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The Ringer记者Yaron Weitzman更新了一篇长文，描述了拉塞尔-威斯布鲁克与勒布朗-詹姆斯在湖人期间的矛盾。

文章当中，关于威斯布鲁克对詹姆斯的多种“虚假”行为感到厌烦的内容引起轩然大波。

全文内容如下：

Story picks up in the summer of 2022.

The Los Angeles Lakers are coming off a disastrous season. The Russell Westbrook trade has become an unmitigated debacle—one that cost head coach Frank Vogel his job. Finger-pointing within the organization is rampant.

Everyone insists the trade was someone else’s idea, and everyone knows that for the Lakers to move forward, Westbrook has to go. The problem: His massive contract makes him nearly impossible to move.

In the meantime, the onus is on new head coach Darvin Ham to find a way for LeBron and Westbrook to coexist. What he could have never predicted, though, was that a visit from Will Smith would make doing so all but impossible. 

故事从2022年夏天开始。

洛杉矶湖人队刚刚经历了一个灾难般的赛季。拉塞尔-威斯布鲁克的交易成了一场彻底的失败——这场失败甚至让主教练弗兰克-沃格尔丢了饭碗。组织内部互相指责成风。

每个人都坚称交易是别人的主意，而所有人都知道，湖人要想继续前进，威斯布鲁克必须离开。问题在于：他的巨额合同让他几乎无法被交易。

与此同时，新任主教练达尔文-哈姆肩负起了让勒布朗与威斯布鲁克共存的重任。但他万万没想到的是，威尔-史密斯的一次到访，会让这一切几乎变得不可能。

LeBron James strolled into Las Vegas’s Thomas & Mack Center, flanked by his security team. His arrival sent a jolt through the arena. Fans held up their cellphones. Photographers flocked toward him. Players, coaches, and executives congregating around the court came over to say hello. It was early July, and tipoff for the Lakers’ summer league squad’s first game was just a few minutes away.

An official escorted LeBron to a seat on the baseline. Throughout the game’s first half, new teammates like Thomas Bryant and Juan Toscano-Anderson paid their respects. So did Darvin Ham, Rob Pelinka, and Kurt Rambis. In the second half, Talen Horton-Tucker swung by. Seated across the court, on the opposite end of the floor, was Russell Westbrook.

勒布朗-詹姆斯在安保团队的簇拥下走进拉斯维加斯的比赛场地。他的出现让整个球馆为之一震。粉丝们举起手机拍照，摄影师蜂拥而至，场边的球员、教练和高管们纷纷前来打招呼。那是7月初，湖人的夏季联赛首场比赛即将开始。

一名工作人员将勒布朗引导至底线附近的座位。比赛上半场期间，新队友如托马斯-布莱恩特和胡安-托斯卡诺-安德森纷纷前来致意，达尔文-哈姆、罗布-佩林卡和科特-兰比斯也不例外。下半场，塔伦-霍顿-塔克也走了过来。而在球场的另一端，坐着拉塞尔-威斯布鲁克。

He saw LeBron enter the gym before the game.

He didn’t budge.

The first quarter came and went.

He never crossed half court.

The second quarter reached its final minutes.

Westbrook rose from his seat and exited through a tunnel, never returning.

他在比赛前就看到了勒布朗走进球馆。

但他一动未动。

第一节过去了。

他始终没有走过半场。

第二节进入最后几分钟。

威斯布鲁克站起身，从通道离开，再也没有回来。

The scene became the talk of the night. Side-by-side images contrasting how LeBron and Westbrook had interacted at summer league the previous year—they’d entered the building together and sat next to each other—made the rounds on social media. The noninteraction was red meat for talking heads. It also sparked concerns within the team’s new coaching staff.

“We knew that we’d have to bring Westbrook off the bench eventually because things weren’t a good fit,” a Lakers coach said. “But seeing that play out that night it was like, ‘Oh, these motherfuckers aren’t even talking to each other.’”

