Kobe Bryant宣布本季结束后将高挂球鞋，许多球队纷纷为他“最后一次的造访”举办活
动，感谢他二十年来为联盟的复出。同时也有许多现役球员撰文回味自己与Kobe的小故事
，本篇便是由拓荒者替补摇摆人Henderson发表于The Players’ Tribune的文章。
原著(Author)：Gerald Henderson
文章名称：The First Time I Guarded Kobe
日期：2016/01/21
原文出处：
http://www.theplayerstribune.com/gerald-henderson-guarding-kobe-bryant/
“There's something wrong with the rim.” That’s the first thing Kobe ever
said to me.
People say Kobe’s a perfectionist. Yeah, maybe a little. Let me tell you
about the first time I ever met him.
“篮框有点状况。”那是Kobe对我说的第一句话。
人们总说Kobe是个完美主义者，对啦，是有那么一点。就让我告诉你关于我们第一次见面
的小故事。
It was during pre-game shootaround, back in my rookie year in Charlotte in
2009, and the Lakers were visiting. Kobe was out on the court all by himself,
putting up jumpers.
那是在2009年，当我还是个联盟菜鸟的时候。当天Kobe和他的湖人队造访夏洛特(译者注
1)，当时他独自在场上进行着他的赛前练投。
For a kid from Philly who grew up close to Lower Merion, this was a pretty
big deal for me. Kobe was not only a national legend … he was a hometown
legend. When I was 9 years old or so, my dad brought me to a high school game
where Kobe dropped 50 – and he sat for the fourth quarter. I have visions of
Kobe pulling up from one step inside half court — and draining it — and
then walking back on defense with a strut, as if he knew just how good he
was. He did. Lower Merion was a small gym. Standing room only. Everyone was
there to see him.
对一个从小在费城Lower Merion体育馆附近长大的孩子来说，这真是意义重大。Kobe不仅
仅是个国家传奇，更是个家乡的传说。当我大概九岁的时候，老爸带我去看一场Kobe得了
50分，第四节还坐在板凳休息的比赛。我记得Kobe在那场比赛有一球在刚过半场一步就拔
起出手，而且球还进了。当他慢步回防的时候，脸上满是骄傲，仿佛在说，我就是这么强
。他的确是强。Lower Merion不过是个小小的体育馆，连个坐着看球的位置都没有，大家
就是专程去看他的。
That’s all to say that — yeah, by 2009, Kobe and I were both NBA players
but he was just a bit better than me. Just a bit. Kobe had been my basketball
idol more than half of my life. I tried to do everything he did. So seeing
him in the flesh was a pretty cool moment for me.
总归一句来说，在2009年以前，Kobe跟我都是NBA球员，但他只比我好上那么一点点，就
一点点而已。他曾是我的篮球偶像超过半辈子，我试着要做到他做的任何动作，所以亲眼
看到他对我来说是个相当酷的经验。
So I’m shooting around and there’s still about 45 minutes until tip. Kobe’
s on the other end, still shooting, and I’m glancing over at him. Remember, I
’m a rookie. I want to see how this guy approaches warm-ups. Maybe I can
learn something from him. Steal a move or two.
所以我就在他附近投著篮，还有45分钟才进休息时间。Kobe依旧在球场的另一端投篮，我
一直在偷看他那边。别忘了，我只是个菜鸟，我想观察她怎么完成热身，或许我还能从他
那偷到一两招来用用。
But it was weird: he was missing more shots than he was making. Honestly, he
was missing a lot.
All of a sudden, I looked up and Kobe had stopped shooting. He was holding
the ball on his hip with one hand — and motioning to the sideline with the
other.
Then all sorts of commotion started.
不过情况有点怪，他投不进的频率开始提高，老实说，他没进的球有点太多了。突然间，
我发现Kobe停下了投篮的动作，把球夹在一只手跟臀部之间；另一手向边线比划
然后各种骚动就此展开。
A crew of maintenance guys showed up from out of nowhere. It looked like a
hockey line change — maintenance guys rushing on and off the court. Kobe was
saying something to them and gesturing. But from where I was standing, I
couldn’t make out what they were saying.
一组维修人员不晓得从哪冒了出来，他们就像冰球场上的战况一样跑来跑去。Kobe则是比
手画脚地跟他们讨论，只是从我站的地方听不到他们在说什么。
Suddenly, there was a ladder being set up under the basket. Kobe’s pointing
up at the rim and the maintenance guys are positioning the ladder. A
measuring tape is involved.
然后他们在篮下架了一座铁梯，Kobe指著篮框示意工作人员铁梯的准确位置，并且拿来了
一卷测量尺。
What’s going on? Kobe was up to something.
