---

原著(Author)：Gerald Henderson
文章名稱：The First Time I Guarded Kobe
日期：2016/01/21
原文出處：
http://www.theplayerstribune.com/gerald-henderson-guarding-kobe-bryant/

“There's something wrong with the rim.” That’s the first thing Kobe ever
said to me.

People say Kobe’s a perfectionist. Yeah, maybe a little. Let me tell you
about the first time I ever met him.

「籃框有點狀況。」那是Kobe對我說的第一句話。

人們總說Kobe是個完美主義者，對啦，是有那麼一點。就讓我告訴你關於我們第一次見面
的小故事。

It was during pre-game shootaround, back in my rookie year in Charlotte in
2009, and the Lakers were visiting. Kobe was out on the court all by himself,
putting up jumpers.

那是在2009年，當我還是個聯盟菜鳥的時候。當天Kobe和他的湖人隊造訪夏洛特(譯者註
1)，當時他獨自在場上進行著他的賽前練投。

For a kid from Philly who grew up close to Lower Merion, this was a pretty
big deal for me. Kobe was not only a national legend … he was a hometown
legend. When I was 9 years old or so, my dad brought me to a high school game
where Kobe dropped 50 – and he sat for the fourth quarter. I have visions of
Kobe pulling up from one step inside half court — and draining it — and
then walking back on defense with a strut, as if he knew just how good he
was. He did. Lower Merion was a small gym. Standing room only. Everyone was
there to see him.



That’s all to say that — yeah, by 2009, Kobe and I were both NBA players
but he was just a bit better than me. Just a bit. Kobe had been my basketball
idol more than half of my life. I tried to do everything he did. So seeing
him in the flesh was a pretty cool moment for me.



So I’m shooting around and there’s still about 45 minutes until tip. Kobe’
s on the other end, still shooting, and I’m glancing over at him. Remember, I
’m a rookie. I want to see how this guy approaches warm-ups. Maybe I can
learn something from him. Steal a move or two.



But it was weird: he was missing more shots than he was making. Honestly, he
was missing a lot.

All of a sudden, I looked up and Kobe had stopped shooting. He was holding
the ball on his hip with one hand — and motioning to the sideline with the
other.

Then all sorts of commotion started.

不過情況有點怪，他投不進的頻率開始提高，老實說，他沒進的球有點太多了。突然間，
我發現Kobe停下了投籃的動作，把球夾在一隻手跟臀部之間；另一手向邊線比劃
然後各種騷動就此展開。

A crew of maintenance guys showed up from out of nowhere. It looked like a
hockey line change — maintenance guys rushing on and off the court. Kobe was
saying something to them and gesturing. But from where I was standing, I
couldn’t make out what they were saying.

一組維修人員不曉得從哪冒了出來，他們就像冰球場上的戰況一樣跑來跑去。Kobe則是比
手畫腳地跟他們討論，只是從我站的地方聽不到他們在說什麼。

Suddenly, there was a ladder being set up under the basket. Kobe’s pointing
up at the rim and the maintenance guys are positioning the ladder. A
measuring tape is involved.

然後他們在籃下架了一座鐵梯，Kobe指著籃框示意工作人員鐵梯的準確位置，並且拿來了
一捲測量尺。

What’s going on? Kobe was up to something.

I’m standing at half court watching the scene play out, and Kobe starts
walking over to me.

“Something wrong with the rim.”

“Oh yeah?”

We’re watching a guy climb the ladder and tinker with the rim.

“It’s too low. The rim’s a quarter of an inch too low.”

“Huh?” I mumble. I’d never really heard about maintenance issues with a
rim before a game.

“What do you mean?”

“I was missing shots that I don’t miss. I’m pretty sure it’s low. A
quarter of an inch.”

Then it was over. That was it. Our first conversation. He went back to his
shooting routine.

是發生什麼事了嗎？Kobe好像發現了什麼。

我站在中場附近觀察，然後Kobe朝我走了過來。

「籃框有點問題。」他說。

「真的嗎？」我回答。

我們看著一個工作人員爬上鐵梯、似乎是要調整籃圈。

「籃框太低了，它比正常的矮了四分之一吋。(譯者註2)」

「蛤？」我隨便應了一聲。我從來沒聽說過在比賽前籃框出狀況的問題。「你的意思是？
」

「我剛剛那些投丟的球不應該不進的，我還滿確定籃框太矮了，矮了四分之一吋。」

然後這段談話就結束了，就這樣，我們第一次的交談。之後他又回去重複他那千篇一律的
投籃練習。

Two things pop into my head:

1. Man I can’t believe I just had a conversation with that cat…

… and

2. Dude, Kobe, maybe it’s not the rim. Maybe you’re just … missing shots.

我突然想到兩件事：
一、天哪我不敢相信我剛剛跟Kobe講話耶
二、Kobe老哥，或許不是籃框吧！應該就只是你…沒投進而已。

Larry Brown was the Bobcats coach at the time. I have all the respect in the
world for Larry, but he was tough on me, as he is on all rookies. When I was
a rookie, it was a struggle to get any minutes. I’d pray to get 5, maybe 10
minutes a game, if that.



