Fw: [外絮] 登登的虛晃一招：他如何婊小牛回快艇

看板LaClippers作者abysszzz (愛睏~~~)時間10年前 (2015/07/14 19:10)推噓10(10推 0噓 3→)

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※ [本文轉錄自 NBA 看板 #1LfDwRqs ] 作者: abysszzz (愛睏~~~) 看板: NBA 標題: [外絮] 登登的虛晃一招：他如何婊小牛回快艇時間: Tue Jul 14 18:03:49 2015 http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/13247673/how-deandre-jordan-almost-left-los-angeles-clippers http://es.pn/1L2Fp7s DeAndre Jordan's round trip: How Clips star dissed Dallas for L.A. return 登登的虛晃一招：他如何婊了小牛回到快艇 The view was clear from DeAndre Jordan's house in the Pacific Palisades on the morning of Friday, July 3. This time of year, the marine layer that keeps these bluffs above the Pacific Ocean cool burns off early in the day. Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and forward Chandler Parsons arrived at Jordan's house just after breakfast, ready to make one last pitch to the man they hoped would anchor their team for at least the next four years. 小牛老闆 Mark Cuban 和前鋒 Chandler Parsons 在早餐後來到 Jordan 的家，準備最後再推一把加強登登加入的意願。 Parsons had been wooing and partying with Jordan for weeks in an elaborate, "Entourage"-style recruiting trip through the hottest clubs and most exclusive haunts in Los Angeles and Houston. On the first night of free agency, Parsons, Cuban and Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki took Jordan out for a gluttonous sushi feast in a private room at Nobu, a few miles up the road from Jordan's house in Malibu. After that, Parsons and Cuban had been in constant contact with the 26-year-old center. Other teams had gone to meet with Jordan at the offices of his agent, Dan Fegan, in Beverly Hills. But their pitches had been self-contained: an hour or two of the typical marketing presentations and basketball discussions that start to sound the same if you hear too many in too short of a time period. The Mavericks' pitch was all-inclusive and all-consuming. 帕森斯已經追了登登好幾週了，可說已經到伴遊的程度：足跡遍佈洛杉磯和休士頓的各式高級夜店和知名景點。在FA開始的第一晚，帕森斯庫班和 Dirk Nowitzki 帶登登在家附近吃了一頓高級壽司。之後帕森斯和庫班一直和登登保持聯絡。其它的隊伍接觸登登的方式是在他的經紀人 Dan Fegan 在比佛利山莊的辦公室裏，自我感覺良好地做著各種很有內容的報告 -- 那種你聽了幾次就會覺得通通都差不多。小牛隊可不一樣，他們用的是全方位包山包海式的服務和推銷。 It was working, too. But Cuban and Parsons felt they needed one last grand gesture to seal the deal. So Thursday night, not long after the Clippers wrapped up their pitch to Jordan, Parsons sent him a text message with a photo of him and Cuban boarding a private jet from Dallas to Los Angeles. "Flight time, 2 hours and 30 minutes. Coming in hot." Jordan responded right away. "No way!!!" Parsons texted: "Haha yessssssir, Face Time me real quick." Parsons and Cuban landed in L.A. and checked into the SLS Hotel. Friday morning they had breakfast with Fegan (also Parsons' agent) at the Polo Lounge inside the Beverly Hills Hotel, then drove across town to Jordan's house in the Palisades. This last meeting was to be the rose ceremony. After months of courtship, the Mavs and Jordan would seal the deal. 小牛的攻勢的確很有效，不過庫班和帕森斯覺得應該再放個大絕。於是在星期四夜晚，在快艇對登登推銷完不久，帕森斯在從達拉斯飛到 LA 之前傳了個訊息給登登，附上他和庫班登上私人飛機的照片。 "又要飛了。兩小時三十分，高速趕到。" 登登馬上回了 "你豪洨的吧!!" 帕森斯回 "哈哈真的啦準備跟我面對面吧" 帕森斯和庫班在 LA 降落住進飯店。隔天星期五早上他們和 Fegan(也是帕森斯的經紀人) 用過早餐，驅車前往登登在 LA 郊區的家。最後的會面就像是灑花儀式一樣，在幾個月強烈的追求後，小牛和登登即將完成協議。 They'd pitched Jordan on a larger role in the offense and told him they believed he could be the best center in the NBA. They pumped him up and said that they'd help him become all the things there wasn't room to become in Los Angeles, playing in the shadows of L.A.'s superstars, Chris Paul and Blake Griffin. They'd shown him love, attention and respect. It was exactly what Jordan had said he'd wanted from this free-agent process and Cuban and Parsons tapped into it brilliantly. 小牛對登登的承諾是在進攻端他將扮演吃重角色，並相信他可以成為NBA最佳中鋒。他們鼓動他並說小牛會幫助他成長，會賦予他在 LA 的超級明星 Chris Paul 和 Blake Griffin 的陰影下缺少的成長空間和機會。他們給登登的是愛、關注、和尊重，這些正是登登說過他想在自由球員過程中獲得的。庫班和帕森斯看準了這點巧妙地追求。 Cuban repeated the pitch as he walked alone with Jordan into the backyard of his house overlooking the Pacific. "Then I said to him, 'Are there any other questions? Now is the time to ask me anything ... but if you're telling me what you want is what you want, I will do my best to get you there.'" Cuban recalls that it got silent for a few moments as Jordan processed it all. "Then," according to Cuban, "he says, 'I love that. I love that. I'm going to Dallas.'" 在陪登登在後院兩人散步的時候，庫班重複了一次他的遊說 "然後我對他說，'還有任何問題嗎？現在你可以問我任何事... 如果你想要的和你之前對我們說過的一樣的話，我會盡我所能為你辦到。'" 根據庫班的回想，在這時有一陣靜默，登登思考著， "接著他說 '我愛你們的提案，我超愛的，我會去達拉斯。'" Parsons was in the house with Jordan's family, friends and agents. "I hear this scream in the backyard and it's Cuban, walking inside with his hands up like, 'We got him!'" Parsons said. "It was unbelievable. I was so hyped, because he really is a franchise-changing type player. They don't come around very often. "It was awesome. His mom was crying. I think Cuban might have even cried." 當時帕森斯與登登的家人朋友和經紀人待在屋子內。 "我聽到庫班大叫，高舉雙手走進來，喊道'我們得到他了！'。真不可置信，我超high的，因為他真的是一個能改變一個球隊的球員，這種關鍵球員並不常出現。" "潮爽der。