Lakers at 50: A star is born, and his name is Kobe 纪念洛城湖人五十年之：一名巨星横空出世——科比布莱恩特
Thisarticle was originally published Feb. 15, 1998 and is part of the newbook "Los Angeles Lakers: 50 Amazing Years in the City of Angels" bythe Los Angeles Times sports staff. You can purchase the book onlinehere.
这篇文章最初发表于1998年2月15日，也是洛杉矶时报体育部撰写的新书——《洛杉矶湖人：天使之城精彩50年》的一部分。你可以在这通过网上购物购买此书。
Youhear about Kobe Bryant, the Lakers' 19-year-old basketball whiz, andyour first reaction is, the last time anyone this good appeared therewas a star in the East. I mean, you want to say, "Come on, what are youtrying to hand me? Nobody's this good!"
当你听到“科比布莱恩特”这个名字，那个湖人队19岁的篮球天才少年，你的第一反应会是，“哦，上次有人如此这般横空出世还是东部那个大明星（当然是指乔丹了）”。甚至，你还想说，“拜托！你你什么意思？他之前可没有人！可从没有人像他这么优秀！”
Oh,they don't claim he can heal the sick, raise the dead or make waterinto wine. They're not blasphemous. But they do insist that anythingthat can be done with a basketball, he can do it. Michael Jordan, myfoot.
哦，没人说过他能救死扶伤，能让死人复活，或者直接把清水变成美酒。那些科比褒奖者们还不至于已经被他的杰出吓死了，但他们的确坚称任何有关篮球，不可能被完成的动作，科比都可以做到。至于迈克尔乔丹？他算个鸟。
Itgets to the point where, when you meet him the first time, you want toask him what he did with the halo. Did he fly in -- or just walk acrossSanta Monica Bay? You don't know whether to get his autograph or hisblessing. Or just touch the hem of his warmup suit. You feel inadequateinterviewing someone so perfect. It's a job for Mathew, Mark, Luke andJohn, not a mere sportswriter.
我们终于慢慢讲到重点了。当你第一次见到科比的时候，你会不由自主的想问他，他头顶上那些圣光到底是怎么回事；他有没有飞越，或者干脆直接水上漂过了Santa Monica海滩；你不知道到底是应该要他签名，还是要他像耶稣那样为你赐福；或者，你干脆只摸一下他热身服边缘小小的褶皱。你甚至会觉得自己太过卑微，配不上采访这么完美的人。采访他这工作，应该由马修，马克，卢克或是约翰（全是圣经里圣徒的名字）来做，绝轮不上你这个小小的体育记者。
He'snot 9 feet tall, as you might expect. He looks perfectly ordinary. Ofcourse, he's single, lives with his parents. But he wasn't born in astable. Or even a log cabin. He was raised partly in Italy, where hisfather played basketball. He speaks better Italian than the pope.
嗯，也许你想得到，他不足9英尺。他看上去的确像是个正常人。当然，他还单身，和父母一起居住。当时他不是在马厩里降生的（圣经里说耶稣是在马厩里出生的），更不是小木屋。他父亲曾在意大利打过球，所以他也曾在那成长。如果要他讲意大利语或朗读英文诗句，他显然对前者在行多了。
Hehas a nice sense of humor. He laughs a lot, keeps it light. Everyonelikes him. He's not at all arrogant about his talent, just grateful forit. To a man, the New York media loved him at the recent All-Star gamethere. And that's the toughest media in the world. They couldn'tbelieve their good luck in finding a superstar this approachable. Asfor Kobe, he was having the time of his life. Bryant is no shrinkingviolet. If there's one attribute that sticks out all over him, it'sconfidence. Optimism. Accentuate the positive.
他有很棒的幽默感。他经常大笑，随时保持轻松状态。所有人都喜欢他。他从未将自己的天赋当做炫耀的资本，反而只是单纯的感激上帝的赋予。纽约媒体因为最近的一次全明星赛爱上了他，而他们是世界上最尖刻的媒体。他们说，几乎不敢相信自己的好运气，能找到如此平易近人的超级巨星。而科比，他正站在人生的顶点。他可不是个扭扭捏捏的家伙。如果说，科比布莱恩特周身笼罩着一种气质，那么，那气质就是自信，乐观，绝对积极。
Heeliminates the negative, all right. So, he missed the most crucial shotof the year last year, the one that would have beaten Utah and kept theLakers in the playoffs had it gone in. Kobe didn't go home to perch ona ledge or go off to join the French Foreign Legion. He doesn't dosackcloth and ashes. He just shrugged and told himself that, the nexttime this happened, he wouldn't miss. "My time will come," he said.
他拒绝任何负面的东西，百分百确定。所以，当他投丢去年最重要的那个投篮，那个投进就足以帮助湖人留在季后赛，击败犹他爵士的投篮之后，科比没有躲回家蜷起来，也没有出去狂欢摆烂。他没有后悔懊恼。他仅仅告诉自己，下一次再有这样的机会，他绝对不会错过。他说，“属于我的时刻会到来的”。
Hedidn't come cheap. The Lakers had to give up Vlade Divac to get him.And Divac was a 12-point-a-night, 800-rebounds-a-year, 7-foot-1 center.
