By Jared Weiss / The Athletic, 2026-10-20 17:57:05
历史的印记遍布四壁。当卡特·布莱恩特走进这座球馆时，他能感受到那段旅程。从环绕四周的壁画到头顶高悬的锦旗，他仿佛能嗅到多年前挥洒的汗水与泪水蒸腾而起的气息。
这里是他那位人尽皆知的“文班”成长为维克托的地方。这里是他的家。
在圣安东尼奥马刺于NBA总决赛五场不敌纽约尼克斯不到两个月后，维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 于八月在法国举办迷你训练营，召集了超过半数的马刺队友。他们中的许多人此前见过巴黎，也大致了解他来自何方。过去三年里，他们已经对他足够熟悉，但这四面墙，才是一切的根源。
这座球馆，是他13岁加入楠泰尔92青训学院的地方，也是他最终成为篮球界“公开的秘密”的起点。在这里，他投丢过上篮，完成过暴力扣篮，投出过三不沾的三分，也命中过后仰跳投；在这里，他扭伤过脚踝，也一路长成了巨人。
赢过。输过。统治过。崩溃过。
一切从这里开始。
“他就是在这里成为今天的自己的，”布莱恩特告诉The Athletic。“他磨砺出的那种竞争心，他成长为如今这样的球员，他成长路上最低谷和最辉煌的时刻，都发生在这座球馆里。”
每个人都从某处起步。有些人离开家乡去看世界，希望有朝一日能以英雄的身份归来——不仅因为他们旅程中的故事，更因为他们在故土播下的种子。文班亚马把队友们带回来，看他自己收获根基。
“每当他走进这里，情感便如潮水般涌来，”布莱恩特说。“他已经在最高水平的联赛打球，刚经历了一个我们差点夺冠、他自己成为MVP候选人的赛季，而他却说，‘兄弟，我回家了，我可以坐在这里训练，在我从小练球的地方继续打磨我的技术。’而他的队友们也全力支持他成长、支持他成为他想成为的球员——如果每个人都能来到我从小打球的球馆，那该多美好。”
马刺的法国之行阵容包括文班亚马、布莱恩特、达龙·福克斯 (De’Aaron Fox)、迪伦·哈珀 (Dylan Harper)、斯蒂芬·卡斯尔 (Stephon Castle)、乔丹·麦克劳克林 (Jordan McLaughlin)、托拜厄斯·哈里斯 (Tobias Harris)、哈里森·巴恩斯 (Harrison Barnes)、凯利·奥利尼克 (Kelly Olynyk)，以及一批教练和训练师。连文班亚马的弟弟奥斯卡也加入了他们在球场上的行列。
虽然这不是球队第一次造访楠泰尔——2025年1月的巴黎之行中他们曾来过——但这次大多是新面孔，而且整座球馆都属于他们。只有文班亚马、他的客人们和一份宁静。那是他清晨加练投篮时享有的安静空气，是无数次重复训练堆积起来、把他塑造成今日之他的环境。
他告诉队友们，自己在这里的第一场比赛几乎没获得出场时间。他描述过当观众涌入、看台几乎延伸到边线时，那种令人窒息的闷热感。
对文班亚马来说，这次法国之行是向新朋友们展示他旧日生活的机会。但当过去与现在交汇时，他感受到了某种不同的东西。
“我在那座球馆度过的时间，可能比我在这里还多，”文班亚马在马刺训练馆里说。“我站在15岁时待过的同一座球馆里，身边是19岁时认识的这帮家伙。这是一个我曾与同样经历过强烈情感的人们共同经历强烈情感的地方。”
就在不到两个月前，那些情感曾汹涌澎湃。总决赛失利后的无眠之夜仍让文班亚马难以释怀。这次在他旧日主场的重聚，是他们共同消化、接受并向前看的机会。
文班亚马的这个夏天，与此前的岁月截然不同。一年前，他还在从血栓中恢复，在仅出战46场比赛后努力找回体能。过去几年，他的夏天都奉献给了成长，努力证明自己配得上外界的期待。一年前，他则在努力证明自己能继续留在这条路上。
而今年，几乎所有事情都超乎最疯狂的预期，顺利落定于文班亚马和马刺身上。即便赛季以失利告终，他们已经甩掉了“早熟的暴发户”标签。
