6.26.10
As another NBA season is now behind us and Kobe Bryant has picked up his fifth title, his place in history is up for debate. Bryant who was once the clear cut poster boy for the post Jordan era of the NBA, is now the most polarizing figure in all of sports. Millions of people love the Lakers star, and millions of people hate him, but every basketball fan has an opinion on Kobe and are pretty passionate about it. It has gotten to the point where when someone asks whether or not you are a Kobe fan, it almost defines you as a person. It’s like asking if you are a Democrat or a Republican.
While trying to debate Bryant’s place among NBA greats, I was amazed by how many Bryant haters there were. The number of haters was so great that Ididn’t even find it fair to throw them all into one group. So just to be fair, I broke the Kobe Bryant haters up into groups so they are easier to identify.
随着又一个NBA赛季的落幕和科比拿到他第五个总冠军，有关他历史地位的讨论再次摆上议程。科比曾经是毋庸置疑的后乔丹时代封面人物，如今是在体育界最具争议性的典型代表。有百万人爱这位湖人巨星的同时有百万人恨他，但是每一个篮球迷对科比都有着自己的看法，而且对此非常狂热。现在当人们问到你是否是一个科蜜的时候，这几乎是判断你是怎样一个人的标准。这就象在问你是民主党还是共和党一样。试图给科比在NBA巨星中一个定位的同时，我被竟然有如此众多的科比憎恨者而震惊了。恨他的人是如此之多，我觉得把他们完全归于一类人是不公平的。为了公平起见，我把恨科比的人分成几类，这样他们可以更容易的自我定位。
When you ask most Kobe Haters (we will call them KH for short) to talk about Kobe, the first thing you will hear is, “he’s not Michael Jordan.” What exactly does that mean? Jordan is regarded as the greatest basketball player who ever lived - is not being better than him a bad thing? I wonder if I brought a 7’6” man into these peoples living room if the first words out there mouth be, “he isn’t the tallest man to ever live.” I’m guessing they would be thinking more along the lines of, I don’t know if he is the tallest person to ever live but he damn sure is tall, and if he isn’t the tallest person ever, he sure is close. Saying Bryant is no MJ really isn’t saying anything, its just ignoring who he is because of who he is not.
当你让那些恨科比的人（这里我们简单的把他们称为KH）来谈论一下科比，
你会听到的第一件事是“他不是迈克尔乔丹”。
这话究竟是什么意思？
乔丹早已被尊为史上最伟大的篮球运动员－不能够比他更好是一件很坏的事情么？
我想知道如果我把一个7英尺6英寸的人带到聚集着这些人的客厅里，我会听到的第一句话是不是，“他不是有史以来最高的人”。
我想他们在说这话的同时也同时会想，我不知道他是否是有史以来最高的人，但是毫无疑问他该死的高，如果他不是最高的那个，也已经非常接近了。
说科比不是乔丹实际上等于什么都没说，
这完全是因为他不是乔丹而忽视了他是科比的事实本身。
Then there is the group of haters who always seem to think Kobe is the second best player in the league no matter what. Let this group tell it, Bryant has been the second best player in the NBA for over a decade, but the number 1 player changes every other year. Somehow the number 1 player always seems to fall down the list but Kobe just never moves up. There was the he’s not better than Iverson debate that lasted for a couple of years, then there was the he’s not better than Tracy McGrady campaign which was followed by he’s not better than Steve Nash era -- hell even Chris Paul got his name mentioned for a year as the one guy in the NBA who is better than Kobe.This is the fan who has become a diehard Cavs fan out of nowhere. He is the same guy who years ago said that if Vince Carter or Tracy McGrady ever played with the best center in the NBA they would win a title too. His favorite line use to be "Kobe will never win without Shaq", but he never seems to remember saying any of that. He often has a lot to say in the regular season, but not so much in the playoffs.
