姚明给中国篮球开药方

Former NBA star Tracy McGrady made his Chinese Basketball Association debut with the Qingdao Double Star Eagles over the weekend, losing a heartbreaker to the Fujian Sturgeons after Sundiata Gaines, formerly of the NBA's Utah Jazz, drained a three-pointer with no time left to put Fujian up 95-92. It was the sort finish -- dramatic, supremely marketable -- that CBA executives have been dreaming of ever since they started pushing hard to recruit former NBA players a couple of years ago.
前NBA球星麦蒂(Tracy McGrady)加盟青岛双星后在上周末进行了CBA联赛首秀，不料双星却在最后一刻输给福建浔兴。前NBA犹他爵士队球星盖恩斯(Sundiata Gaines)在终场前最后一刻投入三分球，青岛双星没有时间扳回比分，最终以92-95败北。这种充满戏剧性且推广性很强的比赛结局正是CBA高管多年前开始大力征召NBA前球星以来梦想出现的场面。

But if the presence of so many marquee names on CBA courts has given the league an immediate boost, it's not necessarily a good thing for Chinese basketball as a whole. Or so says China's biggest homegrown basketball star.
Reuters姚明但是，如果只要众多大牌球星出现在CBA球场上就能给中国篮球联赛带来迅速的提升，这对中国篮球整体而言未必是一件好事。一位中国本土培养出来的大牌篮球明星是这么认为的。

'We need to do something to help local basketball grow. You can't always rely on the foreign basketball players to come and help with your marketing and all that,' retired eight-time NBA All-Star Yao Ming told China Real Time in a recent interview. 'You need to have local people come in and have a deep impact, to make that link, that connection between the players and the fans.'
曾八次入选NBA全明星阵容的退役球员姚明最近在接受“中国实时报”栏目采访时说，我们需要做一些事情来帮助中国篮球成长，不能总是依靠国外球星到中国来帮助你推广篮球运动，你得要有能够产生深刻影响的国内球员，让他们充当连接球员和球迷的桥梁。

In a country hungry for global sports success that boasts hundreds of millions of basketball fans --- including Premier Wen Jiabao --- the state of Chinese basketball is a persistent source of consternation. Led by Yao, China's national men's team managed to finish eighth in the standings during the 2008 Beijing Olympics. But it has struggled mightily since injuries forced Yao to retire and left the London Olympics this summer without winning a single game. The CBA, meanwhile, watched fans lose interest after Yao was picked first the 2002 NBA draft and left the league without any major stars.
作为一个拥有大量篮球迷（其中包括国务院总理温家宝）的国家，中国渴望在世界体坛取得成功，但中国篮球的现状却总是让人感到沮丧。在姚明的带领下，中国国家男子篮球队在2008年北京奥运会上最终取得第八名的成绩。但在姚明因伤退役之后中国男篮举步维艰，在今年夏天的伦敦奥运会上没有赢得一场比赛。与此同时，姚明在2002年NBA选秀大赛中被火箭队挑中之后，CBA眼睁睁地看着球迷对联赛失去了兴趣，篮球联赛也不再有任何一位重量级球星。

Things have picked up for the CBA in recent years, thanks largely to former NBA heavyweights like McGrady, Gilbert Arenas and Stephon Marbury. McGrady arrived in Qingdao in October while Arenas signed with the Shanghai Sharks earlier this month. Marbury, an eccentric former New York Knick, has been tearing up the CBA since 2010 in one of basketball's great career resurrection stories.
但近年来CBA的情况有所改善，这主要应归功于NBA前重量级球星麦蒂、阿里纳斯(Gilbert Arenas)和马布里(Stephon Marbury)的加盟。麦蒂今年10月抵达青岛，而阿里纳斯本月早些时候签约上海大鲨鱼。前纽约尼克斯队古怪球星马布里自2010年以来在CBA就一直很成功，他也因此书写了篮球史上一次伟大的在职业生涯中二次焕发青春的故事。

Visiting Beijing to promote his eponymous wine at a private dinner at the Ritz Carlton, Yao said he hadn't spoken with McGrady, his former teammate in Houston, about coming to China. As co-owner of the Sharks, however, he's helping pay Arenas's salary.
姚明此次访问北京是为了宣传以自己名字命名的葡萄酒。在丽思卡尔顿酒店(Ritz Carlton)的一个私人晚宴上，姚明说他不曾就到中国打球一事和麦蒂谈过话。麦蒂曾是姚明在休斯顿火箭队的队友。不过作为上海大鲨鱼球队的共同所有者，姚明得支付阿里纳斯的薪水。