http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2737129-i-didnt-want-to-go-back-there-lakers-kyle-kuzma-talks-about-his-motivation
http://tinyurl.com/y8b82ye3
'I Didn't Want to Go Back There': Lakers' Kyle Kuzma Talks About His
Motivation
JOON LEE OCTOBER 6, 2017
Everyone in Flint thinks they're the best player in town. It doesn't matter
if you're the fourth-grader on the AAU team or the 47-year-old on their last
legs in the YMCA. If you play basketball in Flint, you think you're the best
player in town.
Before he was selected 27th overall in the 2017 NBA draft, before he averaged
21.9 points, 6.4 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.4 blocks and 1.1 steals per game in
the NBA Summer League, before he teamed up with Lonzo Ball to form "the
lightskin connection," before Lakers fans yelled "KUUUUZZZ" whenever he
touched the ball, Kyle Kuzma knew he was the best player in town.
住在Flint的所有人都觉得他是本市里面最强的。不管你是AAU球队里的小学四年级球员，
或是在YMCA摇摇欲坠的47岁球员，你只要是在Flint打球，你就是觉得你是最强的。
在他在2017年选秀在第27顺位被选上前，在他在NBA夏季联盟拿到场均21.9分、6.4板、
2.7助攻、1.4锅和1.1抄截之前，在他跟Lonzo合组“the lightskin connection”之前，
在当他拿到球湖迷大喊KUUUUUZZZZ之前，Kuzma知道他是Flint最强的球员。
He also knew he needed to get out.
他也知道他需要离开。
Growing up in Flint, the seventh-largest city in Michigan, site of the
nation's most disastrous water crisis in recent memory, Kuzma felt his world
shrinking. He saw the gang violence. He saw how it took down some of his
childhood friends. He saw his home, a place where he couldn't drink from the
tap or open his mouth in the shower. Kuzma saw it all, and basketball was the
way out.
"I didn't want to go back there," Kuzma tells Bleacher Report. "I wanted to
explore the world and explore life. I wanted to have more to life than Flint."
Kuzma also knew that even if he was one of the best basketball players in the
state, nobody would come out to Bentley High School to watch him play. Kuzma
was the kid who told teachers he was going to the NBA, despite their dismay.
When he was little, Kyle told his mother, Karri Kuzma, about his plan to play
in the NBA. At a certain point, with only a few schools interested (Oakland
University, University of Detroit), Kuzma knew he needed a better path to
league.
在Flint长大，密西根州第7大城市，近年来最严重的水质问题，Kuzma觉得他的世界快垮
下了。他看到帮派暴力是如何夺走他的一些童年玩伴。他看到他家，无法直接喝自来水，
洗澡时无法张开嘴。Kuzma都看到了，然后篮球是他的离开之路。
Kuzma跟BR说“我不想回去那。我想探索世界、探索人生。我想要Flint之外更广的人生”
Kuzma也知道就算是他是密西根州顶尖球员之一，也不会有球探去Bentley高中去看他打
球。Kuzma是那个跟老师说他以后要去打NBA的小孩。他小时候，他就跟他母亲（Karri
Kuzma）说他要去打NBA的计画。到了某个时间点，当只有几所小学校对他有兴趣的时候，
Kuzma知道他需要更好的通往NBA的路。
"If he stayed here, he might've gone to college and played, but it probably
would not have been Division I," Karri says. "His whole story would be
written a different way."
Of course, the story would have still started the same. Karri was attending
Hillsdale College, a small liberal arts school, on a track scholarship when
she found out she was pregnant. She was a two-time Class B shot put champion
at Otisville Lakeville High School, but returned to the Flint area and
started life as a single parent.
Before Kyle could even walk, Karri bought her son a Little Tikes basketball
hoop. Dunking on that hoop, and using a strip of tape as a free-throw line,
remains one of Kyle's earliest memories. It sparked his love of the game,
which followed him to the street courts, the YMCA and then AAU. Karri worked
two jobs during Kyle's entire childhood as the family moved nine times in 16
years, once living in the basement of his grandmother's home when Karri was
laid off.
Karri说“如果他留下来，他也许会去大学打球，但不对是D-1。他的故事会完全不一样”
当然，故事的开头仍会是一样的。Karri当时在Hillsdale College拿着田径奖学金念书
时得知她怀孕了。尽管他高中拿过两次冠军，但还是回到Flint开始了单亲母亲的人生。
在Kyle能走路之前，Karri就买了一个小的篮球框架给他。用胶带黏出来的罚球线仍然是
Kyle最早的记忆之一。那让他喜欢上了这个运动，带领他去街上的球场，去YMCA，之后
是去AAU。Kyle整个童年Karri同时做两份工作，16年内搬了9次家，甚至有一度在Karri
失业的时候住在祖母家的地下室。
"I was just working all of the time," Karri says. "I think that resonated
with him. Hard work is pretty much all he knows. You've gotta work hard to
feed the family."
