翻译：科比和湖人队在加索尔的转型中扮演的角色

PAU GASOL'S HAIR is coiffed short and tidy now. Sensible. Hints of gray show on the sides and contrast with the brown waves up top. He looks every bit the part as the husband and father of two he has become in his post-playing days.

At first glance, the 42-year-old version of Gasol could even easily pass as a medical professional, albeit a ridiculously tall one at 7-foot-1. It was the field he would have pursued if it wasn't for basketball, after all.

He's genial. Poised. Well-spoken in multiple languages. Confident, yet calming.

保罗加索尔的头发现在梳得又短又整齐。两侧略带灰色，与顶部的棕色波浪形成对比。在退役后的日子里，他看起来完全像是丈夫和两个孩子的父亲。

乍一看，42 岁的加索尔甚至可以轻松通过医疗专业人士的认证，尽管身高 7 英尺 1 英寸高得离谱。毕竟，如果不是为了篮球，医疗是他会追求的领域。

他很和蔼。蓄势待发。精通多种语言。自信而且冷静。

On this night in late January, as a guest at the Los Angeles Lakers' annual "all-access" event for VIPs, Gasol is seemingly a world away from his days as the post-up pirouetting, rabid rebounding, triangle offense triumphing, wild mane-sporting Spaniard who dominated in six seasons with the franchise.

Gasol, resplendent in a gray tattersall sports coat, slate-colored slacks, crisp white shirt and equally crispy white sneakers, rattles off what life is like as a retired NBA player.

1月下旬的这个晚上，做客洛杉矶湖人队一年一度的盛会，大屏幕上是加索尔背身单打、抢篮板、三角进攻得意洋洋、天马行空。充满运动天赋的西班牙人在这只球队效力了六个赛季。

加索尔穿着灰色的破洞运动外套、深灰色的休闲裤、清爽的白衬衫和同样清爽的白色运动鞋，光彩夺目，滔滔不绝地讲述着一名退役 NBA 球员的生活。

Beyond being a family man, he's a global ambassador for FIBA, the international basketball federation. He maintains a working relationship with the Lakers as a ambassador.

"And investor," he adds, putting more than $225 million he made in salary in his 18 seasons in the league to work. "Invest in companies, usually in health and wellness, in the sports field."

除了是一个居家男人，他还是国际篮联 FIBA 的全球大使。他作为大使与湖人队保持着工作关系。

“还有投资者，”他补充道，将他在联盟 18 个赛季赚取的超过 2.25 亿美元的薪水投入到工作中。“投资于体育领域的公司，通常是健康和保健领域的公司。”

The conversation popped around from there, with Macdonald lobbying queries at Gasol's former teammate, Sasha Vujacic, and Slava Medvedenko, who was being presented with two replacement championship rings after auctioning off the rings he earned as Shaquille O'Neal's backup to raise money for his native home in Ukraine.

Toward the end of the talk, Lakers governor Jeanie Buss comes on stage to remind the audience about some exciting news. Gasol's No. 16 will be retired March 7 when Los Angeles hosts the Memphis Grizzlies -- the team that traded him to the Lakers 15 years ago and enlisted him in L.A.'s long line of legendary big men. He ushered in immediate success and transformed his game. The kind and thoughtful big man became a fierce and hard-edged competitor on the sport's biggest stage.

谈话从那里开始，麦克唐纳游说加索尔的前队友武贾西奇和梅德维登科，后者在拍卖了他作为沙奎尔奥尼尔的替补获得的两枚总冠军戒指以筹集资金后帮助自己的老家乌克兰。

演讲接近尾声时，湖人队董事长珍妮巴斯上台提醒听众一些令人振奋的消息。加索尔的 16 号球衣将于3 月 7 日在洛杉矶主场迎战孟菲斯灰熊队时退役——这支球队在 15 年前将他交易到湖人队，并让他加入了洛杉矶传奇大个子阵容。他带来了立竿见影的成功，改变了他的比赛方式。这位善良体贴的大个子成为了这项运动最大舞台上凶猛而锋芒毕露的竞争者。

As Buss speaks, Gasol's gaze fixes on the rafters where his uniform will soon reside next to the Nos. 8 and 24 of Kobe Bryant, his teammate, his brother, his hermano.

