By Jared Weiss | The Athletic, 2026-05-24 09:30:17
维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama)本赛季做过最不可思议的事，甚至不是发生在比赛中。
1月上旬，这位身高7英尺5英寸的圣安东尼奥马刺队法国超级巨星在赛前热身时站在篮筐旁，看到几颗球同时卡在了篮网里。他没有直接用手去拿，而是走过去，直接在头顶上方做了一个剪刀脚，一记高踢腿把球从篮筐里踢了出来。
这一壮举背后的故事——源于一位拥有世界上最高踢腿纪录的移动专家——与这一成就本身一样令人着迷。
在我报道那个故事时，我清楚地意识到，它展现了文班亚马神话的多重维度。每一个举动背后，总有一个故事。就拿他创立“豺狼 (Jackals)”球迷俱乐部，以及这与他被诊断出患有血栓之间的联系来说，他在接受The Athletic的专访时深入探讨了这一话题。
当The Athletic在本赛季要求我从波士顿搬到圣安东尼奥，以便每天在一线跟进报道文班亚马和马刺队时，我们希望能够揭开这位星球上最引人注目的新星的层层面纱，让这位被称为“外星人”的球员展现出他更具人性化的一面。
以下是我对这位“NBA未来门面”的了解：
他的身体
走进文班的世界，最初吸引人的是他庞大的身躯——以及他用这具身体所能做到的事情。他的官方注册身高是7英尺4英寸，但无论是同框对比，还是与他身边人的交谈，种种迹象都表明，他光脚的实际身高大约在7英尺5.5英寸（约2.27米）。
当你第一次亲眼目睹文班的优雅时，你会被彻底震撼。其他与他体型相当的人类，要么是步履蹒跚、几乎无法全场奔跑的“移动树木”，要么是骨瘦如柴、无法承受身体在全速运转时产生的G力的“纤细羚羊”。而文班亚马不知怎地找到了两者的平衡点。他以极强的控制力运用着体内的力量，能够跃过所有人，落回地面后又能在瞬间再次跃过所有人。在身边观察了他一年之后，我已经对他的神迹有些脱敏了，但几乎每个夜晚，他依然能做出一些我闻所未闻、见所未见的事情。
文班亚马融合了古往今来最伟大球员的优秀特质，同时还能做出超出我们大脑认知范畴的动作。对手非常害怕在他面前突破，以至于球迷和评论员发明了各种词汇来描述他们落荒而逃的样子——比如“算了算了 (Nopes)”、“打扰了 (Neverminds)”、“去他的吧 (Hell-nahs)”和“原地掉头 (U-turns)”。他只需运一次球就能从中场直达篮筐。他能隔着篮板封盖对手。他能在高大如山的壮汉头顶完成暴扣。
这些不仅仅是他天生身体天赋的产物，更源于他长期以来通过各种形式的训练、冥想甚至武术来开发身体的专注态度。他和他的团队做出了一个深思熟虑的决定：不盲目为他修长且易受伤的骨架增重。相反，他们专注于强化他身体的每一块细微肌肉，并最大化他的协调性和本体感受。他将各种形式的等长收缩训练、自重健身和肌筋膜训练融入其中，以建立与身体的深度连接。
仅仅是通过报道他，我就学到了诸如肌筋膜前线（Myofascial Front Line）的连结性、足部和踝关节锻炼的重要性，以及用双手进行训练如何能像用双脚训练一样强大。
文班亚马几乎用尽了所有能想象到的方式来准备他的身体，这也体现在他在场上无所不能的多面性上。他的身体不仅是一个奇迹，更是一座神殿，成功承受住了季后赛愈发激烈的对抗考验。
文班亚马以优雅的姿态在竞争中傲视群雄。(Alex Slitz / Getty Images)
他的思想
文班亚马之所以能够将身体推向超越已知极限的境地，是因为他训练思想的方式。这不仅在于他的聪明、敏捷或智慧，更在于他将身心连接放在首位。文班亚马在刚刚过去的休赛期成为新闻焦点，因为他前往中国，在少林寺进行训练。他的目的是让自己的身体和心灵获得更深层次、更具精神性的连接。
他不仅想了解自己拥有些什么，还想了解刚刚失去的东西所带来的影响。2025年2月，在他的第二个NBA赛季中期，文班亚马被诊断出右肩患有血栓。几个月后完全康复，文班亚马利用夏天周游世界，寻找灵感和自我。当他归来时，他带着全新的活力和更深远的目标投入到训练中。
在我报道NBA的经历中，从未见过有人像他这样刻意且专注地进行这项心智训练。在赛前上场热身之前，他常常是更衣室里唯一的球员。他静静地穿上球鞋，然后开始冥想——每场比赛皆是如此，而摄像团队则在外面等待。当他最终走出更衣室踏上球场时，那是为数不多能让你感觉到房间里气压发生变化的时刻。
在目睹了几次之后，我自己也开始在接下来的几个小时里去喋辩旅行奔波、或是“一盯四联”防守对阵“五外”进攻的效果之前，抽空呼吸并冥想片刻。这是文班以身作则最明显的例子之一，不仅是对他的队友，对我也是如此。
在球场上，文班亚马作为防守者已经掌握了“猫鼠游戏”的精髓，即便他是场上体型最大的那只“猫”。他能引诱对手在他附近尝试投篮，然后以出其不意的方式将球封盖。即使他碰不到球，球也往往会飞过篮筐。他迅速培养出了在行进间传球的球感，这让他作为进攻球员变得更加危险。
