https://reurl.cc/pvx2Kl Dan Wolken, USA TODAY
He came out in shoes as shiny and golden as the medal he would put around his
neck Saturday night for the third, and perhaps final, time in his career.
他穿着一双闪闪发亮的金色球鞋出场，就像他周六晚上将挂在脖子上的金牌一样耀眼
For LeBron James, the color choice seemed like a statement: About his intent
in the Olympics, about his mission for Team USA, about everything in his
basketball life leading to another gold medal.
对LeBron来说，这个颜色选择似乎是个宣言：表达他在奥运场上的决心、对美国队的使命
，以及他篮球生涯中一切努力的目标——另一枚金牌。
Even with all he’s done at age 39, James didn’t come here just to help his
country win a tournament. He proved a point. As long as he’s playing this
sport, nobody is going to shine brighter.
即使已经39岁，LeBron来这里不仅仅是为了帮助国家赢得冠军，他还想证明自己。
只要他还在打球，就没有人能比他更耀眼
LeBron, in fact, has still got it. He was the best player at the Olympics,
winning the tournament's MVP award. He’s still so clearly capable of
dominating a basketball game at a level hardly anyone in the world can match.
LeBron宝刀未老，他是奥运上最好的球员，并赢得MVP，依然主宰比赛，几乎无人能抗衡
And it leads to one question more important than what he did over this last
month: How are the Los Angeles Lakers screwing up this chapter of his career
so badly?
这让人不得不问一个问题，比LeBron这个月所做的一切还要重要：
洛杉矶湖人队到底怎么了？怎么会把他的职业生涯搞得这么糟糕？
I’ll admit, despite being named All-NBA third team, I thought it finally
looked like James lost a step last season. And I thought because of how much
investment they had tied up in James and Anthony Davis that it didn’t really
matter what else they did: The Lakers were going to be stuck with an old team
that would continue to be in play-in purgatory as James continued declining
until his inevitable retirement.
我得承认，尽管LeBron被选入NBA第三队，我认为上赛季他似乎终于开始下滑了。而且，
，由于他们在 LeBron和AD身上的巨额投资，我不认为他们还能做什么：
湖人将被困在一个老化的队伍中，继续在附加赛挣扎，直到LeBron不可避免的退休。
Maybe the Lakers thought so, too. Maybe that explains why Rob Pelinka has sat
on his hands this offseason, failing to make a single roster move to improve
a team that went 47-35 last season and finished seventh in the Western
Conference.
或许湖人也是这么想的。这或许可以解释为什么Pelinka在这个休赛期无所作为，
未能进行任何队伍调整来改善一支上赛季取得47胜35负、西区第七的球队。
But after watching James plow through everyone at the Olympics, I’m actually
now enraged at the Lakers’ front office for fiddling around on the fringes
the last few years while time runs short on this once-in-a-lifetime career.
但在看LeBron在奥运上横扫所有对手后，我现在对湖人的管理层感到愤怒，
他们在过去几年里一直在浪费时间，而LeBron这位千载难逢的黄金时期正在缩短。
OK, so he’s not quite the defender he once was, and you can’t play him 82
games the way he used to. But those are the only concessions to time James
has made as he has reached his late 30s.
他不再是以前的防守悍将，不能打满82场，但这些30多岁后的他唯一需要让步的地方
His physical capability is still elite. His passing is still otherworldly.
His ability to read the game and make decisions may be better than ever. When
he’s determined to just put his head down and be a freight train to the rim,
nobody in the world can stop him.
他的身体能力仍然是顶级的。他的传球仍然超凡脱俗。他阅读比赛和做出决定的能力可能
比以往任何时候都好。当他决定低头冲向篮筐时，世界上没有人能阻止他。
Can James still lead a team to the NBA title? How could you watch these
Olympics and think anything else?
