Spurs Insider Podcast, 2026-08-12 10:59:00
专栏作家迈克·芬格 (Mike Finger) 和随队记者杰夫·麦克唐纳 (Jeff McDonald) 讨论了马刺在自由市场结束时的阵容构建情况，以及为什么球队会再次在揭幕战和圣诞大战等焦点对决中亮相。
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以下是播客的文字实录：
迈克·芬格：这里是《马刺内幕》（Spurs Insider）“杰夫回归版”，我们正在德克萨斯州南部高度机密的绝密地点网络中为您进行广播。我是迈克·芬格 (Mike Finger)，今天与我在一起的是刚刚度完假、满面阳光、焕发活力、神清气爽的杰夫·麦克唐纳 (Jeff McDonald)。他重返我们的播客，而汤姆·奥斯本 (Tom Orsborn) 这期则请假休息。杰夫，我知道你错过了上一期播客，也就是那期“长草期”播客。在那期节目里，汤姆·奥斯本给我们讲述了他在马刺世界之外的冒险故事——比如在洛杉矶油箱见底、遇到奇奇怪怪的人，以及把《马刺内幕》的福音传播到西海岸。我只是想知道，你有没有可能达到汤姆上次带给我们的那种精彩程度？
杰夫·麦克唐纳：绝对比不上。[笑声] 绝对比不上。汤姆看起来温和又无辜，但他就像《功夫》里的凯恩 (Caine) 一样，老兄。他四海为家。
迈克·芬格：他四海为家。是的。而且——
杰夫·麦克唐纳：他总能碰上冒险。
迈克·芬格：确实。你——你以前也是个喜欢冒险的人，但现在看来你似乎——你似乎——正在慢慢变老，不再折腾了。
杰夫·麦克唐纳：是的，我发现最好还是避免冒险。年纪越大，避开冒——冒险就越重要，因为冒险可能会有危险。
迈克·芬格：我很——我很庆幸你上次不在，因为——
杰夫·麦克唐纳：谢谢。我也很庆幸我不在。
迈克·芬格：观众和听众们也都很感激。在炎炎夏日里，在本地篮球队完全没有任何动静的情况下，汤姆给我们录了40多分钟。
杰夫·麦克唐纳：那简直是播客界的黄金素材。
迈克·芬格：[笑声] 黄金素材。其中一部分是，在2026年，而且——这就是为什么我说庆幸你不在，因为我——我对他的态度有点刻薄。我觉得你可能会对他更刻薄。在2026年，他居然把车开到没油了。你听说了吗？
杰夫·麦克唐纳：听说了。这怎么做到的？在202——天呐，2026年。
迈克·芬格：他把这事包装成了一个人帮人、人助人、大家和睦相处的励志故事，听起来棒极了。但天呐，我真不知道他是怎么做到的。确实——确实令人印象深刻。你没有什么——我——我只是想给你铺个路，让你也分享一个跟马刺无关的轶事，不过我猜你没有。
杰夫·麦克唐纳：天呐，我真没有。有什么好——比如，我——是的。不，我没有。但我知道你有一个没油的故事，但那不是在2026年。那是很久很久以前的事了，而且——
迈克·芬格：咱们别提那个了。[笑声] 你有没有——当然你不会透露你的所在地，因为这是《马刺内幕》，我们从不透露所在地，看在上帝的份上，我也不指望你透露任何度假地点。但过去两周，你有没有跟进本地篮球队的所有新闻、动态和花边消息？这些——
杰夫·麦克唐纳：我觉得我现在是在录播客，所以我应该说“有”。[笑声] 那我们就当是有吧。是的，我有——
迈克·芬格：但我认为——我认为你不在时发生的最大新闻是，有——有训练。我们是在讨论训练。
杰夫·麦克唐纳：没错。是的，我看到了。
迈克·芬格：训练、合练，在法国，在欧洲大陆，在大西洋的另一端。一大帮本地球员跑去那里训练。你对此怎么看？
杰夫·麦克唐纳：我认为这是一件——这是一件好事。这更多是为了团队凝聚力和培养队友感情。而且，你懂的，你不想过度解读或过分美化它，但这确实是维克托·文班亚马开始执掌大权、展现领袖气质、成为马刺宇宙中心的一个缩影，这也是大家乐于见到的。你希望看到你最好的球员去组织训练。我想，对于像迪伦·哈珀 (Dylan Harper) 这样的年轻球员来说，能够远渡重洋去法国，和文班一起开心训练，一定很有意思。文班在法国做了各种各样的事，下国际象棋、在时装周走秀。
迈克·芬格：嗯。
杰夫·麦克唐纳：他无处不在。所以，我敢说他们也为新赛季做好了准备，不过，本地的训练也要开始了。我想非正式的自发训练很快就会在这里开始。
迈克·芬格：我上次和汤姆聊了聊休赛期，做了一个回顾。现在我们已经可以从宏观角度来看待马刺在打进总决赛后的第一个休赛期所做的操作了。虽然没有太多戏剧性的重磅交易，但我记得你上次录播客时，大家还在不确定是否还会有最后一步操作。现在我认为这支球队的阵容已经基本定型了。虽然技术上还剩下一个保障合同名额，可能会填补也可能不会，但我认为这不会对阵容面貌产生戏剧性的影响。所以我想回顾一下这个夏天，看看布莱恩·莱特 (Brian Wright) 和他的团队对这支阵容做了些什么。
杰夫·麦克唐纳：嗯，他们基本上是保留了去年的原班人马，再加上托拜厄斯·哈里斯 (Tobias Harris)，对吧？差不多就是这样。而且，你能理解其中的逻辑。你不想破坏已经成型的好状态，不想破坏化学反应。你不想挤占一些年轻球员的成长空间，比如迪伦·哈珀和斯蒂芬·卡斯尔 (Stephon Castle)，让他们能够继续发展并迈出下一步。但是，你确实想解决大前锋位置上那个显而易见的漏洞。我认为哈里斯以一个看起来不错、很合理的价位填补了这个空缺。我认为他会是一个很好的补充，既能在这个位置上带来更多的高度，也能带来更多的投射。我只是觉得……我认为对他们来说这是一个成功的休赛期。而且我认为选秀在短期内可能帮不上太大忙，但从长远来看，这也是一次很好的选秀，因为他们带回了两个大个子。
迈克·芬格：我上次和汤姆提到过这一点，我非常喜欢他们对待塔里斯·里德 (Tarris Reed) 和杰登·昆坦斯 (Jaden Quaintance) 的方式。表面上看，他们选了两个功能重叠的大个子。但就他们何时以及如何提供帮助而言，这是两个完全不同的大个子，处于完全不同的境况。比如，我上次提醒大家不要抱有太高期望——对于汤姆·奥斯本，我给昆坦斯今年的出场时间设定的盘口是半分钟，而我押了“以下”。我现在依然坚持这个看法。我不确定他今年能不能上场。他必须先把膝盖伤势养好。但他现在才19岁，对吧？他很年轻——尽管他打了两年大学篮球，但他之前完成了跳级，在同届球员中非常年轻。这就是一个高上限的选择。这是你在打进总决赛、手握两个首轮签，且有20支球队因为害怕选一个第一年可能无法上场的球员而错过他时，所做的高上限豪赌。马刺处于这样的位置，莱特也处于这样的位置，他可以说：“嘿，我不需要这个21号签立刻出成绩。从长远来看，我可以选一个可能比11到19顺位那些人更好的球员。”所以我喜欢这个选择，我也喜欢紧接着选下里德，他在大学经历方面恰恰相反——他打了很多大学比赛。他更准备好立刻上场竞争，虽然我不认为他会马上进入轮换，但他是一个你可以期待在今年年底获得一些出场时间、甚至贡献高效表现的球员。所以，我对观众们重复了一遍我的观点，但我想听听你对这个看法的意见。
杰夫·麦克唐纳：我认为这是一个完美的看法，这正是——对莱特和他的团队在选秀中的意图的极佳剖析。你在昆坦斯身上做了一次豪赌，我对他今年的预测是，是的，他需要一段时间来恢复膝盖。如果他今年能获得上场时间——我的意思是，我认为他今年会踏上篮球场，但你可能得看他在发展联盟里寻找比赛感觉。而里德正如你所说，22岁。他22岁了，作为一个新秀，他比很多即将进入轮换的球员都要年长——也不是很多，但确实比轮换里的一些人要大：迪伦·哈珀、卡特·布莱恩特 (Carter Bryant)、斯蒂芬·卡斯尔。他基本上和维克托·文班亚马同岁。所以你带回了一个更有经验、在22岁就拥有成年人身体的球员。是的，我期待看到他在NBA赛场上获得一些时间。也许一开始不会是绝对的轮换球员，但我认为他是一个你在新秀赛季就能看到产出的球员。我们在夏季联赛中看到了很多他的表现，他能做什么，他如何融入。他能设掩护、能防守，就是那种蓝领粘合剂型的球员。如果能找准自己的角色并做好，这类球员有时能很快在NBA球队中获得上场机会，作为新秀，你能更快地在NBA赛场上找到立足之地。
