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NBA 75: How the Seven Seconds or Less Phoenix Suns changed the league: ‘We’re about to let it fly like Peyton Manning’

NBA 75：那支“七秒或更少”的菲尼克斯太阳队是如何改变了联盟的：“我们要在场上飞奔起来，正如佩顿-曼宁（译者注：美国著名橄榄球运动员）一般。”

Welcome to the NBA 75, The Athletic’s countdown of the 75 best players in NBA history, in honor of the league’s diamond anniversary. We also will run features such as this one to complement certain players and moments throughout our series.

欢迎来到NBA 75，这是运动员媒体为了纪念NBA成立75周年而排列的NBA史上最佳75位球员的排行榜。在这一系列中，我们也会撰写如此文一般的专题来对一些特定球员和特别时

刻进行补充说明。

HURRY UP OFFENSE EASIEST

跑轰是最简单的进攻方式。

You get the best shots in first seven seconds

你可以在进攻时间前七秒内得到最佳的出手时机。

——Pregame instructions board, Phoenix Suns, May 24, 2006, from “:07 Seconds Or Less: My Season on the Bench with the Runnin’ and Gunnin’ Phoenix Suns” by Jack McCallum

——2006年5月24日菲尼克斯太阳队的赛前战术板上如是写道，引用自杰克-麦科勒姆《七秒或更少：记随队跑轰大队菲尼克斯太阳的我的赛季》一书（译者注：本书又名《记德安东尼和他的教练组的一次季后赛之旅》）

Analytics didn’t drive the 2004-05 Phoenix Suns to change the NBA into its current look: four-out, one-in offenses, raining 3-pointers, broken up with the occasional 1-5 pick-and-roll lob. Common sense did, in the form of a 7-1, 300-plus pound behemoth at the height — and weight — of his dominance.

逻辑分析并没有促使2004-05赛季的菲尼克斯太阳队将NBA改变成现在的模样：四外一内的进攻，雨点般的三分球，间或的控卫中锋挡拆空中接力进球。当时普遍是这样做的，让一个七尺一寸高，300多磅的庞然大物用他的身高和体重展现统治力。

“At that time, trying to figure out how to play, Shaq was with the Lakers,” Mike D’Antoni says today of Shaquille O’Neal. “He hadn’t been traded to Miami yet. Our big thing was, you can’t out-Shaq Shaq. If we line up as a traditional team, they’re going to beat us. He’s too good.”

“在那时，要想弄清楚怎么赢球，沙克还在湖人队，”迈克-德安东尼今日谈到沙奎尔-奥尼尔时说。“他当时还没有被交易到迈阿密。我们最大的问题是，我们解决不了沙克这一点。如果我们也像那些传统球队那样打球，他们一定会打败我们的。他太有统治力了。”

Eventually then, out of necessity — the Big Aristotle wouldn’t be traded to the Heat, and out of the Western Conference, until mid-July of ’04 — D’Antoni, his coaching staff and Phoenix’s front office collectively arrived at a decision that turned the league on its head and fundamentally changed the way the game was played.

最终，出于需要——大亚里士多德（译者注：沙奎尔-奥尼尔的外号）直到04年7月中旬才会被交易到热火队，并离开西部联盟——德安东尼、他的教练组和菲尼克斯的前线办公室共同做出了一个决定，一个让整个联盟为之震惊，并从根本上改变了比赛的方式的决定。

With Hall of Fame guard Steve Nash leading the attack, Phoenix introduced — more accurately, re-introduced — fast-break basketball to the league. There are precious few innovations in the NBA, and the ’04-05 Suns didn’t reinvent the wheel. The Celtics of Bill Russell and Bob Cousy ran opponents to death in the ’50s and ’60s. The Celtics and Bullets and Knicks pushed it in the ’70s. Magic Johnson’s “Showtime” Lakers ruled the ’80s.

在名人堂后卫史蒂夫-纳什的带领下，菲尼克斯将快攻篮球引入--更准确地说，是重新引入了联盟。在NBA中很少有创新，而04-05赛季的太阳队并不是无谓重复。在50年代和60年代，比尔-拉塞尔和鲍勃-库西的凯尔特人能把对手活活跑死。凯尔特人队、子弹队和尼克斯队在70年代推动了这种做法。而魔术师约翰逊的 "Showtime "湖人队统治了80年代。

What made the Suns’ fast break different — and revolutionary — was that they had similar success while playing smaller … and by incorporating the 3-pointer as a staple of their attack.

太阳队的快攻之所以与众不同--而且有革命性的差异--是因为他们在上小个阵容的时候也取得了类似的成功......并将三分球作为他们的主要进攻手段。

Before the Splash Brothers, then, before the Rockets’ revolution, even before Stan Van Gundy’s underrated role in turbocharging the league by putting Rashard Lewis at the stretch four in Orlando, in the late aughts, there were the Seven Seconds or Less Suns.

在 "水花兄弟"之前，在火箭队的变革之前，甚至在斯坦-范甘迪将拉沙德-刘易斯放在奥兰多的四号位，对联盟起到了被低估的推动作用之前，在00年代末，有这么一支 "七秒或更少"的太阳队。

They blitzed the league, starting 31-4, with 22 of those first 31 wins coming by double figures. The NBA didn’t know what to do with them, or how to stop them. By the end of the season, Phoenix ranked first in the league in scoring (110.4 points per game), offensive rating (114.5), pace (95.9), 3-pointers made and attempted, and 3-point percentage (.393). They finished the regular season having attempted 2,026 3s — 800 more than they’d shot the previous season.

