By Jeje Gomez, Marilyn Dubinski, Mark Barrington, Bill Huan | Pounding The Rock (PtR), 2026-06-15 22:46:06
总决赛已经结束，马刺遗憾落败。如果让你用一个词来形容你对总决赛进程的感受，会是哪个词？为什么？
玛丽琳·杜宾斯基 (Marilyn Dubinski)： 第一个词是“折磨”（excruciating）。考虑到如果马刺能在比赛的关键时刻做好执行力，结果很容易就会被改写。但我做了一个决定，我不会让自己陷入像2013年那样的体育抑郁状态，而且确实也没这个必要。这并不是那种他们已经把总冠军奖杯捧在手心却溜走的情况，因为他们在这轮系列赛中甚至从未领先过。再加上周末进行了一次彻底的社交媒体清理（也就是远离社交媒体），我的心态转变成了“解脱”，庆幸一切终于结束，并准备好迎接未来。在过去两周里一直紧张得胃部痉挛之后，我现在只想恢复正常的生活状态。
马克·巴灵顿 (Mark Barrington)： 这是一种复杂的感情。我想用的词是“矛盾”（ambivalence）。我很感激马刺比我预期的提前几年打进了总决赛。但我又很失望，因为他们没能咬下比赛，让总决赛延续得更久一些。矛盾的是，我甚至有点庆幸它结束了。所有这些以同样方式结束的胶着比赛都让人不忍直视，到系列赛结束时，我已经在情感上精疲力竭了。如果连我这个只在电视机前看球的人都有这种感觉，我无法想象这会对球员和教练产生怎样的影响。希望他们能把这当作一个挑战，学会如何以更强硬、更沉着的方式去终结比赛，因为这就是他们五场落败的原因。
比尔·桓 (Bill Huan)： “喜忧参半”（Bittersweet），这是完美概括我两种极端情绪的词。忧伤是因为总决赛的胜负仅在毫厘之间，而那些失误本是可以避免的；甜蜜则是因为马刺的表现超出了最乐观主义者的预期。这很奇怪，因为包括我在内的许多球迷，如果看到球队在与雷霆的激烈系列赛中落败，心里反而会好受些，但我猜这就是期望带来的恩赐与诅咒。如果在本赛季开始前告诉任何人他们会输掉总决赛，大家都会欣喜若狂。但既然他们真的走到了这一步，期望值就被无限拉高，从而让失利在某种程度上显得令人失望。不过总体而言，这个赛季绝对可以拿到A+的评分。
杰杰·戈麦斯 (Jeje Gomez)： 在总决赛进行期间，这个词是“令人愤怒”（enraging）。看着马刺一次又一次地自乱阵脚，真的毫无乐趣可言。尼克斯在关键时刻表现出色，配得上总冠军，但圣安东尼奥在各个层面上都犯了本可避免的错误，让对手赢得很轻松。现在一切都结束了，这个词变成了“解脱”（relieved）。我不再去纠结那些糟糕的细节（因为正是这些细节决定了胜负），而是可以专注于这个赛季的所有闪光点，并展望本该一片光明的未来。
苦涩的结局是否削弱了整个赛季的乐趣，还是说你依然认为2025/26赛季取得了巨大的成功？
杜宾斯基： 在系列赛开始前，人们很容易会说“无论发生什么，我都为这支球队感到骄傲”，但当比赛真正开打时，那种宏观的释怀感就会烟消云散。成为现代尼克斯夺冠的背景板当然不好受，但同样，当你抽离出当下的情绪，远离社交媒体上的戾气，就更容易重新回到宏观视角，去欣赏他们本赛季所做的一切。我们中没有任何人在赛季初预料到能打进总决赛，除了没能夺冠之外，他们无法从这个赛季中获得比这更好的体验了。这依然是一个巨大的成功。
巴灵顿： 在情感上，这很难让人接受，但理智地看，球队的表现远远超出了我的预期。这看起来像是一个王朝的序曲，但你不能把这当作理所当然。球队必须在许多方面进行提升，首先是补强阵容，这样维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 就不需要在季后赛中每场打40多分钟来苦苦支撑球队。在宣布这是一个完美无瑕的成功之前，我期待着看看休赛期会发生什么。
桓： 我不认为这两者是相互排斥的，因为我既对总决赛感到失望，又对整个赛季的进程感到欣喜。正如上面所说，期望改变了一切。一旦你打进总决赛，就没有人会去想球队超出了大家多少预期，因为所有人都在关注如何夺冠。没能夺冠显然令人心碎，但只要你退后一步看，就会发现这个赛季显然取得了巨大的成功。
戈麦斯： 在我看来，一旦一支球队看起来具备争冠实力，并以热门姿态甚至有一战之力的身份打进总决赛，那么衡量成功的标准就是他们是否夺冠。马刺没有做到，所以我不能说这个赛季取得了巨大的成功。但与此同时，打进总决赛极其困难，而且这个赛季的大部分时间都极其有趣，所以虽然结局确实让我感到苦涩，但这依然是过去10年里最好、最令人享受的一个赛季，这本身就很有意义。
你对马刺下赛季重返总决赛的前景有多大信心？
杜宾斯基： 我当然相信他们能够再次做到，但说起来容易做起来难。尽管夺得过五次总冠军，但王朝时期的马刺也仅有一次连续打进总决赛，这证明了即使当时只需要对付一两个竞争对手，连续晋级也是多么困难。与此同时，我们正处于一个群雄并起的均势时代，上一支连续打进总决赛的球队还是2019年的勇士（那是他们连续第五次）。自那以后，每年的总决赛都会出现两支与前一年完全不同的新面孔。这支年轻的球队能否像2014年的马刺那样，化悲痛为力量重返总决赛甚至夺冠，还是说这十年的均势格局仍将延续？现在很难说，但与今年相比，下赛季要走到那一步会困难得多，因为他们现在已经正式成为了众矢之的，再也不会被低估了。
