夢之隊起源
It should have been the most American of stories. Kevin Durant exercised his free agent rights on Independence Day to agree to sign with the Golden State Warriors, becoming teammates with players he bonded with over Jesus all the way back in 2010 as members of Team USA no less. Those Team USA teammates were Stephen Curry and Andre Iguodala, who became workout partners with Durant and they've remained friends ever since. Now Durant will go to Rio with Draymond Green and Klay Thompson in search for another gold medal with the United States.
這真的是個典型美國式故事。在美國獨立日當天，自由球員凱文-杜蘭特選擇加盟金州勇士，和史蒂芬-庫裏，安德烈-伊戈達拉成爲隊友，而他早在2010年美國國家隊就同這哥幾個成爲隊員，一起訓練並從此建立深厚情誼。現在杜蘭特又要和德雷蒙德-格林和克雷-湯普森一起爲美國再爭奧運金牌。Before the Warriors even take the floor on their first day of training camp this September, Durant will already know what it’s like to play with his four most important new teammates. Durant has long admired the way the Warriors play on the court and he had enough familiarity with the four of them as people that he could trust their capacity to bond as teammates.
勇士的訓練營還沒開始，杜蘭特已經清楚，同他四位最重要的隊友一起打球是何種情形。他一直很欣賞勇士的比賽，和這四位值得信賴、才華橫溢的隊友也非常熟悉。A 73-win team magically transformed Harrison Barnes into a top-5 player in the entire NBA, who also happens to fit perfectly, while weakening their biggest Western Conference rival in the process. What could be more American than the self-determination of ruthlessly maximizing your chances to win a title, and also have a chance to make more money off the court in the world’s fifth largest economy in the world if it were its own country? It is especially more American if you have a nearly zero chance to lose, just likespending more on the military than the next eight nations combined.
一支73勝球隊神奇地把哈里斯-巴恩斯的位置變成杜蘭特——一個聯盟前五又完美適合勇士的球員，與此同時還讓其在西部最大的對手實力大損。這樣野蠻粗暴地提高自己的奪冠概率，在場外又有很大機會在家鄉（世界第六大經濟體賺得盆滿鉢溢 ，還有比這更美國的嗎？嗯，有。那就是你已經宇宙最牛逼，你國家的軍隊抵得上其他8個國家的軍隊加起來，你還繼續往裏面砸錢。
If Durant, LeBron James, Chris Paul, Steve Nash, Karl Malone, Charles Barkley and countless others each left their teams for an improved opportunity to win a championship with better teammates, it wasn’t the supposedly nefarious AAU culture that’s to blame, they learned it by watching the USA Basketball.
如果杜蘭特，勒布朗-詹姆斯，克里斯-保羅，史蒂夫-納什，卡爾-馬龍，查爾斯-巴克利離開他們的球隊去找更好的球員做隊友，獲得更好的爭冠機會，不要去責怪AAU不良的文化，他們其實是從夢之隊學到的。Team USA settled for the bronze medal in the Seoul Olympics in 1988 and that just didn’t sit well with anyone. A six-point loss in the semifinals to a Soviet Union that was anchored by Arvydas Sabonis, Sarunas Marciulionis and Rimas Kurtinaitis in their prime overshadowed Team USA’s seven wins in the tournament by an average of 36 points.
美國隊在1988年漢城奧運會只拿到銅牌，這讓他們很難堪。在半決賽美國6分負於由處於巔峯時期的阿維達斯-薩博尼斯，薩魯納斯-馬修利奧尼斯，利馬斯-庫爾提奈提斯等人領銜的前蘇聯隊，這場失利讓美國前面七場場均贏36分的勝利黯然失色。After losing for just the second time in 88 Games with college players in the history of the Olympics, the other being in Munich against the Soviets in the most controversial basketball game ever played, head coach John Thompson immediately said relying on collegians like David Robinson, Dan Majerle, Danny Manning and Mitch Richmond wasn’t going to cut it anymore.
這是美國隊派出大學球員參加奧運會男籃的88場比賽中第二次失利。而第一次則是在慕尼黑奧運會負於前蘇聯，這場比賽也被稱爲史上最具爭議的籃球比賽。在漢城失利後，國家隊主教練約翰-湯普森立刻就提出不能再靠David Robinson, Dan Majerle, Danny Manning 和Mitch Richmond這樣的大學球員來參加奧運會了。"Personally, I would like more of a chance to compete," Thompson said. "If there was a way for us to play in the European championships, for instance. But our system doesn't permit us to get involved in competition. I'm also an advocate of professionals playing in the Olympics."
