哈登如何幫助路威入夥火箭

How James Harden may have helped Lou Williams become a Rocket

哈登如何幫助路威入夥火箭

Two weeks before the NBA trade deadline, a rival player called Lou Williams. The Houston Rockets’ James Harden watched Williams flourish this season, helping lead the perennial All-Star’s hometown Los Angeles Lakers to a strong start, and he had an idea to pitch.

在NBA交易截止日兩週之前，路威-威廉姆斯站在與火箭隊對立的陣營。火箭隊的詹姆斯-哈登本賽季注意到了威廉姆斯本賽季的發揮，洛杉磯是全明星常客哈登的故鄉，威廉姆斯幫助哈登的家鄉球隊洛杉磯湖人隊在本賽季取得不錯的開局，哈登產生了一個想法。

“When James called, he asked me if I was interested in playing with them,” Williams told The Vertical. “I told him that I loved the Lakers, but James and them have a group that fit my personality, fit how I play. He said he was going to make it happen.”

路威-威廉姆斯告訴媒體：“哈登打電話問我，是不是有興趣加入他們。我說我熱愛湖人隊，但是哈登跟他的球隊與我個人十分契合，他們非常適合我的打球風格，哈登說他會去促成這一切。”

Williams then laughed, sitting on the edge of a visiting court following a recent practice. “I’ve heard that before, so I didn’t really put stock into it,” Williams told The Vertical. “I guess James did put the word in, and the team made it happen.”

威廉姆斯然後大笑，剛剛完成訓練的他坐在場邊。“我之前就聽過類似的傳聞，所以我並不會太在意，”威廉姆斯對媒體說，“我猜他是真的去跟球隊說，然後球隊也照做了。”

Harden had planted the seed, and Williams now laughs at how everything worked out. Houston had an MVP frontrunner in Harden and the third seed in the Western Conference, but the franchise identified the need for another creator to handle the ball and shoot.

是哈登埋下了種子，而威廉姆斯現在笑着談起這一切都是如何發生的。休斯敦有一個MVP大熱門詹姆斯-哈登，並在西部位居第三，但是現在球隊需要另一個能夠持球和投籃的組織者。

The challenge of acquiring Williams appeared to become more difficult during trade-deadline week. The Lakers, who had since collapsed after a 10-10 start, began a major transition in the front office two days before the deadline, hiring Magic Johnson and later player agent Rob Pelinka to replace Jim Buss and Mitch Kupchak as president of basketball operations and general manager, respectively. Houston, Utah and Washington reached out to Johnson about a deal, with Williams’ agent, Wallace Prather, helping to facilitate negotiations.

在交易截止日前的最後一週，追求威廉姆斯的挑戰似乎變得更加困難。湖人隊以10勝10負的戰績開局之後墜入低谷，在交易截止的兩天前他們的管理層迎來一個重大的變化，先後聘請魔術師約翰遜和球員經紀人羅伯-佩林卡取代吉姆-巴斯和米齊-庫普切克，分別作爲球隊籃球運營總裁和總經理。休斯敦、猶他和華盛頓都在向約翰遜尋求談判，與此同時，威廉姆斯的經紀人華萊士-普萊斯也在推進着談判的進展。

Williams came to the Lakers on a three-year deal in 2015 as the franchise entered Kobe Bryant’s final season, and his play (18.6 points per game with the Lakers this season) allowed the front office to seek a first-round pick in trade talks. As the Sixth Man of the Year candidate was completing a workout in his old high school gym on a Tuesday evening in Atlanta, he received the phone call about the trade to the Rockets.

威廉姆斯在2015年帶着三年的合約加盟湖人，這也是科比-布萊恩特的最後一個賽季，他的比賽表現（本賽季代表湖人平均每場比賽拿下18.6分）讓高層有資本在交易談判中去討要一個首輪選秀權。在一個星期二的晚上，在亞特蘭大母校高中的體育館完成訓練後，最佳第六人候選人路威-威廉姆斯接到了告知自己被交易到火箭隊的電話。

“It wasn’t awkward for me with the changes going on in L.A. because I’ve understood the business,” Williams told The Vertical. “I remember the first day I joined the Rockets, I came into the breakfast room and [coach] Mike [D’Antoni] asked me if I would be able to play tonight if they needed me to, and I said, ‘Yeah.’ He said, ‘All right, be yourself.’ He said don’t think about anything, just play. That’s all I needed to hear.