他们在联盟中大放异彩，开局31胜4负，且在这前31场胜利中，有22场以两位数获胜。联盟不知道该拿他们怎么办，也不知道如何阻止他们。到赛季结束时，菲尼克斯的得分（每场110.4分）、进攻率（114.5）、节奏（95.9）、三分球命中数和出手数以及三分球命中率（0.393）均列联盟第一。他们在常规赛结束时出手了2026次三分球--比上个赛季多800次。

The Suns were an aesthetic gift that kept on giving, with Nash’s passing wizardry, along with Shawn Marion’s wild athleticism on alley-oops and on the break — which led to his receiving one of the most iconic nicknames in league history, from TNT’s Kenny Smith: “The Matrix.” There were, also, Quentin Richardson’s finishes and Joe Johnson’s two-way play. But, most of all, there were Amar’e Stoudemire’s rim-rattling dunks.

这支太阳队是一份层出不穷的美学馈赠，有着纳什鬼斧神工的妙传，以及肖恩-马里昂在空接和快攻中的狂野运动能力--这使他得到了联盟历史上最具代表性的绰号之一，来自TNT电视台的肯尼-史密斯：称他为"矩阵"。此外，还有昆廷-理查德森的终结能力和乔-约翰逊的攻防表现。当然，最不可或缺的还是阿玛尔-斯塔德迈尔一记又一记的力劈华山。

Amar’e Stoudemire played the five in Mike D’Antoni’s revolutionary small offense. (Rocky Widner / NBAE via Getty Images)

阿玛尔-斯塔德迈尔在迈克-德安东尼的革命性小阵容中打五号位。(洛奇-维德纳/ NBAE 通过Getty图片软件)

Before his knees gave out later in his career, Stoudemire was one of the NBA’s most electric dunkers, finishing with force and flair, intimidating and entertaining. Known as “STAT” — for “Standing Tall And Talented” — Stoudemire was an equal-opportunity destroyer, giving it to Yao Ming and the Timberwolves in the regular season, as well as Tim Duncan in the playoffs.

在他的职业生涯后期膝盖出现问题之前，斯塔德迈尔是NBA最富有活力的扣篮手之一，他用力量和运动天赋完成扣篮，令人生畏，但也极具娱乐性。斯塔德迈尔被称为 "STAT"--代表 "站得高、有天赋"--他是一个众生平等的毁灭者，对于常规赛中的姚明和森林狼队和季后赛中的蒂姆-邓肯一视同仁。

We let Amar’e attack and beat that rim up,” Marion said. “STAT put it on people’s heads.”

我们让阿玛尔进攻，他能把对面篮筐都扣掉，"马里昂如是说。"STAT总在对手的头上完成进攻。"

The 2004-05 team made it to the Western Conference finals before losing to the Spurs in five. That started a pattern of playoff futility — some about which the Suns remain salty — that denied them the championship that would have silenced all critics. The Suns constantly fought the perception that you couldn’t win a ring playing the way they played, and that they didn’t care about defense. (They were never as bad defensively as their most vociferous critics would have you believe, nor as good at that end as their acolytes argued.)

2004-05赛季的太阳队进入了西部决赛，但在随后的五场比赛中输给了马刺队。这开启了他们的季后赛颗粒无收模式--太阳队至今仍对这些失败耿耿于怀--这使他们无法触及让指三道四的人闭嘴的总冠军。太阳队不断与这类看法作斗争：他们打球的方式无法赢得冠军戒指，而且他们对防守不上心。(他们的防守从来没有像他们最强烈的批评者想让你相信的那么糟糕，但也没有他们的追随者所说的那样好）。

But the Suns won 232 regular-season games over the next four seasons. They filled what was then America West Arena. And their imprint on the game is still visible today, because of that first great Phoenix team.

但太阳队在接下来的四个赛季中赢下了232场常规赛。他们让当时的美西球馆座无虚席。他们在比赛中的留下的印记今天仍然可见，这都归功于这第一支伟大的菲尼克斯队。

“Literally, like five, six, seven minutes left in the fourth (quarters), and we’re literally getting iced up and stuff,” said Richardson. “We started looking at each other like, this is kind of crazy a little bit. We’re really running through people. Then, the competition, our peers, some guys we know, (at) different little dead-ball moments, halftime or before the game, they’d be like, ‘Man, what the hell y’all be doing?’ And we were like, ‘What do you mean?’ We didn’t understand it.

"从字面上看，比如第四节还剩五、六、七分钟，我们真的被冰封起来了，"理查德森说。"我们开始互相看着彼此，这听起来有点疯狂。我们真的在人堆里跑来跑去。然后，竞争对手，我们的同行，我们认识的一些人，（在）不同的短暂死球时刻，中场休息或比赛前，他们会说，'伙计，你们到底在干啥？而我们就会像，'你怎么个意思？’我们不明白。”

“To a man, we didn’t really realize what we were doing. Because we did it every day in practice. It was normal to us.”

"对一个人来说，我们并没有真正意识到我们在做什么。因为我们每天都在训练中都这么做。这对我们来说是非常寻常的。"

Hired by Suns president and general manager Bryan Colangelo in 2002 as an assistant coach to Frank Johnson, D’Antoni took over for Johnson a quarter of the way through the 2003-04 season, on a team that eventually finished 29-53.