I’m standing at half court watching the scene play out, and Kobe starts
walking over to me.
“Something wrong with the rim.”
“Oh yeah?”
We’re watching a guy climb the ladder and tinker with the rim.
“It’s too low. The rim’s a quarter of an inch too low.”
“Huh?” I mumble. I’d never really heard about maintenance issues with a
rim before a game.
“What do you mean?”
“I was missing shots that I don’t miss. I’m pretty sure it’s low. A
quarter of an inch.”
Then it was over. That was it. Our first conversation. He went back to his
shooting routine.
是发生什么事了吗？Kobe好像发现了什么。
我站在中场附近观察，然后Kobe朝我走了过来。
“篮框有点问题。”他说。
“真的吗？”我回答。
我们看着一个工作人员爬上铁梯、似乎是要调整篮圈。
“篮框太低了，它比正常的矮了四分之一吋。(译者注2)”
“蛤？”我随便应了一声。我从来没听说过在比赛前篮框出状况的问题。“你的意思是？
”
“我刚刚那些投丢的球不应该不进的，我还满确定篮框太矮了，矮了四分之一吋。”
然后这段谈话就结束了，就这样，我们第一次的交谈。之后他又回去重复他那千篇一律的
投篮练习。
Two things pop into my head:
1. Man I can’t believe I just had a conversation with that cat…
… and
2. Dude, Kobe, maybe it’s not the rim. Maybe you’re just … missing shots.
我突然想到两件事：
一、天哪我不敢相信我刚刚跟Kobe讲话耶
二、Kobe老哥，或许不是篮框吧！应该就只是你…没投进而已。
Larry Brown was the Bobcats coach at the time. I have all the respect in the
world for Larry, but he was tough on me, as he is on all rookies. When I was
a rookie, it was a struggle to get any minutes. I’d pray to get 5, maybe 10
minutes a game, if that.
Larry Brown当时是山猫队主帅(译者注3)，我心中对他只有尊敬，但就像对所有菜鸟一样
，他也对我很严厉。我在菜鸟年的时候，连要争取到一分钟的上场时间都很困难。我常祈
祷一场比赛能获得五分钟、甚至十分钟的上场时间，那就太好了。
But the coaching staff knew I was one of our best defensive players. So
before the game I told one of our assistant coaches Jeff Capel: “Cape, I
want to play tonight man. I want to guard Kobe!”
Cape responded: “You gon’ get your chance.”
教练团也知道我是当时队上最好的防守球员之一，所以赛前我跟助理教练Jeff Capel说“
教练我想打球，我想上去防守Kobe！”他回答“你会得到机会的。”
I’d like to say that the coaching staff listened. But more likely, the only
reason I played that night was that Larry wanted to test me. He knew Kobe was
my basketball idol and he wanted to see if I was up to the challenge.
我想教练团是听进去了。不过更有可能的是，Larry让我打是想测试我，他知道Kobe是我
的偶像，他想知道我是不是能够承受这样的挑战。
After a couple guys picked up early fouls, Larry looked down the bench. I was
way down at the end.
“Gerald, go guard him.”
I jumped up off the bench. I was ready for my “chance.” I remember my hands
were sweaty and my heart was beating too fast for someone who hadn’t been in
the game yet.
在几个先发球员提早陷入犯规麻烦之后，Larry望向板凳席，我当时坐在最末端。
“Gerald，上去防他吧！”我从板凳上跳起，我早就准备好要好好把握这个“机会”了。
我还记得当时我连场都还没上，就已经留了手汗、心脏跳得飞快。
I want to dispel a myth about the NBA. You might think, after playing the
sport for our whole lives, from AAU to college to the NBA, that NBA players
don’t get nervous. Forget that. NBA players get nervous, too.
I was a rookie checking into the game, cold, to guard Kobe Bryant.
I was nervous as ever.
我想打破一个大众对NBA的迷思。你可能会觉得，我们打了一辈子的球，从AAU到NBA，应
该不会紧张了吧？别傻了，我们也是人，也会紧张的。
我以一个新人之姿，进场对位防守Kobe。我觉得好冷，而且前所未有的紧张。
Another secret: the way to get rid of nerves is to just launch yourself into
the game. You just have to make a play, any play: get a stop on D, grab a
rebound, dive for a ball. Anything to get into the flow of the game.
告诉你们一个小祕密好了，想摆脱紧张最好的方法，就是全心全意的投入比赛。想办法做
好一个动作吧，任何你想得到的动作，像是在防守端守下一波对方的攻击、抢个篮板、扑
出去救球，任何能让自己进入比赛节奏的事情。
The first possession down, Kobe got it on the wing. I was on him. Here we go.
