Hey Koby Altman, you’re 35 years old, and your job as general manager of the Cleveland Cavaliers is to build a roster than can win a championship in 2017-18. There’s more – not only compete for a championship, but construct a roster that will entice LeBron James to stay with the Cavs after this season. 嘿，科比-奥尔特曼！你现在35岁了，你的工作是克利夫兰骑士队的总经理，你的目标是打造一只足以赢下2017-18赛季总冠军的阵容。对了，你们的任务可不止是拿下冠军，你们还要让阵容拥有足够的吸引力，以此来吸引勒布朗-詹姆斯长期留在骑士。 Hold on, that’s not all of it. Your boss is hands-on Cavs owner Dan Gilbert. 等等，这还不是全部。你的老板是对球队身体力行，亲力亲为的丹-吉尔伯特。 No pressure Koby, no pressure at all. 不要有压力，科比（奥尔特曼），不要再有压力了。 “We signed up for this,” Altman told USA TODAY Sports. “Yes, there’s pressure, and yes, there’s expectations.” “我们签约的目的就是如此，”奥尔特曼接受USA TODAY Sports采访时说道，“当然有压力，不过也有期待。” Altman was thrust into the Cavaliers GM job last summer amid franchise chaos. The team just parted ways with the GM David Griffin who built a roster that reached three consecutive NBA Finals and won a title in 2016. James was frustrated with the off-season roster construction, and star point guard Kyrie Irving wanted out. 去年夏天，骑士队混乱不堪，奥尔特曼临危受命。彼时，球队刚刚与总经理大卫-格里芬分道扬镳，后者打造的球队阵容连续三年打进了NBA总决赛，并且于2016年夺得总冠军。詹姆斯对球队休赛季的运作失望至极，明星控卫凯里-欧文也提出了交易请求。 And it's been on Altman, a first-time GM, to find the answers and persuade James, who can be a free agent in the summer, that Cleveland is where he should play for the next few seasons. 现在是奥尔特曼的时代了，第一次担任总经理就面临如此严峻的问题：解决球队的困境，劝说詹姆斯与球队续约。詹姆斯将于今年夏天成为自由球员。 “You’re not truly ready until you get thrown into it,” Altman said. “This doesn’t come with a manual or Dummies For or How To guide. Each job is unique and challenging, and each job is different for different reasons. This one was challenging because of what was put in front of you from the start. So, we just put our head down, and every day did the job.” “不到真正接受挑战那一刻，你永远不知道自己已经准备好了，”奥尔特曼说道，“没有指导手册，没有类似案例，也没有人教你怎么做。每份工作都是独一无二且具有挑战性的，每份工作也都有各自艰难的原因。而这次任务艰难的原因是从一开始它就浮现在我面前。因此，我们只好埋头苦干，每天如此。” The stakes are at all-time high, and with Thursday’s trade deadline fast approaching, the Cavs will send a message about where James is on Cleveland’s priority list. 风险一直都存在，而且一直很大。随着周四的交易截止日迫在眉睫，骑士将最终传递出詹姆斯在球队计划中的处境。 But Altman brings a grounded perspective to the job, an approach learned from experiences growing up in Brooklyn, school at prestigious Middlebury College in Vermont, real estate investing in New York City, graduate school, internships with USA Basketball, college coaching jobs and NBA front-office grind. 但奥尔特曼给这份工作带来了一个切实的前景，这是他在布鲁克林长大的经验提供给他的，奥尔特曼大学就读于佛蒙特州的明德学院，他的履历丰富，在纽约投资过房地产，在美国篮球研究院实习，担任过大学篮球教练，并且进入过NBA管理层。 “This is not reality,” he said. “What I get to do for a living is not a job. It’s basketball. You have to take a step back and ask, ‘Is this reality?’ I’d love to say what we’re doing is changing the world. But it’s not. That’s real pressure when you have life and death situations.” “这不现实，”他说道，“我维持生计的不只是一份工作，而是篮球。你不得不回头看看，然后问自己，‘这现实吗？’我很乐意告诉你，我们正在改变世界，但事实不是这样。当你面临生存和死亡的问题时，那才是真正的压力。”
