1999-06-14, By Johnny Ludden
口中的猛兽 - 马刺队的埃利赢得尊重，收获戒指
他曾质疑大卫·罗宾逊(David Robinson)的激情，对肖恩·埃利奥特(Sean Elliott)和蒂姆·邓肯(Tim Duncan)大吼大叫，并称马刺队过于公司化，但马里奥·埃利(Mario Elie)认为现在是坦白的时候了。他说，“垃圾狗”曾经既没有咬人的牙齿，也没有咆哮的声音。
马里奥·埃利的确曾经很软弱。确切地说，他是个爱哭鬼。一个典型的抱着纸巾、鼻涕眼泪横流、眼睛通红的哭泣小宝宝。
埃利需要他的姐姐南希(Nancy)保护他免受欺负，为他战斗。在九年级被篮球队裁掉后，他一路哭哭啼啼地回家，直到南希终于告诉他闭嘴。
如果你想知道马里奥·埃利是如何成为邓肯简单称之为“混乱”的、易燃易爆的情绪和态度的混合体，是如何成为今天这个咆哮、胸部碰撞、心脏怦怦直跳的球员的，那么就沿着泪水的轨迹去追溯吧。
“当我得不到我想要的东西时，我就哭，”埃利坦率地说。“我像个婴儿一样。我总是哭。
“我想这就是我现在如此坚强的理由。”
马里奥在曼哈顿长大，是奥黛特(Odette)和莫里斯·埃利(Maurice Elie)三个孩子中最小的一个。这对夫妻是海地移民，他们在20世纪50年代来到美国。这对夫妇在西97街经营着一家严格但团结的家庭，他们以歌剧歌手马里奥·兰扎(Mario Lanza)的名字给马里奥（读作梅里-奥）命名，并努力让孩子们上天主教学校。
马里奥经常穿着克拉克(Clark)四号尺码过大的网球鞋，跟着哥哥克拉克去篮球场。宵禁时间总是晚上8点整，莫里斯在一家装订厂工作，他不想让孩子们晚回家一分钟。
当马里奥和他的表弟杰瑞(Gerry)惹麻烦时，南希通常会去救他们，这给奥黛特带来了许多有趣的电话。
“埃利夫人，我是查克(Chuck)的妈妈。”
“是的，您有什么事吗？”
“嗯，查克被打了一顿。”
“是马里奥打的？”
“不，是南希。”
“南希打了你儿子？”
“是的。”
“那你儿子一定不是男孩，”奥黛特会在挂断电话之前得意地说。
“我过度保护他，”南希说。“但我能怎么办呢？马里奥总是需要帮助。”
在马里奥被动力纪念高中(Power Memorial High School)的新生队裁掉后，南希告诉他要停止哭泣。她说，长大吧。马里奥把这句话牢记在心，第二年加入了预备队，并帮助克里斯·穆林(Chris Mullin)带领球队取得了25胜0负的战绩。
比赛结束后，南希会带马里奥去麦当劳，并给他一分钱的奖励，因为他每得分一分。“我会告诉他哪里做错了，”南希说。“他会说，‘但是我们赢了。’我告诉他，这没关系，他还可以做得更好。他会感到沮丧，然后说，‘难道我不能安安静静地吃我的巨无霸吗？’”
穆林在下个赛季中途转学，马里奥成为该市十佳球员之一，直到他毕业。然而，大学招生人员很少来到这位身高6英尺4英寸的前锋家门口。因为他主要背对着篮筐打球，所以马里奥的控球技巧从未发展起来。他的考试成绩也一样。
“我只是觉得，‘嘿，我是一个好球员。我会被大学录取的，’”马里奥说。“但事实并非如此。我的水平还没有好到足以让人们改变我的几门成绩。”
佛罗里达州立大学(Florida State)、康奈尔大学(Cornell)和塞顿霍尔大学(Seton Hall)打来电话，但马里奥对去预备学校以获得资格兴趣不大。开学前一周，他终于接受了马萨诸塞州斯普林菲尔德美国国际学院(American International College)提供的二级联赛奖学金。
“在我大二的最后一年，我真的想转学，”马里奥说。“我在我所在的联盟中占据主导地位，但我看着我那些在电视上打球的队友。那个和我一起在夏天玩耍的家伙现在在电视上，为一级联赛的知名大学打球。那些家伙总是告诉我他们有汽车和公寓。而我？我只能待在一所小学校里，而且还得走路。”
直到马里奥获得人力资源学士学位，并获得学校的职业得分王称号后，他才离开。他在夏天回到纽约的“山羊公园”(Goat Park)，与罗德·斯特里克兰(Rod Strickland)、肯尼·史密斯(Kenny Smith)、马克·杰克逊(Mark Jackson)和杰里·雷诺兹(Jerry Reynolds)等人比赛。
正是那天，马里奥的母亲在1985年NBA选秀那天找到了他。唐·尼尔森(Don Nelson)的密尔沃基雄鹿队在第七轮用第160顺位选中了他，他是最后三位被选中的球员之一。马里奥自信地来到训练营，准备开始他的NBA生涯。
“但在第一天进行两堂训练课后，我晚上9点就上床睡觉了。我的身体很痛，”马里奥说。“那可能是我生命中唯一一次祈祷自己被裁掉。当(尼尔森)把我叫到他的办公室时，我感觉有点如释重负。我知道我还有很多东西需要改进。”
于是马里奥前往海外，在爱尔兰都柏林打球。然后是阿根廷圣菲。他曾在夏季与世界 B.弗里(World B. Free)搭档，在美国篮球联盟(United State Basketball League)的迈阿密热带队(Miami Tropics)打球，然后加入了葡萄牙奥瓦尔(Ovar)的一支球队。
