By Jeff McDonald, Staff Writer / San Antonio Express-News, 2026-10-03 13:51:46
2026年9月29日，星期二，圣安东尼奥胜利资本训练中心，圣安东尼奥马刺队的大卫·琼斯·加西亚（中左）与维克托·文班亚马在训练营练习结束后击掌。
全法国最高的导游带着他的观光团，逐一打卡巴黎的常规景点清单。
左手边是卢浮宫，右手边是埃菲尔铁塔。坐船畅游塞纳河，骑行穿梭香榭丽舍大街。
八月回到家乡的维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama)，仿佛化身为一本身高7英尺4英寸的活体《佛罗默旅行指南》。
对于卡特·布莱恩特 (Carter Bryant) 以及随行的其他几位马刺队友而言，这次旅行让他们看到了一个与众不同的文班亚马。回到自己熟悉的环境中，这位享誉全球的篮球巨星瞬间变回了一个骄傲的法国小伙，兴奋地向朋友们炫耀着那些塑造了他的地方。
“能看到他向我们介绍他的世界以及他成长的地方，这种感觉棒极了，”布莱恩特说道。
对于文班亚马来说，这次归乡之旅同样意义非凡。看到如此多的队友选择跨越大西洋，陪他重温成长记忆，他深受触动。
达龙·福克斯 (De’Aaron Fox)、斯蒂芬·卡斯尔 (Stephon Castle)、迪伦·哈珀 (Dylan Harper)、哈里森·巴恩斯 (Harrison Barnes)、乔丹·麦克劳克林 (Jordan McLaughlin)、布莱恩特以及新援托拜厄斯·哈里斯 (Tobias Harris) 都踏上了这趟旅程，与文班亚马一同展开了一段既包含休赛期特训、又能探寻他是如何炼成的奇妙旅途。
“这些人对我来说很重要，这个地方对我来说也很重要，”文班亚马说，“把这两者聚在一起，感觉就像家人来做客一样。”
对文班亚马而言，这次出行不仅是为了重拾与故土的联结。
它还展现了一个细微却有力的迹象：他在圣安东尼奥正逐渐承担起崭新的角色。
步入个人NBA生涯的第四个赛季，文班亚马已不再仅仅是马刺在战术板上的绝对核心。在22岁这个谈不上成熟的年纪，这位两届全明星球员身上，已经越来越显露出球队领袖的风范。
“作为一名领袖和队友，他具备你所期盼的一切品质，”卡斯尔表示，“他训练极其刻苦，从不偷懒。他处处为队友着想，显然非常关心大家，而且他的天赋惊人地出色。这充分体现了他卓越的人格品质。”
文班亚马在领袖气质上的蜕变，对马刺争夺总冠军的远大抱负而言，其重要性或许不亚于他在球场上手握篮球时所展现的任何本领。
三个夏天前，这位身材高大的法国人以19岁状元秀的身份加盟马刺，彼时他身怀无限潜能，却毫无NBA比赛经验。
起初，圣安东尼奥有资深的领路人供文班亚马依靠。
名人堂名帅格雷格·波波维奇 (Gregg Popovich) 依然执掌着球队的日常运营。在文班亚马的第二个赛季，未来的名人堂成员克里斯·保罗 (Chris Paul) 前来为他指点迷津。而到了上个赛季，他身边仍有巴恩斯、俾斯麦·比永博 (Bismack Biyombo) 和凯利·奥利尼克 (Kelly Olynyk) 这样经验丰富的老将可以求教。
一个赛季接一个赛季过去，这些庇护伞正在逐渐褪去。
如今，文班亚马自己也经历了不少硬仗，其中包括上赛季马刺一路杀进NBA总决赛的征程。
他已经从那个需要别人指引方向的孩子，转变成了越来越被寄予厚望去引领他人的带头人。
正如在巴黎所展现的那样，文班亚马正在欣然拥抱这一转变。
“他主动站出来，确保我们保持紧密团结，继续一同行动，并在赛场内外的当下时刻持续保持沟通，诸如此类，”前锋凯尔登·约翰逊 (Keldon Johnson) 说道。
马刺今年夏天的巴黎之行中，最有意义的一站绝不会出现在旅行社的观光行程单上。
有好几天清晨，在观光开始前，马刺观光团的成员们都会聚集在巴黎郊区楠泰尔一座不起眼的球馆里进行训练。
正是在十多年前的这个球场上，文班亚马迈出了蜕变为如今那个“文班亚马”的第一步雏鸟之行。
他10岁加入楠泰尔青训营，15岁代表该俱乐部上演职业联赛首秀，并一直留到17岁，随后跃升至更高水平的ASVEL队打球。
当第一次踏入这扇大门时，马刺的其他成员几乎能感受到悬挂在球馆上方的那段厚重历史。
“正是在这里，他开始真正爱上篮球这项运动，并一步步蜕变成我们今天所见到的模样，”布莱恩特说，“他一步一个脚印，从那个可能连左手挑篮都磕磕绊绊、控球都显得吃力的小孩成长起来。当时他的鞋子太大了，做胯下运球时可能还会把球砸在脚上。
“他作为一个普通人和一名篮球运动员的成长历程——一切都是从这里起步的。”
文班亚马在楠泰尔传递出的信号，远不止是简单的追忆过往。