这一幕成了当晚的焦点。社交媒体上开始流传去年夏季联赛时勒布朗与威斯布鲁克亲密互动、一起进场并肩而坐的照片，与今年的“零互动”形成鲜明对比。这种冷淡成了评论员们的谈资，也引发了湖人新教练组的担忧。

“我们知道最终必须让威斯布鲁克打替补，因为两人实在不合拍，”一位湖人教练说，“但看到那一幕，我们心里都清楚：‘哦，这两个家伙连话都不说了。’”

The impetus appeared to be the recent rumors involving Kyrie Irving. LeBron’s former costar was entering the final season of his contract with the Nets, a $36.9 million player option, and wanted an extension. The Nets, however, were unwilling to hand over tens of millions of guaranteed dollars to a player who, since arriving in Brooklyn, had missed chunks of games for, among other things, a refusal to get a COVID vaccine and promoting an antisemitic film on social media. Recognizing he had no future in Brooklyn, Irving asked for a trade. The news had leaked in late June, with multiple outlets reporting that the Lakers were one of Irving’s preferred destinations and that LeBron wanted a reunion.

Negotiations between the Lakers and Nets went nowhere. Pelinka never showed any real interest in Irving. And even if he had, the Nets had no desire to take Westbrook back. Irving picked up his option and remained in Brooklyn, but by then the damage was done. Because of the NBA’s salary-matching rules, the only way for the Lakers to acquire Irving would have been by dealing Westbrook. Westbrook knew this, and he knew that LeBron did as well. Meaning that no matter what LeBron said in public, the reality was clear: He was pushing for the Lakers to ship Westbrook out.

这一切的导火索，似乎是关于凯里-欧文的交易传闻。勒布朗的前队友即将进入合同最后一年，拥有价值3690万美元的球员选项，他希望与篮网续约。然而，篮网不愿为这位因拒绝接种新冠疫苗、在社交媒体上宣传反犹电影而多次缺席比赛的球员提供数千万的保障合同。意识到自己已无未来，欧文提出交易申请。消息在6月底曝光，多家媒体报道称湖人是他心仪的下家之一，而勒布朗也希望与他重聚。

湖人与篮网的谈判毫无进展。佩林卡对欧文兴趣寥寥，即便他有兴趣，篮网也不愿接手威斯布鲁克。欧文最终执行了球员选项，留在布鲁克林，但伤害已经造成。根据NBA的薪资匹配规则，湖人若想得到欧文，唯一可行的方式就是用威斯布鲁克交易。威斯布鲁克知道这一点，他也知道勒布朗同样清楚。无论勒布朗在公开场合说了什么，事实显而易见：他在推动湖人送走威斯布鲁克。

The Lakers opened their season in mid-October with a 123-109 loss to the Warriors. Two nights later, in their home opener, Westbrook misfired on all 11 of his shots, and the Lakers fell to the Clippers, 103-97. Asked during his postgame press conference how he thought he played, Westbrook replied, “Solid. Played hard. That’s all you can ask for.” Three days later, on a Sunday afternoon, the Lakers were back on their home floor to take on the Blazers. This time their first win of the season was within their grasp.

With just 36 seconds remaining and clinging to a one-point lead, Westbrook brought the ball up the court. Instead of draining the clock, he dribbled directly into a 15-footer on the right wing. The shot ricocheted off the rim. Watching from the perimeter, both Anthony Davis and LeBron turned their palms toward the sky, putting their indignation on full display. The Lakers ended up losing 106-104, falling to 0-3.

湖人在10月中旬开启新赛季，首战以123比109不敌勇士。两天后，他们在主场揭幕战中再次失利，威斯布鲁克11投0中，湖人以97比103不敌快船。赛后被问及自己的表现时，威斯布鲁克回答：“很稳定，打得很努力。你还能要求什么呢？”三天后，周日下午，湖人回到主场迎战开拓者，这一次，他们有望拿下赛季首胜。

比赛还剩36秒，湖人领先1分，威斯布鲁克持球推进。他没有选择压时间，而是在右翼直接干拔一记15英尺跳投，球打铁而出。站在三分线外的安东尼-戴维斯和勒布朗同时摊开双手，愤怒溢于言表。最终，湖人以104比106惜败，赛季开局0胜3负。

After the game, one reporter asked LeBron about the team’s late-game “shot selection.” Another wanted to know, “basketball philosophy-wise,” how LeBron preferred to manage the clock late in games.

“I feel like this is an interview of trying to set me up to say something. I can tell that you guys are in the whole ‘Russell Westbrook category’ right now,” LeBron said. Later he added, “You guys can write about Russ and all the things you want to try to talk about Russ, but I’m not up here to do that. I won’t do it. I’ve said it over and over. That’s not who I am.”

Westbrook wasn’t buying it. To him, this was just the latest example of LeBron saying one thing but doing another. “People are saying, ‘Let Russ be Russ,’” he had told reporters the previous December. “I think nobody understands what that means. I think people just say it.” It was a clear shot at LeBron, and one Westbrook doubled down on after the season when asked about LeBron’s repeated use of the phrase.

