別不當(dāng)回事

Tim+Bontemps

More than a month has passed since the NBAs last competitive game， but a funny thing is taking place： The league is as relevant in July as it was when the Warriors were cutting down the Cavaliers in June.

距離NBA最后一場高強(qiáng)度對抗的比賽已經(jīng)過去了許久，可有趣的事情正在上演：和勇士砍瓜切菜般戰(zhàn)勝騎士相比，聯(lián)盟在長草期同樣得到了不小的關(guān)注度。

The NBA offseason has taken over the slowest month on the sports calendar， the one that falls between the end of the leagues championship round and the start of NFL training camp. And its happened in a way that， only a few years ago， wouldve seemed impossible to just about everyone within the sport.

NBA休賽期恰好碰上了體育日歷中最難熬的一個月，在總決賽和NFL訓(xùn)練營開營之間恰好出現(xiàn)了空窗。而現(xiàn)在發(fā)生的事情，僅僅幾年前也是任何人都認(rèn)為不可能發(fā)生的。

"I am a little surprised by the growth in interest， specifically in free agency and the Las Vegas Summer League， but its really just an extension of the remarkable growth in interest in the NBA weve seen over the last decade，" NBA Commissioner Adam Silver wrote in an email interview on Wednesday. "The whole game experience has never been more compelling or entertaining， and each summer a fresh set of story lines emerge that keep our fans engaged."

“人們興趣的增長讓我有點驚訝，特別是對自由球員市場和拉斯維加斯夏季聯(lián)賽的興趣，不過這只是過去十年人們對NBA興趣大幅提高的一種延伸?！甭?lián)盟總裁亞當(dāng)·肖華周四在郵件采訪中回答道，“比賽的整體體驗從來沒有像現(xiàn)在一樣引人入勝且具有娛樂性，每年夏天都會有一系列新的新聞點讓我們的球迷保持投入?！?/p>

That never-ending search for new story lines has fueled the NBAs surge in popularity during a time it once would disappear. With an ever-increasing appetite for coverage of the leagues offseason transactions - from the NBA draft in late June to free agency in July - and its annual summer leagues that showcase future stars， the NBA has taken hold during a period long dominated by another sport.

對新爆點的不斷尋找，促使NBA的熱度在一個本該消失的時間段反而出現(xiàn)了上漲。隨著人們對聯(lián)盟休賽期交易的興趣越來越高——從六月底的NBA選秀到七月的自由球員市場——以及聯(lián)盟未來新星在一年一度的夏季聯(lián)賽上展現(xiàn)各自實力，NBA已經(jīng)掌控了一個曾長期被其他運(yùn)動項目霸占的時間段。

"For the most part， the NBA had conceded the summer - not for the most part， all of it - to baseball，" said Warren LeGarie， a longtime NBA agent and co-founder of the Las Vegas Summer League. "For them， once the draft was finished， they went dark until the October camps started.

“很大程度上說，NBA放棄了夏天——不是大部分，而是全部交給了棒球?！遍L年擔(dān)任NBA經(jīng)紀(jì)人，也是拉斯維加斯夏季聯(lián)賽聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人的沃倫·勒加里表示，“對他們來說，一旦選秀結(jié)束，他們就徹底陷入沉默，直到10月訓(xùn)練營開營?！?/p>

"And that just didnt make any sense to me."

“在我看來這完全沒有道理?！?/p>

Now， the NBA not only doesnt cede ground during the offseason， it gains it. From the moment the NBA Finals end， the focus immediately shifts to the NBA draft （and a new NBA Awards show）， followed by breathless coverage of free agency that coincides with summer league - first with smaller events featuring a handful of teams in Orlando and Salt Lake City， followed by its showcase event in Las Vegas - with one flowing into another to keep interest in the sport at a fever pitch for weeks after the season ends.endprint

如今，NBA不僅不會放棄休賽期，他們還贏得了更多觀眾。NBA總決賽結(jié)束的那一刻起，人們關(guān)注的焦點立刻轉(zhuǎn)移到了NBA選秀（還有全新的NBA頒獎典禮），緊接著就是對自由球員鋪天蓋地的報道，時間恰好與夏季聯(lián)賽重合——首先是在奧蘭多和鹽湖城舉辦的小型賽事，接著就是拉斯維加斯的比賽——人們的興趣從一個事件轉(zhuǎn)向另一個事件，即便賽季結(jié)束，人們的狂熱也能延續(xù)好幾周。

Its a combination thats become irresistible both to fans and the leagues television partners， who see it as another avenue to seek returns on the massive investments they made this past season when a new TV deal kicked in.

