THE KYRIE IRVING-ISAIAH THOMAS TRADE HIGHLIGHTED THE DESIRE FOR BOTH PLAYERS AND FRONT OFFICES TO MOVE ON FROM THE STATUS QUO DURING A HECTIC SUMMER. IT’S NOT A GOOD OR BAD THINGIT’S JUST A REALITY OF THE LEAGUE’S COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE.
　　凯里·欧文与伊塞亚·托马斯的交易，正是球员和管理层在忙碌的夏天不愿停留在原地的真实写照。这事无所谓好坏——不过是联盟竞争状态的现实。
　　If the NBA’s summer of 2017 doesn’t underscore that loyalty in sports is pure fiction， then what will？ Chris Paul left Los Angeles. Paul George forced his way out of Indiana. The Bulls stunned Jimmy Butler. Gordon Hayward dumped Utah. Kyrie Irving abandoned King LeBron James. The Celtics blindsided Isaiah Thomas. But with players increasingly influential when it comes to their brands， short-term deals， constant speculation， and long-term planning by savvy executives， our ideas about player-to-team loyalty and team-toplayer loyalty have been thrown out the window. Everything we think we know about sports tells us that Irving should want to stay in Cleveland， and Boston should want to keep Thomas—but the opposite is true.
　　如果2017年夏天的NBA还不足以说明体育界的忠诚是个十足的谎言，还有什么能说明？克里斯·保罗离开了洛杉矶，保罗·乔治想尽办法离开了印第安纳，公牛的操作让吉米·巴特勒目瞪口呆，戈登·海沃德抛弃了犹他，凯里·歐文离开了“皇帝”勒布朗·詹姆斯，伊塞亚·托马斯被凯尔特人打了个措手不及。可随着球员对各自品牌，短期合同和持续不断的传言的影响越来越大，加上管理层理智的长期计划，我们所谓球员对球队的忠诚及球队对球员的忠诚，已经被彻底抛在了脑后。按照我们以往对体育的认知，欧文应该留在克利夫兰，凯尔特人应该留住托马斯——可现实却恰恰相反。
　　After Thomas was traded， Caron Butler and Ray Allen took to Instagram to call out perceived hypocrisy： When players aren’t"loyal" to their teams there’s outrage， but there’s no similar reaction when， say， a team trades a player who played in a game two days after his sister passed away while recovering from dental surgeries and battling a painful hip injury. Allen would know： He left the Celtics for the Heat in 2012， one month after Miami beat Boston in the Eastern Conference Finals， which earned him a "Judas Shuttlesworth" nickname. He wrote on Instagram， "It is just a business so when the teams do it there should be no difference when the players do it！"
　　托马斯被交易后，卡隆·巴特勒和雷·阿伦在Instagram上指出了人们认识上的虚伪：球员不“忠诚”于球队时，人们感到愤怒，但是当球队交易走了一个妹妹去世两天后就上场比赛，刚刚做完牙科手术，臀部伤病仍在恢复中的球员时，人们却不会产生类似的反应。雷·阿伦对此再清楚不过了：2012年，热火在东部决赛击败凯尔特人后一个月，他离开波士顿加入迈阿密，这让他得到了“犹大沙特沃斯”的绰号。他在Instagram上写道：“这不过是场生意，所以球队做的和球员做的没区别！”
　　The executives and agents I’ve chatted with agree； they don’t think anything of the choices made by the players and teams this summer."Every team operates pretty much the same way， which is virtually the same way nearly every business on earth operates，" said an NBA agent， who requested to be anonymous. Kevin Durant’s choice to leave the Thunder for the 73-win Warriors birthed the the My Next Chapter meme and a perception that he took the easy way out. Durant went on The Bill Simmons Podcast at the end of August， and had this to say： "Guys have been getting traded in their sleep for years. Guys have been getting the shitty end of the stick for years. I mean， some guys have been fucking over organizations， too. It’s no loyalty. It’s business. There’s money involved." 　　和我交流的管理层及经纪人认同这种观点；他们对球员和球队今年夏天的选择没有异议。“每支球队的运作方式基本相同，地球上几乎所有生意都是这么做的。”一个要求匿名的NBA经纪人表示。凯文·杜兰特离开雷霆，加入73胜的勇士，导致“我的下一章”表情包的诞生，在外界眼中，他选择了一条轻松的道路。杜兰特8月底在比尔·西蒙斯的播客上说了下面这段话，“多少年来，球员睡觉时被交易，多少年了，球员一直在吃亏。我的意思是，有些人也在整球队。这里没忠诚可言，就是生意。这里涉及到钱了。”
　　You can feel however you want to feel if your favorite player gets traded or signs somewhere else. The range of emotions we all feel while watching， rooting， talking， and thinking about our favorite teams is what fuels our love for the game. But as the NBA evolves and grows， there are ways to alter what we expect from teams and players and how we respond to their choices.
