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PORTLAND, Ore. — The lowest of lows for Damian Lillard was in the summer of 2021, on the heels of an embarrassing playoff loss to the Denver Nuggets. In the nights that followed the first-round exit, he said he couldn’t sleep. His insomnia wasn’t because he was eliminated by a Nuggets backcourt that started Facundo Campazzo and Austin Rivers, it was because he questioned if the people around him in the Blazers organization cared about the loss as much as he did.

利拉德生涯的最低谷大概是在2021年夏天，被丹佛掘金尴尬地淘汰后。在首轮出局后的那个夜晚，他无法入睡。这场失眠并不是因为被一只后场首发是法昆多-坎帕佐与奥斯丁-里夫斯的掘金队淘汰掉，而是因为他开始质疑开拓者队内——他身边的这些人是否和他一样在意输球。

That summer triggered a switch in Lillard. Suddenly, it seemed, an organization that did everything for him — his approval and opinion were sought on everything from player moves and coaching hires, to practice times and plane departures — wasn’t doing enough.

那个夏天触发了利拉德的转变。突然之间，那个为他付出所有的组织——从球员交易签约到教练雇佣到训练安排到飞机起落都要征求他意见与批准的组织，似乎做的不够多了。

So he began to voice his displeasure, first internally and then publicly, albeit in ways that would allow Lillard to proclaim no one ever heard it from his mouth, thus protecting him from backlash. He felt the Blazers should have been giving him more help with the roster, a feeling that only heightened that summer as he watched P.J. Tucker win a ring with the Milwaukee Bucks in July 2021.

所以他开始表达自己的不满，从队内到公开化。虽然是以一种间接的，没有任何人可以指责他本人这样表达过的方式。他认为开拓者应该在球队阵容上给予他更多帮助，尤其在同年七月他看到PJ塔克在密尔沃基夺冠之后。

In 2020, Lillard thought the Blazers had an inside track to luring Tucker away from the Houston Rockets. Carmelo Anthony, then with the Blazers, had been in frequent contact with Tucker and was convinced Tucker would be on board with joining the Blazers. So, Lillard went to then-Blazers general manager Neil Olshey and asked him to make it happen. Instead, Olshey traded for Trevor Ariza, who was solid but was of no help in the playoffs later that 2020 season when he chose not to participate in the NBA Bubble. To Lillard, it was another wasted opportunity.

2020年时，利拉德认为开拓者在从休斯顿火箭招募塔克的事情上领先。那时仍在开拓者队内的卡梅罗-安东尼和塔克有着密切联系并且相信塔克在加盟开拓者的路上。所以利拉德找到了时任总经理奥尔谢并且要求他落实这件事情。 而奥尔谢反手交易来了阿里扎——也是很好的球员但是因为他拒绝参加NBA Bubble所以在季后赛中没有起到作用。而对利拉德来说，这是另一个被浪费掉的机会

So as much as Lillard has been proclaiming that he wants to stay in Portland, his trade request on Saturday has been a long time coming. It appears the final straw may have come last week, when Blazers general manager Joe Cronin didn’t follow through on his goal to build a win-now product around Lillard. Armed with the third pick, the 23rd pick and a young 20-point scorer in Anfernee Simons, Cronin not only didn’t make a trade to bring in veteran help, but also drafted Lillard’s heir apparent in Scoot Henderson.

所以不管利拉德之前如何表明他想要留在波特兰的意愿，他周六的交易请求其实是由来已久的。骆驼上的最后一根稻草大概是上周，开拓者GM克罗宁没有跟从以围绕利拉德赢在当下为目的的方针。虽然手握三号、二十三号和年轻20分级别得分手西蒙斯，克罗宁也并没有完成交易带来老将，反而选中了利拉德的“法定继承人”Scoot Henderson。

There will be some who are disappointed with Lillard for asking out. Far more will blame the Blazers for fumbling the most prolific offensive player in franchise history because of inactivity. I don’t know that either is to blame. Lillard has earned the right to ask out if that’s what pleases him, I think the majority of Blazers fans will wish him the best and hope he wins that covetedtitle. But I don’t get this idea that the Blazers never tried to help build a winner around him.

自然会有人对于利拉德的交易请求失望。但更多人会指责开拓者的无作为搞砸了和队史最高产进攻手的关系。我不觉得任何一方应该被指责。利拉德赢得了请求交易的权力——如果这是他认为有益的事情，并且我认为大部分的开拓者球迷会为他祝好并且希望他能得到他渴求的冠军。但是我不理解关于开拓者从未努力想要以他为核心建队冲冠的想法。

The Blazers have always wanted to do right by Lillard. They gave him input on every decision except the draft. Not a move was made by the Blazers that wasn’t endorsed by Lillard. He was on board with free agent decisions (Evan Turner, Ben McLemore, Gary Payton II), with trades (Jusuf Nurkić, Rodney Hood, Enes Kanter, Norman Powell, Robert Covington, Jerami Grant) and he agreed the team should welcome Melo. And for two seasons, Portland even went as far as to use a roster spot for his cousin, Keljin Blevins.

开拓者永远都想要去正确对待利拉德。他们会对除了选秀选谁以外的所有决定征求他的意见。开拓者任何一个动作都经利拉德同意和背书。他参与了自由球员的签约决定（埃文-特纳、本-麦克勒莫、加里-佩顿三世），参与了交易（努尔基齐、罗德尼-胡德、坎特、鲍威尔、科温顿、格兰特）并且他同意了球队签约甜瓜。与此同时在某两个赛季，波特兰甚至走到了用一个球员位置签约利拉德的表弟，布莱文斯。Portland also had some terrible injury luck during his run. Wesley Matthews blew out his Achilles in March 2015 when Portland had the West’s third-best record. Nurkić broke his leg in March 2019, the year the Blazers went to the Western Conference finals. And Zach Collins had shoulder problems, then ankle surgeries right when he inherited the starting power forward spot. Now healthy in San Antonio, Collins looks poised for an impactful career.

波特兰在利拉德时期的伤病运也不好。2015三月当波特兰稳居西部第三时，马修斯跟腱断裂；开拓者进入西决的那个赛季的三月（2019），努尔基齐腿部重伤。当然还有扎克-科林斯的肩膀问题以及在他获得首发四号位之后的脚踝手术。现在在圣安东尼奥恢复健康后，科林斯看起来会有一个有力的生涯。

There was hope that Lillard had found a connection with the new general manager. They spoke often. They said they shared the same vision. And in April, during his session with the media after the season finale, Lillard practically boasted that he knew of players who wanted to come to Portland, players who could “move the needle.” It wasn’t the first time Lillard was under the illusion players were lining up to play with him, and it wasn’t the first time he felt the front office didn’t follow through. But we now know it wasn’t just Olshey who couldn’t somehow land these big fish to appease Lillard.

利拉德和新任总经理也建立了联系。他们经常沟通；他们说他们有同样的愿景。并且在四月份，在赛季总结发布会上，利拉德实在地夸口说他知道一些球员想要来波特兰——能切实改变局面的那种。这不是第一次利拉德产生有球员想要和他一起在波特兰打球的幻想，当然也不是第一次他认为管理层没有落实到位。但我们现在知道了，也不光是奥尔谢没能力通过某种方式带来大鱼来取悦利拉德。

This is not to say who is right and who is wrong in all of this. It’s mostly to illustrate why all of this is so disappointing. The Blazers and Lillard were so perfect for each other. Much like Portland, Lillard considers himself an underdog. He was benched in high school. Was so lightly recruited he ended up at Weber State. Portland has long carried the grudge that it is disadvantaged as a small market, and gets unfair treatment from referees and national media coverage. The Portland community didn’t just relate to Lillard, they loved him and his story, and when he loved Portland back? It was powerful stuff.

这并不是在说这一切是谁对谁错。这只是在描述这一切为何如此的令人失望。开拓者和利拉德简直是太完美的一对了。像波特兰一样，利拉德一直认为自己是不被看好的那一个。从高中坐板凳到没人招募只能去韦伯州立。波特兰一直以来也带着小市场的劣势带来的无奈，并且在全国直播和裁判问题上遭遇了不公平的对待。波特兰的社区不光是和利拉德有关，他们爱他连带着他的故事。所以当他把他的爱回报给波特兰时，产生了强有力的化学反应。

Even with new blood up and down the organizational ladder — new owner, new president, new general manager, new coach — the franchise was in consensus that they wanted Lillard and should build around him. So it’s disappointing that with all that braintrust, and all that love that they couldn’t find the right communication, the right plan, or the acceptable followthrough to make it happen.