他媽媽在哭，我想庫班也許也哭了吧。" Cuban offered to fly Jordan and his family to Dallas to celebrate. Fegan had dropped $30,000 to charter him a private yacht, complete with a captain and first mate, to take them anywhere they wanted to go for the holiday weekend. He'd done something similar for another client, Dwight Howard, when he was making a huge free-agent decision a few years earlier. Fegan flew Howard to Aspen, Colorado, where he holed up for 48 hours in a luxury cabin before he chose to bolt the Los Angeles Lakers for the Houston Rockets. Jordan declined both offers, saying he'd prefer to fly back with his family to his home in Houston on a 1 p.m. flight. Before they all parted ways, the group gathered for a toast. "They all had tequila," Cuban said. "I had vodka. It was still morning." It was the last time they were all happy together. "Never in a million years did I think I had to quarantine the guy," Cuban said. 庫班提議把登登和他的家人載到達拉斯慶祝。Fegan則打算包台遊艇玩到爽，之前 Howard 從湖人轉到火箭的時候他也做過類似的慶祝。不過登登兩個提案都拒絕了，說他想和家人在下午飛回休士頓。在解散前，大家舉杯慶祝，庫班記得大家喝了龍舌蘭他喝了威士忌，當時還是上午呢。這是最後一次這批人在一起同歡。 "花幾輩子也想不到我竟然要把這傢伙列為拒絕往來戶" 庫班說。 John Lucas could tell something was wrong the moment Jordan walked into his gym on Sunday morning. "I consider him one of my children," Lucas said. "When they come home to see me, something's wrong." He's worked with the lanky 7-footer since he was a ninth-grader at nearby Episcopal High in Houston. Jordan has put on 40 pounds of muscle since then. He dresses better and carries himself with more polish and poise. But deep down, Lucas says, he hasn't changed much. "He's still very much the same DJ," Lucas said. John Lucas 可以感覺到有什麼不對勁，在登登星期日早上進到他的健身房時。 Lucas說 "我把他當自己兒子。當孩子們回來看我的時候，一定有什麼不對勁。" 打從登登九年級開始 Lucas 就陪他一起成長。儘管他變高變壯，穿著打扮比小時候體面很多，在 Luas 心裏他沒什麼變。 "他還是以前那個 DJ" Lucas 說 Two days had passed since news broke that Jordan had verbally committed to sign a four-year, $80 million contract with the Mavericks. But he didn't say a word about it as he walked into Lucas' gym in suburban Houston. "He just wanted to work on his free throws," Lucas said. 在登登與小牛立下口頭協議得到4年8000萬美元合約的好消息出來後已過了兩天。然而當登登走進 Lucas 在休士頓的健身房的完全沒提到此事。 "他只默默地練著他的罰球" Lucas說。 The former NBA point guard and head coach has become something of a life coach for wayward basketball souls in his later years. Everyone from Kobe Bryant to LeBron James to Baron Davis has passed through his doors in search of new skills or spiritual help. Just about every NBA player with Houston ties calls him a friend and mentor. 這位前NBA控衛和教頭現在已成為人生導師，幫助那些陷入迷惘的籃球人。從 Kobe Bryant 到 LeBron James 到 Baron Davis 都曾進過他的門尋求某種協助，或許是新的技巧，或許是精神上的幫助。幾乎每位和休士頓有關的NBA球員都尊他為朋友和導師。 Lucas' voice is perpetually hoarse from hard living during his playing career and these past three decades of coaching. He's from the tough-love school of instruction. But on this day, Lucas and Jordan said very little. "A lot can be said without saying a word," Lucas explained. "During the season, when he had a great run while Blake Griffin was out [with an elbow injury], I'd told him he was about two games away from getting double-teamed on every play." The message was implicit: Jordan didn't have the post moves or experience to deal with the kind of double-teams that stars regularly see. If he was going to live up to the contract he'd just agreed to, if he was really going to be the man and play a larger role, he needed to work on everything. Post moves, footwork, free throws, everything. Lucas 的嗓音在球員和執教階段的操勞後已變得非常嘶啞。他是屬於那種愛說教的類型。不過當天，Lucas 和登登之間沒說到什麼話。 "盡在不言中。" Lucas解釋 "在這季 Blake Griffin 手肘受傷時，他有過一段能發揮的時間。我告訴他只要再學兩招你就可以達到每個play都被包夾的境界了。" 話說得很隱晦，意思是登登沒有低位的技巧和經驗可以應對明星球員會受到的包夾。如果他要達到和小牛的合約的目標，如果他想成為重要角色，從現在起他什麼都得練：低位的技巧，腳步，罰球，全部。 Jordan is comically bad at the free throw line. Last season he shot 39.7 percent. He's so bad at shooting free throws that, in the playoffs, the Rockets and Spurs resorted to intentionally fouling him to force Clippers coach Doc Rivers to take him out of the game. So on Tuesday morning, Lucas challenged Jordan to make a thousand free throws. When he finished, the coach tweeted out a picture. 登登的罰球命中率低到可笑的39.7%，在季後賽中馬刺和火箭都針對他駭過，迫使快艇教頭 Doc Rivers 把他換下場。所以在星期二早上，Lucas 挑戰登登看他能不能罰進1000個罰球。當他完成時，Lucas發了一條附圖的tweet 寫了 Coach John Lucas "Just made 1k FT" To the outside world viewing that photo, it looked like Jordan was working on his craft and taking the responsibility of living up to his new role with the Mavericks seriously. Those in Jordan's inner circle knew differently, though. "This was really the first time he had been recruited like that and I think it was really exciting for him," Lucas said. "Everybody wants to go through free agency to see if they're really liked and wanted." 從外界看這條tweet看到的是登登正在努力練罰球，準備承擔他的新責任。然而登登的內心感受卻不一樣。 "這是他首次被這樣追逐，我想他一定感到飄飄然，" Lucas說 "每個人都希望進自由市場試水溫，感受到他們是被喜歡、被需要的。" But when the excitement wore off and his new reality set in, Jordan started to question if he'd just gotten caught up in the process. It's happened to him before. He's notoriously impressionable. Friends tell stories of him buying luxury cars and gadgets, only to return them a month later. He's now on his third agent in seven years. Each of the first two relationships ended badly, including a lost arbitration hearing with his first agent, Joel Bell, after a dispute over the percentage he was obligated to pay him. 但在興奮過後，現實感回來了，登登開始想他是不是被花言巧語給唬了。這以前就有過，登登是屬於那種容易被推銷的類型，朋友相傳他買過昂貴的車和玩具，結果一個月後又退回去了。現在這個經紀人是他七年中的第三個，前兩段經紀關係都結束得很不愉快，包括在一次仲裁庭中輸給他的第一位經紀人，事由是對抽佣的比例的爭議。 Lucas told him to be honest with himself and answer one question: Did he say yes to the Mavericks to please himself or others? Twelve hours after Lucas posted the photo of Jordan shooting free throws, he tweeted this: Coach John Lucas "Living your life to make others happy and gain validation as a human being is a trap." Coach John Lucas "Don't be deceived. Making it your primary goal to please people will not work out well for you in life." Lucas 對他說要誠實面對自己回答一個問題：當他答應的時候是為了讓自己高興，還是為了讓其它人高興？在 Lucas 推罰球那條的12小時後，他又推了兩條： Coach John Lucas "過著討好別人獲得認同的人生是個陷阱。" Coach John Lucas "不要被蒙蔽。把討好別人做為主要目標，對你的人生是行不通的。" By the time Lucas posted the picture of Jordan making a thousand free throws last Tuesday morning, Griffin was already en route to Houston to help his friend sort through a jumble of emotions. Jordan had called Griffin on Monday to say he was having serious misgivings about his decision. He had built a life in Los Angeles, why was he leaving? Had he just gotten caught up in the frenzy of the recruiting process? Did he really want to be the face of a franchise? Griffin told Jordan that he'd made a commitment and needed to live up to it. They'd still be friends, regardless of whether they were teammates. But Jordan still seemed troubled. Griffin told him that he needed to call Rivers if he really wanted to revisit his decision. 在 Lucas 推那條1000罰球的星期二早晨，BG 已經在到休士頓的路上，要幫他的朋友登登理清他混亂的情緒。登登星期一打電話給 BG 說他對他的決定感到嚴重的不安。他在 LA 經營這些年，為什麼要離開？是不是他在一頭熱中犯傻了？他真的想成為一支球隊的代表球星嗎？ BG 告訴登登說既然你已做了決定那就必須盡力去做。不管是不是隊友，他們兩個還是朋友。但登登仍然很煩惱。BG 告訴他，他必須打電話給 Doc 如果他真的想要重新思考他的決定。 Rivers already had started to get wind of what was going on that Sunday night. Jordan started texting and communicating his misgivings through Snapchats and direct Twitter messages with dozens of people within 24 hours of landing back in Houston. Word that he was having second thoughts started spreading around NBA summer league in Orlando and Utah. Eventually it got back to Rivers. Doc 在星期日晚上已經嗅到風向。登登在回休士頓後的24小時內用 Snapchat 和 Twitter 對一些友人表達了他的不安。流言開始在奧蘭多和猶他的夏季聯盟中傳，傳著傳著就傳到 Doc 的耳中。 At first the coach didn't believe it. He'd been stung by Jordan's decision to leave. He felt close to the young center and didn't understand why such a deep rift had developed. It didn't help that the Clippers were so far into the luxury tax, they had few options at filling the gaping hole at center that Jordan's departure had created. "It was hard for me when I first heard he was [leaving] because I felt like I could've done something different," Rivers said later, during a conference call. "In my gut I never felt like he wanted to leave." 一開始 Doc 並不相信。登登決定離去讓他很受傷，他以為跟登登很親近，不明白為什麼雙方之間有這種裂痕。更糟的是快艇的薪資結構遠遠在豪華稅線之上，走掉一個自家FA 留下的中鋒洞根本補不起來。 "當我聽到他要離開時我覺得很痛，因為我覺得我應該還能做得更多來挽留他" Doc 在稍後的一次電話會議中說 "我心裏從沒想過他想要離開。" Eventually the coach found reason to trust what was in the wind. Jordan had grown close to all four of Rivers' 20-something year-old children: Spencer, Jeremiah, Callie and Austin. Over the weekend, he was communicating with all of them. Jordan confessed to them that he was having second thoughts. 最後 Doc 找到理由相信這個傳言。登登和 Rivers 家四個20來歲的孩子關係親近： Spencer, Jeremiah, Callie, Austin。在這個週末中登登向他們坦承他已經有了不同的想法。 By Monday afternoon, Jordan and Rivers were on the phone. It remains unclear who called whom. To spurned Mavericks fans and those around the league who have misgivings about the ethics of what the Clippers did to win back Jordan after he'd verbally committed to Dallas, that's a key detail. There's a sort of gentleman's agreement during the NBA's moratorium period between July 1-9 not to mess with a player who has verbally committed to another team. 到了星期一下午，登登和 Doc 通了電話，不清楚是誰打給誰。對於小牛球迷和聯盟中關切這件事的道德層面的人來說，這是個關鍵，因為聯盟的默契是在7月1日到9日這段 moratorium period 期間不能去影響與其它球隊達成口頭協議的球員。 The NBA established this period where no contracts can be signed or trades can be completed for several reasons. Free agents needed time to make a real decision so that multiple teams could pitch them, and agents could shop offers around to other teams. It also protected scrupulous teams who adhered to the July 1 opening of free agency and didn't try to circumvent the process or their rivals. But in establishing the moratorium period, the NBA also created a house of cards that depended on an honor code, but would always be vulnerable to changes of heart. "It's an imperfect system, there's no question about it," NBA commissioner Adam Silver said Sunday, in an interview with NBA TV. "The question is: Is there a better system? And that's something that the league office and in discussions with the owners will always look to do things better." NBA 設立這個不能簽合約或交易的空窗期有幾個理由。