By Jeje Gomez | Pounding The Rock (PtR), 2024-10-01 08:41:30
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。
这位经验丰富的控球后卫在媒体日当天明确表示，他希望在圣安东尼奥成为球场上的重要力量，而不仅仅是更衣室的领袖。
马刺队的媒体日在周一举行，球迷们有机会聆听今夏最大牌新援克里斯·保罗(Chris Paul)的讲话。这位传奇球星回答了有关城市、斯蒂芬·卡斯尔(Stephon Castle)以及许多其他话题的问题，但他也花时间明确表示，他来圣安东尼奥不仅仅是为了在场边传授经验或扮演一个小角色。
当被问及为何选择马刺时，保罗说他“不仅仅是自己选择了马刺。马刺显然也选择了他”，然后他详细阐述了促使他做出决定的因素。
“考虑到这支球队，以及能够打球、能够上场竞技、能够重返赛场的机会。我认为这就是我的动力。就是为了竞争。看看他们现有的阵容，还有波波维奇教练，我觉得这可能是一个很好的契合。我很期待这段全新的经历。”
上赛季在金州勇士队，保罗多项数据创下职业生涯新低，包括首发场次、场均出场时间、总出场时间、场均出手次数和使用率。很明显，与他习惯的角色相比，他在一支拥有首发控球后卫且从未围绕一名主要控球手进行进攻的球队中扮演的角色被严重削弱。在十多年来一直是超级巨星和所在阵容的进攻引擎之后，保罗似乎并不享受这种变化。马刺是为数不多的几支能够为他提供首发位置、出场时间和重要角色的球队之一，所以正如他所说，这是一个很好的契合。
似乎是为了进一步阐明自己的观点，保罗在新闻发布会后期回答第二个关于同一主题的问题时，更深入地阐述了他的动机。关于他为何选择圣安东尼奥：
“打球。我知道这听起来很笼统，但对我来说，在我职业生涯的第 20 个赛季，要离开我的家人——我热爱打篮球，如果我要离开我的家人，我希望这是有意义的。我想打球，我想竞争，所以这是最好的机会。了解这支球队，了解波波维奇教练，了解他们拥有的资源，我觉得这里是最合适的地方。”
保罗以好胜心强而闻名，所以他的这番话合情合理，但有趣的是，与其他老将相比，他对什么是有意义的事情持有不同的看法。一次又一次，昔日的球星们选择在职业生涯最后几年追求总冠军戒指。他们为了有机会获得总冠军，尤其是那些从未获得过总冠军的人，愿意接受更低的薪水和更小的角色。保罗有着辉煌的职业生涯，但最终的成功一直与他无缘，因为他只进过一次总决赛，但这似乎并没有困扰他。只要他能扮演重要的角色并在联盟中留下自己的印记，他似乎很乐意为像马刺这样的非争冠球队效力。
他的观点是否比其他人更高尚，这还有待商榷，但毫无疑问，看到这样一位功成名就的球星在职业生涯末期仍渴望证明自己能够继续打球并在联盟中发挥作用，这令人耳目一新。
点击查看原文：Chris Paul on why he joined the Spurs: “I want to play”
Chris Paul on why he joined the Spurs: “I want to play”
The veteran point guard made it clear on media day that he wants to be a factor on the court and not just in the locker room in San Antonio.
The Spurs’ media day took place on Monday and the fans got to hear from the biggest addition of the summer, Chris Paul. The living legend answered questions about the city, Stephon Castle, and many other topics but also took the time to make it clear that he’s not in San Antonio just to impart his wisdom from the bench or play a bit role.
When asked why he chose the Spurs, Paul said he “didn’t just choose the Spurs. The Spurs obviously chose (him) also,” before expanding on what factored in his thinking process.
“Looking at the team and also just the ability to play, to hoop, to get back to playing. I think that’s the motivation. It’s to compete. And to look at the team that they have here, obviously Pop, it looked like it could be a good fit. And I’m just excited for the new experience.”
Paul averaged several career lows last season in Golden State, including total games started, minutes per game, total minutes played, field goal attempts per game and usage. It’s clear that he played a severely reduced role compared to what he was used to on a team that had a starting point guard and has never played through one main ball handler. After more than a decade of being a superstar and the offensive engine of the lineups he was in, it seems Paul didn’t enjoy the change. The Spurs were one of the few franchises that could offer him a starting spot, minutes and a significant role, so, as he said, the fit was good.
As if he hadn’t been clear enough, Paul went even deeper into his motivation while answering a second question on the same topic later in the press conference. On why he picked San Antonio:
“Playing. I know that sounds really generic, but I think for me at this point, this being my 20th season, being away from my family — I love to play basketball and if I’m going to be away from my family, I wanted it to be meaningful. I want to play, I want to compete and so this was the best opportunity to do that. And knowing this organization and knowing Pop and knowing the resources that they have, I felt like this would be the best fit.”
Paul is known for his competitiveness, so the quote makes sense, but it’s interesting to see him have a different opinion about what is meaningful compared to other veterans. Time and time again, former stars choose to spend the last productive years of their career chasing rings. They take less money and smaller roles to have a chance to get a championship, especially if they have never won one. Paul has had an amazing career but the ultimate success has eluded him, as he only got to the Finals once, but it doesn’t seem to bother him. He seems happy to suit up for a non-contender like the Spurs as long as he gets to play a sizable role and make his mark.
Whether his perspective is more noble than others can be debated, but it’s unquestionably refreshing to see such an accomplished star at the end of his career wanting to show that he can still play and be a difference-maker in the league.
By Jeje Gomez, via Pounding The Rock