Snapshots of an NBA career through Injury

從上傷病視角縱觀聯(lián)盟。

What did you think when you saw rookie Julius Randle leaning against a Lakers stanchion， one game into his NBA career， holding his broken leg？ What about fellow rookie Jabari Parker lying prone， writhing as pain from a torn ACL① shot through his body？

看到新秀朱利葉斯·蘭德?tīng)柨吭诤嘶@架旁，在個(gè)人的第一場(chǎng)NBA比賽中抱著骨折的腿時(shí)，你的心里在想什么？另一個(gè)新秀賈巴里·帕克因?yàn)槭猪g帶撕裂而痛苦的打滾時(shí)，你又在想什么？

Remember Kevin Love briskly exiting the court while holding his dislocated left shoulder， knowing his inaugural season with Cavs—in the middle of a Finals run—was done？ When Kevin Durant limped off the court in February， favoring his surgically repaired foot， did you get a sinking feeling？

還記得凱文·樂(lè)福扶著自己脫臼的左肩在奔向總決賽的過(guò)程中退場(chǎng)、知道自己在騎士的第一個(gè)賽季已經(jīng)結(jié)束時(shí)是什么樣的嗎？還記得凱文·杜蘭特二月時(shí)捂著做過(guò)手術(shù)的腳，一瘸一拐地走下場(chǎng)時(shí)，你是否有一種不祥的感覺(jué)？

Among the hallmarks of last season’s Golden State Warriors championship run was their relative team-wide health. Six of their top seven players played in every playoff game， and only Andrew Bogut saw fewer than 77 regular-season games. This was an advantage. But that’s the harsh reality of the NBA.

金州勇士上賽季奪冠之旅中，其中的關(guān)鍵就是，他們保證了全隊(duì)的相對(duì)健康。球隊(duì)七名最好的球員中，有六人打滿了全部季后賽，只有安德魯·博古特常規(guī)賽打了不到77場(chǎng)。這是勇士的優(yōu)勢(shì)，也是NBA的殘酷現(xiàn)實(shí)。

Then again， last season—perhaps more than any other season in the past—saw major stars go down with injuries that completely reshaped playoff pictures， draft odds and fan sentiments.

上賽季——也許是歷史上最嚴(yán)重的一季——我們看到很多明星球員因傷缺陣，從而徹底改變了季后賽格局、選秀概率以及球迷的感情。

So many players of import went down last season that， when taken together， the injuries span a full career： from rookies and rising stars through players in and just past their primes to one particular legend in the twilight of his career.

上賽季，有太多重要的球員出現(xiàn)了傷病。綜合起來(lái)看，這些傷病延續(xù)了球員的職業(yè)生涯：從新秀到冉冉上升的新星，從進(jìn)入巔峰到退出巔峰的球星，還有一個(gè)進(jìn)入職業(yè)生涯暮年的傳奇巨星。

It is all about context， as usual， and successfully recovering from any injury requires a very nuanced understanding of all the factors in play during the recovery process. At different stages during a career， these factors are going to differ based on physical， psychological and competitive pressures. With the host of players—young， old and in between—making high-profile， heavily scrutinized comebacks， we looked at some common challenges present at each stage of a player’s career.

和平常一樣，重要的是不同的人面對(duì)的不同環(huán)境。而成功從傷病中康復(fù)，要求球員對(duì)康復(fù)過(guò)程中的所有因素?fù)碛屑?xì)致入微的理解。在職業(yè)生涯的不同階段，根據(jù)身體、心理和競(jìng)爭(zhēng)壓力的不同，這些因素能起到不同的作用。不論是年輕、年長(zhǎng)還是處于中間階段的球員，大量球員的康復(fù)都被放在了放大鏡下，接受外界的仔細(xì)審查。我們找出了球員生涯不同階段面對(duì)的共同挑戰(zhàn)。

Could your story be over before it even begins？

你的故事還沒(méi)開(kāi)始就要結(jié)束嗎？

For the youngbloods who went down this past season， like Parker and Randle， the looming legacies of rookie busts like Greg Oden raise the specter of doubt within them. Then again， Michael Jordan broke his foot three games into his second season， came back in March and by April was hanging 63 on the Celtics. Blake Griffin missed what should’ve been his rookie season with a broken left kneecap.

