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A chaotic, frustrating and confusing tenure had to end the way it had always been for DeMarcus Cousins in nearly seven years with the Sacramento Kings.
从考辛斯被国王选中至今，已经过了快7年。如今，在新奥尔良全明星周末这个节点上，恐怕两者之间凌乱、沮丧，又让人疑惑的关系也该以相同的方式画上句号了。
Cousins was always surrounded by drama in Sacramento – some of which he created, some of which was thrust upon him by a franchise that would easily hold the title as the league's most dysfunctional team if the New York Knicks didn't always try to bum rush the buffoonery.
考辛斯在国王总是上演着一出又一出的闹剧，有些是他“自编自导”的，有些剧本则是国王强加给他的。如果纽约尼克斯表现得不那么滑稽，恐怕“联盟最无序球队”这一头衔就非国王莫属了。
So, of course, Cousins would walk off the court after playing a measly two minutes in Sunday's snoozerific All-Star Game only to be surrounded by a surprisingly large group of reporters trailing him as he walked to the back of a lounge designated for interviews.
考辛斯在索然无味的全明星赛上只登台亮相了两分钟，但是在他前往新闻发布会大厅的路上，居然有大批的记者尾随。
Cousins turned back and smiled, amused by all of the attention: "There must be some good [expletive] going on. I don't ever get this much media."
考辛斯回过头，不禁被这一幕逗乐了。“一定发生了什么有趣的事情，今天我不可能这么吸引记者的。”
Kings media-relations director Chris Clark asked reporters to start the session with only All-Star-related questions. When Cousins asked what other questions they'd ask, Clark leaned in and whispered about the reports of him possibly being traded. "Oh, really? That's what's up."
国王主管媒体工作的克里斯-克拉克要求记者们一开始只提与全明星有关的问题，而考辛斯想知道他们还可能问什么。于是克拉克把嘴靠在他耳边告知了其很可能被交易的消息。“啊？真的吗？怎么回事？”
then cracked a smile, perhaps pondering that his time in basketball purgatory could possibly be ending. He spoke about the fun he had, his affinity for New Orleans from growing up in nearby Mobile,
片刻后，考辛斯便露出了微笑，也许是琢磨着自己在萨卡拉门托的篮球炼狱终将要结束了。随后他向记者们谈了在全明星周末中的欢乐，他对新奥尔良的喜爱之情，因为他就在附近的阿拉巴马州莫比尔长大。
Ala., how he had asked Western Conference All-Star coach Steve Kerr to only play him a few minutes given the pounding that his body has taken and how fellow Kentucky alum and All-Star Game MVP Anthony Davis should've shot the ball more on a night when he broke Wilt Chamberlain's scoring record with 52 points. "He should've had 70."
以及他如何向西部全明星主教练史蒂夫-科尔请求尽量减少上场时间，因为他在漫长的赛季征程中十分疲惫。还有关于他的肯塔基校友、全明星赛MVP安东尼-戴维斯，考辛斯认为他在打破威尔特-张伯伦保持的52分纪录后应该再接再厉投更多的球。“他应该拿70分！”考辛斯说。
Then came the question he'd been waiting for, about how he almost escaped New Orleans without having to address some predicament back in Sacramento. Cousins leaned back his head, gazed skyward and cracked an annoyed grin. "Man, give it a break," Cousins shouted. "I just need one All-Star (Weekend) where it's just All-Star questions. Just one. This is my third one and it's always been something."
然而，该来的最终还是来了，考辛斯注定要在他回到萨卡拉门托前回答一些窘迫的问题。他将头靠在椅子上，仰望着天花板，强笑着说：“拜托，别问了好吗？我只想要一个只有关于全明星问题的全明星周末！我只要一个！这已经是第三次了，每次都要搞点事情出来！”
Every time Cousins earned an All-Star moment, disarray hijacked it. NBA commissioner Adam Silver recognized Cousins' overwhelming talents by naming him an injury replacement in 2015, but he spent the entire weekend addressing questions about the Kings hiring George Karl as head coach.
每当考辛斯参加全明星周末，麻烦都会上身。因为有着极强的身体天赋，早在2015年NBA总裁亚当-萧华就提名他顶替受伤的球员加入全明星，然而几乎整个周末他都在国王聘用乔治-卡尔为主教练的事情上折腾。
Last year, Cousins had to address his ongoing feud with Karl. This year, Cousins avoided any upsetting questions the first two days, then the Kings put him in the awkward position of finding out that he could be traded moments before he was asked about it. "I was happy coming in, but the last day and the last couple of minutes, something had to happen," Cousins said. "It's disappointing."