德安东尼在2002年被太阳队总裁兼总经理布莱恩-科兰格罗聘为弗兰克-约翰逊的助理教练，在2003-04赛季的四分之一时间里，德安东尼接替了约翰逊的工作，这支球队最终以29胜53负的战绩结束了那个赛季。

D’Antoni played a pretty traditional lineup to finish out the ’03-04 season, with two bigs upfront — Antonio McDyess and Stoudemire — and Marion at small forward. But O’Neal made approaching another season the same way untenable. The Lakers made it a moot point by trading Shaq to Miami on July 14, 2004, thus removing every West team’s most significant impediment to advancing in the conference. But the Suns were still contemplating shaking things up.

德安东尼用一个相当传统的阵容打完了03-04赛季，内线有两个大个子--安东尼奥-麦克戴斯和斯塔德迈尔，马里昂担任小前锋。但由于奥尼尔的存在，维持原阵容开启下一个赛季是站不住脚的。湖人队很快使之成为一个悬而未决的问题，他们在2004年7月14日将沙克交易到迈阿密，从而消除了每支西部球队在联盟中前进的最大的障碍。但太阳队仍在考虑改变现状。

It started with Nash’s arrival from Dallas, which shocked the league.

它始于纳什从达拉斯来到太阳，这让联盟为之震惊。

Initially, the Suns’ top target was Kobe Bryant; Phoenix was ready to offer the Lakers’ superstar six years and $100 million. But that dream faded quickly; the Clippers actually came closer to bagging Bryant, but he wound up re-signing with the Lakers. After losing out on Bryant, the Suns quickly pivoted to Nash, who became a star in Dallas after Phoenix had traded him there in 1998. (That deal netted the Suns the 1999 first-round pick with which they took Marion.)

最初，太阳队的首选是科比-布莱恩特；菲尼克斯准备为这位湖人队的超级巨星奉上6年1亿美元的肥约。但这个梦想很快就破灭了；实际上快船队更接近于将布莱恩特招致麾下，但他最终还是与湖人队重新签约了。在错过布莱恩特之后，太阳队迅速转向纳什，纳什在1998年菲尼克斯将他交易到达拉斯后在那儿成为了一名球星。(那次交易让太阳队获得了1999年的首轮选秀权，他们用这个选秀权选中了马里昂）。

So Phoenix went all in on getting Nash from Dallas. It, similarly, seemed like a pipe dream. The Mavs were one of the West’s up-and-coming powers, having just come off a 52-30 season. Nash, Dirk Nowitzki and Michael Finley were a formidable trio; Antawn Jamison and Antoine Walker provided huge support. Mark Cuban was loud and boisterous and headline-grabbing, but also paid lavishly to keep his stars comfortable. Meanwhile, the Suns were retooling.

所以凤凰城致力从达拉斯得到纳什。同样，这似乎是一个白日梦。小牛队（译者注：现名独行侠队）是西部的新兴力量之一，刚刚结束一个52胜30负的赛季。纳什、德克-诺维茨基和迈克尔-芬利是一个强大的三人组；还有安东-贾米森和安托万-沃克在身旁鼎力相助。马克-库班确实喜欢嚼舌根，抢占头条，但也出手大方，以保证他的球星们的舒心。而与此同时，太阳队还在重建中。

Phoenix shot its shot anyway, offering a six-year, $66 million deal. But Nash still wanted to go back to Dallas.

菲尼克斯还是出手了，提供了一份6年6600万美元的合同。但纳什仍然想回到达拉斯。

Except Cuban balked at the years the Suns were offering. The Mavericks didn’t think Nash’s oft-balky back would hold up over the life of the deal. The most Dallas would offer was four years, not six. It was “shocking,” one person involved at the time said, but, a distraught Nash decided to move on, after calling Finley and Nowitzki to let them know.

只是库班对太阳队提供的年限表示异议。小牛队不认为纳什那经常受伤的背部能在合同期间保持良好的状态。达拉斯最多只能提供4年合约，而非6年。这是 "令人震惊的"，据当时的有关人士说，但是，心乱如麻的纳什在给芬利和诺维茨基打电话让他们知道后，决定迈出自己的下一步。

“It’s exciting, but it’s also bittersweet,” Nash told longtime NBA reporter Marc Stein at the time. “I’m really sad to leave my teammates, but I’m glad to be going somewhere where they really wanted me.”

"这很令人兴奋，但也苦乐参半，"纳什当时告诉常驻NBA记者马克-斯坦恩。"我真的很难过要离开我的队友，但我很高兴能去往一个真正想要我的地方。"

D’Antoni had his quarterback. At the end of the month, Phoenix got Richardson, then just 24, from the Clippers after LA declined to match Phoenix’s offer for the dynamic two guard.

德安东尼得到了他的四分卫。月底，菲尼克斯从快船队交易到了当时年仅24岁的理查德森，因为洛杉矶拒绝匹配菲尼克斯对这位充满活力的得分后卫的报价。

The Suns had additional changes in mind. The biggest involved playing Stoudemire at center, which would mean Marion, who’d be giving away 3-5 inches and 20-40 pounds pretty much every night, playing power forward rather than the small forward spot he’d played his first four seasons in Phoenix.