迈克·芬格：你这假度得可真值。你居然说你喜欢我的看法，还说它很完美之类的话。这可是自你上次度假以来，我第一次在这个播客里听到这种话。所以，[笑声] 表现得好，干得漂亮。
杰夫·麦克唐纳：好吧，你这是在暗示我应该多休假。
迈克·芬格：我想是的。[笑声] 那个，呃……我不记得你上次休假是什么时候了，当时马刺有没有宣布重新签下哈里森·巴恩斯 (Harrison Barnes)，额——
杰夫·麦克唐纳：是的，我想宣布了。
迈克·芬格：确实宣布了。我认为那次……那是一次低调的签约，也许算不上影响重大。但是，我认为当你对比他的角色时，他可能还进不了前10轮换，如果卡特·布莱恩特能进前10，哈里森·巴恩斯可能是第11人。如果你用巴恩斯这样的球员来填补第11到15人的位置，那比去年的第11到15人要好得多。去年我们虽然很喜欢俾斯麦·比永博 (Bismack Biyombo)，但那个位置上还有梅森·普拉姆利 (Mason Plumlee) 和凯利·奥利尼克 (Kelly Olynyk) 这样的人，在季后赛对阵俄克拉荷马雷霆或纽约尼克斯时，他们根本无法在场上做出任何贡献。那些人只是“紧急避险”的选择，甚至在紧急情况下你也不会用他们。你只会用五个人打到底，对吧。
杰夫·麦克唐纳：没错。
迈克·芬格：我想说的是，你不可能靠第11到15人去赢得总冠军，但我认为提升第11到15人的实力是有意义的，尤其是其中一个人是哈里森·巴恩斯。他直到去年一月还依然是首发，依然是那个“100%先生”，依然能在对阵孟菲斯时上演扣篮。我认为提升这些位置的深度是非常有价值的。
杰夫·麦克唐纳：这确实很有意思。去年的球队是建立在深度之上的，对吧？大家都赞美他们的深度，但实际上，最底层的五个球员几乎是无法上场的。
迈克·芬格：是的。
杰夫·麦克唐纳：他们有很多……有很多，呃，边缘球员——你知道，我不是想侮辱那些家伙，但很明显，米奇·约翰逊 (Mitch Johnson) 几乎在任何情况下都不会让他们上场。而现在，你拥有了米奇·约翰逊在任何情况下都可能派上场的球员。这样一来，你自然而然地提升了这些位置的实力。
迈克·芬格：其中一个必须提及的球员是另一个“J-Mac”——乔丹·麦克劳克林 (Jordan McLaughlin)。他去年完美地履行了自己的职责，这也是马刺把他带回来的原因。他是在对阵雷霆时能获得几分钟出场时间的球员，对吧？
杰夫·麦克唐纳：是的，他本身并不是不能上场。
迈克·芬格：没错。
杰夫·麦克唐纳：是的。比如在那种情况下，你不会让普拉姆利上场，也不会让凯利·奥利尼克上场，但你完全可以信任J-Mac，让他打个五分钟左右。
迈克·芬格：我认为这是完美的——所以当你拥有一支球队时——我想我们还没深入探讨过这个，当你拥有一支众所周知控卫（或控卫型球员）过剩的球队，而且他们都很年轻，未来都将赚大钱，比如达龙·福克斯 (De’Aaron Fox)、斯蒂芬·卡斯尔和迪伦·哈珀。当你在市场上寻找拼图时，你仍然需要另一个控卫以防有人受伤，对吧？因为你可能需要第三控卫——[笑声]
杰夫·麦克唐纳：你需要一个乔丹·麦克劳克林这样的类型。
迈克·芬格：但当你在自由市场上面对球员时，这个位置很难填补，因为没有人想当那个“紧急避险”的备胎。除非前三号人物有人受伤，否则你永远上不了场。所以这就是为什么乔丹·麦克劳克林——一个你已经熟悉的人，一个优秀的更衣室领袖——就像我们提到的所有那些家伙一样，优秀的更衣室成员，完美融入，队友们喜欢他，文班也喜欢他，让当家球星喜欢你是一个相当重要的前提。他适应自己的角色，喜欢待在圣安东尼奥，需要时你也可以派他上场。如果有人受伤，没问题。如果因为那三个人全年保持健康而导致他上不了场，他也完全乐意，并且依然是个优秀的更衣室成员。这正是他们需要的人选，来扮演乔丹·麦克劳克林的角色——一个你已经熟知的乔丹·麦克劳克林。
杰夫·麦克唐纳：是的。如果我是NBA球员，那将是我努力争取的角色。我不想成为那种被寄予厚望的人，[笑声] 你懂吗？那会有很大的压力。比如，万一你在总决赛中搞砸了，没有把球控住、消耗完时间并赢下比赛怎么办？然后所有人都会嘲笑你。
迈克·芬格：而且所有人都想把你交易走。
杰夫·麦克唐纳：都想把你交易走。我想当那个永远不上场但依然能拿几百万美元的人。那才是完美的——那是我心目中的完美角色。你同意吗？
迈克·芬格：你的角色？是的，绝对同意。
杰夫·麦克唐纳：哈哈，是的。
迈克·芬格：然后你就可以坐在那儿，马后炮地指点江山。告诉大家你会怎么做。
杰夫·麦克唐纳：没错，没错。噢，当然了。[笑声] 绝对的。还要抱怨酒店不好。
迈克·芬格：说到酒店，我们要聊聊本周的重大新闻吗？
杰夫·麦克唐纳：是的，重大新闻——我们得到了重大新闻，才刚刚出炉几个小时。
迈克·芬格：突发新闻，球迷们，就像……有人开过这个玩笑，这远非原创。你来听《马刺内幕》本来就不是为了听原创段子的。但是这个……你把赛程公布拉长到整整一周，这对于一个把科怀·伦纳德 (Kawhi Leonard) 调查拉长了整整一年的联盟来说，简直是绝配，对吧？[笑声] 他们什么事都不能痛痛快快地解决。你必须按天、按小时地去了解NBA赛季，去发现马刺要和谁打。揭幕战下午3点谁打？晚上7点谁打？第一场亚马逊Prime直播的比赛谁打？圣诞大战谁打？谁将在今年第一次前往奥斯汀的穆迪中心（Moody Center）打客场？我猜这就是你准备说的突发新闻？
杰夫·麦克唐纳：等等。我对这一切有点意见，[笑声] 因为现在如果你是德克萨斯州圣安东尼奥的随队记者，你得在早上6点45分就把你那懒散的屁股从床上挪起来去查这些东西。
迈克·芬格：是的。
杰夫·麦克唐纳：这太荒谬了。而且，上帝保佑，如果你是东海岸报道76人队的随队记者，你得在早上5点45分起床来报道这些。
迈克·芬格：额，我想你记反了。你记反了。[笑声] 西海岸——看吧，你业务生疏了。
杰夫·麦克唐纳：是的，我业务生疏了。
迈克·芬格：正好相反。如果你报道萨克拉门托国王队，你得提前两个小时。
杰夫·麦克唐纳：是的。
迈克·芬格：那是几点？那可是该死的凌晨4点多？
杰夫·麦克唐纳：我们报道萨克拉门托国王队的朋友们可能不会在凌晨4点起床，去查国王队在圣诞大战和谁打。
迈克·芬格：[笑声] 国王队的媒体同行们已经很久不需要担心这个问题了。但是——
杰夫·麦克唐纳：我——是的，我能想象他们醒来，打开电视，然后叹气道：“啊，又没戏了。”
迈克·芬格：好吧，他们会庆祝：“圣诞节又放假一年！我们不用——我们不用工作了。”在上一期播客中，在汤姆讲完他油箱见底的故事后，我跟他提过这件事。当时我们正在探讨——他有一个想法，既然NBA试图将一切商业化，为一切寻找赞助商，报道一切并提供一切视频源，他的想法是，马刺队、NBA，或者各方联合，加上《圣安东尼奥快报》（San Antonio Express-News），可以联合电视直播每年八月进行的“杰夫·麦克唐纳-汤姆·奥斯本赛程选秀”，[笑声] 在那里你们瓜分客场之旅的报道任务。而今年这个想法又成真了，或者说我们——我认为这已经基本决定了，因为杰夫·麦克唐纳家里还有年幼的孩子，出于某种原因，他们喜欢在节日里有父亲陪伴。所以看起来汤姆·奥斯本今年圣诞节又要去纽约出差了。
杰夫·麦克唐纳：是的，我——我希望他——我希望他对此没意见。
迈克·芬格：我想他上次说过他挺享受的，对吧？中央公园可能会下雪。
杰夫·麦克唐纳：我记得他上次圣诞节去纽约确实挺开心的，是的。
