By Jeff McDonald, Staff Writer | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2026-02-19 13:13:50
2025年12月29日，星期一，在圣安东尼奥弗罗斯特银行中心进行的一场NBA比赛上半场，圣安东尼奥马刺队主教练米奇·约翰逊 (Mitch Johnson) 与前锋卡特·布莱恩特 (Carter Bryant) 交流。
奥斯汀——敲门声总是像闹钟一样准时响起。
在马刺队入住任何一家NBA酒店——无论是在奥斯汀、亚特兰大、夏洛特还是芝加哥——几分钟后，前锋哈里森·巴恩斯 (Harrison Barnes) 只要一打开房门，就会看到卡特·布莱恩特 (Carter Bryant) 站在他面前。
这位新秀总是守在那儿，准备为巴恩斯连接好他的PlayStation游戏机。
“他是个不错的新秀，”33岁的巴恩斯说道。
不要误会。布莱恩特和同为首年天才球员的迪伦·哈珀 (Dylan Harper) 在队友眼中依然被视为新秀。
“在明年第一场比赛之前，他们依然是新秀，”二年级后卫斯蒂芬·卡斯尔 (Stephon Castle) 说道。“这就是他们去年告诉我的。”
这种身份在场下或许依然适用，比如跑腿买零食和组装游戏机。但在场上，情况似乎存在争议。
随着马刺队向季后赛发起最后冲刺——从周四在奥斯汀穆迪中心对阵菲尼克斯太阳的比赛开始——教练米奇·约翰逊 (Mitch Johnson) 表示，他已经开始对这两位球队最年轻的球员有了更高的期待。
“他们不再是大一新生或新秀了，”约翰逊说道。“他们已经见识得够多了。我们开始期待他们展现出成长，并减少重复性的错误。”
作为来自罗格斯大学的榜眼秀，19岁的哈珀在新秀赛季的表现令人惊艳。截至周四，他作为西部第二球队的替补，场均在21.7分钟的出场时间内贡献10.9分和3.7次助攻。
2026年2月11日，星期三，在旧金山进行的一场NBA篮球比赛上半场，圣安东尼奥马刺队后卫迪伦·哈珀 (Dylan Harper) 突破金州勇士队后卫德安东尼·梅尔顿 (De’anthony Melton) 的防守。(AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
哈珀是NBA历史上仅有的8位在全明星周末前就累积至少300分和100次助攻的新秀之一。他也是其中唯一一位在场时间不足800分钟就达成此成就的球员。
“我觉得我上半赛季表现得相当不错，”哈珀说道。“有很多事情我可以做得更好，但下半赛季我有很多可以继续努力的基础。”
与他相比，来自亚利桑那大学的14号秀布莱恩特的融入过程则较为缓慢。
这位运动能力惊人的20岁前锋在赛季前三个月的出场时间有限，整个1月共有11场比赛未能获得登场机会 (DNP)。
这种缓慢的进度是可以理解的。布莱恩特在唯一的大学赛季中，37场比赛仅首发了5场，即使以一般新秀的标准来看，他来到NBA时也显得经验不足。
当马刺队在1月将布莱恩特下放到G联赛打了一场比赛（他为奥斯汀马刺队出场了28分钟）后，他归队时既兴奋又疲惫。
“那是我自高中以来打得最久的一次，”布莱恩特说道。
二月成为了布莱恩特的转折点。
约翰逊开始派他上场，而他也开始打出产出。
布莱恩特职业生涯至今仅有的四次得分上双，有三次发生在过去五场比赛中。
这种逐渐绽放的进攻天赋，结合布莱恩特在防守端出众的才华，让马刺队不难预见，他或许可以在今年春天的季后赛系列赛中提供助力。
“我觉得这两个孩子都向我们展示了他们的真正实力，”前锋凯尔登·约翰逊 (Keldon Johnson) 说道。“他们正在找到稳定性，找准节奏。对于这么年轻的球员来说，这令人印象深刻。”
布莱恩特表示，新秀赛季最具挑战性的部分是不要陷入自我怀疑。
“我曾如此执着于追求完美，”布莱恩特说道。“要成为一名伟大的球员，你必须犯很多错误。你必须经历那些你觉得自己打得烂透了的比赛。一旦你不再纠结于这些必然会发生的事，一切就顺其自然了。”
随着季后赛临近，米奇·约翰逊表示，在马刺队这两位新秀处子赛季的剩余时间里，他将像对待老将一样执教他们。
虽然还只是孩子，但布莱恩特和哈珀不应指望得到“特殊照顾”。
“你不想剥夺他们的自信、侵略性和创造力，”约翰逊说道。“但你希望他们能做出团队配合，并具备与其他人同等水平的纪律性和执行力。”
哈珀和布莱恩特上周末在洛杉矶参加了NBA全明星周末。
这可能是他们最后一次以那种新奇的眼光看待这一切。在洛杉矶，两名球员都参加了新秀挑战赛。
布莱恩特参加了扣篮大赛，最终负于迈阿密的凯沙德·约翰逊 (Keshad Johnson) 获得亚军。哈珀则与他的哥哥小朗 (Ron Jr.) 和父亲朗 (Ron) 一起参加了投篮之星大赛。
到了周四早上，两名新秀回到了马刺队，在德克萨斯大学校园内的一个大学体育馆进行赛前投篮训练。
就在去年的这个时候，布莱恩特和哈珀还在这种规模的球馆里四处征战。而现在，那感觉就像是很久以前的事了。
“他们成长得非常快，”卡斯尔说道。“他们吸收知识很快，并开始将其转化为赛场表现。”
尽管如此，他们中的某个人可能还得记得在马刺队的下一次团队会议上带上甜甜圈。
以防万一。
“当然，他们依然是新秀，”凯尔登·约翰逊说道。“但在球场上，我为这些家伙感到无比自豪。”
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：Why Mitch Johnson no longer views the Spurs' rookies as rookies
Why Mitch Johnson no longer views the Spurs’ rookies as rookies
San Antonio Spurs head coach Mitch Johnson talks to San Antonio Spurs forward Carter Bryant (11) during the first half of an NBA game at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Monday, Dec. 29, 2025.
