By Mike Finger | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2026-07-28 16:35:39
2026年6月13日星期六，在霜银中心举行的NBA总决赛第五场第二节比赛中，圣安东尼奥马刺队主教练米奇·约翰逊 (Mitch Johnson) 正在布置战术。随着自由球员托拜厄斯·哈里斯 (Tobias Harris) 的加盟，以及首轮秀小塔里斯·里德 (Tarris Reed Jr.) 和杰登·昆坦斯 (Jayden Quaintance) 的加入，马刺的阵容得到了进一步增强。约翰逊本赛季最大的挑战将是管理首发位置和阵容轮换。
四五个月后，当期望值与球员个性的管理开始让主教练的工作变得像往常一样复杂时，约翰逊应该记住往好的方面想。
至少，他不需要去查直升机的时刻表。
想必，马刺今夏休赛期最受瞩目的自由球员新援计划住在离球队训练馆足够近的地方，以便开车前往。哈里斯与勒布朗·詹姆斯 (LeBron James) 不同，据报道，他选择新东家时并没有从曼哈顿搭乘直升机通勤的计划。
只要维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 不打算把去凯蒂市踢野球当成家常便饭，他应该也不需要私人飞行员的服务。
但是，仅仅因为马刺这些多才多艺的千万富翁们都住在同一个郡，并不能保证他们总能心往一处想。尽管文班亚马主动提出以低于超级顶薪的价格续约，尽管哈里斯自愿加入一支轮换阵容极其深厚的球队，但总会有那么一些时刻，更衣室里的每个人并不会都乐意做出牺牲。
这就是为什么在带领球队杀入NBA总决赛后，约翰逊面临的最大挑战将不再是学习何时叫暂停，而是面对一众优秀球员——多到他无法让每个人都首发出场——并确保不让任何人心生怨怼。
作为上赛季NBA阵容最深厚的球队之一，马刺在过去一个月里让阵容深度更进一步，这在约翰逊的行当里被称为“甜蜜的烦恼”。就像费城76人队的尼克·纳斯 (Nick Nurse) 绝不敢抱怨在拥有乔尔·恩比德 (Joel Embiid) 和泰雷斯·马克西 (Tyrese Maxey) 的基础上，又迎来了杰伦·布朗 (Jaylen Brown) 以及詹姆斯的直升机一样，约翰逊也同样不会得到同行们的多少同情。
毕竟，联盟中有多少教练会希望在赛季开始前，发现自己最大的烦恼是可能无法给达龙·福克斯 (De’Aaron Fox)、斯蒂芬·卡斯尔 (Stephon Castle) 和迪伦·哈珀 (Dylan Harper) 分配足够的上场时间？比如，去告诉萨克拉门托国王队的掌舵人，他可能不得不让哈里斯、朱利安·尚帕尼 (Julian Champagnie) 或德文·瓦塞尔 (Devin Vassell) 这样的球员去打替补。
在某些地方，这甚至值得开香槟庆祝。
但即便现在看起来这还不是个问题，也不难想象约翰逊未来需要进行微妙平衡的场景。上赛季的更衣室氛围完美无瑕，这在赢下62场比赛的球队中很常见，而且几个潜在的问题也自然而然地迎刃而解了。
曾几何时，有人好奇当哈里森·巴恩斯 (Harrison Barnes) 这样的老将最终需要淡出首发阵容时，约翰逊会如何处理。结果，一次伤病终结了这位老将前锋连续出战364场比赛的纪录，这也让这次过渡少了一些尴尬。
至于哈珀与福克斯之间的化学反应？上赛季两人都因伤缺席了足够长的时间，以至于在他们健康时，两人似乎都是球队战术中不可或缺的一部分。
而且，即使在球队阵容齐整时哈珀只能打替补，但他当时只是个新秀，而且马刺一直在赢球。在那种情况下无事生非是不可想象的。
这并不是说哈珀在进入第二个赛季时会改变态度，也不是说像尚帕尼或瓦塞尔这样的球员在为了球队利益最大化时，不会乐意接受进入第二阵容的安排。
2026年5月4日星期一，在圣安东尼奥霜银中心举行的西部半决赛首场对阵明尼苏达森林狼队的第四节比赛中，圣安东尼奥马刺队主教练米奇·约翰逊（左起）正在与后卫德文·瓦塞尔 (24)、后卫迪伦·哈珀 (2) 和后卫达龙·福克斯 (4) 交流。随着马刺在进入2026-27赛季时拥有更深厚的阵容，主教练米奇·约翰逊最大的挑战将是阵容决定，包括哈珀、福克斯和斯蒂芬·卡斯尔之间的出场时间分配。
但处理好这类情况，比其他任何事情都更能体现一名NBA教练的价值。尽管马努·吉诺比利 (Manu Ginobili) 因在马刺第六人角色上的出色发挥而备受推崇，但他对此也从未感到欣喜若狂。如果换一种方式向他布置这个任务，或者由一位威信不及格雷格·波波维奇 (Gregg Popovich) 的教练来安排呢？
谁知道这还能不能行得通？
值得称赞的是，约翰逊迄今为止的表现表明他深谙此道。在谈到自己对球队的职责时，他最常提到的是“明确性”，这也是马刺在通往总决赛的道路上能够如此超出预期的关键原因。
他只需要保持下去。从现在到常规赛开始前，他将与合同期内的17或18名球员中的每一位坐下来，尽可能清晰、具体地向他们解释自己对他们的期望。
他无法做到的是告诉其中六七个人他希望他们首发。如果他们中有六个、七个甚至八个人都想首发，因为他们觉得自己配得上呢？他们也未必是错的。
因此，约翰逊必须确保每个人都感到自己被重视。他必须确保如果球队陷入困境，共同牺牲的理念不会丢失。他必须确保那种明确性不会发生改变。
如果他能做到这一点？
那么叫暂停就会变得轻而易举。
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：Mitch Johnson's next challenge is keeping Spurs' deep roster happy
Mitch Johnson’s next challenge is keeping Spurs’ deep roster happy
San Antonio Spurs head coach Mitch Johnson calls a play during the second quarter of game five of the NBA Championship at Frost Bank Center on Saturday, June 13, 2026. With a bolstered roster that includes free agent addition Tobias Harris and first-round draft picks Tarris Reed Jr. and Jayden Quaintance, Johnson’s biggest challenge this season will be managing starting spots and lineup rotations.
