剛剛看到有人已經PO了，但自己花了很久時間翻譯實在是不想這樣浪費。
自己是印大畢業的老人，看到這篇文章非常的有感觸，讀著讀著眼眶也有一點紅了。
https://www.theplayerstribune.com/en-us/articles/victor-oladipo-pacers-playoffs
他們會矢志不渝的擁護你 by Victor Oladipo
They’ll Embrace You Like No Other by Victor Oladipo
You know something’s when your mom is calling you by your full name.
當媽媽叫你全名的時候，你就知道大事不妙了
“Victor, what is going on?”
“Victor，到底是怎麼回事？”
“I don’t know, Ma, I really don’t”
“媽，我不知道，我是真的不知道”
It was last June. I had just landed in Baltimore from OKC and my phone went
crazy when I turned it on. I knew the Pacers trade was real, but seeing it
everywhere online really made it set in. Even the positive comments were
getting under my skin. I was sitting there like, do they mean “locker room
guy” as a compliment?
還記得那是六月底，我剛從俄城落地巴爾的摩，手機就一直響個不停。我知道自己被交易
到了遛馬，但直到我開始閱讀網路上的文章，這件事才漸漸有了真實感。就算是那些還算
正面的評論對我來說都份外尖銳….. 說我是“休息室開心果”究竟是褒是貶？
You know, you always hear the expression about sports being a business. But it
’s also life. I’d been through a trade less than a year before that, from
Orlando, and so in that moment it was hard not to take it personal — two
teams for whatever reasons seemed like they’d given up on me. That’ll hurt
your feelings, doesn’t matter who you are or how much you believe in
yourself. So when my mom was wondering why teams kept moving me … I didn’t
really know what to say. I couldn’t just tell her it was a “basketball
decision.”
我相信所有人都聽過那句名言：體育不過是生意場…. 但同時它也是我生活的全部。不到
一年之前我才剛剛被奧蘭多魔術交易，當下我很難冷靜看待再度被交易這件事… 在不到
一年內，兩隻球隊因為不具名的理由放棄了我。無論你對自己是多有信心，任何人在這種
狀況下都會深受打擊。所以當媽媽開始問我為什麼兩隻球隊都不要我了，我啞口無言。我
不知道該說什麼。我不想告訴他這只是另一個“生意場”決定。
Doma was my next text. Had to be. Doma is Domantas Sabonis. That’s my guy.
He was really the only person who was going to understand.
這之後我簡訊了多瑪，也只能是多瑪。多瑪是我兄弟Domantas Sabonis的小名，我想現在
這個時候只有他能夠真正了解我的感受。
We’d done this before. Doma was in the trade to the Pacers with me, but we’
d also been together since pretty much the moment he got drafted by the Magic
in 2016. We got traded together to OKC. Now to Indy. So I knew Doma wouldn’t
want me to sugarcoat anything, but I had to check in with him — let him know
what I was thinking. I texted him what I knew was true:
我們早就一起經歷過風浪。多瑪和我都在這場交易中被送到了遛馬，但自從他於2016年被
魔術選到的那一刻，我們就被綁在一起了。這之後我們一起被從魔術交易到了雷霆，現在
又從雷霆來到遛馬。我知道多瑪不需要我太美化這整件事，但是我必須讓他知道我的想法
，我簡訊他：
“I promise, if you win here in Indiana, they’ll embrace you like no other.”
“我保證，只要你在印第安納贏球，他們會矢志不渝的擁護你”
I felt a little better right away. I called my mom back and told her
everything was going to be all right. I really believed it, too. I couldn’t
have told you exactly how it was gonna work out or how we’d get there, but I
knew. I just knew. Because I knew that not every trade is the same, just like
not every state is the same.
送出這封簡訊後，我馬上感覺舒服了一點。我給我媽打了一通電話，告訴她我會好好的。
我是真的這麼認為，我也如此相信著。我不確定接下來事情會如何發展，但我知道，我就
是知道：沒有任何一場交易是相同的，就像沒有一個地方能和印第安納州一樣。
And I knew this wasn’t just any trade. It was the Pacers. It was Indiana,
and I knew Indiana.
