就這樣走,考辛斯離開國王

A chaotic, frustrating and confusing tenure had to end the way it had always been for DeMarcus Cousins in nearly seven years with the Sacramento Kings.

從考辛斯被國王選中至今，已經過了快7年。如今，在新奧爾良全明星週末這個節點上，恐怕兩者之間凌亂、沮喪，又讓人疑惑的關係也該以相同的方式畫上句號了。

Cousins was always surrounded by drama in Sacramento – some of which he created, some of which was thrust upon him by a franchise that would easily hold the title as the league's most dysfunctional team if the New York Knicks didn't always try to bum rush the buffoonery.

考辛斯在國王總是上演着一出又一出的鬧劇，有些是他“自編自導”的，有些劇本則是國王強加給他的。如果紐約尼克斯表現得不那麼滑稽，恐怕“聯盟最無序球隊”這一頭銜就非國王莫屬了。

So, of course, Cousins would walk off the court after playing a measly two minutes in Sunday's snoozerific All-Star Game only to be surrounded by a surprisingly large group of reporters trailing him as he walked to the back of a lounge designated for interviews.

考辛斯在索然無味的全明星賽上只登臺亮相了兩分鐘，但是在他前往新聞發佈會大廳的路上，居然有大批的記者尾隨。

Cousins turned back and smiled, amused by all of the attention: "There must be some good [expletive] going on. I don't ever get this much media."

考辛斯回過頭，不禁被這一幕逗樂了。“一定發生了什麼有趣的事情，今天我不可能這麼吸引記者的。”

Kings media-relations director Chris Clark asked reporters to start the session with only All-Star-related questions. When Cousins asked what other questions they'd ask, Clark leaned in and whispered about the reports of him possibly being traded. "Oh, really? That's what's up."

國王主管媒體工作的克里斯-克拉克要求記者們一開始只提與全明星有關的問題，而考辛斯想知道他們還可能問什麼。於是克拉克把嘴靠在他耳邊告知了其很可能被交易的消息。“啊？真的嗎？怎麼回事？”

then cracked a smile, perhaps pondering that his time in basketball purgatory could possibly be ending. He spoke about the fun he had, his affinity for New Orleans from growing up in nearby Mobile,

片刻後，考辛斯便露出了微笑，也許是琢磨着自己在薩卡拉門託的籃球煉獄終將要結束了。隨後他向記者們談了在全明星週末中的歡樂，他對新奧爾良的喜愛之情，因爲他就在附近的阿拉巴馬州莫比爾長大。

Ala., how he had asked Western Conference All-Star coach Steve Kerr to only play him a few minutes given the pounding that his body has taken and how fellow Kentucky alum and All-Star Game MVP Anthony Davis should've shot the ball more on a night when he broke Wilt Chamberlain's scoring record with 52 points. "He should've had 70."

以及他如何向西部全明星主教練史蒂夫-科爾請求儘量減少上場時間，因爲他在漫長的賽季征程中十分疲憊。還有關於他的肯塔基校友、全明星賽MVP安東尼-戴維斯，考辛斯認爲他在打破威爾特-張伯倫保持的52分紀錄後應該再接再厲投更多的球。“他應該拿70分！”考辛斯說。

Then came the question he'd been waiting for, about how he almost escaped New Orleans without having to address some predicament back in Sacramento. Cousins leaned back his head, gazed skyward and cracked an annoyed grin. "Man, give it a break," Cousins shouted. "I just need one All-Star (Weekend) where it's just All-Star questions. Just one. This is my third one and it's always been something."

然而，該來的最終還是來了，考辛斯註定要在他回到薩卡拉門託前回答一些窘迫的問題。他將頭靠在椅子上，仰望着天花板，強笑着說：“拜託，別問了好嗎？我只想要一個只有關於全明星問題的全明星週末！我只要一個！這已經是第三次了，每次都要搞點事情出來！”

Every time Cousins earned an All-Star moment, disarray hijacked it. NBA commissioner Adam Silver recognized Cousins' overwhelming talents by naming him an injury replacement in 2015, but he spent the entire weekend addressing questions about the Kings hiring George Karl as head coach.

每當考辛斯參加全明星週末，麻煩都會上身。因爲有着極強的身體天賦，早在2015年NBA總裁亞當-蕭華就提名他頂替受傷的球員加入全明星，然而幾乎整個週末他都在國王聘用喬治-卡爾爲主教練的事情上折騰。

Last year, Cousins had to address his ongoing feud with Karl. This year, Cousins avoided any upsetting questions the first two days, then the Kings put him in the awkward position of finding out that he could be traded moments before he was asked about it. "I was happy coming in, but the last day and the last couple of minutes, something had to happen," Cousins said. "It's disappointing."

