为何文班亚马首当其冲，承受马刺暴涨的殷切期望
By Jeff McDonald, Staff Writer / San Antonio Express-News, 2026-09-28 14:56:53
2026年9月28日，星期一，圣安东尼奥胜利资本训练中心，圣安东尼奥马刺中锋维克托·文班亚马在NBA球队媒体日上拍摄定妆照。
周一，全明星中锋维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 迈入马刺训练馆，迎来他个人第四个NBA训练营的前夕，一切看似毫无改变。
根据球队官方公布的阵容名单，他依然拥有那耸入云霄的7英尺4英寸身高。他依旧绽放着好莱坞影星般耀眼的迷人微笑，身旁的队友与帮手也大体还是原班人马。
他白色马刺球衣的胸前，依然印着见证他前三个NBA赛季的1号。然而，在球衣背面，在那串字母多得仿佛让人想问“我能买个元音吗”的熟悉姓氏之下，文班亚马所肩负的标签却与前三个赛季截然不同。
在全新的2026-27赛季，文班亚马将背负起一个无形却如影随形的巨大靶心——这是将一支球队提前数年带进NBA总决赛所必然要付出的代价。
“我们正在向山顶发起冲击，而且我们必须扫清挡在前路上的所有人，”22岁的文班亚马在周一的马刺媒体日上说道，“事情就是这样。”
一年前的这个时候，马刺在外界眼中还只是一支引人注目的潜力军——未来确实可期，由文班亚马这位冉冉升起的超级巨星领衔，假以时日有望成为西部联盟一支不可忽视的力量。
而在短短12个月的转瞬之间，马刺已然从猎人蜕变成了被各路豪强围猎的猎物。
在以62胜的傲人战绩终结了连续六年无缘季后赛的尴尬纪录，并一路杀至六月与纽约尼克斯战至第五场才遗憾落败之后，马刺在即将到来的新赛季中，再也不可能出其不意地偷袭任何对手了。
文班亚马时代以来，马刺将首次在背负着“不夺冠便是失败”的真正争冠期望下开启新赛季。
他们深知这一点，联盟其余诸强同样心知肚明。
“我们来到这里，绝不会以为自己能像走过场一样轻轻松松再进一次总决赛，”老将后卫达龙·福克斯 (De’Aaron Fox) 表示，“接下来的路只会更加艰难。”
相比于战术板上的排兵布阵或是轮换阵容的调整，摆在主教练米奇·约翰逊 (Mitch Johnson) 面前最紧迫的课题——自周二训练营首堂训练课便拉开帷幕——在于如何最好地磨砺这支依旧年轻的队伍，以应对前方截然不同的严峻考验。
对于39岁的约翰逊而言，在接替名人堂名帅格雷格·波波维奇 (Gregg Popovich) 执教的首个完整赛季中，他便率领马刺十年来首度闯入总决赛，而如今他的目标是延续上赛季冲击季后赛时所奉行的“添砖加瓦、循序渐进”的心态。
“无论去年的外界期望是什么，也无论这些期望出自谁人之口，都丝毫没有动摇我们的处事准则、打球方式或所做出的决定，”约翰逊表示，“我们有需要提升的短板，也有自己认为做得不错并渴望继续发扬的长处。”
2026年9月28日，星期一，圣安东尼奥胜利资本训练中心，圣安东尼奥马刺主教练米奇·约翰逊在NBA球队媒体日上面对记者提问。
2026年9月28日，星期一，圣安东尼奥胜利资本训练中心，圣安东尼奥马刺中锋维克托·文班亚马在NBA球队媒体日上配合拍摄照片与宣传视频。
就在去年九月，如果询问任何一名马刺球员有关打进NBA总决赛的可能性，无异于在打听他们去纳尼亚传奇的世界度假的计划。
此前连续六个赛季胜率不足五成，当时只要能抢下一张季后赛门票，就足以被视作一次跨越式的巨大突破。
然而，马刺却跳过了数个发展阶段，一跃夺得西部二号种子，并在西部决赛中力克卫冕冠军俄克拉荷马城雷霆，直至六月份才在经验更老道的尼克斯面前气力耗尽。
一方面，马刺如今在备战新赛季时清楚地知晓自身上限何在；但另一方面，对手们也对他们了如指掌、早有防备。
“哪怕只是想重回去年的位置，难度都会大得多，”后卫斯蒂芬·卡斯尔 (Stephon Castle) 坦言，“成为各支球队针对的众矢之的与围猎目标，这会是一种全新的处境，但我认为我们绝非毫无准备。”
为此，马刺保留了上赛季出场时间排名前十的全部主力球员。
不仅如此，他们还在自由球员市场上签下了身高6英尺8英寸的前锋托拜厄斯·哈里斯 (Tobias Harris)，使得阵容深度更进一步。这位征战了15个赛季的老将上赛季首发63场，帮助底特律活塞斩获60胜并荣膺东部常规赛冠军。
2026年9月28日，星期一，圣安东尼奥胜利资本训练中心，圣安东尼奥马刺前锋托拜厄斯·哈里斯（23号）步入训练馆接受采访。
当然，马刺这艘争冠巨舰的核心支柱依旧是文班亚马。
这位无所不能的法国天才渴望在2025-26赛季的辉煌基础上更上一层楼。上赛季，他场均贡献25分和11.5个篮板，以场均3.1次盖帽连续第三年加冕NBA盖帽王，入选最佳阵容第一阵容，并成为联盟历史上首位全票当选最佳防守球员的得主。
就文班亚马而言，他已经明确表态，任何未能重返总决赛的结果都将被视作一种失败。
“我们去年赢得了西部冠军，”他说道，“今年我们的目标绝不会低于这个水准。”
当然，竞技体育中没有任何事情是注定的。
左图：2026年9月28日，星期一，圣安东尼奥胜利资本训练中心，一名记者在NBA球队媒体日上拍摄圣安东尼奥马刺中锋维克托·文班亚马拍摄照片与视频的画面。右图：圣安东尼奥马刺的达龙·福克斯（4号）与维克托·文班亚马（1号）合影留念。
过去八个赛季诞生了八支不同的总冠军球队，这绝非偶然。此外，自金州勇士在2018年和2019年完成连进总决赛的壮举之后，联盟再无任何球队能够连续两年杀入总决赛。
