Caron Butler:獨自一人(下) - NBA

Needless to say, it was a big change going from selling drugs to flipping
Whoppers. The day I was arrested at school, I had $1,200 cash on me. Suddenly
I was making minimum wage and wouldn’t come close to seeing that kind of
money after a month’s worth of mopping floors and working the grill.
It took time to adjust to this new lifestyle. I saw guys rolling around in
new cars, having new clothes, new Jordans — reminders of all the things I
couldn’t afford. Old “friends” would come in and make fun of me because of
my uniform. But I knew I couldn’t go back to jail — no matter how tempting
the lure of quick money was. At Bray Community Center in Racine, where I
first started playing organized basketball, there’s a photo of 21 black men,
many of whom I used to run with. All were under the age of 25, and now they
are all dead. I knew I had to turn my life around.

從販賣毒品到翻動華堡(漢堡王招牌食品)，這之間的巨大改變無需贅言。我在學校被逮捕
的那天，身上有1200鎂的現金，現在我卻在領最低工資，就算我在這裡拖地、烤烤東西一
個月，我也無法拿到那麼多的錢。
我花了些時間才適應了新的生活方式，看著那些傢伙開著新車到處溜搭，穿著新衣服、新
的喬丹鞋，就好像在提醒自己我什麼東西都買不起。那些"舊朋友"會來找我，並且嘲笑我
身上的制服，但我知道自己絕不能再回到監獄，無論那些輕輕鬆鬆就能賺來的錢有多麼誘
人。
在雷辛的布雷社區中心，我第一次開始打正規的籃球。有張照片裡頭有21個黑人，其中很
多人過去都曾跟我一起，當時他們的年紀全都在25歲以下，而現在他們全都死了。
我知道我必須翻轉我的人生。

After being released from Ethan Allen School for Boys, I enrolled at Park
High School. Though I excelled on the court, I would make another decision
that would greatly benefit my future. My family and members of my community
rallied behind me to help me get into a prep school. I would transfer to
Maine Central Institute, a prep school in Pittsfield, Maine. That was a big
turning point in my life. Because of my on-court performance there, I
developed a relationship with UConn coach Jim Calhoun.
Receiving a scholarship to play at UConn was truly a life-defining
experience. No one in my family had ever gone away to a four-year university.
Everyone in my family felt like the bar had been raised. A life of crime was
no longer the answer.

從伊森艾倫男校被釋放之後，我進入了公園高中。雖然在這裡我能在場上勝過其他人，我
仍然做了一個對我的未來大有助益的決定，我的家人和社區成員做我的後盾，幫助我進入
一所預備學校。我轉學到緬因中央學院，一所在緬因州的預備學校，那是我人生中一個重
要的轉捩點，憑藉在場上的優異表現，我和康乃狄克大學的教練Jim Calhoun有了交情。
獲得康乃狄克大學的獎學金並且在那裏打球，確實重新定義了我的人生。我的家人中從來
沒有任何人上過四年制的大學，每個家人都感覺好像我提昇了大家的水平，罪惡的人生再
也不是答案。

http://i.imgur.com/Ru6Z3SL.jpg?1

It’s been 20 years since I spent two weeks alone in that 10-by-12-foot cell,
but I remember it like it was yesterday. My mother and I reflect on our times
of adversity all the time. To recognize the delta between where we are now
and where we once were — it’s surreal and it’s a blessing.
Now I speak about my journey to younger generations who are at-risk because I
was them. I didn’t have an easy, structured upbringing and then suddenly
became an NBA All-Star and champion. I’ve spent time in jail. I lived in a
neighborhood infested with drugs and gang culture. I grew up seeing people
get stabbed and shot. Despite all of that, by the grace of God, hard work and
the devotion of my mother, I’m in the position that I’m in today. Younger
generations need to see a real, tangible example of making it.
Maybe I went through all of this to serve them.

距離我在那約十平方英尺的小牢房獨處兩個禮拜已經過了二十年，但我依然清楚記得宛如
昨日。我媽和我總是會回想當時遇到的逆境，想到現在的我們和曾經的我們，這之間的差
距是如此的不真實與受到神的眷顧。
現在我把我的人生旅程和那些在危險之中的年輕人講述，因為我曾經就像他們一樣。
我沒有受到良好的教養，然後突然就變成NBA的全明星、拿到冠軍。我在監獄待了一段時
間，我曾經住在到處充斥著毒品與黑幫文化的地區，在成長過程中我看著人們被刺殺或槍
殺。
儘管遭遇了這些，由於上帝的眷顧、自身的努力，和我媽的付出，我成為了現在的我。
年輕人們必須看到一個真實的、血淋淋的例子才能深切體會，或許我經歷這一切就是為了
對他們有所貢獻。

Caron Butler

http://i.imgur.com/IrEKRt2.jpg

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Caron Butler正邁入他的第14個NBA賽季，現效力於沙加緬度國王隊。
他的新書"Tuff Juice: My Journey from the Streets to the NBA"已經在10/7發行。

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