[外絮] Lillard專欄採訪

Damian Lillard is an optimist. At least he was optimistic Wednesday, hours before a disappointing loss in Boston, where I caught up with him on the TD Garden floor. Despite Portland’s rocky season—31–35 entering Friday-night’s game in P
hiladelphia—Lillard still believed the Trail Blazers could salvage it.

Damian Lillard是一位樂觀主義者。至少在星期三的時候是這樣，在慘敗賽提前的幾個小時，我在TD花園球場上找到了他。儘管波特蘭的本賽季表現不佳——在周五晚上前往費城比賽時的戰績是31勝35敗——但Lillard仍然相信他們能夠挽救這個局面。

It looks like we’re struggling, but there are [five] teams with 33 or 34 losses,” Lillard says. “So it looks like, ‘Oh, you know, trying to get a play-in spot.’ But everybody’s playing each other and everybody’s in the same thing. We could end up fifth. In a perfect world, it’s possible. Right now, we just have to keep fighting and try to be one of those teams that comes out on the other side.”

Lillard說：我們看起來有些吃力，但還有其他五支球隊也輸了33或34場比賽。所以，大家都在互相競爭，爭取一個季後賽名額。在理想的情況下，我們可以躋身前五名。這是有可能的。現在我們只需要繼續奮鬥，努力成為那些能夠脫穎而出的球隊之一。

This isn’t a column calling for the Blazers to trade Lillard. Or for Lillard to ask for a trade. That story is old. Tired. Done. Lillard is committed to Portland. He has said so publicly. He has contractually locked himself in. He plays to win championships. He is just hell-bent on winning one with the Blazers.

這不是一篇呼籲拓荒者交易Lillard的專欄。也不是為了讓Lillard提出申請交易的請求。Lillard致力於波特蘭，他已經公開表態過了。他在合約上簽下了承諾。他為贏得冠軍而打球。他非常渴望和拓荒者贏得一座冠軍。

The question is, how do they do it? Portland has some nice pieces. Anfernee Simons can score. Matisse Thybulle can defend. Jerami Grant can do both. The Blazers have dealt with injuries over the season like most teams. But if the playoffs started today, Portland would not be part of it.

問題是，他們應該怎麼做？拓荒者有一些不錯的球員，Anfernee Simons能得分，Matisse Thybulle能防守，Jerami Grant兩者兼備。 就像大多數球隊一樣，本賽季拓荒者也遭遇了傷病問題。 但如果季後賽今天開打的話，波特蘭將不會是其中的一支球隊。

It’s just been one of those seasons for us where we have had a lot of adversity,” Lillard says. “We haven’t been able to hit our stride at any point in the
season. That’s the first time I’ve ever experienced that in my career.”

Lillard：這個賽季對我們來說，一直都是充滿著挑戰和困難，我們始終沒有找到自己的狀態。 這是我職業生涯中第一次遇到這種情況。

Lillard needs help. It’s Portland general manager Joe Cronin’s job to get it for him. Cronin is in his first full season as the Blazers’ top basketball exec, a job he ascended to after Neil Olshey was fired in 2021. His tenure has been… unremarkable. He traded CJ McCollum—a move that needed to happen—netting what amounted to Josh Hart and a first-round pick. He flipped Hart for Thybulle and Cam Reddish. His wheeling and dealing has so far amounted to little more thana shuffling of deck chairs.

Lillard需要幫助，而總經理Joe Cronin就是為他提供幫助的人，2021年Neil Olshey被解雇後，他接替了這個職位。然而，他的任期至今還沒有取得亮眼的成績。他交易CJ McCollum至鵜鶘，得到了Josh Hart和一個首輪選秀權，然後他又用Hart換來了Matisse Thybulle和Cam Reddish，但他的一系列交易行動似乎只是在處理表面問題，並未真正解決球隊的核心問題。

It will take a well-executed plan to get Portland to a championship-caliber level.

Does Lillard see one?

I definitely can understand what the plan is,” Lillard says. “Me and Joe, onething we do have is transparency. He knows what I want. I want to win. I want to win in Portland, and he’s expressed the same to me. He’s told me, ‘We want to give you every opportunity to win.’

拓荒者想要達到冠軍水準，必須執行一個良好的計劃。Lillard認為有嗎？他說：我絕對可以理解計劃是什麼，我和Joe有很好的溝通，他清楚知道我的需求。我想贏球，我想在波特蘭贏球，而他也向我表達了同樣的想法。他告訴我，我們會給你每一個贏球的機會。

“But there comes a time where we have the right intentions, [but] we’ve got to execute. We have to actually make that come to life, to give ourselves a chance to really make a run at it. And because of who I know him to be, I trust him on that. I don’t ever think he would tell me one thing and then not do it. If anything, it would just be like, ‘We did our best and we couldn’t do it. And what happens then?