他将自己的思想视作神殿，精心规划自己的生活，不虚度任何光阴。他不出去派对，不喝酒，早睡早起。他把闲暇时间花在阅读、下国际象棋和其他棋盘游戏，或者仅仅是冥想上。他对自己摄入身体和大脑的一切都极其挑剔，努力让自己生命的每一个角落都保持敏锐。
他的内心
甚至在文班亚马对比赛有理性的认知之前，他就从未停止过将自己的意志强加于比赛之中。
这一切都始于他的准备工作。他的休赛期训练包含了一些让多位旁观者都表示闻所未闻的科目。他会一对一防守场上的每一个球员，然后全速冲刺到球场另一端，不休息地再来一遍。直到他最终精疲力竭地倒下，训练才会结束。那些“残暴”的训练极大地改善了他的体能，以至于他现在可以在一场激烈的季后赛双加时中统治比赛，而在去年，仅仅是在场上来回奔跑都会让他气喘吁吁。
他的好胜心令人大开眼界。他曾誓言要让全明星赛重新变得真实且充满竞争性，并且他做到了。他把战胜雷霆队视作赢下超级碗，尤其是针对大个子切特·霍姆格伦 (Chet Holmgren)，因为人们在他们年轻时竟敢将两人相提并论。
然而，他在做这一切的同时，依然全力支持队友，并明确表示自己只是球队拼图中的一部分——当然是最重要的一块，但终究只是其中一块。他可以挺起胸膛，宣称自己是联盟中最好的球员，就像他在3月份与我在更衣室辩论时那样，但同时依然尊重自己在球队架构中的位置。那场关于MVP的辩论始于一个问题，他问我有多看重防守。他像一个经验丰富的辩论节目嘉宾一样有条不紊地构建自己的论点，并最终得出论题：常规的MVP评判标准根本无法衡量他的独特之处。
文班亚马找到了一种平衡看似矛盾特质的方法。他在行动时安静且面无表情，却能在关键时刻发出凶猛的怒吼。他从最初难以应付身体对抗，转变为如今享受其中，甚至欣然接受因制造犯规而留下的伤疤。
如今，在争冠征程的最深处，他的狂热斗志已成为他最大的财富。在马刺与明尼苏达森林狼队的次轮系列赛第四场中，他曾因一次恶意肘击被驱逐出场，那一刻的冲动让他付出了代价，但在下一场比赛中，他用一个载入史册的第一节表现完成了救赎，让系列赛彻底失去悬念。周日，他在西部决赛第一场来到俄克拉荷马城，再次上演了统治级的表现。
在他的首次季后赛之旅中，他正在证明自己天生就是为大场面而生的。
文班亚马不惧于在场上宣泄自己的情感。(Photo: Alonzo Adams / Imagn Images)
他的灵魂
然而，文班亚马也表明，在需要的时候他也可以展现出脆弱的一面。他敞开心扉，讲述了被诊断出患有血栓时的情感经历，以及对篮球运动可能会被夺走的恐惧，因为运动员在服用抗凝药期间是无法上场比赛的。听到一位像他这样级别的球员如此坦率地公开面对自己职业生涯乃至生命的脆弱，顿时让人感到一股强大的力量。
尽管自那以后他变得更加谨慎，但他依然成功赢得了大众的喜爱。在新闻发布会的发言席上，他在回答问题前会长时间停顿，组织出往往深思熟虑且令人耳目一新的回答。
这些新闻发布会已经成为道德评判和展示他独特个性的开放论坛。他曾公开表态支持“有道德的篮球”，并希望以一种“变得如此美丽”的方式来打球。当被问及因赢下职业生涯首个季后赛系列赛而落泪所遭受的批评时，他发表了一番宣言，引起了世界各地人们的共鸣。
“就我个人而言，我拒绝背负隐藏情绪的包袱，”他说。
在一个充斥着滤镜和标签的世界里，看到有人在迈向如此巨大的名望时，依然拒绝接受“必须停止展现脆弱”的观念，这无疑是令人振奋的。
尽管无论走到哪里，他都必须与无数向他伸出的双手保持一定的距离，但他依然乐于融入人群。去年，他在华盛顿广场公园与纽约当地人一起下国际象棋，甚至建立了自己的社区。
他创立了“豺狼”球迷会，这是NBA第一个真正的狂热球迷组织，它已经远远超出了每个主场比赛中那一块大声呐喊的球迷看台。文班亚马亲手挑选了该组织的每一位成员，并密切参与了该组织创建的每一步。他包揽了所有工作，从主持选拔、研究申请者的视频资料，到亲自主持队长培训。在本赛季早些时候受伤期间，他甚至还带领球迷进行了长达两小时的欢呼呐喊。
他也不害怕更直接地发声。在今年1月明尼阿波利斯发生移民官员枪击平民事件后，文班亚马是首批发声谴责这一杀戮行为的球员之一。
“每天我醒来看到新闻，我都感到震惊，”文班亚马说，“我认为疯狂的是，有些人可能会让这看起来或听起来像是可以接受的，就好像谋杀平民是可以接受的一样。”
但最终打动人心的是，文班亚马乐于让自己成为比个人更伟大的集体的一部分。无论是在言语还是行动上，他极少将自己置于球队之上。他并不完美——没有人是完美的——但他所做出的不懈努力是显而易见的。
他完美契合了马刺队的文化，而这种文化也同样完美地适合他。
他的道路
那么，接下来会发生什么？在客场击败雷霆队赢下第一场比赛后，马刺队在他们共同经历的首个季后赛中展现出了争夺总冠军的强劲实力。这与文班亚马在训练营期间宣称马刺的目标是西部第六种子相去甚远，这在当时是一个极其大胆的声明。
