年我們從NBA中學到了什麼?

We think of the passage of NBA time in seasons, for obvious reasons. There's connection, a continuum. It's how we remember things that happen, in the course of a season of play. But there's some benefit to looking back at a calendar year, January 1 to December 31, and what we've learned in that process. After all, many say the "unofficial start" to the NBA season is Christmas, with the new year starting soon after. So here are the lessons we learned about the NBA in the year 2017.

我們總會不斷地去思考着NBA一個賽季接着一個賽季的時間流逝，原因也很明顯。在流逝的過程中，每一項事物都是有聯繫的，整個過程就是一個連續體。這就是我們記住在一個賽季當中所發生事情的方式。當我們翻看日曆，從1月1日到12月31日，回顧一下我們在這個過程中學到了什麼，對我們來說是很有好處的。而且，很多人說NBA賽季的“非正式開端”是聖誕節，也正是因爲新年很快就要開始了。下面是我們在2017年裏所學到的關於nba的經驗教訓。

Warriors winning title was inevitable

勇士衛冕幾乎板上釘釘

As we began 2017, the Warriors were in a rocky point with their upgraded super-team. They'd lost to most of the other premier Western Conference teams, and just lost to the Cavaliers on Christmas. Maybe, just maybe, this super-team was mortal just like the 2016 team that looked invincible was. As it turns out, in a word, nope.

當2017年開始的時候，勇士陣容已經堅如磐石，整體陣容再度升級。上個賽季伊始，勇士隊輸給了很多西部的競爭對手，還在聖誕大戰中輸給了騎士隊。也許，也只是也許，這支超級球隊還是會輸球，即便它看起來和2016年那支球隊一樣不可戰勝。但實際上，簡單來說答案就一個字，不。

Golden State righted itself over the next few months. Kevin Durant suffered an injury which let Stephen Curry be Stephen Curry again, and when Kevin Durant returned, the team had found a balance between their two MVPs. The result was a terrifying burst through the playoffs, as the Warriors swept the Western Conference playoffs. Portland offered no resistance. Utah put up a noble effort but still couldn't get a game. The Spurs led by 20 ... and then Kawhi Leonard went down with an injurywhen Zaza Pachulia stuck his foot out, and that was that.

在接下來的幾個月裏，金州勇士就恢復正常了。因爲凱文·杜蘭特受傷，讓斯蒂芬·庫裏重新成爲那個無所不能的斯蒂芬·庫裏，當凱文·杜蘭特重返球隊的時候，球隊也在他們這兩個MVP之間找到了平衡。於是季後賽橫掃西部的可怕爆發顯然可以預料得到。開拓者被打的毫無還手之力，爵士拼盡全力但仍無法獲得一場比賽。本來馬刺很有可能拿下一場比賽，在那場比賽中他們一度領先20分，然後，當扎扎帕楚里亞墊了一隻腳之後，科懷·倫納德便受傷了，結果就是這樣。

The result was a loss of playoff revenue so steep that it actually hurt the cap situation of teams trying to find room to compete with the Warriors. The Finals were supposed to be the last hope, the last chance, and there were those who foolishly kept telling you not to count out LeBron James. Well, I've covered five LeBron Finals, and I'm here to tell you: he knew. He spoke about Golden State with a tone of "What can I do? They won 73 games, I beat them, they added Kevin Durant." The Cavaliers managed to make things close with a chance to win in Game 3 before Kevin Durant's cold-blooded, series-ending dagger. In the end, the Cavaliers got their requisite single face-saving game, but the end result was ... anticlimactic.

