By Mike Finger | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2026-03-07 14:29:58
2026年3月6日，周五，圣安东尼奥霜冻银行中心。在第四节比赛中，圣安东尼奥马刺队前锋卡特·布莱恩特 (11) 防守洛杉矶快船队前锋科怀·伦纳德 (2)。马刺队在一度落后25分的情况下完成大逆转，以116-112击败快船队。
科怀·伦纳德 (Kawhi Leonard) 还记得那个小家伙。那是他在加利福尼亚州里弗赛德的一所高中体育馆里，一个四岁的孩子在球场另一头跑来跑去，尽力模仿着大孩子们的动作。
那时的卡特·布莱恩特 (Carter Bryant) 还太小，无法想象未来会为他的第一位篮球偶像准备些什么。
但他的偶像坚称，他早就预见到布莱恩特的前景。
“我们总是说他将来会大有作为，”伦纳德说道。
但足够强大到能防守已经成为世界顶尖球员之一的伦纳德吗？足够强大到能在众星云集的NBA赛场上登场，并几乎凭一己之力点燃25分的大逆转吗？足够强大到在短时间内完成抢断、盖帽、空中接力扣篮以及精准命中三分，连维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 都为之惊叹吗？
伦纳德大概没预见到这一切。但事实是，布莱恩特自己也没想到。
“我在任何级别都没赢过，”周五深夜，布莱恩特在霜冻银行中心说道，在马刺以116-112击败快船后，他看起来依然有些不可思议。“我以前从来不是一个赢家。”
他正在成为一名赢家。即便这位20岁的新秀自己还不确定，但他身边的每个人都确信无疑。
当队友朱利安·尚帕尼 (Julian Champagnie) 在周五被问及，在马刺队看起来毫无斗志且被对手彻底压制的情况下，他们究竟是如何抹平第三节50-75的落后分差时，他简练地回答道：“卡特·布莱恩特。”
赛后，身心俱疲的文班亚马看着统计表，摇着头说布莱恩特贡献了“他见过的存在感最强的5分3篮板”。
这个自称从未赢过的孩子不断做出帮助球队获胜的关键表现。他甚至无法从这种享受中自拔。
“这给了你一种不同的感觉，”布莱恩特说，“给了你一种不同的自信。你走路的样子会更有范儿，说话的语气也会更有范儿。这是我以前从未经历过的，而且这种感觉会让人上瘾。”
并不是他不知道获胜的可能性。布莱恩特的父亲迪森·布莱恩特 (D’Cean Bryant) 曾在2007年至2009年期间担任里弗赛德马丁·路德·金高中的球员发展助理教练，执教过伦纳德，当时的球队赢下了很多比赛。伦纳德后来就读的圣迭戈州立大学也是如此，布莱恩特小时候一直是这支球队的忠实拥趸。马刺队同样如此，伦纳德曾带领球队夺得2014年NBA总冠军。
但布莱恩特自己并没怎么举起过奖杯。他在加州内陆帝国地区的三个不同高中打过球，尽管他成为了顶尖的大学招募对象，但他的球队并未角逐过冠军。在亚利桑那大学唯一的赛季里，他大多作为一支早早跌出前25名并在16强赛中折戟的球队的替补出场。
尽管如此，布莱恩特似乎有点低估了自己的成就。
“我知道要从内陆帝国、里弗赛德和莫雷诺谷打出来有多难，就是这样，”伦纳德说，“他的父母做得很好，他有很棒的支持团队，而且他一直在变得更好。”
现在的进步越来越快了。正如布莱恩特在周五晚上提到的，仅仅在两个月前，他在比赛中扣篮还有心理障碍，以至于队友们威胁说，如果他再扣不进就要剃光他的头。
直到1月中旬，在有限的出场时间里，他的努力不容置疑，但新秀常犯的错误有时比高光表现还要多。
“感觉就像你一直在被针对，”布莱恩特说，“然后你会觉得——请原谅我的措辞——总得有些TM的转机发生在我身上。事情总会好转的。”
转机确实出现了。1月15日，布莱恩特在对阵爵士队的比赛中砍下11分、3个篮板和2次盖帽，从此便成为了教练米奇·约翰逊 (Mitch Johnson) 轮换阵容中的常客。他的数据虽不惊人，但他提供了类似于最近被裁掉的前锋索汉 (Sochan) 的防守多面性，且在进攻端更有潜力。
从那场对阵犹他的比赛算起的20场比赛中，布莱恩特的三分命中率达到了40%，这正是马刺队需要前锋具备的空间拉开能力。再加上他惊人的运动能力，使他成为篮下顶级的空接终结者，难怪约翰逊会优先考虑让布莱恩特在季后赛前积累经验。
他确保了马刺在周五击败了伦纳德。他也许有机会在4月下旬再次帮助球队做到这一点。
取决于附加赛的结果，快船队可能是马刺队季后赛首轮的对手。这意味着，周五刚从伦纳德那里得到一句“我为你感到骄傲”的布莱恩特，可能会再次发现自己正在防守那个他4岁时就在模仿的高中球员。
不过这一次，赌注可能是NBA季后赛的系列赛胜负。如果那一刻到来，布莱恩特会努力像周五那样克制自己的情绪。
“对我来说，能防守他，”布莱恩特说，“我只是全身心地投入在当下。”
这很合理。
这就是赢家的思维方式。
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 Carter Bryant stared down an idol and began feeling like a winner
How Carter Bryant stared down an idol and began feeling like a winner
San Antonio Spurs forward Carter Bryant (11) guards LA Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard (2) during the fourth quarter at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Friday, March 6, 2026. The Spurs rallied from a 25-point deficit to defeat the Clippers, winning the game 116-112.
