Nothing fuels NBA superteams quite like Team USA
LAS VEGAS —When LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh publicly donned matc
hing Miami Heat uniforms for the first time — at a raucous pep rally in Ameri
can Airlines Arena on July?10, 2010 — the sight of three all-stars in the sam
e jersey represented something larger: a shift in how NBA teams are constructe
d.
當LBJ、Wade、Bosh這三個人2010年在熱火的組團，比起看到同一場球賽三位球星穿著同
一件球衣，更大的事情是這改變了NBA球隊的組建方式。
Eight years after the Big Three danced onstage amid billowing smoke, NBA stars
are dictating player movement more than ever. Nothing has fueled that power m
ore than Team USA, an incubator of sorts for such bold-name partnerships.
在LCD連線之後八年，NBA球員們更多地掌控自己的權利，沒有什麼能比美國隊訓練營更好
推進球員們成為各自球隊工作夥伴。
“If you don’t have a super team, or three superstars, or three all-stars on
your team, it’s very hard to win,” Washington Wizards guard John Wall said a
t Team USA’s minicamp last month.
如果你沒有一支超級球隊，或是球隊裡
沒有三個全明星，或是三個超級巨星，就很難贏球，Wall在上個月的美國隊迷你訓練營說
。
Such movement has already led to a direct pooling of talent on Team USA itself
. Of the 35 players in contention for spots on next year’s World Cup roster,
five — Durant, Cousins, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green — ar
e Warriors. Three others — Paul, Harden and Eric Gordon — are Rockets. With
another eight teams featuring two players in the program, 24 of the 35 players
on Team USA’s preliminary roster come from 10 of the NBA’s 30 teams.
在美國隊35人的大名單中，5個來自勇士，3個來自火箭，另外8支球隊有兩個人入選，35
人當
中的24個人，來自聯盟30支球隊中的10支球隊。
Retired stars from Charles Barkley to Scottie Pippen to Michael Jordan have de
rided modern superstars for joining forces to chase championships, which baffl
es current players.
從Barkley到Pippen再到Jordan，他們都嘲笑現代球星聯手組隊，這讓現在的球員們感到
困惑。
“No team has won [a title] where one single guy was the lone star and it was
their team. It’s not that era. I’m not sure how the veterans, the legends, d
on’t understand that part,” said George, who stayed with Westbrook by re-sig
ning with the Thunder this summer.
沒有一支球隊能夠依靠單核奪得總冠軍，這個時代已經不存在了。我不知道為什麼那些傳
奇球星們不明白這一點。現在的比賽已經完全不同了，PG說。
“It’s a different game now. For those guys to chime in and say we’re not bu
ilt the same . . . I never understood that, because who would we be fooling
if we went out alone and tried to go up against the Warriors?
現在的比賽已經不同了。某些人還說不要跟風抱團，我從來不理解。難道我們要一個人去
對抗勇士嗎？我們這是在騙誰？
“The best guy in our league right now couldn’t do it. [James] got swept [in
the 2018 Finals]. So that just goes to show you at this point what it takes to
win. Because you need guys that are alike talent-wise and skill set-wise to w
in championships.”
我們聯盟裡最好的球員也無法做到這點，（LBJ）在今年總決賽被橫掃。所以這告訴你現
在怎樣才能奪冠。因為你需要其他擁有天賦和技術的球員來幫你奪冠。PG說。
Through the first seven decades of NBA history, championship teams were built
by general managers drafting, trading for and, occasionally, signing one star
free agent. Regardless of the era — the Boston Celtics of the ’60s, ’80s an
d even late 2000s, the Los Angeles Lakers of the ’80s and early 2000s, the ’
90s Chicago Bulls — championship DNA was forged only one way.
在NBA歷史中剛開始，冠軍球隊可以藉由交易、選秀或在自由市場簽下一位球星來打造，
無論是60、80年代甚至2000年代末的塞爾提克，80年代或2000年代初的湖人或是90年代的
公牛，冠軍基因都以同樣的模式被建立。
James, Wade and Bosh changed that paradigm.
