別把拓荒者解體歸咎於LaMarcus Aldridge - NBA

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Canzano: Don't blame LaMarcus Aldridge for Blazers breakup

別把拓荒者解體歸咎於LaMarcus Aldridge

The guy pitched last season on the dreamy notion of being the greatest Trail
Blazer of all-time finalized his departure via social media on Saturday.

這名上個球季曾談到成為拓荒者史上最佳的球員在週六透過媒體確認了他的離去。

LaMarcus Aldridge is now an ex-Trail Blazer.

LaMarcus Aldridge現在是一名前拓荒者球員了。

He's a bum, right?

他真是個混蛋，不是嗎？

Aldridge, an unrestricted free agent who poured nine futile seasons of his
professional life into Portland's NBA franchise, chose San Antonio. The Spurs
are five-time NBA champions, including two (and a near miss on a third) alone
in Aldridge's career. Texas, too, is closer to his mother and his children.

身為一名在波特蘭的NBA球隊耗費了自己職業生涯九個無用的球季的不受限自由球員，
Aldridge選擇了聖安東尼奧。馬刺隊是五次NBA總冠軍，僅在Aldridge的生涯期間就包含
兩次（而且差點有第三次）。德州也很靠近他的母親和孩子。

Can't blame Aldridge. Can't help but wonder who will play alongside Damian
Lillard. Can't see the Blazers winning 35 games next season.

不應該責怪Aldridge。只能好奇誰將會在Damian Lillard身邊打球。難以想像拓荒者下一
季還能贏得三十五場比賽。

Those are immediate takeaways from the first four days of July. Because all
Aldridge did in Portland was show up for work with a lunch bucket, play
through injury, and become reliable when so many around him were not.
Begrudge him for outlasting contemporaries Brandon Roy and Greg Oden? Call
him a lousy bum because his team changed general managers and coaches like
you changed socks?

這些就是七月前四天後立即的回顧，因為Aldridge在波特蘭做的只有帶著午餐上班、撐著
傷勢比賽、並且比其他人越來越值得信賴。要因為他比同袍Brandon Roy和Greg Oden更持
久而批判他嗎？要因為他的隊伍換總管與教練有如換襪子一樣快速而稱呼他為王八蛋嗎？

Don't think so.

我不這麼認為。

Aldridge is soft spoken and too classy to fight back. So if you'd like, blame
him for telling you what you wanted to hear last July when he said his plan
was to wait until this summer to sign a max contract. But things change.
Plans change. And while I think Aldridge hoped and wished the Blazers would
breakthrough last season, they went all in and for the eighth time in his
nine seasons, watched the second round of the playoffs go on without him.

Aldridge太溫和且太優雅以至於難以反擊，所以如果你討厭他，請因為他去年七月告訴了
你那些你想聽的話─也就是他計畫今年簽個頂薪合約─而責怪他吧。但是事情會改變，計
畫會改變，而當我想Aldridge希望且期待拓荒者可以突破上一季時，他們孤注一擲，卻在
他九個球季中的第八次眼睜睜看著第二輪季後賽沒有自己的席次。

After his final game, I stood beside Aldridge in the visiting locker room in
Memphis. The media scrum broke. The cameras were gone. He was holding three
cellular telephones he carries, two of them he told me don't even work. They
just hold music he likes. There was just a somber feeling about the whole
thing, as if this was some kind of ending.

在他的最後一場比賽後，我在曼菲斯的訪客室中站在Aldridge旁邊。媒體的簇擁散去了，
照相機也不見了。他握著攜帶的三支手機，他曾告訴過我其中兩支沒有辦法打電話，只是
用來儲存他喜歡的音樂。我感到有一股陰暗的感覺，有如什麼事情的結局。


He'd rented that house owned by Damon Stoudamire in West Linn all season. He
gave notice to his landlord the following day. Neighbors say Aldridge moved
out within 72 hours of that loss, and his belongings were shipped to Texas.

他在整個球季都租著Damon Stoudamire在West Linn的房子。他在隔天就告知了他的房東
，鄰居們說Aldridge在落敗後72個小時內就搬走了，他的私人物品都被寄回德州。

This all brings us back to the Blazers, ultimately. They have a difficult
time attracting free agents. They've struggled with continuity. They have a
general manager in Neil Olshey eager to make his draft picks shine, cementing
his legacy. And I wasn't surprised the news of Lillard's five-year, $125-plus
million contract extension was leaked on the opening day of free agency.

最後讓我們回到拓荒者。他們在追求自由球員時碰上很大的麻煩(
http://goo.gl/X6i7Y9 )，也在銜接世代時很掙扎。他們有一個Neil Olshey這樣想要讓
自己的選秀發光發熱以成名的總管，我對Lillard的五年125+M延長合約的消息在自由市場
第一天就流出並不感到驚訝。

The Blazers had all summer to make that announcement. But it came on a day
when a league record $1.4 billion in contracts were handed out in other NBA
cities and -- down deep -- the Blazers knew Aldridge was a ghost.

拓荒者有整個夏天來公開，卻選擇在聯盟轉播合約十四億美金在其他NBA城市生效的那一
天，而且更深入地說，拓荒者知道Aldridge是個陰魂。

Olshey long ago hitched the franchise wagon to Lillard. He drafted him in
2012, and when he became Rookie of the Year the following season, he was
marketed and promoted to the point that it chapped Aldridge.

