來源：The Mercury News
網址：http://tinyurl.com/y822v4ma
How Warriors’ sponsorship deal with Rakuten indirectly helps with building a
roster
勇士與樂天的贊助結盟如何影響勇士的球員名單
The two close teammates stared at each other’s jerseys in awe. Moments
later, Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala stood up and showed off their
customary white and blue uniform for everyone else to admire.
嘴綠跟小AI互相看著對方的新球衣，讚嘆了一下，然後站起身來讓記者會裡的人都欣賞一
下勇士藍白相間的球衣。
The familiar image featured a new twist: after agreeing to a three-year, $60
million deal with Rakuten, the Warriors will wear a 2.5 by 2.5 inch badge of
the Japanese tech company. After Warriors and Rakuten officials spoke
glowingly of their new partnership, Iguodala addressed how it impacted him
besides his uniform’s design.
熟悉的制服有一些小改變：在與日本樂天達成三年6000萬鎂的贊助合約後，勇士的球衣上
面加上了一個2.5吋x2.5吋大小的樂天標誌。在勇士跟樂天開心的發表他們的贊助合約後，
小AI說了有關這合約如何影響到他。
Iguodala suggested such a deal indirectly ties into the Warriors willingly
signing him this summer to a three-year, $48 million deal.
小AI暗示像這樣的贊助合約間接的讓勇士願意跟他在今夏簽下三年4800萬鎂的約。
“There’s a premium on great brands coming together,” Iguodala said as a he
stared at Warriors general Bob Myers.
「大品牌結盟會有更多錢~~」小AI看著勇士總管Bob Myers說到。
While Green belted in laughter, Myers shook his head out of amusement. “This
is what I was dealing with,” Myers said. Moments earlier, Myers jokingly
teased Iguodala for his free agency becoming “somewhat difficult.”
聽到小AI的說法，嘴綠笑到不行，而總管則是笑著搖搖頭。「你們看，這就是我每天面對
要處理的，」總管Myers說。而在那之前不久，Myers還取笑了一下小AI，說他的自由球員
合約『有點難搞』。
“The better the player, the more they cost to be honest. They deserve it, by
the way, and so we want to give it to them,” Myers said. “The more revenue
for the league, the more revenue for the players, and the thing that’s
exciting about a partnership like this is the whole NBA benefits. The players
benefit, the ownership benefits. So it’s exciting.”
「老實說，越好的球員越貴。那是他們應得的，而我們也想給他們應得的，」Myers說。
「聯盟的錢越多，就會有更多的錢可以給球員，所以像這樣的結盟會讓整個聯盟都受
益。球員受益，老闆們也會受益，所以這是值得高興的。」
The Warriors benefitted by securing more financial means of absorbing luxury
tax penalties because of business deals, including their latest one with
Rakuten. Yet, the Warriors stress their roster-building strategy does not
hinge on dollars and cents. Case in point, Warriors chief marketing officer
Chip Bowers said the team declined a bigger financial deal so it could sign
with Rakuten. The Warriors won two NBA titles in the past three seasons
partly because they kept and bolstered their championship roster in hopes to
secure more champagne celebrations.
勇士球團受益的原因是像這樣與樂天的贊助合約可以幫忙分擔奢侈稅，不過勇士加強他們
的陣容名單並不僅僅只是靠錢。舉例說，勇士的市場推廣主任Bowers說球隊推掉了一個更
大筆的贊助合約，而選了樂天。勇士三年兩冠靠的是加強他們的球員名單，希望可以有更
多的冠軍慶祝。
“It’s never been about making a profit,” Myers said. “It’s been about
trying to win championships, and for someone like me in my position, that’s
the greatest gift you can have is go try and win, what do you need to go do
that. But certainly partnerships like this do help, and hopefully we can do
as many as we can.”
「目標從來就不是在賺錢，」總管Myers說。「目標是在贏得冠軍，像在我這樣位置的人，
能得到最好的回報就是去拿冠軍，以及如何去拿到冠軍的過程。但是，這樣的贊助結盟很
有幫助，我也希望可以有更多像這樣的結盟。」
After all, other NBA teams have tried to stockpile their rosters in hopes it
could somehow expose weaknesses in Golden State’s depth. Meanwhile, the
Warriors are mindful they have yet to defend their NBA title after
squandering a 3-1 lead to Cleveland in the 2016 NBA Finals.
畢竟，其他球隊也在努力組團，想要找到勇士的弱點。同時，勇士自己也記得2016年的
3-1領先後來卻被騎士翻盤的歷史…
Hence, Iguodala anticipates the Warriors going through a “very mental year”
when training camp begins on Sept. 22 after appearing in three consecutive
NBA Finals. So it seemed fitting the Warriors concluded Tuesday’s ceremony
by unveiling their latest championship banner.
因此，在連續三年打入總冠軍後，小AI預期今年勇士將會度過一個刺激的一年，而訓練營
會在9/22開始，所以在星期二的儀式上看到勇士最新的冠軍旗幟也不會太不合了。
“That’s going to be in the back of our minds, how do we be very strategic
on how we go about the season, the schedule, although the NBA has done a
great job not giving us a crazy schedule this year,” Iguodala said. “But (we
’re) really looking forward to that, bringing everyone back. A lot of teams
made a lot of moves to try to disrupt what we’re trying to do, so we’re
very aware of that, and we’re very excited to start the season in a week and
a half.”
「這一季我們會如何有策略的打比賽，如何排輪值，我們會記在心裡，雖然聯盟今年盡力
把賽程搞好，不會像之前那樣瘋狂，」小AI說。「但是我們非常期待新球季，期待看到每
個人可以回來。我們也知道很多球隊做了很多交易想打敗我們，所以我們非常期待再一個
禮拜多就要開始的新球季。」