當多個球隊在追逐時，自由球員需要時間做決定。經紀人利用這段時間送報價給其它隊伍。對比較謹慎不偷跑的球隊來說也提供一層保護免於被別的球隊坑。然而在設立這個緩衝期的同時，NBA也等於創造了一個建立在誠信原則之上的紙牌屋；任何的變心都可以讓它垮掉。 "毫無疑問，這是個不完美的制度。" NBA主席 Adam Silver 在星期日的一次訪問中說。 "問題是：有沒有更好的制度？這是聯盟辦公室和與球隊老闆們間會持續討論的議題。" Rivers and Jordan are the only ones who know for sure who placed the call, and neither is likely to offer up their phone records. But it proved to be a critical event. Jordan asked Rivers to speak to his mother, Kimberly Jordan-Williams. The 6-foot-2 former college basketball player and mother of four has always been the guiding force in his life. At Clippers games she often wears the jersey of another player so as not to be recognized if she cheers a bit too loudly. Jordan-Williams told Rivers how unhappy her son seemed and wanted to know if his decision to sign with the Mavericks had burned the bridge back to Los Angeles. Rivers told her that it had not. She told the coach that there were still issues they all had to work through. Issues, quite frankly, that they all should've addressed during the initial free-agency process. Jordan's agents had sat down Clippers executives once during the season and again right afterward and laid out all his frustrations and concerns. The team had been advised that Jordan had developed trust issues with Paul over the past three seasons and that he wanted a bigger role in the team's offense. He wanted to be the team's third star, not third wheel. Nothing in their first pitch to Jordan really connected on those issues. Instead the Clippers talked about things like beefing up their marketing efforts in China to help him get more All-Star votes. But deep down, Jordan's preference had always been to stay. He wanted things to change. To reset their relationship. Not to leave and start over. Rivers asked if they could redo their pitch. Jordan-Williams said to come on over to the house and she'd pick up dinner for everyone at Raising Cane's. 總之只有 Doc 和登登知道到底是誰打給誰，而兩人都不太可能會提供通話記錄。登登要 Doc 跟他的母親 Kimberly Jordan-Williams 談 Jordan-Williams 告訴 Doc 她的兒子很不快樂，想知道他去小牛的決定是否已經斷了他回 LA 的路。Doc 說不會。她告訴 Doc 這其中還有不少難題。登登的經紀人們已經在球季中和季後兩度向快艇經理人員提及登登的挫折感和擔憂。在這三個球季以來，登登和 CP3 漸漸有了信任危機，登登想要更多的進攻球權，他想成為球隊的第三個球星，而不是第三個齒輪。然而在快艇追求登登的會談中並沒有著墨到這點。快艇只是一股勁地說著我們會想辦法拓展中國市場這樣登登就能靠投票進明星賽了。但在登登的內心深處還是想要留下來，他想要改變，想要重置與快艇隊友的關係；他並不想要離開從頭開始。Doc 問能不能再給快艇一次機會，登登媽說那大家過來她家，她會準備晚餐。 What's so hard for Parsons and Cuban to understand is that they gave Jordan absolutely everything that he said he wanted. "There is nothing more that we could have physically, emotionally or possibly done to make him feel more comfortable," Parsons said. 對帕森斯和庫班來說最難理解的是，他們已經給了登登所有他想要的。 "不管是物質面還是情感面我們都已做了一切能做的讓他感到放心了" 帕森斯說。 Jordan said he wanted to take the next step in his career. The Mavericks showed him how he could do that in Dallas. They broke it down in the clearest analytical terms. "He got 0.8 post-ups a game last season," Cuban said. "That's less than Kyle Lowry and Khris Middleton. His usage rate was 18th on the Clippers and sixth-lowest in the NBA. I said to him, 'DJ, if you want to be a brand, you have to separate yourself.' "We didn't talk bad about the Clippers. We just said that there aren't enough balls to go around for you to reach your potential there." 登登說他想要讓他的生涯提升到另一個階段。小牛用最易懂的分析方式告訴他在達拉斯他將可以怎樣達成。庫班說 "上季他每場只有0.8次低位進攻，這比 Kyle Lowry 和 Khris Middleton 還低。他的持球比率是快艇中第18名，聯盟倒數第6。我告訴他 'DJ 如果你想成為看板，你得要讓自己獨立。'" "我們並沒有說快艇的壞話。我們只是說球不夠分，你在快艇無法展現所有的潛力。" Jordan said that he wanted to be wooed. Parsons and his friends jumped in his car immediately after returning home from a trip to Vegas with several Mavs staffers and drove from Dallas to spend the weekend with Jordan in Houston. This was June 19, more than a month after the Clippers had been eliminated in the second round of the playoffs by the Rockets. Parsons and Jordan had exchanged hundreds of text messages and FaceTime calls during that time. It was time, Parsons thought, to get some real face time. And it was such a priority to him, he didn't mind making the four-plus-hour drive while running on fumes after a few days of Vegas fun. Parsons and pals arrived in Houston a little before midnight, checking into the Hotel Zaza. Jordan, accompanied by some high school buddies and other acquaintances, picked them up in a party bus. "The atmosphere is crazy, the music is loud," said Pausha Haghighi, Parsons' childhood best friend and personal assistant. "There was no room on that bus. I remember thinking, 'Oh, this is where the night's gonna go?' It was a fun night." 登登說他想要被追捧。儘管剛結束一次Vegas的旅程，帕森斯和朋友們還是立刻跳上車一路從達拉斯開到休士頓。那時是6月19日，距離快艇在第二輪被淘汰已經超過一個月。帕森斯和登登在那之前已經交換了幾百次的訊息和視訊。帕森斯心想是時候當面聊了，而這事是如此重要，他不介意在旅途勞頓之餘再花超過4小時開車殺過去。帕森斯和友人們到達時已近半夜。接著他們被登登和整群熟朋友新朋友接去開趴 "氣氛超瘋狂，音樂超大聲" 帕森斯的兒時好友和私人助理 Pausha Haghighi 說 "那派對巴士都快擠不下了，我心想'所以要在這玩通宵？' 