我知道這不只是一場普通的交易。我來到的是遛馬。我來到的是印第安納，我最熟悉的那
個印第安納。
I wasn’t going to just another team. I was coming home.
我不是被交易到了另一隻陌生的球隊，我回家了。
Jed Jacobsohn/The Players' Tribune
I got to Bloomington, Indiana in 2010. Coming out of high school in Maryland,
I chose Indiana because of the program’s history, but really I had no idea
how serious people in Indiana took basketball. I think even right now very
few people outside of Indiana recognize how much basketball means to the
state. There’s a basketball hoop in every driveway. It’s all Hoosiers and
Pacers flags. And a big high school game pretty much shuts an entire
community down.
我在2010年來到印州的布魯明頓（印第安納大學的主校區），身為一個馬里蘭出身的高中
生，我因為印大豐富的籃球歷史而選擇了這間學校，但其實我完全不知道印州州民竟然是
如此的看重籃球這件事。就算是現在，很多外州的人也並不了解籃球在印第安納有著多麼
重要的地位。每個家庭的車道幾乎都有籃筐，每個房子上都插著印大山地人（印大籃球隊
隊名）或是遛馬隊的旗幟。一場重要的高中籃球比賽就足以讓整座城市癱瘓。
And when you’re on the IU team, they know. Like, they really make a point to
get to know you.
而當你是印大籃球隊的一員時，你更是轟動全州的風雲人物，人人都會想方設法得認識你
。
But it was funny, nobody knew how to pronounce my name when I first got to
Indiana. I remember the first week of classes freshman year, I had to go
through the same conversation with every teacher.
但好笑的是，當我初來乍到印大時，沒人知道我名字的正確發音。我記得我大一第一周上
課時，我必須教我每一堂課的老師如何正確發我名字的音：
Oh-la-DIppo, Oh-la-DYE-poe, Oh-la-PEE-do. And every variation in between.
“奧啦睇波”，“歐啦呆波”，“歐啦屁杜”，其他更是不勝枚舉。
“Ohhh. Oh-la-DEE-poe.”
“哦哦哦哦，原來是歐拉迪波啊！”
Other than that, my name didn’t get said very much by anybody freshman year.
When I arrived on campus in the summer — they had just opened up Cook Hall
— I was getting shots up in the gym by myself when this dude on his way out
stopped to talk to me. Didn’t know who he was. It was late at night so I
worried I wasn’t supposed to be in there.
除此之外，在我大一那年，我的名字並沒有被很多人提起。當我在2010年暑假第一次來到
校區時，Cook hall才剛剛落成（Cook hall是印大籃球隊的訓練基地），我正準備到館裡
做自主投籃訓練。這時一個哥們兒正好從裡面走出來，打量了一下我並開始和我聊天。我
不知道他是誰，我只是有點擔心是不是訓練館要關門了所以有人要趕我走。
“What are you doing here so late?”
“你這麼晚來這裡幹嘛啊？”
“Gotta be in here every night if I want to play in the NBA.”
“如果想打NBA的話，我必須每晚都這樣訓練”
That’s what I told him.
我這樣告訴他
“Man,” he shook his head. “NBA? You got a long way to go.” And then he
kept shaking his head and just walked out!
“兄弟”，他搖了搖頭，“想打NBA? 你的路還遠著呢” 然後他就這樣一邊搖頭一邊走出
了訓練館。
But for real, I had some confidence issues early on. I remember even months
after that, when I had been training all summer, on the first day of practice
Verdell Jones came in and tore me apart. He scored on me at will, and I couldn
’t get anything going on him offensively. I sat down on the bench after
practice in shock. I had tears in my eyes, literally. I had worked hard all
offseason, and it looked like it was all for nothing.