巴灵顿： 如果他们能通过选秀选到所需的大前锋来弥补阵容中的明显漏洞，或者通过交易或自由市场引进一位，在假设所有核心球员保持健康的前提下，我认为重返总决赛的概率极高。健康是无法预测的。我认为文班亚马下赛季归来时会变得更强壮、更稳定，而斯蒂芬·卡斯尔 (Stephon Castle) 的武器库也会更加丰富。迪伦·哈珀 (Dylan Harper) 的出场时间会和达龙·福克斯 (De’Aaron Fox) 一样多，德文·瓦塞尔 (Devin Vassell) 和凯尔登·约翰逊 (Keldon Johnson) 也会从他们的季后赛经历中受益。未来是光明的，但没有什么是万无一失的。马刺本赛季尝到了夺冠有多么艰难，如果他们能从中吸取正确的教训，他们将势不可挡。
桓： 他们当然有能力做到，但我不会把筹码押在这上面。我们都需要记住，雷霆可不会凭空消失，而且在他们二号和三号持球手缺席了系列赛大部分比赛的情况下，他们依然把马刺拖进了抢七大战。考虑到西部的深度和潜在的伤病因素，甚至不能保证西部决赛一定会演变成俄克拉荷马城与圣安东尼奥的对决。没有任何一支球队能保证自己冲出分区的概率绝对高于其他对手，而马刺能作为下赛季的夺冠热门之一，这本身就已经是一个积极的信号了。
戈麦斯： 在保持健康的前提下，我有信心他们能以高顺位种子身份晋级季后赛，但除此之外的任何事情在目前这个阶段都无法预测。阵容依然存在问题。我们可以期待许多球员的内部成长，但进步并不总是线性的，因此年轻球员甚至米奇·约翰逊 (Mitch Johnson) 能提升多少还是个未知数。我们也不知道对手会是什么样。我甚至可以说，在休赛期开始前的当下，他们看起来稳进分区决赛，但我最多也就只能预测到这一步了。
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：Despite the painful ending, the Spurs’ season was a success
Despite the painful ending, the Spurs’ season was a success
The Finals are over, and the Spurs lost. If you could describe how you feel about how they went in one word, what would it be and why?
Marilyn Dubinski: The first word is “excruciating,” considering how easily the outcome could have been reversed if the Spurs simply could have executed down the stretch of games. But I made the decision that I would not allow myself to enter a state of 2013 sports depression, and there really isn’t a need to. This was not a case where they had a championship in the palm of their hands because they never even led in this series. Combine that with a good social media cleansing over the weekend (as in staying off it), and I switched to relieved that it’s over and ready to see what the future brings. After spending all of the last two weeks with stomach knots, I’m just happy to feel normal again.
Mark Barrington: It’s a mixture of feelings. The word I’m looking for is ambivalence. I’m grateful that the Spurs made it to the finals a few years before I thought they would be ready. I’m disappointed that they couldn’t finish games and make the finals last longer. Paradoxically, I’m a little glad it’s over. All of these close games that ended the same way were tough to watch, and I was emotionally drained by the end of the series. And if I feel that way, a guy who just watches the game on TV, I can’t imagine how it’s affecting the players and coaches. Hopefully they will take this as a challenge to learn how to finish games with more force and poise, because that was the reason why they lost in five games.