然后是另外的一群KH，他们是不论基于什么理由，永远都认为科比是联盟第二优秀的人。
让这些人自己来说吧，
科比是NBA第二优秀的球员已经超过十年了，但是那个第一位的球员却每年都在换人。不知为何那些排名第一的球员总是不停的从名单上掉下来，但是科比的排名却永远不会上升。他不如艾佛森的争论持续了一些年，然后是他不如麦迪的辩论，然后进入他不如纳什的时代――见鬼的是即使是克里斯保罗也得到过一年的提名，作为NBA比科比更好的那个球员。这种KH是莫名其妙成为铁杆骑士球迷的人，
他同时也在几年前说过，如果卡特或者麦迪能够和NBA最好的中锋合作，他们也能赢一次总冠军。他最喜欢的台词是“科比没有鲨鱼就拿不了总冠军”，但是现在他却不记得说过什么了。在常规赛季他总是喋喋不休，但是在季后赛就消停了。
Which then brings us to the group that we will just call “Mr. Unrealistic-Casual fan.” That’s the guy who watches about 10-15 basketball games a year, normally at a bar where he isn’t even paying attention and by the time the game is over, he is too drunk to even tell you what happened in the
game. He is the guy who yells out “all I know is when Shaq left, Kobe couldn’t even get out of the first round.” It’s hard to really argue with him because he is right, that is all he knows. He never mentions that Kobe lost in the first round to a Suns team that had All Star Shawn Marion
as the third option, while the Lakers third leading scorer was Brian Cook.
接下去我们要说到的一类KH，让我们叫他们“非现实－临时球迷。”
这些人每年看10－15场篮球比赛，
一般是在酒吧里，他甚至没有关注过比赛。每当比赛结束的时候，他早就喝醉了而无法告诉你场上发生了些什么。
他正是那种会对人大叫
“我所知道的就是当鲨鱼离开后，科比再也没有通过季后赛第一轮”。这种人很难跟他争辩，因为他是对的，这就是他知道的全部了。
他从来不会提到科比在第一轮输给太阳是因为对方有着全明星级别的马里昂作为第三方，而湖人的第三得分点来自库克。
The next type of KH, is “Mr. I-know-basketball-more-than-you.” He normally is the guy who played basketball in High School and may have even walked on at a D2 school. He now coaches kids basketball so he thinks he has this ability to understand the game that no one else does, and can see things that you cant see and no one else can explain. He is the guy who says Kobe just doesn’t make others better, he says things like, you have to take Steve Nash over Kobe or no one wants to play with Kobe because he’s too selfish. When you ask him to explain why Nash has played on some of the most talented teams in the NBA over the last decade and hasn’t won anything, he really can’t answer you. He says Kobe doesn’t make anyone better but can’t explain why three years ago no one wanted Pau Gasol but now everyone seems to think he is the best thing since sliced bread. Three years ago, no GM in their right mind would have traded Amare Stoudemire and Shawn Marion, for Gasol and Odom, but for some reason this guy insists that Nash gets more out of his teammates then Kobe. This guy normally has a long list of players he would rather start a team with (Nash, Paul, LeBron, Dirketc.) all of whom have never won anything even in college, but he can’t explain why because you just wouldn’t understand. When you ask him to name Bryant’s weakness, he gets frustrated trying to tell you, so he just tells you that you don’t understand the game like he does. Sounds pretty stupid, but who are you to argue? He does coach 6th graders. The more you listen to him, you can tell his hate for Kobe is deeply rooted. He secretly blames star players like Kobe for the reason his hoop dreams never panned out. If the star player on his college team had just passed more, coach could have seen all his talent. He will never tell anyone out loud, but in
his heart he thinks he could have been better than Kobe if he was allowed to shoot more.