但說真的，我一開始的確是有一些信心問題。記得在那之後幾個月，我經歷了一整個暑假
的精實訓練後，卻在球隊開訓的第一天被Verdell Jones（印大當時的主力得分後衛，大
學畢業之後沒有進入NBA，現在在日本打球）完完全全的摧毀殆盡。他盡情的在我頭上得
分，而我在進攻上完全嘗不到一點甜頭。訓練結束後我呆坐在板凳上，久久不能自己。我
記得當時我的眼眶裡有淚水打轉…. 整個暑假的辛苦訓練看來是完全白費了。
Then it happened again the next day. Like an exact repeat of the day before.
The thought crossed my mind that I was never going to be good enough to play
college ball. Maybe that would be the last anyone heard of Victor
Ooh-lay-PEE-do.
第二天基本上也是相同的劇情，我記得當時滿腦子想的都是自己應該永遠沒辦法成為一個
夠格的大學籃球運動員。也許再也沒有人會有機會認識“歐啦屁杜”了。
I got a few starts late my freshman season. By the time sophomore year rolled
around, I was a starter. I wasn’t a national name … but man, they were
getting to know me in Indiana.
我在大一球季臨近結束的時候得到了幾場先發的機會，並且在大二那年成為印大先發五虎
的一員。雖然我當時還未舉國聞名，但至少印第安納州民已經開始認識我了。
And it wasn’t like they just knew how to pronounce my name. No, they knew me
everywhere in Bloomington. For my 8 a.m. class every morning I’d have to
wear headphones from the time I went out the door to the time I sat down at
my desk, just so I wouldn’t be late because of all the people who would come
up and try to talk to me. I wouldn’t even be playing music most of the time,
so I could hear people whispering my name.
他們並不僅僅是想要知道我名字的正確發音而已，整個布魯明頓都認識我。即使是去上八
點的早課的路上，我都必須全程戴著耳機以防路人把我攔下來聊天，才能避免不遲到。許
多時候我不會放音樂，就只是單純的戴著耳機而已，因為這樣我就能一邊走路一邊聽到路
人交頭接耳說著我的名字。
I wanted to talk to everybody. I really did. It was a thrill to be known like
that. Every time somebody said my name or pointed me out, it made me want to
work that much harder and be that much better the next time I stepped on the
court.
我其實真的很想停下來和所有人聊天，被全世界認識的感覺真是太棒了。每當有人說出我
的名字，或是指向我的時候，這會激勵我更加刻苦訓練，在下一場比賽贏得更好的表現。
Those three years in Bloomington were just — they changed me. Yeah, I became
a better basketball player, but it was also the first time I saw an entire
community be so passionate about a single thing. About a game we were
playing. I learned that interacting — even just taking the time to stop and
talk once in a while with the community — can actually change people’s
entire outlook on life.
在印大的那三年完全改變了我。除了成為了一個更加出色的籃球運動員外，我也第一次親
歷一件事情可以讓整個社區如此激情澎湃：我們的籃球比賽。我意識到自己與他人的互動
，即使只是偶爾駐足閒聊，也能給別人帶來巨大影響。
I learned that basketball can help you be a part of something bigger than
yourself.
籃球讓我得以超越自我，超越個體。
I ended leaving for the NBA after my third year at IU but I’d gotten enough
credits to get my degree a year early. After the commencement ceremony was
over for our graduating class, that guy from the first day in the gym tapped
me on the shoulder. He asked if I remembered that night, when I told him I
was going to make it to the NBA.
大三賽季後我決定投入NBA選秀，在此之前我便已經修完足夠學分，並拿到學位證書。畢
業典禮結束後，那位我剛入校時在訓練館遇到的兄弟拍了拍我的肩膀，問我是不是還記得
那天晚上，我告訴他自己將會成為一個NBA球員。
His name was Dave. Dave had been more right than I knew.
他的名字叫大衛，當時的他的確說對了，加入NBA是一條漫長的路。
Today Dave works at CAA, and he’s one of my best friends. Dave was never the
kind of guy to blow smoke. He said it’d be a long road, but he also didn’t
say it was impossible.
今天的大衛在CAA工作，同時他也是我最好的朋友之一。大衛從來不講虛話，他說過NBA會
是一條漫長的路，但他從沒說那是一條不可能的路。
I see you, Dave.
