By Jeff McDonald, Staff Writer | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2025-12-31 13:12:34
2025年1月4日，周六，于圣安东尼奥福斯特银行中心举行的NBA比赛上半场，丹佛掘金队中锋尼古拉·约基奇 (Nkola Jokic) (15号) 正在防守圣安东尼奥马刺队前锋维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) (1号)。丹佛掘金队经过加时赛以122-111击败马刺。
马刺队将于本周四迈入新的一年，并宣告一个首要且显而易见的新年决心。自2019年以来每个赛季都未能进入NBA季后赛，现在是时候重返那个舞台了。
有些人会说，以23胜9负战绩位列西部第二的马刺，在这项目标上已经进度超前。但后卫德阿隆·福克斯 (De’Aaron Fox) 并不这么认为。
“在别人看来我们或许是进度超前了，但我们觉得这支球队天赋异禀，足以和任何对手抗衡，”福克斯说。“我们觉得我们能处在这个位置，是靠自己拼来的，我们正好处在我们该在的地方。”
在马刺队开启他们2026年的季后赛征程之前，他们必须首先告别这跌宕起伏、新闻不断的2025年——这一年的结尾比开头要好得多。
以下是马刺队这一年的回顾：
- 高开低走
对马刺来说，2025年始于一声巨响。他们以一场激动人心的胜利开启了新的一年，在丹佛以113-110险胜对手，比赛中维克托·文班亚马 (35分，18个篮板) 与三届MVP得主尼古拉·约基奇 (41分，18个篮板，9次助攻)上演了一场史诗级的巅峰对决。
一晚之后，约基奇和掘金队在圣安东尼奥通过加时赛还以颜色。对马刺而言，这开启了他们在二月全明星周末前13场比赛中输掉8场的艰难时期。
- 神来之笔：福克斯驾临
多年来，马刺队以其不愿参与赛季中期交易——尤其是重磅交易——而闻名（或臭名昭著）。
今年二月，球队一反常态，在一笔三方交易中从萨克拉门托国王队引进了福克斯，并将特雷·琼斯 (Tre Jones) 和扎克·科林斯 (Zach Collins) 连同三个未来的首轮选秀权送往芝加哥公牛队。
马刺队相信，这位速度奇快、得分能力强的前全明星球员，将是文班亚马完美的挡拆搭档。然而，在短期内，这对组合的联袂时间却十分短暂。
2025年11月26日，周三，于俄勒冈州波特兰市举行的阿联酋航空NBA杯赛中，圣安东尼奥马刺队后卫德阿隆·福克斯 (4号) 在上半场持球推进。(美联社图片/Ali Gradischer)
- 文班闪耀全明星赛
二月下旬，文班亚马在他的职业生涯清单上又完成了一项成就，首次以西部全明星球员的身份亮相。
在旧金山举办的这场篮球盛宴中，文班亚马代表“查克队”出战了两场比赛，在13分钟内共得到17分、7个篮板和2次盖帽。
然而，直到十月份之前，这将是人们最后一次在任何NBA赛场上看到文班亚马的身影。
- 血栓终结文班亚马的飞驰之旅
马刺队甚至还没从全明星周末归来，球队的赛季就遭受了毁灭性打击——文班亚马被诊断出右肩患有深静脉血栓。
血栓状况导致文班亚马在他的第二个NBA赛季剩余比赛中全部赛季报销。
由于仅出战46场比赛——远低于联盟规定的65场评奖门槛——文班亚马无资格获得MVP投票、入选NBA最佳阵容或赢得他的首个年度最佳防守球员奖杯。
- 福克斯同样赛季报销
在文班亚马宣布赛季报销近三周后，福克斯也紧随其后。
在3月12日战胜达拉斯独行侠队后，福克斯宣布结束本赛季，并选择接受手术以修复他左手小指的韧带损伤，这个伤病自他在萨克拉门托参加训练营以来就一直困扰着他。
最终，在2025年，福克斯和文班亚马联手只打了五场比赛。
2025年3月19日，周三，于圣安东尼奥举行的一场NBA篮球比赛后，圣安东尼奥马刺队前锋桑德罗·马穆克拉什维利 (54号) 与说唱歌手弗雷瓦·弗拉夫一同离场，并向球迷致意。(美联社图片/Darren Abate)
- 马穆闪耀主场，弗雷瓦前来助阵
马刺队以34胜48负的战绩结束了2024-25赛季，比文班亚马的新秀赛季多赢了12场比赛。尽管如此，球队还是连续第六个赛季无缘季后赛，刷新了队史最长的季后赛荒。
但这并不意味着赛季的最后几个月毫无亮点。
3月19日，马刺队史上最令人难忘的“无关紧要”的比赛之一上演了，鲜有上场机会的前锋桑德罗·马穆克拉什维利 (Sandro Mamukelashvili) 在19分26秒的出场时间内狂砍34分，打出了核爆级表现，帮助球队以120-105爆冷击败纽约尼克斯队。
这创造了NBA历史上在不到20分钟内得分最高的纪录。
为这个夜晚增添超现实色彩的是，66岁的说唱巨星弗雷瓦·弗拉夫 (Flavor Flav)——恰好是马穆克拉什维利的朋友——也亲临现场为他的好友加油助威。
- 威尔特·张伯伦奖杯留守圣城
四月下旬，后卫斯蒂芬·卡斯尔 (Stephon Castle) 成为连续第二位捧起NBA年度最佳新秀奖杯的马刺球员，追随着文班亚马那20.5码的巨大足迹。
凭借卡斯尔的成就，马刺成为NBA历史上第五支连续两年斩获年度最佳新秀的球队，也是自2015年和2016年明尼苏达森林狼队的安德鲁·威金斯 (Andrew Wiggins) 和卡尔-安东尼·唐斯 (Karl-Anthony Towns) 以来首支达成此举的球队。
