By Jared Weiss | The Athletic, 2026-01-29 12:32:32
休斯顿电 — 维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 脸上挂着一丝狡黠的微笑，他想炫耀一下自己战斗的伤痕。他拉下自己的球裤和里面层层包裹的带衬垫紧身裤，露出大腿上的一道大口子，那种伤口足以让一个三年级玩滑板摔倒的孩子嚎啕大哭。
他拽了拽自己的衣领，露出胸前新添的几道抓痕。他的左臂布满了鲜红的划痕，而右臂却完好无损——他戴着的投篮护臂至少保护了他身体的一部分免遭摧残。
“迟早有一天，我身上会找不到一块没伤疤的地方，”文班亚马在赛后告诉“Inside the NBA”节目。“但我的身体其他部分，我的关节、我的肌肉，都好得很。”
这正是赢得15次罚球的代价。这正是送出5次盖帽和统治整个第四节的代价。这正是成为巨星的代价。
“我正努力在球场上做到前人未及之事，所以我必须以一种前所未有的方式去努力。”文班亚马说道。
这也是为了让他的教练感到满意。周三，在圣安东尼奥马刺队以 111-99战胜休斯顿火箭队 的比赛上半场，米奇·约翰逊 (Mitch Johnson) 全程都在朝着他的球队大喊，要求他们打得更强硬。当他半场休息时走回更衣室，他怒不可遏。
在他来到赛后新闻发布会的讲台前，那里神秘地放着一杯白水。约翰逊沙哑的嗓音在大多数夜晚都会经历从亚历克·鲍德温 (Alec Baldwin) 到路易斯·阿姆斯特朗 (Louis Armstrong) 的转变。他的嘶哑程度可以作为比赛的计时器，到了关键时刻，他的声音就变得纯粹如同砂砾摩擦。
一位场馆工作人员问是否应该在约翰逊到来前把杯子拿走。一位马刺队工作人员回应道：“不，那杯水是给教练的。”在约翰逊发表完中场演说后，他确实需要尽可能多的水分来滋润喉咙。
“我（在中场休息时）确实对他们吼了，他们也互相吼了，”约翰逊说。“我们清楚对手想用什么方式对付我们，而这支（火箭）队本来就打这种风格。我们知道这将是一场肉搏战，如果我们不能匹配上这种对抗强度，我们就会被对手碾压。”
当凯尔登·约翰逊 (Keldon Johnson) 在第三节找到状态，并且教练将文班亚马的对位球员换成阿门·汤普森 (Amen Thompson) 后，米奇得到了他想要的回应。球队开始为每一个地板球奋不顾身，主导了身体对抗，并在攻防两端都将比赛的重心完全围绕文班亚马展开。
文班亚马有一个回合的表现，完美诠释了球队的回应。下半场，场上出现一个地板球，裁判很快吹停了比赛。当场上其他九名球员都放松下来时，文班亚马却依然奋力扑了过去。他后来解释说，他这么做是想确保，万一这个回合出于任何原因被挑战，马刺也能拥有球权。
这是一个微不足道的优势，但却是他愿意再次倒地拼抢换来的优势。
“我们的目标是，每天晚上，都保持这种级别的专注和投入。”文班亚马说。
也许他腿上那道新伤口就是在那时留下的——一个毫无意义却又至关重要的死球。当文班亚马——全场拿下28分、16个篮板和5次盖帽——进入这种模式时，他便能笼罩整场比赛。这就是为什么下半场的局势如此令人震惊，在比赛的最后19分钟里，马刺以46-23的比分净胜火箭一倍。
这是文班亚马本赛季第六次单场至少得到25分、10个篮板和5次盖帽。而在联盟其他所有球员中，这样的比赛总共只有四场。这是他的第150场比赛，NBA历史上唯一一位能打出与他相同得分、篮板和盖帽数据的球员是马刺传奇大卫·罗宾逊 (David Robinson)，而后者常常就坐在场边，注视着这位马刺新一代的门徒不断进化。
维克托·文班亚马（1号），右肩附近有一道伤疤，在丰田中心的第四节比赛中带球突破休斯顿火箭队后卫阿门·汤普森。(Troy Taormina / Imagn Images)
米奇·约翰逊的对位调整——让文班亚马去防守汤普森——使得这位马刺的全明星球员在整个下半场都能进行区域协防。他在第四节几乎就驻守在禁区内，因为整个马刺的防守体系都在肆无忌惮地无视汤普森。有时，当汤普森持球时，协防球员甚至会直接背对他，带着一丝轻蔑地放他投篮。
作为火箭队本场得分王（25分）的汤普森，在第四节仅仅得到2分。他和阿尔佩伦·申京 (Alperen Şengün) 几乎打满了最后一节，两人合计12投1中，因为文班亚马彻底封锁了禁区附近的一切。
如果没有斯蒂芬·卡斯尔 (Stephon Castle) 的防守，马刺的策略是无法奏效的，而这场比赛也是他职业生涯发展中的一个重要时刻。赛季初，他曾因在半场就锁死对方后卫并迫使失误而声名鹊起。但对于一名后卫来说，这在人们的预料之中。而出乎意料的是，他能在比赛最关键的时刻对上申京和凯文·杜兰特 (Kevin Durant) 这样的球员，并让他们打得异常难受。
他对位体型是他两倍的球员时的防守，让文班亚马得以镇守禁区，扫除火箭队能找到的所有其他进攻机会。
“那就是他的工作。他能锁死对手，他（周三）做到了，”文班亚马在谈到卡斯尔时说。“每一场比赛，我都为我们在选秀中得到他而感到庆幸。这太棒了。”
他的教练指出，卡斯尔在业余联赛时期可能从未防守过像申京和杜兰特这样的球员，所以他现在才终于获得了足够的实战机会，来理解防守这些技术精湛、身体强壮的球星的精妙之处。
