[外絮] 阿肥的減肥之路

https://is.gd/s80MIX

IT WAS Auggestion at first. The kind of thing a friend brings up during a long car ride when there will be plenty of time to discuss it. And in the winter of 2019,enver Nuggetstrength and conditioning coach Felipe Eichenberger had his pick of long car rides to the airport with star centerikola Jokico choose from.

起初只是一個建議。

這類建議通常是朋友在長途車程中提出的，
因為這時你們有足夠的時間來嚼舌根。

在2019年的冬天，
丹佛金塊的力量訓練計畫教練 Felipe Eichenberger，
有一個機會與球隊當家球星阿肥一起搭車去機場，

他從中選擇了一段長途的路線。

The two had grown close in the four years they'd worked together. Eichenberger spent a month with Jokic in the big man's native Serbia each offseason. Jokic was present when Eichenberger's daughter was born -- and for all of her birthday parties afterward. Before games, Jokic often went into Eichenberger's office to escape the noise of the locker room.

在他們共事的四年當中，
他們建立了十分密切的關係。

每年休賽期，
Eichenberger 會在這位大個子球員的家鄉，
塞爾維亞待上一個月。

當 Eichenberger 的女兒出生時，
阿肥也在場，此後參加了她所有的生日派對。

在比賽前，阿肥經常到 Eichenberger 辦公室，
躲避更衣室的喧鬧。

Jokic had started talking with his friend and training coach about getting in better shape. He would text Eichenberger a bodybuilding video and would then joke he wanted to look like that someday. Or he'd mention that his knees or back hurt after games and would ask Eichenberger if losing weight might help with that.

阿肥逐漸開始與他的朋友兼教練，
討論如何讓自己變得更健康。

他會傳給 Eichenberger 一段健美影片，
然後開玩笑說希望有一天能夠看起來像健美先生。

或是他會提到比賽後膝蓋或背部的疼痛，
然後問 Eichenberger ，
如果他減肥是否能有所幫助。

For years, Jokic had been told by coaches, executives and talking heads in the media that he needed to get in better condition if he wanted to succeed in the NBA. But now it was coming from within.

It was time for Jokic to hear this.

"You can be MVP in this league," Eichenberger told him.

多年來，
教練、球隊高層和媒體評論員一直告誡阿肥，
如果他想在NBA取得成功，
就需要提升自己的體能狀態。

但現在，這種想法開始自他內心油然而生。
是時候有個人當面告訴他了。

「你有能力在這個聯盟成為MVP等級的球員，」
Eichenberger 告訴了他。

Jokic had just been named to his first All-Star team. He had won Player of the Week awardn early February. The Nuggets were in first place in their division. Everything was trending upward. Which meant it was time to start pushing Jokic to an uncomfortable place: superstardom.

阿肥才剛剛入選他第一次的全明星隊。

他在二月初斬獲了一次每週最佳球員。
金塊隊在他們所在分區中排名第一。一切都在向好的方向發展。

這意味著是時候，
開始推動阿肥邁向一個不舒適的環境：
成為超級巨星。

"He got mad at me," Eichenberger says, laughing at the memory. "He got pretty heated. He's like, 'That's not the player I am. I pass more than I score. ... I'm not selfish.'"

Eichenberger 笑著回憶起當時的場景：

「他對我發飆。十分激動。」

「他說，
『那不是我打球的風格。
我更喜歡傳球而非得分...我並不自私。』

For those who know Jokic, who will be playing in his first NBA Finals against theiami Heateginning with Thursday's Game 1 (8:30 p.m. ET, ABC), this was not an unexpected response.

對於那些熟悉阿肥的人來說，
這種回答完全不出所料。

"I never coachedim Duncan, but I always compare him to Tim Duncan," Nuggets coach Michael Malone tells ESPN. "He's just a selfless superstar who's almost embarrassed by the attention.

"He's not beating his chest, saying, 'Look at me.' He's saying, 'Hey, look at us. This is a group.'"

「我從未執教過 TD，
但我總是想將他與 TD 對照，」

金塊教練 Michael Malone 告訴ESPN。

「他是一位無私的超級巨星，
對於受到關注甚至感到尷尬。」

「他不會敲擊胸膛說：『看著我。』
反而會說：
『嘿，看看我們。我們是一個團隊。』」

Eichenberger knew going into the conversation he might touch a nerve. But that was the point. And the ride to the Denver airport was at least 25 miles. So he dove in further.

"I knew he wanted to work," Eichenberger says. "He was always willing to work."