“整个镇上只有一盏灯，”埃利说。“晚上8点之后街上就没有人了。你早上早点起床，就会看到妇女们带着牛在街上走。”
在葡萄牙效力两个赛季后，马里奥在CBA为奥尔巴尼帕特伦队(Albany Patroons)打球。他在夏季与杨斯敦骄傲队(Youngstown Pride)在6英尺5英寸及以下的全球篮球联盟(World Basketball League)打球，然后被洛杉矶湖人队在1990年的训练营中裁掉。从此，他又回到了奥尔巴尼。费城76人队与马里奥签订了一份为期10天的合同，但也将他放弃了。他又回到了奥尔巴尼。
马里奥直到获得人力资源学士学位，并获得学校的职业得分王称号后，他才离开。他在夏天回到纽约的“山羊公园”，与罗德·斯特里克兰、肯尼·史密斯和马克·杰克逊等人比赛。
当金州勇士队球员人事总监山姆·舒勒(Sam Schuler)——他现任马刺队球员人事总监——两个月后打电话时，乔治·卡尔(George Karl)已经接任帕特伦队主教练。
在马里奥在1月份与马刺队主教练兼总经理格雷格·波波维奇(Gregg Popovich)签订了一份为期两年、价值370万美元的合同之前很久，他就已经受到了艾弗里·约翰逊(Avery Johnson)的招募。马刺队需要另一位三分球射手和一位强悍的防守球员。约翰逊需要另一个能发言推动球队的人。
“波波告诉我，他希望我来到这里，让队员们在精神上变得更加强硬，”马里奥说。“我告诉波波，‘我认为这是你的工作。’但我知道这是我的职责。这是一群保守的家伙。我总是很吵，总是做鬼脸，告诉那些家伙他们没有拼尽全力。我希望看到更多的激情。
“在95年，我们在休斯敦赢得了比赛，我们在西部决赛中击败了他们。他们有软弱的名声，因为他们在常规赛中赢得了60多场比赛，但在季后赛中却无法在关键时刻取得胜利。
“为了改变这一点，他们需要一名能够盯住对手的球员。我盯住了肖恩，盯住了大卫。我认为他们需要有人踢他们屁股。”
然而，马里奥的“踢屁股”往往像用路易斯维尔球棒打脸一样毫无掩饰。当罗宾逊和邓肯在输给明尼苏达队的比赛中表现不佳时，马里奥建议马刺队开始寻找其他球员来取得得分。那只是赛季的第四场比赛。
马里奥从不吝啬批评自己，他在马刺队以爆冷击败休斯敦的比赛之前，在更衣室里大发雷霆。起初，他不断唠叨的习惯让有些人感到厌烦，但因为他的“脾气”通常只体现在球场上，所以马刺队现在认为他既有激励作用，也很有趣。
“马里奥的性格与我完全不同，”罗宾逊说。“他在媒体面前说话比我多得多。但他想赢。这就是我告诉他的。我说，‘嘿，马里奥，我不在乎你说什么。只要拿出你的A级表现。如果你要说话，就用行动证明。’
“人们可以想说多少就说多少，但真正重要的是在关键时刻出手——命中目标。他为我们做到了这一点。这就是为什么我从未公开批评他。”
莫里斯·埃利是波士顿凯尔特人队的忠实球迷，他经常和马里奥争吵，而马里奥则很喜欢洛杉矶湖人队。然而，1986年9月22日，莫里斯突发心脏病，他无法看到马里奥在NBA打球。
南希说，她的父亲会为马里奥感到骄傲。马里奥说，在每场比赛开始之前，他都会为了纪念莫里斯而做出十字架的手势，他在4月18日用0.1秒的剩余时间投进了一个三分球，击败了休斯敦，也消除了他对火箭队的怨恨。他已经加入了另一个城市的一支新球队，现在这支球队把他奉为自己的神。
下周，马里奥将回到纽约，在麦迪逊广场花园球馆打球，他将寻求他的第三枚总冠军戒指。南希和奥黛特仍然住在距离花园球馆“一跳之遥”的地方。马里奥甚至不需要别人送他回家。
马里奥·埃利
得分后卫
身高/体重：6英尺5英寸/220磅
大学：美国国际学院
NBA经历：9年。马刺队是埃利效力的第五支球队。他过去五个赛季效力于休斯敦，赢得了两个总冠军。他在NBA总决赛的三分球命中率 (52.6%) 位列历史第二。
对阵纽约：埃利很可能会盯住艾伦·休斯顿(Allan Houston)。埃利的季后赛得分有所下降，但他的防守一直很稳固。
他们怎么说：大卫·罗宾逊称埃利是马刺队最值得信赖的防守球员。至于他的爱抱怨的毛病？“我喜欢有马里奥在球队，”史蒂夫·科尔(Steve Kerr)说。“人们总是说马刺队很软弱。马里奥在赛季初就决心改变这种状况。……他仍然在为其他球员加油。他只是想点燃一把火。”
点击查看原文：Man behind the mouth - Spurs' Elie earned his rep, rings
Man behind the mouth - Spurs’ Elie earned his rep, rings
He has questioned David Robinson’s passion, yelled at Sean Elliott and Tim Duncan and called the Spurs too corporate, but Mario Elie figures it’s time to 'fess up. The Junkyard Dog, he says, once had neither bite nor bark.
