战后之战

Steve Netrk

There is a gaggle of Hinkies inside the Barclays Center Starbucks. It looks like a Philadelphia suburb in here. Its about 5 p.m.， and a group of red， white， and blue Sixers shirts crowd around a laptop， hashing out trade and draft scenarios in unabashed Philly accents. What about Nash and L.A.s no. 7？ What about the 3， 10， and 32 for Clevelands no. 1？

巴克莱中心的星巴克里坐着一群吵闹的76人球迷，这里有一种费城郊区的感觉。下午5点，一群身穿红、白、蓝76人T恤的人围坐在一个电脑跟前，操着明显的费城口音大声讨论着交易和选秀进程。纳什加湖人的7号签怎么样？用3号、10号和32号签换骑士的状元签怎么样？

A dad in line explains to his young son —wearing a Mavs Shane Larkin jersey — who Kiki Vandeweghe is， and who the Knicks might be able to get with their newly acquired secondround picks.

一个正在排队的父亲正给自己的小儿子解释谁是奇奇·范德维奇，他儿子身上穿的是一件小牛肖恩·拉金的球衣。这个父亲还在讲尼克斯能用新交易来的二轮选秀权选下哪个球员。

“Cleanthony might be there，” the dad said.

“克林东尼（厄里）应该还有希望。”父亲说道。

I suggest Thanasis Antetokounmpo， and， like a genie summoned from the NBA-nerd depths， a towering， milk-pale beanpole of a teenager in a black Joe Johnson Nets T-shirt materialized and asked if we went to any of the signing appearances that took place over the weekend throughout the city.

我建议选萨纳西斯·阿德托昆博，这句话就像有魔力一样，召唤出了一个身穿篮网乔·约翰逊黑色T恤的瘦高NBA宅男。他问我这个周末有没有参加纽约市里举办的各种球星签名会。

“I chased Giannis two blocks to get his autograph. Hes my favorite player，” Teen Iso Joe said. Then he asked， “Do you think LeBron will leave Miami？”

“我追了吉安尼斯两个街区，就为了拿到他的签名。”身穿“单打乔”的小年轻说道，然后他问：“你觉得勒布朗会离开迈阿密吗？”

If you listen to the Lowe Post podcast from this week， you will hear Zach Lowe and Brian Windhorst — two of the most rational， well-connected reporters in the business— describe a volatile NBA landscape of interlocking， potentially cascading deals. It sounded like they were just waiting for Gavrilo Princip to shoot Archduke Ferdinand①. Or， in this case， for Kevin Love to get traded.

如果本周你听了洛威的播客，你能听到扎克·洛威和布莱恩·文德霍斯特两个业界最理性、关系网最广的记者讨论NBA内部错综复杂的关系，以及稍纵即逝的交易可能性。听起来他俩就像在等待加夫里洛·普林西普枪击斐迪南大公一样。或者在这里，他们在等待凯文·勒夫被交易的消息。

There is a sense that anything could happen. LeBron and Melo to Houston？ LeBron back to the Cavs？ LeBron to the Clippers for the midlevel exception？ LeBron signing a oneyear deal with Miami and strangling Wade with his belt while Bosh holds Wades arms？ Wiggins at no. 1？ Parker at no. 1？ Trade the no. 1？ Anything and everything.

我们有一种感觉，任何情况都有发生的可能。勒布朗和梅洛去休斯敦？勒布朗回骑士？勒布朗跟快船签一份中产特例？勒布朗跟热火签一份一年合同，然后用皮带勒死韦德，波什在一旁帮忙按住韦德的胳膊？威金斯会是状元？还是帕克？交易状元签？一切皆有可能。

At any given moment over the past week， I have had 21 tabs open， 10 Google Alerts set， and Twitter running in the background. And I still managed to miss the Omer Asik trade when it was announced.

过去一周的任何时候，我盯着21家媒体网站，开了10个谷歌新闻提醒，电脑上时刻滚动着推特消息，可我还是错过了欧米尔·阿西克的交易。

We have entered a world of fantasy basketball② brought to life， and this is exactly the way the NBA wants it. Lowe touched on this in his Asik trade post. You combine a byzantine collective bargaining agreement that promotes player movement via shorter contracts and harsher luxury tax rules； a new breed of hedge-fund executives who view the league as a pure marketplace for accruing flippable assets； impatient owners looking to make their mark； the sports-discourse bubble and its increasing obsession with “legacy”； and the bottomless 24-7-365 maw of the social-media age， and you get a league that essentially has no offseason.