尤其是在当下群雄逐鹿、实力极度均衡的NBA时代，这无疑是一项艰巨的任务。
约翰逊早在2016-17赛季便加入了马刺教练组，当时球队尚处于蒂姆·邓肯、托尼·帕克和马努·吉诺比利“GDP三巨头”时代的尾声，依然是一支能斩获60余胜的常年争冠豪强。
而在此后长达六年无缘季后赛的漫长低谷期中，他也全程坚守在队中。
当被问及“身负厚望与毫无期待”两者更倾向于哪一种时，约翰逊坚定地给出了自己的答案。
“我宁愿承担这些期望，”他说道。
文班亚马对此深表赞同。
周一这一天，打个比方，文班亚马正伫立在一座他与马刺去年夏天险些登顶、却最终功亏一篑的巍峨高山脚下。
他已经做好了再次发起冲锋的准备。
或许一切都未曾改变，或许一切已翻天覆地。
自周二起，摆在他面前唯一的选择，便是重整旗鼓，再次踏上攀登之旅。
一步一个脚印。
“这就是现实，”文班亚马说道，“我们正处于一个极佳的起点。我们满怀希望，雄心勃勃。我们已经准备就绪。”
2026年9月28日，星期一，圣安东尼奥胜利资本训练中心，圣安东尼奥马刺的维克托·文班亚马在NBA球队媒体日上面对记者提问。
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：Why Victor Wembanyama bears the brunt of Spurs' ramped-up expectations
Why Victor Wembanyama bears the brunt of Spurs’ ramped-up expectations
San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama poses for official photos during the NBA basketball team’s media day at the Victory Capital Performance Center in San Antonio, Monday, Sept. 28, 2026.
All-Star center Victor Wembanyama strode into the Spurs’ practice gym on the eve of his fourth NBA training camp Monday seeming as if nothing had changed.
According to the team’s officially released roster, he was the same tree-topping height (7-foot-4). He flashed the same movie star megawatt smile, surrounded by mostly the same cast of teammates and sidekicks.
The front of his white Spurs jersey bore the same No. 1 that hallmarked his first three NBA seasons. On the back, however, beneath his familiar “can I buy a vowel?” surname, Wembanyama bore a designation different from his first three campaigns.
New for 2026-27, Wembanyama will wear the invisible but ever present bullseye that comes with taking a team to the NBA Finals years ahead of schedule.
“We’re fighting for the top spot of the mountain and we’re going to have to move people in our way,” the 22-year-old Wembanyama said at the Spurs’ media day Monday. “That’s just the way it is.”
A year ago at this time, the Spurs were considered cute curiosities — up-and-coming for sure, led by a burgeoning superstar in Wembanyama and in line to eventually become a team to reckon with in the Western Conference.
In the eye blink of 12 months, the Spurs have gone from hunters to the hunted.
After demolishing a six-year playoff absence with a 62-win season that did not end until a Game 5 loss against the New York Knicks in June, the Spurs are set to sneak up on exactly nobody in the campaign to come.
