletic