前言

进入联盟第三年，截稿当下场均19.8分5.4篮板3.9助攻，和刚成为全明星的Paolo Banchero组成双侧翼核心，携手将前一年仍在抽乐透的魔术队带入东区前五的高度，网路上也盛传着「Franz Wagner真的好强」的流行语，成为奥兰多的新时代招牌人物。

但是，也许是因为个性或者团队市场较小，Franz 到目前为止，wagner在公众关注度方面仍然不如其他同届新秀。在进入联盟之前，选秀评价和声音都不是很高。除了独特的魔术管理，恐怕没有多少人认为他能发挥出今天的技能，甚至连他的队友wendellcarter Jr.当年选秀会议结束时，他们都直言不讳地说：「我不太了解Franz」。

基此，本篇想透过翻译Franz Wagner在投入选秀前，写给密西根大学的感谢信，让所有对他感兴趣的、愿意支持他与这只新生的魔术队的球迷朋友，能更加了解Franz Wagner在进入联盟前的故事，以及他是怎麽样的人。

"A couple of years ago, I had a decision to make."

几年前，我必须做一个决定。

"I had to choose between two things — and both were really appealing to me."

我必须在两件事之间做出选择——而且这两件事对我来说都很有吸引力。

"On the one hand, I had an offer to play pro basketball at home with Alba Berlin. I knew if I chose this option I would be happy. Playing professionally in the Bundesliga, that's a great honor. And I had a nice life in Germany. It was the comfortable choice, for sure."

一方面，我收到了在家乡球队Alba Berlin打职业篮球的邀约，我知道如果我选择这个选项我会很高兴，能够在德甲联赛中打职业比赛，是一种莫大的荣幸。我在德国有着美好的生活，这肯定是一个舒适的选择。

"On the other hand, I had an offer to play college hoops in Ann Arbor. My brother, Moe, of course gave me helpful advice about this option. And I had good conversations with Coach Howard and his staff. But still … college in the States, that was basically a mystery. It meant flying halfway around the world, to live alone, in a whole different culture — the opposite of a comfortable choice. It meant I'd have to take a leap of faith."

另一方面，我收到了在安娜堡打大学篮球的邀约。当然，我的哥哥?Moe 为我提供了有关此选项的有用建议，我也与Howard教练和他的团队进行了很好的对话。但在美国上大学，对我基本上还是个谜。这意味着飞越半个地球，独自生活在完全不同的文化中——相反於舒适的选择，这意味着我必须坚定自己的信念。

"And after months of going back and forth in my head about it (and against the advice and expectations of almost everybody at home), that's what I did. Not because Moe did it — but because I wanted to do it my way. I took a leap of faith."

经过几个月的反覆思考（并且违背了家里几乎每个人的建议和期望），这就是我所做的决定。不是因为Moe这麽做了──而是因为我想用自己的方式去做。我决定放手一搏。

"I decided to enroll at Michigan."

我决定就读密西根大学。

"It's the best decision I ever made."

这是我做过的最好的决定。

"And now, two years later, I'm making another decision."

两年後的现在，我正在做出另一个决定。

"I've decided to enter the 2021 NBA Draft."