By Jared Weiss | The Athletic, 2026-06-12 11:00:53
杰伦·布伦森 (Jalen Brunson) 腾空而起，试图隔扣维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama)。这位马刺球星一记重拳砸在布伦森脸上，将其击倒在地。最终，OG·阿奴诺比 (OG Anunoby) 用一把吉他狠狠砸向文班亚马的面部。然而，裁判没有吹罚恶意犯规，甚至在赛后也没有追加处罚。
这是因为这并非真实的NBA总决赛。这是短篇动漫系列剧《进击的文班：纵横尼克斯宇宙》（Attack on Wemby: Across the Knicks-Verse）的最新一集，该系列为NBA总决赛提供了最富娱乐性的复盘。
这部日语配音、英文字幕的动漫，是洛杉矶本地人杰克·王 (Jake Wang) 凭借一腔孤勇大胆尝试的产物，如今已演变成对NBA总决赛每场比赛周边故事线的热门讽刺剧。它将文班亚马和马刺球员塑造成日本知名动漫《进击的巨人》中的角色，试图占领由《蜘蛛侠：平行宇宙》（Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse）电影所代表的纽约。
现年28岁的王在过去几个月里一直在打造一个名为“体育多元宇宙工作室” (Sports Multiverse Studio) 的AI动画品牌。在看到文班亚马在西部决赛中做出《进击的巨人》中的庆祝动作后，王深受启发，决定创作自己的版本，并让文班亚马担任主角。
“我让文班成为我节目中的主角，因为我认为他已经具备了成为历史最佳（GOAT）级别天才的实力，”王告诉*《The Athletic》*。“而且他还有一种我认为许多NBA球员所缺失的驱动力，他总是愿意付出额外的努力。”
王看到文班亚马所做的一切——从在中国少林寺训练到向哈基姆·奥拉朱旺 (Hakeem Olajuwon) 讨教——并为此深深着迷。他非常欣赏文班亚马对比赛精神层面的专注，并发现这位马刺球星是一个性格细腻、非常适合担任主角的人物。
当马刺官方在他们的X（原推特）账号上转发《进击的文班》时，这部剧彻底火了。在对阵俄克拉荷马城雷霆的西部决赛期间，该剧展现了慈幼会修女 (Salesian Sisters)背着喷气背包在空中翱翔、在另一个星球上与蒂姆·邓肯 (Tim Duncan) 对话，甚至还有飞天柯基 (Air Corgi) 的身影。
当马刺晋级NBA总决赛后，王转向了一个全新的概念：“《进击的文班：纵横尼克斯宇宙》”。它将尼克斯球员塑造成各种版本的蜘蛛侠，试图合力击败庞大的文班亚马，而布伦森则是他们的领袖。
“我想表达的主题是，永远不要把任何事情视作理所当然，”王说道。“而且，我把杰伦·布伦森塑造成纽约的草根英雄迈尔斯·莫拉莱斯 (Miles Morales)，这很有帮助。”
Attack on Wemby Across the Knicks-Verse Part 1 pic.twitter.com/HGtixkctQU
— jylfeng (@ jylfeng) June 4, 2026
事实证明，这是一个极具预见性的决定。在完成了NBA总决赛历史上最伟大的逆转后，尼克斯在系列赛中以3-1领先。剧中顽强的尼克斯从落后一路拼搏、试图击败庞大文班亚马的故事，在现实中上演了。
“尼克斯正在把他们打得落花流水，”王说道。“我正试着把基调调整为赞美尼克斯——杰伦·布伦森、卡尔-安东尼·唐斯 (Karl-Anthony Towns)——而不是只围绕文班的故事展开，因为我觉得他在《进击的文班》中已经迎来了属于他的高光时刻。所以，对我来说，这是一个有趣的挑战。我该如何编排剧情，颠覆之前的叙事，去赞美那些显然配得上赞誉、甚至可能成为下一届总冠军的新球员呢？”
28岁的王曾在西北大学 (Northwestern University) 学习电影和计算机科学——学电影是为了自己，学计算机科学是为了让妈妈开心。他曾向母亲承诺，如果她允许自己追求热爱的事物，他就会学一门能养活自己的专业。在看到AI创作领域开始兴起后，他决定在今年3月辞去微软 (Microsoft) 的工作，创办了体育多元宇宙工作室。目前，他依靠各种工具单枪匹马地运作，但他希望最终能将其发展壮大。他说，他给自己一年的时间来实现这个目标。
“我知道这是一个巨大的冒险，”他说。“但我还没到30岁。我想在20多岁的时候做这件事，以免以后后悔。”
目前来看，一切进展顺利。起初他在X上并没有获得太多关注，直到他想出了“《进击的文班》”这个名字。突然之间，这些视频获得了数十万的播放量。截至周五，他发布的整个西部决赛《进击的文班》系列视频在X上的播放量已超过500万次，而在他公司的Instagram账号上，他已经斩获了近2400万次的播放量。
Attack on Wemby FULL SERIES pic.twitter.com/L9M0HJ3npZ
— jylfeng (@ jylfeng) June 2, 2026
王使用一系列AI工具来完成每一集的制作。他首先在ChatGPT中绘制故事板，使用Topview AI和Artcraft animate进行动画制作，然后手动进行剪辑和配乐。赛后，他会花大约四个小时将球场上的高光时刻以及由此延伸出的故事（比如慈幼会修女）拼凑在一起，寻找所有能激发公众想象力的元素。
当有新角色引入时，他会制作角色设定表，撰写剧本，然后花大约六个小时通过他的AI工具生成视频。经过大约三个小时的剪辑后，这一集就可以上传到X、Instagram和YouTube了。
王是在中国杭州探亲期间接受采访的，他表示，中国对AI的看法与美国不同。在他看来，中国的视角将AI视为创作者快速实现创意的工具。
“我知道AI目前在美国非常有争议，”王说道。“我想我的态度是，我并不真正认为自己是一个艺术家。显然，我没有亲手绘制这些动画的画功或艺术能力。在这方面，我完全归功于西方和东方的动画师们。我构思剧本，想出创意，因为目前我只是一个单人团队，所以我把AI作为一种工具来帮助我将这些创意付诸实现。
