Steve Kerr之於勇士的重要性 - NBA

Why the Warriors are willing to risk their title chase on Steve Kerr's return
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In the hours upon hours of conversations between general manager Bob Myers and Steve Kerr, the discussions constantly circled back to this question for the debilitated coach: What were the risks to the Golden State Warriors’ championship chase?

在總經理Bob Myers和Steve Kerr長時間的溝通中，他們的討論回到了關於這位身體抱恙的教練的一個問題：金州勇士奪冠之路上遇到的風險是什麼？

Kerr didn’t want to become a gratuitous drama to these Warriors, or worse: Kerr didn’t want to be less than himself upon his return to these NBA Finals and somehow fail his franchise. The agony of a recurring spinal cord leak had sent him away, and a hurdle to his return had been the uncertainty of his staying power. Kerr couldn’t bear to come back – only to feel worse again, and leave these Warriors back with top assistant coach Mike Brown.

Kerr並不想成為勇士沒有必要的不確定因素，
或者更壞的情況：
Kerr不想當他回歸總冠軍賽時狀態不佳，最後讓自己的球隊輸掉比賽。
反反覆覆的脊髓液洩露問題帶來的痛苦讓他離開教練席，
而擋住他回歸崗位的則是對於他是否能夠繼續執教的不確定。
Kerr不忍心就這樣回來——擔心身體再次惡化，
所以將勇士的工作託付給首席助教Mike Brown。

In a quiet corridor of Oracle Arena on Sunday night, Myers nodded his head toward the Warriors locker room. “When Steve and I discussed it, I told him, ‘They support you trying, too,’ ” Myers told The Vertical. “Everybody supports you trying, too. We understand there’s a risk of trying, but it’s a risk worth taking, too. And if it hadn’t have gone well, we’d pick ourselves up and move on.

週日晚上，甲骨文球館的球員通道很安靜，Myers在去往更衣室的路上點著頭。「當Steve和我討論這個問題時，我告訴他，『他們支持你試試，』」Myers告訴The Vertical，「所有人都支持你，我們知道這有風險，但是我們值得冒這個險，如果不夠順利，那我們就振作起來，繼續前行。」

“In my opinion, the bigger risk would’ve been him saying that he was ready, me believing that he was ready and then denying him. That would’ve been wrong all the way around.”

「我認為最大的風險是，他說他準備好了，我們也相信他準備好了，然後我們又否定了他，那可能就是一路以來的一個錯誤。」

Kerr considers himself the luckiest man in the history of the NBA, hitching himself to Michael Jordan and Tim Duncan for five championships as a role player, and Steph Curry’s Warriors for another as coach. This is a players’ game and Golden State has the most staggering collection of talent the sports’ witnessed in a long, long time. Golden State crushed Cleveland 132-113 in Game 2 on Sunday night, the Warriors moving to 14-0 in these playoffs.

Kerr認為自己是NBA史上最幸運的人，
作為角色球員，跟著Michael Jordan和Tim Duncan拿了五個總冠軍，
而且作為教練帶著Stephen Curry的金州勇士拿了第六個。
這是屬於球員的比賽而金州勇士聚集了這麼長時間難得一見的天才球員。
在週日晚上的G2中，金州勇士以132-113擊垮了克里夫蘭，季後賽戰績達到14-0。

“For Steve, it’s been arduous,” Myers told The Vertical. “It’s been a tightrope. ‘I want to be out there, but I don’t want my ego to be the reason. I want it to be because it’s the best for the team. But if I feel good enough to coach, should I try?’
“What he’s gone through – it’s so hard to pin down. But you can see improvement. But sometimes it’s nuanced. It’s not clear. It isn’t, ‘I was sick and now I’m better.’ It’s degrees of better. We were hoping that he could get back to the baseline of [health] when he was coaching this season. And to know that if he came back, he could stay back. Don’t come back for one game, come back for the whole series.

