By Brian Windhorst, 2026-06-03 19:00:00
整整三十一年的时光，将两场史诗级分区决赛抢七大战哨响后的庆祝人群隔开。
在这两场比赛中，一位现象级的内线巨星、前状元秀在历经七场大战生还后都百感交集。在他们各自的第三个赛季，他们刚刚带领着一群毫无季后赛经验的队友，一路杀进了总决赛。
三十多年前，沙奎尔·奥尼尔 (Shaquille O’Neal) 用他宽阔的双臂将丹尼斯·斯科特 (Dennis Scott)、安东尼·阿文特 (Anthony Avent) 以及令人意外的吉祥物“魔术龙斯特夫” (Stuff the Magic Dragon) 揽入怀中，庆祝奥兰多魔术队在1995年艰苦卓绝的东部决赛中击败印第安纳步行者队。
就在上周，维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 用他修长的双臂紧紧搂住斯蒂芬·卡斯尔 (Stephon Castle)、卡特·布莱恩特 (Carter Bryant) 和凯尔登·约翰逊 (Keldon Johnson)。他刚刚带领圣安东尼奥马刺队击败了拥有两届MVP得主谢伊·吉尔杰斯-亚历山大 (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander) 的卫冕冠军俄克拉荷马雷霆队。
唯一的区别在于：马刺队在俄克拉荷马城的庆祝，是在一片令人窒息的死寂中进行的。
而在1995年那座早已被拆除的奥兰多竞技场（O-rena）内，彩带漫天飞舞，魔术队的球迷们则沉浸在《Jock Jams》的动感音乐中。
这两位球员都是NBA历史上前所未见的统治级巨兽。他们都凭借一己之力，将自己年轻的球队带到了NBA至高荣誉的边缘。
正因如此，尽管彼此相隔了30年的时光，文班亚马和奥尼尔在各自职业生涯的这一交汇点上，命运产生了奇妙的交织。
“他就是奥尼尔，”一位NBA资深主教练在谈到文班亚马时说道，“他饮食清淡健康，甚至连饮用水如何过滤都要操心，也不会像当年的奥尼尔那样扣碎篮板，但他带来的难题是一样的。我们谁都不知道到底该怎么去阻止他。”
1995年的总决赛是NBA“奥尼尔时代”的开端。
然而，这个时代最终呈现的并非如某些人所担忧或预测的那种直线式的统治——部分原因在于奥尼尔的转会、健康问题以及蒂姆·邓肯 (Tim Duncan) 的崛起。
即便如此，这位身高7英尺2英寸、体重300磅的巨无霸在1995年至2006年间依然六次杀入总决赛，并夺得四次总冠军。
就像1995年的奥尼尔一样，今年的总决赛或许真的预示着另一个时代的到来。这一次，领跑的同样是一位身材高大的统治级人物，一个身高7英尺4英寸、拥有前所未见的技术武器库且兼具后卫技能的中锋。
这个时代能达到怎样的深度，又将持续多久，目前仍是一个未知数。
在1995年的总决赛中，魔术队被卫冕冠军休斯顿火箭队击碎，处于巅峰期的哈基姆·奥拉朱旺 (Hakeem Olajuwon) 在表现上压制了奥尼尔。
作为六号种子的火箭队当时并不被看好，但他们一路爆冷。在横扫奥兰多之后，名人堂教练鲁迪·汤姆贾诺维奇 (Rudy Tomjanovich) 留下了那句名言：“永远不要低估一颗冠军的心！”
多年后，奥尼尔承认自己对当年的表现负有一定责任。他透露，在总决赛开始前的几天里，他和年轻的队友们庆祝和派对得有些过头。他说自己吸取了教训，再也没有犯过同样的错误。
“我觉得自己对派对、酒精、毒品这些诱惑是免疫的，”文班亚马在2024年接受《The Ringer》采访时说道，“我为什么要去做那些事呢？”
文班亚马滴酒不沾，只饮用植物基运动饮料。本赛季早些时候，在一次采访前，他甚至把面前桌子上的一瓶含糖运动饮料扫到地上，并说道：“噢，绝对不行。”
“大家当然会拿他跟奥尼尔比，但他其实是‘奥尼尔2.0版’，”一位竞争对手球队的总经理说道，“因为他非常注重保养身体，打的是现代篮球，能投三分，还能罚进球。是的，他就是我们的噩梦。”
在1994-95赛季，奥尼尔出战79场，场均得到29.3分、11.4个篮板和2.4次盖帽，投篮命中率达58%，在MVP评选中位列第二。
文班亚马则在出战的64场比赛中，场均贡献25分、11.5个篮板和3.1次盖帽，投篮命中率为51%，在MVP评选中位列第三。
奥尼尔在当年的常规赛和季后赛中共罚丢了511个罚球（罚球命中率为54%），且没有投进过三分球。而文班亚马在至今的常规赛和季后赛中仅罚丢了78个罚球（罚球命中率达84%），并命中了152记三分球。
在职业生涯的前三个赛季中，奥尼尔仅缺席了4场比赛，而文班亚马则缺席了65场。在随后的三年里，由于开始遭遇伤病困扰，奥尼尔缺席了81场比赛。
这些球风和生活方式上的差异，部分源于时代，部分源于文化——毕竟一个是成长于四处漂泊的军人家庭，另一个则成长于巴黎郊外——但这只是故事的一部分。
马刺队自然希望他们的大个子的首次NBA总决赛之旅能有一个与奥尼尔不同的结局。
他们总决赛的对手纽约尼克斯队，与1994-95赛季的火箭队截然不同。尼克斯队是围绕着场上身材最矮小的球员——球星杰伦·布伦森 (Jalen Brunson) 构建的，并且他们肩负着代表一支50多年未曾夺冠的特许经营球队的重任。
但与当年的火箭队一样，尼克斯队也是作为极具威胁、不被看好的一方杀入总决赛的。
他们已经有40多天没有尝过败绩，在晋级之路上横扫千军，以场均净胜23分的绝对优势席卷东部。
如果文班亚马时代即将开启，他还需要奉献出如同他在分区决赛中展现出的那种现象级表演。
尼克斯队深知个中利害。