早在季后赛开始之前，文班亚马和福克斯就在更衣室里放话，想在夏天举办迷你训练营。大家相处得非常愉快，他们想把这份良好的氛围延续下去。
他们知道，季后赛将是一场艰苦的鏖战，会暴露出球队化学反应中令人不安的真相。当面对他们中大多数人从未经历过的考验时，这份爱与牺牲是否真实？文班亚马和福克斯在日历上标记了一个超越总决赛的日子，提醒全队：这个集体不会随着季后赛的结束而终结。
在接下来的两个月里，他们经历了这一切。险象环生、勉强过关的系列赛。总决赛中一次又一次崩盘的领先。真正的伟大。真正的屈辱。
当他们输给尼克斯、包括第四场NBA总决赛历史上最大分差逆转而分道扬镳时，他们知道自己不会孤单太久。
“显然，我们必须经历一些情绪，其中一部分你只能独自面对，”文班亚马说。“但作为一支球队一起面对，会更好。”
在一个远超外界预期的赛季之后，维克托·文班亚马和圣安东尼奥马刺在NBA总决赛中五场落败。（罗斯·D·富兰克林 / 美联社）
赛季结束几周后，文班亚马、巴恩斯和刚签约的哈里斯前往休斯顿，拜访福克斯的宅邸。这是球队文化守护者们的核心圈子，加上一位拥有16年联盟经验的新人。正是这些球员掌管着马刺的更衣室，是那些即便深陷日常琐碎的迷雾中、依然能看到大局的人。
“当你经历过那样的舞台，无论结果如何，都很容易把自己封闭起来，独自度过整个夏天，”曾随金州勇士夺得2015年总冠军的巴恩斯告诉The Athletic。“NBA里人人都说，一旦打进季后赛深处，夏天就会很短。好好享受个人时光，因为很快就要回归球队节奏了。我认为，重要的是我们有多名球员做出这样的承诺：‘嘿，我知道这是我的私人时间，但我愿意投入回来，回馈球队，回馈这些关系。’”
他们在球场上一起训练，感受彼此的打法如何与哈里斯融合。但这并不是真正重要的东西。
“我认为，真正建立化学反应的，是那些间隙时刻，”巴恩斯说。“是大家躺在治疗床上聊着这里该怎么打、那里该怎么处理的时间，是一起看比赛、打牌的时间。是那些开车去球馆路上的细碎时刻，促成了彼此的联结。”
随后，他们在八月初于法国重新集结，一支庞大的队伍跨越重洋相聚。大多数人带着伴侣和孩子，带上了一切让这次相聚显得全员投入的人。
“我觉得，大家彼此相处自在，这带来一种安宁感，因为NBA里有很多球队——任何级别的球队都一样——队员之间并不喜欢彼此，”布莱恩特说。“有些球队里的人根本不享受待在一起，而我们是真的乐在其中。”
他们每天上午训练，然后进行集体活动。一天去了卢浮宫，另一天去了路易威登。一天又一天，他们领略着巴黎及周边郊区的不同侧面，那些塑造了文班亚马的地方和人们。
“他们愿意踏上这趟旅程，也对我想展示给他们看的东西充满好奇，”文班亚马说。“所以这很重要，因为这些人对我很重要，这个地方对我很重要。”
一切的核心，是楠泰尔的那座球馆。文班亚马于三月加入了楠泰尔92的所有权集团，所以这个地方真正是他的。他在经济上和精神上都倾注了投入。在队友们抵达法国的前一周，他与马刺CEO RC·布福德一同为楠泰尔——巴黎西北约七英里处——的一座新公共球场揭幕，这是马刺“Play Paris”项目的一部分，随后他还举办了一个青少年训练营和篮球锦标赛。紧接着的一周，他举办了第二届年度“Hoop Gambit”活动，在楠泰尔和他的家乡勒谢奈举行为期两天的国际象棋和篮球锦标赛。
在这个休赛期的早些时候，他在童年故居的餐桌上签下了五年顶薪续约合同。没有赞助商logo的华丽背景板，没有消息泄露。只有一个22岁的年轻人落笔签字，脸上挂着灿烂的笑容。这是他巩固过去与未来之间纽带的一个时刻。
“维克，他没有自我，”卡斯尔说。“我觉得他绝不会让任何外界噪音或名气影响自己，绝不会觉得自己凌驾于球队之上。他每天在领导方式、言谈举止、凝聚团队的方式上都在展现这一点。”
巴黎是布莱恩特第一次出国看世界的机会。他发现自己爱上了巴黎的骑行文化，说他和女友在第一个休息日顶着酷暑骑行了32英里。当然，途中也有些小插曲。
