再添猛將!籃球藝術家桑德斯能幫助騎士走出泥潭嗎?
Larry Sanders is back! Two years ago Sanders, a self-described "person, father, artist, writer, painter, and musician who sometimes plays basketball," walked away from the game that he thought he was just OK at after struggling with depression and anxiety and various marijuana-related suspensions.
拉里-桑德斯回來啦！兩年前的一場他自認爲表現尚可的比賽後，他是這樣形容自己的：“我是一個人，一個父親，一個藝術家、作家、畫家和音樂家，偶爾我也打打籃球。”而在此之前，他剛剛深陷焦慮，精神萎靡，以及數起由大麻引起的禁賽綜合形成的困境之中。At the time, the 6-foot-11 Sanders was only a year or so into a four-year, $44 million extension with the Bucks, who acquired him with the no. 15 pick in 2010. Milwaukee saw the mobile, athletic rim protector and screen setter as a core piece who, along with the long-limbed John Henson, would tangle the paint in thickets of swaying arms and menace.
那時候，6尺11寸的桑德斯才履行完他同雄鹿續簽的4年4400萬美金大合同的第一年。2010年的選秀大會，正是雄鹿看中了他的機動性、護筐能力以及掩護能力，從而以15號籤把他摘下。雄鹿相信他和長臂怪約翰-亨森組成的內線雙塔能夠以超長的臂展和恐怖的防守壓迫力統治禁區。Sanders played only 23 games in 2013–14. He used the downtime to get in touch with his various other artistic interests. Sensitive and self-aware, Sanders acknowledged that his decision to walk away from the towering piles of currency by which American culture measures merit and success would be perplexing to many people.
桑德斯在2013-14賽季僅僅出場23場比賽。休賽期間，他發掘出了自己大量潛在的藝術興趣。一個有些敏感的事情是，桑德斯發現他做出的放棄財富追求理想的決定令許多人無比困惑，因爲財富恰恰是美國文化裏衡量成功與能力的標杆。
"People say, 'How could you be unhappy there?' Values and the relationships with the people I love, that’s my real riches," he said in a Players’ Tribune video in 2015. "Happiness is a personal thing." But Sanders always left the door open for a return.
“人們總是說：‘你怎麼可能會不開心呢？’然而在我看來，自身的意義，以及與我愛的人的良好關係，這些纔是真正的財富，”2015年，桑德斯在球星看臺發表的視頻中如是說，“開心與否是一個私人問題。”不過桑德斯始終爲復出做着準備。On Monday, various sources reported that Sanders would join the Cleveland Cavaliers for the remainder of the season. The terms, as yet, are undisclosed. If the Sanders deal pans out, this is a big win for the Cavs and yet another feather in GM David Griffin’s metaphorically plumage-laden cap.
週一，多家媒體同時報導桑德斯將加盟克利夫蘭騎士隊直至賽季末，合同細節尚未公佈。一旦合約被敲定，這將會是對騎士的一大利好消息，同時也給早已戰功累累的總經理大衛-格里芬掛上了一枚嶄新的軍功章。
This season, Griffin has swung deals for 3-point operator Kyle Korver; Deron Williams, who, even faded and partially washed, is the best pure point guard LeBron has ever played with; and Andrew Bogut, who broke his leg 58 seconds into his very first game with the team.
讓我們來看看這賽季格里芬都幹了什麼好事：簽下三分機器人凱爾-科沃爾；挖來了勒布朗曾搭檔過的最好的純控衛德隆-威廉姆斯，儘管他已經今非昔比；還有第一場比賽上場58秒就不幸骨折的安德魯-博古特……Following up Bogut with the mercurial Sanders is a risk, but a calculated one that could potentially pay major dividends. Sanders has averaged just under two blocks per game for his career, with a block percentage of just over 7 percent. For context, three-time Defensive Player of the Year Dwight Howard’s highest single-season block percentage was 6 percent.
把博古特換成反覆無常的桑德斯無疑是一場豪賭，但是潛在的回報足以讓人垂涎三尺。桑德斯生涯場均將近2個蓋帽，封蓋率超過7%。僅供參考，三屆最佳防守球員德懷特-霍華德生涯封蓋率最高的一個賽季爲6%。The Cavaliers are the 22nd team in the league by defensive rating. For a squad with its sights set on another title, this is an ominous number. In the last 40 years, only three teams have won the title in a season when they were ranked outside the top 10 in defense: the 1987–88 Lakers, 1994–95 Rockets, and 2000–01 Lakers. A good sign for the Cavaliers: Those teams were all defending champions.
騎士的防守效率值僅排在聯盟第22位，對於一支志在衛冕的球隊來說，這樣的防守表現顯然不是什麼好兆頭。在過去的40年間，僅有3支球隊在防守位列聯盟前十開外的情況下奪冠：1987-88賽季的湖人、1994-95賽季的火箭以及2000-01賽季的湖人。當然也有一點好兆頭：上述三支球隊都是在前一個賽季奪冠後成功衛冕。Of those, the Rockets probably provide the best corollary. The ’88 Lakers were creeping toward the end of a historic run of success and leaning heavily on 40-year-old Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
這三支球隊中，火箭也許最有參考價值。88年的湖人正在王朝末路上舉步維艱，甚至無比依賴已經40歲高齡的卡里姆-阿卜杜爾-賈巴爾。The 2001 Lakers were the most egregious "flip the switch" team in recent memory, floating through the regular season on sheer arrogance before clamping down on the postseason like a pitbull. The 1995 Rockets, meanwhile, needed to add Clyde Drexler in a midseason trade to even get over the hump.
2001年的湖人則打出了近年來最匪夷所思的“翻轉開關”表現，常規賽期間他們發揮不穩定，卻傲慢到不可一世，然而到了季後賽，他們突然就成了打了雞血的鬥牛犬。而1995年的火箭則不同，他們甚至需要在賽季中交易得到克萊德-德雷克斯勒才能渡過難關。Sanders may or may not pan out. Various reports mention that he’s out of shape. Which, yeah, the guy hasn’t played in an NBA game since December 2014. But assuming he can round into form and can deliver some significant percentage of the player he once was, Sanders is exactly what the Cavaliers need.
桑德斯的簽約能否塵埃落定仍是未知數（譯者注：官方已報導簽約），據多家媒體報導稱他身材嚴重走樣，畢竟如你所知，這哥們從2014年12月以來就再也沒打過一場NBA比賽。不過一旦他減肥成功並恢復他當初的部分功力，桑德斯就能成爲騎士最迫切需要的那個球員。更多精彩內容請關注微信公衆號、新浪微博：籃球英文堂