Kawhi Leonard remembers the little guy. Four years old, running around the opposite end of a high school gym in Riverside, California, doing his best to mimic the bigger kids’ movements.
Carter Bryant was too young then to imagine what the future had in store for his first basketball idol.
But his idol still swears he knew what the future had in store for Bryant.
“We always said he was going to be big,” Leonard said.
But big enough to defend Leonard once he became one of the best players in the world? Big enough to check into an NBA game filled with superstars and almost singlehandedly spark a 25-point comeback? Big enough to steal a pass and block a shot and slam home an alley-oop and swish a 3-pointer in a flurry that amazed even Victor Wembanyama?
Leonard probably didn’t see that coming. But the thing is, Bryant never did, either.
“I haven’t won at any level,” Bryant said at Frost Bank Center late Friday night, still looking gobsmacked after the Spurs’ 116-112 victory over the Clippers. “I haven’t been a winner before.”
He’s becoming one. And even if the 20-year-old rookie isn’t sure of that yet, everybody around him is.
When teammate Julian Champagnie was asked Friday how in the world the Spurs were able to erase a 75-50 third-quarter deficit on a night when they looked to be uninspired and overwhelmed, he answered, simply, “Carter Bryant.”
When a physically and emotionally spent Wembanyama looked down at a stat sheet after the game, he shook his head and said Bryant “had the loudest five points and three rebounds” he’d ever seen.
The kid who claimed to never have been a winner kept making winning plays. And he couldn’t quite get over how much he enjoyed it.
“It gives you a different feeling,” Bryant said. “It gives you a different confidence. You walk with a different swag, you talk with a different swag. It’s something I’ve never experienced before, and it’s one of those things that gets addicting.”
It’s not that he didn’t know winning was possible. Bryant’s father, D’Cean, coached Leonard as a development assistant at Riverside’s Martin Luther King High School from 2007-’09, and those teams won lots of games. So did San Diego State, the college program that Leonard attended and that Bryant followed religiously as a youngster. And so did the Spurs, who Leonard helped lead to an NBA championship in 2014.
But Bryant didn’t do much trophy-hoisting himself. He played at three different high schools in the Inland Empire area of California, and while he became an elite college recruit his teams didn’t contend for championships. In his lone college season at Arizona, he mostly came off the bench for a squad that fell out of the Top 25 early and wound up losing in the Sweet 16.
Still, it’s almost as if Bryant is underselling his accomplishments.
“I know how hard it is to make it out of the (Inland Empire), Riverside and Moreno Valley, period,” Leonard said. “His parents did a great job, he has a great supporting staff, and he just keeps getting better.”
That progress is coming faster and faster now. As Bryant noted Friday night, it was only a couple of months ago when he had such a mental block about in-game dunks that his teammates threatened to shave his head if he kept missing them.
In limited playing time through mid-January, his effort was unquestioned but his rookie mistakes sometimes outnumbered his highlights.
“It almost feels like you’re getting picked on a little bit,” Bryant said. “And then you’re like – excuse my language – (bleep’s) got to happen at some point for me. Something’s going to turn around.”
Something did. On January 15, Bryant racked up 11 points, three rebounds and two blocks against the Jazz, and he’s been a regular in coach Mitch Johnson’s rotation ever since. His numbers aren’t overwhelming, but he provides the same kind of defensive versatility recently waived forward Jeremy Sochan did, with more upside at the other end of the floor.
In 20 games dating back to that Utah outing, Bryant has made 40% of his 3-point attempts, which shows exactly the kind of floor-stretching ability the Spurs need from their forwards. Throw in his insane athleticism that makes him a prime lob finisher at the rim, and it’s no wonder why Johnson prioritized getting Bryant experience in advance of the playoffs.
He made sure the Spurs beat Leonard on Friday. He might get the chance to help them do it again in late-April.
Depending on the outcome of the play-in tournament, the Clippers could be a first-round playoff opponent for the Spurs. That means Bryant, who received an “I’m proud of you” greeting from Leonard on Friday, might find himself again matching the movements of the high school player he mirrored as a 4-year-old.
This time, though, there might be an NBA postseason series on the line. And if that comes to pass, Bryant will try to contain his emotions the way he did Friday.
“For me to be guarding him,” Bryant said, “I’m just so in the moment.”
That makes sense.
It’s how winners think.
By Mike Finger, via San Antonio Express-News