LeBron还能带领一支球队夺得NBA冠军吗？看了这些奥运比赛后，你还会怎么想呢？
Even on a team full of superstars, he elevated above everyone. When it’s
America’s best versus the world’s best, there’s still no doubt who gets
the job done.
即使在超巨的球队中，他仍然高人一等。当美国最强vs世界最强 毫无疑问谁能完成任务
In this tournament, nobody else was going to do it.
在这场比赛，没有人能做到
Anthony Edwards didn’t have the gravitas. Jayson Tatum was just along for
the ride. The guys who are supposed to eventually replace James as the
American face of the league weren’t ready for this.
AE还没有足够的影响力。JT只是随波逐流。那些被看好能取代 LeBron成为美国篮坛新面孔
，还没有准备好迎接这个挑战。
In the end, this team was conceived by and for James to have one last Olympic
run, with his few true peers in the NBA pantheon alongside.
最终，这支球队是为LBJ打造的，让他最后1次征战奥运，与NBA少数的真正同侪并肩作战
But from training camp to exhibitions and all the way to the final game,
everyone else on this team rode the roller coaster. Steph Curry went from
being uncomfortable early to making a barrage of 3-pointers that held off
France in the gold medal game. Kevin Durant had to work his way back from
injury. Joel Embiid was useful in some moments, out of place in others.
但从训练营到热身赛，一直到最后一场比赛，这支球队的其他人都经历了起伏。
Curry一开始有些不适，但后来连续投进三分球，帮助美国队在金牌战中击败法国。
KD必须从伤病中恢复过来。Embidd在某些情况有用，但在其他时间则显得格格不入。
James, though, was always there. He erased potential humiliating moments
against South Sudan and Germany. He was the Americans’ energy source in the
preliminary rounds. When everything was on the line against Serbia, James
willed Team USA across the finish line. And in the gold medal game against
France, everything ran through him: 14 points, six rebounds, 10 assists in
nearly 33 minutes on the floor.
然而，LeBron一直都在。他化解了对南苏丹和德国的潜在羞辱时刻。他是美国队预赛阶段
的能量来源。当一切摊在赛场上vs塞尔维亚时，LeBron带领美国队冲过终点线。
在金牌战vs法国时，一切都由他来主导：33分钟内得到14分、6个篮板和10次助攻
Even on a team full of superstars, this gold medal was only possible because
James wore red, white and blue one more time. Nearing his 40th birthday, we’
ve never seen anything like it.
即使在一支全明星球队中，这枚金牌只有在 LeBron再次穿上红、白、蓝球衣的情况下才有
可能获得。在他接近40岁生日之际，我们从未见过这样的景象。
And what are the Lakers doing with this national treasure? Selling tickets
and running out the clock.
而湖人队正在用这个国宝做什么？卖票和虚度光阴。
There probably aren’t many more great years left, but these Olympics showed
that it’s still worth it for the Lakers to make the most of them – trading
draft picks, mortgaging the future, whatever it takes.
LeBron可能没有太多黄金赛季了，但这次奥运表面，湖人还是值得为他全力以赴——
交易选秀权、抵押未来，不惜一切代价。
He’s still one of the best players on the planet, and there’s no time to
waste. What are they waiting for?
他仍然是世界上最好的球员之一，没有时间可以浪费。湖人队还在等什么？
James will be 43 years old when the next Summer Olympics come to Los Angeles,
and it’s impossible to believe he’ll still be this kind of player four
years from now. But with LeBron James, you don’t just have to allow for the
impossible. You have to imagine it.
下一次夏季奥运在洛杉矶举行时，LeBron将43岁，很难相信四年后他还能保持这样的实力
但是对于LeBron James，你不仅要考虑不可能的事，还要想像它。
Team USA did and was rewarded with a gold medal. Now it’s the Lakers' turn.
美国队做到了，并因此获得了金牌。现在轮到湖人队了。
备注
https://i.imgur.com/Xu527or.png
奥运没有薪资上限
https://i.imgur.com/xSZOgOb.jpg