即便是在球队组织层面大换血后——新老板、新主席、新经理、新教练——整个球队也有他们非常想要利拉德留下并且想要围绕他建队的共识。所以这一切才那么令人失望——这么多爱，这么多“智囊团”，也没能最终建立正确的沟通、找到正确的计划或者找到令人能接受的跟进去留住利拉德。

And mostly, it’s disappointing Blazers fans have to go through this divorce. This fan base loved Lillard like no other player. There can be a debate about whether Lillard tops Clyde Drexler or Bill Walton as the greatest Blazer of all time, but there is no debate about which player most gripped this region’s heart. It was Lillard. He hit two of the most memorable shots in franchise history — the 0.9 dagger to eliminate Houston in 2014 and the wave-bye-bye 3 to eliminate Oklahoma City in 2019 — and he poured himself into the community more frequently and passionately than any other Blazers star. He was intimately involved with Special Olympics, and his RESPECT project with Portland-area high schools wasn’t just for show, he was actively involved. He spoke at assemblies, promoted students on social media, all while amplifying his message for students to show up, work hard and be kind.

并且最令人难受的，是开拓者球迷不得不得经历这场离婚。球迷对利拉德的爱是独一无二的。关于利拉德是否超过了比尔沃顿和德雷克斯勒成为了队史第一球员可能仍有争议，但是关于那个球员最能抓住整个区域球迷的心，毫无争议，就是利拉德。他射中了两枚队史上最记忆用心的球——2014年带走火箭的0.9秒绝杀和2019年“说再见”式淘汰掉雷霆的三分球——他对社区投入的热情和频率高于其他任何开拓者球星；他密切的参与残奥会；他在波特兰地区高中发起的RESPECT计划并不是作秀，他积极的参与了进去。他会在校会上发言；他会在社交媒体上鼓励学生；他不断强化他对学生们的赠言：好好上学、努力学习并且做个好人。

He was everything an organization and a fan base could want in a franchise star, and then some.

他拥有着球队和球迷们想要的当家球星的所有美好品质，甚至远超于此。But things changed.

但事情总会变。

In 2021, the eight deaths within 18 months to family and those within his inner circle, made him think about his own mortality, which he shared with The Athletic at the time:2021年，他的亲人与紧密朋友中有八位在18个月内相继去世后，他开始思考自己的死亡，当时他有何我们分享过：（以下是对之前文章的引用）

“I thought about (not playing), because mentally I was like … I don’t want to say I didn’t care, because I did care,” Lillard said. “But emotionally, I was like, whatever.”“我想过（退役），因为那是我的内心状态是…我不想说我不在乎，因为我的确在乎”利拉德说，“但情感上，怎么说呢，去tmd随便吧。”

His emotions had been worn thin because, in the past 18 months, it seemed like he had lived a lifetime. In 2020, he was the first to discover the dead body of his cousin and personal chef. An aunt died from cancer. A family friend died of COVID-19. And in the early months of 2021, a cousin was killed in West Oakland.他的感情被磨损的厉害，因为在过去的十八个月中，他仿佛过了一生。2020年，他是第一个发现了他表兄弟以及私人厨师的尸体；一个阿姨死于癌症；一位家庭密友死于新冠。然后在2021年初，另一个表兄弟在西奥克兰被杀。

And then last Thursday, the day before the Lakers game, Lillard learned of the shooting deaths of two people in his inner circle. One was a cousin close enough to Lillard to be at his family’s Thanksgiving dinner in Portland in November. The other was like family — the best friend of perhaps his closest cousin, who was among the first family members to move to Portland when Lillard was drafted by the Trail Blazers in 2012.然后就是上周四，湖人队比赛前一天，利拉德知悉了两名亲友的被射杀。一名是利拉德极其亲近的一名表兄弟，近到可以参加十一月利拉德家庭感恩节聚餐的那种。另一个是他最亲近表兄弟的最好朋友，是他2012年被开拓者选中后，第一批搬到波特兰的亲友之一。

“I could be 45,” said the 30-year-old Lillard. “I’ve done seen and been around so much.”“我甚至感觉我已经45岁了，”三十岁的利拉德说到，“经历的实在太多太多。”（引用结束）

His core injury, which became so bad at the end of 2021 that he ended his season to have it surgically repaired, made him anxious about his professional timeline.

为了治疗他2021年底极具恶化的核心伤病，他赛季报销并做了手术，这也使他开始对自己的职业生涯时间线产生了焦虑。

Soon, Lillard became focused on how the Blazers’ organization was falling short, losing sight of what was one of the last, great symbiotic relationships in pro sports. That’s not saying Portland as an organization was perfect. Neither was Dame. And somewhere between the mistakes, both lost sight of what made the other great. Lillard lost sight of how much empowerment and freedom the Blazers gave him. And the Blazers apparently underestimated how seriously and urgently Lillard valued winning at a high level.