But the coaching staff knew I was one of our best defensive players. So
before the game I told one of our assistant coaches Jeff Capel: “Cape, I
want to play tonight man. I want to guard Kobe!”

Cape responded: “You gon’ get your chance.”

教練團也知道我是當時隊上最好的防守球員之一，所以賽前我跟助理教練Jeff Capel說「
教練我想打球，我想上去防守Kobe！」他回答「你會得到機會的。」

I’d like to say that the coaching staff listened. But more likely, the only
reason I played that night was that Larry wanted to test me. He knew Kobe was
my basketball idol and he wanted to see if I was up to the challenge.

我想教練團是聽進去了。不過更有可能的是，Larry讓我打是想測試我，他知道Kobe是我
的偶像，他想知道我是不是能夠承受這樣的挑戰。

After a couple guys picked up early fouls, Larry looked down the bench. I was
way down at the end.

“Gerald, go guard him.”

I jumped up off the bench. I was ready for my “chance.” I remember my hands
were sweaty and my heart was beating too fast for someone who hadn’t been in
the game yet.

在幾個先發球員提早陷入犯規麻煩之後，Larry望向板凳席，我當時坐在最末端。

「Gerald，上去防他吧！」我從板凳上跳起，我早就準備好要好好把握這個「機會」了。
我還記得當時我連場都還沒上，就已經留了手汗、心臟跳得飛快。

I want to dispel a myth about the NBA. You might think, after playing the
sport for our whole lives, from AAU to college to the NBA, that NBA players
don’t get nervous. Forget that. NBA players get nervous, too.

I was a rookie checking into the game, cold, to guard Kobe Bryant.

I was nervous as ever.

我想打破一個大眾對NBA的迷思。你可能會覺得，我們打了一輩子的球，從AAU到NBA，應
該不會緊張了吧？別傻了，我們也是人，也會緊張的。

我以一個新人之姿，進場對位防守Kobe。我覺得好冷，而且前所未有的緊張。

Another secret: the way to get rid of nerves is to just launch yourself into
the game. You just have to make a play, any play: get a stop on D, grab a
rebound, dive for a ball. Anything to get into the flow of the game.



The first possession down, Kobe got it on the wing. I was on him. Here we go.

第一波球權發出來，Kobe持球，我守他，我們正式開始競爭。

Now, I had watched Kobe growing up. I had watched lots of his game tape. I
honestly felt like I knew his game as well as you can know a guy’s game from
watching it. I thought I had a feel for him. I still do.



He knew I was a rookie, so he went right at me early. On the first play, he
drove right, picked up his dribble, and shot faked at the elbow. I
anticipated that move. It was classic Kobe. I stayed down.

He shot faked again — and, again, I stayed down. I wasn’t falling for that.


and I’m sure he’s going to let this one go … WRONG. He fakes and I go
flying…

Dang, he got me.



But instead of jumping into me to draw the foul, Kobe went into his bag of
tricks.

As I’m in the air, Kobe reverse-pivots and steps under me, into the key, and
throws the ball off the backboard. I’m still in the air, helpless. All I can
do is watch.

You might be able to guess what happened next: he grabs his own lob off the
backboard and rattles a dunk. The crowd went nuts.



你可以猜到接下來發生了什麼，他抓下他自己拋往籃板的反彈球爆扣籃框，觀眾全都瘋狂
了。

I remember thinking to myself: Idiot, you can’t go for the fake.

This move was impressive for many reasons. Kobe had the skill to throw a
prefect pass off the backboard to himself, gather the ball mid-air and thrust
it through the hoop. But also, he did a move he probably did not need to do.
He could have easily let me fall down on top of him and taken the two easy
free throws. But he used his creativity to execute a move that most guys
wouldn’t think about trying. Why? For the fans? For the highlight reel? For
his legend? Who knows. The guy is special.