Mario Elie was, yes, soft. A crybaby, to be exact. Your standard tissue- hugging, runny-nosed, red-eyed crybaby.
Elie needed his older sister, Nancy, to protect him from bullies, to fight his fights. After he was cut from his ninth-grade basketball team, he blubbered all the way home until Nancy finally told him to shut up.
If you want to know how Mario Elie came to be that combustible mixture of emotion and attitude that Duncan simply calls “Havoc,” to be the snarling, chest-bumping, heart-thumping player he is today, then follow the trail of tears.
“When I didn’t get my way, I cried,” Elie says matter-of-factly. "I was a baby. I cried all the time.
“I guess that’s why I’m so tough now.”
Mario grew up in Manhattan the youngest of three children of Odette and Maurice Elie, Haitian immigrants who came to the United States in the 1950s. The couple, who named Mario (pronounced Merry-Oh) after opera singer Mario Lanza, worked to send the children to Catholic school while running a strict but close-knit house on West 97th Street.
Mario often would tag along with his older brother Clark to the basketball courts wearing Clark’s four-sizes-too-big tennis shoes. Curfew was always 8 o’clock sharp and Maurice, who worked in a binder factory, didn’t want his children coming home one minute late.
When Mario and his cousin, Gerry, did stray into trouble, Nancy was usually there to bail them out, leading to some amusing phone calls for Odette.
“Mrs. Elie, this is Chuck’s mom.”
“Yes, what can I do for you?”
“Well, Chuck got beat up.”
“By Mario?”
“No. Nancy.”
“Nancy beat up your boy?”
“Yes.”
“Then your boy must not be a boy,” Odette would say with a flourish before hanging up.
“I was overprotective,” Nancy says. “But what was I supposed to do? Mario usually needed help.”
After Mario was cut from the freshman team at Power Memorial High School, Nancy told him to quit crying. Grow up, she said. Mario took the advice to heart, made the junior varsity the next year and helped Chris Mullin lead the team to a 25-0 record.
After games, Nancy took Mario to McDonald’s and paid him a dime for every point he scored. “I would tell him what he did wrong,” Nancy says. “He would say, ‘But we won.’ I told him it didn’t matter, he could still do better. He would get frustrated and say, ‘Can’t I just eat my Big Mac in peace?’”
Mullin transferred schools midway through the next season and Mario went on to be named one of the city’s 10 best players by the time he graduated. Major- college recruiters, however, rarely found their way to the 6-foot-4 forward’s front door. Because he primarily played with his back to the basket, Mario’s ball-handling skills never developed. Neither did his test scores.
“I just thought, ‘Hey, I’m a good player. I’m going to get accepted to college,’” Mario says. “It didn’t work like that. I wasn’t that good that people could change a couple of grades.”
Florida State, Cornell and Seton Hall called, but Mario had little interest in attending prep school to become eligible. One week before classes started, he finally accepted a scholarship to Division II American International College in Springfield, Mass.
“At the end of my sophomore year, I really wanted to transfer,” Mario says. “I was dominating the league I was in, but I’m watching my guys on TV. That’s the boy I hang out with in the summer and he’s on TV, playing for a Division I, big-time school. Those guys were always telling me how they had cars and apartments. Me? I’m just in a little school and I have to walk.”
Mario didn’t leave until he had a bachelor’s degree in human relations and the school’s career scoring title. He spent his summers back in New York at Goat Park playing against the likes of Rod Strickland, Kenny Smith, Mark Jackson and Jerry Reynolds.