“That wasn’t true,” Westbrook told reporters. “So let’s be honest.”

赛后，有记者问勒布朗关于球队最后时刻的“投篮选择”，另一位记者则“从篮球哲学角度”询问他如何管理比赛末段的时间。

“我觉得你们这是在套我话，想让我说点什么。我知道你们现在都在围着‘拉塞尔-威斯布鲁克’这个主题转，”勒布朗说，“你们可以写你们想写的关于威斯布鲁克的东西，但我不会配合。我一遍又一遍地说过，我不会这么做。我不是那种人。”

威斯布鲁克并不买账。在他看来，这只是勒布朗又一次“说一套做一套”的例证。早在前一年12月，他就曾对媒体表示：“人们说‘让威斯布鲁克做回威斯布鲁克’，我觉得没人理解这句话的意思。大家只是说说而已。”

这显然是针对勒布朗，而在赛季结束后被再次问及这句话时，他更是直言不讳：

“那不是真的，”威斯布鲁克对记者说，“我们还是诚实点吧。”

Westbrook knew LeBron’s reputation. He’d seen all the examples of LeBron seemingly misrepresenting himself. There was the time LeBron claimed that The Godfather was his favorite movie but then failed to recall a single line when asked during a press conference to name one.

There was the time he carried The Autobiography of Malcolm X into a media session but stumbled when asked to name his biggest takeaway. There was the time during an interview when he claimed that, the night Kobe scored 81 points, he’d predicted beforehand that he’d go for 70, a clip so widely mocked that it became a popular meme. LeBron’s reputation for bending the truth was so widespread that he even got teased while appearing in would-be safe spaces.

“They say you be cappin’,’’ Jacksonville Jaguars cornerback Jalen Ramsey told him during a November 2022 episode of The Shop, a talk show produced by LeBron and Maverick Carter’s media company.

This, in Westbrook’s view, was who LeBron was. And he was done putting up with it.

威斯布鲁克清楚勒布朗的“名声”。他见过太多勒布朗“言不由衷”的例子——

有一次，勒布朗声称《教父》是他最喜欢的电影，却在记者会上被问及最喜欢哪句台词时一句也答不上来；

有一次，他带着《马尔科姆X自传》走进媒体室，却被问到最大收获时支支吾吾；

还有一次，他声称在科比单场81分的那晚，自己赛前就预测他会得70分，这段采访被疯狂转发，成了网络上的名梗。

勒布朗“说话不靠谱”的名声甚至在他自己制作的节目里也被调侃。

“他们说你总爱说大话，”2022年11月的一期《The Shop》节目中，NFL杰克逊维尔美洲虎队的角卫贾伦-拉姆塞对勒布朗说。

在威斯布鲁克看来，这就是勒布朗的真面目。而他，已经受够了。

Two days after losing to the Blazers, the Lakers were back at their facility for a practice. Pelinka informed the players a special guest would be coming through. He’d created a program called the Genius Series, where he’d bring in luminaries from various fields—Dwayne “The Rock’’ Johnson, Kendrick Lamar, Elon Musk—to address the team. For this day, he’d secured an A-lister: Will Smith, just six months removed from slapping Chris Rock during the 94th Academy Awards.

The team gathered in the film room to review the Blazers game. Ham was tough on the group, highlighting all sorts of mistakes that had led to the 0-3 start. When the session concluded, Pelinka came by.

He’d already shown Smith the practice court—they shot free throws together—and Jeanie Buss’s office. Now, he told the players, Smith was on his way to them.

输给开拓者两天后，湖人回到训练馆。佩林卡通知球员们，将有一位特别嘉宾来访。他推出了一项名为“天才系列”的活动，邀请各界名人——包括“巨石”强森、肯德里克-拉马尔、埃隆-马斯克——来为球队演讲。这一次，他请来的是重量级人物：威尔-史密斯，距离他在第94届奥斯卡颁奖典礼上掌掴克里斯-洛克仅过去六个月。

球队在放映室集合，复盘对开拓者的比赛。哈姆对全队严厉批评，指出了导致0胜3负的种种失误。会议结束后，佩林卡走进来。

他已经带史密斯参观了训练场——两人还一起练了罚球——以及珍妮-巴斯的办公室。现在，他告诉球员们，史密斯即将来到他们面前。

When Pelinka and Ham left to fetch him, LeBron, seated in a middle row, stood up.

