没比赛看， 无聊随意翻篇旧闻。 一起帮这个小夥子加油吧。 Ben McLemore: The NBA lottery pick who lost his way, and his road back Ben McLemore 迷失与复航 Zach Lowe Jan 7, 2020 Rarely do the lowest, darkest moments in someone's professional and personal lives intersect. 很少谈到球员们最低潮的人生与职业生涯。 On Nov. 4, 2018, Ben McLemore, then in his second stint with the Sacramento Kings, was receiving treatment in the locker room in Milwaukee in anticipation of playing that night. McLemore had been excited when the Kings reacquired him from the Memphis Grizzlies in July 2018. 2018年十一月四号，公鹿队的比赛。 McLemore与国王队再续前缘，待在休息室接受治疗。 那一年的七月份国王队将他从灰熊队交易回来，让他十分兴奋。 "I was like, 'Wow!'" McLemore told ESPN last month. "Coming back to the team who drafted me? They believed in me from the jump -- a young kid from St. Louis. They are giving me the opportunity to show them why they drafted me in the first place." "我就像是，哇！要回到当初选上我的母队了吗？ 他们打从最初就相信我，现在又给了我一次机会证明自己。" But it quickly became clear McLemore was not in Sacramento's plans. Absorbing his contract had been a means of off-loading Garrett Temple for a prospect and a second-round pick. McLemore had logged only 24 total minutes so far that season. 但很快地，McLemore发现自己并不在国王队的规划中。 国王队的这笔交易只是为了空出Garrett Temple的位置并拿到一个二轮签。 目前为止他总共只上场了24分钟。 Still, McLemore was gearing up to see the court in Milwaukee. Dave Joerger, then the Kings coach, approached with bad news: Due to a last-minute switch, McLemore would be inactive. 不过McLemore仍然准备好了要在密尔瓦基上场。 但教练Joerger却带来了坏消息：McLemore并不在出赛名单中。 McLemore did not have clothes that met the league dress code for inactive players. He would have to sit alone in the visiting locker room. McLemore甚至没有像样的衣服能符合坐在场边的规定，他就只能一个人待在休息室。 As McLemore digested that, his phone rang. It was his sister. She was crying. Something had happened to McLemore's younger brother, Kevin. McLemore hung up and called one of his cousins. "He's gone," the voice on the other end said. Kevin McLemore had died unexpectedly. 正当McLemore想办法接受这件事情的同时，他的手机响了。 他的姐姐在电话中哭泣，最年轻的弟弟Kevin发生了意外。 McLemore随後打给他的表亲， "他走了。" Kevin去世了。 McLemore ran into the shower and turned the water on. He didn't know what else to do. McLemore跑到淋浴间把水龙头打开。他不知道还能做些甚麽。 "I was just in the shower talking to myself," he said. "We were kinda like twins. We had a connection. I was almost trying to talk to him." "我就一个人待在淋浴间自言自语。"他说。 "我们就像是双胞胎一样，我们紧紧相连。我还想要跟他说几句话。" McLemore returned to Sacramento with the team before attending his brother's memorial service. He remained with the Kings, playing sporadically, until they waived him in early February. 在参加了弟弟的追思仪式之前，McLemore回到了国王队上。 他还是跟球队待在一起，偶尔能上场打个几分钟，直到二月份被释出。 He was mourning. His NBA career was in jeopardy. McLemore spent a few days with his wife and baby daughter before deciding to fight. "If I didn't have my support system, who knows if I would still be in the league," McLemore said. 他深深哀悼，而他的NBA生涯也正处於危险。 在与家人相处了几天之後，他仍然决定要继续奋斗。 "如果我没有得到这些支持，我不知道我还会不会在这个联盟打球。" "I locked myself in the gym," he said. "I told myself that if you love this game, you have to know you did everything you could. And I love this game dirty." "我把我自己关在健身房， 我告诉我自己，如果你真的爱打球，你就必须毫不保留地付出所有。" The next five months were filled with twists and false hopes until the Houston Rockets in July signed McLemore to a two-year, $4.4 million deal, with a $500,000 guarantee. 接下来的五个月充满了曲折，直到七月份休士顿火箭队给他一份两年4.4m的合约。 "I love Ben," Houston coach Mike D'Antoni told ESPN last month. "All he was lacking was confidence and an opportunity." "我喜欢这个球员。"火箭队教练D'Antoni这麽告诉ESPN。 "他只是缺少了些自信与机会。" Injuries to Gerald Green and Eric Gordon opened minutes, and McLemore has been a fixture in Houston's rotation. Over one nine-game stretch starting Nov. 30, McLemore averaged 14 points on 39-of-85 shooting from deep. He punished teams who left him open to trap James Harden. G.Green与E.Gordon的伤病给予了他上场时间。而McLemore也适时地填补上了空缺。 从十一月底开始的九场比赛，他平均拿到14分，以及39/85的外线命中。 他教训了那些只顾包夹Harden却放他空档的球队。 He has slumped a bit since, and Gordon's return has cut into his minutes. But playing next to two ball-dominant superstars in Harden and Russell Westbrook simplified the game for McLemore: Catch, shoot and defend better than he did over his first six seasons, when he was by his own admission a liability. Gordon的回归又瓜分了他的一些时间。 不过在Harden与Westbrook两个巨星身旁，球赛对他来说变得更单纯一些。 接球，投篮，然後想办法不断强化自己的防守。 McLemore isn't nervous as his guarantee date approaches. 他并不担心自己的合约。 "I know my contract," he said. "But the non-guaranteed deal doesn't faze me. I grew up with nothing. Nothing was guaranteed." "我知道我签了甚麽。" "非保障的合约并不会让我害怕。我从小就一无所有， 生命中本来就没有任何事情是绝对有保障的。" Even if the unexpected happens, McLemore will keep battling. This season has revived his passion. Almost everyone McLemore has come into contact with over those wayward first six seasons will be rooting for him. 即使有未知的将来，McLemore仍然会奋战。这个赛季重燃了他的斗志。 他周遭的人都在为他加油。 "I love him," Joerger said. Sacramento didn't expect to have any chance at drafting McLemore with the seventh pick in 2013. The Kings didn't even bring him in for a pre-draft workout. But crazy stuff happened at the top of that draft -- starting with the Cleveland Cavaliers selecting Anthony Bennett No. 1 -- and McLemore fell. "我爱他。"国王队的教练Joerger说。 国王队本来并没有预期能在2013第七顺位选到McLemore。 他们甚至没有事先邀请他来参与练习。 不过那一年的选秀有些疯狂，从Anthony Bennett被选上状元开始。 Sacramento was an organization in transition. Vivek Ranadive finalized his purchase of the team a month before the draft. He hired Michael Malone as coach at the end of May. The Kings drafted McLemore, and they signed-and-traded away Tyreke Evans -- their lead ball handler. 沙加缅度是个处於调整中的组织。 在选秀会的一个月前Vivek Ranadive才买下了这支球队。 他们雇用了Michael Malone为总教练，选上了McLemore， 然後把球队老大Tyreke Evans交易出去。 "He was getting into a whole world of change and expectations, and he had no idea," said Chuck Hayes, who mentored McLemore during the 2013-14 season and now works in Houston's front office. "他来到了一个充满变化与期待的地方，他甚麽都不了解。"Chuck Hayes说。 Hayes在2013-14球季指导McLemore，目前他也在休士顿协助球队。 The Kings franchise belonged to DeMarcus Cousins, and Cousins' personality -- loud and brash -- made for a stark contrast with McLemore, then a soft-spoken 20-year-old. 国王队的王朝是属於Cousins的。他的风格就是大声嚷嚷与自视甚高。 这跟McLemore形成鲜明的对比。 "It was tough going for Ben early," Malone said. "最初的时候其实很难接近McLemore。"教练Malone说。 McLemore started 55 games as a rookie. He peppered Hayes and John Salmons with questions. He liked that Malone prioritized player development -- that Malone let him play through mistakes. 在菜鸟年McLemore先发了55场比赛，他会向Hayes与John Salmons请教。 他喜欢Malone教练是如何重视球员的发展 -- 让球员在错误中学习。 McLemore was happy, though perhaps a little naive about how quickly things can change in the NBA and what it would take to thrive. After practices, McLemore worked on trick dunks; he participated in the dunk contest at All-Star Weekend in 2014. McLemore感到开心，也有一点孩子气。 每次练球後他总会留下来练习一些灌篮的花招，也在2014的全明星赛中参加了灌篮大赛。 "I was like, 'You're gonna need a whole lot more than [dunks], but they are very nice,'" Hayes said. "我心想，你要学的可不只是灌篮呢。不过他确实灌得不错啦。"Hayes说。 