http://goo.gl/ZX7AUY
Mel Daniels and Bob Netolicky: Best friends to the end
Bob Netolicky began his day Friday with a phone call from his best friend,
Mel Daniels. Even though they had chatted the night before about the Indiana
Pacers, Daniels wanted to spend more time with Netolicky.
Bob Netolicky禮拜五的早上是被一通來自他最要好的朋友，Mel Daniels的電話叫醒的。
儘管他們昨天晚上才聊過關於溜馬的話題，Daniels仍然想和Netolicky多相處一些時間。
About 12:30 p.m., Netolicky said Daniels asked him the usual questions: “
Hey, how are you doing? I’m feeling good. You want to go to lunch?”
大概在中午12點半的時候，Netolicky說Daniels問了他一如既往的問題：「嗨，你過得如
何啊？我現在很好。要不要一起吃頓午飯？」
They agreed on Lincoln Square Pancake House in Westfield. Netolicky arrived a
little after 1 p.m. He ordered coffee, grabbed two menus and told the waiter
his former Pacers teammate would join him. Daniels was usually late anyway.
After 20 minutes, Netolicky began to wonder where Daniels was. He called
Daniels 10 minutes later. No answer. Netolicky ordered soup. He called again,
after another five minutes. Still no answer.
他們約在位於西田的林肯廣場煎餅屋。Netolicky在過了下午1點左右後到達，他點了咖啡
，拿了兩份菜單並告訴服務生他的前隊友也會來。Daniels總是會遲到一點。20分鐘後，
Netolicky開始好奇Daniels人到哪裡去了。他10分鐘後打了通電話給他，沒有回應，於是
Netolicky先點了湯。過了五分鐘後，他又打了通電話，還是沒人接。
“I had this crazy premonition,” Netolicky told the IndyStar in a telephone
interview Saturday. “I thought, maybe something is wrong.”
禮拜六Netolicky在星報的電話訪問中表示：「我當時有種荒唐的預感。我想大概是有什
麼不對勁的地方。」
He told the waiter that he would run up to this buddy’s house, make sure he
was OK and that they would be right back. It took Netolicky 15 minutes to get
from the restaurant to Daniels’ home and farm in Sheridan. A truck Daniels
had received from the Pacers about a year ago was running, but motionless.
他告訴服務生他要去他兄弟的家裡一趟，看他人是否還好，然後很快就會回來。
Netolicky從餐廳到Daniels在謝里丹的老家和農場花了15分鐘。幾年前溜馬贈與Daniels
的一輛卡車正在發動，但裡頭卻沒動靜。
Netolicky ran to the truck and found Daniels slumped over in the driver’s
seat. Netolicky turned off the truck and checked Daniels for a pulse. None.
He called 911. Then for 20 minutes, while still on the phone with emergency
response, he performed CPR on Daniels. But Netolicky knew the sad reality.
His friend, Mel Daniels, had died.
Netolicky跑向卡車然後發現Daniels癱在駕駛座上。Netolicky把卡車熄火並檢查Daniels
有沒有脈搏，然後叫了救護車。20分鐘後，他照著電話中救難人員的指示對Daniels做了
心肺復甦術。但Netolicky明白了這個傷心的事實。他的朋友，Mel Daniels已經過世了。
“My heart kind of hit the floor,” Netolicky said. “It was almost like a
surreal experience. I couldn’t believe what was really happening.
Unfortunately, the worse thought I had was the outcome. It was a very, very
rough day.”
Netolicky表示：「我的心就像被掏空了一樣。這很沒有真實感。我無法相信眼前發生的
事。不幸的是，結果比我想像的還糟。這是個非常、非常艱苦的一天。」
Netolicky, 73, declined to speak to reporters Friday after Daniels’ death.
On Saturday, just before the Pacers honored Daniels with a moment of silence
before their home game, Netolicky reminisced about his teammate. Daniels was
71.