到了2月份，显而易见的是，他已经摸索出了门道，并且完全恢复了健康。自那以后，他一直是这项运动中最好的球员。在上周日第一场比赛前，他看着谢伊·吉尔杰斯-亚历山大 (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander)连续第二年捧起MVP奖杯，随后打出了他职业生涯中最好的一场比赛。文班亚马未来的道路注定会充满总冠军戒指和MVP奖杯，而其中第一座奖杯可能就在本赛季到来。
在球场之外，文班亚马正准备成为世界上最著名的运动员之一。如果他赢得总冠军，那将瞬间让他声名大噪，以至于没有人再需要像这样的科普文章。凭借他引人入胜的采访、神秘的商业营销和极具开创性的打法，他具备了成为全球超级巨星的一切要素。
在周一比赛的第四节，我问一位同事：“我是不是对文班亚马的英雄表现有些脱敏了？”而到了加时赛结束时，显而易见的是，我们正在见证一个将被永远铭记的传奇诞生。
我想起了2012年东部决赛第六场时我在哪里，当时勒布朗·詹姆斯 (LeBron James)迎来了他的那个神级时刻。在那场比赛的半场结束时，很明显NBA的格局已经被永远改变了。随后，在接下来的十多年里，他开启了我们所见过的最伟大的职业生涯征程之一。
我也回想起了2022年NBA总决赛第四场的第四节，当时斯蒂芬·库里 (Steph Curry)达到了无所不能的境界，扭转了与波士顿凯尔特人队的系列赛局势。那一晚，库里从一个定义时代的变革者，一跃成为NBA历史上最伟大的球员之一。
文班亚马在周日加时赛中的表现，是我所见证的第三个超凡时刻。那是火炬的传递，证明了文班亚马的成长轨迹与勒布朗和斯蒂芬处于同一水平。
甚至，可能更在其上。
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：My season inside Wemby's world: An up-close look at the many dimensions of Victor Wembanyama
My season inside Wemby’s world: An up-close look at the many dimensions of Victor Wembanyama
The most remarkable thing Victor Wembanyama did this season didn’t even happen during a game.
In early January, the San Antonio Spurs’ 7-foot-5 French superstar was near the hoop during pre-game warmups and saw a few balls stuck in the net at the same time. Instead of just grabbing the balls out of the net with his hands, he walked over, did a scissor-kick straight over his head and high-kicked them out of the basket.
The backstory behind that feat — owing to a mobility expert with the highest-recorded kick in the world — was as fascinating as the accomplishment itself.
As I reported that story, it became clear that it illustrated the many layers of Wembanyama’s mythology. There is always a story behind the act. Just take his founding of the Jackals supporters club and its connection to his blood clot diagnosis, which he explored in a sit-down interview with The Athletic.
When The Athletic asked me to move to San Antonio from Boston this season to be on the ground with Wembanyama and the Spurs every day, we wanted to peel back the layers of the most captivating up-and-coming athlete on the planet and humanize the man known as “The Alien.”
Here’s what I’ve learned about the NBA’s Next Big Thing:
His Body
The initial draw into the world of Wemby is the enormity of his body — and what he can do with it. He’s listed at 7-foot-4, but evidence ranging from side-by-side comparisons to conversations with people around him indicates he is actually about 7-foot-5.5 barefoot.
The first time you witness Wemby’s grace, you are floored. The other human beings his size have either been plodding trees who can barely get up the floor or rail-thin gazelles who can’t handle the G-forces their bodies generate at full speed. Wembanyama has somehow found a middle ground. He uses the force within his body with such control that he can leap above everyone, then return to the earth and immediately leap above everyone again. I am desensitized to what he does after a year being around him, but just about every night, he does something I’ve never seen before.
Wembanyama incorporates the best elements of the greatest players past and present while also doing stuff our brains can’t process. Opponents are so scared to drive on him that fans and commentators have invented multiple terms just to describe the way they run away from him — Nopes, Neverminds, Hell-nahs, U-turns, to name a few. He’s taken just one dribble to get from half court to the hoop. He blocks shots over the backboard. He dunks over mountainous men.
These aren’t just a product of his natural physical gifts. They come from a lifelong focus on developing his body through various forms of training, meditation and even martial arts. He and his camp have made a deliberate choice not to pile on pounds to his lengthy and therefore vulnerable frame. Instead, they have focused on strengthening every little muscle in his body and maximizing his coordination and proprioception. He incorporates various forms of isometrics, calisthenics and myofascial training to get in touch with his body.
Just from covering him, I have learned about things like the connectivity of the Myofascial Front Line, the vitality of foot and ankle exercises and how training on your hands can be as powerful as training on your feet.
