在哭泣的球迷和众多媒体的瞩目下，2月19日北京输掉了主场对阵四川的比赛，至此北京队结束本赛季比赛征程，未能进入季后赛。在过去的五个赛季，北京队三次获得CBA总冠军，所以他们缺席季后赛，本身就是一个大事件。此外，所有媒体都聚焦在一个人身上，那就是中国球迷口中的Ma-bu-li，前NBA全明星球员斯蒂芬-马布里，整个北京挚爱的明星控卫。
　　Amid weeping fans and a media firestorm, the Beijing Ducks walked off their home court on February 19, their season over before the Chinese Basketball Association playoffs even began. The Ducks have been CBA champions three times in the last five years, and so their postseason absence should be a huge deal. Instead, the intense glare of the media is focused on one player: Ma-bu-li, a.k.a. former NBA All-Star Stephon Marbury, the Ducks' beloved star point guard.
　　先谈谈本赛季吧，所有人都准备向这位老将告别，因为一年前当时39岁的马布里告诉北京当地的媒体，2016-17赛季会是自己的最后一个赛季。但就在周日比赛结束后的数小时，马布里通过中国的社交网站对外宣布，希望执行自己合同的最后一年，下赛季重返赛场。这突然的消息，显然让北京队非常意外，而北京当地的媒体对此也在不断地进行讨论。
　　Heading into this season, China had been gearing up to say goodbye to the grand old man of Beijing basketball. Twelve months ago, the then-39-year-old told local media that this season would be his last. But within hours of the final buzzer last Sunday, Marbury was announcing on Chinese social media that he wanted to come back for the final year of his contract. This clearly caught the Ducks off-guard, and local sports media cannot stop talking about it.
　　耐人寻味的是马布里合同的最后一年是球队选项，这让球队处在一个进退两难的位置。如果球队与马布里续约，那么球队急需的重建进程又得推迟一年。但是如果不与马布里续约，且不说马布里是否会在其他CBA球队效力，这势必会激起轩然大波。
　　What makes the situation even juicer is that Marbury's final year is a team option, leaving the Ducks in a precarious position. If they give in and extend his contract, the team's much-needed rebuild gets postponed for another year. But if they don't and Marbury walks, Beijing explodes with fury—and that's before considering whether the guard even plays on in China with another team.
　　理解了北京为什么处在这么一个微妙的处境，这也就帮助我们去了解马布里在现今CBA的历史地位。在麦迪、弗朗西斯和其他过气NBA全明星来中国打球之前，马布里就已经独自来到CBA，为中国球队效力。但在诸多NBA球员都离开之后，马布里的坚守让他在中国越来越受到欢迎。尽管在美国不少黑子放话：NBA的经理们对马布里根本没有兴趣，咱们康尼岛的大兄弟很满足中国球迷的崇拜。但马布里根本不在乎这些，因为他想成为CBA的一部分，这对于大多数的中国球迷来说意味太多。
　　To understand why this is a such a delicate situation for the Ducks, it helps to understand Marbury's place in recent CBA history. Before Tracy McGrady, Steve Francis, and other faded NBA All-Stars started coming over to China, Marbury was out here by himself. His popularity only increased when he stayed long after the others had returned to the U.S. Cynics might (correctly) suggest that there was little interest in Marbury among NBA GMs and that the Coney Island native would rather bask in the adoration of Chinese fans, but regardless, he wanted to be part of the CBA, and that meant a lot to basketball fans in the Middle Kingdom.
　　尤其在中国的首都北京，在这个民众普遍苛刻，要求很高的城市，马布里不仅仅是一个受人爱戴、风靡全城的英雄，更是成为了京城体育的象征。在北京打球的第一个赛季对阵死敌上海队时，马布里遭到一次极严重的犯规，但犯规球员却因此受伤送医。接下来的一个赛季，再次对阵上海队时，马布里带队以107-88大胜上海队，时任上海主教练也因本场失利而黯然下课。一时间，马布里在赛场上大杀四方、无人能挡。
　　In the Chinese capital especially, Marbury is more than a cult hero who endeared himse he has become the sporting embodiment of Beijing, a city whose people are commonly stereotyped as mean-spirited and tough-nosed. His first season with the Ducks, he hospitalized a player from Beijing's hated rivals, the Shanghai Sharks, with a brutal hard foul. Twelve months later, he gleefully ran up the score in 101-88 beatdown that cost the Sharks' coach his job. For a while, he kept kicking people in the junk just because he could.