2025年4月30日，周三，在圣安东尼奥的Victory Capital表演中心，圣安东尼奥马刺队球员斯蒂芬·卡斯尔在领取2024-2025赛季起亚NBA年度最佳新秀奖杯后回答记者提问。
- 波波维奇：从教练到“大佬”
2025年5月8日，将作为队史最值得纪念的日子之一被永远铭记。
这一天，格雷格·波波维奇 (Gregg Popovich) 在执教29个赛季后，宣布辞去主教练一职。
此举并非毫无征兆。波波维奇在2024年11月中风后缺席了赛季大部分比赛，由长期担任助教的米奇·约翰逊 (Mitch Johnson) 首先以代理主教练的身份接管了球队。
波波维奇最初通过新闻稿宣布了他从教练岗位退休的决定。三天后，在正式任命约翰逊为主教练的新闻发布会上，波波维奇自中风以来首次公开露面。
这位76岁的功勋教头以1390场胜利的战绩，作为NBA历史胜场数最多的主教练光荣卸任。他已于2023年入选奈史密斯篮球名人堂。
波波维奇保留了他马刺篮球运营总裁的头衔——或者用他在五月那天的话来说，是“大佬（El Jefe）”。
2025年5月5日，周一，在圣安东尼奥，前圣安东尼奥马刺队主教练格雷格·波波维奇 (中) 在前球员马努·吉诺比利 (左) 和蒂姆·邓肯 (右) 的帮助下，介绍米奇·约翰逊为圣安东尼奥马刺NBA篮球队的新任主教练。(美联社图片/Eric Gay)
- 乐透好运再临马刺
马刺队的乐透好运在当月晚些时候得以延续，尽管在芝加哥举行的选秀抽签中仅拥有第八高的概率，球队最终却赢得了榜眼签。
这次幸运的顺位跃升为马刺队带来了连续第三年的前四顺位选秀权。继卡斯尔和文班亚马之后，来自罗格斯大学的活力后卫迪伦·哈珀 (Dylan Harper) 成为了马刺最新的乐透战利品。
2025年12月8日，周一，在新奥尔良举行的一场对阵新奥尔良鹈鹕队的NBA篮球比赛上半场，圣安东尼奥马刺队后卫迪伦·哈珀 (2号) 与队友德阿隆·福克斯 (4号) 一同庆祝。(美联社图片/Matthew Hinton)
- 十二月为2026年奠定基调
2025-26赛季于十月拉开帷幕，文班亚马和福克斯重返赛场，哈珀加盟阵中，约翰逊也稳坐马刺主帅之位。
进入2025年赛程的最后一晚，凭借十二月三胜西部第一俄克拉荷马城雷霆队的战绩，马刺出人意料地高居西部第二。
随着2025年在午夜钟声中正式结束，马刺队的季后赛征程可以正式开启了。
这是马刺决心要实现的新年目标。
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：Ten unforgettable moments from the Spurs' topsy-turvy 2025
Ten unforgettable moments from the Spurs’ topsy-turvy 2025
Denver Nuggets center Nkola Jokic (15) defends San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) during the first half of their NBA game at the Frost Bank Center on Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025 in San Antonio. Denver beat the Spurs 122-111 in overtime.
The Spurs will enter the new year Thursday heralding one overriding and quite obvious resolution. After failing to make the NBA playoffs every season since 2019, it is high time to get back there.
Some would say the Spurs, at 23-9 and second place in the Western Conference, are ahead of schedule in that endeavor. Not guard De’Aaron Fox.
“We might be ahead of schedule with other people, but we feel like we have so much talent in this room that we can go out there and compete with anybody,” Fox said. “We feel like we are in this position because we earned it and we’re right where we need to be.”
Before the Spurs can make their 2026 playoff push, they first must bid “Auld Lang Syne” to a tumultuous and newsworthy 2025 that ended better than it began.
Here is a look back at the Spurs’ year that was:
1. Quick start quickly fades
For the Spurs, 2025 started with a bang. They opened the year with a stirring 113-110 victory at Denver that featured a monumental mano-a-mano showdown between Victor Wembanyama (35 points, 18 rebounds) and three-time MVP Nikola Jokic (41 points, 18 rebounds, nine assists).
A night later, Jokic and the Nuggets returned the favor with an overtime victory in San Antonio. For the Spurs, that began a stretch of eight losses in 13 games heading into the February All-Star break.
2. Crazy like a Fox
Over the years, the Spurs have become famous – or infamous – for their reticence to engage in midseason trades, particularly those of the blockbuster variety.
The club went against type in February, landing Fox from Sacramento in a three-team deal that sent Tre Jones and Zach Collins to Chicago along with three future first-round draft picks.
In the speedy and high-scoring one-time All-Star, the Spurs believed they had acquired a perfect pick-and-roll partner with Wembanyama. In the short-term, however, the pairing would be short-lived.
San Antonio Spurs guard De’Aaron Fox (4) carries the ball up the court during the first half of an Emirates NBA Cup basketball game against the Portland Trail Blazers, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Ali Gradischer)
3. Wemby dazzles among All-Stars
Later in February, Wembanyama checked another box off his career to-do list by making his first appearance as a Western Conference All-Star.
Playing in a pair of games for Team Chuck in the extravaganza in San Francisco, Wembanyama totaled 17 points, seven rebounds and two blocks in 13 minutes.
It would be the last anyone would see Wembanyama on an NBA court of any variety until October.
4. Blood clot halts Wembanyama’s joy ride
Before the Spurs even returned from the All-Star break, the Spurs’ season absorbed a crushing blow when Wembanyama was diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis in his right shoulder.
The blood clot condition shut Wembanyama down for the remainder of his second NBA season.
By logging only 46 games – well below the league-mandated threshold of 65 to be considered for postseason award – Wembanyama was ineligible to earn MVP votes, All-NBA honors or his first Defensive Player of the Year trophy.