迈克·芬格：但言归正传，马刺队，由维克托·文班亚马领衔，将在圣诞节清晨的传统纽约尼克斯圣诞揭幕战中，对阵杰伦·布伦森 (Jalen Brunson)、OG·阿奴诺比 (OG Anunoby) 领衔的阵容，这也是上赛季总决赛的重演。对于汤姆来说，那绝对是一个极其宏大的报道现场。
杰夫·麦克唐纳：如果马刺能在未来的某个时候打一次圣诞大战的主场比赛就好了。
迈克·芬格：是的。
杰夫·麦克唐纳：比如，他们已经连续三年——你知道，连续三年打客场了。我理解联盟希望在圣诞大战的黄金时段安排总决赛重演。既然如此，尼克斯自然会获得主办权。但如果马刺是对阵其他任何人，我想他们今年圣诞节应该会在主场打。
迈克·芬格：是的，我想你是对的。
杰夫·麦克唐纳：是时候了。
迈克·芬格：在录制本期节目时，等到听众们在他们的联网设备、唱片机、CD刻录机等各种设备上收听时，可能已经有更多赛程公布了。但截至目前，我相信我们已经知道了三场，对吧？揭幕战、深夜场，直接回到了季后赛的那种……呃，痛苦中[笑声]——当地时间晚上8点半开球，当天最后一场对阵俄克拉荷马雷霆。我们又要熬通宵了。嗯，但这应该是一场有趣的西部季后赛重演，以此开启新赛季。那是我们在主场霜冻银行中心（Frost Bank Center）的揭幕战。而且，今年奥斯汀的比赛（他们称之为I-35系列赛）发生了一点变化，今年成了“290号公路系列赛”，因为令人讨厌的休斯敦火箭队将在新赛季第一周的周五晚上造访奥斯汀。那个周末正好赶上德克萨斯大学（UT）的橄榄球赛和奥斯汀的F1大奖赛，那周在奥斯汀连一间空酒店客房都找不到。但马刺将在那里迎战火箭。
杰夫·麦克唐纳：是的。这简直是对当时任何想要订酒店房间的人的一记重锤。这安排绝了。我告诉你吧，我住在新布朗费尔斯（New Braunfels），我可以把我的客房挂在Airbnb上。谁想要我就租给谁，50美元。
迈克·芬格：我不确定——
杰夫·麦克唐纳：还包一顿家常便饭。
迈克·芬格：10月23日火箭对阵马刺的比赛，吸引的外州游客能有德大橄榄球赛和F1赛车那么多。
杰夫·麦克唐纳：是的，但如果你住在圣安东尼奥南区，想去奥斯汀看球，看完再开回来路途可太远了。你可以来新布朗费尔斯过夜。
迈克·芬格：行吧。
杰夫·麦克唐纳：就像我说的，50美元，我还给你做顿家常饭。
迈克·芬格：[笑声] 你——你最好——你最好小心点，因为听众们会排着队来寻找你这个“安全地点”。
杰夫·麦克唐纳：我只需要知道他们喜欢什么口味的Pop-Tart（果酱馅饼）。
迈克·芬格：嗯哼。额……是的，我是说，这就像是陷入了某种两难境地。本来没什么可聊的，所以我们拿赛程公布开玩笑，但它确实——确实——确实产生了我最讨厌的一个词，额，“内容（content）”。[笑声]
杰夫·麦克唐纳：是的。没错。
迈克·芬格：所以我们两个，呃，家伙坐在这里，在《马刺内幕》播客里聊着：你对第一场周五晚上的比赛、马刺在穆迪中心对阵火箭怎么看？他们揭幕战对阵雷霆又怎么看？你觉得提前知道这两场比赛对整个赛季有什么影响？
杰夫·麦克唐纳：这种节目的套路应该是，我们中的一个人必须持有一个非常偏激、强烈的观点。而另一个人则必须持有相反但同样偏激的观点，然后我们互相大吼大叫。
迈克·芬格：嗯哼。行啊。
杰夫·麦克唐纳：不知道你想不想试试。是的。所以，比如，我——
迈克·芬格：我认为这简直是丑闻！NBA居然强迫马刺在奥斯汀对阵火箭，而火箭队有一个叫凯文·杜兰特 (Kevin Durant) 的球员，他曾效力于德克萨斯大学，这会导致在马刺的主场比赛中，所有的球迷都倒向火箭那一边！这完全是一个错误，这会导致——因为在原本应该是主场的比赛中观众倒戈，马刺会丢掉这一场胜利，火箭会赢，然后马刺最终会在战绩榜上因此落后于雷霆，失去主场优势。明年当雷霆的 J-Dub 保持健康时，这会让他们在西部决赛中拥有抢七大战的主场优势，而马刺会因为这个赛程安排的丑闻而无法卫冕！你觉得呢？
杰夫·麦克唐纳：这就是为什么我不擅长这个，因为我觉得你是对的。[笑声] 我完全同意。那也是我准备语无伦次地咆哮的内容。
迈克·芬格：噢，好吧。[笑声] 天呐，我们太差劲了。甚至当我试图演戏时，你也在往同一个方向演。
杰夫·麦克唐纳：行吧，我再试试。我觉得这没什么大不了的！[笑声] 我觉得你反应过度了。
迈克·芬格：但你也不能那样做。你不能——辩论节目的关键在于你不能指责对方反应过度，所以你完全搞错了。你必须在相反的立场上同样做出过度的反应。
杰夫·麦克唐纳：好吧。
迈克·芬格：一旦你，呃，指责对方反应过度，你就把戏演砸了。你会让人们觉得：“好吧，这两个白痴真的应该对所有事情都持有强烈观点吗？”[笑声] 所以永远不要，比如，打破——那叫什么来着？第四面墙。你指责我反应过度，有点像是在打破第四面墙。
杰夫·麦克唐纳：好吧。
迈克·芬格：因为一旦——一旦你告诉听众这其实没那么严重，他们就会想：“好吧，这事真的有那么严重吗？有人会为此生气吗？”这就是——这就是为什么我们不适合干这个。
杰夫·麦克唐纳：所以，所以我要做的是，找出一个为什么这其实对马刺非常有利的理由，然后大声咆哮。
迈克·芬格：没错。
杰夫·麦克唐纳：并且还要表现得义愤填膺，指责联盟在某种程度上是在偏袒马刺。
迈克·芬格：对。对。没错。
杰夫·麦克唐纳：那等我琢磨琢磨再回复你。[笑声] 我现在脑子里一片空白。
迈克·芬格：你把好素材都抢光了。
杰夫·麦克唐纳：是的。额……
迈克·芬格：噢，另外——那些听了上一期并期待这一期的听众，我很抱歉。我们——我们聊的是相同的话题，但我们有不同的——我们有——这两个——
杰夫·麦克唐纳：不同的嘉宾阵容。
迈克·芬格：两个阵容，两个不同的阵容。呃，全美资历最老的两位马刺随队记者，杰夫·麦克唐纳和汤姆·奥斯本，经常——经常意见不合。一个总是乐观，一个总是悲观。所以我们需要——不同的观点。嗯，我之前提到过，我不确定你有没有——我相信你肯定没有在你那阳光明媚的秘密度假地点收听我们的上一期播客，但我——我——我提到了几位我们过去的老前辈、老导师。嗯，他们中的几位，呃，一位是罗伯特·巴克·哈维 (Robert Buck Harvey)，还有迈克尔·迈克·门罗 (Michael, Mike Monroe)。我见过他们，他们依然非常关注本地篮球队，依然非常投入，对球队的未来非常乐观。但是，他们——他们——他们提出，尽管未来一片光明，尽管马刺应该再次成为NBA总冠军的争夺者，但今年可能不会再赢下60场比赛了。在常规赛期间，他们可能会退一步，因为……你知道，球队在经历了一次漫长的季后赛之旅后，都会经历一些起伏，也许每天晚上的专注度不会那么集中，也许动力不会那么足，也许在他们迈向下一个——拥有更多迪伦·哈珀、更多年轻人的新时代时，会遇到一些挫折。对于常规赛胜场数可能不如去年这一观点，你怎么看？
杰夫·麦克唐纳：我可以给你一个我认为可能拿不到60胜的理由，随着赛季的进行，这可能会也可能不会被证实。但你认为今年彻底摆烂的球队会变少吗？
迈克·芬格：是的，我认为确实如此。
杰夫·麦克唐纳：比如那些送分童子般的超级烂队变少了？所以我觉得——而且马刺只要稍微滑落到58胜。那也就比去年少赢4场球，对吧？
迈克·芬格：嗯哼。
杰夫·麦克唐纳：额，话虽如此，俄克拉荷马城上赛季赢了多少场？64场？
迈克·芬格：是的。没错。
杰夫·麦克唐纳：在夺冠之后？
迈克·芬格：而且那是在打了抢七大战之后。甚至在他们遇到一些伤病问题的情况下。所以，是的，这是可以做到的。呃，你知道，这可能更适合作为九月或十月的话题，但我认为，对于这支即将进入新赛季的马刺队，有一件事会让我非常感兴趣，那就是这将是他们第一次带着真正的争冠期待开启一个赛季。
杰夫·麦克唐纳：是的。
