[外絮] 在把文班亞馬帶進NBA榮光的十年大計幕後

原標題：Inside the decade-long plan to bring Victor Wembanyama to NBA glory
(在把 Victor Wembanyama 帶進 NBA 榮光的十年大計之幕後)

來源：https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/37651212/

作者：Brian Windhorst, Jonathan Givony

（由於筆者精神狀態不好，因此先翻譯前二部分，後續二部分將另行回文再補）

第一部分：

PARIS -- IN A SMALL park in Rive Gauche, the Parisian district known for its
art and culture, is one of the highest murals in Europe, an 88-foot old
stairwell that has been turned into a colorful collection of squiggly figuresdesigned to cheer up patients in the nearby children's hospital.

巴黎——在以藝術和文化聞名的巴黎左岸街區一處小公園裡，有著歐洲最高的壁畫之一，
一個八十八英尺的舊樓梯間轉變成一個色彩斑斕的方塊字設計匯總，主要是為附近兒童醫院的病人打氣。

Located just a mile southeast of the Eiffel Tower, Victor Wembanyama has
enjoyed this little corner of the city since he was a child, a beacon of
color and happiness in an area that is otherwise drab and melancholy. The
mural's artist, the late American pop art icon Keith Haring, picked it for
this very reason, wanting to lift spirits. Haring was Wembanyama's favorite
artist as he was growing up and falling in love with art and basketball.

位於艾菲爾鐵塔東南一英里之外，Victor Wembanyama (下稱「文班亞馬」)自小就喜歡上這座城市的小角落，在本來是單調鬱悶的小區，帶來的是色彩和歡樂的信標。這幅壁畫的畫家，即已故美國普普藝術的指標 Keith Haring ，正是因為這個原因而作此選擇，希望能振奮精神。 Haring 是文班亞馬在成長過程中最喜歡的藝術家，他也因此而愛上了藝術和籃球。

The title of the work is "Tower." Wembanyama, a 7-foot-5 teenager who has
been riding an international hype train over the past five years,
understandably relates.

該幅畫的主題是「塔」。七尺五寸高的少年文班亞馬，過去五年乘著國際發燒列車，對此感同身受。

Basketball prospects and art are both subjective -- beauty is often in the
eye of the beholder -- but the rarest are those in which there's universal
agreement.

籃球界的潛力和藝術都是很主觀的——美與不美，全在觀者——但最難得的，是有著普遍
共識的。

Wembanyama is the most anticipated prospect in a generation, making Tuesday'sNBA draft lottery (8 p.m. ET, ESPN) an event with potentially historic
consequences.

文班亞馬是近一世代中最令人期待的潛力股，使星期二（美國時間）的選秀抽籤成為可能具有歷史性的大事件。

His games and practices in France are packed with NBA scouts and executives,
even from teams with no hope of drafting him as the No. 1 pick in June.
LeBron James called him "an alien." Stephen Curry said he gave off
"cheat-code-type vibes." Giannis Antetokounmpo said, "I think he's going to
be one of the best to play this game."

他在法國的比賽、練習場上，往往都被NBA 球探、高層人員擠滿，甚至無望在六月取得狀元籤資格的球隊也在其中。LBJ 稱他是「外星人」，Stephen Curry 說他發出了「作弊代碼式的氣息」，字母哥則認為「他將成為上場比賽的最好人選之一」。

But as all this has been raging around him -- the brands that are calling
incessantly, wooing him with endorsement deals; the demand for his team's
tickets forcing games into larger venues; the exploding public and
international profile -- Wembanyama has remained steady. Getting here, those
around him say, has been deliberate, focused and deeply considered. All of
this is part of a plan years in the making.

但是，正當這一切在他周圍洶湧環繞時，不管是不斷撥電話伸出代言合同的各大招牌，或是迫使比賽在面積更大的球場進行以應付門票需求，甚至是爆炸性的公眾、國際形象等，文班亞馬一直保持沉穩。他周遭的人說，他來到這裡是經過商榷、專注和深思熟慮的。所有這些都是多年來的計劃的一部分。

Whichever NBA team wins the right to draft Wembanyama on Tuesday night won't
just be getting his talent, it will be getting someone with a vision of how
he wants his emerging career to unfold.

成功在星期二夜晚中得到抽選文班亞馬資格的任何球隊，不僅會得到他的天賦，更將得到一位對本身新興事業的發展有遠見的人。

"I was probably born with that will to do things differently and do things myway," Wembanyama says. "I'm really glad I kept that willpower, to not [let]
sometimes coaches put me in a box. That's really an everyday fight."