“这就是我的看法，我会认为自己是一个创作者，但我不会称自己为艺术家。”
这种工作流程使他能够在比赛结束后的当天就制作出引人入胜的剧集，此时热度依然还在。这种风格让人想起了由亚当·马拉穆特和克雷格·马拉穆特 (Adam and Craig Malamut) 制作、备受赞誉的《露天看台体育》 (Bleacher Report) 系列剧《权力的游戏：NBA版》 (Game of Zones)，该剧讽刺了NBA无数富有戏剧性的故事线。这部网络剧曾是球迷和NBA圈内人士的必看之作。然而，动画制作极其耗时，且该剧对细节的把控非同寻常，因此剧集往往在事件发生数周甚至数月后才会发布。
杰克·王受到维克托·文班亚马天赋的启发。（图片由杰克·王提供）
王的优势在于，他能够足够快地将自己的创意转化为现实，从而在热度未消时捕捉到那一瞬间。
“总的来说，我认为（AI）是一件积极的事情，当然，前提是你要对原创动画师和艺术家保持尊重，”他说。
王在本赛季可能只剩下一集了，因为马刺将在周六的第五场比赛中迎来生死战。这要么是文班亚马证明自己是巨人的机会，要么是尼克斯宣告他们统治NBA的终极宣言。
“我认为这将是属于他的时刻，每个人都需要经历一次惨痛的失败，无论是在体育运动中，还是在电视剧或动漫里。所以，我认为这可以成为他的高光时刻，”王说道。“我假设他会输。抱歉，无意冒犯。我认为这将是他的当头棒喝时刻。”
赛季大结局可能会在第五场比赛后到来。无论发生什么，尼克斯宇宙都将静候。
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：Meet the creator turning Victor Wembanyama vs. the Knicks into an anime spectacle
Meet the creator turning Victor Wembanyama vs. the Knicks into an anime spectacle
Jalen Brunson is soaring through the air, trying to destroy Victor Wembanyama. The Spurs’ star punches Brunson in the face, sending him crashing to the ground. Eventually, OG Anunoby smashes Wembanyama in the face with a guitar. No flagrant foul was called, not even retroactively.
That’s because this isn’t the NBA Finals. This is the latest episode of “Attack on Wemby: Across the Knicks-Verse,” the short-form anime series that has provided the most entertaining recap of the NBA Finals.
The byproduct of a leap of faith by Los Angeles native Jake Wang, the show, in Japanese with English subtitles, has turned into a popular satire of the storylines surrounding each game of the NBA Finals. It follows Wembanyama and the Spurs as characters from the renowned Japanese anime Attack on Titan who are trying to take over New York, represented by the “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” movies.
The 28-year-old Wang has spent the past few months building an artificial intelligence animation brand called Sports Multiverse Studio. After seeing Wembanyama doing a celebration from Attack on Titan in the Western Conference finals, Wang was inspired to create his own version, with Wembanyama as the titular character.
“I made Wemby the protagonist in my show because I think he has the talent to be a GOAT-level talent already,” Wang told The Athletic. “But he also has a drive that I think is missing in a lot of NBA players, where he goes the extra mile.”
Wang saw how Wembanyama did everything, from training at the Shaolin Temple in China to learning from Hakeem Olajuwon, and became fascinated. He appreciated Wembanyama’s focus on the mental side of the game and found the Spurs’ star to be the nuanced character to lead the show.