在Daniels過世後當天，73歲的Netolicky謝絕了媒體的訪問。隔天，當溜馬於主場比賽前
為Daniels默哀之前，Netolicky回憶起了他這位享壽71歲的隊友。
“Even when I was pulling him out of the car and working on him, I was having
this (feeling), ‘My gosh,’” Netolicky said. “I was almost glad I was
there because we were so close. If anybody had to find him, thank God it was
me. I’m fortunate he didn’t get in his truck and was driving down the road.
It could have been a lot worse. I guess it was his time.”
Netolicky說道：「即使在我把他拉出車外並急救的當下，心裡就已經在喊：『我的老天
啊』了。我其實有點高興我當時人在場，因為我們真的非常要好。我很感謝老天我是看到
他臨終的那個人。我覺得他沒有開車上路是件很幸運的事，因為情況可能會變得更糟。我
想他的時候到了。」
As Netolicky followed the ambulance to Riverview Hospital in Noblesville, he
called Daniels’ wife, CeCe, who was out shopping. Then former teammate
Darnell Hillman, legendary coach Bobby “Slick” Leonard and Pacers
consultant Donnie Walsh. He told them all to meet him at the hospital and
that Daniels was in bad shape.
當Netolicky跟著救護車前往諾布斯維爾的河景醫院時，他聯絡了Daniel正在外出購物的
妻子Cece，前隊友Darnell Hillman與傳奇教練Bobby “Slick” Leonard和溜馬的顧問
Donnie Walsh。他請他們來醫院一趟，Daniels的狀況不妙。
The doctors confirmed Netolicky’s fear. The doctors did not tell Netolicky
the cause of death. He was pretty sure he knew, though.
醫生證實了Netolicky的恐懼。雖然醫生沒有告訴Netolicky死因，但他對此相當確信。
“I’m not stupid,” he said. “It had to be a heart attack. It was just
inevitable. It was going to happen some day, but I wished it had waited a few
years.”
他表示：「我還沒有老糊塗，原因八成是心臟病。這是必然的。它總有一天會發生，只是
我本希望能再等個幾年。」
Netolicky had been with Daniels throughout his heart problems for many years.
Two weeks ago, Daniels had quadruple bypass heart surgery.
Netolicky已經陪Daniels對抗心臟問題好幾年了。兩週前，Daniels才剛經歷一次四重心
臟繞道手術。
When Hillman, Leonard and Walsh arrived at the hospital, they did not know
that Daniels had passed away. Netolicky, along with CeCe, had to tell Daniels
’ loved ones the unfortunate news. He said the emotion in the waiting room
was disbelief.
當Hillman、Leonard和Walsh抵達醫院的時候，他們還不知道Daniels已經過世了。
Netolicky得要陪著Cece來告訴Daniels的摯友們這個不幸的消息。他表示在候診室的每人
都是一副難以置信的樣子。
When CeCe finally left the hospital, she looked at Netolicky and said two
words: “Thank you.”
當Cece最後離開醫院時，她看著Netolicky並說了「謝謝」兩個字。
Netolicky said he thought of many memories from his almost 50-year friendship
with Daniels after not getting much sleep Friday night. He first met Daniels
when they were in college in the 1960s as opponents, with Netolicky at Drake
and Daniels at Burlington Junior College in Iowa. Netolicky said he was
thankful God made them teammates in the American Basketball Association.
Netolicky表示他在禮拜五晚上輾轉難眠時想起很多與Daniels這位結交超過50年的朋友諸
多回憶。他們第一次相見是在1960年代以對手的身分，當Netolicky所在的德瑞克大學對
上Daniels就讀的愛荷華伯靈頓短期大學時。Netolicky表示他很感謝上帝讓他們在ABA成
為隊友。
“Playing against him was a very hard thing to do,” Netolicky said. “He was
strong, mean, the toughest guy you would ever see on the court. He had one
thing in his mind and that was to win. He wasn’t dirty, but he was what I
would call driven.”
