科比·布萊恩特：我的籃球，我的生活

丁玎 盧青亮

2016年4月14日，隨著哨聲響起，科比結束了職業生涯的最后一戰，在“告別戰”之中科比上場42分鐘，50投22中（三分球21投6中），罰球12罰10中，砍下了60分4個籃板4次助攻，為自己傳奇的職業生涯畫上了完美的句號。對于很多80、90后而言，科比的退役不僅代表了一個時代的結束，也代表了他們青春的散場。本文選自2007年采訪科比的一篇文章。

Four miles east of Las Vegas Boulevard， well beyond the glitter of the Strip， the Valley High School gym is cool and humid， redolent of floor wax and old socks.1 The ball pounds on the polished hardwood， the sound echoes off the familiar glazed concrete blocks that form the inner walls. Sneakers squeak. Voices rise and fall， curses and laughter. There is high tragedy and low comedy， often displayed on the same face split seconds apart. There are no fans， no sportswriters. There is no trash talk， no ego， no dispute. There is nothing but this court， this play， these men， this ball—this peculiar ball， the usual orangey brown， only this one dressed up with the two white rings of international play—as it traces a high arcing parabola through the air， meanwhile rotating sweetly backward， a shot born of the countless other shots that have preceded it， hundreds of thousands of shots， perhaps millions taken and made over years and years of solitary practice in gyms and driveways and playgrounds from Italy to Philadelphia...2

Kobe Bryant bobs in place on the balls of his feet， holding his pose， frozen for a split second in his red-white-and-blue Zoom Kobe IIs， his impossibly long and Pilates-sculpted arm， bark brown and moist and smelling of complimentary hotel lotion，3 still extended overhead like a kid raising his hand in class. The names of his daughters are tattooed on the meat of his forearm， which is now facing the basket， his wrist still holding its perfect gooseneck follow-through， a gesture at once delicate and strong， like something from ballet， and so essential， adding as it does the balls backward rotation， the so-called shooters touch， which acts as a damper around the rim， helping to ensure that the 9.5-inch-diameter ball will fall with greater frequency into the 18-inch-diameter hole.4

A few years ago， Kobe fractured the fourth metacarpal bone in his right hand.5 He missed the first fifteen games of the season； he used the opportunity to learn to shoot jump shots with his left， which he has been known to do in games. While it was healing， the ring finger， the one just adjacent to the break， spent a lot of time taped to his pinkie. In the end， Kobe discovered， his four fingers were no longer evenly spaced； now they were separated， two and two. As a result， his touch on the ball was different， his shooting percentage went down. Studying the film， he noticed that his shots were rotating slightly to the right.

To correct the flaw， Kobe went to the gym over the summer and made one hundred thousand shots. Thats one hundred thousand made， not taken. He doesnt practice taking shots， he explains. He practices making them. If youre clear on the difference between the two ideas， you can start drawing a bead on6 Kobe Bryant， who may well be one of the most misunderstood figures in sports today. It is a tragic misunderstanding， for his sake and for ours. You can blame it on the press. You can blame it on the way the world revolves around fame and money. You can blame it on Kobe himself.

Having just celebrated his 29th birthday， Kobe is about to begin his 12th season in the NBA. Lately， somewhat grudgingly， people are beginning to acknowledge him as the greatest all-around player still active in the game， mentioned as a peer of Wilt Chamberlain， Larry Bird， and Michael Jordan.7 This year， Kobe will make upwards of $45 million from salary， endorsements， and business ventures. He is constantly in the news， usually on the wrong side of public favor as he continues to play for a once glorious team， the Los Angeles Lakers， that simply doesnt have the manpower right now to will itself into contention. Spending five days with Kobe—a dozen hours， really， spread over five days—is to glimpse the life of a highly skilled craftsman. He sees his work as his art， his calling. Like Jason Bourne and James Bond， two of his cinematic heroes， Kobe sees himself as an über-practitioner：8 a modern warrior able to solve any problem， able to train his way into dominance. He is the self-styled black mamba， known for its striking ability， aggression， and speed. All those sweaty commercials for Sprite and Nike？ Those were his idea. “Film my workout，” he suggested. “That is the essence of me： the guy who guts it out on every rep.9” Kobes logo， which you will hear more about in the coming years， is called the Sheath10. It is drawn to resemble the sheath of a samurais11 sword. “The sword is the raw talent，” Kobe explains. “The sheath is the package its kept in—everything you go through， your calluses12 and your baggage， what you learn.”