When the Spurs posted Attack on Wemby to their X account, things took off. During the Western Conference finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder, the show featured the Salesian Sisters soaring through the air with jet packs, a conversation with Tim Duncan on a different planet, and even Air Corgi.
When the Spurs advanced to the NBA Finals, Wang shifted to a new concept: “Attack on Wemby: Across the Knicks Verse.” It casts the Knicks as the various Spideys trying to take down the gigantic Wembanyama, with Brunson at the helm.
“I’m trying to frame it as, never take anything for granted,” Wang said. “And it helps that I’m casting Jalen Brunson as Miles Morales, the underdog hero of New York.”
Attack on Wemby Across the Knicks-Verse Part 1 pic.twitter.com/HGtixkctQU
— jylfeng (@ jylfeng) June 4, 2026
It proved to be a prescient decision with the Knicks up 3-1 in the series after pulling off the biggest comeback in NBA Finals history. The show’s story of the scrappy Knicks fighting from behind to take down the gargantuan Wembanyama has played out in reality.
“The Knicks are kicking their ass,” Wang said. “I’m trying to frame it more in the sense of celebrating the Knicks — Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns — rather than making it about Wemby’s story, because I think he had his big moment with Attack on Wemby. So, to me, this has been an interesting challenge. How do I weave this, turn the former narrative on its head and celebrate the new players who obviously are deserving of praise as possibly the next champions?”
The 28-year-old Wang studied film and computer science at Northwestern — film for him, computer science to make his mom happy. He promised to study something that could pay the bills if she let him also pursue his passions. After seeing the AI creation space begin to take off, he decided to quit his job at Microsoft in March to start Sports Multiverse Studio. He currently operates as a one-man band, along with his tools, but eventually hopes to grow it into something bigger. He said he’s giving himself a year to make it happen.
“I figured it’s a big risk,” he said. “But I’m not quite 30. I want to do this in my 20s, before I regret it.”
So far, so good. He wasn’t getting much traction on X until he came up with the name “Attack on Wemby.” Suddenly, the videos got hundreds of thousands of views. His post of the entire Western Conference finals “Attack on Wemby” series has more than 5 million views on X as of Friday, and he’s garnered almost 24 million views on his company’s Instagram account.
Attack on Wemby FULL SERIES pic.twitter.com/L9M0HJ3npZ
— jylfeng (@ jylfeng) June 2, 2026
Wang uses a series of AI tools to complete each episode. He starts by storyboarding in ChatGPT, uses Topview AI and Artcraft animate, then edits and scores the show manually. He spends around four hours after games piecing together the big moments on the floor, as well as stories branching off it, like the Salesian Sisters, to find everything that has caught the public’s imagination.
He will then build character sheets when a new character is introduced, develop his script, and then spend around six hours building out the videos through his AI tools. After about three hours of editing, the episode is ready to upload to X, Instagram and YouTube.
Wang, who was speaking from a trip to visit family in Hangzhou, China, says that views on AI in China are different from those in the US. To him, the Chinese perspective on AI is that it’s a tool for storytellers to quickly execute their ideas.
“I know AI is very controversial in America at the moment,” Wang said. “I think the way I approach it is, I don’t really consider myself an artist. Obviously, I do not have the drawing or the artistic abilities to animate these by hand. I’ll give full credit to the animators in both the West and East for that. I come up with a script, I come up with the idea and, because I’m a single-person team at the moment, I use AI as a tool to help me bring that to life.
“That’s how I see things, where I’ll consider myself a creator, but I wouldn’t call myself an artist.”
The process allows him to turn around riveting episodes within a day of the games, when the moment is still fresh. The style harkens back to the acclaimed Bleacher Report series “Game of Zones” by Adam and Craig Malamut, which satirized the NBA’s countless dramatic storylines. The web series was a must-watch for fans and people within NBA circles. Animation is incredibly time-intensive, though, and the show’s attention to detail was exceptional, so episodes dropped weeks to months after the events took place.
Jake Wang was inspired by Victor Wembanyama’s talent. (Courtesy of Jake Wang)
Wang’s advantage is that he has been able to make his concepts a reality quickly enough for them to capture the moment while it’s still alive.
“I overall think (AI) is a positive thing, as long as you pay respect to the original animators and artists, of course,” he said.
Wang may only have one episode left this season, as the Spurs will fight for their lives in Game 5 on Saturday. It will either be Wembanyama’s chance to prove he is the titan, or the Knicks’ final message that they rule the NBA.
“I think this will be his moment where everyone needs a big loss, whether it’s in sports, or in TV shows, or anime. So, I think this can be his moment,” Wang said. “I’m assuming he’s going to lose. Sorry, no offense. I think this will be his wake-up call moment.”
The season finale may finally arrive after Game 5. Whatever happens, the Knicks Verse will be waiting.
By Jared Weiss, via The Athletic