“就我個人來說，希望有更多機會去競爭，”約翰-湯普森說。“例如，可以讓我們有機會打歐洲盃比賽。但我們的體制不允許。我也提倡讓職業籃球運動員參加奧運會。The executive director of the United States Amateur Basketball Association Bill Wall immediately considered the unintended consequences of sending a Dream Team of NBA players four years later to Barcelona.
美國業餘籃球聯盟（ the United States Amateur Basketball Association）總裁Bill Wall立刻考慮到派出NBA球員組成的夢之隊參加四年後巴塞羅那奧運會可能有大家忽略的後果。"Philosophically, I have real problems with that," Wall said. "Do you want to watch the best players beat everybody else?”
“冷靜地想想，我真的不贊成這樣做。”Bill Wall說，“難道你想看最好的球員把所有人都打得落花流水？”The United States won gold in 1992, 1996 and 2000 and were fully unbeatable. The absurdity of how much better they were than every other country can be best understood by watching the Vince Carter dunk on Frederic Weis on a loop.
美國男籃組成夢之隊以全勝戰績贏得了1992，1996和2000年的奧運金牌。其他國家同美國隊的差距簡直讓人無語，看看文斯-卡特在Frederic Weis身上這個死亡之扣你就明白了。The United States could have continued to win gold in more Olympics than not with a team of college players, or even an under-23 roster to accommodate the NBA’s one-and-done and prep-to-pro evolution. Superteams without a chance to lose were what the United States wanted and the NBA benefitted from the business opportunity of sending the world’s most famous and exceptional players on a barnstorming tour of the planet to help with their own international expansion. It has undoubtedly worked with how the game has grown overseas and is now firmly entrenched as the second most relevant sport in the world beyond soccer. Other countries were fine being embarrassed by the United States because they now had a story of a lifetime about how they were dunked on by Michael Jordan or Barkley.
因爲派出大學球員以及NBA球員通常僅僅只參加一次奧運且是23歲以下的準明星級球員，美國隊沒能贏更多奧運金牌。美國希望看到就是一支孤獨求敗的超級強隊。NBA也通過向世界展示這些最出色的球員，獲得了更多的商機，擴展了國際市場。隨着籃球在海外的快速發展，籃球成爲僅次於足球的第二大運動項目，NBA也藉機快速擴張。其他國家也被美國好好的“教做人”，因爲他們可以講一輩子當年喬丹或巴克利是怎麼在他們頭上灌籃的。A weird and somewhat depleted roster with a head coach coming off an NBA title that wasn’t entirely committed, and a closing of the competition gap over an entire generation of international players since 1992 undid the Bronze Team of 2004. You knew Team USA was in trouble when they lost by 19 to Puerto Rico in their first group stage game. They lost twice more before winning Bronze.
2004年，因爲原有的陣容分崩離析，剛拿到NBA總冠軍的主教練（拉里-布朗）未盡全力，自1992年以來毫無還手之力的國際球員也開始復興，雅典奧運會美國隊最終只收獲銅牌。當他們在小組賽19分慘敗於波多黎各，你就知道這不再是曾經的夢之隊。他們隨後又輸了兩場。（小組賽負於立陶宛和半決賽負於阿根廷）The legacy of that 2004 team is how BFF’s for life LeBron, Dwyane Wade and Carmelo Anthony further forged the bond that began as members of the same draft class the previous June, as well as the reform that came in 2005 when Jerry Colangelo was hired to run USA Basketball. Colangelo required a three-year commitment in order to participate, which meant the best players couldn’t dip in and out of the program to merely show up for the Olympics, win a gold medal, sell some shoes and go home. The best American-born players in the NBA were forced to spend quality and quantity time together every summer; together they figured out how to outmaneuver a rigged system created by the NBA’s owners to create parity in a game where one or two players often make a bigger impact than the rest of their teammates combined.
2004年的夢之隊使得同是前一年六月參加03屆選秀的三位球員：勒布朗-詹姆斯，德維恩-韋德，卡梅羅-安東尼增進了基情，他們也成爲一生的BBF（best friend forever）。他們又一起在2005年加入由傑裏·科朗格洛擔任主教練的國家隊。科朗格洛改弦更張，做出了三年備戰的要求。這意味着那些超級球星不能再像以前那樣在奧運會上只是露個臉，拿個金牌，賣點球鞋，然後閃人。由NBA精英組成的最新美國隊被要求每個夏天花更多的時間去精心備戰，還要打破現有NBA老闆們操控下一支球隊都是隻由一名或兩名球星獨霸，其他球員靠邊站的現狀。Counting rings had become a fetishized part of sports that entirely made or broke otherwise Hall of Fame careers. Great players are unregarded because they didn't have great teammates and never won a title in the zero sum game of one champion per season. With a 30-franchise NBA, the current generation of players couldn't just nobly let superteams form organically the way they did for the Bill Russell or Larry Bird Celtics and the Magic Johnson/Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Lakers.
