By Jared Weiss | The Athletic, 2026-04-20 09:00:37
圣安东尼奥——在这个他和整个篮球世界期待已久的夜晚接近尾声时，维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 还有最后一件事要做。
随着文班亚马在圣安东尼奥马刺队以 111-98 击败波特兰开拓者队的季后赛首轮第一场比赛后结束 NBC 的采访，周围的人潮散开，为他让出了一条通往球员通道的路，他却突然停下了脚步。在他的左侧是另一群围着德阿隆·福克斯 (De’Aaron Fox) 的人群，那是他的全明星队友，他的老将，他的控球后卫。文班亚马与福克斯同频共振。他们用一个精妙的延迟挡拆彻底愚弄了开拓者的防线，为比赛盖棺定论。他们互相弥补对方的失误，并始终关注着彼此。在一个颠覆了 NBA 格局的出色常规赛之后，他们深知为了达到上限，彼此之间的依赖程度有多深。
因此，当福克斯成为场上唯一留下的马刺球员时，文班亚马必须等待，护送他的控卫回到更衣室。
“因为没有人会孤军奋战，”文班在赢下季后赛首秀后说道，“这一切都很自然。他也会为我做同样的事。这没什么。”
来自全场最受瞩目人物的一个小小举动，其意义非凡。这就是一直以来的“马刺之道 (Spurs Way)”。这是它的最新篇章。
这支球队的格言——“凿石 (pounding the rock)”，讲的就是通过点滴瞬间的积累来实现重大突破。多等那 10 秒钟，就是孤立与团结的区别，这支球队及其当家球星对此心领神会。
文班亚马的季后赛首秀本可以有很多种解读方式。比如他从去年的血栓伤病中康复的历程，这曾是过去一个赛季的核心剧情，尽管在全明星赛后似乎已逐渐淡出人们的视野。又或者是这位显然将成为联盟未来门面的男人，终于登上了最高舞台。
但归根结底，这关乎火炬的传承，提醒着人们 22 岁的文班亚马是悠久血脉的传人。现场坐着格雷格·波波维奇 (Gregg Popovich)、马努·吉诺比利 (Manu Ginobili) 和乔治·格文 (George Gervin)，他们是这支球队辉煌过去的鲜活见证。第四节期间，大屏幕上出现了蒂姆·邓肯 (Tim Duncan) 和大卫·罗宾逊 (David Robinson) 并肩而坐的画面。昔日的马刺“双塔”，在关键时刻重聚。
罗宾逊给邓肯比了“兔耳朵”搞怪，他们大笑着，观众席爆发出一阵欢呼，每个人都再次感受到了马刺辉煌往昔带来的喜悦。几分钟后，文班亚马超越了邓肯，创下了马刺球员季后赛首秀的最高得分纪录。
当邓肯和罗宾逊最初联手时，马刺经历了一个极其漫长的伟大时代，并在罗宾逊将“马刺之道”的火炬传递给邓肯后演变成了王朝。随后邓肯将接力棒交给了科怀·伦纳德 (Kawhi Leonard)，可惜，那段故事并未圆满。马刺随后陷入了长达七年的沉寂期，如今随着他们漫长内线谱系中最终的继承人出现，马刺重新崛起。不仅是因为文班现在的强大以及他很快将达到的历史级高度，更因为他展现出的优雅、自信和团队精神。
因此，当他面对周日正式承担起的季后赛王座所带来的压力时，他并没有感受到追随罗宾逊和邓肯脚步的负担。
“我不会说是压力。我会说这感觉很安全，”文班亚马说道，“感觉就像如果你绊倒了，会有很多双手准备接住你。从第一天起，我就有这种感觉。”
对于一支被贴上“缺乏经验的新生力量”标签的球队来说，这里几乎不存在领导力真空。除了球馆里随处可见的传奇人物外，阵容构建也极其考究，在早熟的年轻球星和担任过各种角色的老将之间取得了平衡。这保持了更衣室的新鲜感，不同的球员发挥不同的作用来维持和谐。
凯尔登·约翰逊 (Keldon Johnson) 的领导力最受关注。福克斯是经验丰富的全明星。哈里森·巴恩斯 (Harrison Barnes) 则是睿智的冠军球员，拥有球队经常需要的沉稳嗓音。
但像凯利·奥利尼克 (Kelly Olynyk) 和俾斯麦·比永博 (Bismack Biyombo) 这样的人出现在这里是有原因的，即使他们上场时间不多。他们的很多工作就是寻找时机让球队团结在一起，因为他们知道这在长远来看会有所回报。
当马刺 3 月底在迈阿密时，拥有 12 年球龄、曾效力于热火且是队内三位参加过总决赛的球员之一的奥利尼克向球队提出了一个想法。奥利尼克把他的裁缝请到了四季酒店，为阵容中的每个人量身定制西装。定制西装不会一夜之间凭空出现，它们需要时间来制作，就像这支球队的成长一样。
果然，西装赶在第一场比赛前送达了。朱利安·尚帕尼 (Julian Champagnie) 的裤子是前一天刚到的。赛前，马刺球员们一个接一个地走进球场，穿着清一色的全黑西装。文班亚马选择了双排扣配戗驳领，而迪伦·哈珀 (Dylan Harper) 则保持了简约经典，他告诉 NBA 社交媒体的珍妮·费舍尔，这是他自选秀之夜以来第一次穿西装。
