By Tom Orsborn, Staff Writer / San Antonio Express-News, 2026-11-02 13:53:05
2026年1月22日，犹他州盐湖城，犹他爵士队主教练威尔·哈迪（左）在比赛结束后与圣安东尼奥马刺队主教练米奇·约翰逊互相致意。
当年同在格雷格·波波维奇的马刺教练组共事时，米奇·约翰逊 (Mitch Johnson) 和威尔·哈迪 (Will Hardy) 在助教们的野球局里搭档，玩得不亦乐乎。
“我们从没单挑过，”约翰逊说，“那会是一场非常缓慢、非常痛苦的对抗。”
约翰逊的这句玩笑话，折射出这两位年轻教练之间的深厚情谊。
在执教马刺的第二个赛季，约翰逊把已执教犹他爵士五个赛季的哈迪视为自己在这个行当里最好的朋友之一。
“我希望他只输我们交手的那（三）场比赛，”约翰逊说，“他是个好人。”
38岁的哈迪和39岁的约翰逊周一晚在 Frost Bank Center 再度交锋，这是两队不到一周内的第二次碰面——上周三，马刺刚在盐湖城通过加时赛拿下系列首战。
马刺与爵士本赛季的最后一次交手将于11月15日在 Delta Center 进行。
这段友谊始于2016年。当时约翰逊在波特兰大学担任了一年助教之后，加入马刺体系，在G联赛的奥斯汀马刺出任助理教练。
2019年，当马刺将约翰逊提拔进波波维奇的教练组时，早在2015-16赛季前就加入马刺的哈迪帮他熟悉了环境。
“威尔·哈迪和奇普·恩格兰德是把我收入门下的两个人，他们无疑帮了我大忙，让我了解了那些不成文的规矩和这里的一切，”约翰逊说。
随后在2024年11月，当波波维奇因中风病倒、约翰逊临危受命出任马刺代理主教练时，已是爵士主帅第三个赛季的哈迪给了好友莫大的鼓励。
“威尔是好朋友，是这个联盟里为我付出过很多的人之一，也是我刚到圣安东尼奥时帮了我最多的人之一，”约翰逊说，“这一路上他帮了我太多，无论是刚当主教练的时候，还是刚到圣安东尼奥的时候。”
上赛季季后赛期间，哈迪饶有兴致地关注着约翰逊和马刺的表现——维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 率领球队先后淘汰波特兰、明尼苏达和俄克拉荷马城，最终在总决赛中不敌纽约。
“米奇把这支球队带得非常出色，”哈迪谈到约翰逊时说。马刺上赛季以62胜20负收官、本赛季开局4胜2负，约翰逊带着98胜67负的常规赛战绩迎来周一的比赛。
“他们上赛季打出了一个了不起的赛季，季后赛之旅也非常精彩，”哈迪补充道。爵士上赛季22胜60负收官、本赛季开局1胜5负，哈迪带着执教爵士108胜226负的战绩迎来周一的较量。
在两人的直接对话中，约翰逊带着5胜2负的优势进入周一的比赛。
“那是一支非常优秀的年轻球队，执教有方，拼劲十足，”约翰逊在马刺上周以117-111力克爵士后说道。
哈迪表示，他希望自己的球队——包括基翁特·乔治（2023年首轮第16顺位）、艾斯·贝利（2025年首轮第5顺位）和达伦·彼得森（今年6月首轮第2顺位）——能培养出约翰逊上赛季在这支年轻马刺身上灌输的那种心态。
“他们去年整个常规赛乃至季后赛所展现出的那种无所畏惧，正是我希望我们球队不断学习的，”哈迪说，“我们拥有一支非常有饥饿感的队伍。上赛季圣安东尼奥给我印象最深的就是他们的无畏。他们完全不理会那些关于他们太年轻的议论。”
哈迪来自弗吉尼亚州里士满，身高6英尺6英寸，2006至2010年间在（马萨诸塞州的）三级联盟威廉姆斯学院打了四个赛季的前锋/后卫。而来自西雅图的约翰逊曾在2005至2009年间以6英尺1英寸控卫的身份在斯坦福大学效力四个赛季，哈迪同样钦佩他所称的约翰逊的“高水准篮球头脑”。
“他是一个彻头彻尾的控卫，”哈迪说，“当你遇到真正的控卫时，你会惊叹于他们随时都知道场上五个人各自应该在什么位置。他是一位了不起的教练。”
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：Spurs' Mitch Johnson, Jazz's Will Hardy became friends as assistants
Spurs’ Mitch Johnson, Jazz’s Will Hardy became friends as assistants
Head Coach Will Hardy (L) of the Utah Jazz greets Head Coach Mitch Johnson of the San Antonio Spurs after their game at the Delta Center on January 22, 2026 in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Back when they were members of Gregg Popovich’s Spurs coaching staff, Mitch Johnson and Will Hardy had a blast as teammates in the assistants’ pickup basketball games.