太阳队还考虑了更多的改变。其中最大的是让斯塔德迈尔打中锋，这意味着马里昂几乎每晚都要顶着3-5英寸的身高和20-40磅的体重劣势去打大前锋，而非他在菲尼克斯前四个赛季所打的小前锋位置。

It was a major ask. The Western Conference at the time was loaded with elite fours: Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Nowitzki, Chris Webber, Rasheed Wallace. Utah’s Andrei Kirilenko wasn’t in that class, but he’d just made his first All-Star team. Pau Gasol was just entering his prime years with the Grizzlies; ditto, Elton Brand with the Clippers. Karl Malone was near the end of his career, but he still had enough juice to be signed by the championship-hungry Lakers. Wily vets like the late Cliff Robinson still started at the four nightly.

这是一个苛刻的要求，考虑到当时的西部联盟有很多精英级别的大前锋，诸如邓肯、凯文-加内特、诺维茨基、克里斯-韦伯、拉希德-华莱士。犹他的安德烈-基里连科不在这个级别，但他也刚刚入选第一次全明星阵容。保罗-加索尔在灰熊刚刚进入他的巅峰期；同样，埃尔顿-布兰德在快船也是如此。卡尔-马龙已接近职业生涯的尾声，但他油箱仍有足够的油来被渴望夺冠的湖人签下。像已故的克里夫-罗宾逊这样狡猾的老将仍然每晚都在四号位上首发。

“I came in, we was playing traditional basketball,” Marion said. “The system didn’t come into play until D’Antoni. When he took over, he was like, ‘Shawn, look, we need you to come in and play power forward. We’re going to move Amar’e to center.’ I was like, ‘Really?’ I wasn’t very optimistic about it, to be honest. I wasn’t 100 percent on board with it. I’m 6-7. At the time, power forward was the most dominant position in the league. Look at who I had to guard.”

"我进队的时候，我们还在打传统篮球，"马里昂说。"这个系统直到德安东尼来才开始运行。当他接手时，他说："肖恩，听着，我们需要你来打大前锋。我们要把阿玛尔移到中锋位置。我当时想，"真的吗？"说实话，我对此并不乐观。我并不百分百同意。我身高才六尺七。而当时，大前锋是联盟中最有统治力的位置。看看那些我不得不去防守的人吧。"

Marion took convincing. But, eventually, he relented.

马里恩需要被说服。但最终，他放弃了。

I was like, ‘OK, fuck it, let’s try,'” he said.

"我当时想，'好吧，他妈的，我们先试试看吧，'他说。

“We got through training camp and preseason. I’m seeing some things out there. Maybe I can pull it off. I’m having to overextend myself in ways I didn’t even think about it. But if we were winning games, I’m OK with it. We were on the same page, locked in. Everybody bought in.”

"我们经历了训练营和季前赛。我在这里头看到了一些东西。也许我可以圆满完成。我不得不以我甚至没有想过的方式去承担更多。但只要我们能赢下比赛，我就没问题。我们在同一页上，锁定在一起。每个人都入了伙。"

During camp, Richardson and Johnson had to figure out where they stood in the pecking order. Johnson had started 77 games at the two the previous season, averaged 16.7 points per game and looked like he’d be the top offensive option, along with Stoudemire, going forward. But Richardson had just come in from LA with a $50 million deal, and he played the two, also.

在训练营期间，理查德森和约翰逊必须弄清楚他们在队伍中的定位。约翰逊在上个赛季出任首发二号位打了77场比赛，场均砍下16.7分，看起来他和斯塔德迈尔一样，是未来的进攻扛把子。但是理查德森刚刚从洛杉矶以5000万美元的合同来到这里，而且他也打二号位。

“If you’re looking at the team, Phoenix brings in Steve Nash, and they sign me,” Richardson said. “Well, they already had Joe Johnson. Joe is like, ‘This is my contract year; what the fuck y’all doing?’ He’s looking at me like, ‘He’s not better than me.’ And I’m looking at him like, ‘I’m about to take your shit.’ That’s how I’m coming in. It was literally that. When we got to the pickup (games), Joe’s doing his thing, letting them know, I’m me. And I’m like, nah, they brought me here for a reason. I’ve been busting y’all ass, and I’m about to keep doing so. So it was intense.

理查德森说："如果你看一眼这个团队，菲尼克斯带来了史蒂夫-纳什，他们签下了我。"嗯，但他们已经有了乔-约翰逊。乔会觉着，'这是我的合同年；你们他妈的在玩什么？ '他看着我像要说，'他照我差远了。'而我看着他像要说，'我他妈正准备取代你。这就是我进来时的情况。这是确凿发生的事。当我们到了皮卡（游戏）环节，乔正做他自己的事，让其他人知道，我是我，他是他。而我想，不，他们把我带到这里肯定有原因的。我一直在打爆你们，而且我将继续这样做下去。所以当时氛围很紧张。

“And that’s what got us right. It got us sharp as hell.”

"而这也正是让我们步入正轨的原因。它让我们变得像地狱一样锐利。"

And, eventually, the Suns decided to play Richardson and Johnson, together, along with Nash. There was no staff meeting with charts or graphs or advanced stats pushing the narrative; no ‘Aha!’ moment that determined going small or pushing the ball up the floor early would lead to easier shots. It happened organically. It was more hunch than prophesy.

