The Kindness of Kevin Durant
大慈大悲雷帝天尊
Thunder forward Kevin Durant is a humble superstar. From making sure
photographers are OK after courtside crashes to signing autograph after
autograph, Durant has always remembered his mother's sage advice: “It didn't
have to be you.”
雷霆前鋒 Kevin Durant 是個謙虛的超級明星。不管是關心場邊被撞到的攝影師，還是
一次又一次地為人簽名的時候，他都記得母親的話，「 我一生只曉得這一個完全的人，你要學他，不要跌他的股」，不是啦，「 這些事情並不是非你莫屬的。 」
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Layne Murdoch sat camped under the basket, on the cusp of capturing a
potentially picture-perfect portrait. He steadied his lens as the
three-on-two fast break crept closer to him. He held his position even when
the action became too close for comfort.
Layne Murdoch 就坐在場邊，等待著按下快門、捕捉完美鏡頭的瞬間。
在三打二快攻向他衝來的同時，他握穩了鏡頭。即使整個過程已經近到令人捏把冷汗，他依舊不動如山。
Suddenly, Kevin Durant slammed into him, the contact from two Charlotte
Bobcats defenders sending him crashing to the floor following a reverse layup
attempt.
忽然間，Kevin Durant [30m嬌喘一聲 [m倒進了他的懷裡，因為兩名山貓球員在防守時的撞擊，讓 Durant 在反手上籃之後應聲倒地。
Durant, the Oklahoma City Thunder superstar, banged his head at the end of
the play. Murdoch was knocked over on impact. Durant rolled around in pain
while rubbing the back of his head. Yet, with his noggin throbbing, and his
team nursing a tenuous one-point lead in the second half, Durant still had
the presence of mind to turn his attention to the well-being of someone else,
something more significant than the scoreboard.
Oklahoma City 雷霆的超級明星 Durant 在之後撞到了頭，而 Murdoch 也在碰撞中倒地，Durant 因為痛楚而抱著後腦在地上翻滾。但即使頭暈目眩，而且雷霆只領先了一分，Durant 依舊關心了比分數更重要的事情：現場另一個人的狀況。
He asked Murdoch if he was all right.
他問的是 Murdoch 是否安然無恙。
“It kind of cracked me up because I was really concerned about him,”
Murdoch said. “I was like, ‘Yeah I'm OK. Are you OK?'”
「嚇我一跳，因為我在想的是他有沒有事，」Murdoch 表示，「我當時就像是，
『呃，我沒事啊，是你有沒有事啊？』」
Murdoch is the NBA's team photographer for the Thunder. In his 31 years of
taking NBA photos, he's been barreled over by everyone from Hakeem Olajuwon
to Karl Malone. The Mailman actually sat on Murdoch with no regard while
arguing a call with a referee. And Murdoch's seen much worse, like the
infamous image of Dennis Rodman kicking a cameraman in the groin following a
crash in Minnesota — and then laughing about it.
Murdoch 是雷霆的隨隊攝影師。在他 31 年的 NBA 攝影生涯中，他曾經被
Hakeem Olajuwon、Karl Malone 等等各種「大」咖輾過。魔鬼筋肉人郵差先生在跟裁判爭犯規的時候根本是無視他的存在，就大喇喇地坐在 Murdoch 身上。Murdoch 也見過更慘的狀況，例如 Dennis Rodman 在 Minnisota 比賽中的碰撞之後狠狠踹了攝影師一腳這個「經典畫面」－而且踹完他還笑得很爽。
But after his collision with Durant, Murdoch joined a rapidly growing group
that has experienced the kindness of Kevin Durant. It's a trait that Durant
displays daily, but one that runs deeper than anything fans see on television.
不過在跟 Durant 的碰撞之後，Murdoch 立刻加入了「Durant 是個好人」俱樂部。這是Durant 每天都會表現出的一幕，但這比球迷在電視上看到的更讓人記憶深刻。
Now in his fourth season, Durant's congeniality off the court has become as
captivating as anything he's capable of delivering on it. His compassion is
all-inclusive. Custodial workers inside Oklahoma City Arena receive the same
respect as team chairman Clay Bennett. Fans have been extended the same
hospitality Durant reserves for friends and family.
生涯進入第四季的 Durant 在場外的模範生言行比場內的表現更加亮眼。他有著大愛啊。OKC 球場的工人和球隊總裁受到的是他一視同仁的待遇，而球迷則體會到像朋友和家人一樣的友善。
And it's no act. Ask anyone who's been around Durant about his genuineness
and they'll assure you it's legit.