Except for a brief respite – when the Cavs won 13 consecutive games and 18 of 19 – the pressure is still on Altman, even more so now with the Cavs struggling offensively and defensively. 在骑士取得19战18胜并且夺得得13连胜的那段时间，球队得到了一丝喘息的空间，但好景不长，奥尔特曼的压力仍然存在，因为现在，骑士在进攻端和防守端都表现挣扎。 They are 30-21, in third place in the Eastern Conference and All-Star forward Kevin Love is out for the next 6-7 weeks with a fractured bone in his hand. And even though the trade looked good at the time, acquiring Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic and a 2018 first-round pick from Boston for Irving hasn’t worked for the Cavs. 目前战绩30胜21负，东部排名第三，全明星前锋凯文-乐福手部骨折将缺席6-7周。尽管当时的交易看起来还不错，从凯尔特人手中得到了以赛亚-托马斯，杰-克劳德，安特-日日奇和2018年首轮签，但现在来看，对骑士并没有帮助。 The Cavs need perimeter and interior defense, and some additional offensive help. They have assets, including their own first-round pick and the Brooklyn pick. 骑士需要的是加强外线和内线防守，还有一些进攻端的火力加持。他们有筹码，包括自己的首轮和篮网签。 “We covet that draft pick at a high level potentially for the future or maybe in a trade,” Altman said earlier this season. “我们很看重选秀签的价值，他可能给我们的未来带来潜力，当然也可能在交易中作为重要筹码，”奥尔特曼在本赛季早期说道。 But will they part with it even for a player who puts the Cavs closer to winning a title? Does that player even exist in a potential trade? It’s up to Altman to sort through potential deals, and then convince Gilbert what moves should be made. 但球队会为了有可能帮助拿下总冠军的球员而放弃这个签位吗？而这个球员会有交易的可能性吗？这取决于奥尔特曼如何分类这些潜在交易，然后说服吉尔伯特完成既定运作。 “You rely on the people around you. You empower them to be leaders, and you try to make the best decisions you can,” Altman said. “你依赖周围的人，你让他们成为领导者，然后再尝试做出你能力之内的最好决定，”奥尔特曼说道。 Altman and his staff – most of whom were involved in putting together trades under Griffin – have been working nearly around the clock, and Altman has canvassed the league with persistent phone calls, searching for deals. 奥尔特曼的职员团队大多数都参与寻求了格里芬的交易，他们昼夜不停的工作，奥尔特曼也一直不停的给整个联盟打电话运球交易。
*** Deb Altman raised Koby in a single-parent home in Brooklyn, and those close to Altman call him a New Yorker through and through. 科比（奥尔特曼）在单亲家庭中长大，与他的母亲Deb居住在布鲁克林，与他亲近的人都描述他为彻头彻尾的纽约人。 “He’s very much a negotiator,” said Kyle Smith who hired Altman as an assistant coach at Columbia University. “He has a really sharp, quick intellect. He’s had had to hustle. Every conversation is a negotiation, including how you get your egg sandwich. He’s not afraid to push back and stand up for himself.” “他十分擅长谈判，”凯里-史密斯说道，奥尔特曼曾在哥伦比亚大学担任过他的助理教练，“他思维敏捷，反应迅速。他逼迫自己紧张起来。每次跟他交谈都是一场谈判，包括你如何*河蟹*蛋三明治。他不怕遭遇反击，也不怕为自己站出来。” Sam Intrator is a professor and chair of the education and child study program at Smith College in Northampton, Mass., and has known Altman for three decades, meeting a young Altman when Intrator worked with Altman’s mom at a Brooklyn school. Sam Intrator 是史密斯学院教育与儿童研究课题的教授主席，学院位于马萨诸赛州北安普顿。已经认识了奥尔特曼30年了，Intrator曾与与奥尔特曼的母亲在布鲁克林学校工作，早在那时就认识了年轻的奥尔特曼。 “He’s the epitome of Brooklyn,” Intrator said. “He’s smart and can work with broad range of people. He will connect with anyone. He has a rare capacity to be in relationships with lots of different people.” “他就是布鲁克林的缩影，”Intrator 说道，“他很聪明，能与很多人打交道。他把所有人连接起来，与各种不同的人建立联系，这种能力可不常见。” After high school, Altman enrolled at Middlebury, where he played basketball. He started on and off his sophomore, junior and senior seasons, never averaging more than 6.1 points, 2.8 assist and 2.5 rebounds. 