迈克·芬格：额，去年——我的意思是，我们去年讨论了无数次。去年这个时候，我们对他们进入上赛季有什么期望？“噢，如果他们能进季后赛，如果能拿到第六名，那就太棒了。”这就是我们的期望，呃，可能也是联盟中大多数人的期望。这就是期望，你知道，维克托·文班亚马自己在新赛季开始前也说过，“第六名”。这就是他们进入上赛季时的期望。而现在，既然你们已经一路打进了总决赛，我认为从现在开始，期望就变成了“不进总决赛就是失败”。这将是他们第一次肩负着这样的压力开启新赛季。今年他们更像是被狩猎的对象，嗯，他们无法再出其不意了，虽然一支拥有7英尺4英寸大个子的球队本来也很难出其不意。但是，嗯，我认为他们去年比很多人预期的要好，所以我想今年对手们会做好充分的准备。我认为常规赛的道路只会更加艰难。如果他们拿到60胜，我不会感到惊讶，但如果胜场数在50多场，我也不会感到惊讶。如果掉到40多胜，那我绝对会大吃一惊。
杰夫·麦克唐纳：是的。没错。
迈克·芬格：呃，这在某种程度上可能是在钻牛角尖，可能太像辩论节目的套路了，但是……在文班进入联盟的前几年里，我们陪他走遍了整个联盟，在各个球馆里，我们看到了球迷对他的反应。直到去年的季后赛，他才开始有了那么一点点……你所谓的“反派”[笑声]或坏人的影子。以前我们和文班一起去客场时，尤其是当马刺根本赢不了球的时候，客场观众几乎都站在他这一边，因为他们想看他做一些酷炫的动作。他们——你知道，偶尔会有些嘘声，但那也是敷衍了事的，因为大家都是来看他的，并且喜欢他——他给人们带来了快乐。
杰夫·麦克唐纳：而且你的球队当时可能正在痛扁他，所以——
迈克·芬格：而且你的球队当时可能正在赢球。甚至在去年常规赛马刺赢球的时候，你也从未觉得人们讨厌文班或马刺，或者把他们当成敌人。也许除了那些一直讨厌马刺的传统死敌，你知道，比如火箭，以及在某种程度上的俄克拉荷马城。
杰夫·麦克唐纳：火箭一直都讨厌，火箭球迷一直都讨厌。
迈克·芬格：火箭一直如此。
杰夫·麦克唐纳：一直很讨厌。
迈克·芬格：但我——我想引出的那个辩论节目式的、或者说愚蠢、无聊、荒谬的论点是：你认为，由于去年季后赛期间一些被过度放大、过度关注和无休止争论的事情，马刺今年在客场征战时，会不会变得更像一支“反派”球队？比如，人们真的会站出来嘘维克托·文班亚马吗？
杰夫·麦克唐纳：我认为对于他们在季后赛中击败的那些球队，这绝对会是真的。比如，明尼苏达的气氛会完全不同。嗯，俄克拉荷马城的气氛一向如此，但这次会升级。纽约当然也是，嗯，但我不知道他们在亚特兰大或夏洛特之类的地方会不会受到多么强烈的敌意。
迈克·芬格：我大概是把他们和像湖人这样的球队做对比，你知道，其他球队——或者说，呃，球迷们会专门跑来嘘湖人，就像对待“邪恶帝国”那样。你认为马刺已经接近那个级别了吗？
杰夫·麦克唐纳：我不认为他们已经到了那个地步。随着赛季的进行，这将是一个值得观察的有趣现象，但我不知道仅仅经历了一次季后赛之旅，他们是否就已经到了那个地步。
迈克·芬格：是的。
杰夫·麦克唐纳：我认为——我认为，你知道，当你用手肘击中纳兹·里德 (Naz Reid) 的脖子时，那支球队的球迷肯定会嘘你。当你和俄克拉荷马城打满七场系列赛时，那支球队的球迷也会嘘你。而纽约人则是看谁都不顺眼，会嘘所有人。
迈克·芬格：是的。
杰夫·麦克唐纳：所以，是的，我不知道他们现在算不算得上是湖人。
迈克·芬格：我也挺好奇的。我对此没有什么犀利的观点，嗯……我很好奇——因为你当时处于——我们当时处于长达两个月、每天都有铺天盖地的马刺话题内容的状态中，日复一日，几乎没有时间睡觉。我们沉浸在那些在季后赛期间对每一个细节都斤斤计较的人群中。在身处那片森林之中时，你会有一种感觉，大家都在争相发表最博眼球的言论。在季后赛期间那场争夺最热辣观点的竞争中，有人试图说这正在影响文班的声誉，说他正在变成一个法外之徒，甚至登上了《纽约邮报》的封面，成了头号公敌。我只是很好奇，除了当时身处那片森林之中的我们之外，这种情绪在整个NBA生态系统中渗透了多少？其他人真的在乎吗？或者说，如果你的球队没有打进总决赛，你甚至根本没有关注这些？我很想知道，在那个季后赛期间，外界对马刺以及对那一位特定球员的看法究竟发生了多大的变化。
杰夫·麦克唐纳：我确实觉得现在的人，由于社交媒体的构建，他们的记忆力就像金鱼一样。
迈克·芬格：嗯，我想你可能是对的。
杰夫·麦克唐纳：比如，到了十月份，除非你住在那些城市之一，否则没人会记得这些。说到身处那片森林，嗯，在季后赛和总决赛期间真正让我感到惊讶的是，我们会去参加维克托·文班亚马的发布会，这种发布会我们今年已经参加过上百次了。他会说一些——你知道，我希望我能想出一个极佳的例子，但他会说一些你和我今年已经听过上百次的话，然后当我们走出那片森林时，却发现外面的人都为此抓狂了。
迈克·芬格：是的。
杰夫·麦克唐纳：比如“我不敢相信他会说出这种话”，或者“他太自大了”，或者——而事实是，他一直都是那样的，而且——等等，他根本不是那个意思，或者——
迈克·芬格：是的。
杰夫·麦克唐纳：那种事情对我来说挺有意思的，所有事情都必须被断章取义地解读。我的意思是，在当今这个媒体时代，这不应该让人感到意外。就像你看看政治领域发生的事情一样，一件听起来相对无伤大雅的事情被断章取义地放大成最不无伤大雅——我不知道有没有这个词——最令人震惊、最耸人听闻的形式，然后每个人都为此感到愤怒，这并不奇怪。这对我来说很有意思，我不知道其中有多少会留存下来。
迈克·芬格：好吧，这又是《马刺内幕》和《圣安东尼奥快报》需要做出的调整，嗯，因为我们之前脱离了那种环境。我们报道了维克托·文班亚马三年的新闻发布会，期间可能并不是所有人都在关注，我们已经忘记了报道一个所有人都在关注、所有人都急于整合、断章取义的发布会是什么感觉。我认为这是多重因素共同作用的结果：在2026年，情况比以往任何时候都更糟[笑声]，但同时，我们也已经有七年没有报道过能产生这种关注度的马刺发布会了——甚至比七年还要长。距离上一次总决赛已经过去了10年，距离再上一次总决赛已经过去了12年。
杰夫·麦克唐纳：是的。
迈克·芬格：在2014年，媒体环境与2026年的媒体环境完全不同。所以随着本周马刺更多赛程的公布，这也是新赛季值得期待的事情。我们将与您一起解读这份赛程。我们会回来的。汤姆——汤姆·奥斯本这次要休一个长假。他下一次可能不会和我们在一起，但杰夫会，他将带着全新的乐观、全新的精神面貌和活力回归。而且，呃，我下次需要为你准备一些话题，因为我们仍然是每两周录制一次。
杰夫·麦克唐纳：噢，是的，下次我们就有完整的赛程可以仔细研究了。那会很有趣。
迈克·芬格：好的。
杰夫·麦克唐纳：下次我们会一场一场地分析。
迈克·芬格：我们会一场一场地分析，直接预测82场常规赛——我们能聊上一个小时。
杰夫·麦克唐纳：一场一场地分析，直接预测82场常规赛——我们能聊上一个小时。
迈克·芬格：而且我们会对每一场比赛展开辩论。比如，我们每个人都会选一个立场，并极力去捍卫它，这会很有趣。在那之后，汤姆就会回归了。但是，嗯，很高兴大家能收听，希望你们能忍受这些废话，或者说如果你在八月份需要一些废话来消遣，我们很乐意为你提供。直到下一次，大家保重，保持真实。
[音乐]
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：Spurs primed, ready for marquee matchups
Spurs primed, ready for marquee matchups
Columnist Mike Finger and beat reporter Jeff McDonald discuss how the Spurs roster shaped up at the end of free agency and why the team is once again playing in marquee matchups on opening day and Christmas Day.