McLemore began his second season as a full-time starter. He was working out in the team's practice facility late on Dec. 14, 2014, when Malone called with startling news: The Kings, then 11-13, had just fired him. 第二个球季他成为了固定先发。 但在2014的十二月练习过後，教练Malone在众人的惊讶中被解雇。 McLemore owns a lot of his NBA struggle. "We had some personal deficiencies," said Hazem Al-Gibaly, McLemore's friend and business manager. But if there is a moment when outside factors overwhelmed McLemore, it was the sudden firing of Malone. McLemore在NBA有过很多挫折。 "每个人心中都有一些遗憾。"Hazem Al-Gibaly说，他是McLemore的好友兼生意夥伴。 "不过解雇Malone对McLemore来说绝对是个很大的打击。" "I love you," Malone told him on the call, both remembered. "Keep working." "我爱你。继续努力。"Malone在电话中告诉他。 "I felt like crying right there," McLemore said. "我当下几乎要哭出来了。"McLemore说。 The Kings quickly cycled through Tyrone Corbin and George Karl before hiring Joerger in May 2016. 在2016雇用Joerger之前， 国王队这期间还换过了Tyrone Corbin 与 George Karl两位教练。 Amid the chaos, McLemore felt the organization lost its focus on teaching. 这一切的混乱，让McLemore感觉这个组织对於球员的发展指导上失了焦。 "I'm big on someone being hands on with me," he said. "After those first two years, I felt there was a lack of player development." "当有人指导我的时候，我可以做得很好。" "但过了两年之後，我开始觉得我在球员发展这块上面有所缺乏。" Kings officials declined comment; tampering rules prohibit them from discussing another team's player. But they would not strongly contest this sentiment. The organization had lost faith in McLemore. They questioned his defense and his hands. Ownership pushed a win-now mentality. 国王队官方不愿对此做评论。整个组织也对McLemore失去了信心。 他们怀疑他的防守与投篮。管理阶层只想要赶快赢球。 "Now when he fell asleep on a backdoor cut, he'd get yanked," Al-Gibaly said. "只要他一被对手溜後门切入，马上就会被换下场。"Al-Gibaly说。 McLemore's confidence dwindled. McLemore的信心日渐消散。 "You start seeing, 'Oh, he's a bust,'" McLemore said. "And you start to think: Maybe I am a bust?" "我开始会想，或许自己真的很差劲？" When Sacramento acquired Buddy Hield and Bogdan Bogdanovic, the writing was on the wall. 当引进了Buddy Hield 与 Bogdan Bogdanovic之後，国王队的企图已经很明显。 The Kings declined McLemore's qualifying offer in the summer of 2017. The Los Angeles Lakers expressed interest in free agency, but he chose Memphis; he knew that David Fizdale, then the Grizzlies' coach, emphasized player development. 国王队拒绝匹配McLemore 2017夏天的合约。 湖人队向他表达过兴趣，不过他最终选择了灰熊。 因为他知道灰熊的Fizdale教练很重视球员发展。 McLemore broke a bone in his foot playing pickup that summer, effectively torpedoing his stint with Memphis before it started. The Grizzlies fired Fizdale in November 2017 and replaced him with J.B. Bickerstaff -- McLemore's sixth head coach in less than five seasons. McLemore在那年的夏天脚受伤骨折。在为曼菲斯上场之前就失去了自己的机会。 而且Fizdale教练也在那年的十一月被炒了鱿鱼，由J.B. Bickerstaff取代。 这是McLemore在五年内的第六个教练。 McLemore imagined alternate realities where a more stable franchise drafted him. 他开始想像若是当初选上他的是支稳定的球队该有多好。 "I thought about it every day -- that maybe in those situations I could have been more successful," he said. "So much is about being in the right situation at the right time." "我每天都在想这件事情。或许在那样的环境下我会打得更好。" "很多的成功都在於，在对的时间身处在对的地方。" Two days after the Kings waived him last season, the Toronto Raptors and McLemore agreed on a 10-day contract. McLemore was driving to the airport in Sacramento for his flight to Toronto when Al-Gibaly called him. There had been a snag. The Raptors had traded so many players away in the Marc Gasol deal, they had to fill several roster spots with rest-of-season deals before they could sign a 10-day contract. McLemore went home. 在国王队释出他的两天後，暴龙队打算跟他签下一张十天短约。 而在前往多伦多的路上他却接到了Al-Gibaly的电话。 