高中毕业后，奥尔特曼进入了米德尔伯里，在那儿与篮球度过了他的大学四年时光，不过场均数据从没有超过6.1分，2.8个助攻和2.5个篮板。 Altman graduated and sold commercial real estate in New York. But he missed basketball and began moonlighting as a coach at Xavier High School in Lower Manhattan. 奥尔特曼毕业后，卖掉了在纽约的房地产。由于仍然想念篮球，他就开始在下曼哈顿区的泽维尔高中担任兼职教练。 “Koby had a ball on his fingers almost every moment that I knew him from when he was 4, 5 years old,” Intrator said. “He was faced with a big decision. Stay in real estate which is incredibly lucrative and he was good at it? Or follow his passion?” “大概从4，5岁开始吧，从那以后，几乎每次我看到他的时候，手中都有一颗篮球，”Intrator 说道，“彼时的他面临着一个重大决定。是继续留在房地产行业？话说这个行业可是非常赚钱，而且他也非常擅长。还是追寻他热爱的东西？” He followed his passion and enrolled in UMass-Amherst’s sports management graduate school and met USA Basketball’s Sean Ford who earned a degree with the renowned sports management program and served as a mentor to students. Ford hired Altman to work with USA Basketball’s junior national teams, including the 2009 U-19 world championship squad led by then Pittsburgh coach Jamie Dixon. 他服从了内心，选择进入UMass-Amherst的运动管理研究院进修，并在那儿认识了美国篮球（USAB）译注1的Sean Ford，后者取得了著名的体育管理学位，担任学生导师。福德招募了奥尔特曼，执教USAB篮球的全国大三球队，其中包括2009U-19世界冠军组，由彼时的匹兹堡教练Jamie Dixon.带领。 译注1：美国篮球（USAB）是美国篮球的管理机构，非盈利性组织。这个组织在国际篮联中代表美国队，在美国奥委会中全国男子和女子球队。 “No job was too small,” said Ford who noted folding towels was part of Altman’s duties. “What I saw was someone with high character. He was steady and motivated. He was a lot of things that are hard to teach. Somewhere in his life, he learned to be respectful. He wanted to learn and didn’t pretend he knew everything.” “工作没有高低大小之分，”Ford表示，折毛巾也是奥尔特曼工作的一部分，“我看到的是有高品质的人，他稳定，有激情。教他时间很难的事儿。在他生活中的某些地方，他学会了尊重。他渴望知识，从不会假装自己知道。”
College basketball coaches number in the thousands, but it’s a connected group. When Smith needed to assemble a coaching staff at Columbia, he called Dixon who recommended Altman. Smith went to Hamilton College (a New England Small College Athletic Conference) school along with Middlebury. 大学篮球有数以千计的教练，但他们又是一个彼此联系的群组。在史密斯需要在哥伦比亚筹备一个教练组时，他打给了Dixon，后者推荐了奥尔特曼。史密斯来到了米德尔伯里旁的汉密尔顿学院（新英格兰小型大学会议）。 “He’s a NESCAC guy, that was huge,” Smith said. “He’s from New York, so those two things put him at the top of the list, so I offered him a volunteer job.” “他在NEZCAC译注2工作，这点很重要，”史密斯说道，“他来自纽约，这两件事儿就证明这个工作非他莫属，因此我给了他一份志愿工作。” 译注2：The New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC)，新英格兰小型大学体育联盟，一个大学体育联盟，包含11个学校的体育代表队。 Altman loved coaching but began drifting to the management side of basketball. In Altman’s second season with Columbia, Smith received an email from then-Oklahoma City Thunder assistant Rob Hennigan who sought someone to work in the Thunder front office. 热爱执教的奥尔特曼，却被命运推向了篮球管理方面。奥尔特曼执教哥伦比亚的第二个赛季，史密斯收到了来自彼时雷霆助教Rob Hennigan的邮件，后者正在寻找进入球队管理层的人员。 “I wanted to hit delete because I didn’t want to lose Koby, but I felt obligated to share this with him because these opportunities don’t happen often,” Smith said. “I emailed Rob, ‘I think I got your guy.’ ” “我当时想删掉邮件，因为我不想失去科比（奥尔特曼），但我又感觉我有义务把这件事告诉他，这可是千载难逢的机会啊，”史密斯说道，“我在给Rob的回复邮件中写道，‘我想我有你要找的人。’ ” Hennigan attended Emerson, and while not a NESCAC school, it’s another prestigious New England liberal arts school. It’s also Thunder GM Sam Presti’s alma mater. Hennigan来访了爱默生学院，不过并不是NESCAC学校，是另一所著名的新英格兰文理学院。同时也是雷霆总经理萨姆-普雷斯蒂的母校。 “The thing that caught my eye at first was Sam Presti and seeing his path,” Altman said. “He went to small New England school like I did, and I thought if a guy from Emerson can do this, maybe a guy from Middlebury potentially has a shot. It was a huge pipe dream at that point. I was always fascinated by his journey.” “我首先看到的是萨姆-普雷斯蒂，看到了他的路径，”奥尔特曼说道，“他像我一样，去了新英格兰学院，我想如果一个来自爱默生学院的人可以做到这，那么明德学院的说不定也有机会。在当时，这可是一个巨大的白日梦。我完全对他的旅程着了迷。” Smith then reached out to another connection, then-Cavaliers GM Chris Grant who played at San Diego when Smith was an assistant there. Smith wanted Grant to give Altman advice. Grant was so impressed he wanted to hire Altman a few games into Columbia’s season during the 2011 NBA lockout. 史密斯接着打动了另一条关系链，彼时的骑士总经理克里斯-格兰特，在史密斯担任圣地亚哥助教期间，格兰特正是其中的一员。史密斯希望杰兰特给奥尔特曼一些建议。2011年NBA停摆期，格兰特想租借奥尔特曼打几场哥伦比亚的比赛，他对此仍印象深刻。 In 2012, Grant hired Altman as a pro player personnel manager, and Altman worked his way to assistant general manager. When Griffin and senior vice president of basketball operations Trent Redden were not retained, Altman took over on an interim basis. Gilbert looked at other candidates, including Chauncey Billups, but Altman impressed Gilbert enough to get the job. 2012年，格兰特给了奥尔特曼一个职业球员私人经理的职位，并且奥尔特曼也用自己的方式帮助总经理。在格里芬和篮球运营高级副总裁Trent Redden没有保留时，奥尔特曼临时接手。吉尔伯特考察其他的候选人，包括昌西-比卢普斯，但最终还是奥尔特曼打动了吉尔伯特。 For a young GM thrown into the tumult, Altman has handled a chaotic situation with calm. With not a lot of salary cap flexibility, Altman signed Jeff Green, Derrick Rose and Jose Calderon and navigated the Irving trade. With eight new players for 2017-18, Altman was realistic. 作为一个面对混乱的年轻总经理，奥尔特曼一直在冷静地处理眼前的一切。在没有太多的工资空间灵活性的前提下，签约了杰夫-格林，德里克-罗斯和约瑟-卡尔德隆，此外主导了欧文的交易。看着2017-18赛季的8名新球员，奥尔特曼回到了现实。 “Are we going to be better? I’m not sure. Are we going to be as talented? I’m not sure,” he said in October. “But it might give us a chance to be deeper and give us a chance to look to the future.” “我们会变得更强吗？我不太确定。我们足够有天赋吗？我不太确定。”他*十月在**表示，“但他可能给了我们一个更深入的机会，一个看到未来的机会。” But there’s also the present with the specter of James’ future looming large over the franchise. And that’s why Altman’s role matters. Like any franchise, ownership needs to approve trades, and even Cleveland’s previous front office regimes needed Gilbert’s signoff on the most basic deals. 但目前来看，詹姆斯未来的不确定性仍然如幽灵般笼罩着球队。这也是奥尔特曼这个工作的重要性。像所有球队一样，老板需要批准交易，即使骑士之前的管理政权，大多数基础交易中仍需要吉尔伯特的签收。 Altman is doing the legwork on calls – even if Gilbert is over his shoulder metaphorically – and putting together trade scenarios. He will present Gilbert with options that could improve the team and perhaps convince James to re-up with Cleveland. 即使吉尔伯特压在他的肩上，奥尔特曼正在不断打电话寻求交易可能，试图总结出所有可行的交易方案。他最终将带着可以提升球队实力，或是说服詹姆斯留队的选项，会见吉尔伯特。 Altman knows his job isn't life or death. He also understands the stakes, and he knows intense focus is on the Cavs at the trade deadline. 奥尔特曼知道，他的工作当然算不上生死攸关的大事儿，同时他也理解真实的风险，他知道，在交易截止日前，他的精力都放在了球队上。 转自：[翻译团]求真务实，35岁的奥尔特曼重压之下，临危不惧 由 白邦忙 发表在虎扑·翻译团 |