去年，他又不得不解釋與卡爾之間的矛盾。今年，在前兩天他還沒遇到什麼頭疼的問題，但國王及時給他送了份大禮，考辛斯還沒弄明白怎麼回事就被推到了交易的風口浪尖上。考辛斯說：“我很高興來到新奧爾良，但這最後一天和這最後幾分鐘，好像一定要發生什麼似的，這太讓人沮喪了！”

The Kings haven't missed the postseason for 10 straight seasons by accident. They've earned their spot among places NBA players most want to avoid.

國王連續10年錯過季後賽也是事出有因的，他們已經成爲了所有NBA球員最避猶不及的球隊之一。

Aside from that rare blip during Rick Adelman's time as coach and Chris Webber's prime, the Kings have been in matrimony with mediocrity or worse. And their bizarre mishandling of their time with a mercurial talent of Cousins' caliber only amplified their struggles.

國王只有在裏克-阿德爾曼和球星克里斯-韋伯聯手的時代罕見地繁榮過，其他時段都十分平庸，甚至比平庸更糟糕。他們在與天才球員考辛斯的交往過程中犯了很多離奇的錯誤，這隻能顯得他們更加掙扎。

This is a franchise that – since Cousins has been in uniform – attempted moves to Anaheim and Seattle, before former NBA commissioner David Stern intervened.

這是一支從考辛斯穿上國王球衣起就打算搬遷到阿納海姆或西雅圖的球隊，直到時任總裁大衛-斯特恩出面干涉才作罷。

This is a franchise that passed on Klay Thompson and Kawhi Leonard to draft Jimmer Fredette; ignored Damian Lillard and Harrison Barnes to draft Thomas Robinson.

這是一支錯過了克萊-湯普森和科懷-倫納德選中了吉默·弗雷戴特；忽視達米恩-利拉德和哈里森巴恩斯選擇了托馬斯-羅賓遜的球隊。

This is also the franchise that drafted Isaiah Thomas – only to let him leave three years later and become a two-time All-Star in Boston.

這也是一支選中了伊賽亞-托馬斯，然後將其拱手讓人，只能作爲旁觀者見證他在波士頓成爲兩屆全名星的球隊。

Sacramento continued to make so many questionable draft picks and trades that when GM Vlade Divac traded out of the lottery last summer to take two more centers, a tweet – "Lord give me the strength," with a praying-hands emoji, which Cousins swears was a response to his intense Bikram yoga class – was easily interpreted as a jab at the Kings' front office.

薩卡拉門託糟糕的選秀和交易還在繼續，去年總經理弗拉德-迪瓦茨又用樂透籤爲球隊換來了兩個中鋒。一條推特這樣寫道：“主啊！請賜予我力量！”另配有一個雙手合十的表情。這是考辛斯在比克拉姆瑜伽課上發的推特，他因爲訓練強度太大而禱告並鼓勵自己。但這很容易就會被理解爲是對國王管理層的抨擊。

When the Kings weren't coddling Cousins and making excuses for his immature outbursts, they blamed him. When they weren't giving him too much power within the organization, they were firing Michael Malone, the first professional coach with whom he connected, while he was in the hospital with viral meningitis.

國王沒有悉心照料考辛斯，也沒有爲他因不成熟而導致的暴躁脾氣找原因，而是簡單地責怪他。國王不打算給麥克-馬龍在管理層有更多權力，就直接炒掉了他。要知道當考辛斯因爲病毒性腦膜炎而住院治療時，麥克-馬龍是他第一個聯繫的職業教練。

And when they told him they'd wait until the summer to hire Malone's replacement, they rushed to hire Karl. Situations like that breed distrust and the toxicity permeates, paralyzing progress.

之後國王告訴考辛斯，他們會等到夏天再物色新任主教練的人選，但隨後喬治-卡爾便走馬上任。以上這些都導致了他與國王管理層間深深的不信任，同時也使雙方關係持續惡化、陷入僵局。

Cousins had his moments when he desperately wanted out of Sacramento – especially while playing under Karl – but never felt compelled to demand a trade in recent years for risk of the backlash he would've received.

考辛斯之前就動過離開國王的念頭，尤其是在卡爾麾下的時候，但他這幾年一直都還沒到要求球隊進行交易的地步，因爲他不想被球迷們口誅筆伐。

His reputation as a bad boy was set throughout the league, as he racked up suspensions and whined about officiating, but he remained beloved by Kings fans. He couldn't betray their support by abandoning it. Plus, his frustration was always with the organization, not the city.

他在聯盟壞小子的名號已經根深蒂固，因爲他總是暴怒或抱怨裁判。然而薩卡拉門託的球迷還是深深地愛着他，考辛斯不願背叛或拋棄他們。另外，考辛斯的不滿是針對管理層的，而非這座城市。

But in many ways, it left him feeling stuck – until he started embracing the benefits of staying in Sacramento, namely the five-year, $209 million designated maximum contract extension he was hoping to sign this offseason.