Suggested reading:
Spurs to open vs. Thunder, face Knicks on Christmas
How Victor Wembanyama lost a one-on-one match to a 6-year-old
Spurs agree to terms with guard as camp roster continues to take shape
Seeking to gain ‘insight,’ Spurs coaches pay visit to Seahawks training camp
See which Spurs teammates joined Wembanyama for practice in France
Here is the transcript of the podcast:
Mike Finger: From a highly secure network of top secret locations across South Texas, this is the Spurs Insider, Return of Jeff Edition. I am Mike Finger, joined by the sun-kissed, rejuvenated, refreshed, fresh off vacation, Jeff McDonald, making his grand return to the podcast while Tom Orsborn takes a podcast off. And Jeff, I know you missed the last podcast, the Dog Days of Summer podcast, where Tom Orsborn regaled us with tales of his adventures outside of the world of the Spurs land of—and—and running out of gas in Los Angeles and meeting strange people and spreading the gospel of the Spurs Insider to the West Coast. And I’m just wondering if there’s any chance that you can at all measure up to what Tom offered us last time.
Jeff McDonald: Absolutely not. [laughter] Absolutely not. Tom is, like, he looks all sweet and innocent, but he’s like, he’s like Caine in Kung Fu, man. He wanders the Earth.
Mike Finger: He wanders the Earth. Yes. And—
Jeff McDonald: He gets into adventures.
Mike Finger: He does. You—you were once known to be a person who got into adventures, but it seems like you’ve—you’ve—you’re slowly aging out of that.
Jeff McDonald: Yeah, I found out it’s probably better to avoid adventures. The older you get, avoiding advent—adventures can be dangerous.
Mike Finger: I’m—I’m glad you weren’t here last time because—
Jeff McDonald: Thank you. I’m glad I wasn’t here, either.
Mike Finger: The—the viewers and listeners all appreciated it too. Tom gave us, in the dog days of summer, with absolutely nothing going on with the local cagers, Tom gave us more than 40 minutes.
Jeff McDonald: It was podcast gold.
Mike Finger: [laughter] Podcast gold. Part of it was, in the year 2026, and—and this is—this is what I meant by I’m glad you weren’t here, because I—I was a little hard on him. I think you might have been harder on him. In the year 2026, he ran out of gas. Did you hear about this?
Jeff McDonald: Yeah. How do you do that? In the year 202—Dear Lord, 2026.
Mike Finger: He turned it into an inspirational story of man helping man, and human helping human, and—and—and everyone getting along, and it was great. But man, I don’t know how he does that. It was—it was impressive. You have nothing—I—I—I’m just kind of clearing the way for you to give us one non-Spurs anecdote, which I assume you don’t have.
Jeff McDonald: Gosh, I don’t really have. What would—like, I—yeah. No, I don’t have that. But you have—I know you have a running out of gas story, but it wasn’t from 2026. It was a very, very long time ago, and—
Mike Finger: Let’s not get into that. [laughter] Were you able to—and you’re not going to disclose your location because it is the Spurs Insider and we never disclose our locations, and I don’t expect you to disclose any vacation locations, for God’s sake. But were you able to keep up with all the—the news and notes and, uh, and tidbits from the local cagers over the past couple of weeks? Which—
Jeff McDonald: I think I’m supposed to say yes because I’m on a podcast right now. [laughter] So we’re going to go with yes. Yes, I’m—
Mike Finger: But I think—I think the biggest news that happened when you were gone was that, there—there were, uh, practices. We’re talking about practice.
Jeff McDonald: Correct. Yeah, I saw that.
Mike Finger: Workouts, run-throughs, in the—in the nation of France, on the continent of Europe, on the other side of the ocean of the Atlantic. Well, there—there a bunch of local cagers went there and worked out. What do you think about that?
Jeff McDonald: I think that’s a—that’s a good thing. It’s more from a—from a team bonding, camaraderie thing. And, you know, you don’t want to make too much of it or over-glorify it, but it is sort of, um, an example of Victor Wembanyama sort of taking—taking the reins, being a leader, being the center of the Spurs universe, which—which you like to see. You like to see that from your best player, organizing workouts. I think it was probably fun for the Dylan Harpers of the world to be able to travel overseas to France and have fun with Victor over there. Victor’s been doing all kinds of stuff over there, playing chess, walking the runway at Fashion Week.
Mike Finger: Mm-hmm.
Jeff McDonald: He’s been all over it. So, I bet they’re ready for the season, too, you know, the—the at-home workouts to begin, though. I think open gyms will start pretty soon here.
Mike Finger: I got to talk with Tom last time just about kind of the offseason, a retrospective, now—now that we’ve got the 30,000-foot view of what the Spurs did in their first offseason after making the NBA Finals. And there’s not a lot of dramatic moves, but now I think the last time you were on a podcast there was still some uncertainty if there was one more move left or what have you. Now I think the team is the team. There’s still technically an open, guaranteed contract spot left, which may or may not get filled, but I don’t think it’s going to dramatically, uh, impact the look of the roster. So I just wanted to get, looking back at the summer, what Brian Wright and his team did with this roster.
Jeff McDonald: Well, they’re basically running back last year’s team plus Tobias Harris, right? Like, that’s—that’s pretty much where we’re at. And, you know, you—you see the logic in it. You—you don’t want to mess with a good thing. You don’t want to mess with the chemistry. You don’t want to crowd the runway for some of those younger players, such as Dylan Harper and still Stephon Castle, to—to develop and take their next step. And, but you did want to address kind of the one glaring hole there at the power forward position. And I think Tobias Harris, you know, fills that at—at a price that—that looks good, that works. I think he’ll be a good addition, both bringing some more size there at that position and a little more shooting at that position. I just—I—I—I think they’ve, um… I think it was a good offseason for them. And I think the draft may or may not have helped them in the short term, but I think that was a good long-term draft for them, too, with the two big guys that they’re bringing in.
Mike Finger: I mentioned this with Tom last time, I really like the approach there with Tarris Reed and Jaden Quaintance in that you—on a surface level, you look at it, they got two redundant big guys. But two very different big guys in very different situations in terms of when and how they can help. Like, I caution people last time not to expect—I think for Tom Orsborn, I set the over/under on minutes played this year for Jaden Quaintance, set it at half a minute and I took the under. And I’m sticking by that. I’m not sure that he’s going to be a guy who—who plays this year. He’s got to get his knee taken care of. But that’s—he’s still 19, right? He was a young—even though he played two years of college ball, he had reclassified and—and was a young guy for his class. And that is the high-upside pick. That’s the high-upside swing that you take after you’ve made the NBA Finals, and when you have two first-round picks, and when 20 teams have passed on that guy because they’re afraid of drafting a guy who might not play his first year. The Spurs are in the position, Brian Wright’s in a position where he can say, “Hey, I don’t need to show immediate results for this number 21 pick. I can take a guy who might be better than the guys who went 11 to 19, in the long run.” And so I like that pick, and I like turning around and taking the Tarris Reed guy who is the opposite in terms of a college—he—he played a lot of college ball. He’s more ready to compete right away, and I don’t think he’s going to be in the rotation right away, but he’s a guy who you could expect to see some minutes by the end of this year and maybe some productive minutes. So, I’m repeating myself a little bit to the viewers, but I wanted to get your thoughts on that take.