　　马布里的出色发挥对球队帮助极大，在2011赛季之前，北京队作为一支历史悠久的队伍已经停滞不前多年。马布里的到来对于教练闵鹿蕾的外扩挡拆战术是完美的补充。当赛季，马布里就帮助球队赢得数十年以来第一个冠军。随后几个赛季，北京迎来了更多的冠军，马布里和同样来自美国的队友莫里斯的组合几乎无敌。这也迫使篮协做出了禁止第四节双外援的规则。
　　It helped, of course, that Marbury was also good. Before he arrived in 2011, the Ducks were a storied team that had stagnated. Marbury was a perfect addition to head coach Min Lulei's spread pick-and-roll playbook, and that same year, he helped the Ducks win their first championship in decades. More titles soon followed and Marbury's near-unstoppable partnership with American teammate Randolph Morris forced the league to make a rule limiting the number of foreigners allowed in the fourth quarter.
　　整个北京也在用实际行动来回应马布里，塑铜像、拍摄传记片、发行个人邮票。马布里更是彻底引爆北京球市，球队也从容纳6000人的首钢体育馆搬迁至可容纳18000人的五棵松体育馆。当时绝大部分的CBA球队场馆根本坐不满，而北京却是场场爆满，球迷们为马布里疯狂，MVP的呼喊声更是不绝于耳。重点是你不可能再找到另外一个美国人可以代替马布里的巨大影响力。那么北京应该放弃马布里吗？除了门票收入降低，还有就是惹不起的北京球迷。2011赛季总决赛，马布里遭受对方球员严重犯规，球迷们总会找到某种方式来让人听到他们的不满，球迷爆发出的能量最后迫使这名球员在赛后寻求心理治理，你可以想象到在当时全国直播时，这是何等的情形。
　　In response, Beijing has showered Marbury in plaudits. The city built a statue of him, put on a biographical play, and issued stamps in his honor. Demand to see the Marbury–powered Ducks also allowed Beijing to move from the 6,000-seat Shougang Gymnasium to the Wukesong Arena, whose capacity is three times that. At a time when most CBA arenas are half empty, Ducks fans pack the building and Marbury, who is routinely serenaded with &MVP& chants, is the central factor behind this. It would be impossible to find another American who replicates Marbury's mass appeal. Should the Ducks jettison him this off-season, ticket sales would drop and Beijing's rowdy fan base—who once drove an opposing team's enforcer to seek therapy after he hard fouled Marbury during a 2011 Finals game—will find a way to have their frustration heard, presumably live and on national television.
　　从面上来说，现在北京队的问题是球队是时候翻篇了，本赛季马布里场均21分，但是在过去两个赛季一直饱受伤病困扰。另一方面，队中的本土球员需要发展。众所周知的便是早前马布里钦点的接班人替补控卫方硕。如果马布里下赛季回归的话，那么方硕下赛季依旧没什么机会。
　　The problem is that, on paper, the Ducks really need to move on from their veteran star. Marbury averaged 21 points per game this season, but he has been injury-prone for the last two years. The Ducks, meanwhile, have local players they want to develop, most notably backup point guard Feng Shuo, whom Marbury previously anointed as his heir apparent. That won't happen if the American guard returns next season and demands more shots.
　　其次，那便是年龄问题。下赛季，马布里将年满41岁，场上的影响力也不比从前。虎扑体育负责CBA内容的工作人员@半神卡特说道：“马布里依旧可以在关键比赛扮演重要角色，但不是每场比赛”。同时他相信马布里最终还是会离开的，只不过大多数人并不相信罢了。
　　Furthermore, Marbury will be 41 by the end of next season, and it will difficult for him to have the same impact on the court as he once did. &He could still play a role in key games, but not every night,& said Zhang Duo, who covers the CBA for Hupu Sports. Zhang thinks that Marbury will ultimately get his way, but others are less convinced.
