By Mike Finger | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2026-04-10 14:29:28
凯尔登·约翰逊在博尔内的牧场喂马和山羊。随着马刺队以西部联盟2号种子的身份杀入季后赛，约翰逊已成为球队的核心与灵魂。
在午夜过后的黑暗中，凯尔登·约翰逊 (Keldon Johnson) 明白不该盲目追逐已经丢失的东西。但他也很清楚必须要做什么。于是，他穿上工装裤，召集了一些帮手，开始干活。
丢失的是“木兰”，他心爱的高地牛之一。那天春季的傍晚，当这位效力马刺第七年的前锋正在霜冻银行中心（Frost Bank Center）大杀四方，让那些相对“温顺”的芝加哥公牛队吃尽苦头时，“木兰”却在约翰逊位于博尔内的丘陵地区牧场里，横冲直撞地闯过了前牧场的围栏。
她可能冒险进入了邻居的领地。但在从球馆开车回家45分钟后，约翰逊不敢贸然追赶，以免惊扰邻居。
相反，他和最信任的牧场助手们——他的兄弟、堂兄弟以及两个来自弗吉尼亚州的好友——确保了“木兰”最小的小牛安然无恙并得到照顾。他们将马、驴与山羊分开，并尽其所能修补了破损的铁丝网。
等到黎明降临时？
“木兰”也回来了。
“当我们早上回到外面时，”约翰逊说道，“她就在围栏边等着。”
凯尔登·约翰逊在博尔内的牧场接待了记者。迈克·芬格和《快报》的消息即将发布 pic.twitter.com/xavrnJXrWI
— Spurs Nation (@ Spurs_Nation) 2026年4月10日
站在前牧场中央，看护着“木兰”和她的朋友“特里克西”以及“布莱克·杰克”，约翰逊带着明显的自豪感讲述着这个故事。这种自豪并非源于一个立刻得到想要之物的人。
这种自豪源于一个投入了汗水、关怀和爱的人，他认为这是实现梦想所必需的。这种自豪源于一个始终预见未来的人，即使其他人并不那么确定。
这种自豪还源于一个足够睿智的人，他明白如果你用正确的方式、和正确的人一起去建设某样东西，那么那些看似丢失的东西，终究会找回回来的路。
“我们该怎么做并没有固定的模式，”约翰逊说，“但我感觉我们一起摸索出来了。”
此时此刻，他谈论的是他在田园诗般的家中组建的团队，这里现在有两栋供亲友居住的客房，还有一个人工池塘，里面养满了鲈鱼和鲶鱼。
但他同样也可以是在谈论他的全职工作——在那儿，这位26岁的年度最佳第六人候选人，依然是这支重新充满冠军期待的球队的情感中心。
凯尔登·约翰逊在博尔内的牧场与亲友合影。随着马刺队以西部联盟2号种子的身份杀入季后赛，约翰逊已成为球队的核心与灵魂。
“一切曾是梦想”
对于马刺队来说，季后赛的黑暗期持续了痛苦的六年。在他们的历史上，从未有过如此长的时间无缘季后赛。但就像他们最精力充沛的球员一样，他们明白不该在黑夜中盲目追逐缺失的东西。
在约翰逊的带领下——起初他是一个意气风发的年轻人，后来成为了更加意气风发、老练稳重的退役老兵——他们系好鞋带，投入工作。他们培养了良好的习惯，并尽其所能地修复了自五冠鼎盛时期以来运营中受损的部分。
他们不带私欲地去做。
他们不带特权感地去做。
当牧场里的某人提到这一切似乎都有关联时，约翰逊最老的朋友之一点了点头。
“这一切在某个时刻都只是个梦想，”泰·霍姆斯 (Tae Holmes) 说道，“而现在它成真了。”
霍姆斯追随约翰逊已经很久了。早些年，在弗吉尼亚州农村的南希尔小镇及周边地区，他就在青少年篮球巡回赛中跟着约翰逊跑遍了一个又一个体育馆。
后来，霍姆斯跟随他的好友进入了大学篮球界，当时被广泛招募的约翰逊前往了肯塔基大学，而霍姆斯则在南边弗吉尼亚社区学院效力。
最终，霍姆斯也跟随他来到了德克萨斯州。约翰逊确保了这一切的发生。
作为马刺队在2019年NBA选秀大会上的首轮第29顺位新秀，约翰逊立刻被圣安东尼奥郊外的开阔空间所吸引。他买了很多靴子、牛仔帽和牛仔裤。他去梅迪纳县猎鸽。他决定，他真正想用数百万美元的NBA薪水去做的事，就是买下一块土地，让他、他的亲人和一群动物能过上乡村生活。
在博尔内北部一条安静的道路旁，他有空间容纳霍姆斯和托恩·苏厄德 (Tone Seward)——另一位来自弗吉尼亚州的朋友。他还有空间容纳他的兄弟凯莱布·约翰逊 (Kaleb Johnson)。凯莱布曾在乔治城大学打球，并进入了NBA发展联盟的谷地太阳队，但他承认起初并不赞成这种安排。
“当我们刚搬到牧场时，我心想，‘我们在干什么？’”凯莱布说道，“事实是，（凯尔登）19岁就来到了这里。德克萨斯塑造了他成年后的性格。”
但这提出了一个有趣的问题，不是吗？即便约翰逊最亲近的家人承认环境改变了他的一部分，那么他这个人的性格是否也对环境产生了影响？