我们仿佛把范特西篮球带入了现实生活，而这正是NBA希望看到的一幕。在阿西克交易的文章里，洛威提到了这个话题。我们有一个极端复杂的劳资协议，这份协议使得球员更多地签下短合同，而且规定了严厉的奢侈税规则。我们有了一群新的球队管理层，他们用管理对冲基金的方式管理球队，他们把联盟视为利用交易累积财富的市场。我们有了缺乏耐心想要证明自己的老板。我们读过数不清的体育文章，我们越来越执迷于“遗产”这个概念。再加上社交媒体时代对任何事件全天候无死角的覆盖，事实上，联盟根本不存在休赛期的概念。

Since 1980， only nine teams — the Lakers， Celtics， Sixers， Pistons， Bulls， Rockets， Spurs， Mavs， and Heat — have won the title. And yet， somehow， the NBA has managed the trick of turning an eight-month-a-year sport， with a remarkable dearth of competitive balance， into a year-round soap opera. The league has done this in part by turning an event that is essentially a reward ceremony for bad basketball teams into a borderline riotous， all-inclusive celebration of the business of basketball.

从1980年开始，只有9支球队赢得过NBA的总冠军，分别是湖人、凯尔特人、76人、活塞、公牛、火箭、马刺、小牛和热火。可NBA不知道用了什么方法，把一个一年8个月、而且竞争严重不平衡的联赛，变成了一年一度的肥皂剧。之所以能做到这一点，部分原因就在于联盟把一个本质上是回馈烂队的事件，转变成了一个热闹的，包容一切的篮球大事。

Sam Hinkie treated a draft workout like the nuclear launch codes； Dante Exum emerged from high school in fucking Australia to garner comparisons to Kobe， Scottie Pippen， and Dwyane Wade； and Joel Embiid had surgery. His medical records became something pro sports teams tried to buy， and Embiid went from being compared favorably to Hakeem to recalling memories of Bill Waltons feet. Oh， and at some point， he tweeted this：

萨姆·辛基（76人总经理）像对待核武器发射密码一样小心对待新秀试训；丹特·艾克萨姆从偏僻的澳大利亚高中冉冉升起，被人们拿来和科比、斯科蒂·皮蓬还有德韦恩·韦德对比；乔尔·埃比德动了手术。职业球队纷纷想出钱买下他神秘的医疗记录，而埃比德也从模板奥拉朱旺，沦落到让人想起比尔·沃顿那悲剧的脚。哦，他在某一刻还发了这样一条推特：

Im a Laker.

我是湖人，

Then he deleted it. Welcome to the NBA， Joel.

然后他删了这条推特。欢迎来到NBA，乔尔。

Back to Barclays. Its showtime， and Sixers fans are everywhere. Even before Adam Silver takes the stage， chants of“Lets go Sixers” rain down. Philly turned up tonight. This is their championship； this draft is tankings final victory.

回到巴克莱中心。现在是表演时刻，到处都是76人球迷。亚当·萧华还没上台时，球馆里就响起了“76人加油”的喊声。76人雄起了。这就是他们的冠军，这次选秀就是摆烂大赛最后的胜利。

As lively as the atmosphere in the arena is， despite being here in person， it quickly becomes clear that the only real way to follow the news of the night is through social media. Silvers onstage announcements are no match for reporters with league sources and Twitter accounts.

尽管我来到现场，亲眼观看选秀进程，但很快我就明白，想真正不遗漏今晚各种消息的办法，还是社交媒体。萧华在台上宣布结果的速度，远远比不上记者们的消息源和推特。

Andrew Wiggins at no. 1 hits my TweetDeck about a minute before the draft clock hits zero； its the same with every single other pick， all night. All over the arena， people are checking their phones， leaning over to tell their friends whats coming. At one point， Yahoos Adrian Wojnarowski was legitimately four picks ahead of corporeal reality. Its like watching Game of Thrones with someone who has read the books and keeps telling you whos about to die.