文班亞馬說：

「我可能天生就有這種意願，以不同的方式做事，用自己的方式做事。我真的很高興我保 持住這種意志力，不讓教練把我放在一個盒子裡。這真的是一場日常的對決。」

第二部分：

BURIED DEEP ON YouTube is a youth basketball game played at a recreation
center in the western suburbs of Paris in 2012.

深藏在YouTube 底下的，是一場於二零一二年在巴黎西部郊外一座休閒中心進行的少年籃球比賽。

＊連結在網站原文中有附上

The raw footage is filled with gym echoes and erratic play, though the boys
have clearly been well coached as they run backdoor cuts and execute inboundsplays. But then, six minutes into the highlight, the tallest player out
there, two years younger than the rest, with feet so disproportionately big
that he has to compensate by lifting his knees high just to run like the
others, swipes a pass and takes off for a fast break.

儘管這些男孩明顯受到了很好的訓練，畢竟他們能從後門切入、且能執行界內戰術，可原始錄像中卻充滿體育館的迴聲和不穩定的發揮。但是，在錄像的六分鐘後，（場上）最高的球員，比其他球員小兩歲，他的腳大得不成比例，以至於他不得不通過抬高膝蓋來彌補，以便像其他人一樣奔跑，搶到一個傳球、並開始快攻。

He covers 30-some feet into a layup in just two dribbles, picking the ball upoutside the free throw line before taking two giant steps and scooping it
into the basket.

他僅用兩次運球就覆蓋了三十多尺的距離，在罰球線外撿起球，然後邁出兩大步，將球打進籃筐。

Wembanyama was 8.

He grew up in Le Chesnay, a suburb in the shadow of the Palace of Versailles,about a 40-minute drive from Paris.

當年的文班亞馬，年僅八歲。他在勒謝奈（位於凡爾賽宮影子下的郊外、距離巴黎需四十分鐘的車程）長大。

His mom, Elodie, is 6-foot-3 and had her own pro basketball career in France
before becoming a coach who mostly taught the game to young children. His
dad, Felix, a 6-foot-6 former competitive long jumper who worked with young
track athletes, taught his own children proper running techniques. Height hasrun in the family for generations. Wembanyama's great-great-grandfather, who
was Congolese, stood taller than 7 feet.

他的媽媽 Elodie 身高六尺三寸，在成為一名教練之前，她在法國有自己的職業籃球生涯，主要是教小孩子打球。他的父親Felix 是一位六尺六寸的前競技跳遠運動員，曾與年輕的田徑運動員一起工作，並教自己的孩子正確的跑步技巧。身高已經在家族中流傳了好幾代。文班亞馬的曾曾祖父是剛果人，身高超過七尺。

"His mother, she's a basketball addict. She was always in the gym and trainingall these kids every day," says Bouna Ndiaye, Wembanyama's Dallas-based agentwho has known his family since before he was born.

對他的家族非常熟悉、位於達拉斯的經紀 Bouna Ndiaye 說：「他的媽媽，是一位迷上籃球的人，總是在體育館裡每天訓練這些孩子。」

"Victor was basically training his body just living there. When he was going
up the stairs his father was telling him how to finish his climb. And with
his size, I think, his parents have been very important in his development."

「Victor基本上都是在練著他的身體。當他上樓梯時，他的爸爸會告訴他要怎樣爬。我覺 得以他的情況來講，父母在他的（人格）發展中非常重要。」

He's a middle child. His older sister, Eve, is 6-foot-1 and a professional
basketball player in France, where she has also played on the national team.
His younger brother, Oscar, is 6-foot-6 and also plays basketball.

他在兄弟姐妹中排中間。年齡較大的姐姐Eve 高六尺一寸，是一位效力國家隊的職業籃球員；弟弟Oscar 則高六尺六寸，也愛打籃球。

Elodie prided herself on giving her children natural and organic food, and
proclaims she has never made the same dish for them twice. "She may have
overstated that one," Victor says with a smile.

Elodie自誇給孩子吃的是自然、有機食物，還聲稱從不重複準備相同的料理。文班亞馬笑著表示，「她可能誇大了一點」。

Wembanyama loved drawing, particularly sketching with pencils. He loved to
read, especially fantasy novels. But when he would dream of his future, his
thoughts always went one direction.

文班亞馬喜歡畫畫，尤其是用鉛筆描繪；也喜歡閱讀，尤其是奇幻小說。但當他想到未來時，想法總是朝著單一方向走。

"I've always wanted to be a pro basketball player, but when did I realize
it?" Wembanyama pauses. His eyes turn upward. "Probably when I was 11 or 12,
because it was the first glimpse I got of the professional expectations."