“显而易见，[文班亚马]是一个特别的天才，NBA能拥有他，能让他向世界展示他的天赋，是极其幸运的，”尼克斯球星卡尔-安东尼·唐斯 (Karl-Anthony Towns) 表示，“能够站在NBA总决赛的舞台上，是对一个人一生篮球事业奋斗的最高褒奖。”
魔术队在1992年选中奥尼尔后的第二年便迎来了极大的好运，他们在1993年再次抽中了状元签。
他们完成了一笔著名的选秀夜交易，将该签位（最终用于选中克里斯·韦伯 (Chris Webber)）送走，换回了“便士”哈达威 (Penny Hardaway) 以及三个未来的首轮选秀权。
当他们在1995年打进总决赛时，奥尼尔和哈达威年仅23岁，首发球员斯科特和尼克·安德森 (Nick Anderson) 27岁，而队中的老将则是30岁的霍勒斯·格兰特 (Horace Grant)。
他们是打进总决赛最年轻的球队之一，一个潜在的王朝似乎正在冉冉升起。
那一年，魔术队在季后赛第二轮击败了刚刚复出的迈克尔·乔丹 (Michael Jordan) 和芝加哥公牛队——事实证明，乔丹并未因此气馁，并在随后的职业生涯中再未输掉任何一轮季后赛，顺势夺得了接下来的三连冠——这更是让人们坚信，一个全新的时代已经开启。
而这支马刺队在选中他们的当家大个子后的两年里，同样在选秀大会上精准命中。卡斯尔和去年的榜眼秀迪伦·哈珀 (Dylan Harper) 已经成为了建队基石。
“我会是第一个抱怨他们在乐透抽签中有多么幸运的人，”一位西部联盟的球球探说道，“但事实是，他们在选秀中的表现简直无可挑剔。”
如今，马刺队发现自己成为了历史上打进总决赛第二年轻的球队，仅次于1977年的波特兰开拓者队。
关于奥尼尔为何在1996年仅效力四个赛季后就离开魔术队，坊间已有诸多著述。原因包括他认为球队开出的报价缺乏诚意、洛杉矶湖人队的巨大吸引力，以及他与哈达威之间由于后者被部分人视为奥兰多建队核心而产生的一定隔阂。
在此后的30年里，NBA经历了两次停摆，这带来了自由市场限制以及超级巨星薪酬机制的变化。
因此，今年夏天，马刺队预计将向文班亚马提供一份超过3亿美元的五年提前续约合同，而他有极强的动力去接受这份合同。
“奥尼尔2.0”或者他更喜欢的称呼“文班亚马1.0”，在很大程度上已经是一个完全不同的故事，但不可否认的是，他面临着同样的高度、同样巨大的赌注和同样的期许。
奥尼尔时代固然充满了统治力和成功，但也不乏错失的良机。他与科比·布莱恩特 (Kobe Bryant) 的联手在两人都处于巅峰期时便宣告终结。伤病限制了他在迈阿密和克利夫兰的发挥，在克利夫兰，他与勒布朗·詹姆斯 (LeBron James) 携手斩获60胜的赛季也因伤病而被打乱。
“虽然我拿到了四个[总冠军]，但我觉得自己应该拿到六个或七个，”奥尼尔在退役后接受《Slam》杂志采访时表示，“在我的心目中，我应该拥有七枚戒指。在我的心目中，我的得分应该排在历史第二；在我的心目中，我是有史以来最具统治力的大个子。”
而文班亚马的时代或许才刚刚破晓。他的时代还没有充斥着各种“如果”。他说，他和马刺队在未知中找到了力量。
“缺乏经验对我们来说是一种优势，”文班亚马在接受ESPN记者玛丽卡·安德鲁斯 (Malika Andrews) 采访时表示，“因为我们可以去完成那些不可能的事情……因为我们根本不知道那是不可能的。”
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：NBA Finals: Victor Wembanyama, Spurs have already made history
NBA Finals: Victor Wembanyama, Spurs have already made history
THIRTY-ONE YEARS SEPARATED two Game 7 postgame huddles, each just after the buzzer of epic conference finals.
In both, a generational big man and former No. 1 pick was filled with emotion after surviving a seven-game series, having just led a group of players with no playoff experience together into the Finals in just his third season.
More than three decades ago, it was Shaquille O’Neal with his massive arms pulling Dennis Scott, Anthony Avent and, surprisingly, mascot Stuff the Magic Dragon in, celebrating the Orlando Magic’s victory over the Indiana Pacers in a grueling 1995 Eastern Conference finals.
Just last week, Victor Wembanyama wrapped his long arms around Stephon Castle, Carter Bryant and Keldon Johnson as he led the San Antonio Spurs over two-time MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the reigning champion Oklahoma City Thunder.
