導讀:也許就在不久之前,不會有多少人關注林書豪這個名字,盡管這個畢業于哈佛大學的美裔華人已經在NBA摸爬滾打了近兩個賽季。如今,再度提起林書豪這個名字,不了解NBA的人也在津津樂道于紐約尼克斯隊的六連勝和林書豪從板凳球員一躍成為耀眼明星的傳奇故事。林書豪讓我們看到了什么?
Jeremy Lin had dominated Twitter for several weeks in Febrary, 2012, but the tweets that strike people the most were the ones attempting to put Lin and Yao Ming together. No, Jeremy Lin is not an add—on to Yao Ming’s legacy. No, Linsanity doesn’t render Yao’s time in the league obsolete. No one can repeat what Yao did as an ambassador for the game, nor will anyone be able to duplicate the refined artistry of his post game standing 7'6''. Yao was always a singular case. His effort was China’s effort. For people, that isn’t what Jeremy Lin is about.
林書豪成為了2012年2月幾周里Twitter上討論最多的話題,但最讓人驚訝是那些試圖將林書豪和姚明聯系在一起的評論。不,如果姚明給NBA所留下遺產是一本書,那么林書豪并不只是一頁附錄。不,瘋狂的林現象也并不會讓姚明在聯盟中的時光被人遺忘。沒有人可以替代姚明作為一個大使對這項運動所起到的作用。也沒有人可以復制姚明身高7英尺6英寸卻還擁有的優美的低位技術。姚明一直只是一個個別現象。他的努力代表著中國的努力。對于人們來說,林書豪所包含的含義不一樣。
Jeremy Lin proves there’s another way. Watching Lin knife into the lane and score over soaring giants, it’s impossible to imagine him doing anything else with his life. But it could have been so different. His entire basketball career before that remarkable week has been a cyclical routine of underappreciation and invisibility. He could have left it all. We know about his Harvard degree in economics. But he had the courage and resolve to stick to his dream. And that’s where the purity of his story emerges.
林書豪證明了有另一種方式。看到林書豪切入內線,并在一群躍起的“巨人”的防守下得分時,人們很難想象他還能在人生里做些別的什么。但這個故事也可能變得完全不同:在那關鍵的一周前,存在在林書豪的整個籃球生涯中的,只有周期性的、如慣例一般的被輕視和被忽略。他完全可以轉身離開。我們都知道他獲得了哈佛大學經濟學學士學位。但他有堅持自己夢想的勇氣和決心。而就是從這一點開始,他的故事開始顯得那么純粹。
Jeremy Lin is humble, spiritual, and disciplined. He is also fearless, aggressive, and creative. He’s found his mode of expression and his definition of success. Whether he blossoms into a real NBA star or shatters his glass slipper sitting at the end of the bench is of little importance to us. Beyond the ability to inspire an entire population of Asian— Americans or the ability to spin the narrative of the stereotypical Asian overachiever, what inspires people most is how comfortable he is with his abilities and his place among the best basketball players in the world—how comfortable he is with himself. If Jeremy Lin has proven anything, it’s just how vital being true to oneself is.
林書豪是謙虛的、自律的、有精神力量的。他也是無畏的、進取的、有創造力的。他已經找到了屬于自己的表達方式以及對于成功的定義。無論他今后成為一個真正的NBA明星,還是打破了他的水晶鞋、回到替補板凳的末端,對我們來說都不重要。是的,他激勵了整個亞裔美國人社群;是的,他改寫了美國人對于典型的亞洲拼命三郎的描述;但,林書豪帶給人們最大的啟發卻是,他對于所擁有的能力的接收自如,以及與一群世界頂級籃球運動員一起時對所處位子的自在處理。如果林書豪已經證明了什么,那么一定是“忠于自己”有多么的重要。
What do we see in Jeremy Lin? Ourselves—and the options in life that we may not have truly believed existed before.
林書豪讓我們看到了什么?我們自己,以及生命中那些我們不曾真正相信的可能性。