这真的是个典型美国式故事。在美国独立日当天，自由球员凯文-杜兰特选择加盟金州勇士，和史蒂芬-库里，安德烈-伊戈达拉成为队友，而他早在2010年美国国家队就同这哥几个成为队员，一起训练并从此建立深厚情谊。现在杜兰特又要和德雷蒙德-格林和克雷-汤普森一起为美国再争奥运金牌。

　　Before the Warriors even take the floor on their first day of training camp this September, Durant will already know what it’s like to play with his four most important new teammates. Durant has long admired the way the Warriors play on the court and he had enough familiarity with the four of them as people that he could trust their capacity to bond as teammates.

　　勇士的训练营还没开始，杜兰特已经清楚，同他四位最重要的队友一起打球是何种情形。他一直很欣赏勇士的比赛，和这四位值得信赖、才华横溢的队友也非常熟悉。

　　A 73-win team magically transformed Harrison Barnes into a top-5 player in the entire NBA, who also happens to fit perfectly, while weakening their biggest Western Conference rival in the process. What could be more American than the self-determination of ruthlessly maximizing your chances to win a title, and also have a chance to make more money off the court in the world’s fifth largest economy in the world if it were its own country? It is especially more American if you have a nearly zero chance to lose, just likespending more on the military than the next eight nations combined.

　　一支73胜球队神奇地把哈里斯-巴恩斯的位置变成杜兰特——一个联盟前五又完美适合勇士的球员，与此同时还让其在西部最大的对手实力大损。这样野蛮粗暴地提高自己的夺冠概率，在场外又有很大机会在家乡（世界第六大经济体赚得盆满钵溢 ，还有比这更美国的吗？嗯，有。那就是你已经宇宙最牛逼，你国家的军队抵得上其他8个国家的军队加起来，你还继续往里面砸钱。

　　If Durant, LeBron James, Chris Paul, Steve Nash, Karl Malone, Charles Barkley and countless others each left their teams for an improved opportunity to win a championship with better teammates, it wasn’t the supposedly nefarious AAU culture that’s to blame, they learned it by watching the USA Basketball.

　　如果杜兰特，勒布朗-詹姆斯，克里斯-保罗，史蒂夫-纳什，卡尔-马龙，查尔斯-巴克利离开他们的球队去找更好的球员做队友，获得更好的争冠机会，不要去责怪AAU不良的文化，他们其实是从梦之队学到的。

　　Team USA settled for the bronze medal in the Seoul Olympics in 1988 and that just didn’t sit well with anyone. A six-point loss in the semifinals to a Soviet Union that was anchored by Arvydas Sabonis, Sarunas Marciulionis and Rimas Kurtinaitis in their prime overshadowed Team USA’s seven wins in the tournament by an average of 36 points.

　　美国队在1988年汉城奥运会只拿到铜牌，这让他们很难堪。在半决赛美国6分负于由处于巅峰时期的阿维达斯-萨博尼斯，萨鲁纳斯-马修利奥尼斯，利马斯-库尔提奈提斯等人领衔的前苏联队，这场失利让美国前面七场场均赢36分的胜利黯然失色。

　　After losing for just the second time in 88 games with college players in the history of the Olympics, the other being in Munich against the Soviets in the most controversial basketball game ever played, head coach John Thompson immediately said relying on collegians like David Robinson, Dan Majerle, Danny Manning and Mitch Richmond wasn’t going to cut it anymore.

　　这是美国队派出大学球员参加奥运会男篮的88场比赛中第二次失利。而第一次则是在慕尼黑奥运会负于前苏联，这场比赛也被称为史上最具争议的篮球比赛。在汉城失利后，国家队主教练约翰-汤普森立刻就提出不能再靠David Robinson, Dan Majerle, Danny Manning 和Mitch Richmond这样的大学球员来参加奥运会了。

　　"Personally, I would like more of a chance to compete," Thompson said. "If there was a way for us to play in the European championships, for instance. But our system doesn't permit us to get involved in competition. I'm also an advocate of professionals playing in the Olympics."

　　“就我个人来说，希望有更多机会去竞争，”约翰-汤普森说。“例如，可以让我们有机会打欧洲杯比赛。但我们的体制不允许。我也提倡让职业篮球运动员参加奥运会。

　　The executive director of the United States Amateur Basketball Association Bill Wall immediately considered the unintended consequences of sending a Dream Team of NBA players four years later to Barcelona.

