2020年经济学人 篮球巨星科比·布莱恩特(1)（在线收听）

Kobe Bryant, basketball player, was killed in a helicopter crash on January 26th, aged 41.

篮球运动员科比·布莱恩特于一月26日在一起直升机事故中逝世，享年41岁。

Whenever he was asked why his whole life had been spent playing basketball, Kobe Bryant's narrow eyes searched upwards, and his mouth trembled. The answer was simple, yet so complicated. It began with the orange ball, the smell of it, the feel of the pebbled leather grains and the perfect grooves under his hands; and its bounce, and the way it sounded different on concrete or polished hardwood.

每当有人问科比为何他的一生都花在打篮球上时，科比就会眯起眼睛向上看，嘴巴颤抖着。答案很简单，但是也很复杂。故事开始于这个橙色的球，它的气味，粗糙的皮革纹理和他手上完美的纹路；还有它的弹跳，以及它弹在混凝土或抛光硬木上产生的不同声音。

Then came the net, the shot slithering right through it with that triumphant springing whoosh, while he howled with joy. Then every movement of the game, the strategies, the dodging and feints, the squeal of sneakers on the court. Whatever had thrilled him as a child (watching his father, also a pro player, on tv, wearing his own little 76ers outfit, running and jumping along with him) still thrilled him when in 2016 he retired from the game. "Dear Basketball", he wrote, From the moment I started rolling my Dad's tube socks And shooting imaginary Game-winning shots... I knew one thing was real: A love so deep I gave you my all.

然后还有篮网，篮球滑过了网，发出了胜利的、跳跃的、嗖的一声，科比则高兴得号啕大叫。然后是比赛中的每一个动作，战术，躲闪和佯攻，球场上运动鞋的尖叫声。在科比还是孩子时，任何让他兴奋的事情(看他的父亲，也是职业球员，在电视上，穿着自己的小小的76人队的队服，和他一起跑，一起跳），在2016年退役时同样使他兴奋。 “亲爱的篮球”，他写道，从我开始把我爸的筒袜卷成球状，想象着投出比赛制胜球那一刻起，我就知道有件事情是真的：我是如此深爱着你，我会付出我的一切。

"My all" meant training obsessively, like a maniac. He would go to the gym and shoot for hours, all day, all night. Hundreds of times, not just taking shots, but making them, running steps and patterns, practising shots off the rebound. I ran up and down every court/After every loose ball for you. He would ponder what would make his game unstoppable and then work backwards from there, building it piece by piece, move by move, repeatedly. Then, when the actual game arrived, it was all just muscle-memory.

“我的一切”指的是像疯子一样痴迷地训练。他会去体育馆打几个小时，整天整夜。成百上千次，不仅仅是投篮，还有投篮，跑动的步伐和模式，在篮下练习投篮。我在每个球馆上蹿下跳，争取着每一个机会。他会思考什么会让他的比赛变得不可阻挡，然后从那里开始倒放，一点一点地增强，一步一步地重复增强。然后，当真正的比赛开始时，他只需释放肌肉记忆就行了。