科比的到来让湖人付出了不小代价。为了得到他，湖人放弃了迪瓦茨。他可是一个场均12分，赛季800板，7尺1寸的强力中锋。
Kobe'srole on the Lakers? "My job is to spread havoc in the enemy, kind of aspark plug," he tells you. The idea is to get the other guys trying tolook over both shoulders at once for him. He's a disrupter, "I figureout what the team needs and try to supply it," he tells you. "get theball to Nick (Van Excel), get open, set up, win."
科比在湖人扮演什么角色？科比说，“我的任务是进一步摧毁敌人，就像个引爆点。”这种想法其实就是希望其他球员哪怕有一次，能向他注目。他是个毁灭者。“我努力寻找球队需要的东西，然后试着贡献”，他这么告诉你，“把球交给Nick（范
埃克赛尔），找到空挡，赢球。”
Technically,he's what they call a "sixth man." He is meant to come off the bench atkey moments and spark a turnaround in the team's fortunes. It's a rolepioneered by the Celtics' John Havlicek.
而实际上，他是所谓的“第六人’。他应该在关键时刻从板凳上站起来，然后帮助球队转转运气，扭转局面。这是个就像凯尔特人队约翰
哈弗里切克的角色。
Heplays to rave notices. Says Hall of Fame broadcaster Chick Hearn, whohas been known to restrain his enthusiasm for the modern player onoccasion: "Kobe is a 28-year-old in a 19-year-old body. The things hedoes with no college experience is beyond belief. He has totalconfidence. He'd walk up to Michael Jordan or a backup guard with thesame degree of skill and enthusiasm and expectations of success. He's astar on and off the court. I've seen lots of them come and go but nonewith the potential of Kobe Bryant. Someday, we'll be able to brag, 'Weknew him when!' "
他的表演能强烈的吸引注意，以对现役球员极度缺乏热情著称的名人堂播音员Chick Hearn如此评价科比：“科比19岁的身体里隐藏着一个28岁的头脑。他在没有大学经验的前提下所做到的一切已经超越想象。他有绝对的自信。他会用同样等级的技术手段，热情，和欲望面对任何一个替补后卫或是Michael Jordan。他场上场下都是明星。我见多了球员来来去去，可没有人拥有像科比这样的潜力。未来的某天，我们会用“我早就认识他了！”向他人炫耀。”
You see what I mean? He comes into focus to the sound or organ music and the smell of incense.
明白我的意思了么？科比已经点燃了播音界，管乐音乐界，随便什么所有界的激情。
You can see why you don't know whether to genuflect or buy him a lollipop when you first meet him.
我说过，在你第一次见到他的时候，不知道到底是该买给他根棒棒糖，还是该向他屈膝下跪。我想你已经能够明白原因了吧。
Evenrival coach P.J. Carlesimo of Golden State bows, "He's scary. Then yourealize he should be a sophomore in college, and it's real scary. He'stheir sixth man, but he's not a complementary player. He plays a bigrole on a great team and makes it greater."
即使是竞争对手教练PJ 卡莱西莫也这么说，“他太恐怖了。接着你意识到他还应该是个大二学生，于是这就变得真的恐怖了。他是他们的第六人，但是他可不是个替补球员。他在一支伟大的球队扮演重要角色，并且让这支伟大球队变得更加伟大。”
Hehas had his doubting Thomases. To the prediction he had a chance tobecome the next Michael Jordan, they retort, "In 10 years he has achance to be the next Kobe Bryant."
他已经有了自己的疑问。关于他有机会成为第二个Michael Jordan的疑问。而那些科比支持者们坚定的反驳，“十年之内，他有机会成为第二个科比布莱恩特。”
Lotsof people think Michael Jordan is from outer space. Nobody human coulddo those things he does with a basketball. Fly, for instance. AndMichael's debut outshone Kobe's. Michael threw in a league-leading2,313 points in his first year. Kobe topped out at 539 his first year.But Jordan played 3,144 minutes. Kobe played 1,103. Jordan was a ripe21. Kobe was a downy-cheeked 18. Kobe's role was partlyGet-the-ball-to- Shaquille O'Neal-and-get-out-of-his-way. Michael'srole was Go-get-me-the-ball-and-get-out-of-my-way.
很多人觉得Michael Jordan来自外太空。没有哪个人类可以做到他对篮球所做的事情。比如，飞翔。而且乔丹的首秀表现绝对超过科比。乔丹在他的菜鸟年就赛季拿下联盟第一的2313分，而科比的菜鸟赛季仅仅拿下539分。可是乔丹打了3144分钟，科比仅仅打了1103分。乔丹那时已经是个21岁的成年人，而科比还青涩的将将18岁。科比的角色应该被定义为“把球交给奥胖然后别挡他的道”，乔丹的角色则是“把球交给我然后别当我的道”。
Anyway you look at it, you might want to get his autograph before heascends into hoops heaven. He won't be hard to find. He'll be the onewalking through doors without opening them. Michael Jordan may be AirJordan but Kobe is Heir Jordan.
不管你怎么看待所有这些，你或许还是想要在科比升入篮球圣殿前得到他的亲笔签名。在那圣殿里，科比应该很好找，他会是那个可以穿越门墙的家伙。乔丹，或许是“飞人乔丹”；而科比，则是“乔丹继承人”。
