忠誠

Gabriel Baumgaertner

SACRAMENTO KINGS FANS REMAIN LOYAL DESPITE YEARS OF INSTABILITY， LOSING.

盡管經(jīng)歷多年的不穩(wěn)定與失敗，薩克拉門托國王隊(duì)的球迷依然對球隊(duì)保持忠誠。

Bob Dreizler， section 202 row B， usually glances at the mornings Sacramento Bee on his front porch. He doesnt want to stand too long outside in his underwear.

鮑勃·德雷茲勒，坐在202區(qū)的B排，他通常會在早上瞅一眼門廳里的《薩克拉門托蜜蜂報(bào)》。他不想穿著內(nèi)褲站在屋外太久。

On Monday morning， he paused.

星期一早上，他停住了。

"Mike Malone fired？"

“邁克·馬龍被炒了？”

Nancy Daley， section 115 row V， was alarmed to find some 300 new tweets on her timeline after finishing a Netflix① movie before falling asleep Sunday night. She learned why once she refreshed her browser.

南希·戴利，坐在1 15區(qū)的V排，周日晚上在Netflix上看了一場電影后準(zhǔn)備睡覺時，她發(fā)現(xiàn)自己推特時間線上多了300條更新。刷新瀏覽器后，她明白怎么回事了。

"Malone fired？"

“馬龍被炒了？”

Mark Drobny， center court Row D， found out by text message.

馬克·德羅布尼坐在中間區(qū)域的D排，他是從短信上得知的這一消息的。

"Malone … fired？"

“馬龍……被炒了？”

The most tortured group of NBA fans over the past decade， Sacramento Kings fans are now supporting their seventh coach （Tyrone Corbin） in eight seasons. Soon， they may meet number eight. Volatile， but respected， Malone arrived from Golden State 18 months ago， handpicked by owner Vivek Ranadive， who purchased the franchise from embattled former owners Gavin and Joe Maloof in 2013. The coach lasted only 107 games -- longer than three of his predecessors since Rick Adelman left the team in 2006.

作為過去十年NBA最受折磨的球迷團(tuán)體，薩克拉門托國王的球迷們?nèi)缃裾谥С智蜿?duì)八個賽季里的第七個主教練（泰倫·科賓）。很快，他們可能就要面對第八個主教練了。馬龍脾氣火爆，卻廣受尊敬，18個月前，他從金州勇士來到國王，球隊(duì)老板維維克·拉納戴夫親自選擇了他。2013年，拉納戴夫從四面楚歌的前老板加文·馬魯夫以及喬·馬魯夫手里買下了國王。馬龍只維持了107場比賽——自從2006年里克·阿德爾曼離開后，馬龍比他的三個前任延續(xù)的時間都要長。

"Can you even name the Kings coaches since Adelman？" asks Drobny， who has held his tickets since the team moved to Sacramento in 1985. Adelman led the team to eight playoff berths in his eight seasons in charge and built one of the NBAs most formidable franchises. When he departed， the team bottomed out. His successors （Eric Musselman， Reggie Theus， Kenny Natt， Paul Westphal and Keith Smart） were at the bottom -- or totally absent --from other teams wish lists. Few fans or season-ticket holders can remember them all.

“你能說出阿德爾曼后的國王教練嗎？”德羅布尼問道，自從國王在1985年搬到薩克拉門托后，他就一直買票看比賽。阿德爾曼主管球隊(duì)的八年里，他帶領(lǐng)球隊(duì)八次打進(jìn)季后賽，他們是NBA最強(qiáng)大的球隊(duì)之一。他離開后，球隊(duì)淪陷了。他的繼任者們（埃里克·穆塞爾曼、雷吉·托伊斯、肯尼·奈特、保羅·威斯特法爾和基斯·斯瑪特）在其他球隊(duì)的候選名單上全部排名墊底，甚至都看不到名字，所以也幾乎沒有球迷，或者季票持有人能記起他們的名字。

A group still bruised by the former owners attempts to move the team and exhausted by the grassroots effort to help save it， Sacramento fans -- once the jewel of the NBAs mid-market franchises -- must embrace a new coach， a new scheme， and another promise that they will， one day， be feared by the rest of the NBA. For most， their fondness lingers for the teams of the early-aughts. They try to name a nadir from the last decade， but there are too many bungled draft picks， expired contracts and relocation threats to remember.

這是一個仍然被前老板企圖搬走球隊(duì)傷害著的團(tuán)體，試圖依靠草根的努力拯救球隊(duì)讓他們更是精疲力盡。國王球迷——他們曾是NBA中型市場里最耀眼的明星——必須接納一個新教練，一個新規(guī)劃，以及又一個球隊(duì)會再一次讓全聯(lián)盟感到恐懼的承諾。對于大多數(shù)人來說，他們對球隊(duì)的喜愛已經(jīng)消磨殆盡。他們試圖找出過去十年中最糟糕的時刻，可是記憶中卻有著太多糟糕的選秀、到期合同以及威脅搬遷球隊(duì)的往事。

Scarred is one way to describe them. Dreizler has another term.

