By Mike Finger | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2026-07-14 16:37:14
2026年6月8日星期一，纽约麦迪逊广场花园，圣安东尼奥马刺队中锋维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 在跑进球场为总决赛第三场热身时，面对纽约尼克斯队球迷的漫天嘘声做出回应。
别把它称作牺牲。一旦你的身价达到2.5亿美元，就没人会拿你和甘地相比了——即便甘地也从未自愿放弃过5000万美元。
相反，不妨将其视作一种背书。对一项计划、一个俱乐部以及一座城市的背书。这正是文班亚马在上周接受少于他本可拿到的薪水时，所给出的背书。
尽管文班亚马在签下第二份NBA合同时所展现的信任，或许不及当年蒂姆·邓肯 (Tim Duncan) 那般巨大，但这两份签字中却蕴含着相似的象征意义。
毕竟，一位划时代的超级巨星口头上告诉大家马刺正在以正确的方式建队，这是一回事。
而当这位超级巨星落笔签字，用实际行动证明他深信不疑，则是另一回事。
时隔26年，邓肯和文班亚马都做到了这一点，而其中的财务细节则展现了通货膨胀如何影响了从盖帽到场馆建设等方方面面的价格。
回到2000年，在贝克萨尔县选民投票通过为新NBA球馆拨款的那个夏天，马刺与他们年轻的建队基石签下了一份丰厚的第二份合同。邓肯那份为期三年、价值3100万美元的合同，其金额大约相当于后来耗资1.93亿美元建成的霜冻银行中心总造价的16%。
2026年4月19日星期日，在圣安东尼奥霜冻银行中心举行的马刺与波特兰开拓者队季后赛首轮第一场比赛中，前圣安东尼奥马刺队球员大卫·罗宾逊 (David Robinson，左) 和蒂姆·邓肯观看第四节比赛。马刺以111-98获胜。
到了2026年，在贝克萨尔县选民投票通过为另一座新NBA球馆拨款的那个夏天，马刺与他们年轻的建队基石签下了第二份合同。而文班亚马这份为期五年、价值2.52亿美元的提前续约合同，其金额大约相当于报道中即将建设、耗资13亿美元的市中心新球馆总造价的19%。
因此，就俱乐部对一位核心球员的财务承诺而言，并没有太大变化。四分之一个世纪前，当马刺搬到东区时，他们准备围绕邓肯构建一切；而当他们在2030年左右再次搬迁时，他们也将围绕文班亚马做同样的事情。
但回想一下在邓肯于2000年签字之前，那些悬而未决的问题。当时马刺虽然已经赢得过一次总冠军，但他们刚刚在季后赛首轮被淘汰，而邓肯当时正处于膝伤恢复期，他们看起来完全不像是一个王朝。
这个他们有幸在乐透抽签中选中的大个子，是否坚信他们能再次夺冠？他是否真的信任主教练、管理层，或者这座城市支持一支常青争冠球队的能力？当那个夏天成为完全自由球员的邓肯登上飞往奥兰多的飞机，去听取道格·里弗斯 (Doc Rivers) 的游说时，这一切都还是未知数。
最终，邓肯选择与马刺续约，这让圣安东尼奥的一切都变得名正言顺。尽管这一次有着重要的不同——文班亚马在上周并非自由球员，且圣安东尼奥的冠军底蕴早已确立——但他的合同决定最终可能会产生相似的分量。
没错，在现代NBA，每一位年轻球星都会与选中他的球队至少签下一份提前续约合同，因为这就是如今联盟劳资协议的机制。但是，尽管文班亚马今年夏天签下新合同是意料之中的事，但这并不意味着合同数字也是注定的。
如果他对这里的管理层和教练组有哪怕一丝一毫的怀疑，或者对他们将如何应对上个月在NBA总决赛中的失利心存疑虑，他会考虑少拿哪怕一美元，而不是直接签下他本可获得的3.02亿美元顶薪吗？
这是文班亚马对上周飞越大洋亲自前来争取他签字的每一个人所描绘愿景的认可。在与董事长彼得·J·霍尔特 (Peter J. Holt)、首席执行官R.C. 布福德 (R.C. Buford)、总经理布莱恩·莱特 (Brian Wright) 以及主教练米奇·约翰逊 (Mitch Johnson) 敲定所有细节后，文班亚马亲自在社交媒体上宣布了这一消息。
2026年6月10日星期三，在纽约麦迪逊广场花园举行的NBA总决赛第四场对阵纽约尼克斯队赛前训练中，圣安东尼奥马刺队中锋文班亚马与马刺总经理莱特交谈。
他所做出的降薪让步是巨大的，但并非没有先例。邓肯曾不止一次接受低于他本可向马刺索要的顶薪，而纽约尼克斯队刚刚在圣安东尼奥庆祝夺冠，部分原因也是因为杰伦·布伦森 (Jalen Brunson) 同样做出了降薪。
尽管如此，这并不是文班亚马必须要做的事。即便他签下超级顶薪，也不会阻止斯蒂芬·卡斯尔 (Stephon Castle)、迪伦·哈珀 (Dylan Harper) 或卡特·布莱恩特 (Carter Bryant) 做出同样的选择。这一举动预计将帮助马刺在几年后在阵容边缘补充一些战力，避免触发第二土豪线，并可能在未来某个时候为球队节省一些奢侈税。
这些都很好。在构建阵容时，精打细算确实非常重要。
但上周真正重要的，与26年前如出一辙。那就是一位超级巨星拿起笔，
展现了他所信任的人。
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。
查看原文：How Victor Wembanyama made Tim Duncan-like endorsement with new deal
How Victor Wembanyama made Tim Duncan-like endorsement with new deal
San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama reacts to a chorus of boos from New York Knicks as he runs onto the court to warm up for Game 3 of the NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden in New York, Monday, June 8, 2026.