马刺队友卡特·布莱恩特（左起）、达龙·福克斯、哈里森·巴恩斯、迪伦·哈珀、斯蒂芬·卡斯尔、维克托·文班亚马、托拜厄斯·哈里斯和乔丹·麦克劳克林在法国楠泰尔的莫里斯·托雷兹体育宫训练。本周，该团队在文班亚马的祖国共同进行特训。
在马刺团队踏上球场的那一刻，导游文班瞬间消失了。取而代之的是严苛的魔鬼教头维克托——在训练中一马当先，为所有人树立标杆。
文班亚马的职业态度甚至深深折服了马刺最新的成员。
“我在这座联盟打了15年球，”今年7月与马刺签约的老将前锋哈里斯感慨道，“我从未见过像他这般拼命训练的家伙。”
在哈里斯看来，这种表率由球队当家球星亲自做出，有着尤为震撼人心的力量。
“当你的球队和整支队伍的核心基石是这样的人时，它真的会为全队树立基调，让每个人都严守标准跟上步伐，”哈里斯说，“当队内最优秀的球员恰恰是最刻苦的人时，一切事情都会变得轻松许多。”
回到美国本土，在自己第四个NBA训练营开启近一周之际，文班亚马已将巴黎之行的收获融入其中。
他向队友们展示了自己从何处启航；而现在，他的目标是向大家指引他们将并肩抵达的远方。
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 a summer in Paris shaped Victor Wembanyama as a leader
How a summer in Paris shaped Victor Wembanyama as a leader
San Antonio Spurs’ David Jones Garcia, center left, and Victor Wembanyama slap hands at the end of a training camp practice at Victory Capital Performance Center in San Antonio, Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026.
The tallest tour guide in all of France led his sightseers through the usual checklist of Paris attractions.
On your left is the Louvre. On your right is the Eiffel Tower. A boat trip down the Seine. A bike ride down the Champs-Élysées.
Turned loose in his hometown in August, Victor Wembanyama suddenly morphed into a 7-foot-4 Frommer’s field manual.
For Carter Bryant and the handful of other Spurs in tow, the trip offered a glimpse of a different Victor Wembanyama. Back in his element, the world-famous basketball star was suddenly just a proud French kid, showing off to his friends the places that shaped him.
“It was great to see him teaching us about his world and where he grew up,” Bryant said.
The homecoming carried weight for Wembanyama, too. He was touched so many of his teammates chose to cross the Atlantic and follow him down memory lane.
De’Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle, Dylan Harper, Harrison Barnes, Jordan McLaughlin, Bryant and newcomer Tobias Harris all made the trip, joining Wembanyama for an excursion that blended offseason work with a peek at the world that made him.
