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Kawhi Leonard’s ‘load management’ not going down easy in Los Angeles
可愛的"工作量管理"不會簡單的在洛杉磯落幕
After his year-long sabbatical in foreign parts, America has noticed that
Kawhi Leonard has changed. And America doesn’t like it.
在可愛國外休假一年後，美國發現可愛變了，而美國並不喜歡這種改變。
Leonard ditched Canada for his hometown, Los Angeles, over the summer. The
separation was about as amicable as these things get.
可愛拋棄了加拿大回到他的家鄉。這個分手非常的和平。
There was no public cursing as he went out the door. No one in the Raptors
organization is slagging him behind his back, but there is some ruefulness
about the process. Though Leonard went through the proper motions, Toronto
never had a shot. The organization didn’t see that until it was already over.
沒有人公開咒罵他，暴龍隊裡面沒有人責怪他，當然整個過程有點殘忍。雖然
可愛表現的還算得體，暴龍從來就沒有任何的機會，它們卻到整個過程結束了才
了解到（它們只是被當作喊價的）。
No one wants to see Leonard fail, exactly. But it would be nice if it were
proved he’d have been better off here.
沒有人想要看到可愛失敗，但看到可愛仍夠變的更好的話更好。
On that score – and it is still very early days – things are looking good
(i.e. bad).
目前來看，他看起來過的不錯（不好）
Leonard returned to the United States newly minted as the NBA’s ideal
winner. He’d taken a team from Canada, for God’s sake, and turned it into a
champion. He’d done it largely by himself.
可愛的回歸被視為NBA的理想贏家。他把一個加拿大的球隊變成冠軍，而他幾乎靠他
自己做到了這一切。
What people hadn’t taken into consideration was how he’d done it.
而人們沒有考慮到的是他怎麼做到的。
Leonard was a part-time employee during the 2018-19 regular season. He took a
quarter of his games off, most with no explanation.
在去年球季，可愛只是個打工族，他有1/4的球季沒有上場，而且沒有給任何理由。
The Raptors created the term “load management” to excuse these vacation
days. The NBA responded with a “Yeah, yeah, whatever. We told you only to
use this number if it’s an emergency”.
暴龍創造了一個名詞"負載管理"做為這些假期的藉口。
NBA官方的回應是："好啦～好啦～隨便你啦～只有緊急的時候才用這個號碼打給我
好嗎？（不要來煩我）"
Leonard’s absence was permitted because no one in the NBA knows or cares
what is happening up here. For years, the Raptors might as well have been
playing on the moon.
可愛的缺席是允許的，因為沒有人在NBA在乎北方發生了什麼事。在過去幾年
暴龍隊或許已經去月球打過球幾次了。
They had next-to-no national TV commitments in the United States. No
Christmas Day games. No prime-time tipoffs in the postseason. They were
functionally invisible back at NBA HQ.
暴龍隊在美國沒有全國轉播，沒有聖誕大戰，在季後賽沒有被注目，整體而言
它們在NBA總部眼裡是看不見的。
If Leonard wanted to spend the whole season poolside in Boca Raton, the only
people who would notice were Raptors fans. And Raptors fans weren’t
bothered. They wanted Leonard fit for the playoffs. How he managed it was his
business. Even the media refused to pick up the story.
如果可愛整季都要花時間在Boca的泳池旁邊，大概只有暴龍球迷會注意到。
但暴龍球迷並不會在意，他們希望可愛季後賽的時候可以健康。他要怎麼
做是他自己的事，媒體甚至不想報導這件事。
That situation has changed. Somewhere between his “fun guy” intro and his
T-1000 routine in the playoffs, Leonard has become the most fascinating man
in the league. He was always good, but is now recognized as basketball’s
most reliable closer. He’s leap-frogged the Jameses, Currys and Durants in
the U.S. imagination.
情況改變了。在他的"方蓋"個性和季後賽的T-1000型號魔鬼終結者之間，可愛已經
變成了聯盟中最迷人的人物。他總是很棒，但現在他變成籃球比賽中最值得信賴的
終結者。在美國的想像中，他已經超過詹姆斯、curry和杜蘭特。
In an age of carefully curated public personalities, Leonard’s lack of one
seems revolutionary. He’s become the Thomas Pynchon of pro sports.
Completely inscrutable, but everyone wants to pretend they understand him.
在精心塑造個人形象的時代，可愛沒有個性的形像是革命性的。他完全無法被理解，
但每個人都想要假裝自己了解他。
Leonard presumed he could move to the U.S.'s second-biggest media market,
take a wing-dinger of a contract, create an outrageous amount of tumult
around the manner of his arrival (Batman with his hand-picked Robin, Paul
George) and then just continue on as he had. Apparently not.
可愛被認為他可以來到美國第二大的媒體市場，拿著巨額的合約，隨著他的到來
創造大量的風潮（蝙蝠俠帶著他自己挑選的羅賓-喬治)，並且繼續做他原本在做
的事。但顯然事情不是這樣發展的
Acquiring Leonard turned the L.A. Clippers into must-see TV. The team will
appear in two, and sometimes three, nationally televised games each week. The
next one happens Monday, against the visiting Raptors. Leonard gets the main
Christmas Day time slot – 8 p.m. ET against the Lakers.
可愛的到來讓快艇變成必須要在電視上出現的隊伍，它每週都會在全國電視上出現
二～三次。下一次是週一對上來訪的暴龍，而且可愛還會出現在耶誕大戰中。
In moving to L.A., Leonard took a squadron of camp aides with him. They
oversee his physical well-being. He is more of a subcontractor of the
Clippers than an employee. As such, he sets his own hours.