Wembanyama prepares his body in almost every way imaginable, and it’s reflected in his endless versatility on the court. His body isn’t just a spectacle; it’s a temple that has managed to hold up to the increasing rigors of playoff basketball.
Victor Wembanyama towers over the competition with grace. (Alex Slitz / Getty Images)
His Mind
Wembanyama has been able to push his body beyond any known limits because of the way he trains his mind. It’s not just that he is intelligent, quick or wise. It’s that he prioritizes his mind-body connection. Wembanyama made news this past offseason for traveling to China to train at a Shaolin monastery. His purpose was to gain a deeper, more spiritual connection to his body and mind.
He didn’t just want to understand what was there, but also the impact of what had just been removed. In February 2025, midway through his second NBA season, Wembanyama was diagnosed with a blood clot in his right shoulder. After fully recovering several months later, Wembanyama spent his summer traveling across the world to find inspiration and a sense of self. When he returned, he worked with a renewed vigor and a deeper purpose.
He is intentional about this work in ways I’ve never seen before when covering the NBA. He is often the only player in the locker room before his pregame on-court warmup. He quietly puts his shoes on and then he meditates, every game, while camera crews wait. When he finally exits the room to take the court, it is one of the few moments where you can feel the air pressure change in the room.
After seeing it a few times, I started taking a few moments myself to breathe and meditate before going off to yap about everything from travel woes to the efficacy of a box-and-one zone against a five-out offense for the next few hours. It’s one of the clearest instances of Wemby leading by example, not just to his teammates.
On the court, Wembanyama has mastered the cat-and-mouse game as a defender, even if he’s the biggest cat out there. He manages to fake players into trying to shoot in his vicinity, then blocks their shots in ways that catch them by surprise. Even when he can’t get to the ball, it often sails over the rim. He has quickly developed a feel for how to pass on the move, making him that much more dangerous as an offensive player.
He treats his mind like a temple, composing his life carefully with no wasted moments. He doesn’t go out, doesn’t drink and goes to bed early. He spends his downtime reading; playing chess and other board games; or just meditating. He is meticulous about what goes into his body and brain, trying to keep every little corner of his existence honed.
His Heart
Even before Wembanyama had an intellectual grasp on the game, he never held back from imposing his will on it.
It all starts with his preparation. His offseason consisted of drills that multiple people in attendance for his workouts told me they had never seen before. He would defend every player on the floor one-on-one, then sprint down the court and do it all over again without a break. He’d finish when he would finally collapse in exhaustion. Those “violent” workouts have improved his conditioning to the point that he can now dominate in double overtime of an intense playoff game, when even getting up and down the floor was gassing him last year.
His competitive fire has been revelatory. He vowed to make the All-Star Game real and competitive again, and delivered. He treats wins over the Thunder like Super Bowls, particularly targeting big man Chet Holmgren because people dared to compare the two of them when they were younger.
Yet, he does it all while supporting his teammates and making it clear he is a piece of the team’s puzzle — the biggest piece, sure, but a piece nonetheless. He can puff his chest out and stake his claim as the best player in the league, as he did in a locker-room debate with me in March, while still respecting his place within the team construct. That MVP debate started with a question, as he asked me how much I value defense. He constructed his argument methodically like an experienced debate show guest, leading to the eventual thesis that the typical merits of the MVP debate cannot capture how unique he is.
Wembanyama has found a way to balance traits that seem contradictory. He is quiet and stone-faced when he operates, yet brings out a ferocious roar in big moments. He has gone from struggling to handle physicality to relishing it, even embracing his scars from drawing fouls.
Now, in the deepest parts of a title run, his furor has become his greatest asset. After letting it get to him for one brief but fateful moment when he was ejected for a flagrant elbow in Game 4 of the Spurs’ second-round series against the Minnesota Timberwolves, he atoned the next game with a first quarter for the ages to put the series out of reach. He showed up to Oklahoma City for Game 1 of the conference finals Sunday and did it again.
In his first playoff run, he is showing he is already built for the biggest moments.