Bill Huan: Bittersweet, the perfect word to capture both ends of my emotions. Bitter because the finals were decided by razor-thin margins that were preventable, but sweet because the Spurs exceeded the expectations of the wildest optimists. It’s strange because many fans (including myself) would’ve felt better had they lost a competitive series against the Thunder, but I guess that’s both the gift and curse of expectation. If you told someone before the season that they’d lose in the finals, everyone would be elated. But since they actually made it there, the expectations had been blown through the roof, thus making a loss feel somehow disappointing. Overall, though, this season was absolutely an A+.
Jeje Gomez: As the Finals were happening, the word was “enraging.” It just wasn’t fun to watch the Spurs shoot themselves in the foot over and over. The Knicks were great when it counted and deserve the title, but San Antonio made things easier for them by making avoidable mistakes at every level. Now that it’s over, the word would be “relieved.“ Instead of focusing on the bad, because that was what determined who won, it’s now possible for me to focus on all the good from the season and on the future, which should be bright.
Did the bitter end detract from how fun the season was, or do you still consider 2025/26 a resounding success?
Dubinski: It’s easy to go into a series and say “whatever happens, I’m proud of this team,” but when the games actually play out, those wide-view feelings go away. It’s certainly not fun to be the team the modern Knicks finally got a championship against, but again, when you get out of the moment and away from the toxicity of social media, it’s much easier to return to that wide view and appreciate everything they did this season. None of us came in expecting a finals run, and barring a win, they couldn’t have asked for a better experience out of this season. It was still a huge success.
Barrington: Emotionally, it was hard to take, but rationally, the team performed way above my expectations. It looks like the prelude to a dynasty, but you can’t take that for granted. The team has to improve on many fronts, starting with strengthening the roster so that Wembanyama doesn’t have to carry the team in the playoffs by playing 40+ minutes per game. I’m looking forward to seeing what happens in the offseason before I declare it a faultless success.
Huan: I don’t think those are mutually exclusive things, as I feel both disappointed by the finals but also elated with how the season went as a whole. As mentioned above, expectations change everything. Once you’re in the finals, no one is thinking about how much the team exceeded everyone’s hopes since they’re only focused on winning the title. To not have that happen is obviously heartbreaking, but once you take a step back, it’s obvious how much of a resounding success this season really was.
Gomez: As soon as a team looks like a contender and reaches the Finals as a favorite or even with a fighting chance, success is determined by whether they win the title or not, in my eyes. The Spurs didn’t, so I can’t say the season was a resounding success. At the same time, reaching the Finals is extremely hard, and the season, for the most part, was extremely fun, so while how it ended did leave a bitter taste in my mouth, it was still better and more enjoyable than any season in the last 10 years, which means something.
How confident are you about the Spurs’ chances of making it back to the Finals next season?
Dubinski: I’m certainly confident they can do it again, but that’s a lot easier said than done. Despite five championships, the dynasty Spurs only made consecutive finals once, proving how hard it was even with just one or two other contenders to deal with. Meanwhile, we’re in such an age of parity that the last team to make consecutive finals was the Warriors in 2019 (their fifth straight). Since then, each Finals has featured two new teams from the year before. Can this young team be the 2014 Spurs and ride the pain of a loss back to the finals, and even a championship, or will the decade of parity continue? It’s hard to know right now, but it’s going to be a lot harder to get there compared to this year because they now officially have a target on their back and will no longer be underestimated.
Barrington: If they draft the power forward they need to fix the glaring hole in the roster or acquire one by trade or free agency, I think the chances are extremely high, assuming all of the key players stay healthy. Health is impossible to predict. I think that Wembanyama comes back stronger and more consistent next season, and Castle adds more to his game. Harper will play as much as Fox, and Vassell and Keldon Johnson will benefit from their playoff experience. The future is bright, but nothing is guaranteed. The Spurs got a taste of how hard it is to win a championship this season, and if they learn the right lessons from that, there’s no stopping them.
Huan: They are certainly capable of doing it, but I won’t be betting on it happening. We all need to remember that the Thunder aren’t going anywhere, and they managed to take the Spurs to a Game 7 even while playing most of that series without their second and third best ball handlers. It’s not even a guarantee the conference will come down to OKC vs San Antonio when factoring in the depth of the West and potential injuries. No single team should have higher odds to make the finals than the rest of their respective conferences, and it’s already a positive that the Spurs are one of the favorites going into next season.
Gomez: I’m confident they’ll make the playoffs as a high seed, health permitting, but anything beyond that is impossible to predict at this point. The roster has issues. We can expect internal development from a lot of guys, but improvement is not always linear, so how much better the young guys and even Mitch Johnson will be is a mystery. We also don’t know what the opponents will look like. I would go as far as saying that, right now, before the offseason, they seem like a safe bet to make the Conference Finals, but that’s as far as I’d go.
By Jeje Gomez, Marilyn Dubinski, Mark Barrington, Bill Huan, via Pounding The Rock