偶像危機

Ric Bucher　傅婧瑛

Everyonewhohas everpicked up a ball has at least one id01.a gold standard personified.a player they grew up wishing to be.Theres often a commonality between the grasshopper and his imagined sensei-they come from the sameplace，went to the same school or look somewhat the Same，be it in appearance or build.

任何打過球的人都至少擁有一個偶像，一個具體化的黃金標準，一個從小到大自己夢想成為的人。凡人與他們想象中的老師通常存在共同點——比如出身同一個地方，上過同一所學校，或者外表，身形具有相似性。

The difference for？NBA？players is they often get the chance to face their personal demigod in real life and find out how they measure up.Its a moment of truth many young players across the league are now facing for the first time，thanks to another massive migration of superstars.Suddenly，they find the posters on their walls only a few years ago come to life in the locker next to theirs，lacing up the same signature shoes they wore in homage to the player on the poster.It is the rare chance for firsthand validation by their idol，something most people can only dream of.

對NBA球員來說，不同點在于他們通常有機會直面心目中的半人半神，了解真實的對方。隨著又一批超級明星的變動，聯盟中的年輕人第一次遇到了這一“真相時刻”。突然間，他們發現幾年前還是墻上海報的人進入自己的人生，坐在旁邊的更衣柜，穿著和海報上一樣的簽名球鞋。這是難得的獲得偶像認可的第一機會，是大部分人只能夢想的事情。

So what happens if they dont get it？ Look no further than last seasons？Lakers？for an answer.

可如果得不到認可，又會怎樣呢？不必回溯太遠，我們從上賽季的湖人就能找到例子。

“I had been watching him my whole life，and I own his jerseys and everything，”Ball recalled.“…I was kind of on edge.like I didnt know how to be around him.Because I had never really been around someone I looked up to like that.Then I seen him in the locker room.and it was crazy.”You know the rest.The grins and a 20-14 start were replaced by injurles，crestfallen looks and a 9-18 finish.James，the favorite player of？most？of the young Lakers—Brandon Ingram aspired to be the next？Kevin Durant—insinuated？they were holding him back and that？his？favorite player？at the time was Pelicansforward Anthony Davis

“我一輩子都在看他打球，我有他的球衣和一切。”鮑爾回憶道，“我有點緊張，不知道該怎么跟他相處。因為我從未真正和自己崇拜的人在一起。然后我在更衣室里看到了他，太瘋狂了。”接下來發生的事，大家都知道了。笑臉和20勝14負的開局被傷病，垂頭喪氣及9勝18負的收官取代。作為年輕湖人最喜歡的球員——布蘭登·英格拉姆致力成為下一個凱文·杜蘭特——詹姆斯暗示隊友拖了后腿，而他當時最喜歡的球員是鵜鶘前鋒安東尼戴維斯。

“It makes sense，”says？Celtics？forward Jayson Tatum of the young Lakers being rattled by a vote of no confidence from LeBron“For people my age，he was ‘the mangrowing up.I went to a LeBron camp and I had his jersey.I remember the first time Iplayed against him how nervous I was.”

“這說得通。”凱爾特人前鋒杰森·塔圖姆談到湖人年輕球員因為沒有得到詹姆斯的信任而心煩意亂時如是表示，“對于我這個年齡的人來說，從小到大他就是‘那個人。我參加過勒布朗的訓練營，我有他的球衣。……