Kyle needed to work harder to get to the NBA, and to work harder, he needed
to play better competition. As a junior, he'd averaged 17.9 points, 14.4
rebounds, 3.8 assists and 3.4 blocks per game for Bentley High, so before his
senior year, he sent tapes of his shooting at the Y to prep schools, catching
the eye of Vin Sparacio, then the head coach at Rise Academy in Philadelphia.
Sparacio saw a 6'6", 175-pound, raw player who had a great feel for the game,
and immediately brought him in.
Karri说“我整天都在工作。我想这对他产生了共鸣。辛苦工作是他所知道的一切。为了
养家必须辛苦工作”
Kyle需要更努力才能去NBA，而为了要更努力他则需要更好的对手。在Bentley High高三
的时候，他场均17.9分、14.4板、3.8助攻及3.4锅。所以在他高四之前，他本他在YMCA
投篮的影片寄给一些预科学校。，其中引起了Vin Sparacio（时任费城Rise Academy的
教练）的注意。Sparacio看到一个6'6" 178 lb 的一个很嫩但绝佳球感的球员，马上招他
进去。
"He wasn't a great defender, a great shooter or a great ball-handler,"
Sparacio says. "But you could just tell he had that special feel that's hard
to teach. The first couple of months, he wasn't really that good at the prep
level."
For the first time, Kyle and Karri stayed apart for an extended period. The
night before Kyle went to Philadelphia, Karri, in disbelief, lay down with
her son. She held him as they cried together.
"That was what he wanted," Karri says. "I could not believe he was going
away."
He went away and was immediately thrown for a loop. He struggled mightily out
of the gate, having difficulties keeping up with the competition. He'd never
stepped on a floor against five other players capable of playing Division I
basketball. He pushed to change things when he faced off against Fishburne
Military School's Kuran Iverson, then a top-10 recruit at his position and
Allen Iverson's second cousin.
Sparacio说“他当时不是一个好的防守者、射手、或运球者。但当时就可以感觉到他有
与身具来无法教出来的特殊球感。前几个月，他还没达到预科学校的程度。”
这是这一次Kyle跟Karri长期的分开。在Kyle去费城的前一晚，仍然不敢相信的Karri跟
他儿子一起躺着。她抱着他，一起哭。
Karri说“那是他想要的。我无法相信他要离开了”
他离开了而且马上遇到难题。他一开始非常不顺，无法跟上其他人的水平。他没有机会
跟其他5个有打D-1实力的人一起上场。当他对上当时是潜力榜上前十的Iverson（AI的
远房表亲）他下定决心要改变现况。
"That was my matchup, and he really got to me. I was shocked," Kuzma says. "I
was like, 'Oh man, I don't know if I'm ready for this. I don't know what I
got myself into.'"
With a push from Sparacio, he began lifting weights. During AAU weekends,
Kuzma stayed on campus, alternating between lifting weights and playing
pickup basketball from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
The coach saw immediate improvement, and Kuzma ended the season averaging 22
points and seven rebounds and receiving calls from Division I schools. Offers
came in from Connecticut, Iowa State, Tennessee and Missouri, among others,
before Kuzma decided on Utah.
Kuzma steadily improved for the Utes under head coach Larry Krystkowiak.
After averaging 8.1 minutes a game his freshman year, Kuzma joined the
starting lineup his sophomore season and averaged 10.8 points, 5.7 rebounds
and shooting 52.2 percent from the field. In the months before his junior
season, Kuzma told himself if he could average close to a double-double and
finish his degree in three years, he'd declare for the NBA draft.
Kuzma说“那是我的对手，然后我被动摇了。我真的很震惊。我不知道我是不是真的准
备好了。我到底把我自己弄进什么情况？”
在Sparacio的建议下，他开始重量训练。AAU周末的时候，他留在学校，每天早七晚七的
在重量训练跟打球中交错。
教练看到立即的进步，Kuzma季末的时候场均22分7板，也开始收到D-1学校的注意。来自
于很多学校的奖学金机会都来了，他最后选择了Utah。
他在Utes教练Larry Krystkowiak的指导下稳定的进步。大一上场时间8.1分钟，大二的
时候进入先发明单并且场均10.8分5.7板52.2FG%。在生大三的几个月前，Kuzma告诉自己
如果他可以场均接近双十并且三年内拿到学位，他就要去参加选秀。
After posting averages of 16.4 points and 9.3 rebounds per game and finishing
his sociology degree, Kuzma declared.
