---

 有段時間的文章了，不過還沒看到有人PO， 順手翻了一下。

https://www.theplayerstribune.com/en-us/contributors/clint-capela
It’s All About H-Town  /  APR 13 2018
一切為休城

Growing up in Switzerland, there was this show my brothers and I watched
every Sunday. Really great show, a lot of action and cool stunts.
在瑞士長大，有個節目是我們週日晚上必看的。充滿了動作跟很炫的特技。

You may have heard of it. For us, it was always dubbed over in French, but in
English I think it was called Texas Walker, Ranger?… pardon… Walker, Texas
Ranger.
你可能有聽過這部片。我們看的是法文版，在英文來說它應該叫做 Texas Walker,
Ranger?… 呃... Walker, Texas Ranger.

Ah yeah, that’s it Walker, Texas Ranger. That show was my jaaaaam.
喔對，就是Walker, Texas Ranger。那節目超屌。

It was basically this guy Chuck Norris, who played a cop. A Texas cop. He had
tight jeans and a cool beard, and sometimes a cowboy hat, not always. The way
it went was that if you fought Chuck Norris, you got your butt kicked for
sure. And his partner Jimmy, his sideckick, was real cool too. Also kicking
butts.


So anyway, until pretty much the night I was drafted by the Rockets in 2014,
if you asked me what I knew about Texas, I could tell you about Walker, Texas
Ranger then fini [nothing else].
在被火箭選上之前，我對休士頓的了解就這麼多。

Texas had always seemed like this imaginary place I’d seen on TV, but I
never expected to live there. Yes, I expected to play professionally in
America. But this wasn’t America. I was going to Texas.
德州聽起來就像只有在電視中才有的虛幻地方。
我想過會到美國打球，但這不只是美國阿，這可是德州。

For so long I had only played for Chalon, in France. When I first joined
their academy, I viewed myself more as a football player — not like Houston
Texans J.J. Watt, I mean soccer. That was the sport I spent most of my time
playing growing up. I was a striker, always attacking the net — a lot of
headers, obviously. And my biggest sports hero was Thierry Henry. He still
is, actually. I never missed a French national team game growing up. It wasn’
t just his great skill, it was also his style. Henry had this different kind
of swag, man. He’s what in America they call greatest of all-time. Le GOAT.

course, getting drafted to play in the NBA was a dream come true, but it wasn
’t until I heard my name and “Houston Rockets” together for the first time
that the reality of everything hit me.
對於不同國家的文化與旅外生活我很習慣。能夠在NBA打球是我的美夢成真，但直到火箭
隊選中了我才了解那對我是多大的衝擊。

I was moving to a new place where I barely knew the language and where I
understood none of the customs.
我前往了一個全新的國度，不熟悉他們的語言，不了解他們的生活習慣。

I mean, I didn’t even have any tight Chuck Norris jeans.
我的意思是，我根本沒有Chuck Norris那種超緊牛仔褲啊。

Tout est plus grand au Texas.
Everything is bigger in Texas.
德州什麼都大。

C’est vrai!
It’s true!
不唬爛。

The first thing I noticed when I got to Houston after I was drafted was all
this… space. All the streets were so wide. Even the sidewalks. Then there
were all the cars, so many people driving huge trucks. I felt like I had
landed in Europe XXL. Everything was bigger. I thought scientifically, if
they were to actually measure everything, I can’t imagine another place that
has bigger stuff.


That included the food, for sure. My rookie year, I had a lot of athleticism,
but the thing is everyone in the NBA has athleticism. I needed to get bigger
and put on more weight. That was no problem, Houston had my back.
包括食物。我的運動能力不錯，但NBA的球員沒有一個差的。我需要長得更壯，增加些體
重。這些在休士頓不成問題。

I’ll never forget the first time I went to a steakhouse here. I thought I’d
eaten steak before. I was expecting this small, flat circle of meat, maybe a
couple of fries on the side. Fine. C’est bon.
我忘不了我第一次在這吃牛排。我心想，不就是一塊小小扁平圓形的肉，頂多再來些薯條
，沒什麼了不起。

So in Texas, steak is a different thing. I’m at this restaurant and they put
this plate in front of me, and, well, there was barely any plate visible —
 all I saw was this was this big, big piece of meat. I look around, maybe I
had been mistaken in what I ordered. Maybe this waiter was playing a prank on
me. It looked like a whole farm animal in front of me. But everyone with me
laughed and nodded and told me that in Texas, this is a steak.