我記得我內心的小劇場：「你這白癡，怎麼被這種假動作騙！」



Kobe finished the game with 30 points. After the game, Coach Brown gave me a
nod and said I’d played well. I think he meant it. Even though Kobe got 30,
I had stuck to my game plan. For great scoring guards, the game plan is
pretty universal: limit your guy to tough, contested two-point shots. If they
’re off-balance jumpers, even better.



Problem is, an off-balance, contested jumper might be Kobe’s strongest
offensive move. You know the one where he drives past his defender, finds his
spot, stops on a dime in front of the help defender, elevates, releases the
ball at the height of his jump over an outstretched hand, leans back to put a
little more arc on it. If you’re a defender, that’s a great shot to have
your opponent take. Any coach would smile at that.

But Kobe makes those shots — consistently. And there’s nothing you can do
about it…

Kobe’s perfected the art of scoring, if that can be done. He has counters to
your counters. He has a toolbox full of scoring moves. Every night, he has
new tools in there, for new scenarios. Good defense rarely slows Kobe down.
In a crazy way, good defense makes Kobe better. It just reveals new moves
that he’s been waiting to try out.

問題是，這種身體失衡、又是對位防守的跳投或許是Kobe最強大的進攻手段之一。



但是Kobe「不斷的投進」這種球，而你卻無能為力。



At his best, Kobe didn’t just have a jump shot, he had a well-rounded game.
He was a perennial NBA All-Defense team member. Kobe would check the other
team’s best perimeter player every night and lock him down. His whole
career, he was an underrated passer because of the difficult shots he would
take and make. He was as versatile as they came.



This season, his final of 20, Kobe has not been his regular self. Injuries
have clearly caught up to him and he has not performed like he has in the
past. Many have thrown shade on him, almost as if they’ve forgotten what the
guy has meant to the game. Forgotten what he’s done for the NBA. Forgotten
what he’s done for young kids like me growing up who looked up to him. I don
’t have to break down the reasons why Kobe is one of the greatest to ever
play basketball. Commentators will be doing that all year long on Kobe’s
farewell tour – and for years to come.



In the sport of basketball, and any sport for that matter, you play the game
to win. So with everything that is Kobe Bryant, the most admired and
respected part about him is that he is a CHAMPION. Five times over. No one
will ever forget that.

包含籃球在內，各項運動競賽的核心價值就是要贏球，所以就Kobe Bryant這個整體看來
，最讓人欣賞與尊敬的部分就是他是個冠軍。整整五次，沒有人會忘記。

After the buzzer sounded, I was walking off the court and I saw one of the
maintenance guys — one of the guys who was carrying the ladder onto the
court during warm-ups.

I had to ask.

“Hey man, what was up with the rim before the game?”

“Oh, someone notified us that it was a little lower than regulation.”

He added: “Don’t worry. We adjusted it to 10 feet.”

Then he told me how much it was off by.

I could tell you his answer, but I think you already know what he said.

在該場比賽結束的哨音響起後，我慢慢走下場，看到一個維修小組的人，那是熱身期間一
個搬鐵梯進來的工作人員。我必須問問他。

「嘿！兄弟，比賽前那個籃筐是怎麼回事啊？」

「歐，有人通知我們說他比正規的矮了一點點。」「別擔心，我們把他調回10呎高(譯者
註5)了。」然後他告訴我籃框偏差了多少距離。

我可以告訴你他的答案，但我想你已經知道他說了什麼。


譯者註1：Gerald Henderson於2009年以第12順位被夏洛特山貓隊選中，2015年被交易至
波特蘭拓荒者隊。
譯者註2：1吋約為2.54公分，四分之一吋大約是0.64公分左右。
譯者註3：Larry Brown時任夏洛特山貓隊主帥，山貓隊已於2015年改名黃蜂隊。
譯者註4：Kobe生涯單場最高17次助攻，2015/01/15，對手克里夫蘭騎士隊。
譯者註5：10呎高是NBA規則上籃框的標準高度，1呎等於12吋，大約30.5公分。

譯者後記



---
不好意思，NBA首PO，如有不足之處敬請見諒

本魯勇迷刺迷，非柯迷但覺得這篇寫得不錯，譯註是要幫助不熟籃球的觀眾

不想幫公司衝流量所以連結放最後，有興趣看我其他文章的可自行取用

http://blog.litv.tv/blog/category/834211

感謝您的收看



--
--
※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc), 來自: 118.163.66.85
※ 文章代碼(AID): #1MiSwGcf (NBA)
※ 文章網址: https://www.ptt.cc/bbs/NBA/M.1454493328.A.9A9.html