忠誠

Kevin+OConnor

THE KYRIE IRVING-ISAIAH THOMAS TRADE HIGHLIGHTED THE DESIRE FOR BOTH PLAYERS AND FRONT OFFICES TO MOVE ON FROM THE STATUS QUO DURING A HECTIC SUMMER. ITS NOT A GOOD OR BAD THINGITS JUST A REALITY OF THE LEAGUES COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE.

凱里·歐文與伊塞亞·托馬斯的交易，正是球員和管理層在忙碌的夏天不愿停留在原地的真實寫照。這事無所謂好壞——不過是聯(lián)盟競爭狀態(tài)的現(xiàn)實。

If the NBAs summer of 2017 doesnt underscore that loyalty in sports is pure fiction， then what will？ Chris Paul left Los Angeles. Paul George forced his way out of Indiana. The Bulls stunned Jimmy Butler. Gordon Hayward dumped Utah. Kyrie Irving abandoned King LeBron James. The Celtics blindsided Isaiah Thomas. But with players increasingly influential when it comes to their brands， short-term deals， constant speculation， and long-term planning by savvy executives， our ideas about player-to-team loyalty and team-toplayer loyalty have been thrown out the window. Everything we think we know about sports tells us that Irving should want to stay in Cleveland， and Boston should want to keep Thomas—but the opposite is true.

如果2017年夏天的NBA還不足以說明體育界的忠誠是個十足的謊言，還有什么能說明？克里斯·保羅離開了洛杉磯，保羅·喬治想盡辦法離開了印第安納，公牛的操作讓吉米·巴特勒目瞪口呆，戈登·海沃德拋棄了猶他，凱里·歐文離開了“皇帝”勒布朗·詹姆斯，伊塞亞·托馬斯被凱爾特人打了個措手不及。可隨著球員對各自品牌，短期合同和持續(xù)不斷的傳言的影響越來越大，加上管理層理智的長期計劃，我們所謂球員對球隊的忠誠及球隊對球員的忠誠，已經(jīng)被徹底拋在了腦后。按照我們以往對體育的認知，歐文應該留在克利夫蘭，凱爾特人應該留住托馬斯——可現(xiàn)實卻恰恰相反。

After Thomas was traded， Caron Butler and Ray Allen took to Instagram to call out perceived hypocrisy： When players arent"loyal" to their teams theres outrage， but theres no similar reaction when， say， a team trades a player who played in a game two days after his sister passed away while recovering from dental surgeries and battling a painful hip injury. Allen would know： He left the Celtics for the Heat in 2012， one month after Miami beat Boston in the Eastern Conference Finals， which earned him a "Judas Shuttlesworth" nickname. He wrote on Instagram， "It is just a business so when the teams do it there should be no difference when the players do it！"

托馬斯被交易后，卡隆·巴特勒和雷·阿倫在Instagram上指出了人們認識上的虛偽：球員不“忠誠”于球隊時，人們感到憤怒，但是當球隊交易走了一個妹妹去世兩天后就上場比賽，剛剛做完牙科手術，臀部傷病仍在恢復中的球員時，人們卻不會產(chǎn)生類似的反應。雷·阿倫對此再清楚不過了：2012年，熱火在東部決賽擊敗凱爾特人后一個月，他離開波士頓加入邁阿密，這讓他得到了“猶大沙特沃斯”的綽號。他在Instagram上寫道：“這不過是場生意，所以球隊做的和球員做的沒區(qū)別！”

The executives and agents Ive chatted with agree； they dont think anything of the choices made by the players and teams this summer."Every team operates pretty much the same way， which is virtually the same way nearly every business on earth operates，" said an NBA agent， who requested to be anonymous. Kevin Durants choice to leave the Thunder for the 73-win Warriors birthed the the My Next Chapter meme and a perception that he took the easy way out. Durant went on The Bill Simmons Podcast at the end of August， and had this to say： "Guys have been getting traded in their sleep for years. Guys have been getting the shitty end of the stick for years. I mean， some guys have been fucking over organizations， too. Its no loyalty. Its business. Theres money involved."

和我交流的管理層及經(jīng)紀人認同這種觀點；他們對球員和球隊今年夏天的選擇沒有異議。“每支球隊的運作方式基本相同，地球上幾乎所有生意都是這么做的?！币粋€要求匿名的NBA經(jīng)紀人表示。凱文·杜蘭特離開雷霆，加入73勝的勇士，導致“我的下一章”表情包的誕生，在外界眼中，他選擇了一條輕松的道路。杜蘭特8月底在比爾·西蒙斯的播客上說了下面這段話，“多少年來，球員睡覺時被交易，多少年了，球員一直在吃虧。我的意思是，有些人也在整球隊。這里沒忠誠可言，就是生意。這里涉及到錢了。”

You can feel however you want to feel if your favorite player gets traded or signs somewhere else. The range of emotions we all feel while watching， rooting， talking， and thinking about our favorite teams is what fuels our love for the game. But as the NBA evolves and grows， there are ways to alter what we expect from teams and players and how we respond to their choices.