His eyes soften.

"Just trying to little by little take it in and just digest and comprehend that my number, my jersey will be up there with those great amazing players and names in the history of our game," Gasol tells ESPN. "And obviously being next to Kobe, seeing his name, still emotional.

就在巴斯说话的时候，加索尔的目光凝视着上方，他的球衣很快就会放在科比·布莱恩特的 8 号和 24 号球衣旁边，他的队友，他的兄弟，他的爱人。

他的眼神柔和了下来。

加索尔告诉 ESPN：“只是试着一点一点地接受它，消化和理解我的球衣将与我们比赛历史上那些伟大的球员和名字并驾齐驱。” “而且显然在科比旁边，看到他的名字，仍然很激动。

THE LAKERS USED to have a rule that they would only retire the number of a player once he was enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. It made sense. If they retired the number of every key contributor to the collection of Larry O'Brien Trophies that line Buss' office window, they'd eventually run out of numbers for future players to choose from.

They made an exception for O'Neal in 2013, fast-tracking the honor for him in the hopes that longtime Lakers owner Dr. Jerry Buss, who was ailing, would be around to see it. Buss died about six weeks prior to O'Neal's No. 34 being celebrated. O'Neal's Hall of Fame ceremony came three years later.

湖人队曾经有一个规定，只有当一名球员被载入奈史密斯篮球名人堂后，他们才会退役这个号码。这是有道理的。如果他们取消了巴斯办公室橱窗里奥布莱恩奖杯的每个主要贡献者的号码，他们最终会用完供未来球员选择的号码。

他们在 2013 年为奥尼尔破例，为他快速达成这一荣誉，希望当时的湖人队老板、身体不适的杰里巴斯博士在世的时候看到它。在庆祝奥尼尔的第 34 号球衣退役后六周，巴斯去世了。奥尼尔的名人堂仪式在三年后举行。

They fast-tracked Bryant's too, waiting two seasons after his brilliant 60-point finale to retire both his numbers during a ceremony in December 2017.

And thank goodness for that, as Bryant got to experience the pride and nostalgia from five championships and two decades with the franchise alongside his family and 18,997 endlessly appreciative Lakers fans in attendance.

他们也加快了科比的步伐，在他精彩的 60 分结束生涯最后一场后，在 2017 年 12 月的仪式上退役了他的两个号码。

谢天谢地，科比与他的家人和 18,997 名无限感激的湖人球迷一起体验了五个总冠军和二十年的骄傲和怀旧之情。

By the time he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in May 2021, his widow, Vanessa, accepted the honor for him some 16 months after the helicopter crash that took the lives of Bryant, their daughter Gigi and seven others.

Just as Gasol and Bryant were a near perfect pair on the court, combining for three straight Finals appearances and two titles together, they remain inextricably linked now that they're apart.

到 2021 年 5 月他入选名人堂时，他的遗孀瓦妮莎在直升机事件失去了科比、他们的女儿吉吉和其他七人的生命后大约 16 个月为他接受了这一荣誉。

正如加索尔和科比在球场上是近乎完美的一对，连续三年的总决赛和两次夺冠，他们现在分开后仍然有着千丝万缕的联系。

"It's impossible [to separate]," Gasol said, wiping away tears on that night in late January. "It's inevitable. I don't know how. ... My number goes up there, in big reason, because of him.

"And also how he made me better, how he made us better, how he led us in those runs and the effect that he had. And then obviously not having him here with us, it's tough."

“[分开]是不可能的，”加索尔说，在 1 月底的那个晚上留下眼泪。“这是不可避免的。我不知道如何......我的号码在那里退役，很大原因是因为他。

“还有他是如何让我变得更好的，他是如何让我们变得更好的，他是如何在这些年中带领我们的，以及他所产生的影响。然后显然没有他和我们在一起，这很艰难。”

THE TRADE THAT brought Gasol to Los Angeles in 2008 seemed to be good to be true

"I truly believe, had it leaked out, that there would've been teams in the league that would've tried to hijack it," Buss told ESPN.