“Scito hoc super omnia... Tempusneminem non manet... Carpe diem，” he proclaims in Latin （which he learned in elementary school in Italy） on the home page of his Website， KB24.com. He wakes at 5：30 in the morning to work out. He eats five times a day， a special diet， stressing not just the ingredients but the way theyre cooked. He studies tape of past， present， and world players with the curiosity of a scientist in the lab. （As a kid， he used to study bubble-gum basketball cards in order to see which moves the players were showcasing and “which of their muscles were firing to make the move happen.”） He can look at a random still photo of himself making a particular shot from a game and tell you exactly when and where and what happened. He has spent hours at a time chasing tennis balls along the floor， running the same patterns again and again on an empty court to get his cuts right for the triangle offense， running steps， running suicides13， running distance.

According to his specifications， Kobes shoes have been designed with a special alloy band inside the arch to cut， he believes， hundredths of a second off his reaction time. For the same reason， hes asked Nike to design a sock-and-shoe system， maybe something like pro14 soccer players have. That fraction of a second he loses when his foot slides inside the shoe is the time it takes him to blow by a defender， he says. When he ices his knees， he ices the backs as well as the fronts， something that is usually overlooked because it takes longer. He has also asked Nike to design a new kind of warm-up that will wick heat away15 from his knees and thus enhance recovery time； recovery time， he says with conviction， is the most important element of working out.

With one ball and one rebounder， shooting his usual 80 to 90 percent in practice （with no defender）， Kobe can make 500 shots in about 60 minutes. Last year， as a result of all that practice， all those hundreds of thousands of makes， Kobe scored at least 50 points in four consecutive games and led the league in scoring. Two years ago， he turned in an electrifying 81-point performance at home against Toronto， the second highest total on record， after seven-footer Wilt Chamberlains hundred-point game， all of which came from within 15 feet of the basket. The reaction to Kobe and his achievements has been puzzling， as it has been since the beginning of his career， when he was voted into the All-Star game as a second-year player （he was the sixth man on the Lakers at the time）， and then criticized for inciting an electric duel with the reigning king，16 Michael Jordan. Perhaps no figure in NBA history has been at once more loved and more reviled17 than Kobe Bryant.

Now， in the gym， the ball arcs perfectly through the rim and ripples the bottom of the net with a distinctive， thrilling swish18. The moment is unfrozen； time moves on. Kobe nods his head once， almost imperceptibly， as if to say， Thats what Im talkin about， an expression he uses with exuberance when hes in private， when something catches his fancy， when something he believes is borne out.19 A picture of Kobe seldom seen： his perfect white teeth bared in the large carefree smile of a young man who loves watermelon and those yummy ice cream Kahlúa drinks he and his wife had the other night for dessert at the restaurant in Las Vegas before seeing the show Kà， and who is lately in love with the Harry Potter series， which he read at a breakneck pace， trying to beat out his wife， the first books hes read since 12th grade， when he became obsessed with the sci-fi thriller Enders Game，20 about a boy who suffers greatly from isolation and rivalry but ultimately saves the planet.