Y’all got this, he said.

He stormed out a back door.

Shit, man, Davis said.

He stood and followed LeBron out.

Stunned, the rest of the players sat there, looking at each other, unsure what to do.

“We’re like, ‘Yo, what the fuck is going on?’” one recalled.

佩林卡和哈姆离开去接史密斯。坐在中排的勒布朗站了起来。

“你们先待着，”他说。

他从后门走了出去。

“靠，兄弟，”戴维斯说着，也站起来跟了出去。

其余球员愣在原地，面面相觑，不知所措。

“我们都傻了，‘这xx怎么回事？’”一位球员回忆。

Westbrook rose next.

So, we all leaving? he asked.

Nah, Russ, said Patrick Beverley, a brash veteran point guard the Lakers had acquired over the summer. We gotta stay.

Westbrook didn’t understand. What do you mean? he asked.

Them two guys can do whatever the fuck they want, Beverley said. They won a championship.

As the two went back and forth, it became clear to the other players in the room what Westbrook was thinking: As a nine-time All-Star, and former MVP, and future Hall of Famer, why would there be a difference between him and them?

威斯布鲁克也站了起来。

“那我们也走？”他问。

“不行，Russ，”帕特里克-贝弗利——这位夏天刚被湖人签下的老将控卫——说，“我们得留下。”

“什么意思？”威斯布鲁克问。

“他们俩想干嘛就干嘛，”贝弗利说，“他们拿过总冠军。”

两人争执不下，其他球员这才意识到威斯布鲁克的想法：作为九届全明星、前MVP、未来的名人堂成员，他凭什么不能和他们一样？

Pelinka came back in.

We ready? he asked

We ain’t ready, Beverley said. We need five minutes.

Pelinka left.

Minutes later, Ham reentered and sat silently at the front of the room as Westbrook and Beverley continued arguing. He then stood up and exited through the same door LeBron and Davis had used. Soon after he returned with both stars. Next, Ham went to get Pelinka and Smith.

佩林卡走了进来。

“准备好了吗？”他问。

“还没，”贝弗利说，“我们需要五分钟。”

佩林卡离开。

几分钟后，哈姆回到放映室，默默坐在前排，看着威斯布鲁克和贝弗利继续争执。随后他起身，从勒布朗和戴维斯离开的门走了出去。很快，他带着两位球星回来了。接着，哈姆又去找佩林卡和史密斯。

When they all returned, Smith was greeted with smiles and daps. Smith talked to the players about his new movie, Emancipation. He talked about overcoming adversity. He cracked some jokes at the team’s expense. Then he opened the floor for questions.

LeBron was first. He had a question, he said. Smith answered. Then LeBron had another question. And another after that and another after that and another after that. On and on he went, stretching what was supposed to be a 30-minute session into nearly an hour.

“The same guy who was trying to leave is now quoting back movie lines and going through the guy’s whole life story,” one attendee recalled thinking.

当所有人重新聚集，史密斯受到热烈欢迎，大家笑着击掌。他聊了自己的新片《解放》，谈如何逆境求生，还开了几个球队的玩笑。随后他开放提问。

勒布朗第一个举手。他说自己有问题。史密斯回答后，他又问了一个。然后又是一个，接着再来一个，没完没了。原本30分钟的环节被拖成了近一个小时。

“那个原本想走的人，现在却在背电影台词，复述人家整个人生故事，”一位在场的球员回忆。

Seated in the third row, picking at a bowl of fruit, Westbrook watched in disbelief, shaking his head and rolling his eyes every time LeBron spoke.

I hate that fake shit, Westbrook said to a teammate afterward, as the Lakers gathered for a team photo. I just can’t do it.

The next afternoon, the Lakers posted the picture on social media.

Standing among Lakers players, coaches, and Pelinka was Smith, holding up a custom jersey.

There, standing a few feet to Smith’s right, was Westbrook, his face twisted into a scowl.

坐在第三排的威斯布鲁克一边扒着水果碗，一边难以置信地摇头，每次勒布朗开口，他都翻个白眼。

“我讨厌这种虚伪的玩意儿，”威斯布鲁克事后对队友说，“我真受不了。”

第二天下午，湖人在社交媒体上发布了合影。

照片中，史密斯站在球员、教练和佩林卡中间，举着一件定制球衣。

而他右侧几英尺处，威斯布鲁克一脸怒容，表情扭曲。