那夜的確很好玩。" Over the course of the next couple of weeks, the group went on an epic romp. On June 26, they all met up in Los Angeles with another of the Mavs' free-agent targets, Wesley Matthews. The trio worked out with trainer Robbie Davis at his gym near LAX and made plans for the evening. The night started with dinner at Boa on the Sunset Strip and ended across the street at a swanky club called Bootsy Bellows, where Cuban just happened to be entertaining a group of associates from his TV show, "Shark Tank." With Cuban across the club, Jordan, Parsons and Matthews sipped on drinks and discussed the possibility of playing together in Dallas. The next night they ate dinner at Baltaire, a steakhouse in Brentwood, and clubbed at Hyde in Hollywood. A few days later, Jordan invited Parsons and his entourage over to his house in the Palisades. They ordered pizza, watched a movie and played basketball in the swimming pool with Jordan's football-playing brothers. "After spending time with him, Paush and I realized that this guy could go to Milwaukee and we're still going to be friends with him, we're still going to be boys," Parsons said, before things all went south. "We just established this friendship so quick and so strong, so fast that it made sense for him to come to Dallas." 在接下來的一週狂歡團持續著。在6月26日他們在 LA 與小牛另一個FA重點目標 Wesley Matthews 會合。三人組白天一起訓練並計劃夜晚的活動。有吃有玩後三人一邊看著庫班在另一頭搞他的TV show 一邊計劃去達拉斯一起玩。下一夜還是有吃有玩... (**譯註：也太詳細了) 幾天後登登邀請帕森斯和隨行人員去他 LA 郊區的家玩 "在跟他混在一起這麼久後，Paush 和我了解這傢伙即使跑到密爾瓦基我們仍可以繼續做朋友。我們還是一堆男孩。" 在事態急轉直下之前帕森斯說 "我們的友誼建立得很快，很牢固，感覺他想去達拉斯是很合理的。" Maybe that was the problem, though. How fast it all went. How quickly they all fell for each other. It was hard to separate the actual steak from the fancy steakhouses. Like most torrid affairs, emotion overwhelms at first. But once the initial excitement wears off, you actually have to deal with the reasons you started to stray from the marriage. 也許這正是問題所在。良好關係建立得太快了，讓人迷惑到底是牛排本身好吃還是身處於高級牛排館讓牛排看起來好吃？就像一夜激情過後你開始會想背棄婚姻搞外遇的理由。 Jordan had been telling the Clippers what he wanted for months and didn't feel he was being taken seriously. Between his own conversations and his agent's discussions, Jordan had been pretty clear about his feelings. He felt underappreciated. Like his only value to the team was to rebound and play defense. He felt like he could do more, but the Clippers didn't need or believe that he could. So he strayed. He flirted with four other teams, cheated with the Mavs and broke up with the Clippers to really prove his point. 登登幾個月來已經告訴快艇他想要什麼，卻感覺快艇好像沒很認真看待。在與友人和經紀人的對話和討論中登登已經明確釐清自己的感覺，他覺得沒有受到足夠的重視，好像他對球隊的價值就只有籃板和防守。他覺得他可以做更多，然而快艇似乎不需要，或是不相信他可以做更多。於是他想搞外遇，他挑逗了四支其它球隊，騙了小牛，然後回頭投向快艇懷抱來證明他的觀點。 Was it immature? Yes. Inconsiderate? Absolutely. Within the rules? Unfortunately for the Mavs, probably. "If he's in this situation again, which he will be, he'll probably be better at it," Rivers said. "It happens." The Mavericks were rightly pissed. They'd been played and then dropped without so much as an explanation or an apology. "This is something I've never seen in my career," Parsons said. "When a man gives you his word ... it's just very unethical and disrespectful." 不成熟嗎？是的。沒有考慮清楚？絕對是。規則內？對小牛很不幸地似乎是這樣。 "如果他再次處於這種情況，而他將會，他大概會處理得更好吧。" Doc說 "事情發生就發生了。" 小牛理所當然地被激怒了。他們被玩弄被拋棄，而竟然連個像樣的解釋或道歉也沒有。 "我的生涯中從沒遇過這種事，" 帕森斯說 "當一個男人做了承諾 ... (卻搞出這鬧劇) 這是非常不道德和無禮的。" And about that friendship Parsons once thought would endure anything, even if Jordan chose to play in Milwaukee? "Um, you know it's ... we did develop a really good relationship and we got close over the last few weeks," Parsons said. "I just think the decision was much bigger than that. It was something that he wasn't ready to handle. "He's complacent in L.A. and I think that was a safer bet than for him to make a big decision and branch off and go do his own thing. He was probably nervous. He was probably scared. I don't know because I haven't talked to him. He's a good dude. I don't think he's a bad person for this. I think he's just confused. This decision was just way too big for him and he wasn't ready to be a franchise player." 那麼之前說的那個即使他跑去密爾瓦基仍會保持的友誼呢？ "呃... 這個... 我們在過去幾週的確建立了良好的關係" 帕森斯說 "我想這個決定的份量比我們的關係還重，那是他還沒準備好處理的程度。" "他在 LA 大概很滿足吧，留在 LA 比起到另一個地方獨立對他來說安全多了。他大概很緊張，他大概怕到了，我不知道，事發後我還沒跟他談過話。他是個好人，我不認為他是故意在這件事上使壞，我想他是迷惘了吧，下這個決定對他來說太吃力了，他還沒準備好成為球隊的看板明星。" What's ironic is that the most exciting part of this saga for everyone else was actually the most boring and uneventful for those on the inside. There might never be a day as entertaining on Twitter as the Wednesday when ESPN's Marc Stein broke the news of Jordan's change of heart. Rivers, Paul Pierce and Steve Ballmer were all already in the air, flying from Los Angeles to Houston on Ballmer's private plane, by the time the story posted around 10 a.m. PT. Griffin and assistant coach Armond Hill had spent the night at Jordan's house. Guard J.J. Redick drove over in the morning from his offseason home in Austin and was already waiting at the Four Seasons with Chris Paul and his wife Jada, who had cut short their Caribbean vacation with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Carmelo Anthony to fly in for the meeting. 