By Mike Finger | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2026-01-29 14:46:32
查尔斯·贝迪亚科 (Charles Bediako) (27号) 在2023年10月2日星期一的马刺媒体日上拍照。在以双向合同效力马刺并在NBA G联盟打了几年球之后，他起诉NCAA以恢复自己的参赛资格，如今正为阿拉巴马大学效力。
三年前的那个夏天，当维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 首次身披马刺队服出战时，那晚对他的替补而言同样意义重大。与当周在拉斯维加斯的那位NBA焦点人物不同，查尔斯·贝迪亚科 (Charles Bediako) 并未遭遇布兰妮·斯皮尔斯 (Britney Spears) 的纠缠。
但贝迪亚科的职业生涯才刚刚起步。他仍有机会闯出自己的一片天。
30个月后呢？他做到了。
令人难以置信的是，贝迪亚科是通过重返大学篮球赛场做到这一点的。即便那些曾与他共用一个NBA更衣室的队友们，也不太确定他是如何办到的。
“我的印象是，一旦你离开大学，就再也回不去了，”曾与文班亚马和贝迪亚科一同参加了2023年夏季联赛的马刺前锋朱利安·尚帕尼 (Julian Champagnie) 说道。“所以我可没算到会发生这种事。”
没人能想到。但就在上周，23岁的贝迪亚科出现在了东南联盟 (Southeastern Conference) 的赛场上，为阿拉巴马大学赤色潮队封盖、拼抢篮板——要知道，他曾在NBA G联盟打过三个赛季的部分比赛，甚至还以一份双向合同在文班亚马所在的马刺队待了几个月。
这在他前队友、许多球迷以及那些读过NCAA规则手册的人看来，都有些匪夷所思。这种情况可能不会持续超过下月听证会所涉法院禁令的有效期。但它却是大学体育界混乱局面的最新症候——领导力的缺失和远见的缺乏，已将阵容建设变成了一场毫无章法的混战。
NCAA是如何走到今天这一步的？一名马刺旧将又是如何重返阿拉巴马大学的？我们先来解决第二个问题，因为它解释起来相对简单一些。
2023年春天，为赤色潮队效力了两个赛季后，贝迪亚科宣布参加NBA选秀。同年六月，马刺用状元签选中了文班亚马。而贝迪亚科则无人问津。
即便如此，这位身高6英尺11英寸的加拿大人仍颇具潜力，马刺也愿意给他一个机会。他们签下他参加夏季联赛，他在那里的出色表现为自己赢得了一份训练营邀请。最终，他在十月份以一份双向合同留在了球队，尽管在十二月底被裁掉之前，他从未在任何一场NBA常规赛中登场。
在2023年底到2026年初之间，贝迪亚科曾为G联盟的多支球队效力，赚取薪水的同时，与NBA大名单上的年轻职业球员们进行身体对抗。
但就在本月——当时他还在为汽车城巡航队 (Motor City Cruise) 效力——贝迪亚科重新注册入学阿拉巴马大学，并就恢复其大学参赛资格一事起诉了NCAA。他的诉状援引了其他球员的案例，包括贝勒大学的詹姆斯·纳吉 (James Nnaji)，后者在本赛季同样在打过G联盟后被批准重返大学赛场。
然而，纳吉从未签过NBA合同，但贝迪亚科签了。NCAA在一份声明中表示，它“过去没有，将来也不会，向任何已签署NBA合同的未来或返校学生运动员授予参赛资格。”
当然，问题在于，通过多年来反对姓名、形象和肖像权 (NIL) 补偿，以及在集体谈判问题上拖拖拉拉，各大学校长和体育主管们已经为各种法律上的把戏敞开了大门。于是，当塔斯卡卢萨的一名巡回法院法官授予贝迪亚科一道为期10天（后因法庭延期而延长至20天）的临时限制令，允许他为家乡的赤色潮队披挂上阵时，又会怎样呢？
诚然，这事很荒谬，也再次构成了对大学体育的嘲讽。但这种嘲讽，恰恰是大学体育自身的固执引狼入室的结果。
从技术上讲，阿拉巴马大学和贝迪亚科的做法仍然是违规的。从技术上讲，他的大学生涯可能会在2月6日——他下一次法庭听证会的既定日期——画上句号。而且从技术上讲，无论结果如何，在本赛季结束后他都无法再继续比赛了，因为届时他为期五年的参赛资格窗口将关闭。
但由于大学体育界实际上无人掌舵，由于各高校和联盟的领导者们仍在等待国会出手相救，也由于在运动员被承认为雇员之前，仍然无法与他们进行合乎常理的集体谈判，贝迪亚科的案例将不会是这场荒诞剧的终点。
如果范德比尔特大学的四分卫迭戈·帕维亚 (Diego Pavia) 在NFL选秀中落选，他能否起诉以争取第七、第八甚至第九年的参赛资格，从而一直打大学橄榄球到2030年代？当凯文·杜兰特 (Kevin Durant) 最终从NBA退役时，他能回到德克萨斯大学再打他的大二赛季吗？谁知道法院会怎么说？
所以，在法官另有裁决之前，文班亚马的前替补将继续努力帮助阿拉巴马大学在SEC称雄。
而在贝迪亚科的前队友们看来，他这么做也未尝不可。
“嘿，兄弟，”尚帕尼说。“为了你自己，你必须做你该做的事。”
无论这是否在任何人的预料之中。
Oklahoma City Thunder forward Ousmane Dieng (13) goes up for a basket as San Antonio Spurs center Charles Bediako (27) defends in the second half of a preseason NBA basketball game, Monday, Oct. 9, 2023, in Oklahoma City. After spending time with the Spurs on a two-way contract and playing in the NBA G League for a couple years, sued the NCAA to reinstate his eligibility and is now playing games for Alabama.