It was there where Mario’s mother found him on the day of the 1985 NBA Draft. Don Nelson’s Milwaukee Bucks had taken him in the seventh round with the 160th overall pick, the third-to-last player chosen. Mario arrived at training camp, confident his NBA career was about to begin.
“But after the first day of two-a- days, I was in bed at 9 o’clock. My body was aching,” Mario says. “That was probably the only time in my life I was praying to get cut. When (Nelson) called me into his office, it was like sort of a relief. I knew I had so much to work on.”
So Mario headed overseas to play in Dublin, Ireland. Then Santa Fe, Argentina. He played in the same backcourt as World B. Free for the Miami Tropics in the United State Basketball League for a summer, then hooked up with a team in Ovar, Portugal.
“There was one light through the whole town,” Elie says. “After eight o’clock there’s nobody on the street. You wake up early in the morning and there’s ladies walking their cows.”
After two seasons in Portugal, Mario played for the Albany Patroons in the CBA. He spent the summer with the Youngstown Pride in the 6-5 and under World Basketball League before the Los Angeles Lakers cut him in their 1990 training camp. It was back to Albany from there. The Philadelphia 76ers signed Mario to a 10-day contract, but also waived him. Back to Albany again.
Mario didn’t leave until he had a bachelor’s degree in human relations and the school’s career scoring title. He spent his summers back in New York at Goat Park playing against the likes of Rod Strickland, Kenny Smith and Mark Jackson.
George Karl had taken over as the Patroons’ coach when Golden State director of player personnel Sam Schuler, who now holds the same position with the Spurs, called two months later.
Long before he was signed to a two-year, $3.7 million contract by Spurs coach and general manager Gregg Popovich in January, Mario had been recruited by Avery Johnson. The Spurs needed another three-point shooter and a rugged defender. Johnson needed another mouth.
“Pop told me he wanted me to come in here and get the guys mentally tough,” Mario says. 'I told Pop, ‘I thought that was your job.’ But I knew that was my role. It’s a conservative group of guys. I’m loud, always making faces, telling guys they’re not playing hard enough. I wanted to see a lot more passion.
"In '95, when we won in Houston, we beat them in the conference finals. They had the reputation of being soft because they’d win 60- some games in the regular season and not be able to get it done down the stretch in the playoffs.
“To change that, they needed a player who could stay on guys. I stay on Sean, stay on David. I thought they needed a kick in the butt.”
Mario’s kick, however, often had all the subtlety of a Louisville Slugger to the face. When Robinson and Duncan struggled in a loss to Minnesota, Mario suggested the Spurs start looking elsewhere for production. It was only the fourth game of the season.
Not above criticizing himself, Mario blistered the locker room prior to the Spurs’ breakout win against Houston. His constant yapping grated on some at first, but because his grinchiness generally stays on the court, the Spurs now find him both motivating and amusing.
“Mario is just a different personality from me,” Robinson says. "He talks in the media a lot more than I would necessarily talk in the media. But he wants to win. And that’s what I told him. I said, ‘Hey Mario, I don’t care what you say. Just bring your A game. If you’re going to talk, back it up.’
“Guys can talk about wanting to take that last shot all you want, but when it comes to taking it - hit it. He’s done that for us. That’s why I’ve never come out and criticized him.”
A fiercely loyal Boston Celtics fan, Maurice Elie would spend countless nights arguing with Mario, who adored the Lakers. A heart attack on Sept. 22, 1986, however, robbed Maurice of the chance to see Mario play in the NBA.
Nancy says her father would be proud. Mario, who says the sign of the cross in honor of Maurice at the start of each game, buried a three-pointer to beat Houston on April 18 with one-tenth of a second left, burying his grudge with the Rockets in the process. He has moved on to another team in another city that now worships him as its own.
And next week, looking for his third championship ring, Mario will return to New York to play at Madison Square Garden. Nancy and Odette still live a “hop, skip and a jump” from the Garden. Mario won’t even need someone to walk him home.
Mario Elie
SHOOTING GUARD
Height, weight: 6-foot-5, 220
College: American International
NBA experience: Nine years. The Spurs are Elie’s fifth team. He spent the last five seasons in Houston, winning two titles. He ranks second all- time in three-point accuracy (52.6 percent) during the NBA Finals.
Against New York: Elie will likely bump Allan Houston. Elie’s scoring has dropped during the playoffs, but his defense has been steady.
What they say: David Robinson has called Elie the Spurs’ most trusted defender. As for his mouth? “I love having Mario on the team,” Steve Kerr said. “People always said the Spurs were soft. Mario took it upon himself at the beginning of the year to change that. … He’s still pulling for the rest of the guys. He just wants to light a fire.”
By Johnny Ludden, via San Antonio Express-News