Gasol, 27 at the time and in his seventh NBA season, had earned Rookie of the Year and one All-Star nod in Memphis. But he was available after the Grizzlies' three playoff appearances with Gasol all ended in first-round sweeps.

2008 年将加索尔带到洛杉矶的交易似乎还是那么不真实

“我真的相信，如果它泄露出去，联盟中就会有球队试图劫持他，”巴斯告诉 ESPN。

加索尔当时 27 岁，这是他在 NBA 的第七个赛季，他在孟菲斯赢得了年度最佳新秀和一次全明星。但在灰熊队与加索尔的三次季后赛都以首轮横扫出局。

"I remember there was something written, or a rumor that he might be available, but it wasn't the mainstream," Mitch Kupchak, then the Lakers general manager and now the Charlotte Hornets GM, told ESPN. "So yeah, I called up [the Grizzlies] and you can kind of tell when there's real interest or when there's not real interest."

It was real.

Then Grizzlies GM Chris Wallace was looking to get his team younger and shed future salary commitments at the behest of then team owner, Michael Heisley.

“我记得当时有一些消息或谣言说他可能会被交易到湖人，”时任湖人队总经理、现任夏洛特黄蜂队总经理的米奇库普切克告诉 ESPN 。“所以，是的，我给 [灰熊队] 打了电话，你可以说出什么时候有真正的兴趣，什么时候没有真正的兴趣。”

这是真的。

当时的灰熊队总经理克里斯华莱士希望让他的球队更年轻，并应当时的球队老板迈克尔海斯利的要求放弃未来的薪水承诺。

"One of the things that we had heard was the guy, the owner, wanted to sell the team and they weren't going anywhere," Kupchak said. "They weren't having a very good season. Maybe they would lose some money, I don't know. So one of the first things we did was, with Chris, 'We can go two ways: We could give you players that add up to Pau's [salary] number, or if you prefer, we have a large expiring contract in Kwame Brown, right? And we can go that direction.'

"I didn't ask him what they were trying to accomplish, I just gave them two options, and he called back and he said, 'Hey, let's work on the Kwame Brown option.'"

“我们听到的一件事是，老板想卖掉球队，但他们哪儿也去不了，”库普切克说。“他们的赛季表现不是很好。也许他们会损失一些钱，我不知道。所以我们和克里斯一起做的第一件事就是，‘我们可以走两条路：我们可以给你顶薪续约加索尔，或者如果你愿意，我们在夸梅布朗那有一份即将到期的大合同，对吧？我们可以朝那个方向发展。

“我没有问他他们想要完成什么，我只是给了他们两个选择，他回电话说，‘嘿，让我们研究 夸梅布朗的交易吧。’”

The Lakers were just eight months removed from Bryant's public trade demand stating he'd rather "play on Pluto" than suit up for the purple and gold again and weeks removed from Andrew Bynum suffering a dislocated kneecap that threatened to derail the Lakers' season. They worked to put together the trade swiftly -- and creatively.

It would be Brown, rookie Javaris Crittenton, two first-round picks, $3 million in cash considerations and the draft rights to Marc Gasol, Pau's younger brother, to complete the deal.

湖人队距离科比的公开交易要求仅八个月就被取消了，他说他宁愿“在冥王星上打球”也不愿再次穿上紫色和金色的衣服，而安德鲁·拜纳姆的膝盖脱臼可能会破坏湖人队的赛季。他们努力迅速地、创造性地整合交易。

完成这笔交易的将是加瓦利斯·克里坦顿，布朗、两个首轮选秀权、300 万美元的现金对价以及加索尔弟弟马克加索尔的签约权。

But the salary numbers did not quite match up, so the Lakers had to get creative. Enter Aaron McKie, who was out of the league and volunteering as a coach with his alma mater, Temple University, after playing 24 games combined the previous two seasons.