去年，他又不得不解释与卡尔之间的矛盾。今年，在前两天他还没遇到什么头疼的问题，但国王及时给他送了份大礼，考辛斯还没弄明白怎么回事就被推到了交易的风口浪尖上。考辛斯说：“我很高兴来到新奥尔良，但这最后一天和这最后几分钟，好像一定要发生什么似的，这太让人沮丧了！”
The Kings haven't missed the postseason for 10 straight seasons by accident. They've earned their spot among places NBA players most want to avoid.
国王连续10年错过季后赛也是事出有因的，他们已经成为了所有NBA球员最避犹不及的球队之一。
Aside from that rare blip during Rick Adelman's time as coach and Chris Webber's prime, the Kings have been in matrimony with mediocrity or worse. And their bizarre mishandling of their time with a mercurial talent of Cousins' caliber only amplified their struggles.
国王只有在里克-阿德尔曼和球星克里斯-韦伯联手的时代罕见地繁荣过，其他时段都十分平庸，甚至比平庸更糟糕。他们在与天才球员考辛斯的交往过程中犯了很多离奇的错误，这只能显得他们更加挣扎。
This is a franchise that – since Cousins has been in uniform – attempted moves to Anaheim and Seattle, before former NBA commissioner David Stern intervened.
这是一支从考辛斯穿上国王球衣起就打算搬迁到阿纳海姆或西雅图的球队，直到时任总裁大卫-斯特恩出面干涉才作罢。
This is a franchise that passed on Klay Thompson and Kawhi Leonard to draft Jimmer Fredette; ignored Damian Lillard and Harrison Barnes to draft Thomas Robinson.
这是一支错过了克莱-汤普森和科怀-伦纳德选中了吉默·弗雷戴特；忽视达米恩-利拉德和哈里森巴恩斯选择了托马斯-罗宾逊的球队。
This is also the franchise that drafted Isaiah Thomas – only to let him leave three years later and become a two-time All-Star in Boston.
这也是一支选中了伊赛亚-托马斯，然后将其拱手让人，只能作为旁观者见证他在波士顿成为两届全名星的球队。
Sacramento continued to make so many questionable draft picks and trades that when GM Vlade Divac traded out of the lottery last summer to take two more centers, a tweet – "Lord give me the strength," with a praying-hands emoji, which Cousins swears was a response to his intense Bikram yoga class – was easily interpreted as a jab at the Kings' front office.
萨卡拉门托糟糕的选秀和交易还在继续，去年总经理弗拉德-迪瓦茨又用乐透签为球队换来了两个中锋。一条推特这样写道：“主啊！请赐予我力量！”另配有一个双手合十的表情。这是考辛斯在比克拉姆瑜伽课上发的推特，他因为训练强度太大而祷告并鼓励自己。但这很容易就会被理解为是对国王管理层的抨击。
When the Kings weren't coddling Cousins and making excuses for his immature outbursts, they blamed him. When they weren't giving him too much power within the organization, they were firing Michael Malone, the first professional coach with whom he connected, while he was in the hospital with viral meningitis.
国王没有悉心照料考辛斯，也没有为他因不成熟而导致的暴躁脾气找原因，而是简单地责怪他。国王不打算给麦克-马龙在管理层有更多权力，就直接炒掉了他。要知道当考辛斯因为病毒性脑膜炎而住院治疗时，麦克-马龙是他第一个联系的职业教练。
And when they told him they'd wait until the summer to hire Malone's replacement, they rushed to hire Karl. Situations like that breed distrust and the toxicity permeates, paralyzing progress.
之后国王告诉考辛斯，他们会等到夏天再物色新任主教练的人选，但随后乔治-卡尔便走马上任。以上这些都导致了他与国王管理层间深深的不信任，同时也使双方关系持续恶化、陷入僵局。
Cousins had his moments when he desperately wanted out of Sacramento – especially while playing under Karl – but never felt compelled to demand a trade in recent years for risk of the backlash he would've received.
考辛斯之前就动过离开国王的念头，尤其是在卡尔麾下的时候，但他这几年一直都还没到要求球队进行交易的地步，因为他不想被球迷们口诛笔伐。
His reputation as a bad boy was set throughout the league, as he racked up suspensions and whined about officiating, but he remained beloved by Kings fans. He couldn't betray their support by abandoning it. Plus, his frustration was always with the organization, not the city.
他在联盟坏小子的名号已经根深蒂固，因为他总是暴怒或抱怨裁判。然而萨卡拉门托的球迷还是深深地爱着他，考辛斯不愿背叛或抛弃他们。另外，考辛斯的不满是针对管理层的，而非这座城市。
But in many ways, it left him feeling stuck – until he started embracing the benefits of staying in Sacramento, namely the five-year, $209 million designated maximum contract extension he was hoping to sign this offseason.
