Athletically speaking, LeBron James has never been the underdog, or if he ever was, it was long, long before the world began paying attention to him when he was about 15.
从运动能力方面讲，勒布朗-詹姆斯从来没被看衰过。如果有的话也是很久很久——大概在他15岁——之前，那时候世界还没开始注意到他。
Bigger, stronger, faster... blessed with the best training and the backing of corporate America... hailed and hyped by the media as a teen... expected to dominate and then proving dominant.
块头大、体格强、速度快……接受最好的训练，拥有美国公司的支持……十几岁就被媒体大肆宣传炒作……希望支配联盟，而最终得偿所愿。
The Chosen One, "Sports Illustrated" dubbed him when he was a high school junior; it sure got that correct.
《体育画报》在他高一的时候就称他为“被选定的那个人”，结果证明《体育画报》很有先见之明。
He elicits few sympathies and even fewer warm feelings. He lacks the smile of Magic, the humor of Shaq. He wasn't introduced to the world in the engaging, welcoming way of Michael... come fly with me.
他很少表露同情，温情甚至更少；他没有魔术师的微笑，没有鲨鱼的幽默；他没有乔丹“来吧带你飞”那样热情迷人的方式昭告天下自己的到来。
And he hasn't always helped himself. When he couldn't win in Cleveland, he bolted to Miami. When he won, twice in Miami, it was perceived to be because he had a stacked deck.
他也不总是能做出对自己有益的选择。在骑士没能夺冠时，他选择了投奔迈阿密。当他在迈阿密拿下总冠军——两次冠军时，人们认为这是因为他有强大的队友后援。
Now that he's back in Cleveland, maybe some feelings have thawed but only so much. He's still the physically imposing one.
鉴于他重回骑士，或许某些情绪会有所缓解，但也仅限于此。他依然只有身体素质方面让人印象深刻。
When he does things like go for 41 points, 16 rebounds and seven assistants – as he did in an otherworldly performance in Game 5 of the NBA Finals – he hears analysts say it's about time.
当他拿下诸如41分16板7助攻的成绩——他曾在NBA总决赛G5有过类似不俗的表现时，他听到分析员说这只是因为他上场时间长而已。
Maybe though, just maybe, this is the four-day stretch in which some of that changes. Monday was the first step in an audacious effort to push the Cavs to become the first team in Finals history to come back from a 3-1 deficit.
尽管可能，只是“可能”，4天后，某些事情就会发生变化。周一是骑士向NBA决赛史上首支以1-3落后然后成功逆袭的球队迈出的第一步。
In this case, it would occur with one games on the road against the defending champions, who won the most regular-season games in history, to deliver a professional sports title to a city that hasn't won squat since 1964.
这样，距离打败常规赛73胜改写了NBA历史纪录的前冠军对手，从而为这座1964年至今还未有一座冠军杯的城市带来一个职业运动冠军的头衔还有1场比赛。
This would be an unforgettable, impossible-to-dismiss performance. This would be the signature accomplishment of his career.
这将是名垂千史的丰功伟绩。这将成为他职业生涯的代表作。
This would be LeBron James... underdog (sort of).
这就是勒布朗-詹姆斯需要证明给这个世界看的。
There is no need to feel bad for LeBron. Save that emotion for just about everyone else in the world who wasn't born with such advantages.
没必要为詹姆斯感到遗憾，把它留给没有詹姆斯这样身体天赋的人吧。
Still, it's worth noting the complicated nature of his public persona.
尽管如此，还是有必要为他公共形象的复杂属性做个注释。
There should be no denying his brilliance, although plenty do.
不应该因为这些否定他的成就，尽管很多人的确这么做了。
Some of the things he pulls off should inspire awe and excitement – yet for some it's just what a 6-foot-8, 260-pounder should routinely manage.
他获得的某些成就应该引起敬畏与激情——特别是当高6尺8重260磅的人这样举重若轻地得到时。
His stumbles – namely a PR disaster known as "The Decision" – shouldn't turn so many against him, considering this is a guy who's never been in any legal trouble, handles himself with relative grace and seems a heck of a lot better adjusted and more relatable than the average superstar.