Olshey很久以前就把王牌的地位轉給了Lillard。前者在2012年選中了後者，並在隔年他
成為最佳新秀後將其量價並拔擢以至於刺激了Aldridge。

He was Bat Man. Lillard was Robin. Right? But the organization, led by
Olshey's own narrative, prematurely flip-flopped those roles. It cost them
today.

他是蝙蝠俠，而Lillard是羅賓，不是嗎？但是由Olshey為首的球團不成熟的翻轉了這些
身分，而這今天造成了損害。

I wrote a column two seasons ago about Portland alienating Aldridge by going
too far with the Lillard-palooza. Aldridge reached and out told me how much
he liked the column. The Blazers decided prior to last season that they'd
spend Aldridge's final season under contract celebrating his milestones,
pitching him as the all-time Mr. Trail Blazer.

我在兩季前曾寫了一篇關於波特蘭為Lillard狂歡過度而疏遠了Aldridge的評論(
http://goo.gl/dpdsnw )。Aldridge當時通知我他多麼喜歡那個評論。拓荒者在上季前決
定要在Aldridge合約的最後一年用來慶祝他的里程碑，把他稱為永遠的拓荒者先生。

To their credit, Aldridge and Lillard worked well enough together on the
court. They're both too intelligent and socially aware to take their
philosophical differences public. But they were co-workers, and not great
friends. Those deeply entrenched in both camps told me on multiple occasions,
basketball aside, that the two men were not huge fans of each other. Which
only makes Lillard's inability to get a face-to-face sit-down with Aldridge
in that 11th hour trip to Los Angeles less shocking.

如他們所想，Aldridge和Lillard在場上合作無間，他們都很聰明且理解到要避免把各自
的思想差異公開，但他們是合作夥伴而不是摯友，那些對兩方都很熟悉的人多次告訴我：
除了籃球，這兩人並不特別欣賞對方，這讓Lillard未能在耗費十一個小時的洛杉磯旅途
後和Aldridge面談不那麼令人詫異。
(按：Lillard還沒來得及去，LMA就宣布去馬刺了)

Aldridge and Lillard played together three seasons. Aldridge gave the Lakers
and Kobe a few minutes of face time. He met with the Suns. He dined publicly
with Gregg Popovich. Anyone else find it telling that Aldridge and Lillard
didn't even meet up? That he treated Lillard like the Knicks? That the
franchise's "Thing 1" and "Thing 2" weren't in solid contact from the end of
the season says a lot.

Aldridge和Lillard一起打了三個球季。Aldridge給湖人和Kobe幾分鐘的面談時見，他和
太陽面談，他公開地與Gregg Popovich吃飯，但是有任何其他的人曾注意到Aldridge和
Lillard甚至沒有見到面嗎？知道他對待Lillard就像尼克隊？這支球隊的「老大」與「老
二」在季後沒有很緊密的聯繫傳達不少訊息。

Even if Lillard and Aldridge had been tight, turning down the Spurs and the
chance to finish your career in your home state would have been difficult.
It's why you can't really blame Aldridge, can you? This is business, after
all.

即使Lillard和Aldridge並不是很要好，拒絕馬刺和在家鄉結束生涯的選擇也是很困難的
，這就是為什麼你不能真的責怪Aldridge，不是嗎？說到底，這只是在商言商。

This break-up of the Blazers was bound to happen. You had Olshey's players
(Lillard, Meyers Leonard and CJ McCollum, in particular) and you had a
leftovers from all the general managers of owner Paul Allen's basketball
past. Last season had the feel of a finale all along. That Popovich and the
Spurs benefit from the chaos inside another NBA franchise should come as no
surprise. Uniformity of vision is what sets the Spurs apart. It's part of how
he's built an empire.

拓荒者的解體是必然的，你有Olshey的球員(特別是Lillard、Meyers Leonard、CJ
McCollum)和其他來自老闆Paul Allen過去的所有總管留下的成員，上一季一直有著壓軸
的感覺。Popovich和馬刺得利於另一支NBA球隊中的混亂並不令人意外。一致的觀點是馬
刺特別之處，也是他們建立帝國的一部分原因。

Olshey won't much like this column. Neither will Lillard or even Aldridge.
But as long as we're handing out blame for the breakup of a team that won
50-plus games, what's fair is fair.

Olshey大概不會喜歡這篇評論，Lillard和Aldridge也不會，但是只要我們還在把贏得超
過五十場比賽的球隊解體的責任釐清時，該說的就還是得說。

The Blazers spinning narrative now becomes -- We want players who want to be
in Portland. In its current state this is a team that is going to struggle to
win games next season, and one that will ultimately scapegoat coach Terry
Stotts when it misses the playoffs. Unless something shocking happens via
trade, this is an organization starting all the way over again with only one
change: Olshey and Lillard have the stage to themselves now.

拓荒者的跑馬燈現在變成─我們想要那些願意來波特蘭打球的球員。這支球隊的現況是正
掙扎著想在下一季贏得比賽，並且必然會在未能挺進季後賽的情況下把教練Terry Stotts
當作替罪羔羊。除非有什麼令人震驚的交易，這將是一個從頭來過的組織，而其唯一的改
變是：Olshey和Lillard現在掌控一切了。





平衡打擊一下，雖然這篇文章的作者好像對阿拓的總管滿滿恨意，或許也有些偏頗。

附帶一提，原文作者隨後收到了Aldridge寫給Rip City球迷的感謝信，並將其公開。
( http://goo.gl/SLxaSv )

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