　　美国业余篮球联盟（ the United States Amateur Basketball Association）总裁Bill Wall立刻考虑到派出NBA球员组成的梦之队参加四年后巴塞罗那奥运会可能有大家忽略的后果。

　　"Philosophically, I have real problems with that," Wall said. "Do you want to watch the best players beat everybody else?”

　　“冷静地想想，我真的不赞成这样做。”Bill Wall说，“难道你想看最好的球员把所有人都打得落花流水？”

　　The United States won gold in 1992, 1996 and 2000 and were fully unbeatable. The absurdity of how much better they were than every other country can be best understood by watching the Vince Carter dunk on Frederic Weis on a loop.

　　美国男篮组成梦之队以全胜战绩赢得了1992，1996和2000年的奥运金牌。其他国家同美国队的差距简直让人无语，看看文斯-卡特在Frederic Weis身上这个死亡之扣你就明白了。

　　The United States could have continued to win gold in more Olympics than not with a team of college players, or even an under-23 roster to accommodate the NBA’s one-and-done and prep-to-pro evolution. Superteams without a chance to lose were what the United States wanted and the NBA benefitted from the business opportunity of sending the world’s most famous and exceptional players on a barnstorming tour of the planet to help with their own international expansion. It has undoubtedly worked with how the game has grown overseas and is now firmly entrenched as the second most relevant sport in the world beyond soccer. Other countries were fine being embarrassed by the United States because they now had a story of a lifetime about how they were dunked on by Michael Jordan or Barkley.

　　因为派出大学球员以及NBA球员通常仅仅只参加一次奥运且是23岁以下的准明星级球员，美国队没能赢更多奥运金牌。美国希望看到就是一支孤独求败的超级强队。NBA也通过向世界展示这些最出色的球员，获得了更多的商机，扩展了国际市场。随着篮球在海外的快速发展，篮球成为仅次于足球的第二大运动项目，NBA也借机快速扩张。其他国家也被美国好好的“教做人”，因为他们可以讲一辈子当年乔丹或巴克利是怎么在他们头上灌篮的。

　　A weird and somewhat depleted roster with a head coach coming off an NBA title that wasn’t entirely committed, and a closing of the competition gap over an entire generation of international players since 1992 undid the Bronze Team of 2004. You knew Team USA was in trouble when they lost by 19 to Puerto Rico in their first group stage game. They lost twice more before winning Bronze.

　　2004年，因为原有的阵容分崩离析，刚拿到NBA总冠军的主教练（拉里-布朗）未尽全力，自1992年以来毫无还手之力的国际球员也开始复兴，雅典奥运会美国队最终只收获铜牌。当他们在小组赛19分惨败于波多黎各，你就知道这不再是曾经的梦之队。他们随后又输了两场。（小组赛负于立陶宛和半决赛负于阿根廷）

　　The legacy of that 2004 team is how BFF’s for life LeBron, Dwyane Wade and Carmelo Anthony further forged the bond that began as members of the same draft class the previous June, as well as the reform that came in 2005 when Jerry Colangelo was hired to run USA Basketball. Colangelo required a three-year commitment in order to participate, which meant the best players couldn’t dip in and out of the program to merely show up for the Olympics, win a gold medal, sell some shoes and go home. The best American-born players in the NBA were forced to spend quality and quantity time together every summer; together they figured out how to outmaneuver a rigged system created by the NBA’s owners to create parity in a game where one or two players often make a bigger impact than the rest of their teammates combined.

　　2004年的梦之队使得同是前一年六月参加03届选秀的三位球员：勒布朗-詹姆斯，德维恩-韦德，卡梅罗-安东尼增进了基情，他们也成为一生的BBF（best friend forever）。他们又一起在2005年加入由杰里·科朗格洛担任主教练的国家队。科朗格洛改弦更张，做出了三年备战的要求。这意味着那些超级球星不能再像以前那样在奥运会上只是露个脸，拿个金牌，卖点球鞋，然后闪人。由NBA精英组成的最新美国队被要求每个夏天花更多的时间去精心备战，还要打破现有NBA老板们操控下一支球队都是只由一名或两名球星独霸，其他球员靠边站的现状。

　　Counting rings had become a fetishized part of sports that entirely made or broke otherwise Hall of Fame careers. Great players are unregarded because they didn't have great teammates and never won a title in the zero sum game of one champion per season. With a 30-franchise NBA, the current generation of players couldn't just nobly let superteams form organically the way they did for the Bill Russell or Larry Bird Celtics and the Magic Johnson/Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Lakers.