鉴于他之前从未在联盟惹过麻烦，一直努力打造自己较之多数超巨更仁慈亲和可靠的形象，他的错误——被称为“那个决定”的公关灾难——不应该招徕如此多的敌对。
Yet with such natural advantages, the wonder was in his ability, not the journey. LeBron is enjoyable to watch the way an excavator digging a trench is – the power is impressive, but entirely predictable.
因为有这些先天优势，奇迹的发生是因为他的个人能力，而与他换队与否没有关系。欣赏勒布朗要采用欣赏挖掘机挖沟的姿势才正确——这力量让人印象深刻，然而这是一种完全可以预测的力量。

When people consider his career, it's often not centered on the championships won, but on why he didn't win more, sooner and without the need for so much help.
当人们讨论他的职业生涯时，人们不太关注他的冠军数，而是关注于他的失败，他的不择手段以及过多的被协助。
He's one of the two or three or four best players of all time, yet seemingly everyone takes shots at him. He isn't as good as Michael Jordan, they say. OK, but who is?
他是NBA历史上数二数三的球员，然而看起来每个人都在与他为敌。他们说他不如迈克尔-乔丹优秀。没错，但谁能比肩乔丹？
He isn't as tough or fear-inspiring as other stars. OK, but does that mean Mo Speights should feel comfortable tweeting a baby-bottle emoji at him?
他们说他不像别的明星那样强硬或带来恐惧。OK，但这难道意味着莫-斯贝茨（Mo Speights）就得得意洋洋地在推特上发一条奶瓶的表情给他才算吗？
(Mo Speights? Really?) He's easy and fun – and fair game – to root against, but he's hardly some terrible guy or selfish player.
（莫-斯贝茨？真假？）黑他很简单又有趣——而且还可以打着为比赛公正着想的大旗，但他绝不会成为可怕的人或自私的球员。
He plays hard. Every night.
他打球很努力，每晚都如此。
"The game of basketball has given me everything, and I would never cheat the game, no matter how many games I win, no matter how many games I lose, that really doesn't matter to me because I really just give it my all," James said.
“篮球比赛给了我一切，我永远都不会在比赛里作弊。不管我赢了多少比赛输了多少比赛，对我来说都不重要，因为我真的全力以赴了。”詹姆斯说。
He really hasn't cheated the game. He's been the focal point of every single game he's played.
他真的没有在比赛中做过弊。每一场有他参加的比赛，他都是众人关注的焦点。
Add in 65 games for USA Basketball, including three Olympics, and he's played the equivalent of 15.25 NBA regular seasons over the last 13 years.
再加上65场美国篮球赛——包括三场奥林匹克赛，他在过去的13年里出场了平均15.25个常规赛季才能达到的出场次数。
He's logged major minutes in nearly all of them – he's 39th all-time in minutes played in the regular season and fourth all-time in the playoffs.
他几乎把所有重要的上场时间数据都收入囊中：常规赛总出场时间排第39，季后赛排第四。
He's only 31 years old.
他才31岁。
Yet is this, finally, when America begins rooting for him? Who doesn't love the improbable comeback?
那么，最终美国开始支持他了吗？谁不热爱虽然可能性不大但毕竟有可能的逆袭？
Who doesn't like a guy willing his hometown to a title? Who doesn't appreciate someone putting a team on his back in the loneliest moments of the game?
谁不喜欢一个希望自己家乡夺冠的家伙？谁不钦佩在最孤独的时刻把整支球队扛在肩上的球员？
Even if that guy is LeBron James.
即便这个人是詹姆斯。
The road remains long and steep. That's the point though. For a career of unquestioned production, LeBron has lacked many legacy games – his most famous is a 45-15-5 performance in Game 6 of the 2012 Eastern Conference finals against Boston.
前路依然长且险。虽然这才是重点。对一个硕果累累的职业生涯，勒布朗缺少许多传奇单场赛——他最著名的一役是2012年东决打波士顿，G6里砍下45-15-5。
Then came Monday in Oakland.
然后就是奥克兰的周一了。
For LeBron James, who's seen it all and done it all, and been cheered and booed doing it all on the basketball court, here's something new, here's a chance, maybe, all these years later, to rewrite the story of his career.
对已经经历过这一切面对过这一切，场上被赞过也被嘘过的勒布朗-詹姆斯来说，有些新的事情发生了。或许这是个机会，在这么多年后，来重新书写他的职业生涯。

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