Lillard：但是有時候即使我們有好的意圖，也是需要去實踐它。我們必須讓這個計劃實現，讓我們有機會真正追求冠軍。因為我認識他，我無條件的信任著他。我永遠不認為他會告訴我一件事然後不去實現它。最多就是他會說，我們盡力了但沒有成功。那之後會發生什麼？

I think I’ve always been firm in my commitment to what I want and to this organization, and that’s where it stands right now,” Lillard says. “But like I said, if it comes time where they say, ‘Man, we can’t get it done, maybe it’s time for us to turn a page,’ I don’t think that will be the case, but we’ll see. Right now, all I know is I want to win.”

Lillard：我對自己一直以來所追求的目標和對於球隊的承諾都非常堅定，現在的狀況就是這樣，不過，如果有一天他們告訴我：我們辦不到了，或許是時候該翻開新的一頁了，我不認為會發生這樣的情況，但我們還是要看情況而定。現在，我所知道的就是我想贏球。

It’s not impossible. The most important piece of a title contender is a franchise player. Lillard is it. He’s 32 and remains at the peak of his powers. He isaveraging career highs in scoring and field goal percentage. He is taking 11 three-pointers a game and making 37.5% of them. Some wondered whether the injury that interrupted the 2021–22 season was a sign of decline.

贏得總冠軍最重要的一環是球隊的核心球員，Lillard就是他們的核心。他現年32歲，依然處於職業生涯的巔峰，場均得分和命中率都達到了職業生涯新高，場均出手11個三分球
，命中率達到了37.5%。有一些人擔心2021-22賽季的受傷會是衰退的跡象

For Lillard, it was rejuvenating.

“I feel as good as I felt in a long time,” Lillard says. “Dealing with that [abdominal] injury, it was just stressful. Because I knew I wasn’t right. Beingup late, being sore all the time, not being able to move, knowing I was limited, not knowing how my body was going to respond and s--- like that. That was stressful. I’ve been able to just be a lot more clear mentally just knowing that I’m strong and I’m healthy.”

Lillard：我現在的狀態好像回到很久之前一樣好，以前那個腹部肌腱受傷的那段期間，真的非常煩人。因為我知道自己不太對勁，睡不好、痛苦，無法活動，知道自己的身體受到了限制，不知道我的身體會有怎樣的反應，這真的很煩人。現在身體恢復得很好，精神也變得更加清晰，因為我知道自己強壯又健康。

Lillard’s focus now is getting to the play-in, to the playoffs and seeing whether a healthy Blazers team can surprise in a wide-open field. But he knows next offseason is a big one. There will be opportunities to upgrade. Portland could have as many as two first-round picks in June and a cache of second-rounders to deal. If a needle-mover becomes available, Lillard wants the Blazers in the mix for him.

Lillard現在的重點是帶隊進入季後賽，並期待一支健康的球隊能夠在這樣一個競爭激烈的賽季中取得驚喜。但他也知道下個休賽季對球隊來說非常重要。球隊在6月可能會有多達兩個首輪選秀權和一些次輪選秀權可以交易。如果有出現能提升球隊實力的關鍵球員，Lillard希望球隊能夠積極參與競爭。

“That means we go into the offseason and we don’t come out the way we have inthe past,” Lillard says. “Where it’s like, ‘Oh, we’re going to try to do so
mething,’ and then we watch other people capitalize on things that are out there, and we pass, pass, pass, pass and can’t get anything done and then it’s done.

Lillard：這代表我們不能再像過去那樣度過休賽季。 我們曾經的做法是，雖然總說著我們要做些事情，但我們只是看著其他球隊抓住了補強的機會，我們錯過、錯過、再錯過，最終一事無成。

I would like to win a championship before that,” Lillard says. “So I’m not looking at any timeline, but I’m not going to be one of these dudes out here stretching it out. I’ve made plenty of money; I’ve accomplished a lot. I just want to win a championship and then just go from there.”

在退役前我想要贏一個總冠軍。 雖然我沒有設定具體的時間表，但我不會像其他人那樣拖延。 我已經賺了很多錢，取得了很多成就，但我只想贏得一個冠軍，然後再看接下來的路怎麼走。

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