最终，太阳队决定让理查德森和约翰逊，以及纳什一起首发。没有任何员工会议用图表或图形或先进的统计数据来推动这一说法；没有任何 "啊哈！"的时刻来确定上小个阵容或尽早把球推进到前场上会更容易出手。它是有机发生的。这更像是一种预感，而不是预言。

“We always talked as a group,” D’Antoni said. “We were at lunch one day. I think Jerry (Colangelo, the Suns’ owner at the time) came out and said, ‘What are you going to do? Who are you going to start?’ I said, ‘We’re torn between putting our best five out there and trying to match up a little more traditionally.’ And he said, ‘Hey, go with your best.’

"我们总是作为一个团体交谈，"德安东尼说。"有一天，我们在吃午饭。我想是杰里（科兰格洛，当时太阳队的老板）说的，'你打算怎么做？你打算让谁首发？我说，'我们在把我们最好的五个人首发和尝试更传统的匹配之间纠结。然后他说，'嘿，就用你最好的五个（首发）。

“I go OK, here we go. It kind of started the ball rolling. It was my second stint as a head coach (he’d lasted one year in Denver, going 14-36 in the 1998 lockout season) and probably my last if it didn’t go well. Obviously, you have reservations, and you kind of tiptoe in water. But when your boss is confident enough to say go for it, we went for it.”

"我说好，就这么办。这算是开了个好头。这是我第二次担任主教练（他在丹佛做了一年教练，在1998年停摆的赛季中以14胜36负的成绩收工），如果进展不顺利，很可能也是我最后一次。明显，你会有保留意见，会有在水中蹑手蹑脚的感觉。但当你的老板有足够的信心说放手去做吧，我们就这么办了。”

Phoenix hit the ground running, winning its first four games by an eye-popping average of 23.5 points. The Suns lost back-to-back games to fall to 4-2 but then ripped off 19 of their next 20 and 26 out of 28. The winning begat the confidence in the coaches to keep playing small; the improved individual stats across the board and ease of winning gave the players the evidence they needed that it was worth continuing.

菲尼克斯一鸣惊人，在前四场比赛中场均赢对手23.5分，令人瞠目结舌。太阳队输掉了两场背靠背比赛，战绩掉到4胜2负，但在接下来的20场比赛中又赢了19场，28场中赢了26场。胜利给了教练们继续摆上小阵容的信心；个人数据的全面提高和轻松的胜利给了球员们他们需要的证据，即这是值得继续下去的。

Nash was a maestro, probing defenses over and over, famously never giving up his dribble, seeing all the possibilities in an instant.

纳什作为一位球场大师，一次又一次地探查防守，而最为人称道的是他能在不停运球的同时瞬间看到出现的所有机会。

There’s a saying in Italy, ‘You steal with your eyes,'” D’Antoni said. “We stole Steve’s greatness.”

德安东尼说："在意大利有这么一句话，'你用你的眼睛偷东西'。"我们偷走了史蒂夫的伟大。”

The spacing created by playing small gave Nash multiple angles of attack. He could suck in defenses with the high pick-and-roll to Stoudemire and throw the oop; he could sneak a peek to see if Marion was open in the right corner or crashing down the baseline. He could either go opposite to Johnson — who shot 48 percent on 3s that season — or let Richardson post up the still-rotating D, or shoot from the corner. Or, Nash could just shoot it himself; he fell just short of being a member of the 180 Club — 90 percent from the line, 50 percent from the floor, 40 percent from 3.

小个阵容创造的空间给了纳什多种可能的攻击角度。他可以藉由和斯塔德迈尔的高位挡拆来吸引防守，然后抛出空接；他可以偷偷看一眼马里昂在右侧底角是否有空位，或者在底线上冲撞。他也可以传给另一侧的约翰逊--那个赛季他的三分球命中率为48%--或者让理查德森上提挡住贴身防守，或者从底角投篮。或者，纳什可以自己出手；他差一点点就成为了180俱乐部的成员--即罚球命中率90％，投篮命中率50％，三分命中率40％。

“Steve led the way,” Marion said. “The first year, Q and Joe Johnson sprint to the corners. I brought the ball in, typically, most of the time, gave it to Steve. Amar’e did a drag. Either they’re going to double-team him or not, and if not, Steve kicks it to one of us for a wide-open 3-pointer. Or, we drive and kick to somebody else on the 3-point line. It wasn’t hard. We had a couple of little movement things, but it wasn’t much. It was four out, one in.”

"史蒂夫带球，"马里昂说。"第一年，Q和乔-约翰逊冲刺到底角。我把球带进去，通常，大多数时候，把球交给史蒂夫。阿玛尔做了一个掩护。要么他们会对纳什进行双人包夹，如果没有，史蒂夫就把球传给我们中的一个，让他投一个大空位三分。或者，我们持球突分给三分线上的其他人。这并不难。我们另外有几个小战术，但大差不差，以四外一内为主。"

Richardson had already found out what kind of quarterback Nash really was. The two of them had arrived in Phoenix together in July to sign their respective deals the second the 2004-05 salary cap number was officially set by the league, and they were in a conference room together. Then, the Suns’ basketball brass came into the room. There was a major problem. The cap had come in at a smaller number than projected. Both Nash and Richardson would have to rework their contracts to make them fit under the lower cap.