拉斯維加斯大道往東四英里外，早已過了燈紅酒綠的繁華街區，山谷高中體育館里陰冷潮濕，彌漫著地板蠟和舊襪子的氣味。籃球打在拋過光的硬木地板上，回音從常見的施釉混凝土內壁反射回來。球鞋吱吱作響。人聲高低起伏，夾雜著咒罵聲和歡笑聲。大喜和大悲常常于剎那之間在同一張臉上上演。沒有粉絲，沒有體育新聞記者。沒有廢話，沒有自我，沒有爭吵。什么都沒有，只有這個球場、這場比賽、這些人，和這個球—— 一個特別的球，普通的橙棕色，只是球上還畫著兩道白圈以示國際比賽用球。它在高空中劃出一道弧形拋物線，同時精準地后旋。這次進球的背后是曾經無數次的投籃，數十萬次甚至可能數百萬次命中或是沒命中的投籃，年復一年，從意大利到費城，他獨自一人在體育館里、車道上、運動場上一遍遍地練習著……

科比·布萊恩特穿著紅白藍三色的科比二代球鞋，前腳掌著地準備就緒，他保持姿勢，停頓了一瞬；他手臂長得驚人，通過普拉提課程完美塑形，膚色深棕，有點濕潤，帶著酒店免費乳液的氣味，他仍將手臂高舉過頭頂，仿佛小孩在課堂上高舉著手。他前臂上文著女兒的名字，此刻正面向籃筐，手腕仍然保持完美的鵝頸形隨球動作，這個姿勢無比優美卻又充滿力量，如同芭蕾舞姿一般，而且這一動作必不可少，因為它的的確確加大了球的后旋，即所謂的“投籃手的擊球”，能在球入籃筐時起到減震作用，讓直徑9.5英寸的籃球有更大幾率落入直徑18英寸的籃筐。

幾年前，科比右手第四掌骨骨折，為此缺席賽季的前15場比賽。他利用這個機會學習用左手跳投，后來他在比賽中以此著稱。在骨傷愈合的過程中，靠近骨折處的無名指長時間和小拇指綁在一起，結果科比發現他四根手指的間隔不再均等，而是兩兩分開。這使得他對籃球的觸感發生變化，投籃命中率走低。通過研究錄像，他注意到自己投籃時球稍稍右旋。

為了糾正這個問題，科比整個夏天都待在體育館里，投進了十萬次籃。這十萬次不僅僅是投籃，而是命中的投籃。他不是練習投籃，他解釋道，而是練習投進。如果你能弄清楚這兩個概念的區別，那么你就可以開始抨擊科比·布萊恩特，或許他是當今體壇受誤解最深的人物之一。這種誤解令人悲哀，無論是對于他還是對于我們。你可以怪罪媒體；你可以怪罪這個圍繞名利運轉的世界；你也可以怪罪科比他自己。

29歲生日剛過，科比即將開啟在NBA的第12個賽季。近來，盡管有些不情愿，人們開始承認他是仍然活躍在賽場上的最偉大的全能球員，足以躋身威爾特·張伯倫、拉里·伯德以及邁克爾·喬丹一列。今年，科比將從薪資、廣告、商業投資中獲得超過4，500萬美元的收入。他一直是新聞關注的焦點，且通常站在公眾喜好的對立面，因為他繼續為那支曾經輝煌的球隊——洛杉磯湖人隊效力，而眼下湖人隊人手不足、無力爭鋒。與科比共度五天——準確來說，是十幾個小時分攤到五天的時間里——讓我們對這位“能工巧匠”的生活有了初步了解。他把工作視為藝術和天職。像他喜愛的銀幕英雄杰森·伯恩和詹姆斯·邦德那樣，科比也把自己視為超級英雄：一個能解決任何問題，通過鍛煉自身達到巔峰地位的現代武士。他自稱黑曼巴，這種蛇以其驚人的捕食能力、攻擊性和移動速度而著稱。雪碧和耐克廣告片里他大汗淋漓刻苦訓練的鏡頭？那都是他本人的主意。“就拍我的訓練吧，”他建議道，“這是我的本質：一個把每次重復動作都堅持到底的家伙。”往后幾年你會更頻繁地聽到，科比的標志是劍鞘。這個標志畫得像是日本武士所用的劍鞘。“劍只是未經打磨的才能，”科比解釋道，“劍鞘把劍包裹其中——也就是你所有的經歷、你的老繭和你的行囊，還有你學到的知識。”