　　根据搜狐体育的报道，现在在北京有两种声音。一种是马布里应该留队，另一种是40岁的马布里以及他的伤病会阻碍整个球队的发展。就在同一天，中国另一体育媒体新浪在头版刊登文章，内容谈到球队不太愿意续约马布里。其实我们可以从新闻发布会中多多少少感受到管理层这方面的考虑，他们想让球迷和马布里都能明白，属于马布里的时间结束了。
　　&There are two voices [within the city],& Sohu Sports, another of the major Chinese sports websites, wrote last week. &One that says Marbury should be renewed ... and another that says Marbury is 40 years old and his injuries are hindering the Beijing team.& On the same day, a third major sports outlet in China, Sina, published a front-page article about the team's reluctance to bring Marbury back. It certainly feels like elements of the Ducks front office are briefing the press. They want both the fans and Marbury to realize his time is up.
　　马布里要么没听到流言，要么就是不在乎流言。最近马布里在微博上传了一段自己和教练闵鹿蕾的视频（闵鹿蕾同样是受北京尊敬的人，在北京队效力直至退役，退役后开始执教北京队）。如下图所见，一位球迷在微博回复到：“再次以球员身份赢得冠军吧，战至最后一刻”。马布里也回复到:“当你看见我下赛季出战时，我会倾尽生命的所有而战斗”。
　　Marbury either is not listening or does not care. On Weibo, he recently posted a video of himself embracing Coach Min, an equally beloved figure who played for Beijing before retiring to the bench. When a fan replied below the post, &another year champion as a player [sic], fight till the end!', Marbury made a point of replying, &When you see me fighting next year, you will see me fighting with everything in my life.&
　　现在没有人知道会发生什么。北京能赢得冠军，火爆的球市，都是因为有了马布里。但不可否认是，球队必须放眼未来。在CBA讲究的是王朝更迭，三支球队在过去20年赢下了18个冠军。通常是一支球队统治直到另一支稍年轻球队崛起与之抗衡，再到取而代之。显然北京想避免这样的命运，但是球队也意识到现在的情况很复杂。
　　Right now, no one knows what is going to happen. The Ducks owe their recent titles and their nightly sellout crowds to Marbury, but there is also no denying that they need to look to the future. The CBA is a league
three teams have won 18 of the last 20 titles, and typically one team dominates until a younger rival steps up to overwhelm and take its place. The Ducks are trying to avoid this fate, but they also recognize the politics at play.
　　虎扑CBA工作人员告诉我：“马布里不仅是北京队最佳外援，更是整个CBA历史最佳外援”。不管他是否继续打球，球迷们始终爱他。
　　&Marbury is the best foreign player in Beijing and the CBA's history,& Zhang told me. &Whether he continues to play or not, the fans will love him.&
　　真正问题是如果马布里下赛季不能回归的话，球队将如何处理与球迷的关系。毕竟有了马布里，才有了今天的北京队。毫无疑问，老马的离开势必会影响这支联盟最受支持球队的吸引力，同时也会存在球迷因此对抗管理层的潜在风险。由一个外国球员定义了一支球队，这在CBA的历史上从未出现过。如果现在和马布里分道扬镳，肯定会被众人视为背信弃义。但是如果北京还想保有竞争力，那么球队必须冷酷无情。不管最终管理层做出什么决定，接下来的一年，管理层势必将处在一个非常艰难的局面。
　　The real question is what the Ducks' relationship with the fan base will be if Marbury does not get that final year. The American built the Ducks into what they are now. His departure would devastate the appeal of the league's best-supported team and potentially turn segments of the fan base against the front office. It has never happened in the CBA before, but a foreigner has come to define a team. To cut bait now would be seen as betrayal by many, but if the Ducks are to keep on contending, they have to be ruthless. Whatever decision they make, the next twelve months are going to be tough for the Beijing front office.
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