但这是适合该场合的得体装扮，是马刺下一代的加冕礼。球队在季后赛的首次尝试与过去几个月里那些竞争激烈的比赛并无二致。比赛充满了身体对抗和侵略性，开拓者尝试了各种战术和对位来限制文班亚马。他破解了大部分防守，并在对方给出投篮空间时投中了 6 个三分球中的 5 个。这位法国人还有一次转身过掉开拓者球员德尼·阿夫迪亚 (Deni Avdija) 的动作，这将在很长一段时间内留在他的集锦中。这是一种全方位的表现，将伟大球员区别开来——击败对手抛出的一切难题。
在那些前辈和坚守马刺标准的人面前，文班亚马的季后赛首秀证实了他名副其实。从赢得总冠军到有朝一日坐在看台上，接受另一位球队传奇比“兔耳朵”，他还有很长的路要走。但在最高舞台上，无论是在终场哨响前还是哨响后，这都是一个完美的开始。
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：Victor Wembanyama's playoff debut lives up to the Spurs' legendary standards
Victor Wembanyama’s playoff debut lives up to the Spurs’ legendary standards
SAN ANTONIO — At the coda of a night he and the basketball world had long awaited, Victor Wembanyama had one last thing to do.
As Wembanyama wrapped up his NBC interview after the San Antonio Spurs’ 111-98 win over the Portland Trail Blazers in Game 1 of the teams’ first-round playoff series, and the sea of bodies surrounding him parted to clear a path toward the tunnel, he suddenly paused. To his left was another crowd for De’Aaron Fox, his fellow All-Star, his vet, his point guard. Wembanyama goes as Fox goes. They shut the door on the game with a clever delayed pick-and-roll that had the Blazers’ defense fooled. They cleaned up each other’s mistakes and always had an eye out for each other. After a stellar regular season that flipped the NBA on its head, they know how much they rely on each other to reach their potential.
So with Fox the lone remaining Spur on the floor, Wembanyama had to wait to escort his point guard back to the locker room.
“Because nobody walks alone,” Wembanyama said after winning his playoff debut. “It’s all natural. He would’ve done the same thing for me. It’s not much.”
A small gesture from the largest presence in the room goes pretty far. That’s been the “Spurs Way.” This is the latest edition of it.
The franchise’s mantra, pounding the rock, is about small moments that build to big breakthroughs. Waiting an extra 10 seconds is the difference between isolation and togetherness, which is not lost on this team and its best player.