　　大家盲目地把总冠军戒指作为生涯目标，认为这是进入名人堂的标准。没有好帮手、没能夺冠的伟大球员因此被忽视。在现有的NBA，球员们无法让比尔-拉塞尔或拉里-伯德时期的凯尔特人，以及魔术师约翰逊/贾巴尔时期的湖人队那样的超级强队轻易形成。

　　梦之队金牌颁奖典礼

　　But the Thunder had a run of bad seasons and good drafts that led to a Big 4 of Durant, Russell Westbrook, James Harden and Serge Ibaka that was every bit as great as the Warriors' new Big 4; except they didn't have the right personalities, complementary styles and a willing ownership group. Durant, Westbrook and Harden came as a unit to Team USA in 2012 and planned on returning to Oklahoma City that fall to get back to The Finals until it was punctuated by the Harden trade.

　　但雷霆在几个糟糕的赛季之后，获得了一些很好的选秀签位，并由此选到杜兰特、拉塞尔-威斯布鲁克、詹姆斯-哈登、赛尔吉-伊巴卡，组成“四巨头”。他们和现在勇士最新的“四巨头”相比也不逞多让，不过他们的性格融合不佳、没能很好互补，管理层也缺乏坚定的决心。杜兰特、威斯布鲁克和哈登一起参加了2012年的美国队，在哈登被交易前，他们还本打算带领雷霆重返总决赛。

　　Without the development of friendships as teammates and the on-court test drive of playing with each other as part of Team USA, the 2010 Heat and 2016 Warriors probably never happen.

　　没有在美国队做队友时彼此结下的情谊和赛场上的磨合，2010年的热火和2016年的勇士也许不会存在。

　　The 2006 USA team added Chris Bosh, Chris Paul and Dwight Howard to LeBron, Wade and Carmelo. Those six players returned in 2008 for the Olympics in Beijing and discussions between LeBron, Wade and Bosh about playing together in 2010 when that trio would become free agents were aspirationally discussed.

　　2006年的美国队给勒布朗、韦德和卡梅罗找来了克里斯-波什、克里斯-保罗和德怀特-霍华德做帮手。这六个人又一起参加了2008年北京奥运会。在此期间勒布朗、韦德、波什一起认真讨论了到2010年他们仨都成为自由球员后在一起打球的可能性。

　　Anthony didn’t have the prescience to get an opt out for 2010 like his draft peers and had to wait for 2011 to become a free agent. Anthony impatiently wanted both New York and an extension before the probable lockout, so the trade to the Knicks effectively destroyed the prophecy of Paul’s toast at Anthony’s wedding. Everyone who appreciates Anthony’s exceptional yet imperfect game yearns for the brilliance of Team USA Carmelo and wonders what his career would have looked like with better teammates along the way.

　　同届兄弟在2010年跳出合同，安东尼却无此远见，只能等到2011年成为自由球员。他既想加入纽约又想在未来停摆前获得续约。最终安东尼到纽约的交易让小伙伴保罗不能加入纽约。安东尼的比赛非常出色但还不完美，但大家都由衷赞叹他在美国队中的非凡表现，同时也不禁在想，如果他身边有更出色的队友，他的职业生涯也许会完全不同。

　　Paul was traded to the Lakers to join Olympic teammate Kobe Bryant, but it was vetoed by the NBA as they then owned New Orleans and he instead was traded to the Clippers to form a superteam of their own, though with no prior Olympics ties.

　　保罗本来被交易到湖人去和梦之队队友科比组队，结果被当时托管黄蜂队的联盟否决。保罗最终被交易到快船，也组建成了一支“豪华战舰”，虽然这里没有他的奥运队友。

　　Deron Williams was also a member of the 2008 Olympics and he was always supposed to be joined in Brooklyn by Howard, but the indecisiveness of the latter opting in with the Magic for 12-13 eliminated that possibility.

　　德隆-威廉姆斯也是2008年奥运会美国队的一员，他本来要和霍华德一起加盟布鲁克林篮网，但12-13赛季魔术犹豫不决，让霍华德没能去成。

　　Durant felt the reality of his basketball mortality at the age of 27 this offseason after undergoing three separate foot surgeries a season ago, evenreferencing the short amount of time he has left as a basketball player during his introductory press conference. LeBron was 26 when he left a thoroughly replacement level Cavaliers’ rosters in 2010 to join Wade and Bosh with the Heat. LeBron loved the relationship he already had formed with those two, which evolved in becoming NBA teammates and still exists to this day even with all three now on different teams.