大家盲目地把總冠軍戒指作爲生涯目標，認爲這是進入名人堂的標準。沒有好幫手、沒能奪冠的偉大球員因此被忽視。在現有的NBA，球員們無法讓比爾-拉塞爾或拉里-伯德時期的凱爾特人，以及魔術師約翰遜/賈巴爾時期的湖人隊那樣的超級強隊輕易形成。
But the Thunder had a run of bad seasons and good drafts that led to a Big 4 of Durant, Russell Westbrook, James Harden and Serge Ibaka that was every bit as great as the Warriors' new Big 4; except they didn't have the right personalities, complementary styles and a willing ownership group. Durant, Westbrook and Harden came as a unit to Team USA in 2012 and planned on returning to Oklahoma City that fall to get back to The Finals until it was punctuated by the Harden trade.
但雷霆在幾個糟糕的賽季之後，獲得了一些很好的選秀籤位，並由此選到杜蘭特、拉塞爾-威斯布魯克、詹姆斯-哈登、賽爾吉-伊巴卡，組成“四巨頭”。他們和現在勇士最新的“四巨頭”相比也不逞多讓，不過他們的性格融合不佳、沒能很好互補，管理層也缺乏堅定的決心。杜蘭特、威斯布魯克和哈登一起參加了2012年的美國隊，在哈登被交易前，他們還本打算帶領雷霆重返總決賽。Without the development of friendships as teammates and the on-court test drive of playing with each other as part of Team USA, the 2010 Heat and 2016 Warriors probably never happen.
沒有在美國隊做隊友時彼此結下的情誼和賽場上的磨合，2010年的熱火和2016年的勇士也許不會存在。The 2006 USA team added Chris Bosh, Chris Paul and Dwight Howard to LeBron, Wade and Carmelo. Those six players returned in 2008 for the Olympics in Beijing and discussions between LeBron, Wade and Bosh about playing together in 2010 when that trio would become free agents were aspirationally discussed.
2006年的美國隊給勒布朗、韋德和卡梅羅找來了克里斯-波什、克里斯-保羅和德懷特-霍華德做幫手。這六個人又一起參加了2008年北京奧運會。在此期間勒布朗、韋德、波什一起認真討論了到2010年他們仨都成爲自由球員後在一起打球的可能性。Anthony didn’t have the prescience to get an opt out for 2010 like his draft peers and had to wait for 2011 to become a free agent. Anthony impatiently wanted both New York and an extension before the probable lockout, so the trade to the Knicks effectively destroyed the prophecy of Paul’s toast at Anthony’s wedding. Everyone who appreciates Anthony’s exceptional yet imperfect game yearns for the brilliance of Team USA Carmelo and wonders what his career would have looked like with better teammates along the way.
同屆兄弟在2010年跳出合同，安東尼卻無此遠見，只能等到2011年成爲自由球員。他既想加入紐約又想在未來停擺前獲得續約。最終安東尼到紐約的交易讓小夥伴保羅不能加入紐約。安東尼的比賽非常出色但還不完美，但大家都由衷讚歎他在美國隊中的非凡表現，同時也不禁在想，如果他身邊有更出色的隊友，他的職業生涯也許會完全不同。Paul was traded to the Lakers to join Olympic teammate Kobe Bryant, but it was vetoed by the NBA as they then owned New Orleans and he instead was traded to the Clippers to form a superteam of their own, though with no prior Olympics ties.
保羅本來被交易到湖人去和夢之隊隊友科比組隊，結果被當時託管黃蜂隊的聯盟否決。保羅最終被交易到快船，也組建成了一支“豪華戰艦”，雖然這裏沒有他的奧運隊友。Deron Williams was also a member of the 2008 Olympics and he was always supposed to be joined in Brooklyn by Howard, but the indecisiveness of the latter opting in with the Magic for 12-13 eliminated that possibility.
德隆-威廉姆斯也是2008年奧運會美國隊的一員，他本來要和霍華德一起加盟布魯克林籃網，但12-13賽季魔術猶豫不決，讓霍華德沒能去成。Durant felt the reality of his basketball mortality at the age of 27 this offseason after undergoing three separate foot surgeries a season ago, evenreferencing the short amount of time he has left as a basketball player during his introductory press conference. LeBron was 26 when he left a thoroughly replacement level Cavaliers’ rosters in 2010 to join Wade and Bosh with the Heat. LeBron loved the relationship he already had formed with those two, which evolved in becoming NBA teammates and still exists to this day even with all three now on different teams.