Wembanyama’s first playoff game could have been about him in so many ways. There was his journey back from last year’s blood clot that was a central storyline throughout this past season, even if it seemed to fade into the ether following the All-Star break. Or just the fact that the man who is clearly next up to be the face of the league finally got to take the main stage.
But it was ultimately about a passing of the torch, a reminder that Wembanyama, 22, is next in a long lineage. In the building were Gregg Popovich, Manu Ginobili and George Gervin, living relics of the franchise’s past. During the fourth quarter, Tim Duncan and David Robinson were shown on the Jumbotron sitting together. The Spurs’ Twin Towers of yesteryear, reunited in a vital moment.
Robinson gave Duncan bunny ears, they laughed, the crowd erupted and everyone felt the joy of the Spurs’ decorated past once again. A few minutes later, Wembanyama surpassed Duncan for the most points in a playoff debut by a Spur.
The Spurs experienced one of the greatest prolonged eras of greatness when Duncan and Robinson first united, turning into a dynasty when Robinson passed the torch of the “Spurs Way” to Duncan. Then Duncan handed the baton to Kawhi Leonard and, well, that didn’t work out. The Spurs went into the wilderness for seven years, reemerging now with the ultimate heir apparent to their long line of bigs. It’s not just that Wembanyama is great now and will be historically great quite soon. It’s that he leads with class, confidence and camaraderie.
So when he looks at the pressure that comes with being atop the playoff throne he formally assumed Sunday, he doesn’t feel the burden of following in Robinson and Duncan’s footsteps.
“I wouldn’t say weight. I would say it feels safe,” Wembanyama said. “It feels like if you trip, there’s a lot of hands that’s ready to catch you. From day one, it’s felt that way.”
For a team billed as inexperienced up-and-comers, there is hardly a leadership void. Beyond the legends lurking in the building, the roster is meticulously constructed, with a balance of precocious young stars and seasoned vets who have served in a variety of roles. That’s kept the locker room fresh, with different players hitting different notes to maintain harmony.
Keldon Johnson gets most of the attention for his leadership. Fox is the experienced All-Star. Harrison Barnes is the sage champ with the calming voice the team often needs.
But there’s a reason guys like Kelly Olynyk and Bismack Biyombo are around, even if they don’t play much. So much of their jobs is to find moments to bring the team together, knowing how it will pay off in the long run.
When the Spurs were in Miami in late March, Olynyk, a 12-year vet, former member of the Heat and one of the three players on the roster who has been to the Finals, came to the team with an idea. Olynyk brought his tailor into the Four Seasons to have everyone on the roster fitted for made-to-measure suits. Custom-made suits don’t just spawn overnight. They take time to develop, just like this team did.
Sure enough, they arrived just in time for Game 1. Julian Champagnie’s pants had landed the day before. And in the Spurs walked before the game, one by one, rocking their black on black looks. Wembanyama went double-breasted with peak lapels, while Dylan Harper kept it simple and classic, telling NBA Social’s Jenny Fischer that it was the first time he’s worn a suit since draft night.
But it was the proper fit for the occasion, a coronation of the Spurs’ next generation. The team’s first foray into the postseason felt no different from the highly competitive games it had played over the past few months. It was physical and aggressive, with the Blazers jumping through a variety of tactics and matchups to cover Wembanyama. He picked most of the coverages apart and buried five of his six 3-point attempts when they gave him the room to shoot. The Frenchman had a sequence spinning past the Blazers’ Deni Avdija that will stay glued to his highlight reel for a long time. It was the kind of holistic performance that separates great players, beating everything the opponent throws at them.
In the presence of those who came before him and lived up to the Spurs’ standard, Wembanyama’s playoff debut was confirmation that he is who he appears to be. He has a long way to go from winning a title to one day sitting in the stands, getting bunny ears from another franchise legend. But this was the right start on the big stage, before and after the final buzzer.
By Jared Weiss, via The Athletic