5. Fox’s season cut short, too
Nearly three weeks after Wembanyama powered down for the season, Fox followed suit.
After a March 12 victory over Dallas, Fox called it a campaign an opted to go under the knife to repair a damaged ligament in his left pinkie finger that had been bothering him since training camp in Sacramento.
In the end, Fox and Wembanyama wound up playing only five games together during 2025.
San Antonio Spurs forward Sandro Mamukelashvili (54) gestures to fans as he leaves the court with rapper Flavor Flav after an NBA basketball game against the New York Knicks, Wednesday, March 19, 2025, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Darren Abate)
6. Mamu brings Flavor to the Frost
The Spurs finished the 2024-25 season 34-48, a 12-victory jump from Wembanyama’s rookie year. Still, the team missed the playoffs for the sixth consecutive season, extending the longest drought in club history.
That’s not to say the final few months of the campaign were without highlights.
One of the most memorable meaningless games in Spurs annals came March 19, when little-used forward Sandro Mamukelashvili went nuclear for 34 points in 19 minutes and 26 seconds of floor time to stun New York 120-105.
It marked the highest-scoring game in fewer than 20 minutes in NBA history.
Adding to the surreal nature of the night, Flavor Flav – a 66-year-old rap star who happens to be Mamukelashvili’s friend – was in attendance to root on his buddy.
7. Wilt Chamberlain trophy stays in SA
In late April, guard Stephon Castle became the second Spurs player in as many years to hoist the NBA Rookie of the Year trophy, following in the size-20 ½ footsteps of Wembanyama.
With Castle’s accomplishment, the Spurs became the fifth team in NBA history to boast back-to-back Rookie of the Year winners, and the first since Minnesota’s Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns did so in 2015 and 2016.
San Antonio Spurs player Stephon Castle answers questions from reporters after receiving his 2024-2025 KIA NBA Rookie of the Year trophy at Victory Capital Performance Center in San Antonio on Wednesday, April 30, 2025.
8. Popovich goes from coach to El Jefe
May 8, 2025 will forever go down as one of the reddest of red-letter days in club annals.
It is the day Gregg Popovich called it quits as coach after 29 seasons on the bench.
The move did not exactly come out of nowhere. Popovich had missed most of the season after suffering a stroke in November of 2024, with longtime assistant Mitch Johnson taking the reins on an acting basis at first.
Popovich initially announced his decision to retire from coaching via press release. Three days later, Popovich made his first public appearance since the stroke when he attended the news conference handing Johnson the job on a full-time basis.
The 76-year-old Popovich stepped away as the NBA’s all-time leader in coaching victories with 1,390. He was inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame in 2023.
Popovich retained his title as the Spurs’ president of basketball operations – or as he referred to it on that day in May, “El Jefe.”
With the help of former players Manu Ginobili, left, and Tim Duncan, right, former San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich, center, introduces Mitch Johnson as the new head coach of the San Antonio Spurs NBA basketball team, in San Antonio, Monday, May 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
9. Lottery shines on Spurs again
That fortuitous leap up the draft board afforded the Spurs their third top-4 pick in as many years. Dynamic Rutgers guard Dylan Harper followed Castle and Wembanyama as Spurs lottery spoils.
San Antonio Spurs guard Dylan Harper (2) celebrates with San Antonio Spurs guard De’Aaron Fox (4) during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the New Orleans Pelicans in New Orleans, Monday, Dec. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Matthew Hinton)
10. December sets stage for 2026
The 2025-26 season dawned in October with Wembanyama and Fox back on the floor, Harper in tow and Johnson firmly entrenched of as the Spurs’ coach.
As 2025 formally ended at the stroke of midnight, the Spurs’ playoff chase can officially begin.
It is one resolution the Spurs are determined to keep.
By Jeff McDonald, Staff Writer, via San Antonio Express-News