「對於Steve來說，這很艱難，」Myers告訴The Vertical，「這像是走鋼絲。『我想出現在球場，但是我不想是因為我的自私，而是因為這對球隊是最好的，但是如果我身體已經可以執教了，我應該嘗試一下嗎？』「他經歷了什麼——這很難弄清楚，但是你可以看到改善的趨勢，有時候是模糊的，不夠清晰，這並不是『我生病了而現在好多了』，這只是在程度上好點了，我們希望他執教的時候可以回到健康的底線，我們知道如果他回來，也會有可能離開。不要為了一場比賽回歸，而是為了整個系列賽。

“So we discussed that, and he said, ‘I’m not going to come back unless I think I can make it the whole way.’ ”

「所以我們討論了這個問題，他說『除非我可以全程執教，否則我不會復出。』」

Kerr has no greater ally within the organization than Myers, who is fiercely loyal to him. Together, they’re a franchise face of humility within an NBA that has become increasingly parts frustrated, jealous and strangely accusatory over what the Warriors have constructed. Myers and Kerr are careful to deliver a self-deprecating and unpresumptuous front. For a franchise that is threatening to become untouchable on the floor, the GM and coach work to make sure these Warriors never seem insufferable off it.

Kerr在這支球隊裡最棒的夥伴非Myers莫屬，他無比信任Kerr。他們倆就是球隊謙遜的代表，在NBA裡，越來越多人因勇士的建設成果而感到挫敗、嫉妒以及批評責難。Myers和Kerr小心翼翼地表達自謙以及克制。對於一支球隊來說，在場上變得無法靠近是危險的，總經理和教練努力確保勇士全隊不會看上去難以忍受。

When everyone walked past Myers on Sunday night, congratulating him on the series, he swiftly told each of them: We were up 2-0 a year ago to them, and how did that turn out? Nevertheless, something did change on Sunday night for Golden State. Kerr was back, and they became whole again.
“Listen, I am happy for him,” Myers said. “I’m happy for the outcome tonight. But I think mostly, I am happy that he got to do this. This is the pinnacle of a coach’s career. To have to sit on the sideline in these moments is excruciating.”

週日晚上，當每個人都向Myers走過來，祝賀他在系列賽中取得勝利，他馬上就告訴他們：我們一年前也是2:0領先對方，結果呢？不過，週日晚上金州勇士還是有所改變，Kerr回來了，他們再次全員出戰。「聽著，我為他感到高興，」Myers說，「我為今晚的結果感到高興，而我更多是為他完成工作而高興。這是教練生涯的一個尖銳的阻礙，這段時間坐在場邊是極其痛苦的。」

Kerr was the perfect choice to coach these Warriors three years ago, and he’s more right for the job now. The challenges for Golden State would always be far more daunting internally than externally. Only a confluence of wayward egos and agendas could’ve threatened an implosion here. The arrival of Kevin Durant made these Warriors historic championship favorites, and targets on par with LeBron James’ arrival with the Miami Heat.

Kerr三年前是執教勇士最完美的人選，現在就更加合適了。比起外部問題，金州勇士更加擔心內部面臨的挑戰。球員驕傲自滿，不思進取; 管理層誤入歧途，頻出昏招，或許只有這樣，才能使勇士土崩瓦解。Kevin Durant的到來使得勇士有希望拿到歷史性的冠軍，也像LeBron James加入邁阿密熱火一樣成為眾矢之的。

Kerr has existed within the most scrutinized teams in NBA history, playing shooting guard with Jordan when the Bulls were winning 72 games and all hell was breaking loose. He has a great ability to see the small problems before they become gathering storms – and then something worse. He can challenge Draymond Green and throw his arm around him; he can make Klay Thompson feel important when the shots are going somewhere else.
“He has this calmness amongst all the chaos to find out what matters and what doesn’t,” Myers told The Vertical. “That’s a hard thing in our jobs: What do we focus our attention on, and what do we let go of.

“It’s not easy. There are a ton of things that are put on your plate, and you can’t digest all of it. You have to decide: I’m going to move this off, but I’ve got to deal with this one. He has a unique ability to not only spot them, but then communicate them. He’s an elite communicator. He can not only identify what to focus his attention on, but then he can convey it. He’s one of the best people I’ve ever met at doing those two things.”