第一波球权发出来，Kobe持球，我守他，我们正式开始竞争。
Now, I had watched Kobe growing up. I had watched lots of his game tape. I
honestly felt like I knew his game as well as you can know a guy’s game from
watching it. I thought I had a feel for him. I still do.
我一路上看Kobe打球而成长，我在这之前已经看了他无数比赛的影带了。我认真的觉得我
了解他所有的比赛、所有的动作，就好像你可以从一个球员的比赛中了解他一样。我到那
时还是觉得对他有某种特殊的感觉，觉得我能够守得住他。
He knew I was a rookie, so he went right at me early. On the first play, he
drove right, picked up his dribble, and shot faked at the elbow. I
anticipated that move. It was classic Kobe. I stayed down.
He shot faked again — and, again, I stayed down. I wasn’t falling for that.
他也知道我是个菜鸟，所以他马上对我持球进攻。在第一次的进攻中，他先从右侧切入，
运了几次球，然后用手肘做了一个出手的假动作。我预测到了，那就是典型的Kobe，我并
未被骗起跳。他连续做了好几个假动作，我都没有被骗起来，我是不会对这种饵上钩的。
A few plays later, Kobe goes at me again. He drives me. He gets some space
and I’m sure he’s going to let this one go … WRONG. He fakes and I go
flying…
Dang, he got me.
几波的进攻之后，Kobe再次持球单打我。这次他先切入，然后清出一点空间，我肯定这次
他会出手了…吗？并不是，他又使出了假动作，这次我却已飞在天上。当当当，他终究钓
中了我。
But instead of jumping into me to draw the foul, Kobe went into his bag of
tricks.
As I’m in the air, Kobe reverse-pivots and steps under me, into the key, and
throws the ball off the backboard. I’m still in the air, helpless. All I can
do is watch.
You might be able to guess what happened next: he grabs his own lob off the
backboard and rattles a dunk. The crowd went nuts.
但是这次他并没有往我身上跳来买犯规，他从他众多让人眼花撩乱的技巧中小秀了一番。
当我还在空中的时候，Kobe调整了重心，并把球抛向我身后的篮板。我还在空中，只能无
助的看着这一切发生。
你可以猜到接下来发生了什么，他抓下他自己抛往篮板的反弹球爆扣篮框，观众全都疯狂
了。
I remember thinking to myself: Idiot, you can’t go for the fake.
This move was impressive for many reasons. Kobe had the skill to throw a
prefect pass off the backboard to himself, gather the ball mid-air and thrust
it through the hoop. But also, he did a move he probably did not need to do.
He could have easily let me fall down on top of him and taken the two easy
free throws. But he used his creativity to execute a move that most guys
wouldn’t think about trying. Why? For the fans? For the highlight reel? For
his legend? Who knows. The guy is special.
我记得我内心的小剧场：“你这白痴，怎么被这种假动作骗！”
这个动作其实非常令人印象深刻。理由有好几个，首先是Kobe有能力抛出一个完美的打板
反弹球，在空中接到并且以爆扣收尾。其次就是他做了一个他没必要做的动作，他本可轻
松的往我身上靠然后获得两个简单的罚球，但他运用自己的创造力执行的一个大部分的人
根本没想过要尝试的动作。为什么？为了球迷吗、还是为了在每日的精彩剪辑露脸？为了
他个人的传奇故事吗？谁知道呢，这家伙太特别了。
Kobe finished the game with 30 points. After the game, Coach Brown gave me a
nod and said I’d played well. I think he meant it. Even though Kobe got 30,
I had stuck to my game plan. For great scoring guards, the game plan is
pretty universal: limit your guy to tough, contested two-point shots. If they
’re off-balance jumpers, even better.
Kobe当晚得了30分，赛后总教练跟我点了点头说我打得不错，我想他应该是真的这么想。
即使Kobe拿到30分，我也达成我默认的目标，要防守伟大的得分后卫，主要目标就是让他
不断的去投困难的两分球，若是能让他们多去做失去平衡的出手，那就更完美了。
Problem is, an off-balance, contested jumper might be Kobe’s strongest
offensive move. You know the one where he drives past his defender, finds his
spot, stops on a dime in front of the help defender, elevates, releases the
ball at the height of his jump over an outstretched hand, leans back to put a
little more arc on it. If you’re a defender, that’s a great shot to have
your opponent take. Any coach would smile at that.
But Kobe makes those shots — consistently. And there’s nothing you can do
about it…
Kobe’s perfected the art of scoring, if that can be done. He has counters to
your counters. He has a toolbox full of scoring moves. Every night, he has
new tools in there, for new scenarios. Good defense rarely slows Kobe down.