諷刺的是，對大部份看熱鬧的人來說最精彩的部份對於局內人卻是最無聊的部份。在推特時代恐怕沒有哪一天的熱鬧程度比得上事發的星期三，當 ESPN 的 Mark Stein 首先爆料登登改變主意。Doc, Paul Pierce, Steve Ballmer 一起從 LA 飛到休士頓，在當地時間早上10點爆開的時候，BG 和助理教練 Armond Hill 已經待在登登家過夜了。 J.J. Redick 早上從他 Austin 的家開車過來，在四季飯店和 Chris Paul 和老婆會合， CP3 剛從他與 LBJ Wade Melo 的加勒比海假期中趕回來。 Nevertheless, when Parsons tweeted an emoji of a plane as if to signal that he was going to fly in to help save the Mavericks' cause, all of the Clippers played along. Redick tweeted an emoji of a car. Griffin tried to throw people off the scent by tweeting that he was in Kauai. Paul poked fun at a picture of himself, James, Anthony and Wade on a banana boat that had surfaced on the Internet by tweeting emojis of a banana and a boat. Pierce tweeted a picture of a clip art rocket that didn't quite make sense, but was even funnier because of it. But like so much in this saga, it was hard to decipher from the outside what was real and what was just part of the rush. 在帕森斯推了個飛機的 emoji，表示他正要搭機趕過來時，其它快艇的人也跟著玩起來。 Redick推了個汽車，CP3推了自己之前玩的香蕉船，PP推了個莫名其妙的火箭，反而看起來特別好笑。不過跟這個故事的其它部份一樣，從外界難以解碼其中的真假或緩急。 What appeared to the rest of the world to be some sort of hostage crisis inside Jordan's house, was actually pretty chill. The team hashed out a bunch of issues they really should have dealt with a long time ago. As she had in her conversation with Rivers, Jordan's mother wanted to make sure there weren't going to be any hard feelings that would have lasting effects on their relationships. Ballmer talked about how often this happened in the business world. Former NBA center Marcus Camby, a Houston native Jordan has been close to since they were teammates in 2008 to 2010, was also there and told a few stories about retirement. Paul told Jordan he didn't realize how much their relationship had deteriorated, and that he'd work on repairing it. Griffin had already said what he needed to say at dinner the night before. 從外界看來是某種超展開的人質危機，實際上在登登的家裏非常平和。快艇把他們早該處理的隊內問題拿出來談。登登媽希望彼此話講明白不要心裏留下疙瘩影響大家日後的關係。Ballmer 則聊到在商場上這類的事件多常發生。前NBA中鋒 Marcus Camby 是休士頓在地人，在2008-2010時和登登當隊友建立起緊密的關係，他聊了些關於退休的故事。CP3 告訴登登他沒意識到他倆間的關係惡化得如此嚴重，他將試著去修補。BG 則在前一晚的晚餐中把他該講的話都講完了。 Where was all this affection and attention the first time around? Apparently it took getting spurned for Jordan's teammates -- none of whom attended the July 2 meeting at Fegan's offices, the night before Jordan committed to the Mavs -- to realize they needed to step up a little more. They admitted to him that they were mad he left, but ultimately just wanted him to be happy so they stayed away. Pierce, who still hadn't officially signed his new contract, told everyone that was stupid because they almost lost him. 所以這矯情的段子之前怎麼沒有？很明顯登登的隊友們之前根本沒放在心上，7月2日在Fegan辦公室的會議沒一個到場。這時他們才了解必須參與才能留人。他們承認當登登說要離開時他們很生氣，不過最後選擇祝他過得快樂而沒有再介入。Pierce 對大家說這整個處理方式很蠢，讓快艇差一點失去登登。 Jordan had basically decided to return to the Clippers by mid-afternoon. Then they all kind of just hung out for five or six hours to make sure he signed the contract after 11:01 p.m. local time. Rivers watched summer league games. Redick, Pierce, Paul and Jordan played spades and video games. Hill went outside to smoke a cigar. Jordan's mom went out to get more food. Knowing how tense the situation seemed to the outside world, Griffin started Google-searching images on his phone to play up the drama. He found a picture of a chair blocking a door and tweeted it. He found a picture of a tent and tweeted with the message, "Alright everybody goodnight!" "It was really funny how that thing was portrayed," Rivers said. "It made for a good story." 大概到了下午過一半登登就已經決定要回到快艇了。其它人仍多留了五六個小時到當地時間晚上11:01，確保他簽下合約。Doc 在看夏季聯盟的比賽，Redick PP CP3 登登在打牌和打電動，Hill在外面抽雪茄，登登媽出門弄更多食物。在得知外界氣氛異常緊張後 BG google找到一張椅子擋門的圖放上推特鬧，他還找到個帳蓬圖片。接著他推了一條 "大家晚安"。 "這件事被描繪得實在很滑稽" Doc說道 "是個好故事。" It wasn't at all funny to Cuban, Parsons or Jordan's agents, Fegan and Jarinn Akana. Jordan had been texting all of them as though nothing was amiss through the weekend and into Monday. Cuban and Jordan texted about other free agents who might be good for the Mavs. Jordan was even asking Parsons about the best places to live in Dallas. The problem is that it's too easy to conceal what's really going on in text messages, and none of the men Jordan was about to turn on was with him during the roughly 48-hour period between Friday night and Sunday night when he changed his mind. 對庫班，帕森斯，登登的經紀人Fegan和 Jarinn Akana來說可就一點都不滑稽了。登登在週末期間到星期一照常對他們傳訊息好像一切如常。庫班和登登彼此傳訊息討論還有哪些自由球員適合小牛，登登還問了帕森斯達拉斯什麼地方最好住。問題出在文字訊息太容易掩蓋事件的真實狀況。而即將被登登背棄的人之中沒有任何一個在星期五晚上到星期日晚上約48小時中待在他的身邊。登登就在這段關鍵時間中改變了心意。 