[外電] 新朋友Jamario Moon的成長故事

[chucloud (楚雲)]

Jamario Moon isn't a star, but Cleveland Cavaliers find a space for him
http://www.cleveland.com/cavs/index.ssf/2009/10/jamario_moon_isnt_a_star_but_c.html

By Brian Windhorst
October 23, 2009, 4:44AM

Jamario Moon has a new team this year, which meant a move for his wife and
newborn baby girl, change-of-address forms, finding a place to live and
learning where in town he can get good Southern food.

Jamario Moon今年加入了新球隊，這意味著要帶著他太太和新生的女兒改地址，找個新
家，還有在城裡找個可以買到美味南方食物的地方。

For Moon, this is an annual ritual. He follows where basketball takes him,
though admittedly his landing in Cleveland with the Cavaliers is the softest
of his career.

對Moon來說這像是年度的例行公事，跟隨著看上他的籃球隊移動。隨騎士隊來到
Cleveland是他職業生涯中最輕鬆的搬遷。

Depending on who's counting, this is about Moon's 19th different team in the
past nine years. Not counting the various summer league teams he was on for a
week or so. All of it from the allure of his 6-8 frame and spring-box legs
that always cause scouts to scribble on their notepads and, in turn, Moon to
dream of the NBA.

依照不同人的計算，這大約是Moon在過去九年來所加入的第19支球隊，這還不包括那些
只打了一星期左右的夏季聯盟球隊。他靠著6尺8吋的身材和一雙彈簧腿吸引了球探的目
光，也獲得了一圓NBA夢想的機會。

"I heard I had a Wikipedia page, so I went there and saw someone who I think
has been stalking me listed all these teams I played for," Moon said. "But
they missed a few."

"我聽說我有一個維基百科的條目，所以我去看了看，有人幫我列出來我所打過的球隊，"
Moon說。"不過他們還是漏掉了一些。"

There's another arguable topic from Moon's past besides the number of stops.
For example, what was his lowest moment from the time he became a prep star
at Coosa Central High School in Rockford, Ala., to the time he became one of
the best NBA Cinderella stories of the last decade?

關於Moon的過去，有比所待過球隊數目更吸引人的話題。例如在他從阿拉巴馬Coosa
Central高中的明星球員到成為過去十年NBA最棒的灰姑娘傳奇這段期間，甚麼時候是他
生涯最低潮的時期?

Was it when he had to literally break out of a three-story brick house in
Durham, N.C.?

是他在Durham, N.C.必須如同字面上"突破"三層樓紅磚房的時候嗎?

He and teammate Steven Hunter, who now plays for the Memphis Grizzlies, were
at Mt. Zion Academy, a basketball-centric private school he'd been recruited
to play for with the promise of grade-fixing and a quick jump to the NBA.

他和隊友Steven Hunter(現為灰熊隊球員)那時被Mt. Zion Academy，一所私立籃球名校
所招攬，承諾學業成績與登上NBA的捷徑。

"We had no TV and no phone. We'd practice at the church and go to school at
the church and then we'd go back to the dorm, the second floor. There was a
dead-bolt lock on the outside and they'd put us up there and lock the door,"
Moon said. "Steven and I took nails out of the window in the hallway, wiggled
out and jumped down. We ran over to McDonald's and I used the pay phone and
called home. I said they had to come and get me, it was not what it was
supposed to be. It was crazy."

"我們在那沒有電視沒有電話，我們在教堂裡練球，在教堂裡上課，然後回到宿舍，就在
教堂二樓。宿舍門是從外鎖死的，他們就把我們丟在那然後鎖上門，" Moon說。"Steven
和我從走廊的窗戶鑽出去然後跳下樓，我們跑到麥當勞用付費電話打回家，我和家人說
他們一定要來接我回去，這和我們之前預想的完全不一樣，真是太瘋狂了。"

Or was it in 2001, when Moon had lost his scholarship at Meridian Community
College in Mississippi after poor grades, also losing a chance to attend
Mississippi State, where he'd signed a letter of intent? He declared for the
NBA Draft and wasn't selected, then went 0-for-4 in trying to get a
training-camp invite after playing on various summer league teams and summer
minicamps.