“当他将精力和专注力投入到正确的领域时，他就是一名最佳防守阵容级别的防守者。”约翰逊说。
文班亚马表示，其他球队不喜欢与火箭队交手，这其实是一种赞美，因为他们的篮球风格非常坚韧。这激励了马刺队，让他们重新审视自己想成为一支什么样的球队，并通过伤痕去追寻答案。
“（我们）基本上就是不再打得软弱了，”卡斯尔说。“我觉得比赛刚开始时，他们有点在欺负我们，而我觉得那不是我们球队的特质。我们整个赛季都不是那样的。”
“我们更衣室里没人会把事情往心里去。我们都在努力一起变得更好。我们互相‘吼叫’的那些话，都只是为了帮助彼此。”
在迎战状态回暖的夏洛特黄蜂队之前，球队有几天休息时间。德阿龙·福克斯 (De’Aaron Fox) 邀请他的球队留下来，到他休斯顿家里的球场上训练。但考虑到他们满身的新伤，大家决定取消训练，只在福克斯的宅邸里享受相聚的时光。
但可以肯定的是，文班亚马总会找到办法进行一些额外的训练。即使在其他人都不训练的时候，他也必须继续前进。
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’s battle scars aren’t just marks; they’re a blueprint for the Spurs
Victor Wembanyama’s battle scars aren’t just marks; they’re a blueprint for the Spurs
HOUSTON — With a wry smirk on his face, Victor Wembanyama wanted to show off his battle scars. He lowered his shorts and the layers of padded compression pants underneath to reveal a large gash on his upper leg, the kind that made some cry after wiping out skateboarding in third grade.
He tugged on his collar to reveal fresh scratches across his chest. His left arm is covered in ripe red slices, but his right arm is clean. The shooting sleeve he rocks keeps at least one part of his body safe from destruction.
“Eventually, I’m gonna run out of places on my body for scars,” Wembanyama told “Inside the NBA” after the game. “But the rest of my body, my joints, my muscles, they’re fine.”
This is the price for 15 free throws. This is the price for five blocks and a domineering fourth quarter. This is the price for stardom.
“I’m trying to do things on the court that nobody does, so I have to work in a way that nobody does,” Wembanyama said.
It’s also the price for making his coach happy. On Wednesday, Mitch Johnson spent the entirety of the first half of his San Antonio Spurs’ 111-99 win over the Houston Rockets yelling at his team to play harder. When he went back to the locker room at halftime, he was infuriated.
Before he came to the postgame podium, there was a mysterious white cup of water sitting at the podium. Johnson’s raspy voice goes from Alec Baldwin to Louis Armstrong most nights. His hoarseness could serve as a game clock, descending to pure gravel by crunch time.
