Chris Itz

There can be no doubt that jazz has made me a better person than I would have been without it. The music inspires my passion to participate fully and richly in life....but jazz has also made me a better basketball player.

毫無疑問，爵士樂讓我成了一個更好的人，沒有這種音樂，我不會像現(xiàn)在這么好。這個音樂激發(fā)出了我的激情，讓我全身心地投入到生活中。不過爵士樂也讓我成了一個更好的籃球運(yùn)動員。

-Kareem Abdul-Jabar-

卡里姆·阿卜杜爾-賈巴爾

One summer when I was a kid， circa 1989， I went to a day-camp at the YMCA①. I arrived one morning to find everyone gathered around this one kid who had a brand new pair of Air Jordans. Man， he was the coolest kid in the whole camp. I was six， maybe seven， and I still remember the impact this little kids shoes had on everyone else. Basketball must be really cool， I thought. We spent the rest of that summer dribbling and shooting and passing throwing basketballs around the court. Even at a young age， my personality was already squarely in the "going against the grain" category， so I dismissed Jordan， and promptly chose everyones favorite role-model， Charles Barkley， as my b-ball hero.

我小時候有一年夏天，大概是1989年，我參加了基督教青年會的一個夏令營。有一天早上，當(dāng)我抵達(dá)營地時，我發(fā)現(xiàn)所有人都圍著一個腳穿全新喬丹球鞋的孩子。老天，他可是全營最酷的孩子了。那時我六歲，或者是七歲，到現(xiàn)在我還記得這個小孩子的球鞋對所有人的影響。當(dāng)時我想，籃球一定特別酷。我們把那年夏天剩下的時間都揮灑在了籃球場上，我們一起玩著運(yùn)球、投籃和傳球。即便在很小的時候，我就形成了“反主流”的個性，所以我沒選擇喬丹，而是把所有人的道德榜樣查爾斯·巴克利視作自己的籃球英雄。

Another early childhood memory I have is riding in the car with my father on September 28， 1991. The lady on NPR was talking about Miles Davis， who had just died. I asked my pops if Miles was the best trumpet player in the world， and he replied with something that took me maybe 15 years to fully comprhend. Im a competitive person， and I generally prefer absolutes in life， but my wise old-man said something like， "Music is not a competition. At the highest levels it is all subjective. Jazz is about expressing the human condition， it is not about being better than someone." Im sure he said it in a way a kid could understand， but that thought has lived inside me ever since.

我的另一個早期童年記憶，就是在1991年9月28日和父親一起開車的經(jīng)歷。當(dāng)時電臺里的女士在談?wù)撨~爾斯·戴維斯，他剛剛?cè)ナ啦痪谩Ｎ覇柊职?，邁爾斯是不是世界上最好的小號演奏家，我用了大概15年，才徹底明白爸爸當(dāng)時的回答。我是一個好勝的人，在生活中我也總是黑白分明，但我老丈人卻說過這樣的話，他說：“音樂不是比賽。音樂的最高境界都是純粹個人的理解。爵士樂就是要表達(dá)人的生活，而不是要比別人更好?！蔽蚁嘈潘呛⒆右材芾斫獾恼Z言說出了這番話，不過從那時開始，這個觀念就深深根植在了我的心里。

These two distinct events have come to define who I am today .

這兩件完全不同的事件，塑造了如今我的人格。

The Head

主旋律

Two of the biggest passions in my life are music and basketball， specifically jazz and the Spurs. At first glance they may seem a strange pair. Basketball has set plays， just as most jazz has a set of chord changes. In basketball we see a team run a play， but within that play we see the players react to the activity on the court and improvise within it. Similarly， jazz， the kind of jazz Im talking about -- hard bop andmodern， not that smooth junk that Kenny G has made a fortune selling -- has its own plays.

