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How James Harden may have helped Lou Williams become a Rocket
哈登如何帮助路威入伙火箭
Two weeks before the NBA trade deadline, a rival player called Lou Williams. The Houston Rockets’ James Harden watched Williams flourish this season, helping lead the perennial All-Star’s hometown Los Angeles Lakers to a strong start, and he had an idea to pitch.
在NBA交易截止日两周之前，路威-威廉姆斯站在与火箭队对立的阵营。火箭队的詹姆斯-哈登本赛季注意到了威廉姆斯本赛季的发挥，洛杉矶是全明星常客哈登的故乡，威廉姆斯帮助哈登的家乡球队洛杉矶湖人队在本赛季取得不错的开局，哈登产生了一个想法。
“When James called, he asked me if I was interested in playing with them,” Williams told The Vertical. “I told him that I loved the Lakers, but James and them have a group that fit my personality, fit how I play. He said he was going to make it happen.”
路威-威廉姆斯告诉媒体：“哈登打电话问我，是不是有兴趣加入他们。我说我热爱湖人队，但是哈登跟他的球队与我个人十分契合，他们非常适合我的打球风格，哈登说他会去促成这一切。”
Williams then laughed, sitting on the edge of a visiting court following a recent practice. “I’ve heard that before, so I didn’t really put stock into it,” Williams told The Vertical. “I guess James did put the word in, and the team made it happen.”
威廉姆斯然后大笑，刚刚完成训练的他坐在场边。“我之前就听过类似的传闻，所以我并不会太在意，”威廉姆斯对媒体说，“我猜他是真的去跟球队说，然后球队也照做了。”
Harden had planted the seed, and Williams now laughs at how everything worked out. Houston had an MVP frontrunner in Harden and the third seed in the Western Conference, but the franchise identified the need for another creator to handle the ball and shoot.
是哈登埋下了种子，而威廉姆斯现在笑着谈起这一切都是如何发生的。休斯敦有一个MVP大热门詹姆斯-哈登，并在西部位居第三，但是现在球队需要另一个能够持球和投篮的组织者。
The challenge of acquiring Williams appeared to become more difficult during trade-deadline week. The Lakers, who had since collapsed after a 10-10 start, began a major transition in the front office two days before the deadline, hiring Magic Johnson and later player agent Rob Pelinka to replace Jim Buss and Mitch Kupchak as president of basketball operations and general manager, respectively. Houston, Utah and Washington reached out to Johnson about a deal, with Williams’ agent, Wallace Prather, helping to facilitate negotiations.
在交易截止日前的最后一周，追求威廉姆斯的挑战似乎变得更加困难。湖人队以10胜10负的战绩开局之后坠入低谷，在交易截止的两天前他们的管理层迎来一个重大的变化，先后聘请魔术师约翰逊和球员经纪人罗伯-佩林卡取代吉姆-巴斯和米齐-库普切克，分别作为球队篮球运营总裁和总经理。休斯敦、犹他和华盛顿都在向约翰逊寻求谈判，与此同时，威廉姆斯的经纪人华莱士-普莱斯也在推进着谈判的进展。
Williams came to the Lakers on a three-year deal in 2015 as the franchise entered Kobe Bryant’s final season, and his play (18.6 points per game with the Lakers this season) allowed the front office to seek a first-round pick in trade talks. As the Sixth Man of the Year candidate was completing a workout in his old high school gym on a Tuesday evening in Atlanta, he received the phone call about the trade to the Rockets.
威廉姆斯在2015年带着三年的合约加盟湖人，这也是科比-布莱恩特的最后一个赛季，他的比赛表现（本赛季代表湖人平均每场比赛拿下18.6分）让高层有资本在交易谈判中去讨要一个首轮选秀权。在一个星期二的晚上，在亚特兰大母校高中的体育馆完成训练后，最佳第六人候选人路威-威廉姆斯接到了告知自己被交易到火箭队的电话。
“It wasn’t awkward for me with the changes going on in L.A. because I’ve understood the business,” Williams told The Vertical. “I remember the first day I joined the Rockets, I came into the breakfast room and [coach] Mike [D’Antoni] asked me if I would be able to play tonight if they needed me to, and I said, ‘Yeah.’ He said, ‘All right, be yourself.’ He said don’t think about anything, just play. That’s all I needed to hear.