AUSTIN — The knock always comes like clockwork.
Minutes after the Spurs check into any hotel in the NBA — in Austin or Atlanta or Charlotte or Chicago — forward Harrison Barnes will open the door to his room to find Carter Bryant standing before him.
The rookie is there, as always, ready to hook up Barnes’ PlayStation video gaming system for him.
“He’s a good rookie,” the 33-year-old Barnes said.
Make no mistake. Bryant and fellow first-year wunderkind Dylan Harper are still considered rookies by their teammates.
“They’re still rookies until first game next year,” second-year guard Stephon Castle said. “That’s what they told me (last year).”
That designation might still apply off the court, when it comes to bringing snacks and setting up gaming systems. On the court, there seems to be some debate.
With the Spurs’ stretch run toward the playoffs ready for takeoff, beginning with Thursday’s game against Phoenix at the Moody Center in Austin, coach Mitch Johnson says he has come to expect more from his team’s two youngest players.
“They’re not freshmen or rookies anymore,” Johnson said. “They’ve seen enough. We’re starting to look for them to show some growth and make less repeatable mistakes.”
Drafted No. 2 overall out of Rutgers, the 19-year-old Harper has been a revelation as a rookie. He entered Thursday averaging 10.9 points and 3.7 assists in 21.7 minutes per game while coming off the bench for the second-best team in the Western Conference.
San Antonio Spurs guard Dylan Harper (2) drives to the basket against Golden State Warriors guard De’anthony Melton during the first half of an NBA basketball game in San Francisco, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
Harper is one of eight NBA rookies to have amassed at least 300 points and 100 assists before the All-Star break. He is the only one to accomplish that in less than 800 minutes of court time.
“I think I had a pretty good first half,” Harper said. “There are a lot of things I could have done better, but I have a lot to build on in the second half.”
The No. 14 pick out of Arizona, Bryant has been brought along more slowly.
The high-flying, 20-year-old forward played limited minutes during his first three months of the season, and took 11 DNPs through January.
The snail’s pace was understandable. Having started only five of 37 games during his lone college season, Bryant arrived to the NBA inexperienced even by average rookie standards.
When the Spurs assigned Bryant to the G League for one game in January, where he played 28 minutes for the Austin club, he returned exhilarated — and exhausted.
“It was the most I had played since high school,” Bryant said.
February flipped a switch for Bryant.
Johnson began playing him, and he began producing.
Three of Bryant’s four career double-digit scoring games have come over the past five contests.
Couple that blossoming offensive profile with Bryant’s prodigious gifts on the defensive end, and it isn’t difficult for the Spurs to squint and see a player who might hypothetically help turn a playoff series this spring.
“I feel like both of those guys have really showed us what they’re really capable of,” forward Keldon Johnson said. “They’re finding consistency, finding their stride. That’s impressive for such young guys.”
Bryant said the most challenging part of his rookie season has been staying out of his own head.
“I was so fixated on being perfect,” Bryant said. “To be a great player, you have to make a lot of mistakes. You’re going to have to go through games where you thought you played absolutely terrible. And once you kind of get that out of your mind that that is going to happen, it just is what it is.”
With the playoffs looming, Mitch Johnson said the Spurs’ rookie duo can be expected to be coached like veterans for what is left of their inaugural NBA seasons.
Though only kids, Bryant and Harper should not expect the kid gloves treatment.
“You don’t want to take away their confidence, their aggressiveness and their creativity,” Johnson said. “But you want them to make willing plays and have the same level of discipline and execution as everybody else.”
Harper and Bryant spent last weekend in Los Angeles as part of the NBA’s All-Star festivities.
It might be the final time they are allowed to be wide-eyed. In L.A., both players participated in the Rising Stars Challenge.
Bryant competed in the slam dunk contest, finishing second to Miami’s Keshad Johnson. Harper competed in the Shooting Stars competition alongside his brother, Ron Jr, and father Ron.
Come Thursday morning, the two rookies were back on the floor with the Spurs for a shootaround in a college gym on the University of Texas campus.
It is the kind of arena Bryant and Harper were barnstorming at this time last year. That only feels like a lifetime ago.
“They’re growing up real fast,” Castle said. “They’re picking up on things quick and it’s starting to translate.”
Even so, one of them might want to remember to bring donuts to the Spurs’ next team meeting.
Just in case.
“They’re still rookies, for sure,” Keldon Johnson said. “But on the court, I couldn’t be prouder of those guys.”
By Jeff McDonald, Staff Writer, via San Antonio Express-News