国际变革

Michael Lee

Giannis Antetokounmpos awareness isnt limited to what happens on the court. He knows when to perform， whether hes windmill dunking to the delight of about 20，000 fans or charming a crew from Chinas main sports broadcast provider.

扬尼斯·阿德托昆博不仅仅知道场上应该做什么。他还知道何时应该表现自己，不管是在20000名球迷面前表演大风车扣篮还是在中国主流体育电视媒体上发散自己的魅力。

Following a recent practice at the Milwaukee Bucks facility， Antetokounmpo was， as usual， the last player still hanging around when he decided to make some time for an interview with CCTV-5. When the hosts， Weiping Zhang and Manyuan Zhang， informed him that this conversation would be seen by nearly 100 million people， Antetokounmpo knew exactly what to say the moment the cameraman started recording.

在密尔沃基雄鹿队的训练馆训练后，和往常一样留到了最后的阿德托昆博依然留着，准备接受CCTV-5的采访。主持人张卫平和张曼源告诉他，接下来的采访将会有将近1亿人观看。阿德托昆博很清楚在开始录像后他要说些什么。

"Follow me on Weibo，"Antetokounmpo shouted with a grin into the camera before a question could be asked， citing Chinas most popular social-media platform.

“在微博上关注我吧。”阿德托昆博在被问问题之前就咧着嘴笑道，微博是中国最流行的社交媒体平台。

Antetokounmpo cracked some jokes over the next few minutes about how hes his favorite player， that he once tried chicken feet in China and took a liking to them， and even dropped a few phrases in Mandarin. Not willing to waste an opportunity， Antetokounmpo closed the interview with another request for more followers while setting up some anticipation for his next move. "Stay tuned for the Greek Freak Ones，" said Antetokounmpo， who just agreed to a signature shoe deal with Nike.

阿德托昆博在接下來的几分钟里讲了好几个笑话，他讲了自己最喜欢的球员，还提到了在中国尝试鸡爪并大赞其口味，甚至还说了几句普通话。在谈话的最后，他提到了自己接下来的计划，刚刚与耐克达成签名鞋合同的他表示：“敬请期待希腊怪物第一代。”不愿意浪费任何一个机会的他还在最后让大家在社交媒体上都去关注他。

Antetokounmpos star has never been brighter， with his game and profile extending beyond the seemingly endless bounds of his zipcode-covering strides. He had more All-Star votes than any player in the first ballot release， a surprising turn for an international player who doesnt hail from a nation with more than two billion inhabitants. Yao Ming is the only nonAmerican to get the most All-Star votes and hes been retired from the NBA since 2011. But what might have been even more startling than Antetokounmpo leading LeBron James in voting is that two players born outside the United States— Joel Embiid and Kristaps Porzingis — are third and fourth among Eastern Conference frontcourt players. These new young talents not only represent their respective franchises but also stand to serve as the face of the league for years to come.

阿德托昆博正处于生涯最意气风发的时刻，他受到了全球各地球迷的喜爱。在全明星投票的第一轮，他荣膺票王。这对于一个来自没有拥有二十亿人口的国家的国际球员来说让人十分惊讶。姚明是唯一一个荣获全明星票王的非美国人，他在2011年就已经退役。而比起阿德托昆博在全明星投票中领先勒布朗·詹姆斯更让人吃惊的是，两名非美国出生的球员：乔尔·恩比德和克里斯塔普斯·波尔津吉斯在东部前场球员投票中分别排名第三和第四。这些年轻的天才球员们不仅仅代表着自己的球队，也代表着联盟的未来。

"We believe we can do it，" Antetokounmpo told Yahoo Sports. "Its not that bad of a responsibility. I love it."

“我们都相信我们能做到，”阿德托昆博在接受雅虎体育的采访时说道，“这种责任不坏，我很喜欢。”

The beginning of this millennium proved to be the moment when the NBA had to take notice of the dream fulfilled by the Dream Team， as Dirk Nowitzki， Steve Nash， Yao Ming， Pau Gasol， Tony Parker， Manu Ginobili and a slew of international players came on the scene and knocked down barriers and myths， one by one， year by year， MVP by Finals MVP. Eventually， the craving for more skilled international players resulted in some ambitious swings and misses or， eventually， the acceptance that the next "fill in the blank" wasnt going to be found. That dynamic wave — which confirmed that franchise building blocks and foundational pieces of championship contenders could be found globally — is either gone， or gone gray.

在这个千禧年的开端，国际球员们纷纷登上了NBA的舞台大放光芒。德克·诺维茨基，史蒂夫·纳什，姚明，保罗·加索尔，托尼·帕克，马努·吉诺比利等等国际球员来到了NBA，打破了原有的隔阂与神秘。他们一个接一个大显身手，从MVP到FMVP。但人们对于再来几个这样技术娴熟的国际球员的渴望最终也导致了各种错误的交易和选择。再难找到一个国际球员的超级巨星，这种国际球员浪潮——已经证明国际球员能够担当球队基石和冠军拼图——逐渐消失或者说没落了。

But the next international wave appears to finally be here. Young players have arrived， possessing no fear of what cant be done and walking down roads that have already been paved and beautified with manicured accompaniments. They have flashy games， catchy nicknames， and aspirations for worldwide， household fame. LeBron James， Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant might be the current faces of the league， but it might not be long before they are sharing or ceding that popularity to an eager， determined bunch that includes Antetokounmpo， Embiid， Porzingis， Ben Simmons and Nikola Jokic.

LeBron James， Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant might be the current faces of the league， but it might not be long before they are sharing or ceding that popularity to an eager， determined bunch that includes Antetokounmpo， Embiid， Porzingis， Ben Simmons and Nikola Jokic.勒布朗·詹姆斯，斯蒂芬·库里和凯文·杜兰特也许是当下联盟的脸面，但也许不需要太久，国际球员们如阿德托昆博，恩比德，波尔津吉斯，本·西蒙斯和尼古拉·约基奇就将与他们共享荣光。

但下一次的国际球员浪潮已经再一次来到。年轻球员们来到了NBA，他们无所畏惧，沿着前辈的道路继续前进。他们有着高光比赛，好听的昵称以及全世界的欣赏，家喻户晓的名声。勒布朗·詹姆斯，斯蒂芬·库里和凯文·杜兰特也许是当下联盟的脸面，但也许不需要太久，国际球员们如阿德托昆博，恩比德，波尔津吉斯，本·西蒙斯和尼古拉·约基奇就将与他们共享荣光。

"These kids. Ridiculous，" Ginobili told Yahoo Sports. "They are so extraordinary in their talent， size， athleticism and abilities that we didnt used to see overseas. Overseas， you see more shooters and maybe guys with more basketball IQ but slower. We are talking about [some] of the top athletes in the league right now， which is unusual."

“這些孩子们，太不可思议了。”吉诺比利在接受雅虎体育采访时说，“我们过去在海外从没见过像他们这样的天赋，体格，运动能力。在海外联赛，你一般看到的都是射手，或者是拥有高球商但速度会慢些的球员。但他们现在是联盟中最顶尖的球员之一，这非常罕见。”