Kerr在NBA歷史上最受矚目的球隊待過，當公牛拿到72勝打破歷史記錄時，他跟著喬丹打得分後衛。他有出色的能力發現那些細微的問題避免變成大風暴，使事情變糟糕。他可以摟著Draymond Green並鞭策他，他可以在Klay Thompson的投籃偏掉的時候讓他知道自己的重要性。「他可以在一片混亂中冷靜地找到什麼重要什麼不重要，」Myers告訴The Vertical,「這在我們的工作中是一件特別難的事：我們應該關注什麼，忽略什麼。」

「這不簡單，你的盤子裡有很多東西，而你無法全部消化。你不得不做出決定：我應該放棄這個，還是解決這個。他有一種獨一無二的能力，不僅可以給他們定位，還能與他們溝通。他是一個傑出的溝通者。他不僅能夠分辨出他應該關注的東西，還能將其傳達出去。他是我見過這兩件事做的最好的人之一。」在週日晚上看著Kerr通過走廊出了甲骨文球館，看著他的兒子尼克和他在一起，就會回想起快兩週之前去聖安東尼奧，驚訝於Kerr走了那麼遠。

To watch Kerr walk through the corridor on his way out of Oracle Arena on Sunday night, to see his son Nick with him, was to think back nearly two weeks to San Antonio and marvel over how far Kerr had come. After the Warriors swept the Spurs in the Western Conference finals, Kerr walked over to the Spurs’ locker room to visit with his old coach, GM and teammates.

勇士在西決橫掃馬刺之後，Kerr來到馬刺的更衣室，看完他以前的教練、總經理和隊友們。

He moved slowly, unsurely, every step something of a struggle. Eventually, he was standing in a corridor with Manu Ginobili, who had been his teammate in the early 2000s. Kerr told Ginobili a story about something that stayed with him, about the aftermath of the championship parade in 2003. Ginobili had told Kerr that he hoped he wouldn’t retire, would play one more season with him. That always stayed with Kerr, and he told that to Ginobili on a night that could have turned out to be the final game of a
Hall of Fame career.

他走得很慢，步伐不穩，每一步都很費勁。
最終，他還是到了更衣室和Manu Ginobili站在一起，
他們在21世紀初還是隊友。

Kerr跟Ginobili講了一件事，是關於2003年冠軍之後的。
Ginobili告訴Kerr他希望Kerr不要退休，和他再打一年。
這一直留在Kerr心裡，
Kerr把這件事告訴了Ginobili──
在可能是這位名人堂球員生涯的最後一場比賽結束之後。

For Kerr, that walk over to the Spurs’ locker room to see Gregg Popovich and R.C. Buford and Ginobili was a side trip into what’s been a blessed basketball life, a reminder of the preciousness of these championship seasons, how they stay within your soul forever.

對於Kerr來說，去馬刺的更衣室看望Gregg Popovich和R. C. Buford和Ginobili就是一次附帶的旅途，
使自己明白什麼是一段享受的籃球生活，
提醒自己那些奪冠賽季的珍貴，他們會永遠留在心裡。

This is why Bob Myers and Steph Curry and Kevin Durant, why all these Warriors, wanted Kerr back so badly. Maybe they’re too talented to need him to win the NBA championship, but they desperately wanted him. “There was a pall over everything without him,” Myers said, and now it is gone. Steve Kerr is back, and, yes, the Warriors are whole again. Does that change before Game 3? Does he feel better, or worse? No one knows, least of all Kerr. Yet that was always a risk the rest of these Warriors were
willing to take on his behalf, because he’s earned the right to close this season, this championship, and nothing ever felt right without him here.

這就是為什麼Bob Myers、Stephen Curry和Kevin Durant，
為什麼所有的勇士成員如此急切地想要Kerr回來。
也許他們天賦滿滿，不需要Kerr也能拿下NBA總冠軍，
但是他們無比地需要他。

「沒有他，所有的事都會蒙上陰影。」Myers說。

Steve Kerr回來了，

是的，勇士再次陣容齊整。

G3會有變化嗎？
他會感覺好轉還是變得更差？
沒有人知道，除了Kerr。

其他的勇士成員願意為了他冒這個險，
因為他有權利去完成這個賽季，贏下總冠軍。

沒有了kerr，勇士什麼事都會不對勁。


心得：
kerr拖著病驅去找鬼切那段好感人。






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