理查德森已经明白了他们的四分卫（译者注：美式橄榄球的战术位置，负责临场指挥，发起进攻，此处代指篮球中的组织后卫，下同）纳什到底是一个什么样的人。在联盟正式敲定2004-05年工资帽数额后，他们两人在7月一起来到凤凰城，签署了各自的合同，一起坐在会议室里。然后，太阳队的高层走进了房间。出现了一个大问题。工资帽的数额比预期的要小。纳什和理查德森都将不得不重新修改他们的合同，以符合较低的工资帽。

“This was the point where I knew I’ll run through a brick wall for this dude, any day,” Richardson said. “Once they kind of broke it down to layman’s terms, Steve looked at them like, ‘Is that the problem?’ He was like, ‘Man, take it off of mine and give it to Q, and let’s fucking go. We can sign this. Me and him are trying to go to the bar.’

"那一天开始，我知道任何时候我都愿为这个家伙赴汤蹈火，"理查德森说。"当他们把那些合同工资帽细节用大白话说出来后，史蒂夫看着他们说，'这就是问题所在吗？ '他说，'兄弟，就把我超帽的那一部分匀给Q就得了，我们他妈的签完赶紧开溜了。我和他想去酒吧好好喝一杯的。‘’

“And I looked at him. It was more than a million dollars. It might have been a few million. And for somebody to do that, and we didn’t know each other past competing on the court against each other and stuff like that … I had never known Stevie more than that. I was like, this dude is selfless as hell.”

"我呆呆地看着他。那可不止一百万美刀，得有几百万。单就会为彼此做这种事的人来说，我们并不了解对方，只是曾在球场上相互竞争，诸如此类......我对史蒂夫的了解仅此而已。我想，这家伙真的很无私。"

It was actually ironic that it was a D’Antoni team that turned the NBA on its head offensively.

这实际听起来很讽刺，但确实是德安东尼的球队在进攻方面颠覆了NBA。

D’Antoni’s own dreams of NBA stardom lasted 130 games, through parts of four seasons between 1973 and 1977. Playing for the Kings and Spurs, he never averaged more than 4.8 points per game. But he became a superstar playing overseas for Olimpia Milano, leading the longstanding Italian franchise to five LBA championships, two European Cup titles and two International Cups in 13 seasons. He was voted the league’s all-time point guard when his playing career ended in 1990. He was, and is, the franchise’s all-time leading scorer. But that wasn’t his strength.

德安东尼自己的NBA明星梦只持续了130场，贯穿1973年至1977年四个赛季的部分时间。在国王队和马刺队打球时，他的场均得分从未超过4.8分。但他在海外为米兰奥林匹亚队打球时成为了超级巨星，在13个赛季中带领这个历史悠久的意大利豪强球队获得了5个LBA冠军，2个欧洲杯冠军和2个国际杯冠军。当他的球员生涯于1990年结束时，他被选为联盟的历史最佳控球后卫。他过去是，现在也是，那个联盟历史上的头号得分手。但那并不是他的强项。

On offense and defense, Shawn Marion had to square up against the game’s best power forwards such as Kevin Garnett. (David Sherman / NBAE via Getty Images)

在攻防两端，肖恩-马里昂不得不与凯文-加内特等当时联盟中最优秀的大前锋对位。(大卫-席尔曼 / NBAE通过 Getty图像软件)

He also was the franchise’s all-time leader in steals, and earned the nickname “Arsenio Lupin,” the Italian translation of Arsène Lupin, the fictional French “gentleman thief” featured in multiple novels by the author Maurice Leblanc. D’Antoni became beloved by Milano fans for his frenetic disruptions.

他也是历史上抢断次数最多的球员，并获得了 "阿尔塞尼奥-罗平"的绰号，来自于作家莫里斯-勒布朗多部小说中虚构的法国 "绅士大盗"的意大利语译名。德安东尼因其狂热的扰乱进攻的能力而受到米兰球迷的喜爱。

“My whole thing was defense,” D’Antoni says now. “I was an awful offensive player. I knew how to run an offense, and I could pass. But I couldn’t finish. One of the reasons I went to Italy was because I couldn’t shoot the ball.”

"我的全部职责就是防守，"德安东尼如今说。"我是一个糟糕的进攻球员。我知道如何进行进攻，我传球还行，但终结能力不太行。我去了意大利的原因之一就是我投篮不太准。"

But D’Antoni went the opposite way with the Suns.

但德安东尼执掌的太阳队却完全背道而驰。

During their white-hot start, the Suns cracked multiple 50-win teams that season — Seattle, Houston and Dallas. They went 12-2 in November, 13-2 in December. And they shot 3s like few contending teams had ever done. Nash was a master of the pass-ahead from beyond half court. For years, players who shot it from deep early in the shot clock were admonished by coaches. In Phoenix, coaches got on guys who didn’t.

在他们白热化的开局中，太阳队在那个赛季连克了多支50胜的球队--西雅图、休斯顿和达拉斯。他们在11月打出了12胜仅2负的战绩，在12月又打出了13胜2负。他们的三分球是很少有对手球队试过的。纳什是跨越半场妙传的大师。多年来，那些出手时间过早出手超远距离投篮的球都会员受到教练的训斥。而在菲尼克斯，教练们则批评那些不这样做的人。

“If you remember back then, that’s when Peyton Manning was going crazy in the NFL,” Richardson said. “Peyton Manning would throw that thing on the 1-yard line instead of running it. We would be like, ‘We’re about to let it fly like Peyton Manning.’ That was, like, our little term. We shot the hell out of 3s. I had games where I attempted 17, 19 3s, back-to-back. That was how we played. First shot you get, you shoot.”