我終於明白了，大衛
Jed Jacobsohn/The Players' Tribune
Guess where my first away game was my rookie year? Indiana. When I was
introduced, I got a standing ovation.
時間快轉到我NBA新人賽季的第一個客場比賽，猜猜在哪裡？沒錯，就在印第安納。當球
場DJ介紹我出場的時候，我得到了全場起立鼓掌的待遇。
That’s love. I felt at home.
這就是愛，我感覺自己回到家了。
I can’t tell you how special it feels when you think about how in only a few
years, you can go from nobody knowing how to pronounce your name, to 20,000
people chanting it in unison. And I was on the opposing team.
我無法告訴你在短短幾年內，從沒人知道你名字的正確發音，到全場兩萬人整齊劃一的起
立高喊你的名字，而你竟是客隊球員，是一種多麼美妙的感覺。
It was like that every time I came back. If I was playing for Orlando,
Oklahoma City, it didn’t matter. If I ever went out in Indiana I was
embraced by the people. Everyone remembered the years I played in college and
talked about them like I was still on the team. Even when I was away, I was
tied to Indiana.
我每次來到這個球場都會獲得如此待遇，無論我是代表魔術還是雷霆。無論我走到哪裡，
印第安納人都無比的擁護我。所有人都記得我為印大拼戰的那些年，並且把我當成他們永
遠的一份子。就算我不在印州了，我也還是印州人。
And now here we are.
而現在，我回來了。
Maybe you’ve never been to Indiana. Or maybe you’ve just visited once or
twice. Never even really thought about it. It’s a flyover state, right? One
that’s easy to glance over on a map.
你可能永遠沒有來過印第安納，又或許你曾經路過這裡一兩次，也從來沒把這個“中轉州
”放在心上，畢竟它是一個如此容易在地圖上被忽略的存在。
And I bet that when you heard about the Thunder-Pacers trade, you were
thinking about Paul George. Doma and I — we were a package deal, traded for
the second time in a year, going to a non-contender in a flyover state.
所以我打賭，當你聽到雷霆與遛馬交易的時候，你可能只會想到Paul George。我和多瑪
不過是添頭，是交易案的部分籌碼而已。我們在一年內第二次被交易，而且還是被交易到
一個沒有爭冠實力的“中轉州”球隊。
We know what it feels like to be overlooked.
我們早就習慣被忽視的感覺。
And so do a lot of guys on our team. And a lot of people in our arena. We
know what it feels like when somebody gives up on you.
許多在我們隊上的人，以及更多在球場替我們吶喊的印州球迷也是如此。我們比誰都更知
道那種被忽視看輕，以及被別人放棄的感覺。
Ron Hoskins/NBAE/Getty Images
That’s all over now. Nobody’s giving up on anybody this year.
這一切都要結束了，今年，沒有人需要放棄任何人。
It goes back to what I texted Doma the day we both got traded. I knew Indiana
would embrace him — embrace all of us — in the way only this state can.
回到我在被交易當天告訴多瑪的那句話：我知道印第安納會矢志不渝的擁護他，也擁護我
們所有人，只有這個州才會如此。
And we’re gonna need you right now, Indiana. The rest of the league might
have forgotten about us, but you haven’t. Forget what the standings say.
Forget the MVP race. Enough with all of that. We know who we’re playing for.
You know what this team’s about. We’re ready to make a run in these
playoffs. Right now.
我們現在比任何時候都需要你們，印第安納。整個聯盟似乎已經忘了我們，但只有你們沒
有。忘記聯賽排名吧，忘記那些關於MVP鹿死誰手的話題吧，我們已經聽夠了。我們知道
自己是為了誰在奮鬥，你知道這支球隊是為何而戰。我們已經準備好面對季後賽了…..
就是現在。
To everybody else, yeah, maybe we’ve got a lot to prove.
對其他人來說，或許我們還有很多需要證明的。
But that’s never stopped me before.
但我從來沒有因為這些停下自己的腳步。