Alabama center Charles Bediako (14) cheers from the bench during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Missouri Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026, in Tuscaloosa, Ala. (AP Photo/Vasha Hunt)
Alabama center Charles Bediako (14) shoots and scores past Missouri center Shawn Phillips Jr. (15) during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026, in Tuscaloosa, Ala. (AP Photo/Vasha Hunt)
Alabama’s Charles Bediako (14) receives first-half instructions from head coach Nate Oats as they take on Tennessee at Coleman Coliseum on Jan. 24, 2026, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. (Brandon Sumrall/Getty Images/TNS)
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：How a former Spur made it back to college and added to NCAA chaos
How a former Spur made it back to college and added to NCAA chaos
Charles Bediako (27) poses for photos during Spurs Media Day on Monday, Oct. 2, 2023. After spending time with the Spurs on a two-way contract and playing in the NBA G League for a couple years, sued the NCAA to reinstate his eligibility and is now playing games for Alabama.
The night Victor Wembanyama played his first game in a Spurs uniform three summers ago, it was a big deal for his backup, too. Unlike the main NBA attraction in Las Vegas that week, Charles Bediako hadn’t been accosted by Britney Spears.
But Bediako’s pro career was just beginning. He still had a chance to make a name for himself.
And 30 months later? He has.
Incredibly, Bediako did it by playing college basketball again. Even if the guys who once shared an NBA locker room with him aren’t sure quite how he pulled it off.
“I was under the impression that once you left college, that was it,” said Julian Champagnie, the Spurs forward who played in that 2023 Summer League game with Wembanyama and Bediako. “So I wouldn’t have put that on my fortune-teller wheel.”
Nobody did. But there the 23-year-old Bediako was last week, blocking shots and grabbing rebounds for the Alabama Crimson Tide in Southeastern Conference games — after playing parts of three seasons in the NBA G League and even spending a couple of months on a two-way contract with Wembanyama’s Spurs.
It makes little sense to his former teammates, or to many fans, or to those who read the NCAA rule book. It might not last beyond the length of a court injunction scheduled for a hearing next month. But it’s the latest symptom of college athletics chaos in which a lack of leadership and lack of foresight has turned roster-building into a free-for-all.
How did the NCAA get here? How did a former Spur get back to Alabama? We’ll tackle that second question first, since it’s a bit simpler to explain.
In the spring of 2023, after two seasons with the Crimson Tide, Bediako declared for the NBA draft. That June, the Spurs took Wembanyama with the first overall pick. Nobody selected Bediako.
Even so, the 6-foot-11 Canadian had promise, and the Spurs were willing to give him a shot. They signed him to their roster for summer league, where he played well enough to earn an invitation to training camp. He wound up making the team that October on a two-way contract, although he never appeared in an NBA game before they waived him in late December.
Between the end of 2023 and the start of 2026, Bediako played for multiple teams in the G League, earning a salary while banging bodies against young pros on NBA rosters.
But this month — while he was still playing for the Motor City Cruise — Bediako re-enrolled at Alabama, and sued the NCAA for reinstatement of his college eligibility. His complaint cited the cases of other players, including Baylor’s James Nnaji, who’d been cleared this season for a return to college sports even after playing in the G League.
Nnaji, however, never signed an NBA contract. Bediako did. And the NCAA said in a statement it “has not and will not grant eligibility to any prospective or returning student-athletes who have signed an NBA contract.”
The problem, of course, is that by fighting name, image and likeness compensation for years, and by dragging their feet on collective bargaining, university presidents and athletic directors have opened themselves up to all kinds of legal shenanigans. And when a circuit court judge in Tuscaloosa awarded Bediako a 10-day restraining order (which thanks to a court delay was extended to 20 days) allowing him to suit up for the hometown Crimson Tide?
Sure, it was absurd, and made another mockery of college sports. But it was a mockery that college sports’ own stubbornness let through the front door.
Technically, what Alabama and Bediako are doing is still against the rules. Technically, his college career might come to an end on Feb. 6, when his next court hearing is scheduled. And technically, either way, he won’t be able to play beyond the end of this season, when his five-year eligibility window closes.
But because nobody’s really in charge of college sports, and because school and conference leaders keep waiting on Congress to bail them out, and because there’s still no way to do common-sense collective bargaining with athletes until they’re acknowledged as employees, Bediako’s case won’t be the end of the absurdity.
If Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia isn’t taken in the NFL Draft, could he sue for a seventh or eighth or ninth year of eligibility and keep playing college football into the 2030s? When Kevin Durant finally retires from the NBA, can he come back to Texas for his sophomore season? Who knows what the courts might say?
So until a judge tells him otherwise, Wembanyama’s former backup will keep trying to help Alabama win the SEC.
And the way Bediako’s ex-teammates see it, he might as well.
“Hey, man,” Champagnie said. “You’ve gotta do what you’ve gotta do, for you.”
Whether it was on anybody’s fortune-teller wheel or not.
By Mike Finger, via San Antonio Express-News