This past offseason, it was hard to listen to the unanimous praise for Karl-Anthony Towns — specifically, his coronation as the savior of the center position — without thinking about how recently we had seen this story play out through Dwight Howard.

在刚刚过去的休赛期，你很难听到关于卡尔-安东尼-唐斯的一致好评——特别是作为中锋位置上新生代的救世主——如果我们不去考虑曾发生在德怀特-霍华德身上相似的故事。

Following the Big Men Heyday of the 1990s, when Hall of Fame centers — Hakeem, Ewing, Robinson, and Shaq — made up almost half of the league’s top 10 players, the position’s star power started to drop off significantly as jump-shooters and swingmen became the craze.

二十世纪九十年代迎来了中锋盛世，当时的名人堂中锋——哈基姆，尤因，罗宾逊和沙克——几乎占到了联盟排名前十球员中的一半，这之后以投射见长的球员和锋卫摇摆人开始成为联盟主流，中锋位置上的超级明星大量凋零。

Just as the position was becoming an afterthought, in came 18-year-old Dwight, with the muscular build of Robinson combined with the superior athleticism of a young Shaq.

正当这个位置不再是球队第一进攻选择时，年仅18岁的霍华德进入了联盟，他有着罗宾逊一样健硕的肌肉和年轻版沙克一样的超级运动能力。

In as much as it’s now become more normal for big men to be among the most athletic players on the floor, Dwight is responsible for singlehandedly elevating the center position from its defensive-anchor, low-post-offense focus of the glory days of yore.

现如今，我们越来越多地看到大个子成为球场上最有运动天赋的球员之一，回望过去的辉煌，德怀特独自一人，从防守端、低位进攻端把中锋这个位置带到了一个新的高度。

He was the highlight-reel dunk machine before Blake Griffin; a shotblocking, leaping gazelle before Hassan Whiteside; a 7-foot gamechanger at both ends before KAT, Anthony Davis or Kristaps Porzingis.

在布雷克-格里芬之前，他是扣篮集锦制造机；在哈桑-怀特赛德之前，他是飞在空中的盖帽能手；在卡尔-安东尼-唐斯、安东尼-戴维斯或者克利斯塔普斯-波尔津吉斯之前，他是可以从攻防两端左右比赛的7尺长人。

We forget that, not so long ago, Dwight was mentioned during the same conversations as the once-in-a-lifetime talent LeBron James in terms of evolving into the league’s next great superstar.

我们已经忘了那些事情，而就在不久之前，德怀特还被当作是和勒布朗-詹姆斯一样百年一遇的天才，能够成长为联盟下一代的超级巨星。

Dwight’s unfathomable ceiling, nightly jaw-dropping performances, on- and off-court charisma, and freakish athleticism combined to make him worthy of that level of hype.

拥有着无法预估的上限，每晚都能奉献令人瞠目结舌的表演，场上和场外都有非凡的魅力，再加上超强的运动能力，德怀特配得上那样的宣传和期待。

Unfortunately, like LeBron’s inescapable comparisons to Michael Jordan, Dwight often was saddled with living up to the career achievements of his idol, Shaq, one of the five greatest centers in league history.

不幸的是，就像勒布朗难以避免地被拿来和迈克尔-乔丹作比较，德怀特也要经常背负着生活在他的偶像，沙克，联盟历史上最好的五个中锋之一，职业生涯所取得的成就中。

While LeBron has become the exception in exceeding those types of unreasonable expectations, Dwight has become more of the standard, making it seem that by just approaching those levels, it’s the same as collapsing under their weight.

而当勒布朗例外地已经超过了当初那些不合理的预期时，德怀特则表现地中规中矩，看起来好像只是接近了那个级别，但在他们这个层次，这和失败没什么区别。

From 2005–12, Dwight’s averages and career achievements had him on pace for, at the very least, a no-brainer Hall of Fame career.

从2005年到2012年，德怀特的场均数据和生涯成就都让他稳步步向前，不用想也至少会是名人堂中锋了。

He consistently put up seasons of 20 points, 14 rebounds and two blocks; he was a five-time All-NBA First Team member from 2008-12;

他连续多个赛季交出了场均20分，14个篮板，2个盖帽的数据；从2008年到2012年他五次入选NBA最佳阵容一阵；

a three-time Defensive Player of the Year from 2009–11; the MVP runner-up in 2011; Eastern Conference champion in 2009, when he carried Orlando to within three victories of a championship.

从2009年到2011年三次获得最佳防守球员；2011年在MVP评选中排名第二；2009年率领奥兰多魔术队夺得东部冠军，如果能多赢三场就能获得总冠军注1。

You know the rest.

而这之后发生的事情你们也都知道了。

He threw his head coach under the bus on his way out of Orlando, struggled with back problems as he helped kill Kobe’s last chance at a title during his one season in L.A.

在出走奥兰多的时候，和主教练关系十分糟糕。在洛杉矶的那个赛季，因为挣扎于背部的伤病，也让科比最后一次冲击总冠军的希望破灭。

and never meshed with James Harden during Howard’s three years in Houston, culminating in last year’s averages which were his worst since his rookie year.