之后，利拉德开始在意开拓者哪里做的不够多，逐渐开始忽视掉这可能是职业体育中最后一段，伟大的标志性的关系中好的那一面。这并不是说波特兰这个球队是完美的；当然Dame也不是。而在双方的这些错误中，双方都开始忽视对方的好。利拉德忽视了开拓者给他的权力与自由；而开拓者很明显低估了利拉德对于胜利的重视程度和紧迫程度。

I’ll miss him. We all will. But I won’t miss what this relationship with the Blazers had become. The veiled threats of asking for a trade, always under the guise of “you never heard me say it.” And I won’t miss the organization walking on eggshells wondering if he was happy enough. No one player is bigger than the franchise, and if the Blazers weren’t guilty of violating that credo, then they were toeing the line. There were many who were exhausted by it all.

我会想念他，我们都会。但我不会想念这段关系最后的样子——威胁提出交易还遮遮掩掩，永远都是“我从没说过这话”的托词。并且我也不会想念球队紧张兮兮担心他是否开心的状态。”没有一个球员大于球队”，如果之前开拓者违反这个信条不是过错，那现在也只是将一切回到或许应有的样子。这么长时间下来很多人已经对此感觉极其疲惫。

Now, Blazers fans can have a new obsession, a healthier one than worrying about Lillard’s future and what his latest social media post was supposed to mean. The Blazers have started to build a young and exciting core. With the speed and explosion of Scoot Henderson, the soaring of Sharpe, and the shooting of Simons, the Blazers could become one of the most entertaining teams on a nightly basis. I have no idea how they will stop teams, but I bet you will see a couple of plays every game that will make you jump out of your seat. So, they might not win many games. Guess what? Neither have the Blazers teams the past two seasons with Lillard. At least now there is a clear direction, and not some wishy-washy concept of trying to land big-name stars in the name of appeasing Lillard.

现在开拓者球迷可以有一个新的困扰了（重建），比每天纠结利拉德的未来并且胡思乱想利拉德的社交媒体发言在暗示什么健康一些的那种。开拓者开始搭建一个年轻并且令人激动的核心。亨德森的速度与爆发力，夏普的飞天遁地以及西蒙斯的投射，开拓者的球将会变得娱乐性十足。虽然我不知道他们靠什么去防下别的队伍，但我跟你打赌每场比赛都会有几个球会让人激动的从椅子上跳起来。当然他们不会赢很多比赛。但你猜怎么着？过去两年利拉德在的时候也一样。至少现在他们有一个更清晰的方向，并且不是空洞的以取悦利拉德的名义试图交易某个巨星的那种。

In a statement Saturday, Cronin said his stance never wavered: “We have been clear that we want Dame here, but he notified us today he wants out and he’d prefer to play someplace else. What has not changed for us is that we’re committed to winning, and we are going to do what’s best for the team in pursuit of that goal.”

在周六的一份声明中，克罗宁说他的立场从未改变:“我们一直都明确表示希望Dame留在这里，但他今日告诉我们他想离开，他更倾向于去别的地方打球。对我们来说没变的是对赢球的坚定，我们将在实现这一目标的过程中做对球队最有利的事情。”

Make no mistake: this is a sad day. An era has ended. The wrist taps. The mean mugs. That string of eight consecutive playoff appearances. All the franchise records — 71 points in a game, the 19,376 career points — all of the buzzer beaters.

不要搞错了：今天是非常令人悲伤的一天。一个时代结束了。那些点腕（dame time的经典动作）；那些刻薄的鬼脸（三分命中后的反应）；连续八年的季后赛；所有那些球队纪录——单场71分，生涯19376分——都到了尾声。

He was a breathtakingly exceptional player, and to many behind the scenes within the organization — those who sold tickets, cleaned the gym, ran their promotions — he was just as impactful and thoughtful as a person.

他的确是一位惊人的、令人惊叹的、卓越的球员。并且对于球队里的很多人来说——尤其是那些售票员、清洁员、促销员们——他也是一个有影响力并且贴心、懂得关心别人的人（不光是球员）。

Lillard not only embraced Portland, he gave back to it. That’s a beautiful combination, and one that should have a large say in defining his legacy.

利拉德不光被波特兰爱戴，他把这份爱回报了回去。这是一个非常美丽的组合，并且这些都将在他最终的历史地位中，写下浓墨重彩的一笔。