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Former NBA star Tracy McGrady made his Chinese Basketball Association debut with the Qingdao Double Star Eagles over the weekend, losing a heartbreaker to the Fujian Sturgeons after Sundiata Gaines, formerly of the NBA's Utah Jazz, drained a three-pointer with no time left to put Fujian up 95-92. It was the sort finish -- dramatic, supremely marketable -- that CBA executives have been dreaming of ever since they started pushing hard to recruit former NBA players a couple of years ago.
前NBA球星麥蒂(Tracy McGrady)加盟青島雙星后在上周末進行了CBA聯賽首秀，不料雙星卻在最后一刻輸給福建潯興。前NBA猶他爵士隊球星蓋恩斯(Sundiata Gaines)在終場前最后一刻投入三分球，青島雙星沒有時間扳回比分，最終以92-95敗北。這種充滿戲劇性且推廣性很強的比賽結局正是CBA高管多年前開始大力征召NBA前球星以來夢想出現的場面。
But if the presence of so many marquee names on CBA courts has given the league an immediate boost, it's not necessarily a good thing for Chinese basketball as a whole. Or so says China's biggest homegrown basketball star.
Reuters姚明但是，如果只要眾多大牌球星出現在CBA球場上就能給中國籃球聯賽帶來迅速的提升，這對中國籃球整體而言未必是一件好事。一位中國本土培養出來的大牌籃球明星是這么認為的。
'We need to do something to help local basketball grow. You can't always rely on the foreign basketball players to come and help with your marketing and all that,' retired eight-time NBA All-Star Yao Ming told China Real Time in a recent interview. 'You need to have local people come in and have a deep impact, to make that link, that connection between the players and the fans.'
曾八次入選NBA全明星陣容的退役球員姚明最近在接受“中國實時報”欄目采訪時說，我們需要做一些事情來幫助中國籃球成長，不能總是依靠國外球星到中國來幫助你推廣籃球運動，你得要有能夠產生深刻影響的國內球員，讓他們充當連接球員和球迷的橋梁。
In a country hungry for global sports success that boasts hundreds of millions of basketball fans --- including Premier Wen Jiabao --- the state of Chinese basketball is a persistent source of consternation. Led by Yao, China's national men's team managed to finish eighth in the standings during the 2008 Beijing Olympics. But it has struggled mightily since injuries forced Yao to retire and left the London Olympics this summer without winning a single game. The CBA, meanwhile, watched fans lose interest after Yao was picked first the 2002 NBA draft and left the league without any major stars.
作為一個擁有大量籃球迷（其中包括國務院總理溫家寶）的國家，中國渴望在世界體壇取得成功，但中國籃球的現狀卻總是讓人感到沮喪。在姚明的帶領下，中國國家男子籃球隊在2008年北京奧運會上最終取得第八名的成績。但在姚明因傷退役之后中國男籃舉步維艱，在今年夏天的倫敦奧運會上沒有贏得一場比賽。與此同時，姚明在2002年NBA選秀大賽中被火箭隊挑中之后，CBA眼睜睜地看著球迷對聯賽失去了興趣，籃球聯賽也不再有任何一位重量級球星。
Things have picked up for the CBA in recent years, thanks largely to former NBA heavyweights like McGrady, Gilbert Arenas and Stephon Marbury. McGrady arrived in Qingdao in October while Arenas signed with the Shanghai Sharks earlier this month. Marbury, an eccentric former New York Knick, has been tearing up the CBA since 2010 in one of basketball's great career resurrection stories.
但近年來CBA的情況有所改善，這主要應歸功于NBA前重量級球星麥蒂、阿里納斯(Gilbert Arenas)和馬布里(Stephon Marbury)的加盟。麥蒂今年10月抵達青島，而阿里納斯本月早些時候簽約上海大鯊魚。前紐約尼克斯隊古怪球星馬布里自2010年以來在CBA就一直很成功，他也因此書寫了籃球史上一次偉大的在職業生涯中二次煥發青春的故事。
Visiting Beijing to promote his eponymous wine at a private dinner at the Ritz Carlton, Yao said he hadn't spoken with McGrady, his former teammate in Houston, about coming to China. As co-owner of the Sharks, however, he's helping pay Arenas's salary.