据那些每天在球场、更衣室、飞机和巴士上与他共处的人说，后半部分是毋庸置疑的。
2026年4月8日，星期三，在圣安东尼奥霜冻银行中心，马刺队前锋凯尔登·约翰逊 (3) 在对阵波特兰开拓者队的比赛中进球后做出反应。马刺队以112-101击败了开拓者队。
“球队的核心与灵魂”
是的，当约翰逊抵达圣安东尼奥时，他必须适应马刺队做事的方式。但随着时间的推移，他成为了马刺队的做事方式。他现在是阵容中效力时间最长的球员。
当新成员加入时——无论是默默无闻的双向合同球员，还是通过交易获得的老将，亦或是那个恰好是几十年来最受瞩目的选秀状元、身高7英尺4英寸的超级巨星——他们无一例外地发现自己在效仿约翰逊。
就像前几代马刺季后赛劲旅从马努·吉诺比利等人身上汲取灵感一样（这位最终的名人堂成员为了球队利益接受了替补角色），现在的这群球员也有他们自己的牺牲榜样。
维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 从不放过任何赞扬约翰逊态度的机会，称他是“我认识的最无私的人之一”。马刺队主教练米奇·约翰逊 (Mitch Johnson) 则称他是“球队的核心与灵魂”。
但在约翰逊看来，他之所以能茁壮成长，是因为他学会了融入。就像在他的前牧场一样，让山羊和牛群过好一天的关键是确保那头驴不要太自命不凡，马刺队也有自己的共存法则。
正如他在本赛季早些时候所说：“如果你认同这种文化，你就会从中受益匪浅。如果你不认同，那就很难。”
工作当然应该是艰苦的，约翰逊从不回避这一点。但正如任何经验丰富的牧场主会告诉你的那样，没必要把工作变得比实际需要的更难。
有些人情不自禁地认为工作应该是痛苦的。约翰逊从未这样看过。
他每天带着无处不在的微笑和一个巨大的便携音响出现在他的带薪岗位上。看着他走进更衣室，或者登场比赛，或者给牛喂草，你会意识到一些事情。
对约翰逊来说，工作本身就是奖励。
2026年4月8日，星期三，在圣安东尼奥霜冻银行中心，马刺队前锋凯尔登·约翰逊 (3) 对前锋卡特·布莱恩特 (Carter Bryant) (11) 在第四节对阵波特兰开拓者队时投中的三分球做出反应。马刺队以112-101击败了开拓者队。
“他走过了漫长的道路”
有些时候，工作感觉并不那么有成就感，尤其是对于那些负责完成约翰逊没完没了的牧场项目清单的人来说。
当被问及是否将日常履行的职责视为一份工作时，霍姆斯和苏厄德在争论不休，随后约翰逊的兄弟介入并做出了妥协。
“确实很累人，”凯莱布说道，“尤其是天气变热的时候。”
但是，即便约翰逊的帮手们偶尔会抱怨分配的任务，即便每隔一天、一个下午或一个小时，总会有针对这位身高6英尺6英寸的“首席牛仔”的善意吐槽，约翰逊牧场的氛围依然充满了无可置疑的喜悦和感激。
“他走过了漫长的道路，”苏厄德说，“他带着我们一起走，展现了他是什么样的人。”
为了消除任何疑虑，约翰逊并不把他的牧场看作是一项商业投资。高地牛不会被卖掉做成牛肉，山羊也不会被做成塔可。这些动物不一定是宠物，但他给其中许多都起了名字，并希望让它们永远在牧场上漫步。
“让它们过上好日子，”约翰逊说，“我能找到一份宁静，并花时间尝试帮助这些家伙。防止它们互相伤害，或者伤害自己。保持它们的健康，诸如此类的事情。”
同样，他对自己在这里建立的一切感到自豪。他没有急于求成，没有在黑暗中盲目追逐。他创造了这样一个地方：无论什么东西暂时丢失了——无论什么东西在夜间走失了——都会在黎明时分想要回来。
但约翰逊没有时间多愁善感。站在牧场中央，他转身看到他的朋友和亲戚们正靠在大门上。
“我们有这么多牧场工人，”约翰逊大吼道，“居然没人想帮忙！”
工人们哄堂大笑。
他们当然会跟随他。
每个人总是如此。
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：Keldon Johnson inspires following, on ranch and for San Antonio Spurs
Keldon Johnson inspires following, on ranch and for San Antonio Spurs
Keldon Johnson feeds his horses and goats on his ranch in Boerne. Johnson has become the heart and soul of the Spurs as the Spurs go into the playoffs and the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference.
