One world, one game.

同一个世界，同一种运动。

The defining story of the NBA offseason could have been LeBron James’s triumphant¹ return to his home state to heal the hurt of his previous defection. But while that homecoming dominated the early days of the summer, the predominant theme has now shifted from a reunion to a rift².

整个NBA休赛期，大家谈论的都是勒布朗·詹姆斯的荣归故里。重回克利夫兰骑士队的他发表声明称，他想弥补当初出走迈阿密热火队给家乡造成的伤害。然而，正当他“回家”的新闻充斥着整个夏天的同时，一个重要的事件，将这个“团聚”的话题瞬间变成了“裂痕”

With Donald Sterling³ removed from the NBA and forced to sell the Los Angeles Clippers, Atlanta Hawks⁴ majority owner Bruce Levenson voluntarily selling his franchise⁵ and General Manager Danny Ferry taking an indefinite leave of absence, this offseason is forcing the league to confront the delicate issue of race. The situations with the Clippers and Hawks differ in scale and context but have brought to light the complicated dance for a league in which more than three-quarters of the players are black while coaching, management and especially ownership is overwhelmingly white.

随着快船队的老板唐纳德·斯特林被赶出NBA并被强迫出售快船队的股权，亚特兰大老鹰队的老板布鲁斯·利文森自愿出售球队股权，老鹰队的经理丹尼·费里无限期离职。休赛期的联盟，正面临着微妙而又脆弱的种族话题。快船和老鹰的种族言论问题，在程度上和所处环境上是不同的，但在NBA这复杂的关系圈中同样被广泛关注。因为四分之三以上的篮球运动员是黑人，而教练、管理层，尤其是球队的老板几乎清一色的全是白人。

Richard Lapchick, founder⁶ of the Institute for Diversity and Ethics⁷ in Sport. “We can always do better. Anybody can. But the NBA, among all of the leagues, is more in tune⁸ with moving in the right direction in terms of diversity and inclusion than all of the other leagues.”

身为对“体育多样性和体育道德”研究的创始人理查德·雷普奇克说道：“我们总能做的更好，每个人都可以做到更好。NBA联盟在所有体育联盟中，总能比其他联盟在多样性和包容性方面，更够逐步走上正轨。”

NBA Commissioner⁹ Adam Silver acted quickly to banish¹⁰ Sterling. Levenson and Ferry had no documented history of racial incidents, but their objectionable words — Levenson blamed blacks for driving away white fans at Hawks games in an e-mail to Ferry and other business partners; Ferry relayed comments from a background report that equated¹¹ a lack of character with Luol Deng’s African heritage — caused considerable damage in a community that has a large black population.

NBA总裁亚当·萧华对斯特林的种族言论做出了“将其驱逐出联盟”的快速应对措施。利文森和费里没有类似于斯特林这种“种族歧视”的罪恶行径。但是他们那些令人反感的言辞——利文森在一封寄给费里和其他生意伙伴的电子邮件中，指责是黑人使得老鹰队的白人粉丝上座率骤减，在费里的回复邮件中，他还称洛尔·邓具有一系列非洲人的习性，对绝大部分黑人群体造成的巨大的伤害。

During his 30-year run as commissioner, Silver’s predecessor¹², David Stern, was able to navigate¹³ the NBA through some situations that featured some racial undertones, the rivalry¹⁴ between Magic Johnson and Larry Bird is a good example. In his first few months since taking over from Stern in February, Silver has had to guide the league during a period when any inappropriate utterance¹⁵ behind closed doors could lead to dramatic consequences.

担任了30年的联盟总裁，萧华的前辈，大卫·斯特恩，有能力帮助联盟在各种关乎种族的事件中找到正确的方向。魔术师约翰逊和拉里·伯德之间的斗争，就是个鲜明的例子。二月份之后，在萧华逐步接手斯特恩的工作没几个月，那些在背后议论的、不恰当的话语，对联盟产生了一系列戏剧性的影响。萧华该如何在这个特殊的时期，带领联盟走出困境，萧华不得不面临着严峻的挑战。

After Levenson announced he was selling his majority stake in the Hawks franchise, Silver said the NBA would “redouble” its efforts to promote diversity and anti-discrimination policies. Hawks CEO Steve Koonin, who has been placed in charge of the franchise until the team is sold, also plans to create a chief diversity officer position within the organization.

在利文森宣布其愿意出售他手中老鹰队的股权之后，萧华声称NBA必将加倍努力推动NBA多样性的发展，并尽快制定出反种族歧视的政策。在这支球队被卖出之前这段时间内，老鹰队的首席执行官史蒂夫·库宁，将被任命为老鹰队临时的老板。同时，库宁也计划在老鹰队的组织内部设立一个“多样性总监”的职位。

Wayne Embry became the first black general manager in any of the major professional sports when he was assigned to run the Milwaukee Bucks¹⁶ in 1972. Embry has witnessed the improvements for blacks in everyday society and within the NBA and said he doesn’t want to see this country revert¹⁷ to a time when attitudes and thoughts were less progressive.

韦恩·恩布里是专业体育世界中第一个黑人总经理，曾经在1972年负责运营密尔沃基雄鹿队。恩布里见证了黑人在NBA联盟中社会地位的逐步上升。他说他不想让这个国家回复到当初观念和思想都停滞的状态。

“We made progress, but we still have a way to go,” Embry said. “I wish we didn’t have to discuss these issues, but we do because they keep popping up. I think you’ll see the NBA will take steps. We can’t have another summer like we’ve had this year.”

“在种族的观念上，我们已经取得了进步，但是我们还是有很长的一段路要走”恩布里如是说道。“我希望我们以后将不再讨论这些话题，但是事实却不是我想的那样，相反的，我感觉这种话题反而在变得更加流行。我想你们能够看见NBA采取的一系列补救措施。希望明年夏天，再也听不到种族歧视言论的存在。”