#EZTALK #你不知道的美國大小事
#KobeBryant #Kobe #BlackMamba #一次搞懂NBA賽事
永遠的黑曼巴 Kobe Bryant 🏀
Even if you’re not a basketball fan, you’d have to be living under a rock not to know who Kobe Bryant is. Michael Jordan may be the GOAT, but Kobe, also known by the nickname Black Mamba, is almost as famous.
即使你不迷籃球，你也一定得要與世隔絕，才可能沒聽過柯比布萊恩。麥可喬登是史上最偉大的籃球員，但綽號黑曼巴的柯比也是不分軒輊。
Born in Philadephia, Kobe spent a lot of his childhood in Italy, where his father, Joe Bryant, played professional basketball after retiring from the NBA. Returning to the U.S. fluent in Italian—and basketball—at the age of 13, Kobe played so well in high school that he was drafted into the NBA straight out of high school.
柯比出生於費城，父親喬布萊恩從 NBA 退休之後就一直在義大利打職籃，所以他童年時期幾乎都待在義大利。13 歲時，柯比帶著一口流利的義大利語跟籃球技術返回美國。由於他在高中籃球打得非常好，在高中就直接被選入 NBA。
Kobe joined the Los Angeles Lakers as a shooting guard in 1996, and would stay with the team for his entire 20-season career. And what a career it was! During that time, he led the Lakers to five NBA championships, played in 18 All-Star games, was a 15-time member of the All-NBA Team, a 12-time member of the All-Defensive Team, 2008 NBA MVP, and two-time NBA Finals MVP winner. He even won two gold medals as a member of the U.S. national team in the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics.
柯比在 1996 年加入洛杉磯湖人隊，擔任得分後衛，整個 20 年職業生涯皆效力於湖人隊。真是了不起！這段期間他帶領湖人隊拿下 5 次 NBA 總冠軍，入選 18 場全明星賽，15 次 NBA 最佳陣容，12 次最佳防守陣容，2008 年 NBA MVP，2 次 NBA 總決賽 MVP 得主。他甚至分別在 2008 年與 2012 年的夏季奧運中，以美國國家代表隊的成員贏得兩次奧運金牌。
After a series of injuries, Kobe decided to retire from the NBA in 2016 at the age of 36. But Kobe didn’t just spend his retirement playing golf. He kept busy writing books, making films and teaching his daughter Gianna, also a talented basketball player, to follow in his footsteps. And then, on January 26, 2020, tragedy struck. The helicopter that Kobe and Gianna were flying in—along with six family friends—crashed on the way to a basketball game, killing everyone on board. Kobe was 41-years-old, and his daughter just 13.
經歷一連串的職業傷害後，柯比決定在 36 歲，也就是 2016 年，從 NBA退役。不過，柯比退役之後不是只打高爾夫球而已。他忙著出書、拍片，並教育跟他同樣是天才球員的女兒吉安娜跟上他的腳步。接著在 2020 年 1 月 26 日，悲劇發生。柯比、吉安娜，連同 6 位家人朋友，搭乘前往籃球比賽的直升機墜毀，無人生還。當時柯比 41 歲，他的女兒年僅 13 歲。
1. live under a rock「與世隔絕」
2. GOAT「史上最偉大球員」：為Greatest of All Time的縮寫。
3. Black Mamba「黑曼巴」：是分布在非洲撒哈拉沙漠以南的一種大型毒蛇，而柯比之所以有「黑曼巴」的綽號，是因為他投籃與灌籃迅速，有如黑曼巴蛇爬行一樣迅速。
4. NBA「美國男子職籃」：為National Basketball Association的縮寫。
5. draft sb. into「徵召，招募」
6. shooting guard「得分後衛」：得分後衛的主要任務就是盡可能投籃得分，一般擔任此位置的球員在體型體能的要求較嚴格，需要有速度跟爆發力。
7. NBA Championship「NBA總冠軍」
8. All-Star Game「NBA全明星賽」：是美國職籃協會舉辦的年度球星表演賽，每年約於2月舉行，由觀眾與教練選出全聯盟的東西區明星球員出戰，是NBA明星週末（NBA All-Star Weekend）的壓軸比賽。
9. All-NBA Team「NBA最佳陣容」：是美國職籃協會每年頒獎的榮譽之一，用來表彰當季聯盟表現最好的籃球員。
10. All-Defensive Team「NBA最佳防守陣容」：用來表彰當季聯盟防守表現最好的球員。
11. MVP「最有價值球員」：為Most Valuable Player縮寫。
12. NBA Final「NBA總決賽」：為爭奪NBA最高榮譽「NBA總冠軍」的賽事，也是NBA 季後賽（NBA playoffs）的最後一輪比賽，於每年6月初舉行。
13. follow in one’s footsteps「仿效某人，步上某人腳步」
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