Out in the darkness, well after midnight, Keldon Johnson knew better than to chase what was lost. But he also knew what needed to be done. So he strapped on his overalls. He rounded up some help. And he went to work.
What was lost was Mulan, one of his prized Highland cows. Earlier that spring evening, while the seventh-year Spurs forward had been at Frost Bank Center laying waste to comparatively docile Bulls from Chicago, Mulan ran roughshod through the fence of the front pasture at Johnson’s Hill Country ranch in Boerne.
She’d ventured onto the adjacent property, probably. But after making the 45-minute drive home from the arena, Johnson didn’t dare give pursuit and risk stirring the neighbors.
Instead, he and his most trusted ranch hands — his brother, cousins and two best friends from Virginia — made sure Mulan’s youngest calf was accounted for, and taken care of. They separated the horses and donkey from the goats. As best they could, they mended the wires that had been broken.
And once the dawn arrived?
Mulan did, too.
“When we came back outside in the morning,” Johnson says, “she was waiting at the fence.”
Keldon Johnson hosted reporters out at his ranch in Boerne. Story coming soon from Mike Finger and the Express-News pic.twitter.com/xavrnJXrWI
— Spurs Nation (@ Spurs_Nation) April 10, 2026
Standing in the middle of that front pasture, watching over Mulan and her friends Trixie and Black Jack, Johnson tells that story with obvious pride. It’s not the pride of a man who got what he wanted right away.
It’s the pride of a man who put in the sweat and the care and the love he thought his dream demanded. It’s the pride of a man who always knew what was coming, even when others weren’t so sure.
And it’s the pride of a man wise enough to know that if you build something the right way, with the right people around you, what looks like it was lost will have a way of coming back around again.
“There’s no real set way how we’re supposed to do this,” Johnson says, “but I feel like we figured it out together.”
In this moment, he’s talking about the team he assembled at his bucolic home compound, which now features two guest houses for friends and family and a man-made pond stocked with bass and catfish.
But he might as well be talking about his day job, where the 26-year-old Sixth Man of the Year candidate remains the emotional center of a franchise now refilled with championship expectations.
Keldon Johnson poses with his friends and relatives at his ranch in Boerne. Johnson has become the heart and soul of the Spurs as the Spurs go into the playoffs and the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference.
“All a dream”
For the Spurs, the postseason darkness lasted six excruciating years. Never in their history had they gone even close to that long without a playoff appearance. But like their most rambunctious player, they knew better than to chase what was missing blindly into the night.
With Johnson often taking the lead, first as a high-spirited youngster and later as an even higher-spirited savvy veteran, they strapped on their sneakers and went to work. They developed good habits, and as best they could, they mended the pieces of the operation that had been broken since their five-championship heyday.
They did it without ego.
They did it without entitlement.
And when someone at the ranch mentions how all of this seems connected, one of Johnson’s oldest friends nods his head.
“It was all a dream at one point,” Tae Holmes says. “And now it’s real.”
Holmes has been following Johnson for a long time. In the early days, back in rural Virginia in and around the small town of South Hill, he followed him from gym to gym on the youth basketball circuit.
Later, Holmes followed his buddy into college basketball, with the more heavily recruited Johnson heading to Kentucky while Holmes played at Southside Virginia Community College.
And eventually, Holmes followed him to Texas, too. Johnson made sure of that.
As the Spurs’ 29th overall pick in the 2019 NBA draft, Johnson immediately gravitated to the open spaces on the outskirts of San Antonio. He bought lots of boots and cowboy hats and blue jeans. He went dove hunting in Medina County. And he decided that what he really wanted to do with his multimillion-dollar NBA salary was to buy a parcel of land where he, his loved ones and a bunch of animals could live the country life.
