Battered but Not Broken Yao Ming Battles Back from Injury to Resurrect His NBA Career
CNN专访姚明——“职业生涯终有结束的一天”
TERRY BADDOO, CNN ANCHOR:The Houston Rockets Chinese center Yao Ming will play no more than 24 minutes in each NBA game next season as he returns from injury. An NBA game lasts 48 minutes, so Yao will only play half of it. The team's athletic trainer Keith Jones told the Houston Chronicle newspaper Thursday that the time limit would be applied strictly, adding that the seven-feet-six-inch Yao would even skip lots of practiced sessions to limit the impact on his surgically repaired left foot. Ahead of his long-awaited return, Yao spoke with Anjali Rao for the Talk Asia program.
CNN主播 泰瑞·巴杜:下个赛季,休斯敦火箭队的中国中锋姚明伤愈复出之后,在每一场 NBA球赛的上场时间都不会超过24分钟。 NBA球赛一场是 48分钟,所以姚明每次只能打半场。该队的运动伤害防护员凯斯·琼斯周四向《休斯敦纪事报》表示,这项时间限制将会严格执行,并且他指出 7英尺6英寸高的姚明甚至会错过许多日常练习,以减少他术后恢复的左脚所受的冲击。在众人期待己久的复出前夕,姚明来到《亚洲名人聊天室》接受安姿丽访问。
YAO MING, HOUSTON ROCKETS CENTER:Everything looks perfect on pictures, I mean those X-ray pictures, and today, I'm walking on it well, full pressure on my foot already. But before I start to play the first real NBA game, I still have some [things] I need to [be] concern[ed] about.
前休斯敦火箭队中锋 姚明:在照片上,我是说X光片,一切看起来都非常完美。一直到今天,我走起路来也都没有问题,已经把全身重量都压在脚上了。不过,在我真正上场比赛之前,还是有些事情必须注意。
ANJALI RAO, TALK ASIA:You know, many thought that your playing days were over when the injury happened. How did you feel when you heard people talking like that?
《亚洲名人聊天室》安姿丽:当初你受伤的时候,很多人都认为你的篮球生涯已经结束了。你听到别人这么说,心里有什么感觉?
YAO MING, HOUSTON ROCKETS CENTER:Well, that shocked me, of course. You know you play this game almost 20 years, since you know [I was] nine, and one day... well everybody know[s] that your career is going to end at some day. But just I'm not ready for that day yet, right? Maybe I'm 24 or 25, I watch... I know my body is kind of like going down every year. I know it's about time, but the day I know that I have a career-ending, threatening... that's almost the best time in my career. That's really difficult for me.
前休斯敦火箭队中锋 姚明:当然,我很震惊。你也知道,我打篮球已经将近20年,从9岁就开始打了。有一天……反正大家都知道职业生涯一定有一天会结束,只是我还没准备好那一天的到来,不是吗?也许在我24或25岁的时候,我看到……我知道我的身体好像年年走下坡路。我知道已经差不多是时候了,可是我知道自己的职业生涯可能即将结束的那一天,却几乎是我职业生涯中最风光的时刻。那对我来说真的很难接受。
ANJALI RAO, TALK ASIA:Yeah, because you were sort of at a high when it happened.
《亚洲名人聊天室》安姿丽:是啊,因为事情发生的时候,你的状态正处于高峰。
YAO MING, HOUSTON ROCKETS CENTER:Uh-huh. It was about when I was going to reach my peak.
前休斯敦火箭队中锋 姚明:的确。当时我才正要达到巅峰。
ANJALI RAO, TALK ASIA:Are you nervous about getting back on the court?
《亚洲名人聊天室》安姿丽:你对于回到球场上会不会紧张?
YAO MING, HOUSTON ROCKETS CENTER:Ah, yes. Now, before we decide[d] what [we] [were] going to do on my foot, they [had] different plan[s] come out about how to fix my foot-plan A, plan B and plan C. And we did a lot of researching on them, asking a lot of doctors. And we also asked a few players, either still playing NBA or retired, you know, how they feel after they had that same kind of surgery. You know they give us... they give me a lot of good opinions, you know? It's really helpful at [in] the end. So we decide[d] [we're] going to... alright, we're going to do this, and we, we are going to see what happens.
前休斯敦火箭队中锋 姚明:会啊。在我们决定该怎么治疗我的脚之前,他们提出了许多不同的治疗方案——方案一、方案二、方案三。而且,我们也做了许多研究,问了许多医生。我们还问了几个球员,包括现役与退休的球员,问他们接受了同样的手术之后有什么感觉。他们给了我很多很好的意见,对我帮助良多。于是,我们决定要……要做这个,然后看看结果会怎么样。
ANJALI RAO, TALK ASIA:How tough was the rehabilitation process?
《亚洲名人聊天室》安姿丽:康复过程有多困难?
YAO MING, HOUSTON ROCKETS CENTER:Like I just said, I need to be patient.
前休斯敦火箭队中锋 姚明:就像我刚说的,我必须有耐心。
ANJALI RAO, TALK ASIA:Right.
《亚洲名人聊天室》安姿丽:是。
YAO MING, HOUSTON ROCKETS CENTER:I need to be patient on this. You know, athletes, our attitude... our mentality is always to try to be aggressive. We want to be faster, quicker, stronger, and we don't want to waste any seconds. If we can do, like, a double in one day, why wait [until the] next day. But on the other side, you know, if you want to take the best care of your body, you have to be patient. You have to slow down at this case, in this case.
前休斯敦火箭队中锋 姚明:我必须有耐心进行康复治疗。你知道,运动员,我们的态度……我们的心态就是随时保持积极心态。我们要更快、更敏捷、更强壮,绝不浪费任何一秒钟。我们如果可以在一天里做两倍的事情,又何必等到第二天。 但另一方面,如果要好好照顾自己的身体,就必须有耐心。在这种情况下,就必须放慢脚步。
ANJALI RAO, TALK ASIA:But your whole career in the NBA has been plagued by injuries, right? I mean you've missed at least 10 games every season since 2005, and that's led some to say that, you know, if it continues, sadly the Rockets might have to say goodbye to you. Do you feel like this season is make-or-break for you?
《亚洲名人聊天室》安姿丽:可是你在NBA的职业生涯一直不断到受伤病的困扰,对不对?我是说,自从 2005年以来,每赛季至少缺席10场以上的比赛,所以有些人就说,这种情况如果继续下去,火箭队可能就必须和你说再见了。你觉得这一赛季会不会是你成败的关键?
YAO MING, HOUSTON ROCKETS CENTER:This coming season [is] my key season. You know, I missed a whole year and I have a very serious injury history, and that would put me [at] risk. And also, [whatever] team I play for, I think the team has a risk to take me, to keep me, also. That's... I mean that's the truth. We cannot get around that. So, next season I think the first goal I made is [to] play healthy through the season, of course, and then show people how good I can be. Hopefully, [I'll] still be as good as before.
前休斯敦火箭队中锋 姚明:接下来这个赛季是我的关键赛季。我已经错过了一整年,过去也有很严重的受伤历史,那让我面临很大的风险。此外,不论我为哪一队效力,那个球队签下我就必须承受风险,留下我也同样有风险。我是说,事实就是这样,这是无可回避的。所以,我为下一赛季设定的第二个目标,当然就是健康打完整个赛季,并且让大家知道我可以打得多好。希望我的身子能够和以前一样矫健。