如果你最喜歡的球員被交易，或者簽約其他球隊，產(chǎn)生什么想法都不為過。觀看比賽，支持球員，談論，思考最喜歡的球隊，這讓我們對籃球的愛越來越深?？呻S著NBA不斷發(fā)展，我們對球隊，球員的期待，以及對他們選擇的反應，都要做出改變。

One of the common responses to Irvings decision to request a trade from the Cavaliers was， "Why would he want to leave LeBron， one of the greatest players ever？ Does he not care about winning？" Ive read it on Reddit—and NBA executives Ive texted with have expressed the same sentiment. Irving said during his introductory press conference that his decision was simply about doing what was best for him："going for something bigger than myself and honestly being in an environment thats conducive for my potential." The only way to grow was to escape from LeBron Jamess towering shadow. But LeBron is the one who lay the path for Irving， as well as for the other players who chose their own destinies this summer.

針對歐文向騎士提出的交易請求，一種常見的反應是：“他為什么想要離開勒布朗這個歷史上最偉大的球員之一？他不在乎勝利了嗎？”我在Reddit上讀到了這種說法——和我短信交流的NBA管理層也表達出同樣的情緒。歐文在新聞發(fā)布會上表示，他的決定只不過是在為自己做最好的打算：“追求更重要的目標，處于一個有利于我的未來的環(huán)境?！背砷L的唯一方法，就是逃離克利夫蘭，逃離勒布朗遮天蔽日的陰影。但勒布朗卻是給歐文，以及其他在今年夏天選擇了自己命運的球員開辟道路的人。

CP3 also opted for personal empowerment. So did George. So did Hayward. Disloyalty should be the expectation， not the exception. Loyalty is a two-way street where both teams and players are licensed to drive. Ultimately， this is where my mind has changed over the last 10 years or so.

同樣，保羅為了自己做出了選擇。同理，還有喬治和海沃德。不忠誠應當成為預期，而不是例外。忠誠是一條雙向車道，球隊和球員均有權駛入。不管怎么說，過去十多年，這就是我的思想轉變。

Teams stab players in the back all the time. Players do the same. Its reality： The frequency at which it occurs doesnt make it any easier to deal with， but it does mean that theres a level of shock that should be removed from these situations. LeBron could have handled leaving Cleveland for Miami better， but maybe it had to be that way to empower players to make decisions that benefit their lives. Durant mentioned on The Bill Simmons Podcast that its the relationships with the people in the organization that hes still loyal to， not the organization itself. Its hard to be loyal to something that， by its very nature， is everchanging.

Daryl Morey and Danny Ainge would be lesser general managers had they considered loyalty a good business model.

球隊無時無刻不在背后向球員捅刀，球員亦是如此。這就是現(xiàn)實：事件發(fā)生的頻率讓人難以招架，但也意味著面對這些情況時不必再去震驚。離開騎士加入熱火時，勒布朗本可以處理得更巧妙，但也許只有那么做，才能給球員足夠的力量，讓他們做出有利于自己的決定。杜蘭特在比爾·西蒙斯的播客上提到，他和球隊工作人員仍然保持著良好的關系，忠誠于他們，只是不忠誠于球隊而已。我們很難忠誠于一個本質上永遠在變的事物。

Front office work requires a certain level of callousness. The Bulls， Celtics， and Rockets reshaped their rosters this offseason with surprising trades. While I dont like the return Chicago got for Butler， it was the right decision to move on. Houston and Boston got considerably better， on paper. You could make the argument that Daryl Morey and Danny Ainge would be lesser general managers had they considered loyalty a good business model.

管理層的工作需要一定程度的麻木不仁。公牛，凱爾特人和火箭在今年休賽期用令人意外的交易調整了各自陣容。盡管我不喜歡公牛交易巴特勒得到的回報，但那是正確的決定?；鸺蛣P爾特人的陣容紙面上得到了不小的提升。你可能會說，達雷爾·莫雷和丹尼·安吉如果把忠誠看作優(yōu)秀的商業(yè)模式，那他們做總經(jīng)理就不夠優(yōu)秀了。

It was only four short years ago， in the summer of 2013， when Ainge traded two Celtics legends， Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett， for a bunch of Nets draft picks and replacement-level players. My fiercely loyal Celtics-fan boss didnt like the trade， and neither did a lot of other fans. It wouldve been easy to keep Pierce and let him fade off into the sunset after a year-long farewell tour in a Celtics uniform. Boston took a gamble on the future. No one couldve expected the deal to work out at the level it did. The Nets died. The Celtics ascended. Here we are today.