我這一輩子有兩個最大的愛好，就是音樂和籃球，我尤其喜歡爵士樂和馬刺隊。第一眼看過去，這也許是很奇怪的對比?；@球有著固定的戰(zhàn)術(shù)，就像大多數(shù)爵士樂一樣，有著相同的和弦變化。在籃球中，我們能看到球隊打固定戰(zhàn)術(shù)，但在跑固定戰(zhàn)術(shù)時，我們能看到球員根據(jù)場上形勢做出反應(yīng)，即興發(fā)揮。與此類似，我所說的爵士樂——也就是硬派波普爵士和“現(xiàn)代”爵士，而不是肯尼·G大賣的那種垃圾輕柔爵士——也有固定的旋律變化。

On a typical hard bop tune the band will play a written melody over set chord changes （in the jazz vernacular this written melody is called， the head）. After the head， the band generally gives each player in the group an opportunity to solo/improvise over the chord changes. During this improvisation （and for me， this improvisation pretty much defines the heart of jazz） the band plays off each other - reacting to what the other members of the band are playing within the chord changes. There is structure， but at its greatest it is just a loose structure. If the band has its ears and hearts open， fully tunedin to each other， then one-of-a-kind moments of beauty happen. The expression of being human -- from the dizzying highs， through the creamy middles， to the terrifying lows -- flows freely from the artists， through their instruments， into music.

一段典型的硬派波普爵士樂中，樂隊會演奏一段根據(jù)固定和弦變化寫出的旋律（用爵士樂專業(yè)用語說的話，這段成曲就稱為主旋律）。主旋律演奏結(jié)束后，樂隊通常會給每一名成員一個在固定和弦變化上單獨(dú)表演或者即興發(fā)揮的機(jī)會（在我看來，這段即興表演基本就能確定爵士樂的核心了），樂隊的所有成員會相互配合——他們會在固定和弦變化的基礎(chǔ)上，根據(jù)同伴的變化而做出相應(yīng)變化。這是一種固定的架構(gòu)，但在最極致的層次，這是一種很松散的架構(gòu)。如果樂隊心神貫通反應(yīng)迅速，而且彼此之間完全投入，他們就能創(chuàng)作出世所罕見的美妙旋律。那種對人生的表現(xiàn)力——從令人目眩神迷的高音，到柔和的中音，再到陰郁的低音——旋律自由地從藝術(shù)家的樂器中溢出，成為一曲美妙的音樂。

Basketball shares this improvisation-withinstructure， or playing the changes， with jazz. The game is full of set motion， but when the initial play is unsuccessful we see players react to this new reality in practiced， but spontaneous ways. This result is born out of something a team has rehearsed many times， but in the flow of a game something within the play may change. A defender may make a well-timed or unexpected rotation， the ball-handler may lose control， or an offensive player may exploit an open lane with a well-timed cut. This changes the landscape of the court， and forces players to find creative solutions within it. Some of the most exciting plays in basketball occur when this happens. For instance， in the game against the Hawks， this happened.

籃球也擁有類似在固定構(gòu)架上的即興發(fā)揮，或者說，爵士樂中的隨著變化而動。籃球這項運(yùn)動充滿了固定的戰(zhàn)術(shù)配合，但沒能打出最初的戰(zhàn)術(shù)時，我們就能看到球員們根據(jù)訓(xùn)練中的練習(xí)隨機(jī)做出反應(yīng)。這種結(jié)果出自球隊的反復(fù)練習(xí)，但在比賽進(jìn)行時，固定戰(zhàn)術(shù)中的一些部分也會發(fā)生變化。防守人也許會適時做出防守，而且出人意料地做出防守輪轉(zhuǎn)，控球人也許會丟球，進(jìn)攻球員也可能會在恰當(dāng)?shù)臅r候做出空切得到空位機(jī)會。這都會改變場上的形式，迫使球員發(fā)揮創(chuàng)造力找到解決辦法?；@球中一些最令人激賞的表現(xiàn)就源自這種情況。比如說，對老鷹的比賽里就出現(xiàn)過這種情況。

The most classic jazz combo is a quintet， which parallels a basketball teams five players on the court. As much as we hear about the hypothetical "who would win oneon-one： Jordan or LeBron？" the question itself is immaterial. Basketball is not a one-on-one game. I find that kind of what if question goes against the understanding that basketball is a team sport. In an extension of this， the individual awards the media hands out are meaningless， especially given the fact that there are no parameters set for any of them.

最經(jīng)典的爵士樂是五重奏，這正好對應(yīng)了籃球場上五名球員。盡管我們總會聽到各種假設(shè)的“一對一誰會贏：喬丹還是勒布朗？”這種問題，但這種問題本身卻沒有實(shí)質(zhì)意義。籃球并非一挑一比賽。我發(fā)現(xiàn)這種問題有悖于籃球是團(tuán)隊運(yùn)動的本質(zhì)。進(jìn)一步說，媒體頒發(fā)的個人獎項毫無意義，尤其關(guān)鍵的是，這類獎項沒有任何評價標(biāo)準(zhǔn)。

Just like basketball isnt an individual sport， good jazz isnt made by one great player and a bunch of guys pulled together to complete the combo. Just because you have a great player doesnt mean that the group is going to perform something that anyone wants to hear. A group like that is almost guaranteed to be incapable of producing music that will move an audience. In basketball， having a good player， say Carmelo Anthony， doesnt mean that the team is going to have success on the court.