LBJ、Wade、Bosh這三個人改變了這個風氣。
“Back in the day, guys were stuck on teams,” George said. “It was up to the
front office to build around that one guy, and that one guy was going to brin
g championships to them. It’s not the same now. . . . [Players] understand
that, and we know what it takes.”
PG表示：回到過去，球員們會一直眷戀於一支球隊。球隊管理層會圍繞著那個球星打造球
隊，而那個傢伙真的能給他們帶來總冠軍。但現在已經變了，球員們要知道這一點，要知
道怎樣才能奪冠。
Front-office executives, for their part, see benefits in stars taking a more p
roactive role in team building, especially if it inadvertently helps the franc
hise’s bottom line more than the players’.
對球隊管理層來說，他們樂意看到球員在組建球隊中扮演更重要角色。
Though players taking increased ownership can siphon some control from the fro
nt office, multiple executives said players taking pay cuts to fit under the s
alary cap, all for the purpose of banding together, only helps general manager
s
儘管球員可以從管理層那得到球隊較大的控制權，但多位球隊管理層表示，球員們需要減
薪控制薪資空間，這只會幫到各球隊GM。
Not everyone, though, can participate in this arms race. Being part of Team US
A allows Mike Conley Jr. an opportunity to look at what could be — but isn’t
. Though he has been a key part of Memphis’s successful run this decade, incl
uding seven straight playoff berths and an appearance in the 2013 Western Conf
erence finals, those “Grit ’N’ Grind” Grizzlies had no realistic shot at s
tars such as James, Durant or Harden on the open market.
然而，並不是每個人都可以參加這場軍備競賽。作為美國隊的一員，Mike Conley Jr.有
機會看看會有什麼 - 但事實並非如此。儘管他已成為曼菲斯這十年的重要組成
部分， 包括連續七個季後賽席位和2013年西區決賽出場，但對他們來說，在自由市場得
到像LBJ、KD、Harden這樣的球星，對他們來說並不現實。
“Yeah, it definitely can be frustrating,” Conley said. “Being in Memphis, b
eing part of a smaller market, you have a tough time in free agency, and you h
ave to build through the draft. With all the things teams have been able to ac
complish through free agency, and through all the player movement, you kind of
miss out on that.”
Conley對此表示：是的，這很令人沮喪，在曼菲斯這樣的小市場球隊裡，很難通過自由市
場來尋求什麼，你必須得通過選秀來建立球隊。其他球隊可以通過自由市場來組建球隊，
你感覺就像被拋棄了。
“A lot of people need to understand this: Players want to win,” the Rockets
’ Gordon said. “They want to go to winning situations. When you have a winni
ng culture, things become so much easier. It’s good to see all these super te
ams, because [it means] guys are willing to win.”
很多人必須去了解這點，球員想要贏球，他們想處在贏球氛圍中，當你有了贏球文化，事
情都會變得很簡單，因此很樂於見到這些超級球隊組成，因為這意味著球員們想要贏球。
Gordon說。
But once those stars align, Harden cautioned, it’s up to them to make it work
.
但一旦這些球星們聚在一起，Harden表示，要讓他們起到作用還是得靠他們自身努力。
“You’ve got to figure it out. You’ve got to compete,” the reigning league
MVP said. “You’ve got to get your [butt] in that gym and try to get to that
level that the top is at. If you don’t, you’re never going to get there.”
你必須去找出辦法磨合。你需要去努力競爭。你需要訓練館中拼命，試著達到那種頂級水
準。如果你做不到的話，你永遠都無法達到那個水平。Harden說。
記者末段總結：
Honing one’s craft alone isn’t enough. For the game’s elite to win, it requ
ires picking up the phone.
現在僅僅一個人磨練的球技是不夠的。這些為了贏得比賽的精英們，還需要拿起電話。
來源：
https://goo.gl/2BfwVk
短評或心得：
這樣看起來記者認為LCD是始祖嗎