By Marilyn Dubinski | Pounding The Rock (PtR), 2024-07-29 23:49:32
由生成式人工智能翻译，译文内容可能不准确或不完整，以原文为准。
波波维奇执教美国男篮时总是时运不济，但科尔在 2024 年却接连遭遇了公关噩梦。
乍一看，史蒂夫·科尔担任美国男篮主教练比几年前格雷格·波波维奇轻松多了。他在巴黎拥有一支堪称“梦之队”的球队，队中拥有多位 MVP、总冠军和常年入选全明星的球员，他们在队中扮演着“角色球员”的角色。这支球队阵容之豪华是波波维奇执教美国男篮两次时都无法比拟的。
无论是 2004 年作为拉里·布朗的助理教练，还是 2020 年（由于新冠疫情推迟到 2021 年）作为主教练，波波维奇执教美国男篮时都抽到了下下签。2004 年，美国男篮在半决赛中爆冷输给了马努·吉诺比利率领的阿根廷队，最终只获得了铜牌（这是自 1988 年以来美国男篮唯一一次没有获得奥运会金牌）。在那届比赛中，许多因素导致了球队只能以蒂姆·邓肯为核心，组成了一支“二队”阵容。首先也是最重要的是，科比·布莱恩特的场外官司让他整个夏天都无法上场比赛。
除此之外，“梦之队”的成员都已经退役，新一代球员只能扛起大旗。虽然 2004 年的美国男篮中包括勒布朗·詹姆斯、卡梅隆·安东尼、德维恩·韦德和阿玛雷·斯塔德迈尔等未来的金牌得主和超级巨星，但当时他们都很年轻，远未达到巅峰状态。回顾当时的阵容，除了邓肯之外，阿伦·艾弗森实际上是队中唯一一位处于巅峰期的球星。球队的其他成员大多是角色球员，他们最终只有一两次入选全明星阵容，甚至没有入选过。（比如理查德·杰弗森、埃梅卡·奥卡福等等。）
后来，在经历了漫长而不必要的等待（这其中可能包括前经理杰里·科朗吉洛的一些阻挠）之后，波波维奇终于在 2020 年奥运会前夕实现了他担任美国男篮主教练的梦想，但他又一次抽到了下下签。新冠疫情不仅将东京奥运会推迟到了 2021 年，而且球员们也不得不再次回到封闭的比赛环境中，这一次是在一个外国，而且规则比一年前在奥兰多还要严格。由于 2020-21 赛季开始较晚，NBA 赛季的赛程也被打乱，总决赛结束距离奥运会开幕只有三天时间。
大多数美国男篮的主力球员都不想参加封闭比赛，或者需要休息（一些媒体会让你相信，并不是每个人都想为波波维奇效力），所以他再次带领着一支“二队”阵容参赛，凯文·杜兰特和达米安·利拉德是队中仅有的两位真正的超级巨星。甚至连凯尔登·约翰逊都毫无争议地入选了球队，因为与今年不同的是（稍后将详细介绍），当时没有人因为要给他腾出位置而被“排除在外”。（德雷蒙德·格林也回击了那些批评他的人，比如肯德里克·帕金斯，他说约翰逊的个性对球队的凝聚力至关重要。）
尽管与我们习惯在奥运会上看到的阵容相比，这支美国男篮“令人失望”，但他们还是在波波维奇的带领下赢得了金牌。虽然过程并不精彩，但结果却令人无比满意，最美好的时刻是杜兰特和扎克·拉文将他们的金牌戴在了波波维奇的脖子上（提醒一下：教练没有奖牌），这圆了波波维奇从球员时代就一直以来的梦想，因为他当年没能入选奥运会阵容。
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图片来自 Gregory Shamus/Getty Images
这似乎是美国男篮教练在 NBA 球员参赛时代所面临的最大挑战之一，但尽管今年的阵容堪称“梦之队”，但史蒂夫·科尔面临的挑战可能更大，至少从公关的角度来看是这样。早在球队抵达巴黎之前，戏剧性事件就已上演，而这一切主要围绕着杰伦·布朗展开。尽管他是 2024 年东部决赛和总决赛的 MVP，但他最初却被排除在阵容之外，取而代之的是科怀·伦纳德。伦纳德一直饱受伤病困扰，本赛季末和季后赛又因腿伤缺阵。布朗对此很不满，并将部分原因归咎于他与耐克之间持续不断的争执。
然后，由于没有人能给出明确的答案，伦纳德很快就退出了国家队。各种说法都有，包括快船队担心他的健康状况，美国男篮也有同样的担忧，甚至还有人说科尔任人唯亲，根本不想让他来。人们原本以为他们会找一位前锋来顶替伦纳德，比如布朗，但他们却出人意料地邀请了他的凯尔特人队友德里克·怀特，这位并非全明星球员的控球后卫。美国男篮声称怀特更适合球队，他们需要在进攻端加强防守。（这一点无可厚非，马刺球迷当然也乐于看到怀特入选，但这仍然是一个出人意料的选择，说得委婉一点。）
因此，围绕着一个名单名额的所有公关事件都给科尔蒙上了一层阴影，而热身赛中的一些糟糕表现也无济于事。除此之外，总经理格兰特·希尔的一些阴阳怪气的言论也火上浇油，而布朗则在社交媒体上做出了回应。
格兰特·希尔说我是阴谋论者，这让我很失望，我从 21 岁起就担任球员工会副主席，我对这些事情很了解
— 杰伦·布朗 (@FCHWPO) 2024 年 7 月 28 日
尽管存在公关问题，但在昨天美国队以压倒性优势战胜了尼古拉·约基奇率领的塞尔维亚队的小组赛首场比赛之后，一切似乎都雨过天晴了。勒布朗·詹姆斯和杜兰特在这场比赛中展现出了他们作为传奇球星的风采。但当然，比赛也不乏戏剧性。一直以来，都有人呼吁安东尼·戴维斯应该顶替乔尔·恩比德首发，因为他更适应国际比赛的快节奏，而且由于阵容过于豪华，每场比赛只有 40 分钟，总会有人被排除在外。对阵塞尔维亚的比赛中，杰森·塔图姆和泰瑞斯·哈利伯顿都没有获得出场机会，尽管他们在之前的热身赛中都获得了大量的出场时间。