Then I was introduced to these other foods I’d never seen before but were
totally amazing. Mac and cheese, man. Guys, you are blessed for having mac
and cheese here. It’s a work of art. Bravo, guys.
然後我還吃了很多我從未見過的食物，都好美味。
尤其是Mac’n Cheese，根本是藝術品！

And that was the first time I thought, O.K. O.K., I think I can get used to
this place.
然後我心想，我可以適應這裏，沒問題。

But still, there were a lot of adjustments I had to make my first year in
Texas.
不過我還有好多東西要適應與調整。

For starters, when I came to America, I didn’t have a driver’s license. I
got to Houston and figured I would just walk to the arena from where I lived.
It wasn’t a long walk, what’s the big deal? First time I made the walk, I
get outside and noticed right away that pretty much all of the sidewalks were
empty. I get moving and within a couple of minutes, I understood why they
were so empty. It is hot in Houston. It’s a different level. By the time I
made it to the arena and took my headphones off, and all this sweat pours
out. It was like I went through a desert. And that’s when I thought, Okay, I
gotta get a driver’s license.


Another big challenge was just learning how to communicate. Most of the time
I felt very uncomfortable expressing myself because my English was not so
good. I’d taken classes in secondary school, but that was different from
living in an English-speaking place.
另一個挑戰是溝通。很多時候我不太敢表達我想說的，因為我英文不太好。我只有在學校
上過些英文課，那並不夠。

I was picked in the same year as Nick Johnson, and he was a huge help for me.
He was my voice a lot. If I was in the locker room and tried to speak with
someone, he’d try to help translate. But for the most part, I just didn’t
speak. I had thoughts and things I wanted to say, but I was so scared of
sounding stupid.
我是跟Nick Johnson一起被選上的，他幫了我很多。他常常幫我發言。很多時候我是有些
想法的，但我只是不敢說出口。

The thing about living in Texas, though, is that it’s really hard to be in
your shell because everyone wants to talk. In Switzerland, you don’t know
someone, you don’t talk to them. But in Texas, even the cashier at the
grocery store wants to know how you are doing and how your day is — and they
aren’t just saying that, they want to know what you got going on. The idea
of someone you don’t know talking to you just to be friendly? It was so
strange.


Slowly, I started to adjust. I got my first driver’s license, which was
quite an adventure (see you on 610, guys).  And I found out that a lot of
cool people who aren’t from Texas really love Texas.
慢慢地我開始習慣了，拿到了駕照，認識了很多並非當地人卻熱愛德州的傢伙。

Like Dream.
例如大夢。

I’ll never forget the first time Hakeem Olajuwon spoke to me at a practice.
My eyes went so wide. I thought, Oh my God, this legend knows who I am. Like
every other person I met in Texas, he wanted to help me and to make sure I
felt good.
我永遠忘不了Olajuwan開口跟我說話的那一刻。
我的眼睛瞪了超大，老天啊，這個傳奇人物竟然知道我的名子。
就像其他人一樣，他們都希望幫助我並讓我過的自在。

He even would coach me on post-moves. That’s how I learned just how much a
legend he is. Hakeem is this older guy, but he would start showing me these
moves and it was like he’s in this movie The Matrix. He starts moving his
feet and then all I see is a bunch of blurs.
他甚至還教了我打低位，我才了解到他有多麼傳奇。他雖然年紀比我大，但他的動作就像
駭客任務那樣神奇。當他移動腳步時我就像是霧裡看花。

The ball is here, then it’s there, his body’s this way and his feet at that
way, then swish. Then he’d hand me the ball like, “Okay, your turn.” And I
’d kind of stare back thinking, Uh, there’s a reason you’re The Dream. No
one else who has ever lived can do that.
一下在這，一下又到另一邊了。然後他把球丟給我「ok，換你試試」。
我只能乾瞪著他，這就是為甚麼你能成為傳奇球星阿。
這種動作只有大夢才能做的出來。

But still, I was thankful for the help I was getting from everyone I
encountered. Eventually I started to improve. Not just on the court, but also
away from it — the way I communicated and my willingness to open up with
people. As I got more comfortable and things slowed down, I started really
enjoying my life here. And as my confidence grew, so did my basketball skills.

