By Jeff McDonald, Staff Writer | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2026-05-24 15:00:10
2025年4月13日，星期日，在圣安东尼奥的弗罗斯特银行中心，圣安东尼奥马刺队后卫克里斯·保罗（3号）在对阵多伦多猛龙队的上半场比赛中等待罚球。
那场比赛其实无足轻重。至少，在很大程度上是这样。
俄克拉荷马城雷霆队主教练马克·戴格诺特 (Mark Daignault) 至今仍对此记忆犹新。
那是在2019年12月，雷霆队客场挑战犹他爵士队，进行一场赛季初的较量。当时队中缺席了几名首发球员，他们完全有理由敷衍了事。
但克里斯·保罗 (Chris Paul) 绝不允许他们这样做。
“（犹他）在开局阶段迅速建立起领先优势，我们很早就叫了暂停。而他的表现和打球方式，完全是一个今晚誓要赢球的人，无论存在什么借口——旅途奔波、赛程紧密、人员不整，”时任雷霆队助理教练的戴格诺特回忆道，“结果，我们一鼓作气赢下了那场比赛。”
戴格诺特那天晚上在盐湖城学到的东西，马刺队后来也深有体会。
“你每天都能感受到他那不惜一切代价赢球的意志，”马刺队主教练米奇·约翰逊 (Mitch Johnson) 说道，“我想两支球队在这方面可能都受到了他的影响。”
保罗，这位被整个NBA赞誉为历史最伟大控卫之一的41岁退役老将，虽然并未直接参与今年的西部决赛。
然而，两支球队的更衣室里依然留有他的印记。
正如保罗曾帮助那支拥有21岁新星谢伊·吉尔杰斯-亚历山大 (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander) 的俄克拉荷马城雷霆队领悟如何在NBA赢球一样，上赛季他也对那支正处于上升期、略显稚嫩的马刺队做了同样的事情。
“他帮助包括我在内的年轻球员真正提升了对比赛的理解，”马刺队前锋凯尔登·约翰逊 (Keldon Johnson) 在谈到保罗时说道，保罗在效力圣安东尼奥期间成为了NBA历史助攻榜和抢断榜的第二名。“他是一个能带来胜利的篮球运动员，我也能看到他是如何为这里的胜利做出贡献的。”
如果说，要是没有作风强硬的保罗的影响，马刺队就无法实现从连续六年无缘季后赛到闯入分区决赛的飞跃，这或许并不准确。
但这无疑大有裨益。
2025年3月2日，星期日，在圣安东尼奥进行的一场NBA常规赛上半场，俄克拉荷马城雷霆队的卢根茨·多尔特（5号）在对阵圣安东尼奥马刺队克里斯·保罗（左）的防守时突破。（美联社照片/Darren Abate）
在马刺队动荡的2024-25赛季中，保罗的声音始终响亮。
2024年11月，当名人堂教练格雷格·波波维奇 (Gregg Popovich) 因中风不得不暂时离开日常执教岗位，将球队交给米奇·约翰逊时，球队推选出保罗来面对媒体的提问。
次年2月，当当家球星维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 因血栓问题宣布赛季报销时，保罗再次站到了镜头前。
“他带来了不同层面的领导力，”凯尔登·约翰逊说道。
在保罗效力圣安东尼奥的唯一一个赛季中，马刺队赢得了34场比赛，比前一个赛季多赢了12场。
这反过来又为接下来的62胜赛季奠定了基础，使马刺队在西部仅次于雷霆队，位列第二。
在马刺队的更衣室里，新秀斯蒂芬·卡斯尔 (Stephon Castle) 以及像凯尔登·约翰逊和德文·瓦塞尔 (Devin Vassell) 这样更年轻的骨干球员，都从保罗日常的指导、严格要求和不停的督促中获益匪浅。
事实上，如果卡斯尔仔细倾听，他似乎仍能听到保罗的声音在球队训练馆的墙壁间回荡。每当卡斯尔观看比赛录像时，即使是在如今的分区决赛期间，他也常常会想到保罗会说些什么。
“他是这个联盟历史上最伟大的控球后卫之一，”在保罗的指导下获得上赛季NBA年度最佳新秀奖的卡斯尔说道，“因此，能够亲眼看到他是如何运作的，并能直接向他请教，这对我来说绝对非常有帮助，尤其是作为一个刚进联盟的新秀。我想我们中的很多人现在都正从中受益。”
那些在保罗效力俄克拉荷马城期间与他共事过的雷霆队球员和工作人员，也深有同感。
保罗那种强硬、毫不松懈的建队方式并不适合每个人——而且可能无法让所有人长期接受。
他偶尔会与队友产生摩擦，这也是他去年12月被迫提前退役的原因，当时洛杉矶快船队取消了与这位性格强势的控卫的告别重聚。
但对于雷霆和马刺两支球队来说，保罗都是在正确的时间出现的正确控卫。
“他是一个强势的人物，他在所有地方都留下了自己的印记和影响，而且他做这些事时从不妥协。”米奇·约翰逊说道，“我喜欢他这一点。”
蝉联NBA常规赛最有价值球员（MVP）的吉尔杰斯-亚历山大长期以来一直将自己的成长归功于保罗，称这位“控卫之神”是“大哥、导师，也像朋友一样”。
“他是我生命中第一个关系亲密、且实现了我想实现的那些目标的人，我真的很依赖他的建议，”吉尔杰斯-亚历山大在2025年说道，“不仅是篮球方面的建议，还有商业方面的建议、如何保养身体的建议，以及当家人不和你住在一起时如何处理家庭关系……他在这些方面的指导非常棒。”
