搜狐费根专栏：火箭一号逊科比 麦迪非合格领袖

乔纳森-费根简介 点击进费根搜狐专栏

    搜狐体育讯 导读：乔纳森-费根，是休斯顿惟一一家日报《休斯顿纪事报》的首席篮球记者，也是整个赛季跑满全部比赛的惟一一位记者。 在国内许多做NBA的媒体中，费根的名字恐怕是最耳熟能详的了，因为他的稿件的翻译版本充斥在各大网站和报纸上，是绝对的火箭专家。近日乔纳森-费根已经签约搜狐体育，搜狐也是目前国内惟一一家获权使用费根专栏文章的媒体。在以后的日子里费根将通过搜狐专栏与广大中国网友一起进行交流。

　　火箭VS湖人，这是一个很具讽刺意味的球队对撞。当然，这样的碰撞不可避免。

　　科比和麦迪，这是一对一度处于NBA巅峰且战力难分高下的绝世天才。可惜随着岁月流逝，这两个人在联盟的境况已经有天壤之别。

　　当科比带着他的湖人气势汹汹的驾临休斯顿挑战火箭时，麦迪却只能坐在板凳上参与比赛，甚至还要精心照顾他那个麻烦不断的左膝。科比的球队一往无前所向披靡，麦迪的球队则一瘸一拐寸步难行，形成了强烈的反差。

　　单单对比科比和麦迪的个人数据，得出的结论也是让人足够汗颜。比麦迪大一岁的布莱恩特仍然处于职业生涯的最佳状态，本赛季不费吹灰之力便能交出场均27分的数据统计。更重要的是，他的湖人是目前战绩最好的球队，也是公认的实力最强且没有明显缺陷的强队。

　　麦迪呢？场均15.4分是他职业生涯以来最惨不忍睹的成绩单，38.8%的投篮命中率也是他十几年来最糟糕的表演。他的火箭的战绩如何呢？战绩排行榜最能说明问题。

　　本赛季还没正式开打之前，火箭一度被看作是联盟里最有希望冲击总冠军的豪强之一，最保守的篮球专家也认为火箭将会轻松占据西区季后赛的一个名额。但让人很遗憾的是，赛季开始后火箭高开低走，接连输给了快船、步行者、灰熊和奇才等弱旅，现在居然要为一个季后赛名额苦苦挣扎。

　　必须指出的是，在西区争夺一个季后赛名额并非想象中那么简单。所有人都知道，西区今年将会有9支实力很接近的强队为季后赛名额展开火拼，但名额却只有8个。

　　现在看来，科比和麦迪已经不再是一个档次的球星，他们俩的职业生涯前景也走向了两个截然相反的极端。特别是当科比戴上了三枚总冠军戒指而麦迪却还在苦苦寻觅季后赛次轮的胜利之门时，这样的落差让所有人都唏嘘不已。

　　当然客观的说，科比能取得如此大的成就也和他有着好搭档有很大关系。还要说的是，科比更像是名很有福气的球员，麦迪则不一样，他一直都被伤病所缠绕，从当年的奥兰多到如今的休斯顿。尽管他也有诸如希尔以及姚明这样的好搭档，但他很多时候都是在场边看着队友们打球。

　　科比和麦迪的职业生涯高度之所以有如此大的落差，也有着其它多方面的原因。两个人截然不同的性格，便是原因之一。

　　众所周知，科比是一个雄心万丈，对取胜永远都充满着渴望的球员。只要他能站在球场上，无论面临的形势有多么艰难，他都会想尽一切办法去争取胜利。如果他的队友在球场上稍有懈怠，他都会无法容忍并及时的痛斥队友。当年他就公开指责过拜纳姆，虽然他这样的举动被很多人认为是愚蠢或者是自私的，但事实上他这样做的根本原因是不能容忍失败。

　　庆幸的是，他的那些队友们在相处中逐渐了解了科比的性格，并被科比的斗志所感染。显然，科比希望用行动证明他还能拿总冠军，而且是在他为绝对核心的前提下。奥尼尔被逼走后，湖人开始以科比为核心进行重建。不过，湖人一直都没有得到他们想得到的好球员，因为湖人看上的这些球员都是所在球队的“非卖品”。几经周折，湖人得到了加索尔，加上在选秀大会上巧摘的拜纳姆，以及老将费舍尔等人，科比和湖人终于有了再次问鼎总冠军的资本。

　　相形之下，麦迪并不缺少篮球才华，即便与科比相比他也丝毫不逊色。但有一点麦迪和科比迥然不同，那就是麦迪在球场上不会给对手或者队友压迫感，他始终都以和蔼可亲、与世无争的形象示人；而科比则时刻透露出逼人的杀气，他一直都无法忍受队友在球场上有任何的松懈。

