By Michael C. Wright, 2026-06-03 04:50:09
圣安东尼奥——马刺队正在备战在没有传奇主帅格雷格·波波维奇 (Gregg Popovich) 执教的情况下的首次NBA总决赛之旅，但这并不意味着球队没有继续倚仗这位名人堂成员，将其视为夺冠路上的宝贵智囊。
周六，在抢七大战中惊险战胜俄克拉荷马城雷霆队、自2014年以来首次杀回NBA总决赛后，全队飞抵圣安东尼奥。超级巨星维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 特意去寻找了波波维奇。
“我们一落地，我就立刻见到了波波，”文班亚马说道，“那种激动的情绪我很久没有感受到了，甚至不知道上一次是什么时候。从这种兴奋的情绪中平复下来是一个挑战。我们仍然需要脚踏实地，并意识到我们还没有完成最艰难的[任务]。”
现年77岁的波波维奇在圣安东尼奥国际机场与文班亚马交谈时，很可能提到了这一点，而这位法国新星更愿意对谈话内容保密。当波波维奇走进霜冻银行中心（Frost Bank Center）或球队的训练设施时，“你得立刻闭嘴，”马刺队前锋、2025-26赛季最佳第六人凯尔登·约翰逊 (Keldon Johnson) 说道。
尽管2024年11月的中风实际上结束了波波维奇的执教生涯，但这位五届总冠军教头在完成由名人堂前锋蒂姆·邓肯 (Tim Duncan) 协助的每日康复训练后，依然会经常出现在胜利资本表现中心（Victory Capital Performance Center）的训练场上。
但老将后卫德阿隆·福克斯 (De’Aaron Fox) 指出，波波维奇并非每天在这栋建筑里走动的唯一一位名人堂级智囊，这里还有许多能在总决赛舞台上提供宝贵知识和经验的人。现任CEO R.C.布福德 (R.C. Buford)——球队前总经理、两届NBA年度最佳总经理，也是组织内部备受信任的声音，此外还有邓肯、马努·吉诺比利 (Manu Ginobili)、大卫·罗宾逊 (David Robinson) 以及肖恩·埃利奥特 (Sean Elliott) 和布鲁斯·鲍文 (Bruce Bowen) 等众多马刺队史传奇巨星。
“这太棒了，”福克斯说，“不仅是波波，整个组织都是如此。在这栋建筑里走动的很多人都曾亲历过这一切。我们可能只是在训练，而马努或蒂姆就在那里。我们有这些赢得多届总冠军、多次登顶巅峰的功勋。你可以向他们请教任何问题。
“显然，波波会进来。他会直言不讳。他会参加投篮训练、常规训练。你到处都能看到他。这可能是一些小事，比如在罚球时卡位，或者在比赛的某个时刻多传一次球，而这本可以改变比赛的走向。
“身边能有这样的人给你提建议真是太棒了。他们说这些并不是因为这曾让他们取得成功，而是因为他们希望看到其他人也取得成功。这是一件非常棒的事情，尤其是在漫长的赛季和漫长的总决赛征程中。”
现任马刺队主帅米奇·约翰逊 (Mitch Johnson) 和球员们一样，非常感激这些源源不断的指导。在上赛季波波维奇中风后，约翰逊接任临时主教练，并带领球队取得了32胜45负的战绩。甚至在波波维奇康复的早期阶段，约翰逊也经常接到波波维奇的电话。波波维奇现在担任马刺队的篮球运营总监，并开玩笑地给自己起绰号为“老大”（El Jefe）。
波波维奇以NBA历史胜场数第一（常规赛1422胜）的身份结束了自己的执教生涯。他曾三次荣膺NBA年度最佳教练，季后赛胜场数位列历史第三，是仅有的五位至少赢得五次总冠军的主教练之一。
与此同时，约翰逊于2016年加入该组织，担任圣安东尼奥发展联盟下属球队奥斯汀马刺队的助理教练，并于2019年被提拔为波波维奇教练组的助理教练。尽管由于他们目前的角色，两人关系的动态发生了一些变化，但约翰逊表示，他们纽带的核心依然未变。
“在反馈、讨论、相互挑战、我向他请教许多问题以及他向我传授智慧方面，我们的关系保持不变，”约翰逊说，“对于我从去年十月至今所经历的一切，他都是一个极好的智囊。他不仅是我源源不断的智慧源泉，同时也完全给了我自由和空间，让我能够按照自己的方式去执教，我无法想象出比这更好的合作节奏了。这非常宝贵。
“说实话，我不知道是否有人能像我今年这样拥有如此难得的机会。我绝不会认为这是理所当然的。我深知他所带来的影响，同时也感激他赋权让我做自己。他、R.C.、整个马刺大家庭，以及长期在我们组织工作的人们，真的营造了一种良好的环境，规范了大家在球队大楼和项目中的行事与互动方式。这让大家能够感受到自己的价值并展现自我，同时也明白竞争有多么残酷，以及为了达到我们想要的高度，我们必须付出多么艰苦的努力。”
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：Gregg Popovich a welcome resource for Finals-bound Spurs
Gregg Popovich a welcome resource for Finals-bound Spurs
SAN ANTONIO – The Spurs are preparing for their first berth in the NBA Finals without legendary coach Gregg Popovich, but that doesn’t mean the team isn’t continuing to lean on the Hall of Famer as a championship resource.