　　如果你最喜欢的球员被交易，或者签约其他球队，产生什么想法都不为过。观看比赛，支持球员，谈论，思考最喜欢的球队，这让我们对篮球的爱越来越深。可随着NBA不断发展，我们对球队，球员的期待，以及对他们选择的反应，都要做出改变。
　　One of the common responses to Irving’s decision to request a trade from the Cavaliers was， "Why would he want to leave LeBron， one of the greatest players ever？ Does he not care about winning？" I’ve read it on Reddit—and NBA executives I’ve texted with have expressed the same sentiment. Irving said during his introductory press conference that his decision was simply about doing what was best for him："going for something bigger than myself and honestly being in an environment that’s conducive for my potential." The only way to grow was to escape from LeBron James’s towering shadow. But LeBron is the one who lay the path for Irving， as well as for the other players who chose their own destinies this summer.
　　针对欧文向骑士提出的交易请求，一种常见的反应是：“他为什么想要离开勒布朗这个历史上最伟大的球员之一？他不在乎胜利了吗？”我在Reddit上读到了这种说法——和我短信交流的NBA管理层也表达出同样的情绪。欧文在新闻发布会上表示，他的决定只不过是在为自己做最好的打算：“追求更重要的目标，处于一个有利于我的未来的环境。”成长的唯一方法，就是逃离克利夫兰，逃离勒布朗遮天蔽日的阴影。但勒布朗却是给欧文，以及其他在今年夏天选择了自己命运的球员开辟道路的人。
　　CP3 also opted for personal empowerment. So did George. So did Hayward. Disloyalty should be the expectation， not the exception. Loyalty is a two-way street where both teams and players are licensed to drive. Ultimately， this is where my mind has changed over the last 10 years or so.
　　同样，保罗为了自己做出了选择。同理，还有乔治和海沃德。不忠诚应当成为预期，而不是例外。忠誠是一条双向车道，球队和球员均有权驶入。不管怎么说，过去十多年，这就是我的思想转变。
　　Teams stab players in the back all the time. Players do the same. It’s reality： The frequency at which it occurs doesn’t make it any easier to deal with， but it does mean that there’s a level of shock that should be removed from these situations. LeBron could have handled leaving Cleveland for Miami better， but maybe it had to be that way to empower players to make decisions that benefit their lives. Durant mentioned on The Bill Simmons Podcast that it’s the relationships with the people in the organization that he’s still loyal to， not the organization itself. It’s hard to be loyal to something that， by its very nature， is everchanging. 　　Daryl Morey and Danny Ainge would be lesser general managers had they considered loyalty a good business model.
　　球队无时无刻不在背后向球员捅刀，球员亦是如此。这就是现实：事件发生的频率让人难以招架，但也意味着面对这些情况时不必再去震惊。离开骑士加入热火时，勒布朗本可以处理得更巧妙，但也许只有那么做，才能给球员足够的力量，让他们做出有利于自己的决定。杜兰特在比尔·西蒙斯的播客上提到，他和球队工作人员仍然保持着良好的关系，忠诚于他们，只是不忠诚于球队而已。我们很难忠诚于一个本质上永远在变的事物。
　　Front office work requires a certain level of callousness. The Bulls， Celtics， and Rockets reshaped their rosters this offseason with surprising trades. While I don’t like the return Chicago got for Butler， it was the right decision to move on. Houston and Boston got considerably better， on paper. You could make the argument that Daryl Morey and Danny Ainge would be lesser general managers had they considered loyalty a good business model.
　　管理层的工作需要一定程度的麻木不仁。公牛，凯尔特人和火箭在今年休赛期用令人意外的交易调整了各自阵容。尽管我不喜欢公牛交易巴特勒得到的回报，但那是正确的决定。火箭和凯尔特人的阵容纸面上得到了不小的提升。你可能会说，达雷尔·莫雷和丹尼·安吉如果把忠诚看作优秀的商业模式，那他们做总经理就不够优秀了。

　　It was only four short years ago， in the summer of 2013， when Ainge traded two Celtics legends， Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett， for a bunch of Nets draft picks and replacement-level players. My fiercely loyal Celtics-fan boss didn’t like the trade， and neither did a lot of other fans. It would’ve been easy to keep Pierce and let him fade off into the sunset after a year-long farewell tour in a Celtics uniform. Boston took a gamble on the future. No one could’ve expected the deal to work out at the level it did. The Nets died. The Celtics ascended. Here we are today.
