Kobe Bryant, basketball player, was killed in ahelicopter crash on January 26th, aged 41. 篮球运动员科比 · 布莱恩特于一月 26 日在一起直升机事故中逝世,享年 41 岁。 Whenever he was asked why his whole life had beenspent playing basketball, Kobe Bryant's narrow eyessearched upwards, and his mouth trembled. Theanswer was , yet so complicated . It began with the orange ball, the smell of it, the feelof the pebbled leather grains and the perfect grooves under his hands; and its bounce, and theway it sounded different on concrete or polished hardwood. 每当有人问科比为何他的一生都花在打篮球上时,科比就会眯起眼睛向上看,嘴巴颤抖着。答案很简单,但是也很复杂。故事开始于这个橙色的球,它的气味,粗糙的皮革纹理和他手上完美的纹路;还有它的弹跳,以及它弹在混凝土或抛光硬木上产生的不同声音。 Then came the net, the shot slithering right through it with that triumphant springing whoosh, while he howled with joy. Then every movement of the , the strategies, the dodging andfeints, the squeal of sneakers on the court. Whatever had thrilled him as a child (watching hisfather, also a pro player, on tv, wearing his own little 76ers outfit, running and jumping alongwith him) still thrilled him when in 2016 he retired from the . "Dear Basketball", he wrote, From the moment I started rolling my Dad's tube socks And shooting imaginary -winningshots... I knew one thing was real: A love so deep I gave you my all. 然后还有篮网,篮球滑过了网,发出了胜利的、跳跃的、嗖的一声,科比则高兴得号啕大叫。然后是比赛中的每一个动作,战术,躲闪和佯攻,球场上运动鞋的尖叫声。在科比还是孩子时,任何让他兴奋的事情 ( 看他的父亲,也是职业球员,在电视上,穿着自己的小小的 76 人队的队服,和他一起跑,一起跳),在 2016 年退役时同样使他兴奋。 “ 亲爱的篮球 ” ,他写道,从我开始把我爸的筒袜卷成球状,想象着投出比赛制胜球那一刻起,我就知道有件事情是真的:我是如此深爱着你,我会付出我的一切。 "My all" meant training obsessively , like a maniac . He would go to the gym and shoot forhours, all day, all night. Hundreds of times, not just taking shots, but them, runningsteps and patterns, practising shots off the rebound. I ran up and down every court/After everyloose ball for you. He would ponder what would make his unstoppable and then workbackwards from there, building it piece by piece, move by move, repeatedly. Then, when theactual arrived, it was all just muscle-memory. “ 我的一切 ” 指的是像一样痴迷地训练。他会去体育馆打几个小时,整天整夜。成百上千次,不仅仅是投篮,还有投篮,跑动的步伐和模式,在篮下练习投篮。我在每个球馆上蹿下跳,争取着每一个机会。他会思考什么会让他的比赛变得不可阻挡,然后从那里开始倒放,一点一点地增强,一步一步地重复增强。然后,当真正的比赛开始时,他只需释放肌肉记忆就行了。 He perfected his own works of art: the jab-step-and-pause, using unexpected footwork to pass thedefender, and the fadeaway, shooting while hejumped high and backwards from the basket. For 20 seasons, a very long time to stay with one team, heplayed as a shooting guard for the Los AngelesLakers. With them he won five NBA championship rings and was most valuable player in two finals. 科比完善了自己的艺术:猛冲 - 脚步 - 停顿,用出人意料的步法越过防守者,还有后仰投篮,投篮时他向后跳得很高。 他为一个球队效力长达 20 个赛季,在洛杉矶湖人队担任得分后卫。与他们一起,他赢得了五次 NBA 总冠军戒指,并在两次总决赛中成为最有价值球员。 His 81 points at home against Toronto, in 2006, was the second-highest individual score recorded in league history. By the time he retired he had the third-highest points total, 33,3, overtaken only days ago by the 's present leading star, LeBron James. His own stardombrought him in a salary of around $30m a year, allowing him to dress in Gucci and to keephouse in a gated community in Newport Beach, California. 科比在 2006 年主场对阵多伦多猛龙的比赛中得到 81 分,是联盟历史上个人得分第二高的记录。退役时,科比的总得分为 33,3 分,位居历史第三。而就在几天前,这项运动的当今领军人物勒布朗 · 詹姆斯刚刚超越了他。科比自己的明星身份给他带来了 3000 万美元的年薪,他可以穿古驰,并在加州新港海滩的一个封闭社区里拥有房产。 It also brought sponsorship deals, such as the one with Nike, whom he asked to design shoeswith heels and midsoles that could shave precious hundredths of seconds off his reaction time. For he didn't care so much about money, points, or the fans' applause ; they could turnagainst him anyway, as they did after he was accused in 2003 of ually assaulting a womanin Colorado, a case dropped but never cleared up. 它还带来了赞助协议,比如与耐克的赞助协议,他请耐克设计有鞋后跟和中底的鞋子,这样可以节省宝贵的百分之一秒的反应时间。因为他不太在乎钱、分数或球迷的掌声;无论如何他们都可能背叛他, 2003 年,他被指控在科罗拉多州对一名妇女实施性侵犯后,他们就这么做了,但后来这件案子被撤销了,但从未得到澄清。