抑或是在2001年，當Moon在密西西比Meridian Community College因為成績太差而失去
獎學金，同時失去密西西比州大入學機會的時候? 他宣布投入NBA選秀但卻沒被選上，在
加入幾支夏季聯盟球隊之後，連續被四支球隊拒絕邀請加入練習營。

Perhaps it was the time in 2004 when the owner of the Kentucky Colonels of
what was called the American Basketball Association stopped paying the
players. Moon played for free for a while before the team just folded.

或是2004年，當ABA聯盟的Kentucky Colonels老闆停止付球員薪水的時候? Moon在無薪
的情況下打了一段時間直到球隊被收起來。

"I was making $200 a week and everybody would run to the bank to cash the
checks before the money ran out," Moon remembered. "I was just happy playing;
you have to be at that point."

"我那時候一周只領$200鎂，每個人拿到支票都立刻衝到銀行兌現以免沒錢可領，" Moon
回憶到。"我那時候相當樂於打球，在那種時候你必須如此。"

There was his stint with the Harlem Globetrotters, where Moon feared being
cut if he wasn't able to convert every alley-oop pass. There was the time he
went to Russia on the promise of a good salary and spent four miserable days
in a dreary suburb of Moscow waiting for his first check that never came.

那陣子Moon打過哈林籃球隊，擔憂著被炒魷魚只因為不能完成每一個空中接力傳球。那
陣子Moon曾因為球隊承諾不錯的薪水而遠走俄羅斯，卻在陰暗的莫斯科郊區渡過可憐的
四天，只為了等待那張從未出現的第一張支票。

"That's too far away not to get paid. Maybe if I was in the states I would
have stuck it out," Moon said. "They said to wait until the next week and I
called up my translator and asked him to take me to the airport."

"那實在是等太久了，如果我是在美國也許我會繼續等，" Moon說。"他們叫我等到下個
星期，而我決定打電話給我的翻譯請他帶我去機場。"

How about the year in the Mexican League, when he played in Monterrey?

在墨西哥聯盟的那年又如何，當他在Monterrey隊打球時?

"When I got there some of the other guys I knew from the minor-league circuit
said they liked it," Moon said. "I did it, it was nice, I'm still friends
with the owner of that team and his son."

"當我到那邊時，一些我在小聯盟認識的球員告訴我他們喜歡那裏，" Moon說。"我確實
喜歡，那裏不賴，我到現在仍然是那支球隊老闆和他兒子的好朋友。"

And what of the long months spent with teams in Dodge City, Kan., Rome, Ga.,
Enid, Okla., Gary, Ind., and Albany, N.Y., and all the nowhere road trips in
those leagues?

那在Dodge City, Kan., Rome, Ga.,Enid, Okla., Gary, Ind., and Albany, N.Y.,等地
渡過的那幾個月呢?

"In places like that, if you were hurt all we had was ice," Moon said.
"People were afraid to say they were hurting. If you were hurt, you were out
of there."

"在那裡，當你受傷時只有冰敷，" Moon說。"大家不敢說自己受傷了，假如你受了傷，
你就會被踢出去。"

Three different times Moon made it on an NBA Development League team -- in
places like Fort Worth, Huntsville, Ala., and Mobile, Ala. -- and three times
he eventually was released. He was in his late 20s with a bleak future and
yet he still didn't give up.

Moon曾經三度加入NBA發展聯盟球隊，分別是Fort Worth, Huntsville, Ala., and
Mobile, Ala. --但是三度被釋出。即使快30歲，前途一片黯淡，他始終沒有放棄希望。

"I was going to play until my legs didn't move anymore," Moon said. "You meet
new people all the time and it was a wonderful life and I was ready to ride
it until the wheels fall off."

"我會打到我的腿不能動為止，" Moon說。"我不斷遇到新的朋友，這樣的生活很美好，
我會一直持續下去。"

He turns career around in Albany: The wheels didn't fall off; in 2006 they
started getting some traction. While with the Albany Patroons on the most
recent incarnation of the Continental Basketball Association, Moon started
playing for coach Michael Ray Richardson.

他來到Albany，加入了CBA聯盟的Albany Patroons隊，Moon在教練Michael Ray
Richardson麾下打球。

Richardson, a former star with the New York Knicks and New Jersey Nets, knew
a little something about overcoming adversity. He was trying to put a
coaching career together after his NBA career ended after a long battle with
drugs. He helped Moon channel his abilities for the first time.