"如果你还记得佩顿-曼宁统治NFL的时代，"理查德森说。"佩顿-曼宁会在1码线上扔出球，而不是跑动。我们会说，'我们要像佩顿-曼宁一样飞奔'。那是我们的小口号。我们疯狂出手那些三分球。有几场比赛，我出手了17、19个三分球，还是在背靠背比赛里。这就是我们的比赛方式。一有机会，就要出手。"

On Jan. 11, 2005, Phoenix smoked O’Neal and the visiting Heat in Phoenix, 122-107, and improved to 31-4, having already exceeded the previous season’s win total.

2005年1月11日这天，菲尼克斯在主场以122-107击败了奥尼尔和来访的热火队，战绩提高到31胜4负，这已经超过了上个赛季的总胜场。

“I remember going into Bryan’s office,” D’Antoni said. “I think we just hit 31-4, whatever. Just early in the morning, walking into his office, and I’m looking at him, and he’s looking at me, and we just started laughing. … We’re 31-4 and legitimately blowing people out, and at halftime, the coaches are going, ‘Let’s just don’t mess this up.’ I remember having a meeting with Quentin, Joe, the starting five in Utah, I think. I said, ‘Guys, I don’t know totally why this is working so well. We’ve just got to do everything we can in our power to keep this going.'”

"我记得我进了布莱恩的办公室，"德安东尼说。"我记得我们刚打出31胜4负的战绩。就在清晨，我走进他的办公室。我看着他，他看着我，我们就开始笑了起来。......我们以31胜4负的战绩打爆了别人，而在中场休息时，教练们都在说，'我们不要把事情搞砸了'。我记得在犹他州与昆廷、乔等首发五人开了个会。我说，'伙计们，我完全不知道为什么这一切会如此如鱼得水。但我们要尽我们所能，让它延续下去"。

Winning often breeds camaraderie among teammates, but the Suns were closer that season than most.

胜利往往培养队友之间的感情，但太阳队那个赛季的化学反应是绝无仅有的。

“Every week, we were together — at Trix’s house, playing cards or dominoes, at Joe’s house, playing cards,” Richardson said. “I’m talking about, momma in town, cooking. Trix’s momma in town cooking. Then we’re at my house, we’re barbecuing. Everybody comes through. It’s like seven people, or (Leandro) Barbosa, Jim Jackson, Jake Voskuhl. This was like, you don’t see that that often, with this many guys getting together where it’s not mandated by the team.

"每个星期，我们都待在一起--在特里克斯家打牌或玩多米诺骨牌，在乔家打牌，"理查德森说。"我说的是，妈妈在城里，做饭。特里克斯的妈妈在城里做饭。后来我们一块到我家来烤肉。每个人都到了。就是七个人，或加上（莱昂德罗）巴博萨，吉姆-杰克逊，杰克-沃斯库尔。这是非常罕见的，有这么多的人聚在一起，而球队并没有规定。

“We would go on the road. We would go out to dinner, go out to the clubs. We hit New York City, most of us are Black. We’re going to the hip-hop joint. Steve Nash rolling to the hip-hop joint with us, cooling. That created a bond and a togetherness, where we were able to rock with each other the way we were.”

"我们会一块在路上散步。我们会出去吃饭，去俱乐部。我们一块到纽约市，因为我们中大多数都是黑人就去了嘻哈俱乐部，在那史蒂夫-纳什和我们一起跳着嘻哈舞曲。那创造了一种纽带和团结，使我们能够以我们的方式通力合作。"

D’Antoni was voted Coach of the Year. Nash won his first of two consecutive league MVPs; he, Stoudemire and Marion were All-Stars. Nash was First Team All-NBA, with Stoudemire making Second Team and Marion Third Team.

德安东尼被选为年度最佳教练。纳什赢得了他连庄MVP中的第一个；他、斯塔德迈尔和马里昂携手入选了全明星。纳什入选最佳第一阵容，斯塔德迈尔二阵，马里昂三阵。

“I should have been Defensive Player of the Year that year,” Marion says (it went to Detroit’s Ben Wallace). “I went from the wing player to guarding a post player the whole year, and did it very well. For me to get no recognition for that, it was really disheartening.”

"我本该是那年的年度最佳防守球员，"马里昂说（它被底特律的本-华莱士获得）。"我整年从侧翼防守者变成了低位防守者，而且效果非常好。对于我来说，没有得到认可真的很令人沮丧。"

Richardson concurred.

理查德森附议。

“On our team, Trix was the MVP,” Richardson said. “Trix did everything. He was the only person that I’d seen at that time give Dirk Nowitzki hell like that, all by himself, and allowed us to guard our own man and not have to come double him. And, he was 6-7. And, he went in and averaged a double-double, and was unbelievable rebounding, and we didn’t lose anything with him at the four. He was able to switch on any fucking body and lock up.”

"在我们的团队中，特里克斯是MVP，"理查德森说。"特里克斯包办了一切。他是当时我见过的唯一一个让德克-诺维茨基如此难堪的人，还是一个人单防，让我们能够看住自己的人，而不必去包夹他。而且，他还只有六尺七。而且，他还能场均拿到两双，抓篮板球的能力也令人难以置信，把他摆在四号位上，我们没有任何损失。他能够换防任何人并且把他锁死。

The Suns swept Memphis in the first round, then got sweet revenge for their point guard by upending Dallas in six games in the conference semifinals. Nash was ridiculous in the last five games of the series, averaging 32.2 points (0n 68-of-121 shooting from the floor — 56.2 percent), 11.8 assists and 6.6 rebounds. He scored a career playoff-high 48 points in Game 4, and he was a rebound shy of a triple-double — 39 points, 12 assists and nine boards — in the series clincher.