Jeff McDonald: I think that’s a perfect take, and that’s exactly—a good breakdown on what—what Brian Wright and his crew were looking for out of the draft. You take your big swing on Quaintance, who… My prediction for him is, yeah, he’s going to—it’s going to take him a while to get his knee right. And then if he gets minutes this year—I mean, I think he will be on a basketball floor this year, but I think you’re looking at him in the G League to kind of get his feet under him this year. And Reed is exactly what you said, 22. He’s—he’s 22, but as a rookie, he’s older than a lot of guys that are going to be—not a lot of guys, but some of the guys that are going to be in the rotation: Dylan Harper, Carter Bryant, Steph Castle. He’s basically the same age as Victor Wembanyama. So you’re bringing in a guy with a little more experience, more of a—a grown man’s body at 22. And yeah, I expect him to see some minutes on the NBA floor. Maybe not be a complete rotation player off the bat, but he’s a guy that you’re going to get some production from as a rookie, I think. We saw a lot of that in Summer League, what he could do, how he could fit. He’s, screen setter, defender, just—just one of those glue-type guys. And, those guys sometimes can get on the floor pretty quickly for an NBA team if you figure out your role and do it well, you find your way onto an NBA floor faster as a rookie.
Mike Finger: You really did have a heck of a vacation. You told me that you like my take and that it was perfect or something like that. Like, that’s—that’s the first time that, since the last vacation, that I’ve heard that on this podcast. So, [laughter] you know, well—well done.
Jeff McDonald: Well, I should take more vacations, is what you’re telling me.
Mike Finger: I guess. [laughter] The, uh… I can’t remember the timing of your last one, whether the Spurs had announced the re-signing of Harrison Barnes, um—
Jeff McDonald: Yeah, I think so.
Mike Finger: But they had. I think that—that… An under—under-the-radar signing, not incredibly consequential, maybe. But, I think when you compare his role, which is maybe not top 10 yet, if, Carter Bryant’s going to be in the top 10, Harrison Barnes might be 11. If you fill out the 11 through 15 spots with guys like Harrison Barnes, that’s an improvement over the 11 to 15 spots last year, where we loved us some Bismack Biyombo, you had, down there in that group, Mason Plumlee and Kelly Olynyk, just guys that weren’t going to contribute in any way on the floor during a playoff series against the Oklahoma City Thunder, the New York Knicks. Those were just break glass in case of emergency, and even in an emergency, you don’t play them. You just play five guys, right.
Jeff McDonald: Right.
Mike Finger: What I’m getting at is, you’re not going to win a title with your 11 to 15 guys, but I think improving the 11 to 15 guys, where one of them is Harrison Barnes, a guy who, as late as what, last January, was still a starter and still, you know, Mr. 100% and still like dunking against Memphis, that’s—I—I—I think there’s something to be said for—for the improvement of those spots.
Jeff McDonald: It is—it is interesting. Last year’s team was built on depth, right? Like, everybody celebrated their depth, but like, that bottom five guys were borderline unplayable.
Mike Finger: Yeah.
Jeff McDonald: They had a lot of—they had a lot of, uh, flotsam and jetsam—you know, I’m not trying to insult those guys, but it’s—it’s obvious that they were—Mitch Johnson was not going to play those guys for almost any reason. And now you have guys that maybe Mitch Johnson will play for any reason. Like, you—you automatically have improved those spots a little bit.
Mike Finger: And one of the—one of those guys should be mentioned is the other J-Mac, Jordan McLaughlin, who played his role perfectly last year. It’s why the Spurs brought him back. And that’s a guy who got a few minutes against OKC, right?
Jeff McDonald: Yeah, he wasn’t unplayable, per se.
Mike Finger: Right.
Jeff McDonald: Right. Like, you’re not playing Plumlee, and you’re not playing Kelly Olynyk in those situations, but you—you—you can trust J-Mac for—for five minutes or so.
Mike Finger: And I think that’s the perfect—so when you have a team—I don’t think we’ve gotten into this, when you have a team that has the well-documented abundance of point guards, or of point-guard-type players, who are all young and all set to make a bunch of money in De’Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle, and Dylan Harper. When you’re on the market, you—you still need another point guard in case somebody gets hurt, right? Because you’re going to probably need third- [laughter]
Jeff McDonald: You need a Jordan McLaughlin type.
Mike Finger: But when you’re—when you’re on the free-agent market trying to attract somebody, that’s hard to fill that because no one wants to be the break glass in case of emergency guy. You’re never going to play unless one of those top three guys gets hurt. So that’s why the Jordan McLaughlin—a guy you already know, good locker—like all those guys who we mentioned, good locker room guys, fit in, the players like him, Wemby likes him, that’s—that’s a pretty big prerequisite to have the—the franchise player like you. He fits his role, he likes being in San Antonio, and you can play him if you need to. If somebody gets hurt, it’s fine. And if he doesn’t play because all three of those guys stay healthy all year, he’s perfectly happy and a good locker room guy. Like, that’s—that’s exactly who they needed to fill the Jordan McLaughlin—a guy you already know, Jordan McLaughlin.
Jeff McDonald: Yeah. If I were an NBA player, that would be my—the role that I would strive to fill. I don’t want to be a guy that like you count on, [laughter] you know? Like, there’s pressure with that. Like, what if you, screw up in the NBA Finals and don’t, pull the ball out and—and run out clock and—and win the game? And everybody like makes fun of you.
Mike Finger: And everybody wants you to be traded.
Jeff McDonald: And wants you to be traded. I want to be the guy that never plays but still makes a couple million dollars. Like, that’s the perfect—that’s my perfect role. Do you agree?
Mike Finger: Your role? Yes, absolutely.
Jeff McDonald: Yeah. Yeah.
Mike Finger: And you can just sit there and say what you would have done. Tell the people.
Jeff McDonald: Yeah. Yeah. Oh, for sure. [laughter] For sure. And complain about the hotels.
Mike Finger: Speaking of hotels, do we want to get into the—the big news of the week?
Jeff McDonald: Yeah, big—we got big news, like it’s just barely hours old.
Mike Finger: Breaking news that the—the fans, like—the—the—the… Somebody else made this joke, this—it’s far from original. You don’t come to the Spurs Insider for originality. But this—this—this… you—you—you spread the schedule over like an entire week, and that’s just perfect for a league that spread the Kawhi Leonard investigation over an entire year, you know? [laughter] They can’t do any—they can’t just get anything over with. You have to go day—hour-by-hour of the NBA season when we—we find out who the Spurs are playing. Who’s—who’s playing at 3:00 on opening day? Who’s playing at 7:00? Who’s playing on the—the first Amazon Prime game? Who’s playing on Christmas? Who’s making the first trip of the year to the Moody Center in Austin, which is—which is the breaking news you’re going to get to, I see?
Jeff McDonald: Well, wait. I’ve got a bone to pick with all this, [laughter] because now you’re—if you’re like, a beat writer in San Antonio, Texas, you got to wake your happy behind behind up at like 6:45 a.m. to find out this stuff.
Mike Finger: Yeah.
Jeff McDonald: That’s ridiculous. And I—and God forbid, you’re the beat writer on the East Coast covering the 76ers and have to get up at 5:45 a.m. to cover this stuff.
Mike Finger: Well, I think you have that backward. You got that backward. [laughter] The—the West—see, you’re—you’re out of shape.
Jeff McDonald: Yeah, I’m out of shape.
Mike Finger: Other—other—other way. You have to be two hours earlier if you cover the, uh, Sacramento Kings.
Jeff McDonald: Yeah.
Mike Finger: That’s what—what time is that? That’s, uh, freaking 4:00 something?
Jeff McDonald: Our friends who cover the Sacramento Kings might not have got up at 4:00 a.m. to find out who the Kings were playing on Christmas.
Mike Finger: [laughter] It’s been a while since the Kings’ media contingent has had to—has had to worry about that. But—
Jeff McDonald: I—yeah, I picture them waking up and like, tuning in and it’s just, “Ah, foiled again.”