Draft experts pegged him as a second-round or undrafted prospect, but Kuzma
knew if he could get in front of scouts he'd impress. One excellent NBA
combine and 17 team workouts later, it appeared he was right.
"I wasn't really nervous because I was killing every workout and killing the
combine. It was to the point where I knew I was going to get drafted," Kuzma
says.
"On draft day, I wasn't really nervous at all. Then you turn on the draft,
the first five picks go by and then you still thinking, Oh man, I don't know
where I'm going to go. It's really just by the time draft hits, that's when
you get nervous."
On draft night, while at a party with 80 friends and family members, Kuzma
became a member of the Lakers, who acquired him in the trade that sent
D'Angelo Russell to the Brooklyn Nets.
在他场均16.4分9.3板并且顺利拿到社会学学位之后，他决定参加选秀。
当时选秀专家认为他是二轮或落榜的球员，但Kuzma知道如果他有机会在球探前面他一定
会让人印象深刻。在一个成功的combine以及17个队伍的练球后，的确看起来是那样。
Kuzma说“我没有非常的紧张，因为每个练球我都表现得很好，combine我也表现得很好。
当时我就知道我一定会被选。”
“选秀当天，我完全没有紧张。但你开始看选秀，前五顺位选完，你就开始想你不知道
你会去哪。真的当选秀开始的时候才会开始紧张”
选秀当晚，他在一个有80位朋友跟家人的聚会中，他成为了湖人队的一员。
Karri, having been a Dennis Rodman, Chicago Bulls and Detroit Pistons fan,
did not like the Lakers while growing up—except for Magic Johnson, she makes
sure to note.
L.A.'s "other" rookie quickly made a name for himself in summer league,
developing a chemistry with No. 2 overall pick Ball before exploding in the
early parts of the preseason with a 19-point performance in his debut against
the Minnesota Timberwolves, a 23-point game against the Denver Nuggets and a
team-high 21 points in the Nuggets rematch, flashing a baseline reverse dunk.
Zero regular-season games into his career, Kuzmania is already in full swing.
"It's surreal," Kuzma says. "The Lakers are the premier franchise in all of
basketball. It's the biggest brand in basketball. It's a really surreal
feeling to wake up every day, put on my Lakers gear and see Magic in there
and play for Luke Walton."
The hard work hasn't stopped. Sparacio, on a recent visit to L.A., couldn't
help but notice all of the work Kuzma is still putting in.
"He's still working out like he hasn't gotten drafted," Sparacio says. "With
the NBA money, guys take a break, and he hasn't taken a break since he got
drafted. It's probably not going to stop."
Karri是个小虫、公牛、活塞的球迷并且不喜欢湖人、但她强调除了魔术强森之外。
湖人的“另一个”新秀很快的在夏季联盟建立了自己的名声，跟第二顺位的球哥培养了
默契，并在处女秀对上灰狼拿下19分，对上金块分别拿下23分跟全队最高的21分，以及
底线反扣的高光。
还没打任何一场季赛，Kuzmania已经全力开始了。
Kuzma说“这太超实了。湖人是篮球中最好的球团，最大的金字招牌。每天起来穿上湖人
的球衣看到魔术并为Walton打球的感觉太超实了。
Sparacio在最近一次去LA的时候注意到Kuzma的认真拼劲并没有停止。
Sparacio说“他仍然像是一个还没被选上的人一样认真努力。有了NBA等级的薪水之后，
有些人会休息一下，但他被选上之后都还没休息过。之后大概也不会。
The shock hasn't stopped for Karri. Kyle recently moved her into a nice
apartment with his first paycheck. On Wednesday, NBA general managers named
her son the second-biggest steal of the draft. Every time she sees him do
something, from the standout summer-league performances to the hype train
chugging along this preseason, she can't imagine something greater happening,
until something does.
Karri likes to think back to Kyle's introductory press conference. At one
point Magic Johnson came over to introduce himself to the Kuzmas and Karri
freaked out. So with a smile on his face, he introduced himself.
"You guys look like family," Johnson said.
For Karri, it finally put things in perspective. Her son had left Flint. He
had made it to the NBA. His plan was finally a reality.
Karri仍然在震惊中。Kyle最近用他第一次薪水让她搬进一个不错的公寓。礼拜三的时候
，NBA的GM认为她儿子是本届选秀第二偷。每当她看到他所达成的，夏季联盟的突出表现
到热身赛的疯狂表现，她无法想像更成功的事情发生，直到真的发生。
Karri回想当初Kyle的入团记者会。魔术过来找Kuzma一家自我介绍的时候Karri整个疯掉
了。魔术脸挂著笑容自我介绍了自己。
魔术说“你们看起来像是家人”
Karri终于接受了。他的儿子离开了Flint。他进入了NBA。他的计画梦想成真了。