短短四年前，2013年的夏天，安吉交易走了保羅·皮爾斯和凱文·加內特這兩個凱爾特人傳奇，換來了籃網(wǎng)的一堆選秀權和角色球員。凱爾特人的狂熱球迷不喜歡這筆交易，不少其他隊的球迷也不喜歡。留住皮爾斯，讓他穿著凱爾特人隊服完成一年的退役巡演，最后消失在夕陽下，這并不困難。波士頓拿未來打了一個賭。沒人想到這筆交易能變成現(xiàn)在的狀態(tài)?；@網(wǎng)死了，凱爾特人在步步高升。這就是現(xiàn)狀。

Bostons long web of trades and signings that started in 2013 culminated when Ainge acquired Irving for the 2018 Nets pick， Jae Crowder， Ante Zizic， and， of course， Thomas， who won the hearts of an entire fanbase this past season. Boston fell head over heels for Thomas after he dropped 53 points in the playoffs. "I always dream of moments like this，" Thomas said after the game. "Those are where legends are born. And one day I want to be one of those guys." Thomas meant it， and his love for the fans was not unrequited. But to reach their ultimate goal of winning a championship， the organization had to ignore those fuzzy feelings.

凱爾特人始于2013年的多年的交易和簽約網(wǎng)，終于在安吉用2018年籃網(wǎng)的選秀權，杰·克勞德，安特·日日奇和過去一個賽季贏得所有球迷喜愛的托馬斯換到歐文時達到了頂點。托馬斯在季后賽拿下53分時，波士頓人對他愛得神魂顛倒。“我一直夢想這樣的時刻?！蓖旭R斯賽后這樣說道，“那是傳奇誕生之地，我希望自己有一天也能成為傳奇?！边@是托馬斯發(fā)自內心的想法，他對球迷的愛不求回報?？扇羰窍雽崿F(xiàn)贏得總冠軍的終極目標，球隊就必須忽視這些感情。

“我會讓你們自己想象那段對話有多難——對我和伊塞亞來說?！卑布诮灰淄瓿珊笳f，“伊賽亞剛剛打完了一個出色的賽季，給整個波士頓帶來了快樂，每個人都愛上了他。你知道，因為身材他那么不被看好，但他有一顆大心臟有競爭精神。做出這個決定很有挑戰(zhàn)性。”

An agent texted me that "Danny would trade his son Austin if he had to." I believe it. The Celtics had just won 53 games， earning them the no. 1 seed， and went all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals. Now they have only four returning players： Al Horford， Marcus Smart， Jaylen Brown， and Terry Rozier. How many organizations in sports would seriously return only one-quarter of their roster after the season they had？ Its so easy to accept the status quo when things are going well. Some owners would love for a nice jog on the playoff treadmill as a six-seed every year. But it was the right choice for Ainge and the Celtics. The team was good and full of overachievers， but it wasnt great like it needed to be for them to achieve their ultimate goal.

一個經(jīng)紀人發(fā)短信對我說，“如有必要，丹尼連自己的兒子奧斯汀都會交易”。我相信他的話。凱爾特人剛剛贏下了53場常規(guī)賽的勝率，成為賽區(qū)第一，一路打進了東部決賽。可他們現(xiàn)在只剩四名老球員：埃爾·霍福德，馬庫斯·斯瑪特，杰倫·布朗和特里·羅齊爾。體育界有多少球隊能在打出那么優(yōu)秀的一個賽季后只有四分之一的球員回歸？進展良好時，人們很容易接受現(xiàn)狀。有些球隊老板愿意每年作為六號種子在季后賽溜達一圈，可對安吉和凱爾特人來說，他們做出了正確的決定。球隊狀態(tài)很好，有很多人突破了外界的預期，但想實現(xiàn)最終目標，那還不夠好。

Any backlash Boston receives for the choices they made or grief Houston gets for trading away a fan favorite in Patrick Beverley will quickly fade as their reloaded teams surpass the good-but-not-great edition fans fell in love with. Sure， its no guarantee. The failed Lakers superteam still looms.

凱爾特人和火箭因為交易走受球迷喜愛的帕特里克·貝弗利受到的抨擊，會隨著重裝上陣的球隊超越球迷之前愛上的“出色但不優(yōu)秀”的那一套陣容而逐漸消失。當然，這種結果并不一定必然出現(xiàn)。湖人超級球隊失敗的影響還沒消除。

Basketball is constantly shifting， and that reality can sometimes be cruel. Jazz fans would find it hard to lose Hayward， as Bulls fans would with Butler. But there are always new fan favorites waiting in the wings. And they， too， will eventually either abandon the team or get forced out. Thats business； thats life.

籃球不斷地在變動，現(xiàn)實有時非常的殘忍。爵士球迷可能覺得忘記海沃德很艱難，公牛球迷對巴特勒也難以忘懷。但總有下一個深受球迷喜愛的人會出現(xiàn)，而這些人，最終要么被球隊拋棄，要么拋棄球隊。這是生意，也是人生。