終於等到卡哇伊和喬治真正並肩作戰了

"Paul George and Kawhi Leonard were 'destined' to play together"

“保羅喬治和倫納德的聯手是命中註定的。”

Leonard was seen after the morning shootaround getting shots up. Teammate Ivica Zubac said then he couldn't wait to play in the Clippers'first game with the two All-Stars in the starting lineup.

有人看到倫納德在早上的訓練後在熱身，他的隊友伊維察·祖巴茨說他等不及看到兩位全明星同時首發出戰加盟快船以來的第一場比賽。

"Yeah, finally," Zubac said when asked what it will be like when Leonard and George play together.

“是啊，終於來了，”當被問到倫納德和喬治共同出戰時。

"It will be great, we are really good with only Kawhi [playing and George out], we are really good with only PG [and Leonard out].

祖巴茨說到：“這很棒，我們在倫納德出戰時打得很好，在喬治出戰時也打得很好。

So you know when you put them two together, it's got to be good!"

所以當他們同時在場上時，你知道會發生什麼，這將非常有趣！”

"So we'll see it tonight, but I'm really excited." Leonard has played in nine games this season and is averaging 26.8 points, 8.9 rebounds and 6.0 assists.

“我們今天就將見到這一幕，我爲此感到激動。”倫納德這個賽季打了九場比賽，場均26.8分，8.9個籃板，6.0次助攻。

George and Leonard coincidentally were both drafted by the Pacers, George selected 10th in 2010 and Leonard going 15th in 2011 before being dealt to the Spurs.

喬治和倫納德碰巧都被步行者隊選中過，喬治是2010年第10順位，倫納德則是2011年第15順位，隨即他被交易到馬刺隊。

George recalled watching that 2011 draft and being confused by the Pacers' pick.

喬治回想起2011年選秀的時候對步行者隊的挑選感到疑惑。

Before learning of the trade, he wondered why Indiana would pick a player who played the same position and displayed similar strengths.

在聽說交易之前，他弄不懂爲什麼步行者隊挑了一個和他相同位置、相同打法的球員。

George was entering his second season with the Pacers and was feeling unsettled and nervous that Leonard could take his job.

喬治當時將開始入他在步行者隊的第二個賽季，對於倫納德可能會接替他的位置感到緊張和不安。

Leonard was wondering the same thing.

倫納德也產生過類似的疑惑。

"I'm like, they already got a two-way player," Leonard said in July at their introductory news conference.

“我當時想，他們已經有了一個攻守平衡的前鋒”，在七月份的新援發佈會上。

"But as our careers moved forward, I see how he developed, how I developed, and I wonder what if we would have stayed in Indiana."

倫納德說：“但是隨着我們的職業生涯不斷推進，我看到他的成長，也看到了我的成長，我開始思考，如果我們當初一起留在步行者了，如今會是怎樣。”

But an injury prevented George from meeting and playing against Leonard at the camp.

但是一場傷病讓喬治沒能去訓練營看看倫納德並與他角藝。

"I didn't get to see him and [thought] that was the end of that story," George recalls.

喬治回憶道：“我沒能去看他，我以爲這就是事情的結局了。”

Four months later, Fresno State was preparing to play San Diego State in the fourth game of the season.

四個月之後，喬治所在的加利福尼亞州立大學弗雷斯諾分校在新賽季的第四場比賽與倫納德所在的聖地亞哥州立大學正面相遇。

One name immediately stood out to George on the Aztecs' scouting report: Kawhi Leonard.

在阿茲特克的球探報告上，一個名字立馬引起喬治的注意：科懷·倫納德。

And once they matched up on the floor, George felt like he was staring at a clone.

當他們在球場上對位，喬治感覺就像是盯着自己的克隆人似的。

"Right away I knew what I was up against," George says: "He played the game the same way I did, he was going to challenge every play.

“我立刻就知道我面對的是什麼”，喬治說：“他打球的方式跟我完全相同，他希望每場比賽都充滿挑戰。

He wanted to be the best player on that floor the same way I did."

他想要成爲場上最好的那個球員，我也是。”

"I took a personal matchup to him, a personal vendetta that I wanted to be the best player on that floor.

“我和他打了一場私人比賽，基於一個私人矛盾，那就是我們都想成爲場上最好的球員。

And I got that same feeling from him and I knew right away how special he was going to be." Leonard, too, was using this matchup as a measuring stick.

我從他那裏得到了同樣的感覺，我立刻就知道他會變得多麼特別。”倫納德同樣地，把與喬治的對位作爲衡量自己的標尺。

Just three months before, they were meeting at an undisclosed location to hatch a plan.

就在三個月前，他們在一個祕密地點會面並策劃了一個計劃。

Leonard reached out to George "a good four or five days" before the July 5 trade, recruiting him to do what they couldn't back in 2017 -- join forces.

在7月5日的交易之前，倫納德聯繫了喬治“整整四五天”，招募他做2017年他們做不到的事情——聯手。

"We met up and we talked," George said recently, "Before the trade, even before everything was in talks."

“我們見了面，聊了起來，”喬治最近說，“在交易之前，甚至在上談判桌之前。”

Together, they have a chance to do something never done with the Clippers.

他們有機會一起完成快船從未完成過的事情。

"Paul has always been a player that I wanted to play with," Leonard said while sitting next to George and Clippers owner Steve Ballmer back in July.

“保羅一直是我想要一起打球的球員，”倫納德在7月份坐在喬治和快船老闆史蒂夫·鮑爾默旁邊時說。

"... And I think we got something special, we can make history here."

“……我想我們得到了一些特別的東西，我們可以在這裏創造歷史。”

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