尽管2019-20赛季的雷霆队阵容中如今只剩下吉尔杰斯-亚历山大和卢根茨·多尔特 (Luguentz Dort)，但戴格诺特表示，保罗的方法已经渗透到了俱乐部的方方面面。
至今依然如此。
“当你接近他，看到他日复一日的行事方式，看到他在职业生涯的那个阶段对待自己的技术和身体是多么认真，”戴格诺特说道，“正因为如此，他的日常一举一动都极具存在感。而他的好胜心更是最引人注目的特质。”
要证明这一点，戴格诺特只需回想起六年半前在盐湖城那个寒冷的夜晚。
在2026年的西部决赛中，保罗不会得到一分，也不会送出一次助攻。但他的影响力依然通过潜移默化的方式发挥着作用。
“他是最伟大的球员之一，”戴格诺特说道，“当你和他们在一起时，总能学到一些东西。当你和克里斯在一起时，你肯定能获益良多。”
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：How Chris Paul is still leaving his mark on the conference finals
How Chris Paul is still leaving his mark on the conference finals
San Antonio Spurs guard Chris Paul (3) waits for Toronto Raptors free throws during the first half at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Sunday, April 13, 2025.
The game didn’t matter. Not really, anyway.
That’s how Oklahoma City Thunder coach Mark Daignault remembers it.
The Thunder were in Utah for an early-season clash in December of 2019, down a couple of starters and with every reason to mail one in.
Chris Paul would not let them.
“(Utah) jumped out to an early lead and we had an early timeout and the way that he acted and the way that he played was that of a guy that was there to win that night, despite whatever excuses existed — travel, schedule, player availability,” recalled Daignault, then an OKC assistant. “And we ended up going on and winning that game,”
What Daignault learned that night in Salt Lake City, the Spurs would later learn too.
“You feel his will to win every day and by all means necessary,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. “I think both teams have probably been influenced by him in that regard.”
Paul, the 41-year-old retired point guard lauded across the NBA as one of the greatest to play the position, is not at all involved this year’s Western Conference finals series.
His imprint, however, is still felt in both locker rooms.
Just as Paul helped an Oklahoma City club featuring a 21-year-old newcomer named Shai Gilgeous-Alexander figure out what it takes to win in the NBA, he did the same last season for a callow Spurs squad on the come up.
