籃球與非裔美國人不得不說的故事

Along with soccer, basketball is a global sport. As you read this, young people somewhere in the world are happily passing, dribbling and shooting. It’s enormous fun and a joyful way to spend time with others.

和足球一樣，籃球也是項全球性的運動。當(dāng)你閱讀這篇文章時，世界上的某處或許就有年輕人正在開心地傳球、運球、投籃。打籃球有著無窮的樂趣，也是和朋友打發(fā)時間的一種愉快的方式。

Basketball is a game for everyone. Unlike golf or tennis, it doesn’t require great wealth or a lot of space to play. After all, not many people have a golf course-sized backyard, and tennis equipment is expensive. Basketball, by contrast, just needs a wall with a hoop and a ball.

籃球是項適合所有人的運動。和高爾夫、網(wǎng)球不同的是，打籃球不需要花很多錢，也不需要很大的運動場地。畢竟，沒有多少人能擁有一個高爾夫球場大小的后院，網(wǎng)球裝備也價格不菲。相比之下，打籃球只需要一面裝有籃筐的墻和一顆籃球。

So after its invention by Canadian-American physical educator James Naismith in 1891, the sport took off with US city-dwellers, who quickly became attracted to the game because it suited their circumstances. Today, 126 years later, basketball remains one of the most popular sports in the US, and the National Basketball Association (NBA) has an increasing appeal to fans around the world.

所以，在1981年加拿大裔美國體育老師詹姆斯·奈史密斯發(fā)明籃球以后，這項運動在美國的城市居民中風(fēng)靡。人們很快就被籃球運動所吸引，因為他們所處的環(huán)境打籃球十分方便。126年后的今天，籃球仍是美國最受歡迎的運動之一，而美國職業(yè)籃球聯(lián)賽(NBA)對于世界各地球迷的吸引力也與日俱增。

The success of basketball as a global phenomenon is undoubtedly related to the way African-Americans play the game. “The basketball court reflected some of the major cultural shifts in America, such as from segregation to integration,” the LIVESTRONG website noted.

籃球在全球范圍內(nèi)現(xiàn)象級的成功無疑與非裔美國人打籃球的方式息息相關(guān)。“籃球場體現(xiàn)了美國在文化上的一些主要轉(zhuǎn)變，如從種族隔離到種族融合等，”LIVESTRONG網(wǎng)站指出。

From the 1950s onwards, segregation rules, which had prohibited African-Americans from playing in NBA games, were no longer used in the US. In 1950, when Earl Lloyd started to play for the Washington Capital team, things began to change. Since then, most of the greats of the game have been African-Americans, like Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James.

美國自上世紀(jì)50年代以來廢除了禁止非裔美國人參與NBA比賽的種族隔離政策。當(dāng)厄爾·勞埃德1950年開始為華盛頓國會隊效力時，一切都變得不同了。從那以后，大多數(shù)偉大的籃球運動員都是非裔美國人，如邁克爾·喬丹、“魔術(shù)師”埃爾文·約翰遜、科比·布萊恩特以及勒布朗·詹姆斯。

It’s not difficult to see that there’s a strong link between political liberation and basketball. Something of this is expressed in a quote from the US author John Edgar Wideman. He makes a connection between basketball and hope: “When it’s played the way it’s supposed to be played, basketball happens in the air; flying, floating, elevated above the floor, levitating the way oppressed peoples of this earth imagine themselves in their dreams.”

不難看出，政治解放與籃球運動密切相關(guān)。這點在美國作家約翰·埃德加·懷德曼的一句名言中有所體現(xiàn)。他將籃球和希望聯(lián)系了起來：“當(dāng)人們以應(yīng)有的方式打籃球時，籃球無處不在;飛翔、漂浮、從地面高高彈起，籃球解放了這個星球上受壓迫的人們，讓他們在自己的夢想中天馬行空。”