對(duì)于上賽季倒在傷病腳下的新秀，比如帕克和蘭德?tīng)?，格雷格·奧登這種被傷病徹底毀掉的新秀案例會(huì)讓他們產(chǎn)生一絲懷疑。不過(guò)，邁克爾·喬丹在個(gè)人第二個(gè)賽季僅打了三場(chǎng)比賽時(shí)就出現(xiàn)了腳部骨折的傷，他不僅在第二年三月復(fù)出，四月還在凱爾特人面前拿到了63分。布雷克·格里芬也因?yàn)橄ドw骨骨折而錯(cuò)過(guò)了個(gè)人的菜鳥(niǎo)賽季。

Young players carry with them the allure of potential and the weight of expectations. The scrutiny intensifies with an early injury. Parker and Randle no doubt feel this pressure， but youth is on their side. Overcoming the physical and mental roadblocks of a return to form this early in one’s career is a struggle， but precedent proves it is not nearly impossible.

年輕球員有著誘人的潛力，背負(fù)著外界的期待。早期受傷引發(fā)更高的外界關(guān)注。帕克和蘭德?tīng)枱o(wú)疑感受到了這種壓力，可年輕就是他們的本錢(qián)。職業(yè)生涯這么早就要戰(zhàn)勝傷病恢復(fù)的身體及心理阻礙，對(duì)他們來(lái)說(shuō)是個(gè)不小的挑戰(zhàn)，但先例證明，完全恢復(fù)并非不可能。

An injury in the prime of a player’s career is perhaps the worst possible scenario， as a career could be undercut just when one’s game begins to match their physical gifts. Players like Kevin Durant and Paul George ask themselves the chief question： Will I ever be one of the best on the planet again？ Teams built around these singular talents obsess over the prospect of possibly catastrophic consequences. Look no further than Chicago Bulls star Derrick Rose’s roller-coaster ride.

職業(yè)生涯巔峰期遭遇傷病是最糟糕的情況，當(dāng)球員正最大程度地發(fā)揮身體天賦時(shí)，傷病出現(xiàn)很可能縮短球員的職業(yè)壽命。像凱文·杜蘭特和保羅·喬治這樣的球員都會(huì)重點(diǎn)問(wèn)自己：我還能夠成為地球上最好的球員之一嗎？圍繞這些單個(gè)球員建隊(duì)的球隊(duì)很可能面臨災(zāi)難性的后果。最近的一個(gè)例子，就是公牛球星德里克·羅斯起伏不定的狀態(tài)。

A player’s prime marks the short stage of peak power， and in a league where the average career length is a mere 4.8 years， the premium on prime is conspicuous from a competitive standpoint. From a vanity perspective， these are also the years that define legacies and build brands. It’s the time when players have signature shoe lines and their own commercials， their jerseys fly off store shelves and the All-Star votes pour in.

進(jìn)入巔峰期的球員在那一小段時(shí)間里擁有最強(qiáng)的實(shí)力，在一個(gè)平均職業(yè)生涯長(zhǎng)度只有4.8年的聯(lián)盟里，從競(jìng)爭(zhēng)角度，巔峰期的優(yōu)勢(shì)顯而易見(jiàn)。從個(gè)人私欲角度看，球員確立個(gè)人地位、打造個(gè)人品牌也是在巔峰期那些年。就是在這段時(shí)間，球員可以發(fā)售簽名鞋、拍攝廣告，商店里到處都是他們的球衣，全明星投票也如雪花般地飛來(lái)。

An injury at this stage can quite frankly divert the entire trajectory of a player’s NBA experience.

在這個(gè)階段遭遇傷病，毫無(wú)疑問(wèn)會(huì)改變一個(gè)球員的職業(yè)經(jīng)歷。

Remember peak Grant Hill， Tracy McGrady in his prime or the short burst of virtuosity that was Brandon Roy？ Going back further， there was Bernard King and Bill Walton. Contrast those careers with those of players such as Dirk Nowitzki or Karl Malone—largely injury-free， playing forever.

還記得巔峰期的格蘭特·希爾、特雷西·麥格雷迪，或者如流星般燦爛且短暫的布蘭登·羅伊嗎？再往前追溯，我們還能找到伯納德·金和比爾·沃頓。將這些球員的職業(yè)經(jīng)歷與德克·諾維茨基或卡爾·馬龍對(duì)比，這兩名球員幾乎沒(méi)有受過(guò)大傷，好像能永遠(yuǎn)打下去。

Surely this has to pop in the heads of KD， Rose， George and their ilk in the very human moments of self-doubt.