由於在Marc Gasol的交易中牵扯了太多的球员， 他们必须先搞定正常轮替之後才能签十天的短约。 McLemore调了头回家。 No other deal came. He called Malone, his old coach, and asked what he had to work on to regain a foothold in the NBA. 之後再也没有任何球队接触他。他打电话给Malone教练，请教他如何在NBA立足。 A team from China flew in a scout to watch McLemore work out. The thought of leaving the NBA for at least a year crossed his mind. In early March, the Raptors called again, wondering if McLemore would work out for one of their scouts in Los Angeles. 一支中国的球队来看他练习。离开NBA的念头在他脑海中闪过。 三月初暴龙队又试着接洽他，看看他是否能为身在LA的球探展示一下。 His 3-point shot was on that day. "That was one of my best workouts ever," McLemore said. He punctuated it with two dunks, one on each basket, because he knew teams were wondering if he was still as bouncy as he had been. 他那天的三分球十分火热。"那天是我练球状况最好的一次"McLemore说。 还特地展示了两次灌篮，因为他明白球队都想知道他还能不能跳。 Toronto had nothing hard to offer, but the workout buoyed McLemore. He would stay in the United States and get back in the NBA. 多伦多并没有太多的顾虑，不过这次的练习却启发了McLemore。 他要留在美国并重返NBA。 McLemore realized he had to work harder, and differently, than he had before. 他了解到他必须更努力，与以往更不同的训练。 "Last summer was big," McLemore said. "I had said that about other summers before, but this one was huge." "那个夏天很重要。" "我也有过其他很棒的夏天，不过那个夏天真的影响太大了。" He worked with his trainer, Clint Parks, at Los Angeles-area high schools and at Kobe Bryant's Mamba Sports Academy. 他与他的训练师Clint Parks一同在LA的高中以及Kobe的黑曼巴运动学院练球。 As he walked into Mamba Academy one morning last spring, he ran into Bryant. "What are you doing here?" Bryant asked, shocked to learn McLemore was out of the league, both recalled. "Stay ready," Bryant told him. "Your time is gonna come." 当他走进黑曼巴学院，他跑向Kobe。 "你在这干甚麽？"Kobe问。此时他才得知McLemore在NBA还没有合约。 "把自己准备好。"Kobe告诉他。"你的机会就会出现。" "Just him saying that built my confidence," McLemore said. "单单听了他讲了几句话 就能带给我信心。"McLemore说。 When the Rockets called in July, McLemore and his camp saw the potential fit right away. He focused even more on catch-and-shoot 3s. 当火箭队在七月连络他的时候，McLemore看到了机会。他更加专注地练习传接投三分。 Parks drilled him on sidestep dribbles, so when defenders sprinted to close out, McLemore could evade them while staying behind the arc. 训练师Parks协助他练习侧向跨步的运球， 当防守者冲过来的时候他就能躲开并依然立於三分线以外投篮。 As he pushed McLemore, Parks thought often of McLemore's late brother. "Kevin was Ben's biggest fan," Parks said. "He would always tell me, 'Stay on his ass!'" 训练的同时，Parks也总会想起McLemore的小弟。 "Kevin是他最忠实的粉丝。"Parks说。"他老是告诉我要盯紧他！" McLemore worked mostly on defense. "My downfall was not on the ball; it was being on the weak side," he said. "It was not being able to watch the ball and my man." He would hear opposing coaches urging players to cut backdoor against him. McLemore的训练大部分着重於防守面。 "会击倒我的并不是持球进攻，防守是我的弱点。" "不能只是盯着球与看着队友。"对方教练总是要球员们想办法开他的後门。 He asked Al-Gibaly to send film of his mistakes. Parks showed him film of good defenders, including Patrick Beverley. "'Look how active Pat Bev's hands are,'" Parks urged. "'You're playing with two superstars now. You're gonna be asked to guard better players some nights.'" 他请Al-Gibaly寄给他影片来反省自己犯过的错误。 Parks也向他展示了一些绝佳防守的影片，包括了Patrick Beverley. "你看看Pat Bev的手是怎样不断在干扰对方。" "现在你有了两个超级球星当队友，你肯定有机会去防守一些重点球员。" In August, Al-Gibaly called Brady Morningstar, who preceded McLemore at the University of Kansas and was known for his defense. Morningstar is now a coach at Kansas City Kansas Community College. Al-Gibaly asked if Morningstar might put McLemore through two-a-days there, with the evening session focused only on defense. 