The one difference: The Spurs’ celebration in OKC was in front of stunned silence.
Back inside the long-since-razed O-rena in 1995, Magic fans basked in the sounds of Jock Jams as streamers flew.
Each player was an imposing figure whom the NBA had never seen before. Each had lifted their youthful teams to the precipice of NBA glory.
Because of that, Wembanyama and O’Neal are linked at this juncture of their careers despite their 30-year removal from each other.
“He’s Shaq,” one veteran NBA head coach said of Wembanyama. “He eats clean, worries about how his water is filtered and doesn’t break backboards like Shaq did, but he presents the same problem. None of us know what the hell we’re going to do to stop him.”
The 1995 Finals were the beginning of the Shaq era in the NBA.
What it ultimately became was not the linear domination that some had feared or predicted – partially due to O’Neal changing teams, health issues and the rise of Tim Duncan.
Still, the 7-foot-2, 300-pound big man went to six Finals from 1995 to 2006 and won four titles.
And like with O’Neal in 1995, these Finals might indeed be ushering in another era, again led by another imposing figure, this time a 7-foot-4 center-guard with an unprecedented arsenal of skills.
How deep it goes and how long it might last is still anyone’s guess.
THE MAGIC WERE smashed in the 1995 Finals by the defending champion Houston Rockets, with in-his-prime Hakeem Olajuwon outplaying O’Neal.
The sixth-seeded Rockets were the underdogs but pulled off a string of upsets. After sweeping Orlando, Hall of Fame coach Rudy Tomjanovich famously declared: “Don’t ever underestimate the heart of a champion!”
Years later, O’Neal admitted some blame for the showing, saying that he and his young teammates were guilty of celebrating and partying too aggressively in the days leading up to the Finals. He said he learned from it and never made that mistake again.
“I feel like I’m immune to the distractions like partying, alcohol, drugs,” Wembanyama said in an interview with the Ringer in 2024. “Why would I ever do that?”
Wembanyama avoids alcohol and only consumes plant-based sports drinks. Earlier this season, he knocked a sports drink that contains sugar off a table in front of him before an interview, declaring, “Oh, hell no.”
