Kawhi Leonard is many things. To Canada, he's a champion. To fans of the Heat and Warriors¹, he's a dynasty slayer². To the Spurs, he's the one who got away. To Woj, Shams³, Stein, and all the news breakers, he's elusive⁴.

科怀-莱昂纳德意味着许多事。对于加拿大，他是总冠军。对于热火和勇士的球迷，他是王朝屠宰者。对于马刺，他是那个离开的人。对于沃神、萨姆斯、斯泰恩和所有新闻爆料者，他是难得的新闻报道。

But over the last few months, he has emerged as the most important player in the league. He has shown he can win a championship almost by himself, and where he chooses to play next will change the league for years to come.

但是在过去几个月内，他突然变成了联盟中最重要的球员。他已展示出他几乎能独立带队赢得总冠军，他的下一个球队选择将在接下来的几年内改变联盟。

After all the madness on Sunday, there is no obvious favorite to win it all. There is no Heatles. There is no Hamptons 5 Warriors. There is no stacked team for fans, media, and rival executives to complain about. There is no inevitability⁵.

在星期天所有的疯狂举动后，没有明显的、可以有机会能赢得一切比赛的球队了。没有了热火三巨头。没有了勇士死亡五小。没有一大堆球队的球迷、媒体和竞争球队经理去抱怨了。没有什么是稳了。

It's the first time since the 2014-15 season—LeBron's first season back with the Cavaliers—that the league has felt wide open, full of possibilities, with a long list of teams with real hope of hoisting⁶ the Larry O'Brien Trophy⁷ next June.

自从2014-2015赛季来的首次——勒布朗回到克利夫兰的第一个赛季——联盟出现了广阔的开放性，充满了可能性，将会有一大串的球队，在接下来的七月拥有着真正的捧起拉里-奥布莱恩杯冠军奖杯的希望。

Kawhi could change all that with his decision.

科怀将会带着他的决定改变一切。

If Kawhi chooses to stay with the Raptors, they'll likely be favorites to represent the Eastern Conference in the Finals. But that's no guarantee. It took a four-bounce buzzer-beater in Game 7 for the Raps to beat the Sixers. Luck may not be on their side next year.

如果科怀选择留在猛龙，他们将会是最有可能代表东部进军总决赛的球队。但是这并不能完全保证。猛龙用了一个4次弹框的压哨绝杀才在抢七中击败76人队。幸运之神或许在下赛季不会站在他们那一边。

If Kawhi chooses the Los Angeles Clippers—the team he was most heavily linked with over the course of the 2018-19 season—they could be the favorites in the Western Conference.

如果科怀选择洛杉矶快船队——在2018-19赛季过程中与他关联最密切的球队——他们将会是西部最有希望球队。

But they can't immediately become the favourite, teams that were just a notch⁸ worse than the Warriors in recent years like the Nuggets, Blazers, Rockets, and Thunder will be in the conversation, too.

但是他们不能立即变成最有希望球队，比勇士稍差一级的许多球队如掘金、开拓者、火箭和雷霆也将会加入到这强强对话中。

With Kawhi on either Toronto or the Clips, a serious case could be made for any one of a dozen teams to win the Finals. But if Kawhi chooses the Los Angeles Lakers, all bets are off.

无论科怀决定去猛龙或快船，对于将会赢得总冠军的十来个球队来说会是一个重要的事件。但是如果科怀选择加盟洛杉矶湖人，所有的赌注都血本无归。

The Lakers would have Anthony Davis, LeBron and Kawhi. Only the Heat and Warriors have been loaded with that much star power this decade, and we saw what those teams did with that talent. The Lakers would be prohibitive favorites to win the title by a significant margin⁹.

当湖人拥有了安东尼.戴维斯、勒布朗和科怀时，最近十年只有热火和勇士配备了如此强大的球星阵容，并且我们已经见证了这两个球队带着那样的天赋完成的壮举。湖人将会是无法阻挡的，极有可能带着显著的优势赢取总冠军。

But there would be some obstacles in the way. Adam Silver and the league office have thrown around ideas to increase fan interest during the long regular season, including a midseason tournament. The league knows it needs to change with the times. A loaded Lakers team would almost be a throwback.

但是在这过程中将会有一些障碍。亚当-肖华和联盟办公室在漫长的常规赛中已讨论过一些增加球迷兴趣的想法，包括赛程中间段的巡回赛。联盟明白需要随着时间而做出改变。巨星满满的湖人队几乎会成为一个倒退。

Either many teams with relatively¹⁰ average competitiveness, which makes the NBA more fascinating, or a team packed with three All-Stars, which indicates the end of the story, it all depends on one man — Kawhi Leonard.

亦或许多球队都拥有着相对平均的竞争力，这使得NBA更加令人着迷；亦或一个球队搭载着三个全明星，这样意味着故事的结束，这所有都取决于一个人——科怀-莱昂纳德。