In four or five months, when things start to get as complicated as they often do for coaches with expectations and egos to manage, Mitch Johnson should remember to look at the bright side.
At least he won’t need to consult any helicopter schedules.
Presumably, the Spurs’ highest-profile free-agent signing of the offseason plans to reside close enough to the team practice facility to drive there. Tobias Harris, unlike LeBron James, did not pick his new destination with a reported plan to commute via chopper from Manhattan.
And as long as Victor Wembanyama doesn’t intend to make appearances at Katy pick-up soccer games a regular thing? He shouldn’t require the services of a personal pilot, either.
But just because all of the Spurs’ multitalented multimillionaires all live in the same county doesn’t guarantee they’ll all stay on the same page. Even though Wembanyama volunteered to sign an extension for less than the supermax, and even though Harris volunteered to join a team with a loaded rotation, there are going to be times when not every person in the locker room is going to be thrilled with making a sacrifice.
That’s why Johnson’s biggest challenge after taking his team to the NBA Finals won’t be learning when to call a timeout. It will be standing in front of more good players than he can start every night and making sure he doesn’t lose anybody.
One of the deepest teams in the NBA last season got even deeper over the past month, and this is what is known in Johnson’s business as a nice problem to have. Much like Philadelphia’s Nick Nurse doesn’t dare complain about the abundance of riches presented by the addition of Jaylen Brown and James’ helicopter to a team that already featured Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey, Johnson isn’t going to engender much sympathy from his peers, either.
After all, how many coaches in the league would love to enter the season knowing that their biggest problem is potentially not having enough minutes for De’Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper? Go tell the guy in charge of the Sacramento Kings, for instance, that he might have to bring someone like Harris or Julian Champagnie or Devin Vassell off the bench.
In some places, that’d be cause for celebration.
But even if it doesn’t look like it will be an issue now, it’s not impossible to envision a scenario in which Johnson needs to pull off a delicate balancing act. The locker room vibes were immaculate last season, as they often are on teams that win 62 games, and a couple of potential issues solved themselves.
There was a time when some wondered how Johnson would handle it when a veteran like Harrison Barnes eventually needed to be eased out of the starting lineup. As it turned out, an injury ended the veteran forward’s streak of 364 games played, and that took some of the awkwardness out of the transition.
As for the Harper-Fox dynamic? Both of them missed enough time with injury last season that both of them always seemed integral to what the team was doing when they were healthy.
And even if Harper came off the bench when the team was at full strength, he was a rookie, and the Spurs were winning. Rocking the boat would have been unthinkable.
This isn’t to say that Harper is going to enter his second season with a different attitude, or that someone like Champagnie or Vassell won’t happily accept a move to the second unit, if that’s what’s best for the team.
San Antonio Spurs head coach Mitch Johnson, from left, talks to guard Devin Vassell (24), guard Dylan Harper (2) and guard De’aaron Fox (4) during the fourth quarter of Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Monday, May 4, 2026. With the Spurs boasting an even deeper roster heading into the 2026-27 season, coach Mitch Johnson’s biggest challenge will be lineup decisions, including the division of playing time between Harper, Fox and Stephon Castle.
But managing situations like that, as much as anything else, is how an NBA coach earns his keep. As revered as Manu Ginobili was for thriving in his role as the Spurs’ sixth man, he never was ecstatic about it. And had the assignment been presented to him in a different way, by a coach with less credibility than Gregg Popovich had?
Who knows if it would have worked?
Johnson, to his credit, thus far has operated like he understands all of this. When talking about his responsibilities to his team, the one he brings up most often is clarity, and that was a huge reason why the Spurs exceeded expectations the way they did on their way to the Finals.
He just needs to keep it up. Between now and the start of the regular season, he will sit down with each of the 17 or 18 players under contract and explain — as clearly and as specifically as possible — what he expects of them.
What he won’t be able to do is tell six or seven of them that he expects them to start. And if six or seven or eight of them want that, because they think they’ve deserved it? They won’t be wrong, necessarily.
So Johnson will have to make sure that each of them feels valued. He will have to make sure that if a rough stretch arrives, that idea of shared sacrifice doesn’t get lost. He will have to make sure the sense of clarity doesn’t change.
And if he can manage that?
The timeouts will be easy.
By Mike Finger, via San Antonio Express-News