By Jared Weiss | The Athletic, 2026-04-16 19:00:30
周四，维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 荣获由美国篮球作家协会（PBWA）颁发的魔术师约翰逊奖。该奖项旨在表彰那些不仅在球场上表现卓越，且在对待媒体和球迷时展现出极佳协作态度与风度的 NBA 球员。
在职业生涯的第三个赛季，文班亚马迅速崛起为 NBA 的形象大使之一，他在场外的吸引力丝毫不亚于场内。虽然他的赛场表现让他进入了 MVP 的讨论前列，但他同时也成为了联盟中最受媒体追捧的采访对象之一。他的新闻发布会总是充满了反思、坦率，偶尔还伴随着欢声笑语。
“维克托·文班亚马完美诠释了这一奖项的精神——作为一名超级巨星，他在场下深思熟虑、平易近人，正如他在场上极具统治力一样，”PBWA 主席霍华德·贝克 (Howard Beck) 表示，“他乐于奉献，对记者友善且耐心，并渴望讨论几乎任何话题——从 MVP 竞争到社会正义，再到北极光。正如我们的一位会员所言，维克托是一位‘深思熟虑的思想者，他懂得言语的力量’。”
文班亚马几乎在每场比赛后都会接受采访，回答现场几乎每一位记者的提问。他总是会额外为两名为报道他而从法国搬到圣安东尼奥的记者留出时间，用法语回答几个问题，即使在此之前他已经回答了十几个问题，他的回答依然充实。甚至在 因祖母去世而悲痛不已 时，在 NBA 杯决赛输给纽约尼克斯队后，他依然出现在了新闻发布台前——在这种情况下，大多数球员都会选择拒绝公开露面。
在因泪流满面而离开发布台前，他坚持回答了两个问题，这展现了他作为联盟球星远超职责要求的担当。
在拉斯维加斯的那一周之后，他作为顶级球星的声望呈爆炸式增长。文班亚马场均贡献 25 分、11.5 个篮板、3.1 次助攻和 3.1 次盖帽，带领圣安东尼奥马刺队取得了 62 胜 20 负的战绩，这是这支底蕴深厚的球队历史上最出色的常规赛表现之一。自 2 月初他完全恢复健康以来，马刺队打出了全联盟最佳的 30 胜 4 负，净效率高达 +14.7，远超排名第二的夏洛特的 +10.8。他们在此期间 88.2% 的胜率，足以让他们追平金州勇士队创下的 73 胜赛季纪录。
文班亚马有望成为 MVP 的最终候选人，入选最佳阵容一阵已是板上钉钉，并可能成为史上首位全票通过的最佳防守球员。这只是获得魔术师约翰逊奖的第一部分资格，而他在处理媒体和球迷关系时，同样匹配了他星光熠熠的赛场表现。
许多球星与粉丝群体有着紧密的联系，而文班亚马则升华了这一概念。赛季开始前，他组建了联盟首个全职“超粉”支持团体，名为“胡狼团 (Jackals)”。他接受了《The Athletic》本赛季为数不多的非电视独家专访之一，深入探讨了去年从血栓中康复的经历如何促使他发起了“胡狼团”项目。从那时起，这个团体就成了马刺队比赛中的常客，也成了社区中的一股力量。
延伸阅读：
维克托·文班亚马想要创建一个马刺球迷团体。“胡狼团”的意义远不止于此。维克托·文班亚马不仅为马刺队构思了全新的欧式球迷方阵，还将其打造成了城市自豪感的源泉。
在整个赛季中，他逐渐确立了自己在 NBA 思想领袖的地位。他在伦理困境上立场鲜明，并愿意展现出自信的一面，同时又小心翼翼地不去逾越傲慢的界限。这造就了许多迷人的瞬间，并为他的比赛带来了一种竞技张力。围绕俄克拉荷马城雷霆队的 “道德篮球”言论 仅仅是冰山一角。
在 11 月与德雷蒙德·格林 (Draymond Green) 及金州勇士队的较量中（那场比赛成了他的成名作），文班亚马展现了他在情绪激动时是多么坦率。在第四节对格林完成一次震撼的 空中接力并低头怒视 后，这一幕成了他本赛季首个疯传的瞬间。文班亚马表现得大胆而张扬，解释了他对那一刻的看法。
“我最好的回答永远在球场上。那才是对他们伤害最大的方式，”文班亚马说道，“当我隔扣（格林）时，他完全沉默了。”
尽管事实是格林在被隔扣后立即与文班亚马面对面并开始喷垃圾话，但尊重已经赢得。“我尊重他的回应方式，”格林说道，“你永远不会向任何人退缩，他也没有。所以我尊重这一点。”
这种竞争意识定义了文班亚马的赛季。这位身高 7 英尺 4 英寸（或 5 英寸、6 英寸）的马刺球星消除了人们对他巨大且纤细的身材能否承受 NBA 赛季强度的担忧。尽管他偶尔需要进行负荷管理并因伤缺席了一些比赛，但只要穿上球衣，他就会付出 100% 的努力。即使是在那些无关痛痒的比赛中也是如此。在全明星赛前，他承诺要重振这项多年来一直让联盟声誉受损的赛事的竞争性，并且 他确实做到了。
在明尼阿波利斯发生美国移民及海关执法局特工引发的致命枪击事件后，文班亚马是首批 强力发声 谴责暴力的球员之一。他甚至承认了就此事发声可能带来的后果，以一种在公众人物中罕见的直白方式说出了心里话。
“我也意识到，现在畅所欲言对我来说代价太大了，”文班亚马说，“我不想谈论太多细节。”
在整个赛季的新闻发布会上，文班亚马一直愿意打破“第四面墙”，当他对其他观点感到好奇时，他会反过来询问媒体。了解文班亚马是一个双向互动的过程，这在年轻球星中越来越罕见。他会就热门话题或随机事件征求你的意见，真诚地对周围人的世界观感到好奇。
本赛季有许多幕后瞬间让在全美各地报道文班亚马变得非常有意义。在休斯顿的一场比赛后，他在更衣室里自豪地 向《The Athletic》展示了他的伤疤。还有在迈阿密关于 MVP 的辩论，这是一个关于他如何以不同方式对待公众人物身份的典型例子。在更衣室与《The Athletic》就他的 MVP 竞争力进行了 20 分钟的辩论后，他愿意将这段对话带到发布台 向公众公开。