Don’t call it a sacrifice. Once you hit a quarter of a billion dollars, nobody is going to compare you to Gandhi — even if Gandhi never voluntarily left $50 million on the table.
Instead, consider it an endorsement. An endorsement of a plan, of a franchise, and of a city. That’s what Victor Wembanyama gave last week when he accepted less money than he could have.
And even if the leap of faith Wembanyama took with his second NBA contract wasn’t quite as large as the one Tim Duncan took with his, there was similar symbolism to be found in both signatures.
After all, it’s one thing for a generational superstar to tell people the Spurs are building something the right way.
It’s another when the superstar puts pen to paper and proves he believes it.
Twenty-six years apart, Duncan and Wembanyama both did that, and the financial details show how inflation has affected the price of everything from shot-blocking to building construction.
Back in 2000, the summer after Bexar County voters approved funding for a new NBA arena, the Spurs signed their young franchise player to a lucrative second deal. The price tag of Duncan’s three-year, $31-million contract was about 16% of the cost of what would become the $193-million Frost Bank Center.
Former San Antonio Spurs players David Robinson, left, and Tim Duncan watch the fourth quarter of Game 1 of a first-round NBA playoff series between the Spurs and the Portland Trail Blazers at Frost Bank Center on Sunday, April 19, 2026, in San Antonio. The Spurs won 111-98.
In 2026, the summer after Bexar County voters approved funding for another NBA arena, the Spurs have signed their young franchise player to his second deal. And the price tag of Wembanyama’s five-year, $252-million extension is about 19% of the reported cost of a forthcoming $1.3-billion downtown venue.
So in terms of the organization’s financial commitment to one key player, not much has changed. The Spurs were prepared to build everything around Duncan as they moved to the East Side a quarter-century ago, and they’re going to be doing the same thing around Wembanyama when they relocate again, in 2030 or so.
But think back to the questions that were still unanswered before Duncan signed in 2000. The Spurs had won a championship by that point, but they’d just been eliminated in the first round of the playoffs while Duncan recovered from a knee injury, and they were nothing resembling a dynasty.
Did the tall guy they were lucky enough to land in a lottery have faith they could win again? Did he really believe in the head coach, or in the ownership group, or in the city’s ability to support a perennial contender? When Duncan, who was a true free agent that summer, boarded a plane to Orlando to listen to a pitch from Doc Rivers, all of that was unclear.
By signing with the Spurs instead, Duncan gave everything in San Antonio legitimacy. And even though there were important differences this time — Wembanyama was not a free agent last week, and San Antonio’s championship pedigree is well-established — his contract decision might end up carrying similar weight.
Yes, every young star in the modern era signs at least one contract extension with the team that drafts him, because that’s how the league’s collective bargaining agreement is structured now. But just because Wembanyama’s new deal this summer was a foregone conclusion didn’t mean the numbers were.
If he had the slightest twinge of doubt about the people in place here, or about how they will react to falling short in last month’s NBA Finals, would he even have considered signing for one dollar less than the $302 million he had coming?
This was Wembanyama’s way of rubber-stamping the vision of each of the men who flew across an ocean last week to get his signature in person. And once he’d worked out all the details with chairman Peter J. Holt, with CEO R.C. Buford, with general manager Brian Wright, and with coach Mitch Johnson, Wembanyama broke the news on social media himself.
San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama talks with Spurs general manager Brian Wright during practice at Madison Square Garden in New York, Wednesday, June 10, 2026, ahead of Game 4 of the NBA Finals against the New York Knicks.
The discount he took was significant, but it wasn’t unprecedented. Duncan took less than he could have demanded from the Spurs on more than one occasion, and the New York Knicks just celebrated in San Antonio in part because Jalen Brunson did the same.
Still, this wasn’t something Wembanyama had to do. Had he signed for the supermax, that wouldn’t have stopped Stephon Castle or Dylan Harper or Carter Bryant from doing the same. What this figures to do is help the Spurs add some talent around the edges in a few years, and keep them out of the second salary-cap apron, and maybe save them some luxury-tax dollars at some point.
That’s all fine. Numbers-crunching can be important in roster-building.
But what really mattered last week was the same thing that mattered 26 years ago. A superstar picked up a pen.
And showed who he trusted.
By Mike Finger, via San Antonio Express-News