在休斯顿的三年里，和詹姆斯-哈登也从没有合拍，上个赛季的场均数据甚至降到菜鸟赛季之后的最低点。

Were the injuries that debilitating? Were these teams just bad fits for him and his skills? Or had Dwight actually just peaked during his final season in Orlando, at only 26 years old?

是这些伤病使他变弱了？是这些球队和他以及他的技术风格不合？还是德怀特在奥兰多的最后一个赛季已经是他的巅峰了，在他仅有26岁的时候？

With his recent struggles, this narrative has overshadowed Dwight Howard the basketball player. Based on the public’s outright dismissal, you would think he had become an absolute non-factor.

但是看到他最近的努力，这样的叙事确实掩盖了德怀特-霍华德仍然是一个篮球运动员的事实。根据公众对他的全盘否定，你可能认为他已经变成了一个完全无关紧要的球员。

While Dwight wasn’t a superstar anymore, the argument that he still wasn’t one of the league’s best centers was blasphemous.

尽管德怀特不再是一个超级巨星了，但关于他不再是联盟最好中锋之一的论调真的是对他的不尊重。

Sure, his stats aren’t what they once were, but over the last four years before joining Atlanta this past summer, he still averaged 16-12-2.

确实，他的数据不再像过去那么耀眼，但在去年夏天加盟亚特兰大老鹰之前，经过了那样的四个赛季，他仍然能够交出场均16分，12个篮板，2个盖帽的数据。

The current crop of NBA bigs is really promising, but so far, none of DeMarcus Cousins, Andre Drummond, Towns, Davis or Porzingis has even carried their team out of the first round of the playoffs.

现如今，NBA的新生代大个子们确实个个前途无量，但是目前为止，德马库斯-考辛斯、安德烈-德拉蒙德、唐斯、戴维斯或者波尔津吉斯之中还没有一个人率领他们的球队打进过季后赛第二轮。

Three of the five haven’t even been to the postseason yet (although both KAT and Zing are only in their second seasons after being selected by lottery teams).

这其中有三个人甚至还没有闯进过季后赛（尽管卡尔-安东尼-唐斯和波尔津吉斯在被乐透球队选中后刚刚迎来他们的第二个赛季）。

While DeAndre Jordan and Hassan Whiteside have made it past the first round, they were not their team’s best or even second-best player when that happened. Meanwhile, Dwight was just 23 years old when he carried the Magic to the Finals.

虽然德安德鲁-乔丹和哈桑-怀特赛德都已经成功地闯过季后赛首轮，但当时他们都不是球队最好的球员或者甚至连第二好的球员都不是。与此同时，当德怀特率领魔术队闯进总决赛时，他才仅仅23岁。

Now compare Howard to his generational peers: Lebron, Wade, ‘Melo, and CP3. While LeBron and Wade have three rings each (aided, in part, by teaming up in Miami for four seasons and two titles), ‘Melo has never advanced past the conference finals while CP3 hasn’t even gotten there.

现在，我们把霍华德和与他同时期的球员进行比较：勒布朗、韦德、安东尼和保罗。其中勒布朗和韦德都各自拥有三枚戒指（某种程度上，是互相帮助的结果，在迈阿密作为队友一起打了四个赛季，获得了两个总冠军），安东尼从来没有打进过总决赛而保罗甚至都没有打进过分区决赛。

Meanwhile, Dwight’s teams have made the playoffs in each of the last 10 years, making an NBA Finals and two other conference finals in that span.

与此同时，德怀特所在的队伍过去十个赛季都打入了季后赛，这其中包括一次NBA总决赛，和另外两次分区决赛。

Even without a championship, Dwight — between his personal stats and team accomplishments with him as a central figure — is arguably the third-most successful superstar of his generation.

即使没有夺得总冠军，德怀特——作为球队核心时，在他的个人数据和球队战绩方面——在与他同时代的球员中，都是可以论证的第三成功的超级球星。

Given all of that, Dwight has become a victim of unreasonable expectations. Unfortunately, his ability to exceed those expectations in his first eight seasons has only made his relative fall from grace that much more disappointing.

综上所述，德怀特已经成为了不合理预期的牺牲品。不幸的是，在最初的八个赛季中，他拥有的本应该超越那些期待的能力，让他的那些亲近者对他失去信任，这更加令人失望。

Dwight’s rise peaked too early and it culminated in messy marriages with Kobe and Harden that may have wasted his final prime years.

德怀特成长的过程中，巅峰来得太早了，最终以与科比和哈登糟糕的合作而告终，这可能也浪费了他最后一段优秀的时光。

So, as you now watch him reinvigorating the Hawks with his rebounding, rim protection and rim-rolling.

所以，现在当你看着他通过自己的篮板、护框能力和近框攻击能力带着老鹰队重新起飞时。

Remember this: Even for a brief period during the rise of LeBron, Dwight possessed the potential to give GMs pause when asked to pick which player they would start a team with.

请记住：即使是在勒布朗成长的那些年里，当总经理们被问到愿意挑选哪一个球员为建队核心时，德怀特也拥有让他们停下思考究竟该选他还是勒布朗的能力。

He was that damn good.

没错，他曾经就是那么的棒！

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