姚明此次訪問北京是為了宣傳以自己名字命名的葡萄酒。在麗思卡爾頓酒店(Ritz Carlton)的一個私人晚宴上，姚明說他不曾就到中國打球一事和麥蒂談過話。麥蒂曾是姚明在休斯頓火箭隊的隊友。不過作為上海大鯊魚球隊的共同所有者，姚明得支付阿里納斯的薪水。
Yao was careful to avoid portraying the presence of foreign stars in the CBA as a bad thing, and he lauded Marbury in particular for embracing the second chance he was given in China. Still, he argued, the league needs something else to succeed in the long run. 'I don't mean to say foreigners are hurting basketball here. They come here to play, the fans love them, but still, long-term, you need local stars turning out,' he said. 'We need to think about the second step.'
姚明說話很謹慎，他避免將國外球星到CBA打球這種現象說成一件壞事。他尤為稱贊馬布里，認為他把握住了在中國得到的第二次機會。盡管如此，他還是認為CBA想要在長期取得成功不能止步于此。姚明說，我的意思不是說外國球員給中國籃球帶來了負面影響；他們到中國來打球，球迷也喜歡他們；但從長期看中國籃球還是需要本土球星的崛起；我們必須想想下一步該怎么辦。
So what's the solution? With millions of kids playing basketball on courts from Beijing to Baotou, China already has the necessary raw materials, according to Yao. The key is convincing the country's schools and parents to give students a break from their relentless study schedules.
那么，有什么解決辦法嗎？姚明說，從北京到包頭，數以百萬計的孩子在操場打籃球，中國已經擁有了所需的“原材料”，關鍵是要說服學校和家長能讓學生從排得滿滿當當的課程表里擠出一些打球的時間。
'We just need to give them more time to play,' he said. 'I'm not saying education is not important, but we have to have balance...More and more people are starting to realize that education is not only about homework and examinations. Physical education is important, too.'
姚明說，我們只是要給他們更多的時間來打球，我不是說學習不重要，但我們必須平衡了兩者間的關系；越來越多的人開始認識到，學習不僅是作業和考試，體育鍛煉也很重要。
In that sense, Yao said, one of the great things to happen to Chinese basketball is the emergence of Harvard graduate and Houston Rockets ball handler Jeremy Lin, who stunned the world last year with a torrid stretch as an emergency fill-in point guard for the Knicks.
姚明說，從這個意義上講，對中國籃球來說，近來發生的最重要的一件事情就是從哈佛畢業、現為休斯頓火箭隊控球后衛的林書豪(Jeremy Lin)的躥紅。去年，作為紐約尼克斯隊替補控球后衛臨時上場的林書豪以一連串優異的表現令世界震驚。
'He proved that it's not necessary to give up education to become a great athlete,' Yao said of Lin, a Taiwanese American who has a massive following in China.
Getty ImagesJeremy Lin姚明談到林書豪時說，他證明了想要成為一名偉大的運動員不一定要放棄學習。林書豪是臺裔美國人，在中國有大批粉絲。
The other reason Lin could have a big impact on China's basketball future, according to the towering Yao: 'He's just normal sized, 6-foot-3, 6-foot-4 maybe. A lot of people can be that. Not everyone can be 7-foot-3.'
在身材高大的姚明看來，林書豪能夠對中國籃球的未來產生重大影響的另一個原因是他的身高在1.9米左右，這一身高算是正常，很多人都能長到，不是每個人都能長到2.2米。
Lin has struggled so far to reproduce the success he experienced last year and said in a recent interview with Yahoo Sports that he felt he was a target on the court because of his race. Yao, who was a target himself when he first got to the NBA, said he thought it was wrong to think about it in terms of skin color.
到目前為止林書豪一直在努力復制他在去年取得的成功，在最近接受雅虎體育(Yahoo Sports)采訪時他說，他覺得自己在球場被針對都是因為他是亞裔。剛到NBA時也曾被針對的姚明說，用膚色來解釋這一問題是不對的。
'He's a target because he got so famous last year, not because of race,' he said. 'That what the NBA is like. You have to beat your opponent to earn the credit, and that's a process that will be with you through your entire career.'
姚明說，林書豪成為被針對的目標是因為他在去年太出名了，這與他的種族無關，NBA就是這個樣子，你必須擊敗對手來贏得自己的榮譽，這一過程會伴隨你的整個職業生涯。