“Of course people are going to compare him to Shaq, but he’s actually Shaq 2.0,” a rival general manager said. “Because he takes care of his body and plays a modern game, shoots the 3 and can make free throws. Yeah, he’s our nightmare.”
O’Neal averaged 29.3 points, 11.4 rebounds and 2.4 blocks and shot 58% in the 1994-95 season while playing 79 games. He finished second in the MVP voting.
Wembanyama averaged 25 points, 11.5 rebounds and 3.1 blocks while shooting 51% and playing in 64 games. He finished third.
O’Neal missed 511 free throws in the regular season and playoffs (he shot 54%) and made no 3-pointers. Wembanyama has missed 78 free throws (he shooting 84%) and made 152 3-pointers so far in the regular season and playoffs.
O’Neal missed only four games over his first three seasons, Wembanyama has missed 65. Over the following three years, O’Neal missed 81 as he started to deal with injury problems.
These stylistic and lifestyle differences, which are partly generational and partly cultural, as one grew up in a nomadic military family and the other outside Paris, are only part of the story.
The Spurs, naturally, hope their big man’s first NBA Finals end differently than O’Neal’s.
Their Finals opponent, the New York Knicks, are not like the 1994-95 Rockets. They’re built around the smallest player on the floor, star Jalen Brunson, and they carry the burden of representing a franchise that hasn’t won in more than 50 years.
But like the Rockets, the Knicks enter the Finals as dangerous underdogs.
They haven’t lost in more than 40 days and crushed their competition getting here, winning by an average of 23 points in blitzing the East.
If the Wembanyama era is about to begin, it’s going to take another big-time performance such as the one he summoned in the conference finals.
And the Knicks know the stakes.
“Obviously, [Wembanyama] is a special talent, and the NBA is blessed to have him and for him to be able to showcase his talent to the world,” Knicks star Karl-Anthony Towns said. “This is a culmination of what a life’s work in basketball comes to, playing in an NBA Finals.”
THE MAGIC HAD tremendous fortune the year after drafting O’Neal in 1992, landing the No. 1 pick again in 1993.
They famously made a draft-night trade, moving that pick (ultimately used to select Chris Webber) for Penny Hardaway and three future first-round picks.
When they made the Finals in 1995, O’Neal and Hardaway were just 23, starters Scott and Nick Anderson were 27 and the veteran was 30-year-old Horace Grant.
They were one of the youngest teams to make the Finals. A potential dynasty loomed.
That the Magic defeated the freshly unretired Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls in the second round of the playoffs that year – Jordan, as it turned out, was not daunted and never lost another playoff series in his career as he won the next three titles – only solidified the belief that a new era had begun.
This Spurs team has also nailed their top picks in the two years after drafting their star big man. Castle and Dylan Harper, the No. 2 pick from last year, are cornerstones.
“I’ll be the first to complain about how lucky they got in the lottery,” one Western Conference scout said. “But the truth is they have crushed the draft.”
Now the Spurs find themselves as the second-youngest team to make the Finals, behind only the 1977 Portland Trail Blazers.
There have been books written about why O’Neal left the Magic after just four seasons in 1996, including what he believed were underwhelming offers from the team, the allure of the Los Angeles Lakers and some level of friction with Hardaway being viewed by some as Orlando’s franchise player.
There have been two lockouts, which created free agency limitations and star compensation changes, in the 30 years since.
As a result, this summer the Spurs are expected to offer Wembanyama a five-year extension of more than $300 million that he’s highly incentivized to accept.
Shaq 2.0 or, as he might prefer it, Wembanyama 1.0, is largely a different ballgame, yet undeniably with the same level and stakes and expectations.
The O’Neal era was defined by dominance and success but also missed opportunities. His run alongside Kobe Bryant ended while both were in their prime years. Injuries limited him in Miami and Cleveland, where he had a 60-win season with LeBron James disrupted.
“Even though I got four [championships], I felt I should have six or seven,” O’Neal said in an interview with Slam Magazine after he retired. “In my mind, I should have seven rings. In my mind, I should be No. 2 in scoring; in my mind, I’m the most dominant big man to ever play the game.”
Wembanyama’s time might be dawning. His era has not yet been littered with hypotheticals. He says he and the Spurs find power in the unknown.
“The lack of experience is a strength for us,” Wembanyama told ESPN’s Malika Andrews. “Because we could do impossible stuff … because we don’t know it’s impossible.”
By Brian Windhorst, via ESPN