飽受創(chuàng)傷只是描述他們狀態(tài)的一種形式，而德雷茲勒還有另一種說法。

"My son， Ross， and I have been going to Kings games for 25 years now，" he says. "Were that disturbed."

“我兒子羅斯和我已經(jīng)看了25年國王的比賽?！彼f，“我們就是這么不正常?！?/p>

Despite the Maloofs oppressive ownership -- the constant losing and fluctuating roster -- many returned fearing the departure of the citys one major professional franchise. While some fans renewed their season tickets， others purchased them just to try and keep the team in town. Once the most voracious fans in the NBA， some of the associations most devoted supporters were forced to watch a roster full of lackluster players claw their way to one fruitless season after another.

盡管有著馬魯夫兄弟令人壓抑的管理——持久的失敗，永遠(yuǎn)變動的陣容——但很多回來看球的人擔(dān)心的卻是，他們會失去城市里重要的一支職業(yè)球隊(duì)。雖然有球迷繼續(xù)購買季票，但其他人買票只是為了讓球隊(duì)繼續(xù)留在自己的城市。他們曾經(jīng)是NBA里最強(qiáng)大的球迷，作為聯(lián)盟中最忠實(shí)的球迷，如今他們卻被迫看著了無生趣的陣容，在一個又一個無果的賽季中掙扎。

For some， the firing of Malone revived that familiar trauma of instability fostered by the Maloofs neglect.

對于一些人來說，炒掉馬龍重新喚起了人們因?yàn)轳R魯夫家族的忽視，而導(dǎo)致球隊(duì)不穩(wěn)定所引起的創(chuàng)傷。

For others， it was confidence that Ranadive and his new ownership group were committed to the promise of winning. But can that happen by firing another coach -- the third midseason dismissal in the last seven seasons-- only 25 games in？

而對于其他人而言，他們是相信拉納戴夫和他的新所有權(quán)集團(tuán)的，他們相信管理層致力于贏球的承諾。但這能通過在賽季只進(jìn)行25場比賽，就再次炒掉一名教練來實(shí)現(xiàn)嗎？這是他們過去七個賽季里第三次在賽季中炒掉教練了。

"We have this saying among Kings fans called Being Maloofed， says Laura Good， section 202 row E， who supported Malones ouster. "And when Malone was fired， that phrase started popping up again."

“我們國王球迷中有一種說法，叫‘被馬魯夫了?！弊?02區(qū)E排的勞拉·古德說，她支持趕走馬魯夫家族，“當(dāng)馬龍被炒時，這種說法又一次出現(xiàn)了?！?/p>

The Kings entered this season with a bonafide star （DeMarcus Cousins）， a pure scorer （Rudy Gay）， a blossoming talent （Ben McLemore） and an upand-coming coach. Though not a playoff contender in a stacked Western Conference， the Kings are rich with promising talent and feature one of the NBAs most intriguing rosters. Malone， a fierce leader who earned praise for helping engineer the Warriors turnaround， appeared an ideal fit. He nurtured a mercurial star in Cousins， engendered a loyalty in his players and garnered respect after working with USA Basketball this past summer.

這個賽季開始時，國王有一個真正的球星（德馬庫斯·考辛斯），一個純得分手（魯?shù)稀どw伊），一個正在爆發(fā)的新人（本·麥克勒莫），還有一個積極進(jìn)取的主教練。盡管在強(qiáng)隊(duì)如云的西部算不上季后賽球隊(duì)，但國王陣容卻有前途似錦的新人，而且有著全聯(lián)盟最讓人心動的陣容。馬龍是一個無所畏懼的領(lǐng)袖，因?yàn)閹椭率繜ㄈ灰恍拢A得了外界的贊賞，看上去他適合這支球隊(duì)。他安撫了一個脾氣變化無常的球星考辛斯，在球員中樹立了忠誠的概念，過去這個夏天，加入美國國家隊(duì)還讓他贏得了尊重。

The project looked successful when the Kings started the season 9-5 and began fulfilling a starved， relentlessly passionate fanbase that last enjoyed a winning season eight seasons and six coaches ago. But after Cousins fell violently ill with viral meningitis and missed 10 games， the Kings lost eight of them. After the seventh loss， Malone was out of a job and the Kings， again， were in flux.