這不是在演戲。隨便抓一個 Durant 身邊的人，問問看他究竟私底下是如何，他們就會
向你保證其中的真實性。
“He's always had a maturity about him of being that positive role model,”
said Utah guard Earl Watson, a teammate of Durant's during his first two NBA
seasons. “He didn't come into the league as an immature individual, which is
rare for someone so young.”
「他一直以來都是一個成熟的人，是個正面的模範，」阿爵後衛 Earl Watson 表示。
他的生涯前兩季都是 Durant 的隊友。「他進聯盟的時候就已經不是一個幼稚小鬼，以
這個年紀的人來說，這很少見。」
Watch Durant work a room, taking time for strangers like they're old friends,
and you'll forget the young man is still just 22. Most his age haven't been
out of college a full year. Durant, meanwhile, has the weight of a
professional sports franchise and, to an extent, a city on his back. And he's
making carrying them look easy.
你可以去看看 Durant 是怎麼為一個陌生人挪像老朋友一樣出空間、橋出時間，然後你就會忘記這個年輕人才 22 歲。大多數 22 歲的人都還沒大學畢業超過一年，而 Durant 則已經在背上扛著一支職業運動球隊，甚至可以說是一座城市。但他的表現卻怡然自得。
“He's such a great ambassador to not only our organization but the entire
NBA off the floor,” said Thunder coach Scott Brooks.
「他不只是我們球隊，更是整個 NBA 的親善大使，」雷霆教練 Scott Brooks 表示。
Durant is a pro athlete without a sliver of a sense of entitlement. He has an
admitted passion for pleasing and “wanting to see people happy.” Of the few
times Durant turns down requests, he generally is being ushered away by his
handlers. Even then, Durant apologizes and explains he has to go while being
hurried away.
Durant 是一個毫無距離感，也不耍大牌的職業球員。他有著取悅他人的熱情，「想要
看到大家都開心的樣子」。即使是少數他拒絕別人的時候，通常也是有急事在身。但就
算如此，他還是會道歉並且在趕路的同時不斷解釋他時間很趕。
“I just tell myself that I need to do what Jesus would do,” Durant said. “
He would do the same thing, go the extra mile just to please people. So I
said why not me?”
「我只是告訴我自己，耶穌會怎麼做，那我就要怎麼做，」Durant 表示，「他也會這麼做，多走一點點路就能讓更多人開心。那為什麼我不行？」
‘I like to see people smiling'
「我喜歡看到別人的笑臉」
Durant entered the NBA as the next big thing. He was the player of the year
during his lone season at the University of Texas. He was the No. 2 overall
pick in 2007. And while playing his rookie season with the Seattle
SuperSonics, Durant often invited neighborhood children inside his home to
play video games during his down time.
Durant 進入 NBA 則是另外一件大事。他在 University of Texas (德州大學) 獨力奮
戰的時候被指名為年度球員。他在 2007 年是選秀第二名。而他在超音速的新人年，他
在沒球可打的時候便邀請了左鄰右舍的小朋友去他家打電動。
Today, as a scoring champ, a First-Team All-NBA selection and a two-time
All-Star, Durant still caters to fans to an almost ridiculous degree. After
sustaining an ankle sprain during a home game against Indiana, Durant had to
leave the arena in a protective boot. With his brother, Tony, and good
friend, Charlie Bell, by his side, Durant started to limp out of the arena. A
member of the custodial staff stopped the three and made small talk. Durant,
at the end of an exasperating evening, obliged.
今日的他已經是聯盟得分王、年度第一隊的人選、外加兩屆 All-Star，但他依舊不斷地
順應著球迷到很離譜的程度。在對戰溜馬扭傷腳踝之後，他必須穿著防護靴離開球場。他的哥哥 Tony 跟好朋友 Charlie Bell 在他左右，而他本人則是一拐一拐的跳著離開。
一名管理員把三人攔了下來，談了一會。而Durant 在那個一肚子火的傍晚卻答應了。
Two nights later, the injury left Durant questionable to play at Atlanta.
After testing out his ankle an hour and a half before the game, Durant began
to walk gingerly into the locker room. A male usher on one side of the tunnel
stopped Durant and inquired about where he was from. As Durant finished
answering and resumed his trek to the locker room, an adult male fan rushed
down the lower bowl on the other side of the tunnel. The fan asked Durant to
pose for a picture. Durant did. The decision opened the floodgates, sending
kids racing down the aisles like seagulls at the sight of bread. Durant spent
the next five minutes posing for pictures and signing autographs — while
standing on his still gimpy ankle.