An arena staffer asked if he should remove the cup before Johnson arrived. A Spurs staffer responded, “Nah, that cup’s for Coach.” After Johnson’s halftime speech, he was going to need all the hydration he could get.
“I did (yell at halftime), and they yelled at each other,” Johnson said. “We know how teams want to play us, and this (Rockets) team plays that way anyway. We knew this was going to be a game of physicality, and if we didn’t match it, we were going to get punked.”
Once Keldon Johnson got going in the third quarter and the coach switched Wembanyama’s matchup to Amen Thompson, Mitch got what he asked for. The team was diving for loose balls, dictating the physicality and funneling the game through Wembanyama on both ends.
There was one play by Wembanyama that epitomized the team’s response. In the second half, there was a loose ball that was quickly blown dead by the officials. As the nine other players on the floor relaxed, Wembanyama dove for it anyway. He later explained he wanted to make sure that if the play got challenged for whatever reason, the Spurs would have possession.
It’s the smallest of advantages, but an advantage he was willing to hit the deck for, once again.
“The goal is to have, every night, this level of dedication,” Wembanyama said.
Maybe that was when his fresh leg wound was born, a meaningless yet vital dead ball. When Wembanyama — who finished with 28 points, 16 rebounds and five blocks — is in this mode, he envelops the game. It’s why the second half was so jarring, when the Spurs doubled up the Rockets 46-23 over the final 19 minutes of the game.
This was Wembanyama’s sixth game with at least 25 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks this season. There are four of those games throughout the rest of the league. This was his 150th game, and the only player in NBA history to finish with as many points, rebounds and blocks as him is Spurs legend David Robinson, who is often sitting courtside watching the next Spurs protégé evolve.
Victor Wembanyama (1), a scar near his right shoulder, drives to the lane against Houston Rockets guard Amen Thompson during the fourth quarter at Toyota Center. (Troy Taormina / Imagn Images)
Mitch Johnson’s matchup adjustment, putting Wembanyama on Thompson, allowed the Spurs All-Star to play zone the entire second half. He was effectively parked in the paint in the fourth quarter, as the entire Spurs defense aggressively ignored Thompson. There were times when help defenders actually turned their backs to him when he was holding the ball, daring him to shoot with a hint of condescension.
Thompson, who was the Rockets’ leading scorer with 25 points, only had two of those in the fourth. He and Alperen Şengün played almost the entirety of the final period, combining to shoot 1-for-12 as Wembanyama erased everything near the paint.
It wouldn’t have worked for the Spurs without the defense from Stephon Castle, who had an important moment in his career development. He made waves early in the season when he would stonewall guards at half court and force turnovers. But that’s expected of a fellow guard. What’s not expected is to take on Şengün and Kevin Durant and make them miserable in the biggest moments of the game.
His defense on players twice his size allowed Wembanyama to park in the paint and take away everything else the Rockets could find.
“That’s his work. He can shut down guys, and he did (Wednesday),” Wembanyama said of Castle. “Every game, I’m so glad we got him in the draft. It’s amazing.”
His coach noted how Castle likely wasn’t guarding players like Şengün and Durant when he was coming up through the amateur ranks, so he is just now finally getting enough reps to understand the nuances of covering such technically advanced and physically imposing stars.
“He’s an All-NBA defender when he puts his energy and focus into the right areas,” Johnson said.
Wembanyama said it’s a compliment that teams don’t like playing against the Rockets, because their brand of basketball is so gritty. It challenged the Spurs to remind themselves who they want to be and seek it out through the bruises.
“(We) pretty much just stopped being soft,” Castle said. “I feel like at the beginning of the game, they were kind of punking us a little bit, and I feel like that’s not the identity of our team. It hasn’t been that all year.
“Nobody in our locker room takes anything personal. We were all trying to get better together. All the stuff that we were ‘yelling’ at each other, it was just to help.”
With a few days off before facing the resurging Charlotte Hornets, De’Aaron Fox invited his team to stay back and come practice at the court at his Houston home. But with all their fresh wounds, they decided to cancel the practice and simply enjoy hanging out at the Fox compound.
But assuredly, Wembanyama will find a way to put in some extra work. Even when nobody else is working, he has to keep going.
By Jared Weiss, via The Athletic