來到LA，可愛帶來了一整票人在他身邊監控他的健康狀況。他跟快艇之間比較像
是承包商關係，而不是員工。所以他可以安排他自己的時間。
He has continued his Toronto practice of skipping a game when the team plays
on consecutive nights. On Wednesday, he took a pass on a fairly big occasion
– Clippers versus Bucks (i.e. Kawhi versus Giannis).
他繼續施行在暴龍隊施行的不打背靠背比賽政策。只是這次他省略了一個相當重要的
比賽：快艇對公鹿（可愛對字母哥）
Everyone freaked out. The U.S. press piled in as though he’d missed work
because he was hungover. It became a great big story.
每個人都嚇壞了，媒體以為他是因為宿醉酒喝太多才缺席工作（疑？）。這變成一個
大事件
Even the most pragmatic members of the broadcast media were outraged. No
wonder. If the stars don’t care about the regular season, then why should
the fans? That is not a good precedent for the TV business.
甚至連最務實的傳播媒體都不爽了。如果球星不在乎例行賽，那球迷幹麻在乎，
這對整個電視圈不是一個好的先例。
The Clippers tried the same load-management line the Raptors had sneaked by
easily. It no longer works. The league fined the team US$50,000 for sitting a
healthy star.
快艇想要嘗試跟暴龍一樣的負載管理，但它不在管用了，聯盟罰了它們$50000。
The money doesn’t matter. Leonard makes nearly 10 times that amount per
outing, whether he plays. But the signal it sends does. Load management is no
longer kosher.
錢不重要，可愛每場賺的錢是它的10倍，不管他有沒有打。但它所傳達的訊息卻不是，
負載管理已經不再合適了。
By that point, the Clippers had figured out an important life lesson – that
it isn’t what you tell people, it’s how you tell them. “Load management”
became “managing a knee injury.” The two things are the same (if there’s
no injury load to manage, there’d be no need to manage it). But one sounds
better. The NBA agreed.
這時候，快艇學到重要的一課：不是你告訴人們什麼，而是你如何告訴他們的。
"負載管理"變成了"管理膝傷"。這兩個基本上一樣（如果沒有傷勢需要管理，
那也不需要去管理它）。但這聽起來好多了，所以聯盟也同意了。
It’s working for now. It may not work for long.
這個現在還行的通，但能夠用多久？
You can see other teams and coaches losing their patience. The Clippers play
a back-to-back next week – at Houston and New Orleans. The Houston game is
nationally televised. It would be very like Leonard to skip that one, just to
make a point. We’ll see how that goes over.
你可以看到其它隊伍和教練已經失去了他們的耐心了。快艇下週又會在背靠背打
火箭和黃蜂。火箭的比賽是全國轉播的，但大概也是可愛會跳過的。我們會看看
這事要怎麼落幕
After the New York Knicks’ R.J. Barrett played 41 minutes the other night,
his coach was asked to justify the expenditure of energy. He was not best
pleased.
在紐約新秀打了41分鐘後，他的教練被問到他的上場時間是否合適，教練很不高興：
“We gotta get off this load-management crap,” David Fizdale said. “The kid
’s 19 years old. Drop it.”
"負載管理是什麼鬼東西？，這個孩子才19歲大，不要去管那個"
Which guarantees no one will drop it.
誰能夠保證大家都不去理它呢？
You can see the NBA’s double-bind here. The league is paid a lot of money by
broadcasters. Broadcasters who expect to be broadcasting the biggest stars
from the biggest teams on a nightly basis. Leonard is now the biggest in both
regards. What if the rest of the talent starts getting notions?
你可以看到NBA的兩難。聯盟從轉播單位得到了很多錢，轉播單位期待說他們每晚
都可以轉播到最好球隊裡最好的球星的出賽。可愛是目前最大牌的球員，又在最受注目
的隊伍裡。如果其它隊伍的球星也注意到了怎麼辦？
Teams expect the rules will be enforced evenly. No one cared what Leonard did
in Toronto. But now that everyone’s attention has been focused on him, it
looks as though he’s getting special treatment.
每個隊伍都希望可以公平執法。沒有人在乎可愛在多倫多做了什麼。但現在大家的
注意力都在他身上，彷彿就像是他獲得了特殊待遇。
Thus far, Leonard’s said nothing and felt no need to do so. The man is a
stump – immovable. The last time a team tried to force him to do something,
he essentially quit. If the NBA gets on top of him here, things could get
unpredictable in a hurry.
目前，可愛什麼都沒說也覺得沒有必要這麼做（註：有說聯盟公佈他的傷讓他震驚）
這個男人跟樹一樣無法移動。上次有隊伍逼他做事的時候，他辭職了。如果聯盟要
逼他，事情很快的會無法預測。
One thing we do know about Leonard is that he doesn’t like fuss. He wants to
be left alone to do his work. He had that freedom in Toronto. Now, in L.A.,
not so much.
我們知道可愛不喜歡小題大作，他想要自己一個人去完成他的工作。在多倫多，他有
這樣的自由，在LA，沒有太多。
You can never know what’s going through Leonard’s mind. But one does wonder
if he’s beginning to consider whether getting exactly what you want is all it
’s cracked up to be.
你永遠不知道可愛在想什麼。但我們會想知道他是否會開始想要不要得到他一定要得
到的事。
心得：
這個介紹其實還蠻完整的