Parsons and Cuban spent Friday night in L.A., bar-hopping in Manhattan Beach where they randomly ran into Griffin, who lives nearby. They were celebrating landing Jordan, Griffin was lamenting losing him, and they shared a drink together just because. "Blake told me DJ did the right thing," Cuban said. "That he was happy for him." Griffin remembers the conversation slightly differently. It was more that he had to accept Jordan's decision, and he understood why he would want to leave and grow into a bigger role. Earlier that week, Jordan had asked Griffin if he was going to stay in L.A. when Griffin had the option of becoming a free agent in two years. Griffin told him to make his own choice. He'd be happy for him either way, because that's what friends do for each other. 帕森斯和庫班在 LA 渡過星期五晚上，在到處續攤中很巧地遇到住附近的 BG。兩個人在慶祝得到登登，而 BG 則是遺憾失去登登。 "BG 告訴我登登做了正確的決定，他為他高興" 庫班說。 BG 的版本稍微不同，比較著重在他只能接受登登的決定，並了解他選擇離開是為了成長。在此幾天前，登登問了 BG 他會不會留在 LA，BG 即將在兩年後成為自由球員。 BG 告訴他做自己的決定，不論如何他都會支持他，朋友之間就是這樣。 Cuban and Parsons left Los Angeles on Saturday feeling victorious. Both continued to text and reach out to Jordan, but they had no reason to believe anything was off until sometime on Monday. Parsons flew to Las Vegas on Monday to celebrate the birthday of his supermodel girlfriend, Toni Garrn, when he got a call from Cuban saying he thought Jordan was getting cold feet. 庫班和帕森斯在星期六帶著勝利感離開 LA。兩個人依舊保持跟登登間的訊息連繫，他們沒有理由相信會出什麼問題。星期一，飛到拉斯維加斯慶祝超模女友生日的帕森斯接到庫班電話，說事情可能有變。 On Tuesday, Jordan texted Parsons, "Something in my heart is telling me to meet with them again." Parsons and Cuban began to strategize. Parsons would fly back to L.A. on Wednesday, a trip he already had planned, so he would be in town in case Jordan went there. Cuban would fly to Houston Tuesday night to check on him. 星期二，登登傳訊息給帕森斯，"我心裏有股聲音要我再跟他們會面一次。" 帕森斯和庫班開始分頭行動，在星期三，帕森斯將飛到 LA，這是排定的行程，這樣當登登出現在這邊時有人在城中。庫班則在星期二晚上飛到休士頓去探視登登。 "I drove by his house on Tuesday night and no one answered," Cuban said. "He texted me saying that he was on a date. I was like, 'Hit me up when you're ready.' "That's how we left it at 11:43 p.m. on Tuesday night." Cuban said he checked into the Westin Galleria hotel and waited for word from Jordan that never came. Jordan, of course, was out with Griffin and had already invited Rivers, Paul, Ballmer, Redick and Pierce over to his house the next day. "我開車到他家，在星期二晚上，沒人應門，" 庫班說 "他送訊息給我說他正在約會。我回他 '等你有空再找我'" "在星期二晚上11:43就到這裏。" 庫班說他住進了 Westin Galleria 飯店等候登登的回音，但始終沒出現。實際上登登是跟 BG 約會，並已經約了 Doc, CP3, Ballmer, Redict, PP 隔天到他家。 At some point on Tuesday night, he finally told his agents that he wanted to meet with the Clippers again. Fegan and Akana booked a flight for the morning. But their flight was delayed and they didn't land until around 3 p.m. local time. By then, the Clippers were already in the house and clearly didn't plan on leaving until 11:01 p.m. Why didn't Cuban just go over to the house and knock on the door again? "What do you think I'm going to do, cowboy it up and kick the door in?" Cuban said. "Come on. That's not how you do business." 到了星期二晚上某個時間點，他才通知他的經紀人說他想要跟快艇隊再見一次面。 Fegan和 Akana 訂了隔天早上的機票，不過班機延誤，到休士頓時間下午3點才降落。到了這個時候，快艇已經全員在登登的家裏了，而且很明顯到簽約時間到前不打算離開。那為何庫班不直接衝到他家敲門呢？ "那你想我該如何做？像個牛仔一樣破門而入嗎？" 庫班說 "拜託，生意不是這樣談的。" By this point, Jordan was barely communicating with anyone on the outside. At 4:53 p.m., he sent Parsons a text saying he was still talking to Rivers. More than five hours later, he confirmed that he was re-signing with L.A. and said he hoped they could still be friends. Jordan didn't return any calls or texts from Cuban. He didn't invite his agents inside the house until after 10 p.m. 到這個時候，登登已經不太和外界溝通了。下午4點53分，他傳訊息給帕森斯說他還在跟 Doc 討論。5小時過後，他確認了他將和快艇簽約，並對帕森斯希望他們仍然是朋友。登登完全沒回庫班的電話或訊息，他也沒有邀請經紀人們進家門，直到晚上10點過後。 By then Fegan had given up. He left around 9 to catch a flight back to L.A. Akana stayed and ended up going inside the house to witness Jordan signing the contract. Akana and Rivers had some heated words for each other when he entered the house. Akana felt the whole thing had been unethical. Rivers felt Fegan and Akana were representing Cuban more than their client. Akana did stay though. After Jordan signed a four-year contract to remain with the Clippers, another toast was organized. This time they drank champagne and white wine. 此時Fegan已經放棄了，他大約晚上9點時離開搭機回 LA。Akana 留著，最後進了門見證登登的簽約。 Akana 在進門時和 Doc 有些激烈的口角，Akana 覺得這整件事很不道德，Doc 則認為 Fegan和 Akana 根本是代表庫班而不是代表他們的客戶。Akana 終究還是留下來，見證了登登與快艇簽下4年合約。另一場舉杯慶祝，這次他們喝的是香檳和白酒。 Pierce tweeted a picture of the happy moment Paul Pierce "That's why they brought me here lol" 老皮推特了一張圖紀念這個快樂時刻 Paul Pierce "這是為什麼他們帶我來這 lol" (註：這是老皮的名句) For years, teams and rival agents have griped about the friendship between Cuban and Fegan. Accusations and rumors of undue influence fly every time they do a deal together. Cuban says he understands the concern, but swears he received no advantage on any other team other than Fegan's positive reviews of his franchise. "I know the supposition was that they did [Jordan's recruiting process] differently for me because we're friends," Cuban said. "But I can tell you the process was run exactly the same as it was for Dwight [Howard] and we didn't get him either." 