“湖人做出這樣的變動對我來說並不難接受，因爲我知道這就是生意。”威廉姆斯對記者說：“我記得我第一天加入火箭，我走進早餐室，邁克（主教練邁克-德安東尼）問我如果他們需要我，當晚我能不能上場，我說，‘沒問題，’他說，‘好吧，打好你自己的風格。’他說不要考慮任何事，專心打球。這也是我需要聽到的。”

“With the year that Eric [Gordon] is having – this season me and him being one and two in the Sixth Man running – and now we’re on the same team … man, it’s probably safe to say that the trophy has to go through Houston. The league probably has to give us two of them. I think it’s huge to have me and Eric with the way we play. The culture here, the type of players that they want, I believe over time it’s going to pay big dividends for us.”

“考慮到埃裏克-戈登的這一年的表現，我和他是兩個最佳第六人的競爭者，現在我在同支球隊了。兄弟，幾乎可以肯定的說，這個獎盃要花落休斯敦，聯盟甚至不得不給我們發兩個獎盃。我認爲因爲我們兩個的打球方式，球隊同時擁有我和埃裏剋意義非凡。這裏的文化如此，他們需要這樣類型的球員，我相信隨着時間的推移，這將給我們帶來豐厚的回報。”

So far, Williams has given D’Antoni some punch off the bench. He’s averaged 14.5 points in 13 games, including 30 points and seven assists last week against the Lakers. For the season, Williams is averaging 17.8 points。

到目前爲止，威廉姆斯已經給了德安東尼帶來充足的板凳火力。他在13場比賽中平均每場拿下14.5分，其中包括上週對湖人隊的30分和7次助攻。整個賽季，威廉姆斯場均得分爲17.8分。

“We needed one more guy that could create, and Lou is perfect,” D’Antoni told The Vertical. “Lou is a professional scorer. In case someone is off, if someone is injured, Lou brings another 15 to 20 points. We still need to incorporate everything. You can never have enough shooters and playmakers, and he does both.”

“我們需要多一個可以創造機會的球員，路威就是個完美的選擇，”德安東尼對媒體說。“路威是個專業的得分手。如果有人缺陣，如果有人受傷，路威能額外多得15到20分。我們仍然需要更好的融合。射手和組織者對球隊來說多多益善，而他兩者都勝任。”

For D’Antoni’s system, the Rockets now have an array of shooters in Williams, Gordon andRyan Anderson, a 3-and-D wing in Trevor Ariza and a strong backcourt defender in Patrick Beverley. In the frontcourt, Clint Capela provides rim-protection and a lob threat on Harden’s repeated drives to the basket, and Nene, Montrezl Harrell and Sam Dekker have offered productive minutes.

在德安東尼的體系中，現在火箭隊的射手羣包括威廉姆斯，戈登和萊恩-安德森，3-D（指能投三分能防守的球員類型）側翼球員特雷沃-阿里扎和強大的後場防守球員帕特里克-貝弗利。在前場，克林特-卡佩拉提供了護筐和哈登反覆突破時的籃下高空威脅，還有內內，蒙特雷澤-哈勒爾和薩姆-德克爾可以提供戰力補充。

At 49-22, the Rockets have positioned themselves to make a deep run in the Western Conference playoffs. D’Antoni is making a case to be the NBA Coach of the Year, but as he told The Vertical, “All you do as a coach is trust your players to make the right play and play their game.” For everyone on the roster, the motto is the same.

49勝22負，火箭已經把目標放在季後賽中，他們希望能走得更遠。德安東尼教練也成爲本賽季聯盟最佳教練的熱門，但是他告訴記者：“作爲教練你要做的只有信任你的球員，讓他們用正確的方式打出他們的籃球。”對陣容裏的每個人來說，這句話都是一樣的。

Williams, 30, views Clippers reserve Jamal Crawford as an intriguing career template. Both rely on craftiness, range and a unique ability to score with minimal lift, which can foster career longevity. Crawford, 37, has long envisioned playing into his 40s.

威廉姆斯今年30歲，把快船隊第六人賈馬爾-克勞福德作爲一個有趣的職業模板。他倆都是依靠狡猾的手段，無死角的射程和獨特的能力，以最小程度的消耗拿下分數，這也使職業壽命得以延長。克勞福德37歲，而他已經把眼光放長遠到40歲。

“Until the wheels fall off for us,” Williams told The Vertical. “I already have 12 (seasons) in the can. Forty for me probably would be a little farfetched, because of being in my 12th season, being 30. Forty would be, what, 22 seasons?

“直到打不動了爲止吧，”威廉姆斯告訴媒體。“我已經打了12個賽季了。打到40歲對我來說可能有點牽強，因爲在我才30歲就已經打了12個賽季了，40歲意味着什麼，打22個賽季？

“I don’t know if I got 22 seasons in me, but God willing, I’ll get close.”

“我不知道我是不是能打22個賽季，但是上帝願意保佑我的話，我會盡力。”

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