Mike Finger: Well, they celebrate, “Another year off from Christmas! We don’t have to—we don’t have to work.” And I—I mentioned that with Tom, after his running-out-of-gas story last podcast, where we were looking for—he had an idea, as the NBA tries to monetize everything and get—have—have a sponsor for everything and cover everything and video feed of everything, his thing was, that the Spurs or the NBA or a combination of everything, the San Antonio Express-News, could all combine to televise the Jeff McDonald-Tom Orsborn schedule draft that happens every August, [laughter] where you—where you—where you divvy up the—the road trips. And one that that came—came true again, or that we—I think is pretty well decided because there are young Jeff McDonald offspring who enjoy having, for some reason, their father around on holidays. Seems like Tom Orsborn will get another New York trip on Christmas this year.
Jeff McDonald: Yeah, I—I hope he—I hope he’s good with—good with that.
Mike Finger: I think he—he said last time he enjoys it, you know? There could be snow in Central Park.
Jeff McDonald: He really seemed to enjoy the last trip to New York on Christmas, I remember that, yeah.
Mike Finger: But burying the lead here, the Spurs, Victor Wembanyama and company, taking on Jalen Brunson, OG Anunoby and crew, in an NBA Finals rematch, at, uh—that’s the—that’s the traditional New York Knicks Christmas opener early on Christmas morning. That should be, uh, a heck of a scene for Tom to cover.
Jeff McDonald: It would be nice for the Spurs to get a home game on Christmas at some point.
Mike Finger: Yeah.
Jeff McDonald: Like, they haven’t—it’s been on the road for three—you know, for three in a row now. And I—I get it that they want—the league wanted the, um, NBA Finals rematch for that Christmas Day slot. And if that’s going to happen, the Knicks are going to get to host that. But if the Spurs had been playing anybody else, I think they’d be home for Christmas this year.
Mike Finger: Yeah, I think you’re right.
Jeff McDonald: It’s—it’s time.
Mike Finger: As of this recording, by the time the—the listeners are listening in their—their connected devices and whatnot, um, the record players, CD burners, and—and—and things, there might be more games out. But as of this time, I believe we have three, right? Opening night, late night, getting right back into that, uh, misery [laughter] from the playoffs of—of the—the 8:30 local tip, the last game of the day against the Oklahoma City Thunder. We’re going to be up all night again. Um, but that should be a fun Western Conference rematch to open the season. That—that is opening night at home at the Frost Bank Center. And, in a bit of a twist to the—to the Austin games, the I-35 Series, I believe they call it, this year, it’s the—the Highway 290 Series, um, because you have the—the Houston, the—the hated Houston Rockets coming into Austin the first week of the season on Friday night. Same week—same weekend as UT football and F1 in Austin, which is—which is a—not a hotel room to be found that week. But the Spurs are going to be facing the Rockets.
Jeff McDonald: Yeah. It’s—it’s—it’s a, uh, it’s F-U to anyone who wants a, uh, hotel room at this point. That’s a good one. I’ll tell you what, I live—I’m in New Braunfels, I’ll Airbnb my—I got a guest room. I’ll Airbnb it out to anybody that wants to—wants it, 50 bucks.
Mike Finger: I’m not sure that the—
Jeff McDonald: And a home-cooked meal.
Mike Finger: October 23rd Houston Rockets-Spurs game draws as many, uh, out-of-state visitors as the, uh, UT football and F1, uh, races do.
Jeff McDonald: Yeah, but if you live on the South Side of San Antonio and you want to make the trip to Austin, that’s a long drive back after. You can—you can crash in New Braunfels.
Mike Finger: Okay.
Jeff McDonald: Like I said, 50 bucks, I’ll give you—I’ll give you a home-cooked meal.
Mike Finger: [laughter] You—you better—you better be careful with that because there—the listeners are going to be lining up to find this secure location.
Jeff McDonald: I just need to know what flavor of Pop-Tart they prefer.
Mike Finger: Uh-huh. Um… Yeah, I—I mean, uh, it’s—it’s one of those catch-22s. There’s nothing to talk about, um, and so we—we make fun of the schedule release, but it’s—it—it—it—it generates one of my hated words, uh, content. [laughter]
Jeff McDonald: Yeah. Yeah.
Mike Finger: And so we’re sitting here just two, uh, jabronis on a—on a Spurs Insider podcast talking about, what do you think about the—the first Friday night game, Spurs playing the Rockets at the Moody Center? And how about they play the Thunder on opening night? Who do you think—how do you think this affects the season to know, uh, of these first two games?
Jeff McDonald: The—the—the way this is supposed to work is one of us is supposed to have a really strident opinion about it. And the other one is supposed to have, uh, the—the opposite opinion, but equally as strident, and then we yell about it.
Mike Finger: Uh-huh. Okay.
Jeff McDonald: I don’t know if you want to try that. Yeah. So, like, I—
Mike Finger: I think that it’s an outrage that the NBA is forcing the Spurs to play the Rockets in Austin when, uh, the—the Rockets have a player named Kevin Durant, who went to UT, and they’re going to have all the fans on the Rockets’ side at a Spurs home game, and this is a—this is a complete mistake and it’s going to—that one win—that one win that the Spurs don’t get because the crowd is against them at what should have been a home game, the Rockets are going to win and then the Spurs are going to lose that game and the standings to the Thunder in the end and they’re going to lose out on home court, and that’s going to cost them the Western Conference Finals when J-Dub is healthy for the Thunder next year and they’re going to get game seven at home and the Spurs aren’t going to be able to repeat because of this scheduling outrage. What do you think?
Jeff McDonald: This is why I’m bad at this because I think you’re right. [laughter] I agree with all of it. That’s what I was going to scream incoherently.
Mike Finger: Oh, okay. [laughter] Man, we are terrible. Even when I’m trying to be fake, you’re trying to be fake on the same side.
Jeff McDonald: All right, I’ll try. I think it’s fine! [laughter] I think you’re overreacting.
Mike Finger: But you’re not supposed to do that, either. You can’t—the—the key to the debate show is you can’t accuse the other person of overreacting, so you’re doing this all wrong. It’s—you have to overreact on the other—on the other end of it.
Jeff McDonald: Okay.
Mike Finger: Once you, uh, accuse the other person of overreacting, you give up the game. You make people think, “Well, should these two idiots really have strong opinions about everything?” [laughter] So never, like, break—what is that? The fourth wall. You’re kind of breaking the fourth wall saying you’re overreacting.
Jeff McDonald: Okay.
Mike Finger: Because once—once you tell the listeners that it’s not that serious, then they—then they think, “Well, is any of this that serious? Should anyone be upset about this?” This is why—this is why we’re bad at this.
Jeff McDonald: So, so what I would—what I would need to do is figure out a reason why this is actually very good for the Spurs, and scream about that.
Mike Finger: Yes.
Jeff McDonald: And actually be outraged that the league is—is, uh, uh, cheating for the Spurs in some way.
Mike Finger: Yes. Yes. Okay.
Jeff McDonald: I’ll get back to you on that one. [laughter] I don’t—I don’t have anything right now.
Mike Finger: You took all the good material.
Jeff McDonald: Yeah. Um…
Mike Finger: Oh, another—the—the people who heard the last one and are waiting for this one, I’m sorry. We’re—we’re covering the same topics, but we’ve got different—we’ve got the—the two—
Jeff McDonald: Different panels.
Mike Finger: Two panels, two different panels. Uh, the—the two longest-running Spurs beat writers in the land, Jeff McDonald and Tom Orsborn, often—often disagreeing. One often glass half-full, one often glass half-empty. So we need the—the different takes. Um, I had mentioned, I’m not sure if you—I’m sure you did not, um, listen from your, uh, sun-kissed secret location to our last podcast, but I—I—I had mentioned a few of our old, uh, mentors. Um, a couple of them, uh, uh, one, uh, Robert Buck Harvey, and, uh, Michael, Mike Monroe. I’d seen them, um, and they, uh—still very much following the local cagers, still very much into it, still very optimistic about the team’s future. But, uh, they—they—they had posited that, uh, this might be a year, even though the future is bright, even though they—the Spurs should be NBA championship contenders again, probably will not win 60 games again. Maybe could be a—maybe could take a step back during the regular season because of all the, uh… you know, the—the—the things that teams go through after they’ve made a long playoff run, and maybe the focus won’t be there every night, maybe the motivation won’t be there, maybe there will be some hiccups as they—as they venture into this next, uh, era of more Dylan Harper, more youngsters, what have you. What—what do you think about the idea of just like the regular season win total not being what it was last year?
Jeff McDonald: I’ll give you one reason why I think it might be less than 60, and this may—maybe—may or may not actually prove to be true as the season goes along. But do you think there will be fewer just flat-out tanking teams this year?
Mike Finger: Yeah, I think that’s true.