Victor Wembanyama is not afraid to show his emotion on the court. (Photo: Alonzo Adams / Imagn Images)
His Soul
And yet, Wembanyama has also shown he can be vulnerable when the moment calls for it. He opened up about the emotional experience of his blood clot diagnosis and the fear that basketball would be taken away from him, as athletes can’t play on blood thinners. It immediately felt powerful to hear a player of his magnitude publicly confront his mortality so openly.
While he has become more selective since then, he has managed to endear himself to the masses. He takes long pauses before answering questions at the podium, putting together answers that are often thoughtful and refreshing.
These news conferences have become open forums for moral adjudication and showcasing his unique personality. He has taken a stand for “ethical basketball” and wants to play in a way that is “growing to be so beautiful.” When asked about the criticism over him crying when he won his first playoff series, he made a declaration that struck a chord with people around the world.
“Personally, I refuse the burden of hiding my emotions,” he said.
Seeing someone stepping into such a grand level of celebrity while rejecting the notion that they have to stop being vulnerable was inspiring in a world of filters and hashtags.
As much as he has to maintain a buffer from the countless hands reaching out toward him everywhere he goes, he has enjoyed meshing with the people. Last year, he played chess in Washington Square Park with New York locals, and has even built a community of his own.
He created the Jackals, the NBA’s first true ultras supporters group that has become far more than just a section of loud fans at every home game. Wembanyama handpicked every member of the group and was intimately involved in every step of the group’s creation. He did everything from hosting the tryouts, to studying the film on the applicants, to running the captains’ orientation himself. He even led a two-hour cheer session while he was injured earlier in the season.
He’s not afraid to use his voice more directly, either. Following the civilian shootings by immigration officials in Minneapolis back in January, Wembanyama was one of the first players to speak out against the killings.
“Every day, I wake up and see the news and I’m horrified,” Wembanyama said. “I think that it’s crazy that some people might make it seem or make it sound like it’s acceptable, like the murder of civilians is acceptable.”
But what cuts through in the end is how Wembanyama embraces being a part of something bigger than himself. He has rarely put himself above the team in his words or his actions. He’s not perfect — nobody is —but his concerted effort is apparent.
He was a perfect fit for the Spurs culture and it has been a perfect fit for him.
His Path
So what’s next? After shocking the Thunder on the road in Game 1, the Spurs showed they are a serious threat to win the title in their first postseason together. It’s a far cry from when Wembanyama declared the Spurs were aiming for the No. 6 seed during training camp, which was a bold statement at the time.
By February, it was becoming apparent he had figured things out and was fully healthy. Since then, he has been the best player in the sport. He watched Shai Gilgeous-Alexander receive his second-straight MVP trophy before Game 1 last Sunday, then had the best game of his life. The path forward for Wembanyama should be filled with rings and MVP trophies, with the first of those potentially arriving this season.
Off the court, Wembanyama is poised to become one of the most famous athletes in the world. If he wins a championship, it will instantly catapult him to the point that nobody will need a refresher like this. Between his captivating interviews, mysterious marketing and innovative play, he has all the makings of a global superstar.
During Monday’s fourth quarter, I asked a coworker if I had become too desensitized to Wembanyama’s heroics.” By the end of overtime, it was apparent that we were watching an arrival we will remember forever.
I thought about where I was during Game 6 of the 2012 Eastern Conference finals, when LeBron James had that moment. By halftime of that game, it was pretty clear that the NBA had changed forever. He then went on one of the greatest runs we’ve ever seen over the next decade and counting.
I also thought back to the fourth quarter of Game 4 of the 2022 NBA Finals, when Steph Curry reached a level of invincibility that turned that series with the Boston Celtics around. That was the night Curry went from a revolutionary who defined an era to one of the greatest players in NBA history.
Wembanyama’s performance in overtime on Sunday was the third transcendent moment I have witnessed. It was the passing of the torch, the confirmation that Wembanyama’s trajectory is at the same level of LeBron’s and Steph’s.
Perhaps, even beyond.
By Jared Weiss, via The Athletic