“湖人做出这样的变动对我来说并不难接受，因为我知道这就是生意。”威廉姆斯对记者说：“我记得我第一天加入火箭，我走进早餐室，迈克（主教练迈克-德安东尼）问我如果他们需要我，当晚我能不能上场，我说，‘没问题，’他说，‘好吧，打好你自己的风格。’他说不要考虑任何事，专心打球。这也是我需要听到的。”
“With the year that Eric [Gordon] is having – this season me and him being one and two in the Sixth Man running – and now we’re on the same team … man, it’s probably safe to say that the trophy has to go through Houston. The league probably has to give us two of them. I think it’s huge to have me and Eric with the way we play. The culture here, the type of players that they want, I believe over time it’s going to pay big dividends for us.”
“考虑到埃里克-戈登的这一年的表现，我和他是两个最佳第六人的竞争者，现在我在同支球队了。兄弟，几乎可以肯定的说，这个奖杯要花落休斯敦，联盟甚至不得不给我们发两个奖杯。我认为因为我们两个的打球方式，球队同时拥有我和埃里克意义非凡。这里的文化如此，他们需要这样类型的球员，我相信随着时间的推移，这将给我们带来丰厚的回报。”
So far, Williams has given D’Antoni some punch off the bench. He’s averaged 14.5 points in 13 games, including 30 points and seven assists last week against the Lakers. For the season, Williams is averaging 17.8 points。
到目前为止，威廉姆斯已经给了德安东尼带来充足的板凳火力。他在13场比赛中平均每场拿下14.5分，其中包括上周对湖人队的30分和7次助攻。整个赛季，威廉姆斯场均得分为17.8分。
“We needed one more guy that could create, and Lou is perfect,” D’Antoni told The Vertical. “Lou is a professional scorer. In case someone is off, if someone is injured, Lou brings another 15 to 20 points. We still need to incorporate everything. You can never have enough shooters and playmakers, and he does both.”
“我们需要多一个可以创造机会的球员，路威就是个完美的选择，”德安东尼对媒体说。“路威是个专业的得分手。如果有人缺阵，如果有人受伤，路威能额外多得15到20分。我们仍然需要更好的融合。射手和组织者对球队来说多多益善，而他两者都胜任。”
For D’Antoni’s system, the Rockets now have an array of shooters in Williams, Gordon andRyan Anderson, a 3-and-D wing in Trevor Ariza and a strong backcourt defender in Patrick Beverley. In the frontcourt, Clint Capela provides rim-protection and a lob threat on Harden’s repeated drives to the basket, and Nene, Montrezl Harrell and Sam Dekker have offered productive minutes.
在德安东尼的体系中，现在火箭队的射手群包括威廉姆斯，戈登和莱恩-安德森，3-D（指能投三分能防守的球员类型）侧翼球员特雷沃-阿里扎和强大的后场防守球员帕特里克-贝弗利。在前场，克林特-卡佩拉提供了护筐和哈登反复突破时的篮下高空威胁，还有内内，蒙特雷泽-哈勒尔和萨姆-德克尔可以提供战力补充。
At 49-22, the Rockets have positioned themselves to make a deep run in the Western Conference playoffs. D’Antoni is making a case to be the NBA Coach of the Year, but as he told The Vertical, “All you do as a coach is trust your players to make the right play and play their game.” For everyone on the roster, the motto is the same.
49胜22负，火箭已经把目标放在季后赛中，他们希望能走得更远。德安东尼教练也成为本赛季联盟最佳教练的热门，但是他告诉记者：“作为教练你要做的只有信任你的球员，让他们用正确的方式打出他们的篮球。”对阵容里的每个人来说，这句话都是一样的。
Williams, 30, views Clippers reserve Jamal Crawford as an intriguing career template. Both rely on craftiness, range and a unique ability to score with minimal lift, which can foster career longevity. Crawford, 37, has long envisioned playing into his 40s.
威廉姆斯今年30岁，把快船队第六人贾马尔-克劳福德作为一个有趣的职业模板。他俩都是依靠狡猾的手段，无死角的射程和独特的能力，以最小程度的消耗拿下分数，这也使职业寿命得以延长。克劳福德37岁，而他已经把眼光放长远到40岁。
“Until the wheels fall off for us,” Williams told The Vertical. “I already have 12 (seasons) in the can. Forty for me probably would be a little farfetched, because of being in my 12th season, being 30. Forty would be, what, 22 seasons?
“直到打不动了为止吧，”威廉姆斯告诉媒体。“我已经打了12个赛季了。打到40岁对我来说可能有点牵强，因为在我才30岁就已经打了12个赛季了，40岁意味着什么，打22个赛季？
“I don’t know if I got 22 seasons in me, but God willing, I’ll get close.”
“我不知道我是不是能打22个赛季，但是上帝愿意保佑我的话，我会尽力。”
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