Netolicky表示：「要和他對抗是件非常困難的事，他很強壯、剽悍，是你在場上見過最
硬的人。他心中一直想著贏球這件事。他並不髒，不過是會被我稱作『執著』的男人。」
As teammates, the Pacers dominated the ABA.
在他們成為隊友的期間，溜馬統治了ABA。
Daniels, with Netolicky with him on the court, led the Pacers to three ABA
championships in four years, won the league’s Most Valuable Player award
twice and made seven All-Star appearances. The Pacers retired his No. 34
jersey in 1985 and he later earned induction into the Naismith Memorial
Basketball Hall of Fame. He averaged 19.4 points and 16.0 rebounds during his
six seasons with the Pacers.
Daniels在Netolicky與他上場並肩作戰的期間，帶領溜馬四年內拿下三座ABA冠軍，得過
兩次MVP並入選七次全明星賽。溜馬在1985年退休了他的34號球衣，並在之後入選了籃球
名人堂。他在溜馬的七個球季間平均可得19.4分與16個籃板。
Netolicky called Daniels a loyal, passionate and honorable man.
Netolicky稱Daniels是個忠誠、熱情並且值得尊敬的男人。
He said it was great to see so many people express their love for Daniels,
including former teammates, Hall of Famer Reggie Miller and current players
on social media.
他表示看到這麼多人，包含前隊友們、名人堂球員Reggie Miller與現役球員在社群媒體
上表達他們對Daniels的愛是件很棒的事。
“I knew it would be like that because I knew how everybody felt about Mel,”
Netolicky said. “I noticed the outpouring on Facebook and things like that.
The younger generation in this town, I hope they take a good, hard look. They
have no idea what kind of player this guy was. Anybody who could have had a
chance to play with a guy like this has to consider himself super fortunate.
That’s the way I feel. I was the luckiest guy in the world to play play with
him.”
「我知道這是必然的事情，因為我了解大家都是怎麼看Mel的。」Netolicky表示。「我注
意到臉書上滿溢的愛以及其他類似的情形。我希望這個城中的年輕一代也能認真地看待這
件事。他們不了解這個人是怎樣的球員。任何可以和他一起打球的人都會覺得這無比幸運
。這就是我的感覺。和他打球讓我覺得自己是世界上最幸運的人。」
Before Saturday’s game, the Pacers showed a video tribute of Daniels. It
showed a highlight of him dunking, his retired number in the rafters and a
photo of him smiling and holding the ABA’s signature red, white and blue
basketball. The public address announcer called Daniels a champion.
在禮拜六的比賽前，溜馬播放了紀念Daniels的影片。影片中包含了他的灌籃、高掛的退
休球衣以及一張他拿著ABA標誌的紅白藍三色籃球的照片。公廣播音員稱Daniels是位冠軍
。
The Pacers plan to have a celebration of Daniel’s life during halftime of
Wednesday’s game. A public memorial service will be held at Bankers Life
Fieldhouse on Thursday afternoon with more details to be finalized.
溜馬打算在禮拜三比賽的中場休息時紀念Daniels的生涯。而預定會有更多的細節內容出
現在禮拜四下午於班克斯人壽球館舉行的追思會中。
Netolicky plans to attend the service. He is not sure whether he will speak
about Daniels during the memorial. He still cannot believe his best friend is
gone.
Netolicky計畫出席這個追思會。他還不確定是否會在儀式中發表關於Daniels的談話。他
仍然不願相信他的朋友就這麼走了。
“Still, today,” Netolicky said, “I keep thinking he’s going to call me on
the phone.”
「即使到了今天，我仍然認為他會打電話給我。」Netolicky在最後說道。
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
40年前攜手奪冠的隊友至今還有聯繫也真不容易。
天國第一隊又多一位成員了。
--
※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc), 來自: 118.171.8.66
※ 文章網址: https://www.ptt.cc/bbs/PACERS/M.1446531056.A.65B.html