兩個晚上之後，身上的傷使得 Durant 不確定能夠在 Atlanta 上場。賽前花了一個半小時檢查腳踝之後，他終於緩緩的走進了休息室。一個男粉絲在場邊問他是從哪來的，在
Durant 回答完一堆問題要繼續上路之後，又一個男粉絲一路衝下觀眾席要求他照張相。他照辦了。這個決定讓觀眾席上的人群陷入瘋狂，小鬼們像搶麵包的海鷗一樣湧了上來。Durant 用他受傷的腳踝站著，花了五分鐘簽名跟拍照。
Kobe Bryant and LeBron James aren't doing that.
Kobe 跟 LeBron 可不幹這種事。
“I like to see people smiling,” Durant said. “So I do whatever it takes.”
「我喜歡看到人笑的樣子，」Durant 表示，「所以我什麼都做。」
‘It didn't have to be you'
『不是非你莫屬』
Durant's parents, Wayne and Wanda Pratt, instilled a sense of humility. Wanda
Pratt has often told her youngest son, “It didn't have to be you,” a quote
that has stuck with Durant.
Durant 的父母 Wayne 和 Wanda Pratt 便是向他灌輸了這種謙遜的人。Wanda 常常告誡她的小兒子，「(這些好事) 並不是非你莫屬，」而這便一直留存在 Durant 的心中。
“That's as simple as it can get,” Durant said. “But it taught me that it
could be the guy living across the street that's in my shoes. I was blessed
to be a guy that's been chosen to do something. I've been put on this earth
to do something that I love and I can't take that for granted.”
「這很容易理解，」Durant 表示，「但它讓我了解到，隔壁老王也有可能擁有我的人
生。我是個幸運的人，上天選了我來做這些事情。我出生在這個世界上是要做我愛的事，但我不能把這一切都當做理所當然。」
Wayne Pratt often preached about having a small window to make a difference
and impact lives. Each time Durant stops and shakes a hand or poses for a
picture, that's what he's trying to do, knowing full well how much it means
to so many to be able to meet an NBA player.
Wayne Pratt 常常說一扇小窗戶就可以改變人生。每次 Durant 停下來握手或照相，
都只是在做他想要達成的事情，因為他了解對很多人來說能夠親眼見到 NBA 球員
這件事有多重要。
“He understands that it's a blessing. Everything that's given to you is a
blessing,” said Wayne Pratt. “At the end of the day basketball is just a
game. And you still have to be a person after that.”
「他了解這一切都是一種祝福。所有你所擁有的事物都是祝福。」
Wayne Pratt 表示，「在日子結束的時候，籃球終究只是比賽 (譯註：也許此處 "game" 當做「遊戲」也行)，而你終究還是要回來當一個『人』。」
That's why, after a 40-point performance, Durant still extends a handshake
and a cordial “good night” to each male police officer and usher standing
outside the Thunder's locker room. He might pull female officers and ushers
in for a hug. Most all of them, Durant addresses by name. It's why during the
game, Durant generally hands ball boys his sweats and towels just before he
checks back in. Other players are notorious for dropping their warm-ups on
the floor and making the ball boys pick them up, or, worse, throwing the gear
at them. It's why Durant has a nightly routine for signing autographs at home
games: robotically warming up early, then relaxing on the bench briefly
before walking over to a crowd of fans who eagerly line up near the Thunder's
tunnel behind the bench when the doors open an hour and a half before tipoff.
這就是為什麼拿下了四十分的 Durant 依舊會伸手與每個雷霆休息室外的管理員和男警察握手致意並道晚安。他會擁抱女警和工作人員。通常他都會用名字來稱呼其他人。這就是為什麼他會在比賽中親手將毛巾遞給球童。許多球員都因為亂丟毛巾讓人撿而惡名昭彰，甚至是向他們丟器具。這就是為什麼 Durant 每次在主場都有簽名行程：提早到場暖身，然後在板凳上休息完畢後便走向一大群在雷霆入口處排隊已久的球迷。此時，離比賽開始還有一個半小時。
“They make time for us,” Durant said of the team's supporters. “They don't
have to go out of their way to drive to the game. They don't have to go out
of their way to buy our jerseys, buy tickets, come scream and support us
every game. They can save their money. But they chose to come watch us play.