當(dāng)國王打出9勝5負(fù)的開局時，球隊(duì)看上去取得了成功，并且滿足了渴望成功、永遠(yuǎn)充滿激情的球迷們的愿望，這些球迷上一次享受到勝利賽季的喜悅，還要追溯到八個賽季和六個主教練之前。但在考辛斯因?yàn)閲?yán)重的腦膜炎病倒并且缺席10場比賽時，國王輸?shù)袅似渲?場。第七場失利過后，馬龍丟掉了工作，國王再一次處于變動之中。

Most inside the basketball world saw the firing as a brash， tone-deaf move， especially since Malone didnt have his best player on the floor. Some fans were displeased that it occurred one game before the Kings were set to retire three-point legend Peja Stojakovics number. But a sub-.500 record is unacceptable under the new ownership.

大多數(shù)籃球圈內(nèi)人將解雇馬龍視為魯莽、盲目的行為，在馬龍手下最好的球員無法上場的情況下，作出如此決定讓一切變得更不可思議。一些球迷對此很不高興，因?yàn)檫@距離國王退役三分傳奇佩賈·斯托賈科維奇的球衣只差了一場比賽。但在新老板眼中，勝率低于50%是不可接受的。

Losing -- any losing -- is unacceptable to Vivek Ranadive.

失利——任何失利——對于維維克·拉納戴夫而言都是不可接受的。

"Malone seemed to be doing a really good job with the team，" Dreizler says. "The last three or four games were really sad. But just because they played terribly against Detroit， is that really a reason to fire the coach？"

“馬龍似乎做得很不錯?！钡吕灼澙照f，“過去三四場比賽確實(shí)很讓人傷心，但僅僅因?yàn)樗麄儗钊麜r打得很糟糕，這真的就是炒掉教練的理由嗎？”

Carmichael Dave， a prominent Sacramento sports radio host and former leader of the "Here We Stay" campaign to keep the Kings in town， posted a Twitter poll asking fans if they supported the firing -- 228 out of 252 responders said no. Good， a social media maven who lauds the Kings unparalleled community support， posted a poll where 88 percent of responders answered "angry" or "uncertain" to the news of Malones ouster.

卡爾邁克爾·戴夫是薩克拉門托著名的體育電臺主持人，也是將國王留下來的“我們留在這里”運(yùn)動的領(lǐng)袖，他在自己的推特上發(fā)起投票，詢問球迷是否支持解雇教練的決定——252個參與的人中有228個表示反對。很好，一個稱贊國王擁有無與倫比球迷支持的社交媒體專家，在他發(fā)起的一個投票中，有88%的人對馬龍被炒的新聞表示“憤怒”或“不確定”。

Sacramento， state capital and the apex of Californias central valley， is a sprawling metropolis of 475，000 that， according to Dreizler， "everybody passes through there， but not everybody stays. The running joke is that were about two hours away from every great place in California."

薩克拉門托，加州首府，也是加州山谷的中心，城市區(qū)域有475000英尺，據(jù)德雷茲勒說，“每個人都會經(jīng)過這里，但沒人留下來。我們經(jīng)常說的一個笑話就是，我們距離加州每一處好地方都差著兩個小時的車程?！?/p>

"My grandson got a Tyreke Evans jersey for Christmas a couple years ago，" Driezler says. "He was fun to watch. But now hes gone， too."

“我孫子幾年前圣誕節(jié)得到了一件泰雷克·埃文斯的球衣?！钡吕灼澙照f，“看他打球很有趣。但他現(xiàn)在也走了。”

"Malones firing was unfortunate，" Daley says. "But at least hes our coach to fire， not Seattles."

"馬龍被炒很不幸。"戴利說，"但至少他是我們可以炒的教練，不是西雅圖的。"

On the night of Stojakovics jersey retiring， the first game of the postMalone era， Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder pulled away late in the fourth quarter to send the Kings to their tenth loss in 12 games. The irony of losing to the NBAs new mid-market darlings on a night honoring a team legend was bitter. Their NBA-worst eight seasons without a playoff berth will likely become nine come April.

斯托賈科維奇球衣退役的那天晚上，也就是后馬龍時代的第一場比賽，凱文·杜蘭特和雷霆在第四節(jié)最后發(fā)力，讓國王吃到了最近12場比賽中的第9場敗仗。在一個向球隊(duì)傳奇致敬的夜晚輸給了NBA新的中型球市寵兒，這種諷刺感無疑是苦澀的。他們在NBA中最差的連續(xù)八個賽季未能進(jìn)入季后賽的紀(jì)錄，可能在四月要變成九了。

"You know， I bet $20 every year that the Kings are going to win the title，" Dreizler says. "This year the odds were 200-1."

“你知道，每年我都會壓20塊錢，賭國王能贏得總冠軍?！钡吕灼澙照f，“今年的賠率是200比1?！?/p>

But he still made the bet.

但他仍去下了注。

①Netflix是付費(fèi)電影電視劇網(wǎng)站，也是美國最有影響力的影視網(wǎng)站之一，《紙牌屋》就是這一網(wǎng)站拍攝的電視劇。