Everyonewhohas everpicked up a ball has at least one id01.a gold standard personified.a player they grew up wishing to be.There’s 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.
　　任何打过球的人都至少拥有一个偶像，一个具体化的黄金标准，一个从小到大自己梦想成为的人。凡人与他们想象中的老师通常存在共同点——比如出身同一个地方，上过同一所学校，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.It’s 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.
　　对NBA球员来说，不同点在于他们通常有机会直面心目中的半人半神，了解真实的对方。随着又一批超级明星的变动，联盟中的年轻人第一次遇到了这一“真相时刻”。突然间，他们发现几年前还是墙上海报的人进入自己的人生，坐在旁边的更衣柜，穿着和海报上一样的签名球鞋。这是难得的获得偶像认可的第一机会，是大部分人只能梦想的事情。
　　So what happens if they don’t get it？ Look no further than last season’s？Lakers？for an answer.
　　可如果得不到认可，又会怎样呢？不必回溯太远，我们从上赛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 didn’t 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。”鲍尔回忆道，“我有点紧张，不知道该怎么跟他相处。因为我从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，太疯狂了。”接下来发生的事，大家都知道了。笑脸和20胜14负的开局被伤病，垂头丧气及9胜18负的收官取代。作为年轻湖人最喜欢的球员——布兰登·英格拉姆致力成为下一个凯文·杜兰特——詹姆斯暗示队友拖了后腿，而他当时最喜欢的球员是鹈鹕前锋安东尼戴维斯。
　　“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 man’growing up.I went to a LeBron camp and I had his jersey.I remember the first time Iplayed against him how nervous I was.” 　　“这说得通。”凯尔特人前锋杰森·塔图姆谈到湖人年轻球员因为没有得到詹姆斯的信任而心烦意乱时如是表示，“对于我这个年龄的人来说，从小到大他就是‘那个人’。我参加过勒布朗的训练营，我有他的球衣。我还记得第—次和他交手时自己有多紧张。”
　　Tatum，however，earned James’ respect.After Game 7 of the 2018 Eastern Conference Finals between Tatum’s Celtics and James’？Cavaliers，James raved about Tatum，Saying，“He boomed me，”a reference to？Tatum dunking on him.
　　不过塔图姆却获得了詹姆斯的尊重。2018年东部决赛第七场，塔图姆的凯尔特人和詹姆斯的骑士的比赛结束后，詹姆斯对塔图姆赞不绝口。对塔图姆在自己头上扣篮的事，詹姆斯说，“他刺激了我。”

　　He was never that flattering about any of the young Lakers.After atrade for Davis failed to materialize before the trade deadline last season，James intimated that not all his teammates were cut outfor a playoff push.“If you are still allowing distractions to affect the way you play，”James told reporters in late February，“then this is the wrong franchise to be a part of，and youshould just come in and say，‘I can’t do this.’
　　他从未对湖人年轻人做出过这样高的评价。上赛季交易截止日前交易戴维斯未果后，詹姆斯暗示，并非所有队友都适合冲击季后赛。“如果你还让分心的事影响你的表现，那这支球队就不适合你。”詹姆斯去年二月这样告诉记者，“你应该说，‘我做不到。’”
　　Those words from any team leader would be demorahzing，and？Sacramento Kings？forward Harrison Barnes says that coming from someone as revered by young players as James，they are the ukimate disparagement.
　　这番话出自任何团队领袖都会让人士气消沉，国王前锋哈里森·巴恩斯表示，这番话出自被年强球员敬仰的詹姆斯是终极贬低。

　　“Everybody went to his camp！”Barness ays，laughing.“In high school，Nike structured it so his camp was the top camp.You’re always trying to be around the greatest player.When you’re a young guy in the league，you don’t have much background to draw from as far as trade talks You don’t really understand.
　　“每個人都参加过他的训练营！”巴恩斯笑着说，“高中时，他的训练营是耐克组织的，所以属于最高水准。谁都想在伟大球员的身边，当你是联盟中的年轻球员时，面对交易流言，你没有太多可以咨询的对象。你真的什么都不明白。”
　　Not that James stands alone as a superstar who has expressed dissatisfaction with teammates or admirers.？Kobe Bryant，one former player says，initially balked at being in the team picture of the 2014-15 Lakers’21-win team，saying loud enough for everyone to hear，“I don’t want to take a picture with these losers.”