　　短短四年前，2013年的夏天，安吉交易走了保罗·皮尔斯和凯文·加内特这两个凯尔特人传奇，换来了篮网的一堆选秀权和角色球员。凯尔特人的狂热球迷不喜欢这笔交易，不少其他队的球迷也不喜欢。留住皮尔斯，让他穿着凯尔特人队服完成一年的退役巡演，最后消失在夕阳下，这并不困难。波士顿拿未来打了一个赌。没人想到这笔交易能变成现在的状态。篮网死了，凯尔特人在步步高升。这就是现状。
　　Boston’s long web of trades and signings that started in 2013 culminated when Ainge acquired Irving for the 2018 Nets pick， Jae Crowder， Ante Zizic， and， of course， Thomas， who won the hearts of an entire fanbase this past season. Boston fell head over heels for Thomas after he dropped 53 points in the playoffs. "I always dream of moments like this，" Thomas said after the game. "Those are where legends are born. And one day I want to be one of those guys." Thomas meant it， and his love for the fans was not unrequited. But to reach their ultimate goal of winning a championship， the organization had to ignore those fuzzy feelings.
　　凱尔特人始于2013年的多年的交易和签约网，终于在安吉用2018年篮网的选秀权，杰·克劳德，安特·日日奇和过去一个赛季赢得所有球迷喜爱的托马斯换到欧文时达到了顶点。托马斯在季后赛拿下53分时，波士顿人对他爱得神魂颠倒。“我一直梦想这样的时刻。”托马斯赛后这样说道，“那是传奇诞生之地，我希望自己有一天也能成为传奇。”这是托马斯发自内心的想法，他对球迷的爱不求回报。可若是想实现赢得总冠军的终极目标，球队就必须忽视这些感情。 　　“我会让你们自己想象那段对话有多难——对我和伊塞亚来说。”安吉在交易完成后说，“伊赛亚刚刚打完了一个出色的赛季，给整个波士顿带来了快乐，每个人都爱上了他。你知道，因为身材他那么不被看好，但他有一颗大心脏有竞争精神。做出这个决定很有挑战性。”
　　An agent texted me that "Danny would trade his son Austin if he had to." I believe it. The Celtics had just won 53 games， earning them the no. 1 seed， and went all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals. Now they have only four returning players： Al Horford， Marcus Smart， Jaylen Brown， and Terry Rozier. How many organizations in sports would seriously return only one-quarter of their roster after the season they had？ It’s so easy to accept the status quo when things are going well. Some owners would love for a nice jog on the playoff treadmill as a six-seed every year. But it was the right choice for Ainge and the Celtics. The team was good and full of overachievers， but it wasn’t great like it needed to be for them to achieve their ultimate goal.
　　一个经纪人发短信对我说，“如有必要，丹尼连自己的儿子奥斯汀都会交易”。我相信他的话。凯尔特人刚刚赢下了53场常规赛的胜率，成为赛区第一，一路打进了东部决赛。可他们现在只剩四名老球员：埃尔·霍福德，马库斯·斯玛特，杰伦·布朗和特里·罗齐尔。体育界有多少球队能在打出那么优秀的一个赛季后只有四分之一的球员回归？进展良好时，人们很容易接受现状。有些球队老板愿意每年作为六号种子在季后赛溜达一圈，可对安吉和凯尔特人来说，他们做出了正确的决定。球队状态很好，有很多人突破了外界的预期，但想实现最终目标，那还不够好。
　　Any backlash Boston receives for the choices they made or grief Houston gets for trading away a fan favorite in Patrick Beverley will quickly fade as their reloaded teams surpass the good-but-not-great edition fans fell in love with. Sure， it’s no guarantee. The failed Lakers superteam still looms.
　　凯尔特人和火箭因为交易走受球迷喜爱的帕特里克·贝弗利受到的抨击，会随着重装上阵的球队超越球迷之前爱上的“出色但不优秀”的那一套阵容而逐渐消失。当然，这种结果并不一定必然出现。湖人超级球队失败的影响还没消除。
　　Basketball is constantly shifting， and that reality can sometimes be cruel. Jazz fans would find it hard to lose Hayward， as Bulls fans would with Butler. But there are always new fan favorites waiting in the wings. And they， too， will eventually either abandon the team or get forced out. That’s business； that’s life.
　　篮球不断地在变动，现实有时非常的残忍。爵士球迷可能觉得忘记海沃德很艰难，公牛球迷对巴特勒也难以忘怀。但总有下一个深受球迷喜爱的人会出现，而这些人，最终要么被球队抛弃，要么抛弃球队。这是生意，也是人生。