「我一直都在想著成為職業籃球員，但在什麼時候才意識到這一點？」他停頓了一下，眼睛往上眨。「大概在十一、二歲吧，因為當時是對進入職業的第一瞥。」

It was then when Wembanyama met a man by the name of Karim Boubekri. Boubekrigrew up a huge fan of Hall of Fame point guard Isiah Thomas and his dribbling,so when Boubekri became a coach, and was developing strategies and lessons toimpart, he was taken by two seemingly opposite ends of the basketball spec-
trum: "Pistol" Pete Maravich, the Hall of Fame former Jazz guard who revolu-
tionized the game with his ball skills and VHS instructional videos in the
1980s, and the AND1 Mixtape Tour stars of the early 2000s.

就在那時，文班亞馬遇到了一個名叫 Karim Boubekri 的人。Boubekri從小就是名人堂得分後衛 Isiah Thomas 和他的運球的超級粉絲，所以當 Boubekri 成為一名教練，並在製定策略和傳授課程時，他被籃球光譜上兩個看似相反的端點所吸引：「手槍皮特」Pete
Maravich，一位在二十世紀八十年代以其球技和VHS 教學影片革新比賽的名人堂級前爵士後衛，以及廿一世紀初的 AND1 Mixtape Tour明星。

"I can only imagine being a 17- or 18-year-old playing against professionals.You're literally playing against guys who could be your dad. I think it
definitely prepared him for the next level."

David Lighty, a former star at Ohio State who was a teammate of Wembanyama's
at ASVEL

前俄亥俄州立大學球星、如今和文班亞馬同處艾斯維爾隊的球員 David Lighty：

「我只能想像作為一個十七或十八歲的孩子與職業球員競賽。你實際上是在與那些可能是 你爸爸的人比賽。我認為這肯定是為他的下一個挑戰做準備。」

"Players want to express themselves offensively, that's what they prefer,"
Boubekri says. "And for them to be able to express themselves offensively,
you have to make sure that the ball is not a constraint."

Boubekri說：

「球員們想在進攻中展現自己，那是他們喜歡的，為了讓他們能夠在進攻中表現自己，你 必須確保球不是一個限制的因素。」

Bouberki's use of nontraditional techniques filtered down to his young
prodigy. Wembanyama learned to handle the ball working with soccer goaltendergloves to help with feel and dexterity. Wembanyama learned that, despite his
height, he had to dribble the ball low so he could control it and make it
harder for it to be taken from him.

Boubekri對非傳統技術的使用滲透到了他的年輕神童身上。文班亞馬學會了用足球守門員的手套來處理球，以幫助提高感覺和靈活性。文班亞馬了解到，儘管他身高很高，但他必須把球運得很低，這樣他才能控制住球，使球更難被搶走。

Wembanyama loved it all, devouring the egalitarian instruction: Not being
treated differently because of his size opened up a world to him that
traditional coaches might not have shown him.

文班亞馬喜歡這一切，吞噬了平等主義的主導：不會因為他的體型而受到差別待遇，這為他打開了一個傳統教練可能不會向他展示的世界。

"I probably didn't know who Pete Maravich was at that time, but I know Karim
made everyone do the same drills," Wembanyama says. "He didn't expect me to
be worse than any other players just because I was taller. It helped for
development. It helped us challenge ourselves."

文班亞馬說：

「當時我可能不知道 Pete Maravich 是誰，但我知道 Karim 讓每個人做同樣的練習。他 並不指望我會因為身高因素，而變得比其他球員差。這對發展有幫助，也幫助我們挑戰 自己。」

The coaches would soon learn that Wembanyama had a serious work ethic about
such things. When he was 12, he played in a well-known junior tournament with15-year-olds in Lille, the northern part of the country. Despite being
younger, he was one of the best players in the event, and he led his team to
the cup over a team from Moscow.

教練們很快地將會知道，文班亞馬對這類事情有著認真的工作態度。當他正值十二歲時，他在位於法國北部的里爾，與十五歲的孩子一起參加了一個著名的青少年錦標賽。儘管年齡較小，但他是該賽事中最好的球員之一，還帶領所屬球隊戰勝了來自莫斯科的一支球隊，獲得了賽會冠軍。

"It was my first time playing in front of people, and I really loved the
experience," Wembanyama says. "But I've got maybe one regret. I didn't end upbeing the MVP, even though my team won, and I think I deserved it."

文班亞馬說：

「這是我第一次在人們面前進行比賽，我真的很喜歡這種經歷。但我也許有一個遺憾。雖 然球隊贏了，但我最終沒能成為 MVP，不過我認為這是自己應得的。」

It was time to move on from the Maravich tapes.

是時候要從 Maravich 的錄影帶繼續往前進了。

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