LOS ANGELES -- You might want to double-check the numbers because I never was very good at math, but I'm pretty confident that 23 points is better than 81 points.
洛杉矶湖人—你可能想仔细检查这个数字因为我的数学不是很好，但是我很确定的是，23分比81分好。
It's impossible to see Bryant wearing the Lakers' white jersey against Toronto and not think of that Sunday night, Jan. 22, 2006, when he went Wilt and scored 81 against the Raptors. But it was also impossible to watch Bryant rack up 23 points and seven assists Sunday and not believe this version of Bryant is better and these Lakers are better for it, even if the NBA doesn't crank out a bunch of T-shirts to commemorate the occasion.
看着科比穿着白色的球衣对阵猛龙，你很难不联想到科比在2006年1月22日星期天的晚上直逼张伯伦砍下81分的比赛。但是看着科比拿到23分7次助攻你很难不相信这个版本的科比和这个湖人比原来的好，即使NBA没有制造一堆T恤去纪念这个科比。
Here's some more counterintuitive logic: If you care one bit about winning, you don't want to be on the NBA's Top 10 single-game scoring list. None of the players on it -- Bryant, Wilt Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor, David Thompson and David Robinson -- made it to the NBA Finals in the same season in which they set their marks. Chamberlain's name pops up three times for the 1962-63 season and that San Francisco Warriors team didn't even make the playoffs.
这里有一些更直观的数据：如果你谨慎一点，你就不会像进入NBA历史单场得分前十的球员。没有人在加入这份名单的那个赛季—科比、张伯伦、贝勒爷、大卫汤普森、大卫罗宾逊—闯进过总决赛。张伯伦的名字在1962-63赛季在这份名单上出现了三次，但那个赛季旧金山勇士队甚至没能进入季后赛。
It's obvious that any team so dependent on one player can't be very good. It goes against the basic elements of the sport. Not that it kept Bryant from trying in the past. But if you're going to channel Chamberlain it can lead you off the championship parade route and isolate you from the NBA's circle of winners. Unless you learn the lessons: The first time Chamberlain's scoring average dropped below 20 points just so happened to coincide with the first time an NBA team won 69 games in a season.
很明显，很多球队过于依赖于一个球员那么就不怎么出色。这违背了体育的原理。不是说科比脱离了艰难的过去，但是如果你总是追随张伯伦那么你只会与总冠军越来越远，并孤立在NBA胜利者的圈子里。除非你吸取教训：当张伯伦的场均得分下降到20分正好发生在NBA诞生第一支取得单赛季69胜的球队的时候。
Another test came this weekend, a measure of Bryant's progress and priorities. He had a chance to surpass Chamberlain in the scoring section of the NBA record book, a place Chamberlain's name appears so frequently you'd think he kept buying property there and naming it after himself, like Donald Trump. If Bryant could get to 38 points Sunday he would have reached 22,000 at the age of 30 years and 99 days, beating Chamberlain by one day to become the youngest to achieve that mark in league history.
科比在这个周末面对了另一个考验。他有一个超越张伯伦在NBA得分记录的机会，他只要拿下38分，就将以30岁99天比张伯伦小1天的成绩打破张伯伦保持的22000分最年轻记录。
Lakers coach Phil Jackson didn't like that the Los Angeles Times made a note of it, calling it akin to dangling "a carrot in front of the donkey."
湖人主教练菲尔杰克逊不喜欢《洛杉矶时报》提起了这个记录，称它为“一个胡萝卜挂在驴子前面”。
"Who did that?" Jackson demanded in mock anger. "What a stupid thing. That could really mess up the game."
“谁写的那个？”杰克逊问道，“多么蠢的一件事。那会毁了今晚的比赛。”
He was joking. Kind of.
他开玩笑称道。
"Kobe does have agendas at times," Jackson said. "He could get into that. We hope that he stays focused on what the overall plan is."
“科比有时候会遇上这样的情况。”杰克逊说道。“他可以处理得很好。我们希望他服从整体计划。”
Bryant seems almost overdue for an outburst -- be it scoring or verbal. He doesn't often allow too much time to pass without somehow inserting himself into the headlines. He managed to upstage the NFL conference championships with his 81-point performance in '06. And it was only last year, when LeBron James was staking a claim to be the new face of the league by hauling his Cavaliers into the NBA Finals, that Bryant hijacked the summer with his public trade demands.
科比总能上头条—无论是言论还是得分。连06年的NFL决赛都被他的81分抢尽了风头。而去年，当勒布朗詹姆斯带着骑士闯进总决赛时，科比公开要求被交易吵得沸沸扬扬。
Hmm, LeBron sure seemed to be stealing a lot of attention in his last visit to New York to play the cap-clearing Knicks. How would Kobe respond?
恩，勒布朗来到纽约似乎吸引了很大的注意力。科比会怎样回应？
As it turns out, with a whisper. The only thing loud about him and the Lakers is their neon 14-1 record after beating the Raptors.
毫无声息，但他和湖人在击败猛龙之后取得的14-1却产生着巨大的反响。
Bryant had the chance to usurp Wilt. And he passed. Again and again and again, setting a tone that led to a season-high 34 assists for the Lakers.
科比本有一个机会去超越维尔特。但是他一次又一次的放弃了，奠定了一种基调，率领湖人创造湖人赛季最高的34助攻~
He had as many assists as field goal attempts (three) in the first quarter, but still managed to score nine points thanks to five free throws. That's the thing. He still gets his points, just not in huge quantities. He cruises along, then takes an "early offense" turnaround jumper before the Raptors can get back on defense, runs out to get a long pass from Luke Walton for an easy basket, then gets out on the fast break and catches a feed from Lamar Odom for another bucket and all of a sudden Bryant's sitting on 21 points at halftime.
首节，他达到了助攻和出手一样多的三次，但是仍然用5次罚球得到了9分。这是重要的。他仍然得着他的分，只是得分方式不再高难度。他运球前进，然后在猛龙站好位置前进攻得分；他快速奔跑接沃顿长传轻松得分；然后他参与快攻，又接到了奥多姆的传球得分。科比突然就得到了21分，只用了半场。
"You pick your spots a little bit," Bryant said, "which I'm able to do with this ballclub, as opposed to the past where you start the game and you've got to have your foot on the gas for 48 minutes."
“你得明白自己的处境，”科比说，“我现在要做的和过去不同，我必须让自己48分钟都奋力奔跑。”
It was only 30 minutes Sunday night, as the reserves had things in hand well enough for him to sit out the entire fourth quarter. He didn't check back in to knock out 15 quick points to dethrone Chamberlain.
星期天晚上只用了30分钟，替补们的出色表现让他可以在第四节在板凳上休息一会。他没有为了再拿15分打破记录而回去。
If anyone took the bait, Bryant said, it was the reporters.
“如果有什么在引诱我，”科比说，“那是记者。”
"I never concerned myself with milestones or any of that. Honestly, if I cared about that I would have went to college and came in the league and averaged 30 and got my scoring up."
“我从不关心里程碑和所有关于它的事。说真的，如果我关心它，我会去上大学然后进入联盟场均得到30分让我的得分升上去。”
New Math or old math.Three is better than two.
新数学还是旧数学。我想3大于2。