　　多少年来，麦迪一直都没有改变自己的习惯。对于球员的任何性格本无可厚非，但不得不承认科比更像个球队领袖。虽然麦迪攻击力同样令人心生畏惧，且他连续两次揽下联盟得分王殊荣，但他在精神气质上还是要逊于科比一筹，这一点无法否认。

　　是的，麦迪也经常力挽狂澜拯救球队，他也能动辄用自己的神勇来鼓舞队友奋勇前进，但他始终无法带领球队取得更大的突破，而是在季后赛的首轮宿命中原地踏步。一针见血的说，麦迪打球是在表演，科比打球则是在竞争。他们曾经以相近的篮球天赋站在同一起跑线上，但他们的收获却有大不同。

　　如今，科比正统领他的湖人一路高歌，麦迪却在如潮的批评声中惨淡度日，将自己的前途寄望在早日康复上。或许，这样的情状还要继续下去。无论如何，每当火箭遭遇湖人时，有关麦迪和科比的对比和讨论就会铺天盖地，即便麦迪和科比的可比性已经越来越小。 （搜狐体育 清河村翻译整理）

　　By Jonathan Feigen

　　The timing is as coincidental as the irony is inescapable.

　　There was a time in which Kobe Bryant and Tracy McGrady were presumably members in the club of NBA elites. Few had their obvious gifts and the potential that comes with it.

　　When Bryant arrives in Houston to play the Rockets, however, McGrady will be stuck on the bench, taking another leave to try to strengthen his troublesome left knee. Bryant has his Lakers soaring. McGrady's Rockets have been limping, left hoping that the continuity gained will make up for his contributions to be temporarily lost.

　　They seem to share little, now. Bryant remains at his best, averaging 27 points per game for a Lakers team without a weakness and with the league's best record.

　　McGrady is averaging 15.4 points, his fewest since he was a teenager in Toronto. His 38.8 percent shooting is the worst of his career.

　　The Rockets, thought to be a contender when the season began, are barely among the Western Conference's top eight teams, with a collection of losses (to the Clippers, Pacers, Grizzlies and Wizards) that are the sort that haunt when the regular season reaches its final games and teams fight for playoff positions, especially this season with nine worthy teams trying to squeeze into eight playoff spots.

　　Now it seems, with the careers of Bryant and McGrady rushing in opposite directions, that perhaps they never should have been linked, particularly after Bryant broke through and won three championships while McGrady was unable to get out of the first round.

　　Bryant, of course, was blessed with an organization loaded with great talent. McGrady was sidetracked and stopped by the injuries to Grant Hill in Toronto and Yao Ming in Houston, along with his own inability to remain on the floor.

　　Yet now, armed with the hindsight of their histories, their career paths and the fortunes of their franchises have seemed to have split for reasons beyond their divergent fortunes.

　　With Bryant, there is a raging, boundless ambition. He will put in any amount of work, compete with any level of intensity and desire necessary to hungrily strive for all he can imagine.

　　When he raged, sometimes foolishly and even selfishly, about his teammates' inadequacies, even getting caught on tape with his criticism of Andrew Bynum, he seemed a poor teammate. Yet, there was still an understanding that he was driven by a refusal to accept that he was through winning championships at 24-years-old.

　　The Lakers were thought to be fed up with him, even said to be shopping him around. But of course they could not begin to find a trade worth making because all that talent combined with all that desire could not be replaced. The Lakers did not try. They brought back the steadying influence of Derek Fisher, lucked into the trade for Pau Gasol and drafted wisely, including their pick of Bynum, and Bryant had a team capable of winning championship again.

　　McGrady was no less gifted, and in some ways has a vision on the floor beyond Bryant's. But there was never that sense that he would stomp anyone in his way, opponent or teammate, to win. Bryant could be insufferable, as if he could not control his rampant desire, while McGrady is affable and easy going. He is much more likely to go along than lead, far more one of the guys than Bryant could ever be.

　　Things could have been different for him, and perhaps still can be. But the notion that he was a version of Bryant was never correct, even when he was the two-time NBA scoring champion. A sublime talent to be sure, he is not a guy with Bryant's rrepressible desire and the sort of fervor that drives an entire franchise.

　　He contributes, sometimes greatly. He influences his team, improves its chances. He does not carry it, or at least has not carried it long enough to overcome the shortcomings of the Orlando roster or Houston health problems. McGrady performs. Bryant competes. They start with similar athletic talents, but we have learned over the years that their gifts are more different than alike. So have been their careers.

　　There is something fitting then that when Bryant is in Houston for the first time this season. With the Lakers sitting with the NBA's best record, McGrady will be sitting out, hoping for better things to come. It might still happen for him. To get there, however, he and the Rockets will have to get through Bryant and the Lakers at a time they seem to have less in common than ever.