"We were short a small number, but there was no way to make it work," Kupchak said. "We just didn't have any more players to put in."

So he called up McKie's agent with a proposition.

但薪水数字并不完全匹配，所以湖人队必须发挥创造力。加入阿龙·麦基，他在前两个赛季打了 24 场比赛后就退出了联盟，并自愿在他的母校天普大学担任教练。

“我们补上了一小部分，但没有办法让它发挥作用，”库普切克说。“我们只是没有更多的球员可以投入。”

所以他打电话给麦基的经纪人提出了一个建议。

"I said, 'Listen, the league will allow us to sign Aaron to a rest for the season contract, and we will put him in the trade and he'd have to report in Memphis. ... Would he do it?' And I forget how much money it was, I don't know, $600,000, $800,000 for three or four months, right?"

McKie agreed. The trade went through. And the league, that now is a 24/7 news cycle of endless trade rumors and incremental negotiating updates, was shocked.

“我说，‘听着，联盟将允许我们签下麦基，他可以在签下本赛季的合同后休息，我们将让他参与交易，他必须在孟菲斯报到。......他会这样做吗？’ 而且我忘记了多少钱，我不知道，三四个月 60 万美元，80 万美元，对吧？”

麦基同意了。交易完成了。而联盟，现在是一个 24/7 的新闻周期，无休止的交易谣言和谈判的消息在更新，他们都感到震惊。

"At the time, it was viewed as a very lopsided deal, and it made me uncomfortable," Kupchak explained. "I mean, obviously being on the side that got Pau, I was pleased, but you don't want your colleagues to ever get crushed.

"There was a lot of negative pushback, but when a year or two later, all of a sudden, you have Marc Gasol who's the starting center making the All-Star team, the deal didn't look as lopsided then as it did maybe the first month or two."

“当时，这被视为一项非常不平衡的交易，这让我感到不舒服，”库普切克解释道。“我的意思是，很明显，我站在得到保罗的一边，我很高兴，但你不希望你的同事被压垮。

“有很多负面的反对意见，但一两年后，突然之间，马克加索尔成为了全明星队的首发中锋，这笔交易看起来并没有像当时那样不平衡。”

WHILE GASOL COULDN'T help the tears from forming, thinking about Bryant that January night, there was a much different look in his eyes the night he played the most important game of his NBA career in that building.

And it would be hard to find someone who wouldn't call it the best game of his NBA career, too.

Game 7 of the 2010 NBA Finals. Los Angeles Lakers versus Boston Celtics.

A rivalry renewed. A title on the line. Devastation or euphoria.

当加索尔忍不住流下眼泪时，想起那个一月晚上的科比，当他在那座大楼里打了他 NBA 职业生涯中最重要的一场比赛的那个晚上，他眼中的表情大不相同。

很难找到一个人不称其为加索尔 NBA 职业生涯中最好的一场比赛。

2010年NBA总决赛第七场。洛杉矶湖人队对阵波士顿凯尔特人队。

Gasol toiled toe-to-toe with Kevin Garnett, one of the fiercest competitors of his -- or any -- generation for 42 grueling minutes.

Kupchak certainly doesn't forget Gasol's 19 points, 18 rebounds, four assists and two blocks nearly 13 years later.

"A favorite Pau story? Well, I don't know if it's a story, but Game 7," Kupchak said. "Everybody played just ridiculously hard and with passion, but Pau just seemed to me to be possessed.

加索尔与凯文·加内特 (Kevin Garnett) 进行了 42 分钟的艰苦较量，凯文·加内特是他职业生涯中最激烈的竞争者之一。

库普切克当然不会忘记加索尔近13年前的19分18篮板4助攻2盖帽。

“最喜欢的加索尔故事？好吧，我不知道这是不是一个故事，但是第 7 场比赛，”库普切克 说。“每个人都打得非常努力和充满激情，但在我看来，保罗似乎着了魔。

"Some players, you don't know how they're going to respond. Are they going to match the physicality of the other team or are they going to be a step behind? And I just remember that game."