勇士的橫掃，實際上讓那些試圖挑戰勇士的球隊無力追趕勇士的腳步，致使聯盟在季後賽收入上損失慘重。於是，總決賽便成了戰勝勇士的最後的希望，也是最後的機會。總有些愚蠢的人通過不斷告訴你不要低估了勒布朗·詹姆斯來讓你重燃希望。我看了所有五場詹姆斯在的總決賽，我現在客觀的告訴你：詹姆斯知道自己贏不了。“我能做什麼？他們贏了73場比賽，我打敗了他們，於是他們引進了凱文杜蘭特。”在凱文杜蘭特用自己的冷血投射殺死系列賽之前，騎士還設法在三場比賽中奪得了一場勝利。但最後，騎士隊雖然避免了橫掃的尷尬，但他們結束賽季的方式也只能用虎頭蛇尾來形容。

It was therapeutic for Warriors fans after enduring the agony of the worst collapse in Finals history the year before, but even then, the whole thing felt like "yup, this is what's supposed to happen." There was very little drama, very little debate, and in the end, the result everyone was sure of happened. That doesn't generate a lot of conversation or interest. It just kind of is what it is.

上賽季的封王對勇士隊球迷來說是一種緩解，畢竟他們前一年經歷了總決賽史上最嚴重的崩盤。儘管如此，但整個系列賽的感覺還是“是的，這是應該發生的。”。幾乎沒有什麼戲劇性的事情，也沒有什麼爭論，最後，大家都預料到會發生什麼。不會引起太多談話或興趣，它就是這樣的。

The Warriors are one of the best teams in NBA history, and you can put their championship run up against any team in NBA history for the best playoff performance ever. But there's also a legitimate question of what this means for the sport. If the best or second-best player of all time stands no chance against this team, what does it mean for the sport's competitiveness? It hasn't been a problem so far, thanks to an extremely wild offseason, but the question remains: what happens to a competitive sports league when it's not truly competitive at the highest level?

現在的勇士隊已經是NBA歷史上最好的球隊之一，你可以把他們的冠軍陣容和NBA歷史上的任何一支球隊相提並論，因爲他們打出了有史以來最好的季後賽表現。但同時也有一個“籃球”的問題。如果歷史上最好的或者第二好的球員都沒有機會對抗這支球隊，那對這項運動的競爭力意味着什麼呢？到目前爲止，幸運的是這個問題並沒有凸顯出來，這可多虧了一個非常狂野的休賽期，但問題仍然存在：當一個最高水品的競技體育聯賽缺乏真正的競爭時，它會發生什麼？

LeBron is invulnerable to age

年齡對詹姆斯仍不是問題

In 2017, his 14th season in the league, LeBron James averaged a career high in assists and rebounds. In the first two months of 2017-18, he's averaging a career high in 3-point percentage, but that's been talked about and dissected; it's been written about extensively.

2017已經是詹姆斯在聯盟中的第十四個賽季，但他的場均助攻和籃板竟然還創下了職業新高。在這個賽季的前兩個月裏，他拿出了整個職業生涯最好的三分表現，但鑑於這已經被各方專家們討論和剖析，並且被媒體廣泛的報道了，我在這裏就不加贅述了。

Except, now, he's averaging a career-high in assists. And shooting a career-high on 2-point shots (63 percent). And a career-high 78.5 percent from the free-throw line. And he's 0.4 rebounds away from a career high in those, too. He's literally having his best statistical season in every regard except raw points per game.

此外，他還刷新了他職業新高的助攻數、2分球命中率（63%），還有同樣爲職業生涯最高的78.5%的罰球命中率。而且，他這賽季的籃板數比職業生涯平均籃板數也多了0.4個。總而言之，詹姆斯本賽季在除得分以外，各項數據都是堪稱亮眼。

Only Kobe Bryant had played in more games by age 32, and did so with fewer minutes, and that's just including regular-season games.

只有科比在32歲的時候參加了更多的比賽，而且他的場均出場時間還少了幾分鐘，而且這還僅包括常規賽。

James is proof of a trend we've seen, from Tim Duncan to Manu Ginobili to Vince Carter. Conditioning, health science and nutrition are paving the way for athletes to remain in their prime, and then serviceable, for way longer than before. James is realistically still going to be the best player on his team when he's 36, and that's straight up bonkers.