Just off a quiet road north of Boerne, he had room for Holmes and Tone Seward, another one of his friends from Virginia. He also had room for his brother, Kaleb Johnson, who played college basketball at Georgetown and made it to the NBA G League with the Valley Suns, but admits he wasn’t immediately on board with the arrangement.
“When we first moved out to the ranch, I was like, ‘what are we doing?’” Kaleb Johnson says. “The thing is, (Keldon) got out here at 19. And Texas has shaped who he is as an adult.”
But that brings up an interesting question, doesn’t it? Even if Keldon Johnson’s closest family members acknowledge that his environment changed parts of him, doesn’t it stand to reason that who he is also made an impact on his environment?
According to the people who spend day after day with him on the court, in the locker room and on planes and buses, there’s no doubt about that last part.
San Antonio Spurs forward Keldon Johnson (3) reacts after making a basket over the Portland Trail Blazers at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Wednesday, April 8, 2026. The Spurs defeated the Trail Blazers 112-101.
“Heart and soul of the team”
Yes, when Johnson arrived in San Antonio, he had to adapt to the Spurs’ way of doing things. But over time, he became the Spurs’ way of doing things. He’s now the longest-tenured player on the roster.
And when new arrivals show up — whether as unheralded two-way contract signees, or as veteran trade acquisitions, or as a 7-foot-4 superstar who happens to be the most hyped draft pick in decades — they invariably find themselves emulating Johnson.
Much like previous generations of Spurs playoff powerhouses took their cues from the likes of Manu Ginobili, an eventual Hall of Famer who accepted a bench role for the benefit of the team, the current group has their own role model for sacrifice.
Victor Wembanyama, who never misses an opportunity to praise Johnson’s attitude, calls him “one of the most selfless persons I know.” Spurs head coach Mitch Johnson calls him “the heart and soul of the team.”
The way Keldon Johnson sees things, though, he’s thriving because he learned to fit in. Much in like his front pasture, where the key to a good day for the goats and the cows is making sure the donkey doesn’t get too full of himself, the Spurs have their own code of coexistence.
As he put it earlier this season, “If you buy into this culture, you will get a lot out of it. If you don’t, it’s hard.”
The work, of course, is supposed to be hard, and Johnson never shies away from that. But as any grizzled rancher can tell you, there’s no need to make a job harder than it needs to be.
Some people can’t help thinking the work is supposed to be miserable. Johnson never has seen it that way.
He brings an omnipresent smile and an oversized boom box to his paying job every day. To watch him walk into a locker room, or check into a game, or toss hay to the cows, is to realize something.
To Johnson, the work is the reward.
San Antonio Spurs forward Keldon Johnson (3) reacts to a 3-pointer made by San Antonio Spurs forward Carter Bryant (11) during the fourth quarter against the Portland Trail Blazers at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Wednesday, April 8, 2026. The Spurs defeated the Trail Blazers 112-101.
“He came a long way”
There are days when the work feels less rewarding than others, particularly to those responsible for checking the boxes on Johnson’s never-ending list of ranch projects.
When asked if they consider the duties they perform on a daily basis a job, Holmes and Seward go back and forth debating the topic before Johnson’s brother steps in to make a concession.
“It does get tedious,” Kaleb Johnson says. “Especially when it gets hot.”
But even if Keldon Johnson’s helpers are known to carp about their assignments from time to time, and even if a day or an afternoon or an hour rarely goes by without plenty of good-natured trash talk directed toward the 6-foot-6 head cowboy, the vibe of Johnson’s ranch is one of undeniable joy and gratitude.
“He came a long way,” Seward says. “And him bringing us along shows what kind of person he is.”
In case there was any doubt about this, Johnson doesn’t see his ranch as business venture. The Highland cattle aren’t going to be sold for beef. The goats aren’t destined for tacos de cabrito. The animals aren’t pets, necessarily, but he names many of them, and he hopes to let them roam the pasture forever.
“Let them have a good life,” Johnson says. “I get to find a peace, and kill the time trying to help these guys out. Keep them from hurting each other, hurting themselves. Keep them healthy, things like that.”
Again, he sounds proud of what he built here. He didn’t rush it. He didn’t chase it into the darkness. He created the kind of place where whatever might be lost for a moment — whatever might have wandered off during the night — would want to return with the dawn.
But Johnson has no time to be sentimental. Standing in the middle of the pasture, he turns to see his friends and relatives leaning against a gate.
“We got all these ranch hands,” Johnson bellows, “and don’t nobody want to help!”
The ranch hands hoot with laughter.
Of course they’ll follow him.
Everybody always does.
By Mike Finger, via San Antonio Express-News