The number of foreign-born players in America's professional National Basketball Association has tripled in the past two decades. One of the veterans - San Antonio Spurs' Tony Parker - and a rookie - Washington Wizards' Hamady Ndiaye - talk about their respective experiences as foreigners in the NBA.
在美国国家篮球协会的职业篮球队中，国外出生的球员人数，过去20年来增加了两倍。圣安东尼奥马刺队的托尼?帕克和华盛顿奇才队的新球员哈马迪?恩迪亚耶谈到他们作为外籍球员的感受。
For NBA fans, Tony Parker is a household name, a 10-year veteran on one of the best teams in the league. Hamady Ndiaye is a little-known rookie on a team that loses far more often than it wins. What these two players have in common is they both grew up outside of the United States.
对NBA球迷来说，托尼?帕克是一个耳熟能详的名字。他已经为NBA最佳球队之一效力10年了。哈马迪?恩迪亚耶还是一名鲜为人知的新进球员，他隶属的球队输球场次远超过赢球。而两人的共同点是他们都来自美国以外。
Parker is fortunate to be playing for one of the National Basketball Association's best teams, the San Antonio Spurs.
帕克很幸运，能加入NBA最好的球队之一圣安东尼奥马刺队。
The Spurs have won four NBA titles in the past 12 seasons and have high hopes for another one. Two-thirds of the way through the season they have the best record in the league, having won 84 percent of their games with a 46-9 mark through February 17.
马刺队在过去12个赛季中，赢得四次NBA总冠军，在本赛季中夺标希望又很高。在已经过去的三分之二赛程中，马刺队的表现最好，到2月17日为止，赢46场，输9场，胜率为百分之84。
They recently scored a lopsided win over the struggling Washington Wizards in the nation's capital. Although he scored the most points for the Spurs, Parker still credited the team.
最近，在首都华盛顿的一场比赛中，马刺队以压倒优势战胜了苦苦挣扎的华盛顿奇才队。虽然帕克在这场比赛中得分最多，他还是把胜利归功于全队球员。
"It was a great team win," said Parker. "The team played great, everybody contributed; so it was a great win."
他说：“那是一场了不起的胜利。整个球队都很棒，每个人都做出了贡献。因此赢得漂亮。”
He was drafted in 2001 when he was only 19 years old. In only his second season with San Antonio, the Spurs won their second NBA title - their first came in 1999 - and they added championships in 2005 and 2007, when Parker was named Most Valuable Player.
帕克19岁那年被召进球队。加入马刺队的第二个赛季，球队就第二度赢得了NBA总冠军。第一次夺冠是在1999年。后来分别在2005 和2007年再次获得冠军。帕克在2007年被提名为最有价值球员。
Parker was born in Belgium to a Dutch mother and an African-American father, but grew up in France, where football (soccer) is one of the most popular sports.
帕克生于比利时，母亲是荷兰人，父亲是非洲裔美国人。他成长于法国。足球是法国最为普遍的运动。
"When we grew up basketball was in our family. We were big Chicago Bulls fans because my dad is from Chicago, so we always played basketball. That was the main sport in the family."
帕克说：“在我们成长过程中，篮球是家里最热衷的运动。我们是芝加哥公牛队的球迷，因为父亲来自芝加哥。我们经常打篮球，篮球是我们家的主要运动。”
Parker's father played professional basketball in Europe and one of his two brothers currently plays in France.
帕克的父亲曾是欧洲职业篮球队的球员。他的一个兄弟现在在法国打篮球。
He says basketball is one of the reasons he loves living in the United States and he's happy in San Antonio, Texas. "I am feeling very blessed and very lucky to be in a great organization, a great team. This year we are having a great year."
帕克说，篮球是他喜欢住在美国的原因之一。他在德州圣安东尼奥感觉很快乐。他说：“能加入一个伟大篮球组织中的一个杰出球队，我觉得非常幸运。今年我们打得很棒。”
While Parker is considered a veteran since he has been with the Spurs for about a decade, Hamady Ndiaye of the Washington Wizards is a rookie in the NBA, being drafted last year out of Rutgers University in New Jersey.
和帕克在马刺队效力已经10年相比，哈马迪?恩迪亚耶加去年才从新泽西州罗格斯大学被招进华盛顿奇才队。
A native of Senegal, Ndiaye is 2.1-meters (7 feet) - tall and recently celebrated his 24th birthday. The Wizards have won only 27 percent of their games so far this season - with a 15-54 record through February 17 - but the rookie remains upbeat.
恩迪亚耶原籍塞内加尔，身高2.1米，刚满24岁。到2月17日为止，奇才队打了54场比赛，胜了15场，胜率只有百分之27。但是这名新秀仍然很乐观。
"Well, it is very tough for the whole team and for me in particular," said Ndiaye. "I just came back from the D-league and I try to help these guys out at practice. Seeing us lose this hard, we [have] to pick it up real quick and move on. We got one coming up tomorrow. Hopefully we will get together and come in ready."
恩迪亚耶说：“这对整个球队来说很困难，对我而言尤其如此。我才从小联盟转过来，我努力帮助其他队员练球。我们输得这么惨，必须奋起直追。”
Ndiaye was born in Dakar, but says he spent a lot of time in Saly and Ngaparu, two resort towns with scores of hotels and luxury residences spread along their beaches.
He credits one person, Babacar Sy, not only for teaching him the basics in basketball when he was 15, but also with finding him a scholarship at a high school in California. He later would get another scholarship to Rutgers, where he played for four years and eventually earned a communications degree.
恩迪亚耶非常感谢巴巴卡?锡。巴巴卡?锡不但在他15岁那年教他篮球基本动作，还为他在加州一所高中申请到一份奖学金。他后来拿一份奖学金上了罗格斯大学，在那里打了4年球，并且获得传播学学位。
Although playing in the NBA is a dream come true, Ndiaye said there also are some tough moments.
虽然能在NBA打球是梦想成真，可是恩迪亚耶承认，有的时候也感到很难。
"It is pretty tough not having your family and people you know and love around you," said Ndiaye. "It is tough, but I know I am here for a reason. Bigger things, not just me or my family, but I got a whole country behind me and supporting me all over the place. So it is tough in a way, but at the same time rewarding, knowing that I am working hard for a reason."
他说：“你所爱的亲人和朋友不在身边，是很令人难过的。不过我知道我为什么独自在这里。除了我或我的家庭，还有更大的东西，我的整个国家在支持着我。因此尽管有时候很难，但我知道有奋斗的理由，所以有成就感。”
Ndiaye and Parker are following in a long tradition of foreign-born NBA players. Henry Biasatti of Italy is credited with being the first international player in the league in 1946.
NBA有延揽外籍球员的长期传统。来自意大利的亨利?比亚萨提1946年加入NBA，被认为是NBA第一名外籍球员。
In 1992, though, the year of the original U.S. Olympic "Dream Team," the NBA had only 21 international players on its rosters. Today, that number has tripled to 20 percent of all NBA players who represent 40 countries.
1992年，第一支美国奥运篮球梦之队成立那年，NBA新人里只有21名外籍球员。今天，这个数字翻了3倍，来自40个国家的外籍球员已经占到NBA球员总数的百分之20。 |