In a crazy way, good defense makes Kobe better. It just reveals new moves
that he’s been waiting to try out.
问题是，这种身体失衡、又是对位防守的跳投或许是Kobe最强大的进攻手段之一。
当他运球过了第一线防守者，找到空间，在协防者面前停下、起跳、在一只尽力伸长的手
面前投射，背部还要稍微弓起来以争取更多空间。如果你是那个防守者，这是一个相当好
的结果，让Kobe掉入防守陷阱去做超高难度的出手，任何教练应该都会为你的好防守微微
一笑。
但是Kobe“不断的投进”这种球，而你却无能为力。
Kobe不断精进自己在得分方面的技术，或者说是艺术，只要那是可能达成的。他会针对你
的反击来回应，用他那整车得分的技巧。每天晚上，他都会增添新的工具，好应对新的状
况。好的防守几乎无法让他慢下来，更夸张的说法是，好的防守让他变得更强，让他能够
展现他等待尝试的新招。
At his best, Kobe didn’t just have a jump shot, he had a well-rounded game.
He was a perennial NBA All-Defense team member. Kobe would check the other
team’s best perimeter player every night and lock him down. His whole
career, he was an underrated passer because of the difficult shots he would
take and make. He was as versatile as they came.
在Kobe的全盛期，他不仅只有跳投，而是个攻守俱佳的全能球员。他是多届NBA年度防守
球队的成员，他会亲自防守对方的进攻主力并且想办法锁死他。在他的球员生涯中，是一
个被低估的传球好手，只因为它有太多高难度出手与高难度入球(译者注4)。他是如此的
多才多艺。
This season, his final of 20, Kobe has not been his regular self. Injuries
have clearly caught up to him and he has not performed like he has in the
past. Many have thrown shade on him, almost as if they’ve forgotten what the
guy has meant to the game. Forgotten what he’s done for the NBA. Forgotten
what he’s done for young kids like me growing up who looked up to him. I don
’t have to break down the reasons why Kobe is one of the greatest to ever
play basketball. Commentators will be doing that all year long on Kobe’s
farewell tour – and for years to come.
本季是他20年生涯的最后一季，Kobe并不像往常的他。伤病明显的缠上了他，使他表现不
如以往。很多人不断抹黑他，似乎已经忘了他对篮球比赛、对NBA联盟、对看他打球长大
的孩子们的贡献与意义。我想Kobe是史上最伟大的篮球员之一，理由无须赘述。各家的体
育评论员会就这个问题讨论个好几年。
In the sport of basketball, and any sport for that matter, you play the game
to win. So with everything that is Kobe Bryant, the most admired and
respected part about him is that he is a CHAMPION. Five times over. No one
will ever forget that.
包含篮球在内，各项运动竞赛的核心价值就是要赢球，所以就Kobe Bryant这个整体看来
，最让人欣赏与尊敬的部分就是他是个冠军。整整五次，没有人会忘记。
After the buzzer sounded, I was walking off the court and I saw one of the
maintenance guys — one of the guys who was carrying the ladder onto the
court during warm-ups.
I had to ask.
“Hey man, what was up with the rim before the game?”
“Oh, someone notified us that it was a little lower than regulation.”
He added: “Don’t worry. We adjusted it to 10 feet.”
Then he told me how much it was off by.
I could tell you his answer, but I think you already know what he said.
在该场比赛结束的哨音响起后，我慢慢走下场，看到一个维修小组的人，那是热身期间一
个搬铁梯进来的工作人员。我必须问问他。
“嘿！兄弟，比赛前那个篮筐是怎么回事啊？”
“欧，有人通知我们说他比正规的矮了一点点。”“别担心，我们把他调回10呎高(译者
注5)了。”然后他告诉我篮框偏差了多少距离。
我可以告诉你他的答案，但我想你已经知道他说了什么。
译者注1：Gerald Henderson于2009年以第12顺位被夏洛特山猫队选中，2015年被交易至
波特兰拓荒者队。
译者注2：1吋约为2.54公分，四分之一吋大约是0.64公分左右。
译者注3：Larry Brown时任夏洛特山猫队主帅，山猫队已于2015年改名黄蜂队。
译者注4：Kobe生涯单场最高17次助攻，2015/01/15，对手克里夫兰骑士队。
译者注5：10呎高是NBA规则上篮框的标准高度，1呎等于12吋，大约30.5公分。
译者后记
看完这个故事，不得不佩服Kobe的职业精神，即使是那么微小的细节，都要做到完美，许
多球员都对他能针对同样一个重复的动作练习一小时以上感到不可思议，但是这就是Kobe
对NBA、甚至整个篮球世界最远大的影响，“苦练是成为顶尖唯一的途径”。