Ding column: NBA players want a ring, and to be part of (Olympic) rings
回音壁：NBA球员想要一个戒指，奥运冠军是其中之一
Monday, March 10, 2008
2008年3月10日，星期一
NBA:Pau Gasol's new frontier with the Lakers is his task at hand, but inmany ways his greater challenge will come after the NBA playoffs withthe Olympics in China.
保罗·加索尔要在湖人提升到新境界，这是他手上的任务。但是在许多方面，在NBA季候赛后随之而来的中国奥林匹克运动会，将是他更大的挑战。
The NBA championship won't mean quite as much this season.
NBA总冠军并不会在很大意义上意味着这个赛季结束。
That'sbecause it'll be followed up two months later by an even biggerbasketball bash: the Olympics. Worldwide anticipation for basketball atthe Olympics is off the charts – which is why as much as Yao Ming'sfoot injury saddened Houston, there was no comparison to the frayednerves throughout China, the host country and a longshot contender forgold.
那是因为它将会被一个更大的篮球冲击延续到两个月后：奥林匹克运动会。全世界对奥林匹克篮球的预期超乎想像－－为什么姚明的脚部受伤引起了休斯敦人的悲伤，却根本无法与作为东道主、长期为金牌而努力争取的中国的神色黯然相比较？这就是的原因。
Yaohad an open letter published Friday in Chinese newspapers to reassurefans of his intention to return for the Olympics. Given theridiculously hard-line Communist ways of the Chinese BasketballAdministration, the next step will be ordering Yao to send letters toall 1.3 billion people over there, too.No mass e-mail! Hand-written!
姚明在星期五写了一封公开信，通过中国新闻报纸发表，向他的球迷保证会代表中国出战奥运会。可笑地给出了一个中国篮协所走的共产主义艰难路线。下一步中国篮协将会命令姚明也写一封信给中国的13亿人。不是普及的电子邮件！而是手写的信！
AskYao about Pau Gasol, neither of whom has won an NBA playoff series, andYao will tell you there's a fundamental difference between them: Gasolis a champion. Spain won the 2006 FIBA World Championship, even thoughYao was the tournament's leading scorer.
向姚明询问关于与众多球员一样没赢过NBA季候赛的加索尔的事，他将会告诉你，他们两者之间有一条基本不变的原则：加索尔是世界冠军。即使姚明是中国队的头号得分手，西班牙还是在2006年国际篮协世锦赛荣获冠军。
Youcould never get Gasol or Kobe Bryant to say a disparaging word aboutthe upcoming NBA postseason, especially because the Lakers have a realshot. But make no mistake; Gasol and Bryant are totally geeked aboutthe Olympics.
你不能得到加索尔或者科比，然后对即将到来的NBA季候赛说一些蔑视的话，尤其因为湖人有了一个实实在在的支援。但是别搞错了，加索尔和科比在奥林匹克运动会上完全没经验。
"It's going to be really exciting," Gasol said, smiling. "I'll sign up right now for a nice USA-Spain final."
“这真的令人期待。”加索尔带着微笑说，“我现在断定美国与西班牙将会有一场精彩的决赛对决。”
Spainis third in the FIBA rankings after the U.S. and Argentina, so it mightwell happen. Bryant plans to put off surgery on his shooting hand forhis first real opportunity on a major international stage – even thoughit likely means he won't be fully recovered for Lakers training camp inOctober. The Olympics are that important to him.
西班牙在国际篮协球队中仅次于美国队与阿根廷之后，位列第三。所以这（西班牙与美国对决）将很可能发生。科比为了抓住他第一次真正在国际舞台上作为主力打球的机会，打算将右手尾指的手术推迟－－即使这很可能意味着他不会在十月的湖人训练营中完成所有训练。奥林匹克运动会对他来说，太重要了。
Lookaround Staples Center on Tuesday night and you'll see an NBA-high sixinternational players on the Toronto Raptors. Quietly the Lakers havemoved up to second on that list – tied with Golden State, Phoenix andSan Antonio – with five: Gasol, DJ Mbenga (Congo), Vladimir Radmanovic(Serbia and Montenegro), Ronny Turiaf (France) and Sasha Vujacic(Slovenia). An extremely intriguing Asian representative is en route,too, with 2007 second-round pick Sun Yue – dubbed "the Chinese MagicJohnson" – likely joining the Lakers next season.
观望星期二晚上的斯台普斯中心，你会看到NBA里多达六个不同国家的球员汇聚于多伦多猛龙队。湖人悄然升至第二位－－与金州勇士，太阳队和马刺一样－－都有五名来自不同国家的球员：加索尔，DJ姆本加（刚果），拉德马诺维奇（塞尔维亚和南斯拉夫西南部的地方），图利亚夫（法国）和武贾西奇（斯洛文尼亚）。一个非常令人感兴趣的亚洲代表也在待定之中，在2007年第二轮选秀中摘下的孙悦－－被称为“中国魔术师”－－很有可能在下个赛季加盟湖人。
WhenNBA commissioner David Stern was at Staples on Friday night, he said henever imagined such rapid globalization of his league: "Not at all."