至於大夢的腳步... 我還在試著搞懂它。

Last year, before a game we were playing in San Antonio, one of my coaches
pulled me aside and pointed to a person sitting in the crowd.
去年的某場馬刺比賽前，一個教練把我拉到一旁，指著觀眾席，

“You know that guy over there?”
你知道那傢伙是誰嗎？

I looked at where he was pointing, then I froze. I was in shock. Oh my god.
It was Thierry Henry. And he wasn’t on TV wearing the blue kit like I was
used to growing up. He was there, in person, about 50 feet away from me.
我看了一下，我嚇傻了。天啊那就是Thierry Henry。 活生生在我面前坐著。

I ended up getting introduced to him and he was a really cool guy. He was at
the game because he’s friends with Tony Parker. To be honest I can’t even
remember any of our conversation. I think I was in shock — but we seemed to
get along. It stood out as pretty much one of the coolest things that’s ever
happened to me. It was one of those amazing moments that only basketball
could make happen.


At the time I met Thierry, I really started to get in my groove as a player.
Having Mike D’Antoni start as our coach definitely helped with that. He
introduced a system that made me feel so free on the court. It’s about pace,
movement and just making something happen every possession. I’m one of the
younger players on our team, surrounded by veterans, but he never let my
confidence go down. Whenever I had a bad game, I might be at my locker with
my head down, but he’d the person who would tell me not to feel negative. He
’d tell me I’ll play better the next day, and I almost always did.


Under Coach D’Antoni I feel like every player on the team has gotten better.
Except for James. He’s always been on a different level.
在D’Antoni指導下每個人都變得越來越進步，除了鬍子Harden. 他跟我們不在同一個等
級。

When I first got to Houston, I’d be on the bench watching the stuff he’d do
during games, how easy he made it look, and I’d almost forget we were
teammates. It was like I was another fan watching him. But now, I’m used to
James doing at least one thing a game that’s amazing. He has made doing
amazing things seem routine. Forty one night? No problem. Forty-four the
next? Sure, no sweat. Fifteen assists? Sure, that’s his thing now. Nothing
he does on the basketball court shocks me anymore.


Man, it has been a special season, hasn’t it?
老天，這個賽季真的很特別，對吧?

At the same time, I knew this season was going to be different before it even
started.
其實在賽季開打之前我就知道會有所不同了。

It began with a text. I was back home during the off-season relaxing when I
noticed my phone starting to blow up.
從一封簡訊開始。有天我回家的時候，手機的訊息大量湧入。

I turned it on and the first thing I saw was a text from Thierry (Yeah we
text now, it’s no big deal. Not a big thing at all. I’m totally cool about
it).
我打開來看到的第一封訊息就是Thierry傳來的(對，我們現在是互傳訊息的麻吉了，沒甚
麼了不起，我一點都不放在心上。)

The text said he was really excited. I asked him why and he sent back
something that got me crazy excited too.
他超級興奮，我問他怎麼了，他回的幾個字讓我也開始興奮起來。

“CP3.”

I went on Twitter, and everything was blowing up. And it all clicked: We’d
just traded for Chris Paul. Houston got Chris Paul!
我上去推特看了一下，大家都瘋狂地在討論。全部都只為了一件事情，
休士頓得到了Chris Paul !

Ever since then… everything with our team has been boom-boom-boom.
Screen-pass-pass-bucket. You blink, you might miss something amazing. We can
be down two, then up 15 in zero time.
從那時候開始，整支隊伍開始劈哩啪啦，擋人，傳球，傳球，投籃。你只要稍微一不小心
眨眼就會錯過一個好球。我們可以從落後兩分馬上追到領先十五分。