当被要求在麦克风前重申那场辩论时，他询问该如何组织他的回答。随后，他应要求提出了三个论点，这成为了随后全国媒体报道的素材。这是他如何在新闻发布会中拥抱真诚对话的极致体现。
当文班亚马询问记者的意见时，他从不带有攻击性。他会点头、思考、接受不同的观点，并解释自己为什么不同意。他甚至会采纳建议，并承认一个问题可能有多个合理的答案。对于一个处在如此聚光灯下的人来说，他的思想开放程度令人惊讶。在那些从拿到驾照起就是超级巨星、刚进联盟就带着世故感的球员身上常见的厌倦感，在文班身上完全看不到。
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 wins Magic Johnson Award for cooperation with fans and media
Victor Wembanyama wins Magic Johnson Award for cooperation with fans and media
Victor Wembanyama won the Magic Johnson award from the Pro Basketball Writers Association on Thursday, honoring the NBA player who best combines excellence on the court with cooperation and grace in dealing with the media and fans.
In his third season, Wembanyama rapidly emerged as one of the NBA’s ambassadors, becoming as much of an attraction off the court as he is on it. While his play pushed him toward the forefront of the MVP conversation, he became one of the most sought-after quotes in the league. His news conferences are filled with introspection, candor, and, sometimes, even a good laugh.
“Victor Wembanyama thoroughly embodies the spirit of this award — as a superstar who is just as thoughtful and engaging off the court as he is dominant on the court,” said PBWA president Howard Beck. “He is giving of himself, amiable and patient with reporters, and eager to discuss just about any subject — from the MVP race to social justice to the Northern Lights. As one of our members put it, Victor is ‘a deep thinker who understands the power of his words.’”
Wembanyama speaks after nearly every game he plays, taking questions from essentially any reporter in the room who asks. He also always takes a few extra questions in French for the two reporters who have relocated from France to San Antonio to cover him full-time, giving them fruitful responses even after taking often a dozen questions beforehand. He has even shown up at the podium when he was grieving the passing of his grandmother following the NBA Cup Final loss to the New York Knicks, a scenario where most players would decline to appear publicly.
He managed to answer only two questions before leaving the podium in tears, demonstrating his commitment to honoring his duties as a star player in the league well beyond the call.