For the first time in the Wembanyama era, the Spurs will enter a season with bona fide expectations of championship or bust.
They know it. So does the rest of the NBA.
“We’re not just coming in here thinking we’re just going to cakewalk to the Finals again,” veteran guard De’Aaron Fox said. “It’s going to get harder.”
More than any Xs and Os tweak or rotation decision, the most pressing issue facing coach Mitch Johnson – starting with the opening practice of training camp Tuesday – is how to best steel his still youngish team for the different kind of gantlet that lies ahead.
For the 39-year-old Johnson, who guided the Spurs to their first Finals appearance in a decade in his first full season after taking over for Hall of Fame coach Gregg Popovich, the goal is to maintain the “one brick at a time” mentality that hallmarked last season’s playoff push.
“Whatever the expectations were last year, whoever was making the expectations, had no influence on our approach or how we played or decisions we made,” Johnson said. “There’s things we want to improve upon and things that we felt like we did a good job of that we want to continue to grow in.”
San Antonio Spurs head coach Mitch Johnson answers questions from reporters during the NBA team’s media day at the Victory Capital Performance Center in San Antonio, Monday, Sept. 28, 2026.
San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama poses for photos and video clips during the NBA basketball team’s media day at the Victory Capital Performance Center in San Antonio, Monday, Sept. 28, 2026.
As recently as last September, asking any Spurs player about a potential trip to the NBA Finals was akin to asking them about vacation plans to Narnia.
On the cusp of a half dozen consecutive losing seasons, a playoff berth of any kind would have been considered an overwhelmingly positive jump forward.
Instead, the Spurs leapfrogged several steps to earn the No. 2 seed in the West and knocked off the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder in the conference finals before running out of gas against a more seasoned Knicks squad in June.
On the one hand, now the Spurs know what to expect of themselves as they prepare for the start of a new season. On the other, opponents now know what to expect of them, too.
“It’s going to be a lot harder to even get back in the position that we were in last year,” guard Stephon Castle said. “It’s going to be a different look with being the targeted and the hunted, but I don’t think it’s anything that we’re not ready for.”
To that end, the Spurs return their top 10 players from last season in terms of minutes played.
They got a man deeper with the free-agent acquisition of 6-foot-8 forward Tobias Harris, a 15-year veteran who started 63 games for a Detroit club that won 60 games to lead the Eastern Conference.
San Antonio Spurs forward Tobias Harris (23) walks into the gymnasium for an interview during the NBA team’s media day at the Victory Capital Performance Center in San Antonio, Monday, Sept. 28, 2026.
The centerpiece of the Spurs’ enterprise, of course, remains Wembanyama.
The omni-talented Frenchman is looking to build off a 2025-26 campaign in which he averaged 25 points and 11.5 rebounds, led the NBA in blocks for a third consecutive season at 3.1 per game, earned first-team All-NBA honors and became the first player in league history to garner a Defensive Player of the Year award in unanimous fashion.
For his part, Wembanyama made clear anything less than a return visit to the Finals will be viewed as a disappointment.
“We won the West last year,” he said. “We don’t want to do anything less this year.”
Nothing is guaranteed, of course.
Left, a reporter films San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama as he poses for photos and video clips during the NBA basketball team’s media day at the Victory Capital Performance Center in San Antonio, Monday, Sept. 28, 2026. Right, San Antonio Spurs’ De’aaron Fox (4) and Victor Wembanyama (1) pose for photos together.
There is a reason the NBA has crowned eight different champions at the end of the past eight seasons. In addition, no team has made back-to-back Finals appearances since Golden State did it in 2018 and 2019.
It is a difficult task, especially in the current age of NBA parity.
Johnson joined the Spurs’ staff in 2016-17, when the club was still in the midst of its Tim Duncan-Tony Parker-Manu Ginobili Big Three epoch, winning 60-plus games as a perennial title contender.
He was still with the club during the entirety of its six-year stay in the postseason-less wilderness.
When it comes to the question of “expectations vs. no expectations,” Johnson is adamant which he prefers.
“I’ll take the expectations,” he said.
Wembanyama agreed.
On Monday, Wembanyama — metaphorically speaking — stood at the base of a mountain he and the Spurs almost scaled last summer but didn’t.
He is ready for another attempt.
Maybe nothing has changed. Maybe everything has.
His only option, beginning Tuesday, is to start the climb again.
One step at a time.
“That is the reality of it,” Wembanyama said. “We’re in a great spot. We’re very hopeful, very ambitious. And we’re ready.”
San Antonio Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama answers questions from reporters during the NBA basketball team’s media day at the Victory Capital Performance Center in San Antonio, Monday, Sept. 28, 2026.
By Jeff McDonald, Staff Writer / San Antonio Express-News