当NBA总裁大卫·斯特恩星期五晚在斯台普斯观看比赛后，他说他不敢想像自己的联盟如此迅速地全球化：“一点也不（敢想像）。”
"It'sa pleasant surprise," Stern said. "And the competition is going to getmore intense for jobs in the NBA. More elite athletes are playingbasketball – good and potentially great ones. And it's going tocontinue to put pressure on the game in the NBA in a very positiveway."
“这是一个惊喜，”斯特恩说。“并且在NBA里的竞争将会变得更激烈。更多的精英运动员将会打蓝球－－好的、潜在的许多运动选手。它将会以非常积极的方式在NBA比赛中继续增压。”
Forthe moment, though, foreign players remain the clear minority, which iswhy Gasol has become such fast friends with Vujacic.
目前，外国球员尽管仍然是少数－－这就是为什么加索尔如此迅速地与武贾西奇变成朋友的原因。
Youmight have noticed that spectacularly exuberant on-court embracebetween the two of them as the Lakers were beating Phoenix last month.Vujacic has been ribbed so much about his Lambeau leap into Gasol'sarms that when I mentioned something about the two of them having goodon-court chemistry, Vujacic said without smiling: "You are talkingabout that hug?"
你也许会注意到，上个月湖人打败太阳之时，一个吸引人的愉快的场上拥抱发生在两人之间。当我提及关于他们在场上良好的化学反应之时，武贾西奇结结实实地跃到了加索尔的臂膀上。武贾西奇面无微笑地说：“你在谈论那个拥抱？”
Butactually it is Vujacic who has been Gasol's anchor in SouthernCalifornia. In his first weekend here, Gasol was already at Vujacic'shouse to hang out.
但实际上武贾西奇是一个在南部加利福尼亚州给予加索尔安全感的人。在那儿的第一个周末，加索尔已在武贾西奇的家里住。
"He'sfrom Europe; it's his first time in L.A., so I was more than willing tohelp him not get lost, which is easy to do," Vujacic said. "Where togo, what to do, where are good places to hang out, where is a goodplace to live."
“他来自欧洲；这是他第一次到洛杉矶，所以我更乐意帮助他。这很容易做到。”武贾西奇说。“无论去哪里，无论做什么。哪里有好的地方住，哪里就是居住的好地方（随遇而安？）。”
NowGasol is settling into his new house in Redondo Beach – where Vujacic'splace is, too -- and they also spend considerable time together on theroad. Asked about Vujacic's accusation that Gasol creates new rules onthe fly in the poker game he's teaching Vujacic on the team plane,Gasol fired back: "No way. I'm not a cheater like he is."
现在加索尔习惯了他在Redondo海滩的新房子－－武贾西奇住所之地也在那边－－他们也在路上一起度过了相当多的时间。在球队搭乘的飞机上，当问到关于武贾西奇指控加索尔在扑克牌游戏（加索尔教武贾西奇的）中自创的新规则之时，加索尔回击道：“决不。我不像他，是个骗子。”
p.s：哥俩的感情很不错嘛，呼呼……似乎很和谐的样子。
Atthe start of this NBA season, who could've imagined Vujacic, stuckbehind Maurice Evans on the depth chart as Bryant's backup, and Gasol,stuck in Memphis, as two of the Lakers' best players? Yet as theAmericans found out in finishing third in that 2006 FIBA WorldChampionship – with only Carmelo Anthony making the all-tournament team– the Europeans can move fast.
在在这个NBA赛季初之时，谁也不能想像那个板凳顺序落后于莫里斯·埃文斯、也同样是科比的替补的武贾西奇，与在曾孟斐斯灰熊队打球的加索尔，会成为湖人队里最好球员中的两位？当美国队在2006年世锦赛上仅以卡梅罗·安东尼为主力拼杀所有参加世锦赛球队之后，美国屈居第三名－－欧洲的球队和球员迅速成长。
Thewhole world is moving fast, which is why Bryant and Phil Jackson foundthemselves at the same time separately reading Thomas Friedman'sbest-selling globalization book, "The World is Flat," last season. Thisseason, Bryant and Jackson are seeing theory become reality with thearrival of one scraggily bearded Spaniard.
全世界正疾速向前发展－－这就是科比和菲尔杰克逊同时发现他们自己在阅读Thomas Friedman的全球畅销书之时的感慨，“世界是平的”，上个赛季。这个赛季，在一个有如峭壁般高大且长了长胡须的西班牙人到来之后，科比和杰克逊看到了理论变成实际。
Forhis part, Gasol is probably among the most well-read players in leaguehistory, which is why he and Jackson have already enjoyedbook-club-style banter about Ernest Hemingway's writings on the SpanishCivil War.
关于他自己，加索尔可能是在联盟历史上最能够阅读比赛的球员之一。这就是为什么他和杰克逊都喜欢读书俱乐部一族敢对Ernest Hemingway写的关于西班牙内战的书籍开善意玩笑的原因。
It's an appropriately outdated topic. Basketball will never be about civil wars again.
这是一个适当的过时话题。篮球永远不会再次发生内战。 |
發表於 2008-3-12 02:46 PM
| 