“我和（卡斯尔）骑着Lime共享单车，带着各自的姑娘，我一回头，发现身边一个人都没有，”布莱恩特大笑着说。“我完全不知道大家都去哪儿了。”
巴恩斯觉得此行最滑稽的一幕，是巴黎热浪来袭时，布莱恩特在埃菲尔铁塔之行中客串了球队摄像师。
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“那条‘我觉得斯蒂芬爱巴黎’的视频，是因为他浑身湿透，汗把球衣都浸透了。我就说，‘兄弟，你得换件新衣服了，’”布莱恩特说。“特别搞笑，因为我们正骑着车，我心想，这家伙的衣服都在滴水。”
巴黎夏天的天空要到晚上近10点才真正暗下来，所以布莱恩特和卡斯尔的探险常常延续到巴黎街头独特的夜生活氛围中。
“因为太阳落山那么晚，你会觉得时间比实际充裕。一眨眼，就凌晨一点了，”布莱恩特说。“有一件事我完全无法适应，就是人们走路时贴得那么近。我女友是荷兰人，她对此非常习惯，还会说，‘你怎么了？干嘛这么别扭？’还有，他们的老鼠有狗那么大。”
但布莱恩特发现自己爱上了巴黎。不仅因为这座城市美丽与市井的反差，更因为他能和亲密的朋友们一起体验这一切。
“当你坐在船上吃晚餐，从埃菲尔铁塔旁驶过，没有多少人能在一生中体验这样的时刻，”布莱恩特说。“我们还有机会在NBA赛季期间重返这里，并在这里比赛。所以，那会很棒。”
当马刺一月份重返巴黎，在NBA全球赛中迎战新奥尔良鹈鹕时，他们会看到那些一起掰过法棍、汗透衣衫、迷路又重聚的地方。巴恩斯会记得他们道别的时刻。
“这里的每一个人本都可以去海滩度假，”巴恩斯说。“他们有家人在身边，却都来到这里，在球馆里训练，做这一切。所以那是一个很美好的时刻，让人感到，哇，每个人来到这里都付出了大量的精力、努力和牺牲。”
巴恩斯提醒说，这是一个全新的赛季，他们必须从头开始打造这支球队。他们拥有共同的经历。用马刺的话说，“企业知识”如今更加牢固了。去年的球队是一支全新的队伍，它成功磨合了，但这个组织曾凭借延续性运转了几十年。教练、球星，他们是不变的常量。这是马刺多年来第一次真正有机会拥有一种值得细细品味的延续性。
如今，对于一路加入文班亚马旅程的人们来说，他过去的故事变得更加真实可感。一起流汗——在球场上，或在巴黎街头——让他们在重新集结、踏上新征程之际，获得了一种令人欣慰的了结。向队友们展示他童年的球馆，是在提醒他们：即便来自不同的地方，他们都为走到今天付出了努力。
文班亚马的过去与现在，在法国酷热的一周里交汇碰撞。
“这两样东西相遇，”文班亚马说。“感觉很不真实。”
他们对过去最深的探寻，发生在卢浮宫内。马刺一行人获得了《蒙娜丽莎》的私人导览——那幅小画常年被足以淹没画作本身的人潮所包围。卡斯尔原以为文班亚马已经来过很多次了。毕竟，这是世界上最著名的博物馆。
但他错了。当被问及来过多少次时，文班亚马给出了答案：
“零次。”
即便在这次旅途中，这个来自勒谢奈的孩子，依然有新的发现。
由生成式 AI 翻译，翻译内容可能不准确或不完整，以原文为准。
查看原文：Victor Wembanyama steps into his past in France to take Spurs into their future
Victor Wembanyama steps into his past in France to take Spurs into their future
History was plastered all over the walls. When Carter Bryant walked into the gym, he could feel the journey. From the murals surrounding him to the banners above, he could sense the blood, sweat and tears that evaporated years ago.