這幾年來，其它球隊和經紀人一直懷疑庫班和Fegan的好交情讓他們之間的合作有什麼暗盤交易。每次他們兩個共同完成一筆簽約就會傳出流言。庫班說他了解眾人的關切點，但他發誓沒有藉此從別隊得到任何好處。Fegan對小牛隊的影響只有他對球隊的建言。 "我知道人們想像他們在登登的召募過程中有暗中幫忙，因為我們是朋友。" 庫班說 "不過我可以告訴你這個過程和之前我們召募 Dwight Howard 是一樣的，而最終我們並沒有得到他。" Ultimately, Jordan is a 26-year-old multimillionaire who had to make a decision. No one could force him to do anything he didn't want to. And clearly, by the end, Jordan did exactly as he pleased. He ghosted Cuban, cut out his agents, made up with the Clippers and tried to preserve his friendship with Parsons. The next morning he left with his family on a previously planned 10-day Caribbean cruise. 總而言之，登登是個26歲的百萬富翁，他必須做個決定。沒有人能逼他做他不想做的決定；而明顯地，在最後，他選擇的是他覺得高興的。他耍了庫班，把經紀人關在外面，和快艇重修舊好，還想要保有與帕森斯的友誼。隔天早上，他和家人去了加勒比海10日遊，是之前就排好的假期。 About an hour after he'd signed his new deal with the Clippers, Jordan did respond with a brief text to ESPN, "Talk later?" Over the next few days, the only explanation the world would get was from Rivers and Redick, who each spoke publicly about the saga. "Looking at different situations and being recruited sometimes you can get enchanted with it all," Rivers said. "There's nothing wrong with that. But you also have the right to look at it again and change your mind. That's what he did and there's nothing wrong with that as well." 大約在和快艇簽約的一小時後，登登向 ESPN 送了一條訊息 "晚點談？" 除了這個，在那之後的數天，各界唯一得到的解釋只有間接透過 Doc 和 Redick 口中敘述的，兩人分別公開地談論了這次的事件。 "面對多種選擇方案，有時你會像是著魔似地就答應了，" Doc 說 "那並沒有什麼奇怪的。但你也有權利可以再檢查一遍並改變心意。那就是他所做的，而那並沒有錯。" The rest of the world didn't see it as kindly. Parsons criticized Jordan and said he felt "disrespected." Cuban blasted Jordan for not having the decency to even take his calls and explain himself. Eventually Jordan issued an apology over Twitter, but Cuban didn't buy it. "When is an apology not an apology?" Cuban said via Cyber Dust. "When you didn't write it yourself. Next." 不過世界上大部份其它人並不這麼想。帕森斯批評登登並說他覺得不受尊重。庫班噴登登說他連親自打電話過來解釋的禮節也沒有。實際上登登有透過推特發文道歉，不過庫班不買帳。 "什麼時候道歉不算是道歉？" 庫班透過 Cyber Dust 說 "當你不是自己寫的時候。下一題。" (譯注：這邊我傾向庫班沒那種閒情玩雙關語，單純就是指責那是他人捉刀的毫無誠意) In the end, it's hard for anyone involved to know for certain which parts of this strange saga were real. The text messages were misleading at times. Griffin was Google-searching images of a chair blocking a door and a lot of people who saw it thought it was really the inside of Jordan's house. Shoot, even the emojis were illusory. Only the final result has real lasting power. Jordan's reputation will never be the same. Neither will Rivers' or Cuban's or Fegan's or Paul's. The Mavericks went from dreaming of contending in the Western Conference to scrambling to fill their starting lineup. The Clippers go right back to where they left off last year -- only with Pierce and Lance Stephenson as upgrades over Matt Barnes and Spencer Hawes. 到頭來對任何涉入這次事件的人來說都很難分辨在這個奇怪的事件裏哪些部份是真的。文字訊息常常產生誤會，BG 的擋門椅子是 google 找來的但多數看到的人相信那真的是在登登的家裏。話說回來就連那些 emoji 也都和實際情況落差很大。只有最後結果有真實的影響力。登登的名聲再也不會和從前一樣了。其它人包括 Doc 或庫班或 Fegan 或 CP3 等等也是一樣。小牛隊從在西區有競爭力的球隊變成還在拼湊先發陣容。快艇瞎忙半天只不過回到原點，主力陣容並沒有改變多少，只有 Matt Barnes 和 Spencer Hawes 換成 Pierce 和 Lance Stephenson 兩個小升級。 Rivers believes something else happened, though. He hopes it has anyway. The Clippers ended their season with one of the worst postseason collapses of NBA history. After rising up to beat the defending champion San Antonio Spurs in an epic, seven-game first-round series, they choked away a 3-1 series lead on the Rockets. The meltdown in Game 6 of that second-round series will always haunt them. They were up 19 points in the fourth quarter, and then they were gasping for air after Houston rallied. It was the kind of loss that can tear apart a franchise. Rivers barely even had exit meetings the morning after the Game 7 loss. It was too awful and still too raw to discuss. "The way we lost," Rivers said. "That projects you into a negative summer. There's no meeting you can have the next day that's going to address your emotional damage. Sometimes, you never talk about it. "We're just fortunate that now, this is our recovery. If DJ would've just re-signed with us, this wouldn't have happened. But now we've had our talk. We can start the season now." Doc 則相信有個附帶效果發生了，至少他是這麼希望上季快艇在季後賽被淘汰堪稱NBA季後賽歷史上最難堪的總崩潰。在擊敗衛冕軍馬刺後又對火箭取得3-1領先，在 G6 第四節領先19分居然遭逆轉。這樣的慘敗會在精神面上徹底擊潰一支球隊。Doc 在 G7 失利的隔天只能勉強開幾個 exiting meeting 那實在太難堪了，受創太深連討論都沒辦法。 "那種輸法" Doc 說 "延伸成整個負面的夏天。心靈上的創傷不是開賽後會議可以解決的，有的時候你永遠不想去談它。" "至少這次的事件幸運地讓我們有回復的機會。如果 DJ 只是直接續簽，那什麼也不會改變。這次的機會讓我們可以開誠佈公暢談過後重新開始下一季。" 心得：幹為什麼這廢文可以這麼長囧 -- 安加左太奈波末也良和无阿加散多奈八末也良和尔以幾之知仁比美利為伊幾之千仁比三利井宇久寸川奴不武由留宇久須川奴不牟由流衣計世天祢部女礼惠江介世天祢部女礼慧於己曾止乃保毛与呂遠於己曾止乃保毛与呂乎 -- ※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc), 來自: 114.36.65.16 ※ 文章網址: https://www.ptt.cc/bbs/NBA/M.1436868251.A.D36.html ※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc) ※ 轉錄者: abysszzz (114.36.65.16), 07/14/2015 19:10:01 ※ 編輯: abysszzz (114.36.65.16), 07/14/2015 19:10:29