　　詹姆斯并非唯一对队友或仰慕者表达不满的超级巨星。一个前球员表示，科比布莱恩特最初拒绝和2014-15赛季只赢下21场比赛的湖人队友合影，他用足以让所有人听到的声音说，“我不想和这些输家一起拍照。”
　　Pacers？forward Myles Turner，as a highschool junior，made the three-and-a-half-hour drive from his home in？Dallas？to Austin for an unofficial visit to the University of Texas and ended up hanging out with fellow former Longhorn Kevin Durant，one of his idols.Durant happened to be visiting the campus at the same time，and Turner wound up as his teammate in a pickup game. 　　步行者前锋迈尔斯·特纳高三那年开了三个半小时车，从家乡达拉斯前往奥斯汀，私下参观德克萨斯大学，遇到前德州大学明星，他的偶像凯文·杜兰特。杜兰特恰好在同一时间拜访大学，而特纳成为他在野球赛里的队友。
　　“I wasn’t as adult as I am now，so I was kind of gangly and wasn’t getting shots up，and he kind of looked at me sideways，“Turner recalls.”He was passing me the ball to score，and I was being super passwe，passing the ball back every time.I was just trying to fit in.”
　　“那时我还不是现在的成年人，所以我很瘦长，投不进球，他有点斜眼看我的意思。”特纳回忆道，“他传球给我让我得分，我态度特别消极，每次都传回去。我只是想融入进去。”
　　Did he feel KD’s silent scorn？
　　他能感受到杜兰特沉默的蔑视吗？
　　“Hell yeah，definitely，”Turner says.”If you’ve got your mentor looking at you a little sideways，you’re going to be，‘Dang，I disappointed him alittle bit.’。But I didn’t let that determine my career.You just kind of rub it off and play better next time.”
　　“绝对的，肯定啊。”特纳说，“如果你的导师有点看不起你，你就会觉得，‘妈的，我让他失望了。’但我不会让这件事决定我的职业生涯。你得想办法忘掉这事，下一次打出好的表现。”
　　Years later，he credits KD for creating the template that has allowed him to flourish in the NBA as an inside-outside threat despite being listed as 6′11″and 250 pounds“KD opened thedoors for a big man who can handle it and shoot it，” he says.
　　几年后，特纳归功于杜兰特为自己创造了在NBA茁壮成长的模板，让他在拥有2.11米的身高和113公斤体重的同时，还能在联盟拥有内外线双重威胁。“杜兰特打开了这扇大门，让大个子也能运球投篮。”他说。
　　立志成为某人和希望被某人看作和他同等水平的人，这完全是两回事。
　　Derrick White had a more positive experience the first time he faced his idol and fellow Coloradan，Chauncey Billups，in a pickup game as a virtual unknown at Division Ⅱ Colorado-Colorado Springs.
　　德里克·怀特第一次见到偶像，同为克拉罗拉多人的昌西·比卢普斯时则有着更为愉快的经历。当时怀特只是NCAA次级联盟学校科罗拉多-科罗拉多喷泉队的默默无闻球员，他在一场野球赛里遇到了比卢普斯。
　　“Pretty crazy，personally，”says White，who would transfer to Billups’alma mater，the University of Colorado，for his semor year.“This is a guy I’ve been watching play，and now I’m playing against him？ I just wanted to compete and show what I could do.I was playing really well，and I could just tell it was different after that.”
　　“從个人角度看，相当疯狂。”他大四那年转学到了比卢普斯的母校科罗拉多大学，“我一直看他打球，现在我是他的对手？我只想竞争，展现自己的实力。我打得非常好，我能感觉到从那之后一切都不一样了。”
　　But not every encounter happens in a pickup game.Barnes faced his basketball role model，Kobe，in his first preseason game as a rookie with the Warriors.