在选择时间还剩1分钟左右时，我的推特上已经出现了安德鲁·威金斯成为状元的消息。其他每个签位都是如此，一晚上都是这样。体育馆里的所有人都在看手机，然后告诉身边的朋友未来将会发生什么。雅虎的亚德里安·沃纳罗斯基甚至比现场选秀快了4个签位。这种感觉就像看电视剧《权力的游戏》一样，旁边总有个读过原著的人，不停地告诉你哪个角色会死。

To follow the NBA in 2014 is to enter a state of augmented reality. The granular， dealswithin-deals level of detail needed to really understand the league on draft night is only accessible through Twitter， which has basically become the NBAs real-time Bloomberg terminal. The CBA rules act as the leagues DNA， mandating its structure — which players move， who can be kept， and for how much. The only way to even try to understand it is online. The currency of fandom is hope， and the draft is the embodiment of that hope. This focus on the deal has elevated the front-office executive to a weird sort of stardom while ever so subtly dehumanizing the players. You know， assets.

想在2014年关注NBA，我们其实面对的是更广大的现实社会。想在选秀夜真正摸清联盟里各个交易繁冗的细节，我们只能依靠推特，说实话，推特已经成为NBA的实时新闻终端。劳资协议就像NBA的DNA，确定了联盟的基本规则——哪个球员会被交易，谁能被留下来，还有更多的细节。即便想搞懂这些复杂的问题，唯一的办法就是上网。“希望”是球迷帝国的流通货币，而选秀就是希望的具体化表现。球迷对交易的执念，已经把球队管理层捧成了某种奇怪的明星，与此同时，这里也有一种难以察觉的，把球员不当人看的感觉。财产嘛，你懂的。

So it was heartening that Silver and the NBA took a moment to recognize Isaiah Austin， whose pro basketball dreams were cut short by a diagnosis of Marfan syndrome during a draft physical. After the 15th pick， Silver announced Austin as a ceremonial selection of the NBA， and the former Baylor center took the stage to a standing ovation.

所以说，当伊塞亚·奥斯汀得到萧华和NBA的认可时，我们会觉得非常感动，奥斯汀在选秀前的体检中被查出患有马方综合症，导致他的职业梦碎。15号签选秀结束后，萧华宣布奥斯汀成为联盟的荣誉新秀，这个前贝勒大学的中锋走上舞台时，得到了人们的起立致敬。

It was a touching moment， a nice reminder that players are more than their stats and cap figures.

这是一个令人感动的时刻，这提醒我们，球员不只是冷冰冰的数据和合同数字。

The NBA has always marketed its stars. Now its marketing its marketplace. Tanking for picks， swapping picks， stashing players in Europe like the Adriatic League is a 401（k） …its fun to follow， no doubt. But， when you consider what the draft really is， draft night and its assorted bartering is a little like rearranging the deck chairs on several Titanics， and selling tickets to the rearranging ceremony.

NBA总是在推销自己的球星，现在他们又开始推销自己的市场。为了选秀权摆烂，交易选秀权，把球员像私下开的养老金账户，藏在诸如欧洲亚得里亚海联赛那种地方？毫无疑问，这些东西很有意思。可是当你想到选秀到底是怎么回事，想到选秀夜以及它的分档，就好像是在重新排列泰坦尼克号上的座椅顺序……而且他们还卖票让我们看，一切了然了。

The NBA wanted a hot stove league； what it got is a forest fire.

NBA希望自己成为一个火爆的联赛，可他们得到的其实只是场野火。

End of the night. Past security， past the rows of laptops and television cameras， I take the steps up from the arena floor into the seats of the lower bowl. Barclays is emptying out. At the landing， leading out to the concourse， NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum appears on the stage below to announce the Knickspick at 51. New York had already taken Cleanthony Early at 34. As I leaned over the railing to watch， Tatum announced Thanasis Antetokounmpo. Starbucks Dad and I hit both of our picks.

那天晚上最后，我走过保安，穿过一排排电话和电视摄像机，从球场地板区走到底层看台座位区。巴克莱中心已经空了，在下面人群汇集的地方，NBA副总裁马克·塔特姆走上舞台，宣布尼克斯在第51顺位的选择。尼克斯早在第34顺位就选了克林东尼。当我探过围栏伸头看时，塔特姆说出了萨纳西斯·阿德托昆博。星巴克老爹和我的预言都实现了。