And as our team has taken it to another level, our fans have too. I’m not
just talking about in Houston, I mean worldwide. Rockets fans are everywhere
man. I even hopped on Weibo, and found out I have people watching me out in
China. They call me Bing Hwang (饼皇), which I was told means The King of
Pancakes. At first, I was like, what are pancakes? Then I thought, Oh, those
sound like crepes. And then I was like, Wait, still why King of Pancakes? And
then I found out “King of Pancakes” refers to someone who catches and dunks
a bunch of lobs. So then I thought, O.K., that’s pretty good, respect to
Weibo.
當球隊改頭換面了之後，我們的球迷也截然不同了。
不只是休士頓，而是全世界的火箭迷。到處都有火箭迷阿！
我甚至上了微博看了看，才發現中國也有好多人在看我打球。他們叫我餅皇，
翻譯之後我才知道是"鬆餅之王"的意思。
起初我一頭霧水，為甚麼要叫鬆餅？
後來我了解到那代表我常常接到妙傳然後可以輕鬆灌籃，
我覺得不錯，滿酷的。微博我服了你。

Considering how scared I felt when I first got here, it’s crazy how much
this now feels like a second home. I still remember how worried I was when I
had trouble communicating. It made me feel like a very different person,
almost scared of going out, because I was worried I’d have to talk with
someone. It made me realize how important it is to be able to communicate, so
I was really thankful when I was approached by Reliant with an opportunity to
help other people out who face that same challenge. For every double-double I
’ve gotten this year, they’ve made a $200 donation to the Barbara Bush
Houston Literacy Foundation. I’m not sure if they really knew what they were
getting into when they offered, but I’ve been grinding to make sure Barbara
gets a big check out of this. My new nickname is going to be King of Books
when I’m done.

所以我很感謝Reliant能幫助在溝通上有問題的人們。
每當我拿下double double的表現。他們就會捐出兩百美金給休士頓的Barbara
讀寫障礙慈善基金會。希望下次我的綽號可以變成"閱讀皇"。

We started out pretty hot but I think our season really got going in
February. We went 13–0 and it felt like we were almost playing a different
sport from everyone else. Every city we went to, it was like the other team
was trying to fight Chuck Norris. We were kicking butts every night. And it
became a routine. We’re at home? Kick butt. Back-to-back road games? We kick
butt, then we kick butt. Chuck Norris.

might be taking things too far at this point. I’ll never forget sitting in
the training room a couple of months ago, and seeing Chris walking by me
wearing a cowboy hat, tight-tight-tight pants and this huge belt buckle. I
said, “Where you think you’re going? You think you’re about to go shooting
with Clint Eastwood or something?” I had to start recording him. I still can
’t stop laughing when I think about it. But at the same time, nobody is
showing up at a basketball court dressed like that unless they know we’re
about to ball. We’re feeling ourselves, for sure.

直到現在回想起來我仍然會笑出聲來。
不過在球場上我們並不浮誇，我們知道自己在做甚麼。

The best thing? The real fun is just starting.
最棒的事情，現在才要開始。

At this point, there’s no more surprise surrounding this team. Nobody
(smart) is talking about whether we’re for real. We know that, when we’re
on our game, we’ll beat any team in the league. Doesn’t matter what they
do, what happens next is about us — it’s about H-Town.


This year, all of us, everybody in Houston, should be thinking championship.
Based on what we’ve done so far, there’s no reason we can’t do it. I’m
hyped just thinking about it all.
今年，球隊的每一個人，休士頓的每一個人，都應該要指望冠軍。
以我們目前的表現，我們沒道理懷疑自己。光想到這件事情就令我興奮不已。

So I’m calling on Downtown, Midtown, The Woodlands, Memorial, Bellaire,
Westbury, Sugar Land — all the way to China and everywhere in between: Grab
your Rockets jersey and get ready to be loud. Give us all your energy this
playoffs.
所以我想要呼喚休士頓的所有大大小小鄉鎮城市，中國，以及所有其他地方，
穿上你們的火箭隊球衣並為我們加油吧。在季後賽幫我們熱情吶喊。

We’ll handle the rest.
剩下的，就交給我們吧。

----
※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc), 來自: 1.171.208.177
※ 文章代碼(AID): #1QuV2Com (NBA)
※ 文章網址: https://www.ptt.cc/bbs/NBA/M.1524756620.A.CB0.html

--

(Websphere.): [外絮] Clint Capela：一切為休城 - Z_sports板