　　但并非所有遭遇都发生在野球赛里。巴恩斯第一次见到自己的篮球偶像科比，就是身为勇士新秀在季前赛中与湖人相遇。
　　“It was kind of surreal，”Barnes says.”I remember there was one play where it was the patented（Kobe）shot fake.Somebody said，‘Staydown！’I remember he shot-faked once，twice，and the third time I left my feet.I was like，‘Dude，I’ve seen this play a million times.How do I still fall for it？’ 　　“那是种不太真实的感觉。”巴恩斯说，“我记得有一球，是科比标志性的假动作。有人说，‘不要动！’我记得他做了一次，两次假动作，第三次时我起跳了。我心想，‘这个动作我都看过100万次了，我怎么还会上当？’”
　　Not every idol-aspirant first encounter is harrowing;for？Brook Lopez，it was gratifying.
　　并非所有与偶像的第一次见面经历都很恐怖;对布鲁克谘佩斯来说，那是一段让人开心的经历。
　　“One of my first games agamst Timmy（Duncan）is where I got that we must be on the same wavelength，that this is definitely my guy.
　　It must’ve been in the third quarter during a timeout.They were playing music in the arena，
　　‘Welcome to the Jungle.’And he came up to guard me and he starts staging really low in my ear，‘Wel-come to the jung-le，’and I was like，‘This is my guy，for sure.This is awesome.’”
　　“我最初和蒂姆（邓肯）交手的比赛，那时我意识到我们是同一类人，他绝对是我喜欢的人。应该是比赛第三节的一次暂停，球馆里在放‘Welcome to the Jungle’这首歌。他过来防我，他开始在我耳边低声唱出‘Welcome to the Jungle’的歌詞。我心想，‘这就是我喜欢的人，绝对的。这太棒了。’”
　　Winning the approval of Jason Kidd was Richard Jefferson’s holy grail.Jefferson grew up in Phoenix and played at the University of Arizona while Kidd was a perennial All-Star for the？Suns.“Jason was the next Magic，”he says，and when they became teammates with the New Jersey？Nets，“I was like a puppy dog Whatever he said，I soaked it all in.”
　　赢得杰森·基德的认可是理查德·杰弗森的圣杯。杰弗森在菲尼克斯长大，后来进入亚利桑那大学，同一时期，基德是太阳的全明星球员。“杰森就是下一个‘魔术师’。”他说。当两人在篮网成为队友后，“我就像是小狗，无论他说什么我都会听。”
　　nlike Ball，Hart and Ingram，Kuzma remams a Laker.“I can only speak for myself—I’ve dealt with a lot，and I’ve handled a lot，”Kuzma says.“The biggest thing was early childhood，makingit out of Flint（Michigan）.A lot of people don’t make it out.It’s a super violent place.It’s hard to really make it to 21 where I’m from.I made it out.That’s the hardest thing a kid can go through.”
　　与鲍尔，哈特和英格拉姆不同，库兹马留在了湖人。“我只能从自身出发——我面对过很多，也应对过很多。”库兹马说，“其中最难的是童年，离开（密歇根州）弗林特。很多人没能从那里走出来，那是极端暴力的地方。我出身的地方，想活过21岁真的很难。我闯出来了，那是一个孩子所能经历的最困难的事。”
　　In short，a withering stare or two，even from an idol，isn’t going to rattle a young man who has seen a whole lot worse.
　　简而言之，即便是来自偶像的怒目相视，也不会扰乱一个见过更坏世界年轻人的心态。
　　Kuzma also doesn’t count James as his only idol.“I had a lot，”he says.“Kobe Melo.Bron.MJ.Shaq.”
　　库兹马表示，詹姆斯并不是他唯一的偶像。“我有很多偶像。”他说，“科比，安东尼，詹姆斯，乔丹，奥尼尔。”
　　There’s a difference between asptring to be like someone and wantmg someone to see you as being like them.It’s an important distinction for Turner.He still admires Durant and？La Marcus Aldridge，but he says he isn’t seeking their approval or anyone else’s.“You’ll never reach your potential or be successful if you rest your hat on what other people think of you，”he says.
　　立志成为某人和希望被某人看作和他同等水平的人，这完全是两回事。对特纳来说，两者之间存在重要的区别。他仍然仰慕杜兰特和拉马库斯·阿尔德里奇，但他表示，自己不会寻求他们或其他人的认可。“如果依赖别人对你的看法，你永远不能兑现自己的潜力，无法取得成功。”他说。
　　No matter how highly you might think of them.
　　不管你多尊重这些人，都是如此。