太阳队在第一轮横扫了孟菲斯，然后在半决赛中六场比赛击败了达拉斯，为他们的控球后卫报了一箭之仇。纳什在该系列赛的最后五场比赛中表现出色得匪夷所思，场均砍下32.2分（投篮121投68中--命中率56.2%），11.8次助攻和6.6个篮板。他在第四场比赛中得到了职业生涯季后赛最高的48分，在系列赛的最后一场比赛中，他只差一个篮板就能拿到三双--全场39分、12次助攻和9个篮板。

But the series win came at a big cost. Johnson suffered an orbital fracture above his left eye in Game 2 and didn’t return to the floor until Game 3 of the conference finals with San Antonio. D’Antoni’s rotation, already short, couldn’t overcome the loss of Johnson, who’d started every game that season, averaging 17 points and five boards.

但这轮系列赛的胜利花费了巨大的代价。约翰逊在第二场比赛中左眼上方的眼眶骨折，直到与圣安东尼奥的西部决赛第三场才回到场上。德安东尼的轮换名单已经很短，无法承受折损约翰逊的损失，他在那个赛季每场都首发，场均拿到17分5板。

Well, that and Duncan, whose Spurs beat Phoenix in five games.

嗯，还要考虑到邓肯，他的马刺队在五场比赛中击败了凤凰城。

“It really hurt when Joe Johnson went down in the Dallas series,” D’Antoni said. “Not having him, one, we were playing with an eight-man rotation, which in the playoffs is good. Then, we went down to almost a seven-man. That was tough. Without having Joe, I had to put Steve on Tony Parker, and that wore his ass out. Normally, he would be on Bruce Bowen, standing in the corner. And having Joe, standing 6-8, strong, meeting Tony Parker at the rim.

"当乔-约翰逊在对阵达拉斯的系列赛中倒下时，这真的很伤人，"德安东尼说。"少了他后，一开始，我们用八人轮换，这在季后赛是挺好的。那之后，我们几乎只有七个人能上。那很艰难。没有乔，我不得不让史蒂夫对位托尼-帕克，这让他累坏了。通常情况下，他会在底角对位布鲁斯-鲍文，让六尺八高并且非常强壮的乔看防托尼-帕克。

“Besides Joe being great, being a 48 percent 3-point shooter and averaging (17) points, that really limited what we could do. And, then, you gotta give San Antonio credit. It might not have worked anyway. They were really frigging good.”

"乔是伟大的，他是一个拥有48%命中率的三分射手，场均得到17分，缺少他真的限制了我们。另外，你必须称赞圣安东尼奥。无论如何，我们可能没法战胜他们。他们真的很厉害。"

Though the Suns never broke through and made an NBA Finals, their legacy is evident in, well, almost every game you watch today. The Warriors were Suns West, with SSOL alums like Steve Kerr and Alvin Gentry on Golden State’s bench, and their let-it-fly philosophy was in the Dubs’ DNA. When you see Trae Young or Darius Garland throwing pocket passes or lobs off side pick-and-rolls to Clint Capela and Jarrett Allen, they’re channeling Nash and Stoudemire. When Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan take turns posting up and splashing 3s, they’re paying tribute to Richardson and Johnson. Every Miles Bridges rim run has its precursor in Marion.

虽然太阳队从未突破到NBA总决赛，但他们的遗产在，嗯，几乎在你今天看的每场比赛中都很明显。勇士队像是更西边一点的太阳队，金州队的教练席上有史蒂夫-科尔和阿尔文-金特里等SSOL校友，他们的跑轰理念已经植入勇士队的DNA中。当你看到特雷-杨或达里厄斯-加兰向克林特-卡佩拉和贾勒特-阿伦做出口袋传球或空接时，他们正上演纳什和斯塔德迈尔的老节目。当扎克-拉文和德玛尔-德罗赞轮流上场投三分时，他们在向理查德森和约翰逊致敬。而每一次迈尔斯-布里奇斯的向篮下的突破都有马里昂的影子。

And every coach owes D’Antoni for making that style of play not only possible, but also desirable.

每个教练都欠德安东尼一个人情，因为正是他使这种打法不仅成为可能，而且成为趋之若鹜的。

“I think the biggest satisfaction was we really thought that we unlocked the best our team could be,” D’Antoni says. “We were picked to come in eighth place that year in the West. It just shows that, with players, obviously, if you have a little bit lesser talent and you’re going against the big guys … if you guys are rating the teams, you kind of rate them on talent. If you just trot out the same, traditional way that they play, you’re going to get beat. Over 82 games, you’ve got no chance. So there are different paths to winning, different ways to unlock players’ talents.”

"我认为最大的满足感来自我们认为真的释放了那支太阳的潜能，"德安东尼说。"那年赛前我们被预测为西部第八名。这只是表明，对于球员来说，很明显，如果你的天赋差一点，而你的对手是大人物......如果你们对球队进行评级，你可能根据天赋对他们进行评级。如果你只是用同样的传统方式来打球，你就会被击败。在82场比赛中，你已经没有机会了。因此，有不同的获胜路径，有不同的方式来激发球员的潜能。"