Lakers' Bryant says Kupchak has made grade, from 'F to A-plus'
科比给总经理米奇打分：F变A+
By Mike Bresnahan, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
April 22, 2008
Star guard explains reasons behind his trade demand and general discontent last year, and his current happiness with state of the franchise.
全明星后卫科比给大家透露了他去年夏天要求交易和不满的真正原因，以及他对自己现在的满意和幸福。
The Lakers aren't even in the Rocky Mountains yet, but they're already on a high, having comfortably won the opener of their first-round playoff series with the Denver Nuggets.
虽然现在的湖人队还没有登顶落基山脉，但是他们已经达到了一定的高度，因为他们在季后赛第一轮的揭幕战战胜掘金，取得了开门红。
They stood up to the Nuggets' strong-armed approach in Game 1, displayed a passing attack with a whiff of Showtime, and were presented a day later with some positive big-picture thoughts by Kobe Bryant.
湖人轻松战胜掘金之后，科比向大家表达了他的溢美之辞。
"I love our team here," Bryant said. "I love what we're doing here. We have a great relationship, we have great chemistry. We have all the pieces in here to make a run for a long time."
科比说：“我很爱我现在的球队，我很爱我们现在所作的一切。队友协调一致，产生了很好的化学反应，这里有我长久快乐的一切源泉。”
Bryant said that he was "absolutely" open to finishing his career with the Lakers and that he had not thought about terminating his contract, although he declined to speculate when asked if he would indeed opt out after next season.
尽管科比拒绝对下赛季是否会为了更大的利益终止与湖人的合同做出评价，但科比说：毫无疑问他会在终老，而且他根本没有考虑过要和湖人队终止合同。
Bryant, 29, could terminate his current deal, a move that would leave two years and a hefty $47.8 million on the table.
现年29岁的科比有权终止目前还有两年、价值4780万元的合同。
Unlike last spring, though, when Bryant said he wanted to leave the Lakers, the 10-time All-Star could rip up his current deal after next season simply to re-sign with the team for more money. If he then signed a new five-year contract with the Lakers after next season, his first-year salary would be about $22.3 million in 2009-10, with annual raises of up to $2.34 million.
十次全明星科比不像去年放言说要离开湖人队，现如今的他在下个赛季之后可以终止目前的合同来获得更多的money。当然如果那时他下赛季结束后重新和湖人队签订一份5年合约的话，那么09--10赛季他的年薪将达到2230万元，之后每赛季增加234万元。
Bryant said he was content with the present-day Lakers.
但是科比说他对现在的湖人队很满意。
"I've always wanted to be here, but I just felt like I was in a position where I didn't really have a choice," Bryant said of the tumult last year. "They wanted to go in an opposite direction. My legs aren't as young as they used to be. But I love the weather, I love my '63 drop-top Impala. I love the 405 and I love my guys."
针对去年的交易事件科比回应道：“我一直是想留在湖人队的，去年的那个时候我真的别无选择。那时的他们和我理想的要求背道而驰。我的膝盖也不像年轻的时候那么强壮了，但是我喜欢这里的一切，我喜欢我的弹跳，我喜欢我的队友。”
Bryant openly questioned the direction of the Lakers franchise during the off-season, but Monday he added another set of Kupchak kudos to a string of them tracing back to the team's acquisition of Pau Gasol in February.
科比当时公开质疑湖人队在夏天的交易不作为，但是周一的时候科比对总经理米奇在2月份交易来加索尔赞不绝口。
"He believed in the draft picks that he made, and he had the patience to sit on the Kwame [Brown] piece and pull off the coup de grace and shift a couple of players out of here that got along extremely well with the group," Bryant said.
科比说：“米奇对自己选来的新秀很有信心，对布朗也很有耐心。他猝然的交易也使得我们的球队焕然一新。”
Bryant then elaborated on why he gave Kupchak a low grade in recent seasons.
科比也详细透露了为什么前几个赛季他给米奇的评价很低的原因。
"It was just rough because being here for three years and not having anything done, it got to the point that it was extremely frustrating," Bryant said. "The talks that we had positively about trying to do things and be more aggressive and still nothing gets done, and then my best friend [Caron Butler] gets shipped out of here without me knowing, so it was just beyond frustration. Then [Butler] is an NBA All-Star and that really didn't sit well. . . . It takes pressure sometimes to make a diamond."
“那时我很沮丧，三年了湖人队毫无起色也没有任何交易的动作，那样的境地让我很沮丧。你知道我们以前有达成协议说我们要成为总冠军级别的球队，但是我当时一直没有看到这种局面；而且我最好的朋友巴特勒在我根本不知情的情况下被交易出去了，那时我几乎崩溃了。后来巴特勒成为全明星球员更验证了我们当初交易的失败......有时候要成功必须要面对一些压力。”
Jordan Farmar tied for 11th in the NBA sixth man award balloting, picking up one second-place vote and two third-place votes. San Antonio guard Manu Ginobili won the award. . . . DJ Mbenga suffered bruised ribs after being kneed by Ira Newble during a scrimmage Monday. He will be listed as day to day. . . . Ronny Turiaf was sent home from practice because of a sore throat.
PS：砝码在最佳第六人的选举中位列第11位；吉诺比利当选最佳第六人；姆本加在周一的训练中收到纽贝尔膝盖撞击导致肋骨受伤，成为球队待观察球员；图里亚夫由于喉咙痛而缺席了球队训练。
mike.bresnahan@latimes.com