八月的时候，Al-Gibaly 打给了 Brady Morningstar, McLemore的学长，他以防守出名。 现在他也正是社区大学球队的教练。 Al-Gibaly 问了 Morningstar 是否能帮McLemore训练个两天，而晚间就专门练习防守。 "When I heard 'all defense,' in my head, I was like, 'I'm not doing this,'" McLemore said, chuckling. "当下我听到'专门练习防守'， 我的第一个反应就是'门都没有'。"McLemore笑着说。 Morningstar had McLemore practice closing out on shooters over and over. McLemore would have to sprint to an open shooter, contest his 3-pointer without flying by him, and cut off any drive before the ball reached the paint. If the shooter managed to launch, McLemore had to run across the court to box out a second player. Morningstar made McLemore keep going until he produced five consecutive stops and sealed them with rebounds. Morningstar让McLemore去练习如何对位到射手。 McLemore必须先对上一个射手，试着干扰他的三分球，并阻止他切入。 当射手把球投出之後，他就必须冲到禁区与另一个球员进行卡位并抢篮板球。 这样练习直到McLemore能够连续成功挡下五波进攻并且都拿到篮板球。 "When we first started, I was blowing by him," Morningstar said. McLemore had a bad habit of opening his hips -- "opening the gate," Morningstar calls it -- and conceding a driving lane. "I was like, 'This guy is going to the Rockets? He can't play defense like this and think he's gonna keep his spot. ' We were kicking his ass. It was like he had lost sight of who he was [as a younger player], because he was thinking, 'Score, score, score,' and 'Dunk, dunk, dunk.'" "最初开始的时候，他令我很意外。"Morningstar说。 "我心想，这家伙真的要去火箭队打球吗？以这种程度的防守他是撑不久的。" "我们把他整翻了。他就像有点忘了他自己是谁，一心只想着得分跟灌篮。" McLemore stuck with it. His balance and footwork improved. McLemore坚持了下去，他的平衡感与脚步动作都进步了。 In Houston, the mistakes on defense have not been as frequent. McLemore leans on PJ Tucker for advice. 在休士顿，防守是不容许出现太多错误的。McLemore向PJ Tucker讨教。 Early on, it was his shooting that wavered. McLemore hit just 31% of his 3s over October and November. He was getting worried. D'Antoni sensed it. 在火箭队的初期，他的投篮很不稳定。十月与十一月份他的三分球只有31%。 他开始担心，教练D'Antoni也感受到了。 As McLemore boarded the team plane after an early-season game, he heard D'Antoni's voice. 有次飞机降落之後，他听到教练在叫他。 "Hey, Ben, I'll give you 'til March to make a damn shot," D'Antoni said, according to both. "嘿听着，你只要在三月之前能够把球投进就好。"D'Antoni这样说。 McLemore replied, "Well, Coach, I got a long time then." McLemore回答 "呃，那我的时间还满充裕的。" "He has such a great shot," D'Antoni said. "He was probably leading the league in shots that were in and out." "他的投篮很棒。"D'Antoni说。 "如果联盟里有'原本应该能投进的球'的纪录，他大概可以名列前茅。" "Hearing him say that gives you trust," McLemore said. "It gives you fuel. If I miss two in a row, that next one is going up." "听到教练这麽说给我带来了很大的信心。"McLemore说。 "让我有了勇气。就算我连续投丢了两次，我还是有信心第三球会进。" McLemore is now at 35% from deep -- about league average. His ballhandling still is shaky. The playoffs will test his defense. McLemore现在三分线的命中是35%。也就差不多联盟平均的水准。 他持球还是不稳，季後赛也即将是对他防守的最大考验。 But he fought for his career, and right now, he has it. 不过他还是不断地为自己的职业生涯拼斗。 "My mom used to say I looked like I had this black cloud over my head," McLemore said. "A mother is never wrong. I felt it. There were nights when it was just like, 'I don't want to play anymore.' Nothing could go right. "我妈之前说我总是乌云罩顶的样子。" "母亲讲的话都是真理，我感受的到。过去那段日子我真的诸事不顺，想要放弃篮球。" "Now she says, 'You look happy again. I see you smile again.'" "现在她告诉我，我看起来变快乐了。她能看到我脸上的微笑。" McLemore understands how fragile all of this is. But he has learned what he needs to work on to stick in the league. McLemore明白这一切依然可能随时都会破灭。 但他学会的是该如何奋斗与坚持。 "I'm still only 26," he said. "I have a lot of gas left in the tank." "我才26岁，我还有很多潜力没有发挥出来呢。" --

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