但因爲種種原因，他又很彷徨。如果考慮留在國王的好處，那便是今年休賽期他期望簽下的5年2.09億的最大指定球員續約合同了。

Kings majority owner Vivek Ranadive, once the staunchest Cousins supporter in the organization, became apprehensive about making such a commitment to a player who couldn't avoid controversy as he so flippantly collected technical fouls, cursed out the Golden State Warriors after a huge upset win Feb. 6 and engaged in an ugly exchange with a local columnist.

國王主要的持股人維微克·拉納戴夫，曾經是國王管理層裏最爲力挺考辛斯的人，卻在是否爲其開出這一報價時猶豫了。因爲考辛斯實在爭議太大，他無數次輕率地領到技術犯規，在2月6日驚險獲勝後辱罵勇士隊，還陷入了和一位地方專欄作家的醜陋交易中。

Divac and Cousins appeared to have reached a better understanding during the Rio Olympics, where the two spent some time together and talked a little trash because Team USA defeated Divac's native Serbia in the gold-medal game.

迪瓦茨和考辛斯看似在里約奧運會上彼此之間有了更好的瞭解。當時他們有很多時間共處，二人還因爲美國隊在決賽中戰勝了迪瓦茨的祖國塞爾維亞而互相調侃。

While in Brazil, Cousins was asked what winning would do to repair or improve his image: "I'm not worried about it, man. I am who I am. You can either love it or hate it. I'm comfortable in my skin."

在巴西，考辛斯被問及勝利能否修復或改善他的形象。考辛斯說：“我不擔心這個，我就是我。你可以喜歡我也可以討厭我，我不會改變自己的。”

Cousins won't have to worry about addressing the mess in Sacramento anymore, now that the Pelicans have swooped in and rescued him. New Orleans isn't exactly the most stable organization, but it is an upgrade over where he's been.

考辛斯再也不用擔心處理薩卡拉門託的爛攤子了，現在鵜鶘介入並將他救了出來。誠然鵜鶘也不是最爲健全的籃球組織，但相比國王已經好太多。

That's why he sounded excited about the possibility of joining the Pelicans. "If I'm blessed enough to have a job here, absolutely," Cousins said. "I love it here in New Orleans. I've been here a lot when I was kid. I'm familiar to the city. I had fun here."

這也是考辛斯在聽到自己有可能加入鵜鶘的消息後欣喜若狂的原因。“真是感謝上帝能讓我到這裏工作，真的！”考辛斯說：“我愛新奧爾良，我小時候就在這兒渡過了很長時間，我對這座城市很熟悉，我在這裏曾有過很多樂趣！”

Cousins hadn't necessarily been looking for an escape after putting the Kings within 1.5 games of the final Western Conference playoff spot and with what he thought awaited him financially. Last month, when reports first began circulating about him being set to receive that massive contract, Cousins asked reporters in Sacramento if they wanted him to stay. "Guess what, people. Guess what," Cousins said, grinning, "I'm here."

在考辛斯將國王帶到離西部第八僅有1.5個勝場的位置後，他自己應該並沒有想過要離開，況且還有一份大合同在等着他。上個月，當輿論第一次談到他將得到的鉅額合同時，考辛斯還問薩卡拉門託的記者是否願意讓他留下。“能猜到嗎？人們能猜到嗎？”考辛斯笑呵呵地說：“我現在到新奧爾良啦！”

When someone suggested Sunday that he could use a fresh start somewhere else, Cousins replied, "I'm happy. If it happens, that's the decision they made."

當有人在星期天說他可以在另一處重新開始時，考辛斯回答道：“我很開心，如果這發生了，那也是他們的決定。”

The Kings made the decision to deal Cousins in the most embarrassing Kings way – they got what appeared to be a minimal haul for the game's best big man and once again spit on his shine.

國王用他們最爲尷尬的方式完成了考辛斯的交易，他們得到的對價微乎其微，並又一次讓考辛斯措不及防。

the game, Cousins said he hadn't heard from Kings management and had no plans of speaking to his agent, because he only wanted to head back home.

在全明星賽後，考辛斯說他從未在管理層那裏聽到過此類消息，他也不計劃和自己的經紀人談，因爲他現在只想回家。

Then Cousins' manager, Andrew Rogers, put out a tweet with a picture of a private jet and a message that said, "We don't even know where to go…"

之後，考辛斯的經紀人安德魯-羅傑斯卻發佈了一條推特，並附上了一張私人飛機的圖片和一句話：“我們不知道該去哪兒。”

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