塔图姆被杜兰特换下，后者因为小腿酸痛没有参加之前的热身赛，而哈利伯顿则被怀特换下，后者加入球队还不到两周。科尔尤其因为完全没有让塔图姆上场而受到了批评，而且像往常一样，他对媒体的解释并没有得到很好的回应，尤其是球迷的回应。（他说自己感觉像个白痴，但他需要为杜兰特争取时间，这一切都是为了阵容搭配，塔图姆会得到机会的，等等。）
虽然在 40 分钟的比赛时间里，12 名球员很难都获得出场时间，但比赛在第三节就失去了悬念，考虑到杜兰特、詹姆斯和斯蒂芬·库里的年龄，他们肯定需要在适当的时候休息。科尔已经表示塔图姆将在下一场对阵南苏丹的比赛中出场，这意味着其他人将失去出场机会。谁会成为那个“倒霉蛋”还不得而知，但科尔所处的境地比波波维奇要困难得多。他必须管理更多球员的自尊心，还要满足球迷的期望（其中一些球迷为了国家利益而放下了 NBA 的恩怨），同时还要面对“不夺冠就失败”的巨大压力，而波波维奇在东京奥运会上也面临着这样的压力，但考虑到当时的情况和他所拥有的阵容，这种压力要小得多。
执教美国男篮是一个吃力不讨好的工作。与 NBA 相比，这支球队更注重球员，教练的准备时间很短，没有回报，而且获胜的压力可能比体育界任何其他工作都要大。尽管波波维奇两次（如果你把 2004 年担任助理教练也算上的话）都面临着美国男篮教练在现代所面临的最艰难的处境，但科尔今年的工作可能更难。有时候，即使是执教“梦之队”也是一件非常棘手的事情。
点击查看原文：Steve Kerr may have a tougher job as head coach of Team USA than Gregg Popovich
Steve Kerr may have a tougher job as head coach of Team USA than Gregg Popovich
Pop was always with Team USA at the wrong time, but Kerr has faced PR nightmare after nightmare in 2024.
At first glance, Steve Kerr has it easier as head coach of Team USA than Gregg Popovich did in a few years ago. He has a version of the Dream Team in Paris that should be decently favored in every game, with several MVP’s, champions and perianal All-Stars filling the role of “role” players. That’s much more than Pop could say about the two times he was involved with Team USA.
As an assistant to Larry Brown in 2004 and as head coach in 2020 (which turned into 2021 thanks to COVID-19), Pop drew the short end of the stick. In 2004, when the team infamously lost to Manu Ginobili and Argentina in the semifinals and went on to win bronze (the only time team has not won gold in the Olympics since 1988), many factors played into the squad sporting a “B Team” around Tim Duncan. First and foremost, there was the Kobe Bryant drama that kept him off the basketball court and in a courthouse all summer.
On top of that, the Dream Team had all retired, leaving it up a new generation to carry the torch, and while the 2004 team included future gold medal winners and superstars such as LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Dwayne Wade and Amar’e Stoudamire, they were all young and well before their primes at that point. In looking at the roster, Allen Iverson was really the only other in-his-prime star on the team next to Duncan. The rest of the squad featured mostly role players who would turn out to be just one or two-time All-Stars, if at all. (Richard Jefferson, Emeka Okafor, etc.)
