廉頗老矣 尚能飯否?

Howard's scoring averages the past two seasons have been his lowest since he was a rookie?Wade didn't help the Bulls much during a .500 campaign last season?Nowitzki averaged only 14.2 points last season, his fewest since his rookie year?Why Dwight,Dirk and D-Wade have become fallen stars in the league?

霍華德兩個賽季以來的賽季場均得分是自新秀賽季以來最低的。公牛上賽季的五成勝率中，韋德也並沒有貢獻太多。德克·諾維茨基上賽季場均僅僅只得到了14.2分——這也是他自新秀賽季以來的最低得分。爲什麼霍華德、諾維茨基、韋德這些昔日的巨星，如今卻淪落成影響力有限的“過氣球星”呢？

Dwight Howard

霍華德

The center who fancied himself as Superman has become a journeyman, joining his fifth team in seven years when his hometown Atlanta Hawks unceremoniously dumped him in a trade to the Charlotte Hornets one disappointing season into a three-year, $70 million deal.

這位外號爲“超人”的球員，在經歷了一個令人失望的賽季之後，最終被家鄉球隊老鷹所放棄，以3年七千萬的合同被交易到了黃蜂。這已經是他7年來所換的第五支球隊了。

Howard's divorces from the Orlando Magic, Los Angeles Lakers and Houston Rockets weren't pleasant, but this marked the first time that a team simply had no interest in keeping the five-team first-team All-NBA selection. Atlanta's shift into full-fledged rebuilding mode under new management might have influenced the decision, but the simple fact is that Howard didn't make the Hawks better during his one season with the Hawks.

霍華德在離開魔術、湖人和火箭後並不愉快，但這還是第一次有球隊無意留下這個五屆NBA一陣球員。或許這次交易可以解釋爲老鷹在新老闆的帶領下正處於重建期，但事實卻是霍華德並沒有幫助球隊變得更好。

Atlanta was outscored by 2.0 points per 100 possessions when Howard played last season; the Hawks were plus-0.7 points per 100 possessions with him off the floor. As much as it bothered Howard, coach Mike Budenholzer had good reason to bench him during fourth quarters in the playoffs.

上賽季，當霍華德在場上的時候，老鷹隊每百回合會輸上兩分，而霍華德不在場的時候，老鷹每百回合則會贏0.7分。這樣的球隊表現不僅僅會讓霍華德自己煩惱，對於教練邁克·布登霍爾澤來說，這顯然是一個讓霍華德在季後賽第四節坐板凳的理由。

Howard remains a dominant rebounder, ranking fourth in the NBA in rebounding percentage last season, grabbing 23.5 percent of the available boards when he was on the floor. However, with his explosiveness diminished significantly by injuries, the three-time Defensive Player of the Year is no longer an impact player on that end of the floor.

霍華德仍然是聯盟中極具統治力的籃板手。上賽季，在他上場的時候，他的籃板率達到了23.5%，位居聯盟第四。但由於傷病原因，他的爆發性已然不如以往。這位三屆最佳防守球員再也不是那個籃板下不可逾越的鐵閘了。

Dwyane Wade

韋德

Wade can certainly relate to Howard when it comes to awkward homecomings. Wade threw a wrench in the Chicago Bulls' rebuilding plans when he exercised his player option for this season and was totally transparent about money being his motivation: "24 million reasons," he told TNT's David Aldridge, well aware that he wouldn't have commanded that kind of a salary on the open market this summer.

韋德的回家顯然和霍華德一樣尷尬。他所行使的球員選項，本來可以對芝加哥公牛隊的重建計劃起到關鍵作用。可是這個賽季韋德所想的完完全全的都是錢：“2400萬個原因，”他告訴TNT的大衛·奧德瑞基，他顯然知道自己在今年的自由球員市場上拿不到這樣一份合同了。

So Wade and the Bulls are engaged in a staring contest, a buyout ultimately in the best interest of both parties, neither of which is willing to make it a financially painful transaction at this point. If and when Wade and the Bulls agree on a buyout, a question will be answered: How much can he still help a contender?

所以韋德在和公牛進行着飽受多方關注的談判，最終目的是爲了雙方的利益，任何一方都不願意在錢這個問題上過不去。可如果韋德和公牛達成共識決定將合同買斷的話，那麼一個新的問題就出現了：韋德還能幫助到一支志在奪冠的球隊嗎

Wade didn't help the Bulls much during a .500 campaign last season. They had a plus-2.1 net rating (points per 100 possessions) when he was off the floor and minus-2.4 when he played, the worst swing among Chicago starters.

韋德在上賽季公牛隊獲勝的41場比賽中並沒有起到太大作用。在每百回合淨勝分上，韋德不在場時是-2.1分，但當韋德上場時，卻還要再低個2.4分，這在公牛隊的先發球員中是擺幅最大的。

Wade's scoring average (18.3 points per game) was certainly respectable, but it was his lowest since his rookie year, which was the last time he wasn't an All-Star before last season. He had career lows in field goal percentage (43.4) and assists (3.8 per game) as his minutes declined for the fourth consecutive season.

雖然韋德上賽季依然可以場均拿下18.3分，但這卻是他自新秀賽季以來的最低場均得分，而新秀賽季則是他除了上賽季之外唯一一次缺席全明星。此外，上賽季的命中率（43.4%）和場均助攻（3.8次）也都是他的生涯最低。而他的場均上場時間已經連續四個賽季下降了。

(Rankings don't win you championships.)

地位並不會給你帶來冠軍。

Dirk Nowitzki

諾維茨基

Precious few players in NBA history have been as productive as Nowitzki was last season at 38 or older. Only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan, Karl Malone and Reggie Miller have averaged more points per game at that age than Nowitzki put up last season, his 19th in a Mavericks uniform.

NBA歷史上很少有球員能像上賽季的諾維茨基那樣，在38歲甚至更老的時候還能奉獻極有效率的表現。只有賈巴爾、邁克爾-喬丹、卡爾-馬龍和雷吉-米勒的場均得分多於諾維茨基。而上個賽季，是諾維茨基身着小牛隊服的第十九個年頭。

But Nowitzki, who self-deprecatingly refers to himself as a mummy due to his stiffness and lack of mobility, increasingly has to be hidden on defense and is no longer capable of creating on the isolation plays on which he was virtually unstoppable throughout his extended prime. (Harrison Barnes has inherited that section of the Mavs' playbook.)

諾維茨基曾自己的固執和缺乏流動性而自嘲地稱自己爲一個媽媽，但現在卻越來越多地被防到“隱身”，再也不能夠拉出足夠的空間來讓自己施展本事了。（哈里森·巴恩斯繼承了這一段小牛的戰術板

"Now, I'm still trying to compete," Nowitzki told ESPN last season. "I enjoy doing it. Obviously, it's not as easy as back in the day. All the extra work you have to put in to stay ready. Now dealing with injuries that I really never had, it takes the fun away a little bit, but hopefully I can stay healthy and have fun."

“現在，我仍在努力比賽，”諾維茨基上個賽季告訴ESPN。“我喜歡打球。但很顯然，這不像以前那麼容易了。你要準備好所有的額外工作。現在我要處理那些我從未有過的傷病，它帶走了一點點籃球的樂趣，但希望我還能保持健康，享受快樂。

更多精彩內容請關注微信公衆號、新浪微博：籃球英文堂