This was where his friend, who everyone knows as Wemby, became Victor. This was home.
Less than two months after the San Antonio Spurs’ five-game loss to the New York Knicks in the NBA Finals, Victor Wembanyama hosted more than half of the San Antonio roster for an August minicamp in France. Many of them had seen Paris before. They knew the idea of where he was from. They had gotten to know him so much over these past three years, but these four walls were the root of it all.
The gym where he arrived as a 13-year-old in the Nanterre 92 youth academy and eventually became basketball’s worst-kept secret. Where he missed layups. Hammered dunks. Airballed 3s. Buried fadeaways. Sprained ankles. Grew to the heavens.
Won. Lost. Dominated. Collapsed.
It all started here.
“That’s where he became who he is,” Bryant told The Athletic. “The level of competitive edge that he’s grown, the player he’s grown into, with probably his lowest moments and highest moments growing up, were all in that gym.”
Everyone starts somewhere. Some leave to see the world, hoping they can return a hero. Not just because of the story of their journey, but the seeds they planted back home. Wembanyama brought his teammates back to see him harvest his roots.
“It’s the space where he walks in, he gets flooded with emotion,” Bryant said. “For him to be playing at the highest level and come off a year where we almost won a championship, being an MVP candidate, and he’s like, ‘Man, I’m back home, and I can sit here and work and keep growing my game where I grew up doing it.’ And then for his teammates to be there in full support of him growing and becoming the player that he wants to become — if everybody came to the gym I grew up playing in, that would be amazing.”
The Spurs’ France delegation consisted of Wembanyama, Bryant, De’Aaron Fox, Dylan Harper, Steph Castle, Jordan McLaughlin, Tobias Harris, Harrison Barnes, Kelly Olynyk and a series of coaches and trainers. Even Wembanyama’s younger brother, Oscar, joined them on the court.
While this wasn’t the first time the team visited Nanterre — they went during their Paris trip in January 2025 — this was mostly a new crew, and they had the place all to themselves. Just Wembanyama, his guests and solitude. The quiet air he’d have for early-morning shooting sessions, the environment where all the reps piled up to build him into who he is today.
He told them about how he barely touched the floor in his first game there. He described the heat he’d feel when the crowds would pour in and the claustrophobic bleachers extended out to almost spill over the sidelines.
For Wembanyama, the trip to France was a chance to show his new friends his old life. But he felt something different when past met present.
“I probably spent more time in that gym than I have here,” Wembanyama said from the Spurs’ practice facility. “I’m in the exact same gym where I was when I was 15 and with these guys that I met when I was 19. A place where I lived intense emotions with people whom I lived intense emotions with, as well.”
Less than two months earlier, those emotions were overwhelming. Wembanyama was still reeling from sleepless nights in the aftermath of the finals defeat. This reunion in his former home was their chance to all process, accept and move on together.