Eichenberger 在開始之前，
就知道可能會觸及到敏感的話題。

但這正是他的目的。

而且從到丹佛機場的車程至少有25英里。
所以他們得以進一步深入討論。

「我知道他想要更加努力，」Eichenberger 說道，

「他總是樂於付出努力。」

So rather than try to untangle the self-consciousness that the MVP talk was triggering, Eichenberger laid out a plan for Jokic to transform his body.

Focus on the work, not what it means to be an MVP.

因此，
Eichenberger 沒有試圖在MVP 引發的自我定位問題上打轉，
而是為阿肥量身打造了一個改善身體的計劃。

專注於手頭的工作，
而不是關注成為MVP象徵著什麼。

Jokic thought about it for a little bit before answering.

"OK," he said. "Let's do it."

阿肥思考了半晌才開口回答。

「好吧」，他說。「讓我們開始吧。」

After every game, no matter how many minutes he played, they'd lift weights. He would change his diet, cutting out as many indulgences as possible, which meant no soda, no beer, no snacks while he played video games.

每場比賽結束之後，無論他打了多久，
他們都會進行重訓。

他改變了飲食習慣，盡可能減少放縱自己，

這意味著，
在他打電動時不再配汽水，
不再喝啤酒，也不再吃零食。

An exception was made for orange juice and the occasional bite of his mother's cooking, when she visited from Serbia. But just a bite. "I actually told him to enjoy his mom's food after games," Eichenberger says. "Like, come on, you can't not eat your mother's cooking."

"But once he gets something in his head," Eichenberger adds, "that's how it's going to be."

唯一的例外，是他母親從塞爾維亞來探班時，
捎來的柳橙汁和一小口媽媽的菜餚。

但真的就只是一小口而已。

「實際上，我告訴他在比賽結束後去享受媽媽的手藝，」
Eichenberger 說。

「嘿拜託，你不能不碰母親替你準備的飯菜，」

「但一旦他心裡有了這樣的念頭，」 Eichenberger 補充，

「那他就會持續堅持下去。」

BY THE TIMEokic returned to training camp in fall 2019, the change in his physique was striking. He was leaner and stronger, having lost 20 to 30 pounds while gaining muscle everywhere. The effect of this change became immediate on the court. Jokic played in every regular-season and playoff game, finishing ninth in MVP voting and leading Denver to the Western Conference finals in 2020.

當阿肥在2019年秋天回到訓練營時，
他的體態變化非常明顯。

他變得更加苗條和強壯，減去了20到30磅的體重，
同時全身增加了肌肉。
這種變化對球場上的效果立竿見影。

阿肥在季賽和季後賽的每一場比賽中都全勤，
他在2020年的MVP票選中排名第九，並帶領丹佛金塊殺入西區冠軍賽。

"He lost 10 pounds, and he's like, 'It feels good.' He lost 20 pounds, and he's like, 'Wow. I can dunk now?'" Eichenberger said. "He lost 30 pounds. Like, 'Wow. I can really sprint.'"

「減了10磅，他說：感覺真好。」

「減了20磅，他說：哇，我現在能灌籃了嗎？」

「減了30磅，他像是在說：
哇，我現在真的可以全場飛奔了。」

On Saturday, prior to the023 NBA Finals, he was asked when he realized it might be possible for him to win an MVP award one day and whether it was true Eichenberger had planted that seed.

"I mean, still isn't," he said with a shrug. "But yeah, that's true. Felipe was the first guy who told me I was going to be an MVP. It was a car drive to the airport. I remember ... I was laughing.

在2023 NBA 總冠軍賽前的周六，
有人問阿肥，何時意識到自己有能力贏得MVP，

以及 Eichenberger 是否真的在他心中，種下了這枚種子。

他聳了聳肩說：

「嗯，事實上仍然沒有實感。」

「但是確實。他是第一個告訴我，
我會成為MVP的人。是在前往機場的車上。

我還記得...我當時還笑了出來。」

"To be honest, I'm playing the same way since my days in Sombor [Serbia]. I didn't change. Maybe I upgrade a little bit, but I didn't trade my style or play since day one."

「不過說真的，從塞爾維亞的松博爾開始，
我就一直用同樣的方式打球。我沒有變。

或許我是稍微升級了一點，
但打從一開始，我就沒有改變過我的球風或打法。」

只是瘦了，然後稍微升級了一點。

--

其實這原文靠北長，
還提到不少 Nurkic 對 Jokic 的看法，

不過我只摘錄了減肥的段落。
有興趣也可以進去把它看完。

-----
Sent from JPTT on my Samsung SM-A146P.

--