Then, as Pop was finally fulfilling his dream job as head coach ahead of the 2020 Olympics after a long, unnecessary wait that may have involved some begrudgery from former manager Jerry Colangelo, Pop drew the short end of the stick again. Not only did COVID-19 postpone the Tokyo Olympics to 2021, but players were going to have to return to another bubble, this time in a foreign country with even stricter rules than what they faced in Orlando the summer before. The NBA season was also off schedule after the late start to the 2020-21 season, with the NBA finals ending just three days before the Olympics began.
Most of the Team USA mainstays wanted no part of the bubble or needed the rest (and some in the media would have you believe that not everyone wants to play for Pop), so he was again left with a “B Team” roster, with Kevin Durant and Damian Lillard being the only true superstars on the team. Heck, even Keldon Johnson made the squad with little to no argument because unlike this year (more on that to come), there wasn’t anyone who was being “left out” to make room for him. (And Draymond Green shut down those who did call him out, like Kendrick Perkins, saying how important KJ’s personality was to team comradery.)
Despite “underwhelming” squad compared to what we’re used to seeing at the Olympics, Team USA still pulled it out and won the gold for Pop. Even if it was unspectacular, it was extremely satisfying, with the best moment being Durant and Zach LaVine placing their gold medals around Pop’s neck (reminder: coaches don’t get medals), fulfilling a lifelong dream of his, dating back to not making the Olympic squad as a player.
Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images
That may have seemed like a lot to overcome and one of the toughest jobs a coach of Team USA has had in the era of NBA players participating, but despite sporting whatever version of the Dream Team this year’s squad is, Steve Kerr may have it tougher, at least from a public relations standpoint. The drama began well before they even got to Paris, and it has mostly centered around Jaylen Brown. Despite being the 2024 Eastern Conference and Finals MVP, he was left out initially in favor of Kawhi Leonard, who has been perpetually injured and again missed the end of the the season and playoffs with a leg injury. Brown was not happy and in part blamed it on his ongoing feud with Nike.
Then, for reasons no one can get a straight answer on, Leonard was soon sent home. Claims have ranged from the Clippers being worried about his health, to the same concerns from Team USA and even to Kerr playing favorites and just not wanting him there. One then would have expected them to replace a forward with a forward and bring in Brown, but instead they surprised everyone by inviting his Celtics teammate and a non-All-Star, Derrick White, claiming his fit was better and they needed more defense at point-of-attack. (Can’t argue too much with that, and of course Spurs fans are happy to see White there, but it was still an unexpected choice, to put it mildly.)
So all the PR around one roster spot has cast a shadow on Kerr, and some poor showings in the warmup scrimmages hasn’t helped. On top of that, managing director Grant Hill has certainly not helped things by feeding the fire with some passive-aggressive comments towards Brown, who has been responding in kind on social media.
grant hill calling me a conspiracy theorist is disappointing I’ve been a VP since I was 21 years old I have a great understanding
— Jaylen Brown (@FCHWPO) July 28, 2024
Despite the PR issues, all seemed well and good yesterday when the US dominated Nikola Jokic and Serbia to open group play, with LeBron James and Durant looking like the legends they are. But of course, it can’t be without its drama. Not only has there been a longstanding call for Anthony Davis to start over Joel Embiid since he is better suited for the fast pace of international ball, but with such a loaded roster and only 40 minutes per game, someone is going to be left out. Against Serbia, it was Jayson Tatum and Tyrese Haliburton despite both playing plenty in the tune-ups.
Tatum was replaced by Durant, who had not played in the scrimmages with calf soreness, and Haliburton by White, who had barely been with the team for two weeks. Kerr especially got flack for not playing Tatum at all, and per usual for him, his explanations to the press didn’t go over well, especially with fans. (He felt like an idiot but needed to find time for Durant, it’s all about match-ups, he’ll get his chance, etc.)
While it’s true that its hard to find time for 12 players in 40 min, it was a blowout by the third quarter, and surely players like Durant, James and Steph Curry could use the rest when warranted considering their age. Kerr has said Tatum will play in their next match against South Sudan, so that means someone else will be the odd man out. Who knows who that will be, but Kerr is in a much more impossible situation than Pop was. He’s having to manage more player egos and satisfy fans (some of whom can’t put NBA rivalries aside for the sake of country), all while facing a gold-or-bust scenario that was somewhat there for Pop, but not as much considering the circumstances and roster he had in Tokyo.
Being the coach of Team USA is a thankless job. It’s more about the players than even the NBA, there’s a short window to work in, no reward, and there’s more pressure to win than perhaps any other job in sports. Even though Pop has faced the toughest scenario of any Team USA coach of the modern era (twice if you include as an assistant in 2004), Kerr may just have a tougher job this year. Sometimes, even coaching a Dream Team can be a lot to handle.
By Marilyn Dubinski, via Pounding The Rock