Wembanyama’s summer was a vast departure from all that preceded it. A year earlier, he was recovering from a blood clot, trying to get his wind back after playing just 46 games the season prior. In years past, his summers were dedicated to growth, trying to prove he could live up to the hype. A year ago, he was trying to prove he could stay on that path.
This year, nearly everything fell into place for Wembanyama and the Spurs beyond wildest expectations. Even if the season ended in a loss, they shed the precocious upstart tag.
Before the playoffs even began, Wembanyama and Fox put the word out in the locker room that they wanted to host summer minicamps. Everyone was having a great time together, and they wanted to keep the good vibes going.
They knew the playoffs were going to be a grind that would reveal uncomfortable truths about their chemistry. Would all this love and sacrifice prove to be real when put to a test few of them had ever experienced? Wembanyama and Fox put a mark on the calendar that went beyond the finals, a reminder to the rest of the room that this group does not end with their playoff run.
Over the next two months, they went through all of it. Grueling series they barely survived. Finals leads that collapsed over and over again. True greatness. True humiliation.
When they parted ways after losing the championship to the Knicks, including the biggest collapse in NBA Finals history in Game 4, they knew they wouldn’t be alone for long.
“Obviously, we have to go through some emotions, and you do some of that alone,” Wembanyama said. “But it’s better to do it as a team.”
After a season that far exceeded outside expectations, Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs fell in five games in the NBA Finals. (Ross D. Franklin / Associated Press)
A few weeks after the season ended, Wembanyama, Barnes and the newly signed Harris went to Houston to visit the Fox compound. A distinct group of the franchise’s cultural custodians, and the newcomer with 16 years of experience around the league. These are the players who steward the Spurs’ locker room, the ones who can still see the bigger picture while stuck in the foggy daily grind.
“When you have a moment, regardless of the outcome, when you’re on that type of stage, it can be easy to go into your own silo and isolate for the summer,” Barnes, a 2015 champion with the Golden State Warriors, told The Athletic. “Everyone in the NBA talks about how (if) you have deep playoff runs, the summer is short. Enjoy your personal time because you’re going to be back on team time soon. I think (it’s important) for us to have multiple guys make that commitment to say, ‘Hey, I know this is my personal time, but I’m going to commit to pouring back into the team, pouring back into relationships.’”
They worked out on the court and got a feel for how their games could mesh with Harris. But that wasn’t really what mattered.
“It’s the in-between moments where I think you actually build the chemistry,” Barnes said. “It’s the time when guys are on the table getting treatment and talking about what do you do here or there, getting together to watch something or playing cards. It’s those little moments in the car rides to the gym that help with the bonding.”
Then they reconvened in France in early August, a large contingent together across the pond. Most of them brought their partners, their children, everyone along who made it feel like they were all in.
“I think (there’s) just a sense of peace knowing that idea of everybody’s comfortable around each other, because there’s a lot of teams in the NBA, or any level, that don’t like each other,” Bryant said. “There’s people on the teams that don’t enjoy being around each other, but that’s something that we truly enjoy doing.”
They worked out every morning, then would venture off on a group activity. One day, they went to the Louvre. The next, they were off to Louis Vuitton. Day by day, they saw different slices of Paris and the surrounding suburbs, the places and people who shaped Wembanyama.
“They were willing to make this trip, and they were also curious about what I wanted to show them,” Wembanyama said. “So, it matters because these people matter to me. This place matters to me.”
At the center of everything is that gym in Nanterre. Wembanyama joined the Nanterre 92 ownership group in March, so this place truly is his. He is invested financially as much as he is spiritually. In the week before his teammates arrived in France, he was joined by Spurs CEO RC Buford to unveil a new public court in Nanterre, seven miles northwest of Paris, as part of the Spurs’ “Play Paris” project, then hosted a youth camp and basketball tournament. The following week, he hosted his second annual Hoop Gambit event, consisting of chess and basketball tournaments over two days in Nanterre and his hometown of Le Chesnay.