但因为种种原因，他又很彷徨。如果考虑留在国王的好处，那便是今年休赛期他期望签下的5年2.09亿的最大指定球员续约合同了。
Kings majority owner Vivek Ranadive, once the staunchest Cousins supporter in the organization, became apprehensive about making such a commitment to a player who couldn't avoid controversy as he so flippantly collected technical fouls, cursed out the Golden State Warriors after a huge upset win Feb. 6 and engaged in an ugly exchange with a local columnist.
国王主要的持股人维微克·拉纳戴夫，曾经是国王管理层里最为力挺考辛斯的人，却在是否为其开出这一报价时犹豫了。因为考辛斯实在争议太大，他无数次轻率地领到技术犯规，在2月6日惊险获胜后辱骂勇士队，还陷入了和一位地方专栏作家的丑陋交易中。
Divac and Cousins appeared to have reached a better understanding during the Rio Olympics, where the two spent some time together and talked a little trash because Team USA defeated Divac's native Serbia in the gold-medal game.
迪瓦茨和考辛斯看似在里约奥运会上彼此之间有了更好的了解。当时他们有很多时间共处，二人还因为美国队在决赛中战胜了迪瓦茨的祖国塞尔维亚而互相调侃。
While in Brazil, Cousins was asked what winning would do to repair or improve his image: "I'm not worried about it, man. I am who I am. You can either love it or hate it. I'm comfortable in my skin."
在巴西，考辛斯被问及胜利能否修复或改善他的形象。考辛斯说：“我不担心这个，我就是我。你可以喜欢我也可以讨厌我，我不会改变自己的。”
Cousins won't have to worry about addressing the mess in Sacramento anymore, now that the Pelicans have swooped in and rescued him. New Orleans isn't exactly the most stable organization, but it is an upgrade over where he's been.
考辛斯再也不用担心处理萨卡拉门托的烂摊子了，现在鹈鹕介入并将他救了出来。诚然鹈鹕也不是最为健全的篮球组织，但相比国王已经好太多。
That's why he sounded excited about the possibility of joining the Pelicans. "If I'm blessed enough to have a job here, absolutely," Cousins said. "I love it here in New Orleans. I've been here a lot when I was kid. I'm familiar to the city. I had fun here."
这也是考辛斯在听到自己有可能加入鹈鹕的消息后欣喜若狂的原因。“真是感谢上帝能让我到这里工作，真的！”考辛斯说：“我爱新奥尔良，我小时候就在这儿渡过了很长时间，我对这座城市很熟悉，我在这里曾有过很多乐趣！”
Cousins hadn't necessarily been looking for an escape after putting the Kings within 1.5 games of the final Western Conference playoff spot and with what he thought awaited him financially. Last month, when reports first began circulating about him being set to receive that massive contract, Cousins asked reporters in Sacramento if they wanted him to stay. "Guess what, people. Guess what," Cousins said, grinning, "I'm here."
在考辛斯将国王带到离西部第八仅有1.5个胜场的位置后，他自己应该并没有想过要离开，况且还有一份大合同在等着他。上个月，当舆论第一次谈到他将得到的巨额合同时，考辛斯还问萨卡拉门托的记者是否愿意让他留下。“能猜到吗？人们能猜到吗？”考辛斯笑呵呵地说：“我现在到新奥尔良啦！”
When someone suggested Sunday that he could use a fresh start somewhere else, Cousins replied, "I'm happy. If it happens, that's the decision they made."
当有人在星期天说他可以在另一处重新开始时，考辛斯回答道：“我很开心，如果这发生了，那也是他们的决定。”
The Kings made the decision to deal Cousins in the most embarrassing Kings way – they got what appeared to be a minimal haul for the game's best big man and once again spit on his shine.
国王用他们最为尴尬的方式完成了考辛斯的交易，他们得到的对价微乎其微，并又一次让考辛斯措不及防。
the game, Cousins said he hadn't heard from Kings management and had no plans of speaking to his agent, because he only wanted to head back home.
在全明星赛后，考辛斯说他从未在管理层那里听到过此类消息，他也不计划和自己的经纪人谈，因为他现在只想回家。
Then Cousins' manager, Andrew Rogers, put out a tweet with a picture of a private jet and a message that said, "We don't even know where to go…"
之后，考辛斯的经纪人安德鲁-罗杰斯却发布了一条推特，并附上了一张私人飞机的图片和一句话：“我们不知道该去哪儿。”
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