“你必須時刻謹記，充分利用你所擁有的每一分每一秒，時不我待，只爭朝夕。”這是他個人網站KB24.com主頁上的拉丁文（他在意大利上小學時學過）宣言。他清晨5：30分起床訓練，一日進餐五次，他的飲食都是特別制作，不僅講究原料，對烹調方法也十分講究。他會研究過去、現在以及全世界球員的錄像帶，就像科學家在實驗室里做實驗那樣充滿了好奇心。（小時候，他曾經研究泡泡糖籃球卡片來弄清楚球員正在展示哪個動作，以及“要完成某個動作需要動用哪塊肌肉”。）他看到隨便一張自己在比賽中投籃的照片，都能準確地告訴你那場比賽的時間、地點以及賽況。他可以一次花幾個小時順著地板追著網球跑，為了能在三角進攻時正確切入而在空蕩蕩的球場上一遍遍地練習以同樣的姿勢奔跑，還練習臺階跑、自殺式折返跑以及遠距離跑。

按照他的特別要求，科比的球鞋在足弓部分設計有一個特別的合金帶，他認為這可以減少他百分之一秒的反應時間。同樣，他還要求耐克設計了一套“鞋襪系統”，大概就像職業足球運動員使用的那套東西。在他看來，他的腳在鞋內滑動所浪費的不到一秒的時間，正是他輸給對手所需的時間。在他冰敷膝蓋時，他既敷前面也敷后面，由于這樣用時較長，一般常被人忽略。于是他也要求耐克設計一種吸走膝蓋熱量的新式熱身短褲，從而縮短恢復時間；他信心滿滿地說，恢復時間是訓練中最關鍵的要素。

只要一個籃球、一個籃板，訓練中保持80%—90%的命中率（在沒有對手的情況下），科比在大約60分鐘內可以投進500個球。所有艱苦訓練，所有投進的數十萬個球，使得科比去年連續在四場比賽中至少得到50分，并且在聯賽中得分領先。兩年前，在主場對抗多倫多猛龍隊時，他表現驚人，一人拿下81分，這是史上第二高分，僅次于身高2.13米的威爾特·張伯倫所創造的單場贏百分的紀錄，且所有分都是在距籃筐4.57米內贏得的。人們對科比及其成就的反應令人困惑，從他職業生涯開始就一直這樣。他進入NBA第二年時，經由票選入圍了全明星賽（當時他在湖人隊排行第六），就因叫板當時的籃球之王邁克爾·喬丹而遭到人們指責。或許NBA歷史上沒有哪個人物像科比·布萊恩特那樣讓人又愛又恨。

如今，在體育館，籃球劃過弧線完美地穿過了籃筐，在球網底部掀起震顫，發出清晰可辨、扣人心弦的嗖嗖聲。那個瞬間不再凝固；時間繼續流淌。科比點了一下頭，幾乎沒人察覺得到，仿佛在說“這就是我所說的。”在私底下，要是有什么東西引起了他的興趣，或是他相信的事情得以證實，他就會這樣欣喜地點一下頭。這是你很少見的科比的樣子：他露出潔白無瑕的牙齒，正在開懷大笑；這個年輕人喜歡吃西瓜，也喜歡吃美味的可可利口酒冰淇淋，有天晚上他和妻子在觀看卡秀之前，在拉斯維加斯的飯店里享用的就是這種甜點；他最近迷上了《哈利·波特》系列，而且讀起來飛快，想要超過他妻子。這是他12年級以后看過的第一套系列書，當時他對科幻小說《安德的游戲》十分著迷，這本書講述的是一個遭受排擠和敵視的男孩最終拯救了地球的故事。