下一种类型的KH是“我懂的篮球比你多”先生。
他一般情况下是高中的时候打过篮球，甚至可能进过一所D2的学校。现在教小孩子们打球，所以他认为他比任何人都要懂得篮球，能够看到你所看不到的东西和其他人不能解释的事情。他就是那种说
科比不能让其他人变得更好的人。他说，
你必须认为纳什比科比更好或者没人愿意跟科比一起打球因为他太自私了。
当你问他为什么纳什在NBA最有天分的球队之一打了超过十年还没有赢得任何东西，他真的无法回答你。他说科比不能够使别人变得更好，但是他无法解释为什么三年前没人想要家嫂，而自从拿了冠军之后，如今每个人似乎都认为他是最好的。三年前，没有一个球队经理在正常的思维状况下愿意用小斯和马里昂换家嫂和奥多姆。
但是不管怎样，这种KH仍然坚持说纳什比科比更能够激发队友潜能。
这些人一般都有一个很长的，他想拿来组冠军队的人的名单（纳什，保罗，勒布朗，德克）
这些人都是即使在大学阶段也没赢得过任何东西，但是他无法解释为什么他想选这些人当然你也无法理解。
当你让他说出科比的弱点的时候，他表现的很焦躁因为他无法回答你，所以他只是告诉你，你没办法象他那样的了解一场比赛。听起来很愚蠢，但是你能说什么呢？他确实是在教6年级的孩子打球。你跟他说的越多，越会感觉到他对科比的恨已经根深蒂固。他只是秘密的怪罪如同科比一样才华横溢的球员，因为他自己的明星梦从来没成为过现实。他会想如果他大学球队中的明星球员可以更多的传球的话，教练也许会发现他的才能。
他从来不会大声的告诉别人，但是在他心里，他认为如果他能够获得更多的出手机会的话，他会成为比科比更强的球员。
The hardest guy to argue with is the history guy. He typically watches a lot of basketball and knows his stuff. He doesn’t like Kobe, but respects his game and as painful as it is to say, he will even admit that Kobe is the best player in the NBA today. He considers Kobe the best player of his
generation, but will quickly tell you he is not one of the best ever. He will say Kobe is somewhere between 15th to 20th best player of all time. The problem with history guy is he can never name 15 players better than Kobe. He often starts reeling off names fast like Jordan, Magic, Bird, and
Wilt. After spiting out four names really fast with ease, he throws out two more names, then just starts saying ridiculous things like Dr. J and Walt Frazier. In a last second effort to reach 10 players, he says George Mikan, even though not only has he never seen Mikan play, his father hasn’t
either. He can never tell you who the remaining 7 to 8 players are who are better then Kobe but swears they exist he just can never think of them right now. While naming the greatest players of all time, he often changes the criteria for being great. He says Bill Russell has to be top 5 because its
all about rings, then goes on to name a handful of players who he thinks are better then Kobe who combined have less rings than him. He always wants to point out that Kobe played with Shaq, but never wants to mention that Jordan, Bird, and Magic never won a title without another Hall of Fame
player on their team. History guy knows his basketball, the only thing he doesn’t know is why Kobe isn’t one of the top players of all time.
最难与之辩论的是那些熟知历史的人。他通常看过大量的篮球比赛，懂得很多东西。他不喜欢科比，但是尊重他的比赛，别扭的说，他甚至可以承认科比是当今NBA最好的球员。他认为科比是他这个时代中最好的，但是很快会告诉你他无法跟那些历史上的伟大球员比肩。他会说科比大约是史上第15到第20名之间的球员。这种历史性的KH的问题是，他无法说出历史上15个比科比更好的球员的名字。
他通常一开始能很轻松的说出
乔丹，魔术师，
伯德和张伯伦。
当非常容易的说出这四个名字之后，
他还能抛出两个名字，然后就开始说一些奇怪的东西比如J博士和弗雷泽。
在他要凑足10个球员名字的最后努力中，他说到乔治麦肯,即便是他从来没看过麦肯的比赛，即使是他父亲也没有。他永远不能告诉你剩下的比科比好的那7，8名球员是谁，但是发誓说他们绝对存在只是他现在想不起来。当说到史上最伟大的球员的时候，他经常改变这个伟大的标准。他说拉塞尔肯定在前五位因为他拿了那么多戒指，
然后再说出一堆他认为比科比好的球员，尽管他们加起来的戒指也没有他一个人多。他经常试图指出科比是跟鲨鱼一起夺冠，但是从来不会提到乔丹，伯德还有魔术师都是在队中还有另一位名人堂成员的存在下夺得冠军。历史性KH懂得篮球，他只是不懂为什么科比不是历史上最伟大球员之一。
The most interesting of all the KH is hypocrite guy. He says one thing, but his hate for Kobe says another. He says he hates Kobe because he wants to be like Mike, but doesn’t even notice he is wearing a number 23 Cavs jersey. He says he can’t stand Kobe because he’s so arrogant, but his favorite player is a 25 year old who calls himself King and speaks in third person --all while inviting us to “witness his greatness.” He is always complaining that today’s players only care about money and don’t care about getting better, but for some reason hates the player who works hardest in the NBA. He is often screaming that Kobe can’t win a title on his own in one breath, and in the second breath screaming LeBron needs help. He says things like today’s players have no respect for the players of the past, then turns around and says Kobe steals players moves from the past. He hates Kobe so much that he doesn’t even realize that stuff he says makes no sense. He calls every Kobe fan he knows every time Kobe has a bad game to say “I told you so” but he is the hardest guy to find every time Kobe has great game or hit’s a game winning shot. He always says he can’t stand Kobe because he wants to be like Jordan, even though every Saturday he himself hit’s the park in his Jordan shoes, Jordan socks, Jordan shorts and Jordan shirt and never forgets his Jordan bag full of Gatorade. Hypocrite guy doesn’t even realize everyone wants to be like Jordan including himself, the only difference is Kobe is the only one willing to put in the same work Mike did.