很正常地自我懷疑時(shí)，杜蘭特、羅斯和喬治以及和他們類(lèi)似的球員心中一定會(huì)產(chǎn)生那種想法。

Stars like Carmelo Anthony and Chris Bosh have made their reputations in the NBA； fans know what to expect from them year in and year out. But when they went down with two very different injuries， our expectations for them changed.

像卡梅隆·安東尼和克里斯·波什這樣的球星已經(jīng)在NBA確立了自己的地位，球迷知道他們會(huì)打出什么樣的表現(xiàn)?？墒钱?dāng)他們因?yàn)閮煞N截然不同的傷病倒下時(shí)，我們對(duì)他們的期待也會(huì)發(fā)生改變。

Bosh went through a horrifying medical ordeal involving blood clots in his lungs that many wouldn’t define as a true injury. Meanwhile， Carmelo underwent debridement surgery to remove dead tissue in his knee that had been nagging him for the past couple of years， indicative not of an ordinary precautionary procedure but of impending compounded issues that could continue to impede his ability to play at the top of his game.

波什被查出可怕的病情，他的肺部出現(xiàn)血塊，很多時(shí)候，這并不算真正的傷病。與此同時(shí)，安東尼接受了清創(chuàng)術(shù)，清理過(guò)去幾年總是為他帶來(lái)困擾的膝蓋內(nèi)部壞死組織。這顯然不是一個(gè)預(yù)防性的治療，這種未來(lái)還會(huì)不斷生成的組織將會(huì)影響他發(fā)揮自己的最大能力。

Age 30 is around the time when many NBA players shed personal delusions of invincibility. Even the indestructible LeBron hinted at mortality during last season’s grueling playoff run. This is the midlife crisis of the NBA， when the existential questions about legacy start creeping to the forefront of a player’s mind.

到了30歲，很多NBA球員開(kāi)始意識(shí)到，自己并非戰(zhàn)無(wú)不勝。即便是堅(jiān)不可摧的詹姆斯，在上賽季殘酷的季后賽中也暗示自己不再無(wú)所不能。這是NBA的中年危機(jī)，很多球員開(kāi)始思考個(gè)人歷史地位這種宏大的話題。

Can Bosh and Melo recover from their ailments and remain among the league’s elite， carrying their respective franchises？

波什和安東尼能夠從傷病中恢復(fù)、重新達(dá)到聯(lián)盟頂尖水平、帶領(lǐng)各自球隊(duì)繼續(xù)前進(jìn)？

Perhaps the most unique point of a player’s career comes at the end of the road. By then， injury is an inevitability—recovery is not. There’s a point in the Showtime documentary series ‘Muse’ where Kobe Bryant details the laundry list of major and minor injuries that plague him in old-age （for an elite athlete）. He’s basically spent the past two seasons in perpetual rehab， beginning with torn achilles in the 2013 playoffs， a bone fracture in his left knee early the next season， then a rotator cuff tear in right shoulder this past season. Every road to recovery fraught with the same morbid questions of “Can I do this？”...“Is this it？”

職業(yè)生涯中最獨(dú)特的階段，大概就是生涯末期。到了那時(shí)，傷病不可避免，但恢復(fù)就未必了。Showtime的紀(jì)錄片Muse中有一段，是科比詳細(xì)介紹職業(yè)生涯晚期對(duì)他產(chǎn)生影響的傷病。過(guò)去兩個(gè)賽季他不斷面對(duì)傷病恢復(fù)，先是2013年季后賽跟腱撕裂；之后一個(gè)賽季初，他又出現(xiàn)了骨折；上賽季，他的肩膀旋轉(zhuǎn)肌再次撕裂。每次恢復(fù)，他都要痛苦地問(wèn)自己一個(gè)問(wèn)題：“我能做到嗎？”……“這就是終點(diǎn)嗎？”

He’s now in the final year of his contract， capping a 20-year career with the Lakers， embarking on what might be his swan song. This isn’t just the end of your everyday NBA story， it is the last chapter of one of the most epic， inspiring， tumultuous， scrutinized， and polarizing basketball sagas in recent history.

科比現(xiàn)在處于合同最后一年，這是他效力湖人的第20個(gè)賽季，也許這就是他的“天鵝挽歌”。這不是一個(gè)普通NBA故事的結(jié)局，而是最近這些年一個(gè)鼓舞人心、了不起的、最受外界關(guān)注的、以及最兩極化籃球標(biāo)志性人物生涯的最后一章。

①ACL：完整拼寫(xiě)為anterior cruciate ligament，即前十字韌帶。