這種結(jié)合已經(jīng)到了無論球迷還是聯(lián)盟的電視轉(zhuǎn)播伙伴都無法抵抗的地步，電視轉(zhuǎn)播商視之為增加收入的另一種手段，作為對上個賽季生效的新電視轉(zhuǎn)播合同這筆巨額投入的回報。

"The NBA summer league is closely aligned with NBA free agency， which has become hugely popular，" said Julie Sobieski， ESPNs vice president of programming， "and July is becoming just another hot popular month for the NBA."

“NBA夏季聯(lián)賽與自由球員市場緊密結(jié)合，變得異常流行?！盓SPN節(jié)目制作部門副總裁朱莉·索比斯基表示，“七月已經(jīng)成為NBA的另一個熱門月份?！?img src="https://cimg.fx361.com/images/2017/10/20/klan201709klan20170925-1-l.jpg" style=""/>

In an attempt to capitalize on that， ESPN has doubled down on its NBA programming. The network increased its coverage of the Las Vegas Summer League this year with 25 games shown on ESPN and ESPN2 and saw massive gains in viewership - largely thanks to the presence of this years summer league champion Los Angeles Lakers and the No. 2 overall pick， Lonzo Ball， which drew huge crowds.

為了抓住這一商機(jī)，ESPN的NBA節(jié)目數(shù)量已經(jīng)增加了一倍。今年，ESPN加強(qiáng)了對夏季聯(lián)賽的報道力度，他們在ESPN和ESPN2上直播了25場比賽，獲得了非常高的收視率——很大程度上這要感謝本年度夏季聯(lián)賽冠軍洛杉磯湖人和他們的二號秀郎佐·鮑爾，他們吸引了大量觀眾。

Meanwhile， ESPN also expanded its schedule for daily studio show "The Jump" Hosted by longtime NBA reporter Rachel Nichols， who is joined daily by an array of ESPN NBA reporters and former players， the show was initially supposed to take a break during the summer. Yet the increasing interest not only led ESPN to keep the show on the air year-round， but also to have Nichols host a pair of free agency specials on the opening two nights and some shows from Las Vegas during summer league.

與此同時，ESPN還增加了每日節(jié)目“The Jump”的安排。這檔節(jié)目由長年擔(dān)任NBA記者的瑞秋·尼克爾斯主持，眾多ESPN的NBA記者和前球員會加入討論，這檔節(jié)目原本夏天時是停播的。但觀眾越來越濃厚的興趣使得ESPN不僅讓這檔節(jié)目變成了全年播出，還讓尼克爾斯在最初兩晚主持了兩次自由球員特別節(jié)目，也在拉斯維加斯做了幾次夏季聯(lián)賽的節(jié)目。

"Well， we knew we were jumping on a moving train； I just dont think we knew how fast it would be going，" Nichols said. "Turns out， really fast. Offseason player transactions that used to barely rate a line at the end of a newspaper notes column have become the subject of hours of endless and breathless speculation， and even then， people still seem to want more."

“我們知道自己跳上了一列正在前進(jìn)的火車；我只是不覺得我們知道車到底開得有多快?！蹦峥藸査贡硎?，“事實證明，非?？臁Ｔ?jīng)最多在報紙最后一版消息欄里有一小條的休賽期球員交易，如今已經(jīng)變成幾小時沒完沒了爭論的主題，會引起無數(shù)猜測。即便如此，人們還是不滿足?！眅ndprint

"The Jump was an hour long during the playoffs， but we shifted back to our usual halfhour format for the offseason. I get emails or tweets almost daily now asking me when were going back to an hour — I keep saying， Um， you know its July， right？”

“The Jump季后賽期間是一檔一小時的節(jié)目，不過我們在休賽期換回了常規(guī)的半小時?，F(xiàn)在我每天都能收到推特和郵件，詢問什么時候才能恢復(fù)成一小時。我一直在說，呃，你知道現(xiàn)在是7月，對吧？”

Summer league exhibitions used to be an afterthought. What was once a loosely organized collection of teams convening for games in a variety of locations across the country with little or no fanfare has now become a massive marketing vehicle across nearly two weeks every summer in Las Vegas， where the league now also holds its annual meetings.

夏季聯(lián)賽過去只是冷門比賽。過去幾支球隊松散地組織在一起，在全美不同地區(qū)進(jìn)行比賽，幾乎沒有觀眾的聯(lián)賽，如今已經(jīng)成為龐大營銷工具，每年夏天在拉斯維加斯舉辦接近兩周時間，聯(lián)盟也在那里舉辦每年的定期會議。

The behemoth the Vegas Summer League has become was the brainchild of LeGarie， the longtime NBA agent who represents many of the leagues top coaches and executives - including Washington Wizards Coach Scott Brooks and Houston Rockets Coach Mike DAntoni- and his business partner Albert Hall， who saw an opportunity to capitalize on the lack of organization they saw in the leagues previous summer iterations which launched in 2004.

