安德鲁·利特尔

After graduating high school， Zhang He and Zhang Baoyuan decide to take a trip from their native Hebei province to Beijing with their newfound freedom—a breath of fresh air after months of gaokao prep.

As they touch down2 in Beijing， others are arriving from more distant places： Shanxi， Hainan， even Los Angeles. Fresh high school grad and working professional alike， they all have one thing in common. Everyone is making the pilgrimage to Sunset Dongdan3—Beijings legendary street basketball tournament， held on a court thats come to be known as the “Holy Land” of Chinese streetball.

Streetball is more fast and loose than your NBA variety of the sport， typically played with less enforcement of the rules， more flair4 and tricks. There are courts around the world that draw perennial crowds hoping to catch some of the citys—even countrys—most talented streetball players in action. For New York， its Rucker Park; for LA， its the courts at Venice Beach. For China， that court is Dongdan， which plays host to the aforementioned yearly streetball tournament that falls between May and July.

“Since high school， weve wanted to come out to Sunset Dongdan，” says Baoyuan， sitting on the steps of the historic court in full gear. “Plus were big fans of MoreFree5.”

Minutes after Baoyuan speaks，      MoreFree—the man that transformed the court into the streetball Mecca that it is today—pulls up in a sleek6 black car. He enters the court with a swagger and celebrity which， in this space， only he or an NBA all-star could possess.

Throngs of spectators have already gathered around the court， while lines to enter still run one hundred-deep. Music is bumping， the sun hovers beyond its highpoint， and with MoreFree now present， onlookers become hushed in anticipation of the main event.

The warm-ups

While the audience jostles for the best vantage points， players are already on the court， warming up their jump-shots and lay-ups for the competition. If they perform well， theyll be picked up by one of the big boys， maybe even MoreFree， for the competitions finale： the night games.

Like most traditional streetball tournaments， its individuals and not teams that come to play in Sunset Dongdan. Teams are randomly assembled from the pool of players for the first round of the tournament， and standout individuals are picked by judges to compete one-on-one for slots in the night games. There they will play alongside pre-selected streetball veterans like MoreFree—many a young streetball players dream.

Securing a spot in the first round is a challenge in and of itself， however. Each week there are only 64 slots open—40 for Beijingers and a meager 24 for people from out of town， like He and Baoyuan.

The “Holy Land”

After the tournament， a young Chinese streetball hobbyist manages to catch MoreFree for an interview. Starstruck， the admirer nervously asks him how to start other tournaments like Sunset Dongdan in China.

“First， you need to have confidence，” MoreFree replies. “You have to get to know everybody in the scene. Its really difficult to do something like this by yourself. You need the combined hard work of a group of people.”

When MoreFree founded the tournament in 2012， Chinese streetball was facing extinction. Dongdan wasnt much more than a community court at that point， but with a tournament on the horizon， the best streetball players in the city—and the nation—would ideally have something to work towards. The first tournament sent ripples across China， and other cities started to form their own streetball teams， returning grassroots streetball to its glory days once again.

Perhaps Liu Jie from Henan puts it best when asked what Dongdan Court and MoreFrees tournament have come to mean to the Chinese basketball community.

“Whether you play or watch， you absolutely have to enter that court to see the spectacle for yourself， to see how explosive it is，” Liu says. “Dongdan is Chinas basketball ‘Holy Land. Its inspired Chinas young people and basketball hobbyists to chase their dreams.”

高中畢业后，家住河北的张贺（音译）和张宝元（音译）终于一身轻松，决定到北京好好玩儿一趟——之前数月备战高考压力巨大，现在仿佛呼吸到了新鲜空气。

当他俩抵达北京时，其他人也从更遥远的地方赶来——山西、海南，甚至洛杉矶。无论是刚毕业的高中生还是职场人士，他们都有一个共同点：每个人都如朝圣一般前往参与“日落东单”篮球赛——北京鼎鼎有名的街头篮球联赛，举办该赛事的球场逐渐成为中国街球“圣地”。

与你所知道的美国职业篮球联赛相比，街头篮球节奏更快，约束更少，通常不强求规则，更讲究天赋和技巧。世界各地都有这样的球场，常年吸引着成群的观众，他们希望一睹市里乃至国内最具天赋的街球球员的风采。对纽约而言，这个球场是洛克公园;对洛杉矶而言，它是威尼斯海滩球场;对中国而言，它是东单篮球场，每年5月至7月，这里会举行上述街球联赛。

“从高中开始，我们就想来日落东单打球，”张宝元说道，他整装就绪，坐在这座有历史意义的球场的台阶上，“而且，我们还是吴悠的铁粉。”

张宝元说完后几分钟，吴悠——这个将昔日球场变成今日街球圣地的男子——便开着一辆炫酷的黑色轿车停了下来。他神气十足地自带明星光环入场，在这个地方，只有他或者NBA全明星球员才有这样的气场。

球场周围已经聚集了成群的观众，而等待入场的队伍还有一百米长。音乐震响，正午刚过不久，随着吴悠的出场，观众们安静下来，期待比赛的开始。

热身

当观众们还在争抢最佳的看台位置时，球员们已经上场了，他们正在跳投和上篮，为比赛做热身。如果表现出色，他们将被一位明星球员甚至吴悠本人选中，晋级当日决赛：夜赛。

和大多数传统的街球联赛一样，日落东单的参赛者是个人而非团队。选手随机组合成队参加第一轮比赛，评委将选出表现突出的个人，进行一对一的角逐，以争夺夜赛席位。在夜赛中，他们将与预先选定的街球老将（比如吴悠）并肩作战——这是许多年轻街球球员的梦想。

然而，第一轮比赛获得晋级本身就是一个挑战。每周只开放64个名额，40个给北京人，只有24个给像张贺和张宝元这样的外地球员。

“圣地”

比赛结束后，一名年轻的中国街球爱好者抓住机会采访了吴悠。这名追星族兼崇拜者紧张地询问，如何在中国其他地方创办像日落东单这样的赛事。

“首先，你得有自信。” 吴悠回答说，“你要去认识每一个人。一个人很难成事儿，你需要一帮人的努力。”

吴悠于2012年创办了街球联赛，当时的中国街球正面临消亡。那会儿，东单不过是一个社区球场，但随着一场赛事的到来，这座城市乃至整个国家最优秀的街球球员有了理想中的奋斗目标。首届街球联赛在中国各地引起反响，其他城市也开始组建自己的街球队，草根街球重回辉煌时代。

当被问及东单球场和吴悠创办的赛事对中国篮球界意味着什么时，来自河南的刘杰（音译）或许给出了最佳答案。

“无论是打球还是看球，你一定要进入球场亲自看看这一盛况，看看它有多火爆。”他说，“东单是中国的篮球‘圣地，它激励着中国的年轻人和篮球爱好者追逐自己的梦想。”

（译者为“《英语世界》杯”翻译大赛获奖者）