詹姆斯也反映出了一種趨勢，從鄧肯到馬努·吉諾比利再到文斯卡特，也都是這樣。調理、人體健康科學和營養正在爲運動員們鋪平道路，保持他們的身體素質，使得他們可以打更多的比賽。或許，在他36歲的時候，詹姆斯仍會是球隊中最好的球員，即便現在看來這很瘋狂。

Every point we think we've reached where James cannot be better than he has been, he then blows past it like a poor center switched onto him. What will be discussed most is his all-encompassing skill, but this is also a testament to the work that James puts in. You can mock all those Instagram videos he puts up, but those are the real reason he's still able to do this; James has never cheated the game, not a day in his life, and the result is incomparable performance night in and night out.

每一次我們詹姆斯已經達到了頂點，詹姆斯就會拿出更好的表現超過那個頂點。他那無所不包的各項技巧，是詹姆斯辛苦訓練的證明。你可以嘲笑他所提發佈的所有Instagram錄像，但這些都是他仍然能夠做到這一點的真正原因；詹姆斯從來不輕視他的每一場比賽，一次都沒有。結果便是晚上一次又一次無可比擬的表演。

The most exciting part is the offseason

最令人興奮地其實是交易期

Paul George, Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony, Gordon Hayward Jimmy Butler, Derrick Rose, Paul Millsap, J.J. Redick, Eric Bledsoe, Dwight Howard ... the list goes on and on of players who switched uniforms since last year.

保羅·喬治，克里斯·保羅，卡梅羅·安東尼，戈登·海沃德，吉米·巴特勒，德里克·羅斯，保羅·米爾薩普，J·J·雷迪克，埃裏克·布萊索，德懷特·霍華德……自去年以來，換了東家的球員名單還在不斷增加。

The result has been increased ratings this regular season. Everything has been flipped. The offseason is thrilling, "stay on your phone every second checking what's happening" drama. The regular season is fascinating and competitive, with superstar matchups and explosive performances every night. The playoffs? Ho-hum, the Warriors win again. What's interesting is that this might be an actually better growth strategy for the league. A dynamite dynasty to attract the casual viewers who only want to see greatness, a super-compelling offseason and intriguing regular season to keep the die-hards engaged. It flips the standard models on their heads, but it also makes the best use of the NBA's ever-expanding digital presence.

結果是，這個賽季常規賽的收視率提高了，一切都被顛覆了。休賽期令人興奮，“每一秒都要打電話，看看發生了什麼”。常規賽很吸引人，也很有競爭力，每天晚上都會有超級明星的比賽和超神的表現。至於季後賽？估計新聞會是勇士隊又贏了。有趣的是，這可能是聯盟更好的增長策略。一個充滿活力的王朝用來吸引那些只想看到偉大的普通觀衆，一個超級引人注目的休賽期和耐人尋味的常規賽用來吸引四種的觀衆。它在他們的頭上翻轉標準模型，但它也充分利用了NBA不斷擴大的數字流量。

If nothing else, it's clear that when it comes to the summer, the NBA season doesn't really ever stop. It just switches gears.

如果沒有別的，很明顯，夏天交易期並不代表NBA賽季的停止，它只是換了個檔而已。

Did I mention that LeBron James is a free agent this summer?

哦，對了，我剛剛說了勒布朗·詹姆斯這個夏天其實是自由球員嗎？

There's plenty more to figure out in the coming months, plenty more to speculate about, plenty more to enjoy. Here's wishing all of our readers a safe and enjoyable holiday season, and a happy new basketball year.

當然在接下來的一段時間中裏還有很多事情要解決，還會有更多的推測，更多的享受。祝我們所有的讀者度過一個安全愉快的假期，迎來一個嶄新快樂的籃球之年。

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