Jeff McDonald: Like fewer just—just awful teams that are just automatic Ws? So I think that—and it won’t take much for the Spurs to slip to 58. That’s what, four games from last year?
Mike Finger: Mm-hmm.
Jeff McDonald: Um, that said, how many games did Oklahoma City win last—last season? 64?
Mike Finger: Yes. Yeah.
Jeff McDonald: Coming off the title?
Mike Finger: And that was after going to game seven. And that was even with—that’s even with some injury issues that they had. So yeah, it can be done. Uh, you know, this is probably more a topic for September or October, but I think one thing that’s going to be interesting to me about this Spurs team going into this next season is this will be the first time they’re going to be going into a season with—with actual title expectations.
Jeff McDonald: Yeah.
Mike Finger: Um, last—I—I mean, we talked about it a million times last year. What did we expect at this time last year for the team going into last season? “Oh, if they make the playoffs, if they finish sixth, that’s—that’s great.” And that’s what the expectations we had, uh, and probably most people around the league had. That’s the expectations, you know, Victor Wembanyama—Wembanyama said it himself before the season, “sixth place.” That’s the expectations they had going into last season. And now that you’ve gone all the way to the Finals, I think it just becomes Finals or bust from here on out with the expectations. And this will be the first season they’re going to go into with that on their shoulders. They’re kind of more of the hunted this year, um, they’re not going to sneak up on anybody, not that a team with a 7’4" guy was sneaking up on a lot of people. But, um, I think they were better last year than a lot of people thought they were going to be, and so I think this year you’re going to have, uh, opponents ready for that. And I think it’s going to just be a tougher, um, road through the regular season. I’m not going to be shocked if they get to 60 wins, but I’m not going to be shocked if it’s in the 50s. I will be shocked if it’s in the 40s, I’ll tell you that.
Jeff McDonald: Yeah. Yeah.
Mike Finger: Uh, this might be splitting hairs to a degree and might be overly debate-show-esque, but um… through Victor’s first few years in the league, and we travel the league with him and we’re in arenas where we—we saw the reaction of fans to him, uh, it wasn’t until the playoffs last year where, um, he became anything even resembling a—what you would call a villain, [laughter] or a bad guy. It seems like when we’d travel the league with Victor, especially when the Spurs weren’t winning at all, it was like the opposing crowds were almost on his side because they wanted to see cool stuff. And they were—and it would be—you know, every now and then you get some boos, but it was half-hearted because people were there to watch him, and and loved—he—he delighted people.
Jeff McDonald: And your team was probably beating him at the time, so—
Mike Finger: And your team was probably beating him, and even during the regular season last year when the Spurs were winning, it was like you never got the sense that people disliked Victor or the Spurs, or that they were the enemy. Maybe the traditional places that have always hated the Spurs, you know, your Rockets and places like—I guess Oklahoma City to a degree.
Jeff McDonald: The Rockets always did, the Rockets fans always hated.
Mike Finger: Rockets always did.
Jeff McDonald: Always hated.
Mike Finger: But I—where—where I’m getting to the debate-show-esque, or the—the—the stupid, silly, inane argument here is: do you think that there will be more of, because of some of the stuff that got overblown and, uh, and, uh, doted on and, uh, debated endlessly during the playoffs last year, that the Spurs become more of a villainy-type team as they travel the league this year? Like, are people going to come out and really boo Victor Wembanyama?
Jeff McDonald: I think the teams they went through in the playoffs, that will absolutely be true. Like, it’s going to be a different vibe in Minnesota. Um, it was always a vibe in OKC, but that’ll be ratcheted up. New York, of course, um, but I don’t know that they’re going to get much of a—like, a harsh reaction in Atlanta, or, or Charlotte, or something like that.
Mike Finger: I guess I compare it to teams like the—the, what, the Lakers, you know, where—where—where teams would—or, or, uh, fans would come out to root against the Lakers, and like the Evil Empire-type of thing. Do you think that the Spurs are even close to that?
Jeff McDonald: I don’t know that they’re there yet. That’ll be something interesting to sort of monitor as the season goes on, but I don’t know if they’re there yet after just one playoff run.
Mike Finger: Yeah.
Jeff McDonald: I think the—I think the team that, you know, you know, when you elbow Naz Reid in the neck, that team’s going to boo you. And when you have that seven-game series against Oklahoma City, that team’s going to boo you. And New York’s just going to boo everybody.
Mike Finger: Yeah.
Jeff McDonald: So, yeah, I don’t—I don’t know if they’re the Lakers yet.
Mike Finger: I’m sort of curious to—to see, too. I don’t have a hot take on it, um… I—I’m curious how—because you’re in the middle of—we were in the middle of, um, two months of every day Spurs hashtag content over and over and over every day, like, no—no sleep, um, and we’re immersed in people who are obsessing over every detail during the playoffs, and in the middle of that forest, you had this sense that they were—there’s like the race to the hottest take and the race to the—and, and during that race to the hottest take during that playoff run, there were people out there trying to say that this is affecting Victor’s reputation, that he was becoming this outlaw, and he was on the New York Post cover and—and as a—as a public enemy number one. And I’m just curious how much that permeated, um, the—the NBA ecosystem outside of just us who were in that forest during that time. Or did people even care? Or if your team wasn’t in the—in the Finals, did you—were you even paying attention, that type of thing? I—I—I’m curious how much the perception of—of the Spurs and that one player in particular really did, uh, change during that run.
Jeff McDonald: I do feel like people these days, and it’s a social media construct, they have—they have the memory of a goldfish.
Mike Finger: Well, I think you’re probably right.
Jeff McDonald: Like, by—by October, nobody’s going to remember a lot of this unless you were in one of those cities. Speaking of like, being in that forest, um, the thing that did surprise me during the playoffs and the Finals was we’d go to like a Victor Wembanyama press conference that we’ve been to a hundred times this year, and he would say something along—you know, I wish I could think of a great example, but he would say things along the lines of stuff you and I have heard a hundred times this year, and then we’d climb out of that forest and everyone would be going nuts about it.
Mike Finger: Yeah.
Jeff McDonald: I can’t believe he would say that. Or what a—or he’s cocky, or—and it was just like, that’s just how he’s always been, and that’s not what—wait, that’s not what he meant at all, or—
Mike Finger: Yeah.
Jeff McDonald: That—that kind of thing was sort of interesting to me, where everything had to be spun. I mean, it should be—it should not be surprising in this day and age of media. Like, if you look at what happens with politics, it should not be surprising that something that sounded relatively innocuous gets spun up into its most un—un-innocuous—I don’t know if that’s a word—its most outrageous, its most outrageous form, and then everyone is outraged by it. That was interesting to me, and I don’t know how much of that sticks.
Mike Finger: Well, again, that’s a, um—that’s a Spurs Insider San Antonio Express-News adjustment, um, because we had been out of that, we’d—we’d covered three years of Victor Wembanyama press conferences where maybe everyone wasn’t paying attention, and we’d forgotten what it was like to cover press conferences where everyone is paying attention and everyone is eager to aggregate and take out of context and all that type of stuff. And I think it’s a combination of, it’s worse now than it’s ever been [laughter] in 2026, but also it had been seven years since we’d covered Spurs press conferences that generated that type of—and, and longer than seven years. It had been 10 years since the last Finals, 12 years since the last Finals.
Jeff McDonald: Yeah.
Mike Finger: And in 2014, the landscape was—the media landscape was nothing like the media landscape in 2026. So that’s something to look forward to this season as more of the Spurs schedule is released this week. We will navigate that schedule with you. We will be back. Tom—Tom Orsborn is taking a long, uh, vacation this time. He might not be back with us next time, but Jeff will be, newly optimistic, newly refreshed, newly rejuvenated, and, uh, I—I—I’m going to need some topics for you next time because we—we’re still on the every two weeks schedule.
Jeff McDonald: Oh, yeah, we will have the entire schedule to pour over next time. That’ll be fun.
Mike Finger: Okay.
Jeff McDonald: We’ll go game by game, next time.
Mike Finger: We’ll go game by game, we’ll just predict the 82-game sea—we could spend an hour doing that.
Jeff McDonald: Game by game, we’ll just predict the 82-game sea—we could spend an hour doing that.
Mike Finger: And we’ll have an argument about each game. Like, we will each take a side that we will stritently, uh, uh, defend, and, uh, and, and it’ll be fun. And, uh, then Tom will be back after that. But, um, glad everybody’s tuning in, hope you got through this nonsense, or if—if you needed some nonsense in August, we were happy to provide—provide it for you. And until next time, take care of each other and keep it real.
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