After that week in Las Vegas, his reputation exploded as one of the premier players. Wembanyama averaged 25 points, 11.5 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 3.1 blocks while leading the Spurs to a 62-20 record, one of the best regular seasons in a rich franchise history. Once he became fully healthy at the beginning of February, the Spurs finished a league-best 30-4 with a net rating of plus-14.7, far beyond second-place Charlotte at plus-10.8. Their 88.2 winning percentage over that span would have them on pace to nearly match the Golden State Warriors’ record 73-win season.
Wembanyama is expected to be a finalist for MVP, a lock for first-team All-NBA and potentially the first-ever unanimous Defensive Player of the Year. That’s the first part of the qualification for the Magic Johnson award. But he has matched his stellar play when dealing with the media and fans.
Many star players have strong relationships with their fan base. Wembanyama has transformed that concept. Before the season, he formed the league’s first full-time ultras supporters group called the Jackals. He sat down with The Athletic for one of his few non-TV exclusive interviews of the season to dive deep into how his journey recovering from a blood clot last year led him to put the Jackals project together. Since then, the group has become a staple of Spurs games and a force in the community.
Over the course of the season, he has found his voice as a thought leader in the NBA. He has taken bold stances on ethical dilemmas and has been willing to puff his chest out while trying not to cross the line into downright arrogance. It has resulted in captivating moments and brought a sense of competitive tension to his games. The “ethical basketball” comments surrounding the Oklahoma City Thunder were just the tip of the iceberg.
After a clash against Draymond Green and the Golden State Warriors that became his coming-out party in November, Wembanyama showed just how candid he would be in the heat of the moment. After a huge alley-oop and staredown over Green in the fourth quarter became one of his first viral moments of the season, Wembanyama was bold and brash, explaining his perspective on the moment.
“My best answer is always on the court. That’s what hurts them the most,” Wembanyama said. “(Green) went completely silent when I dunked on him.”
Though the truth was that Green met Wembanyama face-to-face after the dunk and started jawing at him, the respect was earned. “I respect the way he responded,” Green said. “You don’t ever back down from anybody, and he didn’t. So I respect that.”
That competitiveness has come to define Wembanyama’s season, as the 7-foot-4 (or 5”, or 6”) Spurs star eradicated concerns that his massive, slender frame is too fragile for the rigors of the NBA season. Though he had to load manage on occasion and missed some time due to injury, he brought 100 percent every time he suited up. Even when the games didn’t count. Ahead of the All-Star game, he pledged to revive the competitiveness of the event that had become a stain on the league’s reputation for years and did just that.
Following the fatal shootings by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Minneapolis, Wembanyama was one of the first players to speak forcefully, condemning the violence. He even acknowledged the consequences of speaking out on the matter, saying the quiet part out loud in a way that is rare for any public figure.
“I’m conscious, also, that saying everything that’s on my mind would have a cost that’s too great for me right now,” Wembanyama said. “I’d rather not get into too many details.”
Wembanyama has been willing to break the fourth wall in his news conferences throughout the season, turning the question back on the media when he is curious for other perspectives. Getting to know Victor is a two-way street in a way that is increasingly rare among young stars. He solicits your opinion on the topical and random, genuinely curious about the worldviews around him.
There have been many behind-the-scenes moments this season that have made covering Wembanyama across the NBA map worthwhile. After a game in Houston, he proudly showed The Athletic his scars in the locker room. Then there was the MVP debate in Miami, which was a crystallizing example of how he is taking a different approach to being a public figure. Following a 20-minute locker room debate with The Athletic over his MVP candidacy, he was willing to take the conversation to the podium to bring it to the public.
When queried to rehash the debate on the mic, he asked how he should structure his answer. He then presented three talking points upon request, which fueled national coverage thereafter. It was the ultimate example of how he embraces a genuine conversation through his news conferences.
When Wembanyama asks for reporters’ opinions, he is never combative. He’ll nod, ponder, accept a differing viewpoint, and explain why he disagrees. He’ll even take it under advisement and acknowledge there are multiple reasonable answers to the question. He is strikingly open-minded for someone under such a bright spotlight. The sense of jadedness that often comes from players entering the league — who have been superstars since they were getting their driver’s license — isn’t apparent with Wemby.
By Jared Weiss, via The Athletic