“We never got to play one-on-one (basketball),” Johnson said. “That would be a very slow, painful matchup.”
Johnson’s quip reflects the bond the young coaches share.
In his second season as leader of the Spurs, Johnson counts Hardy, who is in his fifth season guiding the Utah Jazz, as one of his best friends in the profession.
“I hope he loses only the (three) games we play (against each other),” Johnson said. “He’s a good person.”
Hardy, 38, and Johnson, 39, squared off Monday night at the Frost Bank Center for the second time in less than a week after the Spurs claimed an overtime victory in the series opener last Wednesday in Salt Lake City.
The Spurs and Jazz play again for the final time this season Nov. 15 at the Delta Center.
The friendship between the coaches began in 2016 after Johnson joined the Spurs as an assistant with the Austin Spurs in the G League following a one-year stint as an assistant at the University of Portland.
When the Spurs promoted Johnson to Popovich’s staff in 2019, Hardy, who joined the Spurs before the 2015-16 season, helped show him the ropes.
“Will Hardy and Chip Engelland were the two guys that took me under their wings and definitely helped me with the unwritten rules and the lay of the land,” Johnson said.
Then in November 2024 in his third season as Utah’s coach, Hardy offered Johnson encouragement when his friend became the Spurs acting head coach after Popovich suffered a stroke.
“Will’s a good friend and one of the people in this league that’s done a lot for me and one of the people that did the most for me when I first got to San Antonio,” Johnson said. “He has helped me a ton along the way, whether it was when I first became head coach or when I first got to San Antonio.”
Hardy enjoyed watching Johnson and the Spurs during the playoffs last season, when Victor Wembanyama and Co. vanquished Portland, Minnesota and Oklahoma City before losing to New York in the Finals.
“Mitch does an amazing job with their team,” Hardy said of Johnson, who entered Monday’s game with a 98-67 regular season record after the Spurs finished 62-20 last season and started this year 4-2.
“They had a heck of a season last year and a great playoff run,” added Hardy, who came into Monday’s contest with a 108-226 mark with the Jazz after last season’s 22-60 finish and a 1-5 start this year.
In their head-to-head matchups, Johnson came into Monday’s game with a 5-2 advantage.
“That’s a very good young team, a very well-coached team that is competing their butts off,” Johnson said after the Spurs held on to beat the Jazz 117-111 last week.
Hardy said he hopes his crew, which includes Keyonte George (16th overall pick in 2023), Ace Bailey (selected fifth overall in 2025) and Darryn Peterson (selected second overall in June), develops the same mindset Johnson instilled in the young Spurs last season.
“The fearlessness they played with last year throughout the regular season and then ultimately through the playoffs is something I’d love for our team to keep adopting,” Hardy said. “We have a really hungry group. That’s the thing that stood out to me the most from San Antonio last year is they were fearless. They didn’t listen to any of the conversations about their age.”
Hardy, a native of Richmond, Va., who played as a 6-foot-6 forward/guard at Division III Williams College (Mass.) for four years from 2006-2010, also admires what he calls Johnson’s “high-level basketball brain” after the Seattle native performed as a 6-1 point guard at Stanford for four seasons from 2005-2009.
“He is a point guard through and through,” Hardy said. “It is amazing when you come across real point guards, how they know where all five people are supposed to be all of the time. He’s a hell of a coach.”
By Tom Orsborn, Staff Writer / San Antonio Express-News