最有趣的一类KH是那些伪善的人。他们说一套做一套。他说他恨科比是因为他想要成为乔丹，但是却没有注意到他自己正穿着骑士的23号球服。他说他不能忍受科比是因为他太傲慢了，但是他最喜欢的球员却是一个25岁把自己称作皇帝的人，那个人还经常让人放话说让人“见识他的伟大”。这些KH抱怨说现在的球员太在乎金钱而不在乎怎么让自己变得更好，但是却恨着联盟里最努力的那个球员。他经常一边尖叫着科比不能独自率队赢得冠军，一边叫着勒布朗需要更多帮助。他会说今天的球员对过去的球员不够尊敬，但是转头就指责科比偷学以前球员的技术。他如此憎恨科比，甚至没有意识到他说的话都毫无意义。
每当科比有一场表现不好的比赛，他都会打电话给他所知道的每个科蜜说，“我早告诉过你了”。但是当科比打出一场伟大的比赛或者投出绝杀的时候，你就根本找不到他了。他经常说他无法忍受科比因为他想成为乔丹，即使如此，这些人依旧会在每周六穿着他的乔丹鞋子，乔丹袜子，乔丹短裤，乔丹T恤，并且不会忘记装满Gatorade饮料的乔丹背包到公园去。伪善KH从来不会意识到每个人都想成为乔丹，包括他自己，唯一的区别是科比是唯一乐意做出跟乔丹一样多的努力的人。
Last but not least is “Ms. I-can’t-stand-him.” This is the female who obviously used to date Bryant, if you didn’t know any better. She often says I can’t stand him with so much passion that you can tell it goes deeper than basketball. She has a long list of reasons she hates him, and not one of them has anything to do with basketball. She doesn’t even have a favorite basketball team, she just roots for whatever team is playing the Lakers. If you watched her throughout the playoffs you would think she was a Suns, Thunder, and Celtics fan her whole life. There really is no need to argue with her because all she ever says is “ I can’t stand him” and all you can really do is wonder, does she know him?
最后的一类是
“我就是不能忍受他”女士。如果你不知道更多的话，你会以为这些女士肯定曾经跟科比约会过。她如此激动的说“我不能忍受他”，你可以感觉到这种感情比篮球本身来的更深。
她有一堆的理由来说明为什么她讨厌他，当然没有一条跟篮球有关。她甚至没有一支最爱的球队，她会代表任何球队只要他们的对手是湖人。
如果你在观察她在季后赛的表现，你会觉得她一生是太阳，雷霆和凯尔特人的球迷。
实在是没有必要跟她去争论，因为她只会说“我不能忍受他”，然后你所能做的就是思考，她认识他吗？
Does every super star in sports have his/her group of haters? Yes, but hating Kobe has gone to a different level, it has taken on an art form. While millions of Americans will admit to being a Kobe hater, there are several hundred thousands of fans out there who don’t even know they are Kobe haters. The saying goes, “it’s lonely at the top,” or as Jay-Z once said, “you don’t even know me and you mad. How it feel to be a hater, now I know exactly how it feels to be a Laker."
是否每一个体坛超级巨星都有他或她各自的仇恨者？是的，但是呢，恨科比已经到了一个不同的阶段，它已经成为了一种艺术形式。
当百万美国人承认自己是一个KH的时候，仍然有成百上千的球迷不知道他们其实是KH。
正如一句话所说的，“高处不胜寒”，
或者象Jay-Z曾经说过的，
“你甚至都不认识我你就疯了，成为一个仇恨者的感觉如何，现在我完全知道了作为一个湖人的感觉是怎样的。”