現(xiàn)在體量龐大的拉斯維加斯夏季聯(lián)賽是勒加里的創(chuàng)意，多年以來，他是聯(lián)盟很多頂級教練和管理層的經(jīng)紀(jì)人——包括華盛頓奇才主教練斯科特·布魯克斯和休斯敦火箭主教練邁克·德安東尼——和勒加里一同構(gòu)思的還有他的商業(yè)伙伴阿爾伯特·豪爾，他發(fā)現(xiàn)了商機(jī)，在2004年創(chuàng)辦了夏季聯(lián)賽。

Virtually every important decision-maker in the sport now makes an appearance in Las Vegas each summer and 24 of the leagues 30 teams took part this year — a number that will likely increase by at least one next season， when the New York Knicks are expected to return after the departure of Phil Jackson as team president.

每年夏天，體育界幾乎所有大佬都會在拉斯維加斯現(xiàn)身，30支球隊中有24支參加了今年的比賽——下賽季這個數(shù)字至少還會再增加一個，菲爾·杰克遜離任后，紐約尼克斯預(yù)計會重新參加夏季聯(lián)賽。

"Nothing extraordinary happens without a harmonic convergence of a lot of things out there， and usually its how you harness those different areas，" LeGarie said of the event， which set a record in attendance of 127，843 this month."Dont forget， when summer leagues started， it was mostly seen as a necessary evil， and most players saw it as some kind of a punishment when you played in them. There was some stigma in being a summer-league player."

“沒有眾多因素和諧地聚合在一起，就不會有好事發(fā)生，通常重要的是如何協(xié)調(diào)不同的領(lǐng)域?！崩占永镞@樣評價夏季聯(lián)賽，這個月，觀眾人數(shù)達(dá)到了創(chuàng)紀(jì)錄的127843人，“不要忘了，在夏季聯(lián)賽初創(chuàng)時，大多數(shù)人認(rèn)為那是必要之惡，大部分球員認(rèn)為參加這個聯(lián)賽是懲罰。成為夏季聯(lián)賽球員是一種污點?！?img src="https://cimg.fx361.com/images/2017/10/20/klan201709klan20170925-2-l.jpg" style=""/>endprint

That isnt the case anymore. The next generation of NBA stars takes the stage for an opportunity to prove themselves in front of fans， often with a parade of NBA stars courtside， looking on. Thats how LeBron James， on the night of the ESPYs - the night after baseballs All-Star Game， and traditionally the slowest day of the yearly sports calendar - became a national story when he sat on the baseline to watch Ball and the Lakers play in an exhibition game.

這種情況不復(fù)存在了。下一代的NBA明星把這里看作在球迷面前展現(xiàn)個人實力的舞臺，場邊通常還有眾多NBA明星坐鎮(zhèn)。這也正是勒布朗·詹姆斯在ESPY頒獎典禮當(dāng)晚坐在場邊觀看鮑爾和湖人比賽成為全美大新聞的原因——那天恰逢職棒全明星賽后第一天，傳統(tǒng)上也是體育賽事最少的時候。

It was the latest example of how the NBA has managed to do something only the NFL has been able to previously： maintain interest virtually year-round in its sport. And given the momentum the sport has seemingly gathered， it seems unlikely that will change anytime soon.

這是NBA做到了曾經(jīng)只有NFL才能做到的事情的最新例子：讓人們在全年時間都能保持對這項運(yùn)動的興趣?？紤]到現(xiàn)在的勢頭，這種情況短期內(nèi)不太可能出現(xiàn)改變。

"I dont think weve maxed out at all，" Nichols said. "The fan base for the NBA is so young and diverse； it really is a sport thats pointed forward. And there isnt a barrier to entry in being a basketball fan.

“我不覺得我們已經(jīng)達(dá)到最佳狀態(tài)了?！蹦峥藸査拐f，“NBA的球迷基礎(chǔ)非常年輕和多元化；這就是一個面向未來的運(yùn)動。成為籃球迷也不存在任何障礙。”

"If you want to have a complex understanding of the Xs and Os， theres certainly an endless amount for you to nerd out over， but you dont need to see the sport that way to know that a Steph Curry three-pointer， or a LeBron James chase-down block， is exciting."

“如果你想深入理解戰(zhàn)術(shù)，當(dāng)然需要無休止的學(xué)習(xí)?？刹恍枘菢拥膶W(xué)習(xí)，你也能知道庫里的三分或者勒布朗的追身大帽能讓人興奮?！眅ndprint