一個賽季前，三處不同的腳步手術讓27歲的杜蘭特在休賽期感到了職業生涯的危機。他甚至在勇士爲他加入召開的新聞發佈會上提到作爲籃球運動員時光短暫。26歲的勒布朗在2010年和韋德，波什一起加入熱火時，騎士的陣容一塌糊塗。他和他的隊員韋德，波什感情深厚，即使如今三人各爲其主，兄弟情依舊。Durant was similarly astonished by the relationship Curry, Thompson, Green and Iguodala already had with each other during their meeting.
杜蘭特在同勇士會面對庫裏，湯普森，格林，伊戈達拉之間的關係印象深刻。“To see them together, they all walked in and it looked like they were holding hands,” Durant said. “It was just a family. I could tell they enjoyed being around each other.”
“看到他們一起走進來，就好像他們一個個手牽手，”杜蘭特說，“就像一個大家庭。我能感覺到他們享受彼此的陪伴。”Durant wanted to be part of that chemistry as much off the court as on it.
杜蘭特想在場內外都成爲這化學反應的一部分。“When I met these guys, I felt as comfortable as I’ve ever felt," said Durant. "It was organic. It was authentic. It was real.”
“和這些夥計們會面，我感覺到從未有過的舒服。”杜蘭特說，“這感覺很自然，很真實。”Nobody has left a team as good as the Thunder the way Durant has this summer. The way the Thunder overwhelmed the Warriors in Games 3 and 4 of the Western Conference Finals with their length and athleticism was extraordinary. But Durant was tired of working so hard to generate quality shots on offense within Oklahoma City’s system and with a teammate he may have loved off the court in Westbrook but was so frequently responsible for zero-pass or one-pass possessions, sometimes for better though often for worse. Similarly, LeBron was tired of a predictable offense that simplistically asked him to be great on every possession while everyone else stood around spotting up for an open kickout after he was triple-teamed in the lane.
從沒有人像今年夏天杜蘭特那樣離開一支像雷霆這樣優秀的球隊。雷霆不可思議地在西部決賽第三、四場比賽以壓倒性的優勢戰勝勇士。但杜蘭特已經厭倦了在雷霆現有體系中爲每一次投籃費勁氣力，他愛他的隊友威斯布魯克，但威少很多時候都會忘記傳球，雖然有時也會露崢嶸，但更多的時候則不然。類似的，勒布朗也曾厭倦每次進攻都要自己大包大攬，其他人就站在外面等着傳球，而他被對手三人包夾。Durant and LeBron experienced the ease and joy of loading up with great teammates and playing unselfishly within an offense of ball movement with Team USA and could never go back to accepting how it was before even if it required the nuance of selflessness. At that point in the career of a great player, there is a restlessness to finally win a title and also for a newness of opportunity. Kevin Garnett was 31 when he finally left Minnesota and the advice he gave LeBron in 2010 was "loyalty is something that hurts you at times because you can't get youth back."
杜蘭特和勒布朗都在美國隊體會到了同出色無私的隊友一起，球可以轉移得流暢，進攻可以變得輕鬆寫意。有了這種體驗，即使他們再無私，也很難再去接受自己現狀不佳的球隊。到職業生涯的那個階段，他們對冠軍充滿渴望。加內特終於離開森林狼的時候已經31歲，他在2010年給勒布朗的忠告是“忠誠有時會害了你，因爲你只能年輕一次。”I admire Durant and LeBron for not being docile loyalists to a specific franchise especially those that either were unable to acquire quality teammates (Cavs: 2003-2010), or chose to be financially cheap (Miami in 2013 with amnestying Mike Miller, Oklahoma City always) despite having future Hall of Famers on artificially undervalued max contracts. If Durant and LeBron chose to create situations where they can play for teams who are unapologetically limitless, it all began with Team USA.
我很欣慰杜蘭特和勒布朗沒有愚忠於一支球隊。特別是他們的球隊沒能找來優秀的隊友（2003-2010的騎士）或是不願花錢（2013年熱火特赦麥克-米勒，雷霆一直如此），而這些未來名人堂成員還自願降薪。如果杜蘭特和勒布朗選擇加入無敵強隊，這一切都始於夢之隊。更多精彩內容請關注微信公衆號、新浪微博：籃球英文堂
