By Raul Trey Lopez, Staff Writer | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2026-03-31 07:04:53
前NFL球员勒肖恩·麦考伊 (LeSean McCoy) 表示，维克托·文班亚马可能无法成为NBA的下一任门面，他认为联盟的核心球星“必须是美国人”。
维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 能成为NBA的门面吗？一位前NFL跑卫对此并不确信。
在YouTube上拥有超过260万订阅者的体育谈话节目“Speakeasy”中，两届超级碗冠军勒肖恩·麦考伊 (LeSean McCoy) 分享了他对“NBA门面”之争的看法。
“要成为联盟的门面，你必须是美国人，”他说道。
麦考伊赞扬了文班亚马的天赋，但认为在谈到全球知名度时，稳定性（reliability）和市场号召力与场上表现同样重要。
“文班是个伟大的球员……他是我儿子最喜欢的球员之一，”麦考伊说，“但如果我让他选一个‘你想成为谁那样的人’，他不会说文班。”
文班亚马这位身高7英尺4英寸的法国人是圣安东尼奥马刺的核心，他正处于爆发性的NBA第三个赛季。这位22岁的球员已经入选过全明星，现在正参与到MVP、年度最佳防守球员以及潜在的最佳阵容评选的讨论中。
除了个人成就外，文班亚马还帮助马刺冲到了西部第二种子的位置。
然而，麦考伊对场上的统治力是否必然转化为美国NBA球迷的广泛青睐表示怀疑。他以球鞋销量和代言合同作为衡量标准，认为文班亚马的市场号召力尚未达到成名美国球星的水平。
麦考伊进一步重申了他的观点，他表示如果你问圣安东尼奥以外的孩子在商场会选哪款球鞋，他们的答案可能正如你所料。
“我向你保证，90%的孩子不会说：‘嘿，去给我买双文班的鞋’，”麦考伊说道。
这位前跑卫扩大了他的论点，点名了几位国际NBA球星，包括尼古拉·约基奇 (Nikola Jokic)、卢卡·东契奇 (Luka Doncic) 和谢伊·吉尔杰斯-亚历山大 (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander)，认为他们虽然是顶级球员，但在他看来，还没能完全接过联盟最大、最著名球星的衣钵。
麦考伊认为，尽管拥有MVP级别的履历和统治级的表现，这些球员在成为NBA核心门面方面仍有欠缺，他强调文化联系在主流流行度中起着关键作用。
麦考伊的言论已经引发了球迷之间的辩论，尤其是在圣安东尼奥，文班亚马已经迅速成为球队的基石和球迷的宠儿。
“NBA门面”的身份依然悬而未决，但还会持续多久？只有时间能给出答案。
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：Ex-NFL player says Victor Wembanyama can't be face of NBA
Ex-NFL player says Victor Wembanyama can’t be face of NBA
Former NFL player LeSean McCoy says Victor Wembanyama may not become the NBA’s next face, arguing the league’s central star “gotta be American. "
Can Victor Wembanyama Become the Face of the NBA? A former NFL Running Back Isn’t Convinced.
Speaking on “Speakeasy,” a sports talk show on YouTube with more than 2.6 million subscribers, two-time Super Bowl champion LeSean McCoy shared his thoughts on the “face of the NBA” debate.
“To be the face of the league, you gotta be American,” he said.
McCoy praised Wembanyama’s talent but argued that reliability and marketability matter just as much as performance when it comes to global stardom.
“Wemby’s a great player…he’s one of my son’s favorites,” McCoy said. “But if I ask him to pick, ‘who do you want to be like,’ he ain’t going to say Wemby.”
Wembanyama, the 7-foot-4 Frenchman and centerpiece of the San Antonio Spurs, is in the midst of a breakout third NBA season. Already an All-Star, the 22-year-old is now in the conversation for MVP, Defensive Player of the Year and a potential All-NBA selection.
Aside from personal achievements, Wembanyama has also helped launch the Spurs into the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference.
However, McCoy raised doubts about whether on-court dominance necessarily converts into broad appeal among U.S. NBA fans. Citing sneaker sales and endorsement deals as barometers, he argued that Wembanyama’s marketability has yet to match that of established American stars.
McCoy doubled down on his point, saying that if you asked kids outside of San Antonio which sneakers they’d pick at the mall, their answer would probably be exactly what you expect.
“I guarantee you, 90% of them kids will not say, 'Yo, go out there and give me the Wemby shoes,” McCoy said.
The former running back broadened his argument, naming several international NBA stars, including Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, as examples of elite players who, in his perspective, haven’t fully captured the mantle as the league’s biggest and most notable star.
Despite MVP-caliber résumés and dominant performances, McCoy argued that those players still fall short of becoming the NBA’s central face, emphasizing that cultural connection plays a key role in mainstream popularity.
McCoy’s comments have already fueled debate among fans, especially in San Antonio, where Wembanyama has swiftly become a cornerstone of the franchise and a fan favorite.
The identity of the “face of the NBA” remains uncertain, but for how long? Only time will tell.
By Raul Trey Lopez, Staff Writer, via San Antonio Express-News