Earlier in the offseason, he signed his five-year max extension on the dining room table at his childhood home. No fancy backdrop with sponsor logos. No leaks. Just a 22-year-old putting pen to paper, a wide smile across his face. It was a moment for him to solidify the bond between his past and future.
“Vic, he’s egoless,” Castle said. “I think he would never let any outside noise or fame get to him or make him feel like he’s higher than the program. I think he shows that every day with how he leads, how he talks, how he brings our group together.”
Paris was Bryant’s first chance to venture overseas and see the world. He found himself embracing Parisian bike culture, saying he and his girlfriend biked 32 miles in scorching heat on their first free day. Of course, there were some hiccups along the way.
“Me and (Castle) were riding our Lime bikes around with our ladies, and I turned and I was literally by nobody,” Bryant said with a laugh. “I just had no idea where anybody was.”
Barnes thought the most comical part of the trip was Bryant becoming team videographer for their trip to the Eiffel Tower when Paris was experiencing a heat wave.
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spurs: i think @stephcastle loves Paris
“The video of ‘I think Stephon loves Paris’ was because he was just absolutely drenched, sweating through his shirt. I’m like, ‘Bro, we need to get you a new shirt,’” Bryant said. “It was funny because we were riding bikes around, and I’m like, this dude’s shirt is dripping.”
The skies don’t truly darken in Paris until nearly 10 p.m. over the summer, so Bryant’s and Castle’s adventures would often spill into the unique after-hour vibes of the Parisian streets.
“Because the sun goes down so (late), you feel like you have more time than there really is. You’ll blink, and it’s like one in the morning,” Bryant said. “One thing I was not comfortable with at all is how close people walk to each other. My girlfriend is from the Netherlands, so she is very much aware of that and was like, ‘What is wrong with you? Why are you being weird?’ And, their rats are the size of dogs.”
But Bryant found himself loving Paris. Not just for the contrast of beauty and grime of the city, but that he got to experience it with his close friends.
“When you’re on a boat eating dinner, going past the Eiffel Tower, not many people get to experience that in their life,” Bryant said. “We’re going to have the opportunity to go back and do it during an NBA season and be able to compete. So, it’s going to be fun.”
When the Spurs return to Paris in January for the NBA Global Games against the New Orleans Pelicans, they’ll see the spots where they broke baguettes, sweat through their shirts, got lost and reunited. Barnes will remember when they said farewell.
“Every one of these guys could have been on the beach,” Barnes said. “They have their families there. Everyone’s coming to be here in the gym and do all this. So, it was a nice moment where it was like, man, there was a lot of energy, effort and sacrifice that went into everyone coming here.”
Barnes cautions that this is a new season, and they have to build this team from the ground up. They have their shared experiences. Corporate knowledge, as the Spurs like to call it, is a bit more fortified now. Last year’s team was a fresh new thing, and it jelled, but this organization ran for several decades on continuity. The coach, the stars, they were the constants. This is the Spurs’ first real chance in years to have continuity of something truly worth savoring.
Now, the stories of Wembanyama’s past can feel a bit more real to the people who have joined him on his journey along the way. Sweating together — on the court or on the streets of Paris — brought some welcome closure as they got the crew back together for another ride. Showing them his childhood gym was a reminder that, even if they come from different places, they all did the work to reach this point.
Wembanyama’s past and present colliding, for a sweltering summer week in France.
“These two things meeting,” Wembanyama said. “It’s surreal.”
Their deepest dip into the past came inside the Louvre. The Spurs had a private tour of the Mona Lisa, the little painting constantly swarmed by a big enough crowd to make the artwork fade into the background. Castle figured Wembanyama had been there plenty of times. It is the most famous museum in the world, after all.
But he was mistaken, as Wembanyama revealed when asked how many times he’s visited.
“Zero.”
Even on this trip, there was still something new for the kid from Le Chesnay.
By Jared Weiss / The Athletic