Superstar Victor Wembanyama made it a point to seek out Popovich when the team landed back in San Antonio on Saturday after its emotional Game 7 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder that sent the Spurs back to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2014.
“I saw Pop right away when we landed,” Wembanyama said. “The emotion was something I haven’t felt in a while, I don’t even know since when. Coming back down from this is a challenge. We still need to really come back down to Earth and realize we haven’t done the hardest [task] yet.”
It’s a point that Popovich, 77, likely touched on at San Antonio International Airport during his conversation with Wembanyama, which the Frenchman prefers to keep private. When Popovich enters a room at Frost Bank Center or the team’s training facility, “You shut the f— up,” Spurs forward and 2025-26 Sixth Man of the Year Keldon Johnson said.
Despite a stroke in November 2024 that effectively ended Popovich’s coaching career, the five-time champion coach remains a fixture during practices at Victory Capital Performance Center when he has finished up daily rehabilitation workouts led by Hall of Fame forward Tim Duncan.
But veteran guard De’Aaron Fox pointed out that Popovich isn’t the only Hall of Fame resource walking around the building every day as a valued source of knowledge and expertise on the championship stage. Current CEO R.C. Buford, the team’s former general manager and two-time NBA Executive of the Year, is also a trusted voice within the organization along with Duncan, Manu Ginobili, David Robinson and a host of other Spurs all-time greats such as Sean Elliott and Bruce Bowen.
“It’s great,” Fox said. "Not even just Pop, just the organization as a whole. It’s a lot of people walking through this building that have been there and done that. We could just have practice, and Manu is there or Tim is there. We have these guys who have won multiple championships and been to the mountaintop multiple times. You can ask them anything.
"Obviously, Pop is going to come in. He’s going to speak his mind. He comes to shootarounds, practices. You’ll see him here and there. It can be something as small as boxing someone out on a free throw or one extra pass that happened at this point of the game that could have changed the game.
'It’s just great having those types of people in your ear. They’re not saying it because it made them successful. They want to see other people be successful. That’s a great thing to have, especially throughout the course of a long year and in a long Finals run."
Current Spurs coach Mitch Johnson appreciates the continued tutelage as much as the players do. Johnson took over as interim head coach after Popovich’s stroke last season and led the team to a 32-45 record. Even during the early days of Popovich’s rehabilitation, Johnson fielded constant calls from Popovich, who is now the Spurs’ director of basketball operations and has jokingly nicknamed himself “El Jefe.”
Popovich finished his coaching career as the NBA’s wins leader (1,422 regular-season victories). He earned NBA Coach of the Year three times and ranks third in career playoff wins as one of five coaches to win at least five championships.
Johnson, meanwhile, joined the organization in 2016 as an assistant for San Antonio’s G League affiliate team, the Austin Spurs, and was promoted in 2019 as an assistant on Popovich’s bench. Although the dynamic of the relationship has changed somewhat due to their current roles, Johnson said the core of their bond remains unchanged.
“The relationship has stayed the same in terms of feedback, discussion, challenging each other, me asking him a lot of questions, him giving me a lot of wisdom,” Johnson said. "He’s a pretty good resource for what I’ve been walking through since October and up until now. I cannot have created a better rhythm or build-out of him being a constant resource for me, but then also totally giving me the freedom and runway to try to roll this thing out in my own reflection as myself. That’s pretty valuable.
“To be honest, I don’t know if anyone’s ever had that opportunity that I’ve had this year. I don’t take that for granted. It’s not lost on me the impact he’s had, while also empowering me to be myself. He, R.C., the whole family, people that have been in our organization for a long time, have really set an environment of how one operates and interacts with each other in our building and within our program. It allows people to hopefully feel valued and be themselves while also understanding how competitive and how hard we have to work to be where we want to be.”
By Michael C. Wright, via ESPN