正如籃球不是個人運(yùn)動一樣，高品質(zhì)的爵士樂也不是由一個樂手造就，而是需要一群人通力合作。你自己是一個偉大的樂手，并不意味著別人愿意聽你的樂隊演奏的作品。這樣的樂隊注定無法創(chuàng)作出打動觀眾的作品。在籃球領(lǐng)域，擁有一個好的球員，比如說卡梅隆·安東尼，并不意味著球隊能夠取得成功。

Watching the Spurs on a nightly basis gives us a view into what makes them work as a team. We dont just see them play a couple of times a year， but we get to witness every pick and roll that Tim and Tony run together. Weve seen some iteration of that thousands of times， but each time we get to see the same base play run and finish in a slightly different way. Whether its a simple lay-up off the glass or a kick out to an open shooter， each time we see a play run， it exists in its own unique way. Its what keeps me coming back for every regular season contest.

天天都看馬刺的比賽，讓我們可以觀察到球員如何以一個團(tuán)隊在球場上合作。我們每年不止能看到他們打比賽，還能看到鄧肯和帕克的每一個擋拆配合。我們數(shù)以千次地看過他們的配合，不過每次當(dāng)我們看到他們打相同的戰(zhàn)術(shù)時，每次戰(zhàn)術(shù)配合的結(jié)果都稍有不同。無論是簡單的上籃，還是分球給外線的空位投手，每次我們看到一個戰(zhàn)術(shù)配合時，這些配合都擁有各自不同的特點(diǎn)。正因?yàn)槿绱?，我才會關(guān)注每一場常規(guī)賽比賽。

If you had caught Miles Davis quintet in the mid-sixties on a week-long stand you would have heard the same tunes every night， but never in the same way. To the discerning ear， even a tune that sounded the same on the surface would provide a different narrative， and a fresh view， the next night.

如果你能在上世紀(jì)60年代中期用一周時間聽邁爾斯·戴維斯的五重奏，那么每一晚，你能聽到相同的曲調(diào)，但他的演奏方式從不會重復(fù)。對于耳力超群的人來說，一個表面上聽起來相同的調(diào)子，到了第二天就會帶來不同的感受。

I think the regular season would be more enjoyable， and much more competitive， with fewer games. We can change that later. I dont want to miss out on any of the hum-drum， dayto-day plays that we enjoy on a nightly basis from our two legends that will be gone before we are ready to say goodbye. While some have found a way to be bored by Tim and Manu， Ill miss their one-of-a-kind play. From the banker， to the drive through the lane filled with euro-steps and behind the back moves. The subtle， and the not-so-subtle， pump-fakes that each has made a staple of their games.

在我看來，如果常規(guī)賽減少比賽數(shù)量，那么比賽就會變得更好看，也更有對抗性。不過這種改變可以留到以后再說。我不想錯過兩位傳奇球員每天晚上上演的單調(diào)戰(zhàn)術(shù)配合，免得在我們還沒做好告別的準(zhǔn)備時，他們就會退出聯(lián)盟的舞臺。有人覺得鄧肯和吉諾比利的打法很無聊，但我卻會懷念他倆超乎尋常的表現(xiàn)。從打板投籃，再到用歐洲步和背后運(yùn)球甩掉重重防守突進(jìn)內(nèi)線。無論是否柔和，那些漂亮的假動作投籃都已成為他們個人的標(biāo)志。

Manu has the fire， the drive to explore a defense， and the technique to find his way out a jam. Duncan， in his quiet glory， always laid down the foundation， never missing a thing --always an anchor for the lost. Knocking down a 14-footer to remind you he was still carrying the fire.

吉諾比利心中有那樣一團(tuán)怒火，他有動力撕破防守，他也擁有高超的技術(shù)突破重重包圍。而鄧肯，則是低調(diào)而沉穩(wěn)的，他的基本功那么扎實(shí)，沒有任何缺陷——他總是中流砥柱。命中14英尺的投籃會讓你意識到，他心中的怒火并沒有熄滅。