So that's the least I can do, just showing them that I appreciate them.”
「他們為我們貢獻了時間，」Durant 是這樣看待支持者的。「他們沒必要開車出門來
看我們比賽。他們沒必要辛辛苦苦跑來買我們的球衣、買門票、為我們尖叫、支持我
們。他們可以省下這筆錢，但他們來了。我只能做到這樣，但至少要讓他們知道我對
他們的感謝。」
‘He hasn't changed'
『他從未改變』
Durant has signed sneakers and personally shipped them to fans who follow him
on Twitter. He'll show up at local malls throughout the country and, rather
than have security shoo fans away, he'll post a message on his Twitter
account encouraging more fans to join him while he shops. Then he'll buy them
shoes.
Durant 親筆為球鞋簽名，並且親自將他們寄送給 Twitter 上的粉絲。他會在當地的購物中心出現，不是叫保全把球迷趕走，而是在 Twitter 上留言要更多的球迷跟他一起購物，然後他就買鞋子送給他們。
Teammate Russell Westbrook has been wowed by how Durant, no matter what time the team bus pulls in, routinely signs autographs for lines of fans waiting
outside the team hotel in visiting cities.
隊友 Russell Westbrook 也感受到了 Durant 的與眾不同。不管什麼時候交通車開進
來，他都會一如往常地為排在客場旅館門口的人山人海簽名。
“He's as humble as anybody as I've ever been around,” Brooks said.
「他是我這輩子見過最謙虛的人。」
Following a game just after Christmas, Durant pulled a necklace over his
head. One teammate apparently deemed it unfashionable and unsuitable inside
the superficial sanctuary that is an NBA locker room. As the teammate started
to make a crack, Durant's face turned stone cold. He told the teammate his
mother had given him the neckwear as a Christmas gift. Durant then asked the
teammate if he had anything else to say. The teammate didn't. He backed down
and backpedaled out of the locker room.
在一場聖誕節後的比賽結束時，Durant 戴上了一條項鍊。有一個隊友說它醜爆了，有
夠俗，而且超不適合休息室。在這位仁兄正要繼續大發厥詞的時候，Durant 的臉變得
像冰一樣冷。Durant 告訴這個呆瓜「這是我老媽給的聖誕禮物，你還有什麼問題？」
這名隊友乖乖閉上了嘴，悄悄退出休息室。
The scene was subtle but served as perhaps the closest the tightly-knitted
Thunder locker room has come this season to having tension between players
while reporters were present. And it showed the respect Durant commands from
his teammates and, more importantly, the honor he reserves for his family,
especially his mother.
這一幕看似不太重要，但大概已經是本季記者們看到休息室內氣氛最緊繃的一刻了。
這同時也展現了他是如何要求隊友尊重他的家庭，尤其是他的母親。
Durant has given media members the same respect.
Durant 也給予了媒體相同的尊重。
Durant politely pauses his music and removes his headphones whenever
approached by reporters as he sits at his locker before games. Might not
sound like much. But in today's NBA, many players have personal policies to
not address the media before tipoff. Ears covered with headphones have become
the leaguewide signal for “bug off.” Durant, though, will speak, even if he
fulfilled requests by the same reporters at the team's morning shootaround.
He'll slide off his headphones again if a straggler enters the locker room
late.
每當有記者走入休息室採訪他，Durant 都會很有禮貌地把音樂暫停，拿下他的耳機。聽起來沒什麼嘛...但在今日的 NBA，許多球員在賽前都不願意接受採訪。「戴上耳機」已經成為了一個共通的語言，「滾開」。但就算早上練球完才遇到同一個人，Durant 依舊會為了遲到的傢伙拿下耳機。
“It's something that's just second nature to me,” Durant said of his
compassion. “I don't plan it. It just happens.”
「這是我的第二天性，我並沒有特別想做什麼，自然反應而已。」
Always has.
一向如此。
“He hasn't changed. That is the most impressive thing,” Brooks said. “In
this league, players that have had success at the rate that he has, most of
them have changed. Most of them forget what they've done to get there. Kevin
has not changed one bit. And that's a credit to him and his family.”
Brooks (教練啦) 表示，「他從來沒有變過，這真的很神奇。在這個聯盟之中，能夠
擁有他這種成就的人往往最後都變了。大部分的人都忘了自己是怎麼努力上來的。Kevin 一點都沒有變。這都要歸功於他自己，和他的家人。」
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