“These people matter to me, this place matters to me,” Wembanyama said. “Having the two of them together is kind of the same as when family comes to visit.”
For Wembanyama, the excursion was about more than reconnecting with home.
It also offered a small but telling glimpse of the role he is growing into in San Antonio.
Entering his fourth NBA season, Wembanyama is no longer simply the Spurs’ Xs-and-Os centerpiece. At the not-so-ripe-age of 22, the two-time All-Star is beginning to look suspiciously like a team leader, too.
“He’s everything you want in a leader and a teammate,” Castle said. “He works hard. He’s not lazy. He looks out for his teammates, obviously cares for the guys, and he’s a crazy good talent. It just speaks very high of his character.”
Wembanyama’s evolution as a leader could prove just as important to the Spurs’ championship aspirations as anything he does with a basketball in his hands.
The towering Frenchman joined the Spurs three summers ago as a 19-year-old No. 1 overall pick, blessed with limitless potential but zero NBA experience.
At first, there were established voices in San Antonio for Wembanyama to lean on.
Gregg Popovich, a Hall of Fame coach, was still running the day-to-day operation. During Wembanyama’s second season, future Hall of Famer Chris Paul arrived to help guide him. Last season, he could still look to been-there, done-that veterans such as Barnes, Bismack Biyombo and Kelly Olynyk.
Season by season, those safety nets are disappearing.
Wembanyama has now been through some battles himself, including the Spurs’ run to the NBA Finals last season.
He has gone from the kid being shown the way to the one increasingly expected to do the showing.
As Paris proved, Wembanyama is embracing the change.
“He’s taking the initiative to make sure we stay tight and we continue to do things together, that we continue to communicate to each other in the moment and things like that,” forward Keldon Johnson said.
The most meaningful stop on the Spurs’ Parisian tour this summer would never have appeared on a Collette itinerary.
Several mornings, before the sightseeing began, members of the Spurs’ traveling party gathered for workouts in an unassuming gym in the Paris suburb of Nanterre.
It was on this court, more than a decade ago, that Wembanyama took the first fledgling steps toward becoming Wembanyama.
He joined Nanterre’s youth program at 10, made his professional debut for the club at 15 and stayed until 17, when he moved up a level to play for ASVEL.
Walking through the door for the first time, other Spurs could practically feel the history hanging from the rafters.
“That’s where he started to really fall in love with the game of basketball and become what we see today,” Bryant said. “He built it from the kid who was probably struggling to make left-hand layups, struggling to put the ball on the floor. His shoes were too big, so when he’s trying to go between his legs, he’s probably dribbling it off his foot.
“Him just growing as a person and as a basketball player — that’s where it all started.”
The message Wembanyama sent in Nanterre went beyond mere nostalgia.
Spurs teammates Carter Bryant, from left, De’Aaron Fox, Harrison Barnes, Dylan Harper, Stephon Castle, Victor Wembanyama, Tobias Harris and Jordan McLaughlin at a practice at Palais des Sports Maurice Thorez in Nanterre, France. The group is working out together this week in Wembanyama’s home country.
The moment the Spurs contingent stepped onto the court, Wemby the tour guide disappeared. In his place was Victor the taskmaster — first in line for the work, setting the standard for everyone else.
Wembanyama’s work ethic impressed even the newest Spur.
“I’ve been in this league for 15 years,” said Harris, a veteran forward who signed with the Spurs in July. “I have not seen a guy work as hard as he works.”
For Harris, there was something particularly powerful about that kind of example coming from the team’s best player.
“When you have that as your focal point of your team, your organization, it really sets the tone for everyone else to fall in line,” Harris said. “When your best guys are the guys that are the hardest workers, it makes life a whole lot easier.”
Back on U.S. soil, nearly a week into his fourth NBA training camp, Wembanyama has brought the lessons of Paris with him.
He showed his teammates where he came from. Now he is aiming to show them where they can go, together.
By Jeff McDonald, Staff Writer / San Antonio Express-News