Richardson，紐約尼克及紐澤西籃網的前明星球員，知道如何克服困境。他在結束了球
員生涯以及與毒品的長期奮戰之後，開啟了他的教練生涯。他首次幫助Moon活用他的能
力。

"I always scored points and got rebounds, but one day I asked coach
Richardson what I had to do to get in the league. He told me to find
something that a lot of people don't do because they have scorers and
rebounders," Moon said. "I came the next day and asked to defend the best
player on the other team and devoted myself to it. Ever since that day I've
been at it."

"我能夠得分，能搶籃板，但是有天我問教練Richardson，我要如何才能進NBA。他告訴
我去找出許多人做不到的事情，在NBA已經有太多的得分與籃板高手了，" Moon說。"隔
天，我請求教練讓我防守對方最好的球員，並且致力於此，就從那天開始。"

The Toronto Raptors saw him in Albany and invited Moon to a minicamp in the
summer of 2007. So did the Cavs, but he never made it to Cleveland. After
seeing him, the Raptors signed him to a contract and within months he was in
their starting lineup. With his athletic ability he became a cult hero in
Toronto, and with his willingness to defend, he became popular with people in
the NBA.

Toronto Raptors在Albany看到他的表現，並且邀請Moon參加2007的暑期訓練營。騎士當
年也有邀請他，不過他並沒有來Cleveland。看過他的表現後，Raptors簽下他，幾個月內
他就成為先發球員。靠著出色的運動能力，他成為多倫多球迷眼中的英雄，而他的積極
防守態度也使他在NBA中越來越廣為人知。

The then 27-year-old rookie is now a 29-year-old key free-agent signing by
the Cavs, mostly because of his interest in defending.

當年的27歲菜鳥現在已經是個29歲的自由球員，如今被騎士隊簽下，最主要的原因就是
他積極的防守。

They gave him a two-year, $6 million contract; the $3 million this season is
significantly more than he made in two years with the Raptors and Heat, plus
all those years in the minors combined.

騎士隊開給他一份兩年共$6,000,000的合約，今年的$3M薪水比他過去兩年在暴龍與熱
火，還有其他所有待過球隊的薪資總和還要高。

"He's the same guy now as he was as a rookie and knowing him. I'd bet he's
probably got the same attitude and approach to life as he did when he was
going through all that stuff to get to the NBA," said Cavs teammate Anthony
Parker, who played with Moon when he came into the league in Toronto.

"他仍然和當年菜鳥時還有我認識他的時候一個樣，我打賭他的態度還是和他當初爭取
加入NBA時一樣，" 現為騎士隊友，過去在暴龍一起打過球的Anthony Parker這麼說。

"He worked at it because he loves it. People say they'd play the game for
free and sometimes you're asked to prove it."

"他努力打球因為他熱愛打球，人們常說他們願意不求回報的打球而有時候你會被要求
證明它。"

No one will question that Moon's proved himself. He's a basketball survivor
and now expected to contribute on a team with championship aspirations. It
was a long journey to get here, one Moon truly still can't get his mind
around, but he lives the creed of the journeyman. To make this stop home.

沒有人懷疑Moon證明了他自己，他在籃球世界中存活了下來，如今被期望對一支有機
會獲得總冠軍的球隊做出貢獻。這是一段遙遠的旅程，一段仍然令Moon難以置信，但靠
著堅持自己的信念走了過來，他期望能把這一站當做家。

"Maybe if I had an opportunity at [age] 22 I would have wasted it," Moon
said. "Maybe God wanted me to be a better man so I wouldn't waste. It wasn't
my time. Now it is and it was a great delivery."

"假如我在22歲時有這樣的機會，我可能會浪費了它，" Moon說。"也許上帝希望我不至
於浪費而能成為更好的人，那時候時機還未到，現在時機已成熟，這真是太棒了。"

--
※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc) 
◆ From: 192.35.79.70
推 sorryboy:推!
推 hump:推因籃球夢而努力不謝的人
推 aimjvc:推因籃球夢而努力不謝的人
推 pasti:推因籃球夢而努力不謝的人
推 Otsukaerika:好辛苦的感覺    MOON來CLE發光發熱吧!!!
推 d88647511:推推  溫馨騎士最適合他了
推 libra13:讚 希望Moon能在騎士大展身手！
→ Kreen:推，我超喜歡他的！
推 brian76420:推月亮！希望開季以後能看到他不錯的表現XD
推 cherngru:推~