It's seared into Gasol's mind, too, of course.

Mamba Mentality might have brought L.A. to the brink, but Gasol Grit sure as hell helped push the Lakers over the top.

“有些球员，你不知道他们会如何回应。他们是要与另一支球队的身体素质相匹配，还是会落后一步？我只记得那场比赛。”

当然，这也深深印在了加索尔的脑海中。

曼巴精神可能将洛杉矶带到了悬崖边，但加索尔坚毅无疑帮助湖人队登上了顶峰。

Two years prior in the 2008 NBA Finals, he was outrebounded by Garnett in five of the six games, with Boston defeating L.A. by 39 points in Game 6 to take the title. Frustrated fans used "Ga-soft" to describe him.

"That summer where we lost in 2008 with the Celtics was the longest summer of my life," Buss said. "Phil [Jackson], he said, 'There's nothing worse than losing in the Finals.' ... It is such a missed opportunity.

两年前的 2008 年 NBA 总决赛中，他在六场比赛中有五场的篮板数都超过了加内特，而波士顿队在第六场比赛中以 39 分击败洛杉矶队夺得总冠军。沮丧的粉丝用“软蛋”来形容他。

“2008 年我们输给凯尔特人队的那个夏天是我生命中最长的一个夏天，”巴斯说。“菲尔 [杰克逊]，他说，'没有什么比输掉总决赛更糟糕的了。' ... 这是一个错失的机会。

"It was really important to Phil that if we had to play Boston again ... that we were prepared for whatever was going to come at us. We're not going to be denied. Whatever it took to get to prepare Pau for that, that was Phil's focus."

Jackson and Bryant both developed strong bonds with Gasol, but they pushed his buttons, too. The poking and prodding made him a more determined player.

“对菲尔来说，如果我们不得不再次与波士顿比赛，这真的很沮丧……我们已经为即将到来的一切做好了准备。我们不会失败。无论付出什么代价来让波士顿为此做好准备，那是菲尔的重点。”

杰克逊和科比都与加索尔建立了牢固的关系，他们也推动了他的生涯。使他成为一个更加坚定的球员。

"When I was able to get to those points of aggressiveness, of physicality, of do-whatever-it-takes, I'm-going-to-go-through-you moments, and kind of put myself in that emotional state, that's when I played my best," Gasol said. "And obviously, what a bigger moment to do that? What a more needed moment than that, right?

"I remember that day thinking I'm going to do whatever. We're not going to allow this team to beat us on our home court in Game 7. We're going to win this championship. I don't care how it is. I don't care what I have to do. It's kind of like that survival instinct of kill or get killed. And I was able to put myself into that killing mode of I'm just going to bite your head off, and I don't care who you are, I don't care anything.

“当我能够达到攻击性、身体素质优、不惜一切代价时，我会经历你的时刻，让自己处于那种情绪状态，那是我发挥最好的时候，”加索尔说。“很明显，这是一个多么重要的时刻？对吧？

“我记得那天我想我会做任何事情。我们不会让这支球队在第 7 场比赛中在我们的主场击败我们。我们会赢得这个冠军。我不在乎它如何是。我不在乎我必须做什么。这有点像杀人或被杀的生存本能。我能够让自己进入那种杀人模式，我只想咬掉你的头，而且我不在乎你是谁，我什么都不在乎。

"That's how Kobe was on a gamely basis."

Gasol's eyes widen as he speaks about that 83-79 win over the Celtics. His nostrils flare as he talks about a night full of basketball so ugly that it became beautiful.

Gasol, the player, is back.

And he's going to be remembered forever for it.

“这就是科比在比赛中的表现。”

当谈到 83-79 战胜凯尔特人队时，加索尔瞪大了眼睛。当他谈到一个充满篮球的夜晚时，他的鼻孔张得大大的，如此丑陋以至于它变得美丽。

球员加索尔回来了。

他将因此而被永远铭记。