“He helped the young guys, including myself, really understand the game at a different level,” Spurs forward Keldon Johnson said of Paul, who became the NBA’s second-leading assists and steals man during his San Antonio tenure. “He’s a winning basketball player, and I can see how he contributed to winning here as well.”
It might not be accurate to say the Spurs would not have made the leap from six consecutive playoffs-less seasons to the conference finals without hard-nosed Paul’s influence.
But it certainly didn’t hurt.
Oklahoma City Thunder’s Luguentz Dort (5) drives against San Antonio Spurs’ Chris Paul, left, during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, March 2, 2025, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Darren Abate)
Paul’s voice rang out loudly throughout a tumultuous 2024-25 campaign for the Spurs.
When Hall of Fame coach Gregg Popovich had to step away from day-to-day duties due to a stroke suffered in November 2024, leaving the team in Mitch Johnson’s hands, the team trotted out Paul to take questions from the media.
When star center Victor Wembanyama was ruled out for the season the following February due to a blood clot issue, Paul once again stepped in front of the cameras.
“He brought a different aspect of leadership,” Keldon Johnson said.
The Spurs won 34 games in Paul’s lone campaign in San Antonio, a 12-victory leap from the season before.
That, in turn, laid the foundation for a 62-win season that placed the Spurs second in the West behind the Thunder.
Inside the Spurs’ locker room, rookie Stephon Castle and younger veterans like Keldon Johnson and Devin Vassell learned from Paul’s daily mentoring, task-mastering and haranguing.
Indeed, if Castle listens closely, he can still hear Paul’s voice echoing off the walls of the team’s practice facility. When Castle looks at film, even during these conference finals, he often thinks of what Paul would say.
“He’s one of the greatest point guards to come through this league,” said Castle, who won last season’s NBA Rookie of the Year award under Paul’s tutelage. “So being able to see how he operates and pick his brain firsthand was definitely helpful for me, especially coming in as a rookie. I think a lot of us are reaping the benefits right now.”
The Thunder players and staffers who were around for Paul’s lone tour of duty in Oklahoma City can say the same.
Paul’s heavy-handed, never-let-up-approach to team building isn’t for everyone — and might not be for everyone for long.
His ability to occasionally rub teammates the wrong way is the reason he was forced into early retirement in December, when the Los Angeles Clippers aborted a farewell reunion with the abrasive point guard.
For both the Thunder and Spurs, Paul was the right point guard at the right time.
“He’s a strong figure and he leaves his imprints and impressions all over the place and he does it unapologetically.” Mitch Johnson said. “I love that about him.”
Gilgeous-Alexander, the NBA’s back-to-back Most Valuable Player, has long credited Paul with a key role in his development, calling the Point God “a big brother, mentor, just like a friend.”
"He was the first guy in my life that I was like close with that like achieved the things that I wanted to achieve, and I really lean on him for advice,” Gilgeous-Alexander said in 2025. And not only basketball advice but business advice, taking care of your body advice, like, handling a family when they don’t live with you. … His guidance with that has been great.”
Though only Gilgeous-Alexander and Lu Dort remain from the 2019-20 OKC roster, Daignault said Paul’s approach permeated every aspect of the organization.
It still does.
“You get around him, you see the day-to-day approach, the seriousness that he takes with his craft, with his body at that point in his career,” Daignault said. “There’s a presence to him because of that, just day-to-day operating. And then the competitiveness is what really pops.”
For proof of that, Daignault need only look back to a cold night in Salt Lake City, 6 ½ years ago.
Paul will not score a point or log an assist during the 2026 Western Conference finals. But he still has a role to play by osmosis.
“He’s one of the great ones,” Daignault said. “When you’re around them, there’s stuff you can take. There’s certainly stuff that you can take when you’re around Chris.”
By Jeff McDonald, Staff Writer, via San Antonio Express-News