涅槃重生的凱爾特人當家球星凱里 歐文

Kyrie Irving got criticized heavily for orchestrating a move out of Cleveland, but now he's getting the last laugh.

當凱里－歐文精心策劃離開克利夫蘭的時候遭到了一片質疑聲，然而現在，他卻笑到了最後。

There was a play in the third quarter of the Celtics and Warriors game, which the Celtics won in stunning fashion on Thursday night, where Kyrie Irving found himself caught under his own basket defending Andre dala either missed the shot or lost the ball — that's not important — what was exciting was that Irving was so active with his hands that it overwhelmed the bigger Iguodala and forced him into an error. I was so excited at the play that I turned to a friend I was watching the game with and yelled: "Look at Kyrie! My son!"

時間回到上週凱爾特人面對勇士的逆轉，第三節的某個時刻，凱里－歐文發現他面對着持球進攻，虎視眈眈，早已蓄勢待發的伊戈達拉，而他的身後就是觸手可及的自家籃筐。而故事的發展卻以伊格達拉投丟了這一球，抑或是失誤告終——但結局不重要——真正令人感到激動的是歐文面對比自己高一頭的伊格達拉，張開雙臂，積極地防守，迫使伊格達拉犯了錯。看到那個回合的防守時，我不由地轉向身旁的好友，大聲的喊道：“快看歐文，那是我們當家球星歐文！”

Irving has always been fun to watch on offense — not his scoring alone but the way that he moves in general. How he dribbles like he can hear Bruce Lee telling him to be like water with each bounce. His technically perfect spins. The passes that seem to slip right out of his hands. The high and improvised finishes around the rim. The ability and penchant to switch hands at the absolute last second. He moves like a well-orchestrated dance.

一直以來，歐文的進攻時多麼的賞心悅目——不僅僅是他的得分能力，還有那他那技驚四座的控球。當年李小龍所說的功夫如水，都在歐文那柔軟靈活的運球中展現地淋漓盡致。他那遊刃有餘的轉身過人，他如絲綢般順滑的傳球，他輕巧靈動的拋投和那最後一秒從容不迫的換手上籃，讓他的比賽變成了一場踏着交響樂節拍的華爾茲。

That fun is now extended to the defensive side of his game. He is not exactly locking players down — he's no Patrick Beverley — but he doesn't really have to be that in a team where defense is a group effort. He's just more active now, to the point that he's unrecognizable from the Kyrie Irving of the Cleveland Cavaliers as a defender.

而那他進攻端的天賦也開始在防守端嶄露頭角。他還不是一對一的盯防大師——他沒到貝弗利的那個級別——但是在團隊防守至上的凱爾特人陣中，他做到了他應該做的。他在防守端變的更加積極，和那個在克利夫蘭時怠於防守的凱里－歐文判若兩人。

He's fighting through screens, staying on the jersey of his man regardless of how far he runs or how many juke moves he uses to try to avoid him. He's invading passing lanes, ripping the ball out of his opponents' hands, and embracing the challenge when he finds himself isolated one-on-one. As much as he would if he was the one on offense.

無論他要跑多遠，無論持球人做了多少無謂的假動作，他都會積極地破壞對手的每個擋拆，扯着球衣懟他要盯防的進攻隊員；他都會侵略對手的每一條傳球路線，不顧一切地將球從對手手中搶過；他都會面無懼色地直面針對他的單打戰術，將進攻端的那股幹勁全情投入到了防守中去。

He might not be the best at defense, but him being present and active is starkly different than what he used to be. He's not lost as it was assumed that he would be when he was traded to the Celtics. He fits right in with the team philosophy.

他可能不是最好的防守球員，但是現在那個積極拼搶的歐文，早已不是那個在防守端沒有存在感的自己。別人說他到凱爾特人會迷失自己，但歐文卻證明了他只會做的更好，更完美地融入了球隊

This change, of Irving becoming a more rounded player, or at least trying to be, is why I was in support of his decision to leave Cleveland. That ambition to be more than what he was should have been championed, but his move was met with skepticism and criticism.

因爲這點變化，歐文成爲了一個更加全面的球員，或者至少他在爲此努力。這就是爲什麼他離開克利夫蘭時我支持他的選擇。他的雄心比他從前獲得的總冠軍意義更重大，但是他的選擇受到了許多的懷疑和批評。

Some of it was fair; he was known as an isolation player, not really a playmaker or a competent defender. He seemed the opposite of what Boston needed. If the Celtics wanted a guard who could score but couldn't defend, they could have kept Isaiah Thomas, who was also better at getting his teammates involved in plays.

有些評論的確不無道理。歐文一直被認爲是個單打能力超強的得分球員，但並不是一名優秀的組織者，或是堅如磐石的防守球員。他似乎並不是凱爾特人所需要的球員。如果凱爾特人需要一個得分機器和防守黑洞，他們自然會選擇留下以賽亞－托馬斯，更何況托馬斯的組織能力更勝一籌。

There was little evidence that Irving would dramatically change as a player just by changing teams. Past performance is the best indication of future performance after all.