　　一个赛季前，三处不同的脚步手术让27岁的杜兰特在休赛期感到了职业生涯的危机。他甚至在勇士为他加入召开的新闻发布会上提到作为篮球运动员时光短暂。26岁的勒布朗在2010年和韦德，波什一起加入热火时，骑士的阵容一塌糊涂。他和他的队员韦德，波什感情深厚，即使如今三人各为其主，兄弟情依旧。

　　Durant was similarly astonished by the relationship Curry, Thompson, Green and Iguodala already had with each other during their meeting.

　　杜兰特在同勇士会面对库里，汤普森，格林，伊戈达拉之间的关系印象深刻。

　　“To see them together, they all walked in and it looked like they were holding hands,” Durant said. “It was just a family. I could tell they enjoyed being around each other.”

　　“看到他们一起走进来，就好像他们一个个手牵手，”杜兰特说，“就像一个大家庭。我能感觉到他们享受彼此的陪伴。”

　　Durant wanted to be part of that chemistry as much off the court as on it.

　　杜兰特想在场内外都成为这化学反应的一部分。

　　“When I met these guys, I felt as comfortable as I’ve ever felt," said Durant. "It was organic. It was authentic. It was real.”

　　“和这些伙计们会面，我感觉到从未有过的舒服。”杜兰特说，“这感觉很自然，很真实。”

　　Nobody has left a team as good as the Thunder the way Durant has this summer. The way the Thunder overwhelmed the Warriors in Games 3 and 4 of the Western Conference Finals with their length and athleticism was extraordinary. But Durant was tired of working so hard to generate quality shots on offense within Oklahoma City’s system and with a teammate he may have loved off the court in Westbrook but was so frequently responsible for zero-pass or one-pass possessions, sometimes for better though often for worse. Similarly, LeBron was tired of a predictable offense that simplistically asked him to be great on every possession while everyone else stood around spotting up for an open kickout after he was triple-teamed in the lane.

　　从没有人像今年夏天杜兰特那样离开一支像雷霆这样优秀的球队。雷霆不可思议地在西部决赛第三、四场比赛以压倒性的优势战胜勇士。但杜兰特已经厌倦了在雷霆现有体系中为每一次投篮费劲气力，他爱他的队友威斯布鲁克，但威少很多时候都会忘记传球，虽然有时也会露峥嵘，但更多的时候则不然。类似的，勒布朗也曾厌倦每次进攻都要自己大包大揽，其他人就站在外面等着传球，而他被对手三人包夹。

　　Durant and LeBron experienced the ease and joy of loading up with great teammates and playing unselfishly within an offense of ball movement with Team USA and could never go back to accepting how it was before even if it required the nuance of selflessness. At that point in the career of a great player, there is a restlessness to finally win a title and also for a newness of opportunity. Kevin Garnett was 31 when he finally left Minnesota and the advice he gave LeBron in 2010 was "loyalty is something that hurts you at times because you can't get youth back."

　　杜兰特和勒布朗都在美国队体会到了同出色无私的队友一起，球可以转移得流畅，进攻可以变得轻松写意。有了这种体验，即使他们再无私，也很难再去接受自己现状不佳的球队。到职业生涯的那个阶段，他们对冠军充满渴望。加内特终于离开森林狼的时候已经31岁，他在2010年给勒布朗的忠告是“忠诚有时会害了你，因为你只能年轻一次。”

　　I admire Durant and LeBron for not being docile loyalists to a specific franchise especially those that either were unable to acquire quality teammates (Cavs: 2003-2010), or chose to be financially cheap (Miami in 2013 with amnestying Mike Miller, Oklahoma City always) despite having future Hall of Famers on artificially undervalued max contracts. If Durant and LeBron chose to create situations where they can play for teams who are unapologetically limitless, it all began with Team USA.

　　我很欣慰杜兰特和勒布朗没有愚忠于一支球队。特别是他们的球队没能找来优秀的队友（2003-2010的骑士）或是不愿花钱（2013年热火特赦麦克-米勒，雷霆一直如此），而这些未来名人堂成员还自愿降薪。如果杜兰特和勒布朗选择加入无敌强队，这一切都始于梦之队。