畢竟很少有球員在換隊之後就可以做到士別三日，另當刮目相看。一個球員過去的表現往往映射着他的未來。

That judgment had the error of not acknowledging the player's own desires and why he wanted a change in the first place. Since arriving in Boston, Irving has heaped praise on it for being a "real" sports city, on Brad Stevens for challenging him intellectually, and on the team being able to carry him when he has a bad game. Not that that didn't happen with the Cavaliers, but what he is getting at, I think, is that he likes being part of something, rather than the sidekick of someone else.

然而，這樣草率的結論忽略了一位球員對涅槃重生的渴望。自從到了波士頓之後，歐文曾不止一次讚歎波士頓是真正的體育競技之都，他從不吝嗇對史蒂文斯教練的讚美之詞，他曾多次肯定隊友在他的低谷時扛起了球隊。並不是說這一切都未曾發生過在克利夫蘭，而是說，他第一次真正享受了成爲球隊中不可缺少的一份子，而不是巨星身邊的帶刀侍衛。

He was asked to be a specific thing as a sidekick in Cleveland: to carry the offensive load, mainly scoring, when LeBron James needed a break or when the team needed points quickly. It was LeBron's team, a natural result of LeBron's greatness, and Irving wanted more for himself than playing a role in the legacy of another player.

在克利夫蘭，歐文一直被當作是球隊的二當家。球隊需要他打開進攻，去強攻每一分。但這一切，都是在詹姆斯累了或者球隊急需分數時的前提下。騎士一直是勒布朗的御林軍，但歐文想要的，不僅僅是當詹皇手下的驃騎將軍。

He's not the leader or the face of the Celtics, but that was a mistake in thinking that he wanted his own team. He just wanted to be fulfilled as a player. He wanted to be the best that he could be, and he had to change systems to find out what his true potential was.

他還不是凱爾特人的領袖或是傳奇，但是他也從未想過擁有一支自己爲王的球隊。他所期望的，是真正地融入到一隻球隊中去，是努力做到最好的自己，是擺脫一切羈絆去證明自己。

The challenge of improvement, to try and possibly fail at things that you're not good at, should be an essential human motivation; to find out your limits and improve on them. This requires leaving your comfort zone. It meant Irving leaving an almost guaranteed life of making it to the NBA Finals, the possibility of winning more rings, to be a part of a more coherent team — a team that can shape him into something more than what he was before.

向前向上的渴望，是每一個人自我完善的動力，是不斷突破上限，創造奇蹟，打破人們的成見。這需要一位球員踏出自己的舒適區。凱里－歐文因此離開了那似乎拿着決賽門票的騎士隊，加入了一隻更加團結的球隊——一隻可以讓他涅槃重生的綠衫軍團。

We often times concentrate too much on the end goal, the winning of a ring, and forget the journey that leads up to that or what is beyond it. Irving has won a ring, and I'm sure that he wants to win many more, as any player does.

我們往往太在意那一錘定音的絕殺，那閃耀着勝利光芒的冠軍戒指，而忽略了那條通向總冠軍的崎嶇險阻的道路和登上華山之巔後的後話。歐文擁有總冠軍的光環在身，我堅信他希望更多。

But he also has a long career ahead of him. If he spent the next few years playing a role in LeBron's battles against Golden State, then he never gets to be more than what he was at Cleveland. His potential would have been to be an improved version of that specific role that he played next to LeBron.

但是他的職業生涯還有很長的一段路要走。如果他繼續跟從勒布朗對抗金州勇士，他將永遠被認定是騎士隊的二當家，詹姆斯的得力助手，而他，本可以做的更好。

On the Celtics, he's asked to do things that he either didn't feel motivated to do before or wasn't asked to do at all. His offensive and defensive games are consequential to the team's success. He is both a star and a piece of a whole.

在凱爾特人，他接受了前所未有的挑戰，做了許多自己之前從未被要求或是從未有勇氣做的事。他的進攻與防守直接影響着球隊的表現。他是位球星，也同樣是凱爾特人中的一員。

The team doesn't gravitate around him, but it creates a foundation where he can still shine offensively. At the same time, the defense-first attitude of the team allows him to explore himself in that regard. He can try things and make mistakes and learn and enjoy himself. There's not much more a player can ask for.

球隊未曾對他前呼後擁，但是他們用堅實的防守搭起歐文在進攻端的舞臺。與此同時，全隊立足防守的比賽的態度，讓歐文可以在球場的另一端大施拳腳。他可以不斷嘗試，甚至犯幾個小錯誤，但與此同時從中學習，並真正享受籃球。有隊友如此，夫復何求？

Irving's time in Boston could still end in failure. It's hard to predict the future. So far though, he has fit in seamlessly with his new team. That's more than many people expected. The Celtics are asking him to be more present and involved on both offense and defense, and he's responding well to the pressure. Now he has a chance to become what he believes that he can be, and that's really a delightful thing to watch.

歐文在波士頓的美好時光仍有可能出現轉折，畢竟未來變化莫測。但至今，他已經和球隊無縫銜接，這已經超出了許多人的預計。凱爾特人要求他能夠在攻防兩端都有所表現，而歐文也在人們的質疑聲和壓力下做出了迴應。現在，他終於有機會成爲自己曾經期待的樣子，更何況，莫愁前路無知己，天下誰人不識君？

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