革命進行時

Lee+Jenkins

Jeanie Buss took a flamethrower to the Lakers front office， purging 76 years of experience and bringing in Magic Johnson to clean up the wreckage.

珍妮·巴斯廢黜了湖人管理層，清除了76年的老經(jīng)驗，引入“魔術師”約翰遜清理廢墟。

On Tuesday morning， before the phones started ringing， Magic Johnson said a prayer. What a life hes led， a national champion in 1979 and a NBA champion a year later， the face of Showtime and the pride of Jerry Buss， an icon and an entertainer， an entrepreneur and an activist. Twenty-six years ago， he was diagnosed with HIV， and since then hes been a coach， a TV star， a record producer， a movie mogul， part owner of the Lakers as well as the Dodgers. When Buss was on his death bed， he called for Magic， the very picture of vitality. He wanted to smile once more.

周二早上，在電話開始繁忙前，“魔術師”約翰遜做了一次禱告。他的一生，可謂波瀾壯闊。1979年他在大學拿到了全國冠軍，一年后拿到NBA總冠軍；他是“表演時刻”的頭牌，是杰里·巴斯的驕傲；他是標志人物，有娛樂細胞；也是企業(yè)家和活動家。26年前，他被診斷出HIV陽性。從那之后，他做過主教練，當過電視明星，唱片制作人，是電影大亨，也做過湖人和道奇的股東。老巴斯離世前還給“魔術師”這個生命力的象征打了電話。他想再笑一次。

Magic has proven across four decades in L.A. that he can do just about everything， except perhaps evaluate professional basketball players， the role for which he was tabbed Tuesday. If the Lakers were a college football team， they would always hire the old middle linebacker who carried them on one leg in that unforgettable Sugar Bowl. The quest to recapture the glory days takes different forms： making Byron Scott their head coach， giving Kobe Bryant a max contract with a torn Achilles， and now， and putting Magic Johnson in charge of basketball operations.

40年時間，魔術師在洛杉磯證明了自己幾乎無所不能。除了評估職業(yè)籃球運動員，但他周二恰好被賦予了這一角色。假如湖人是大學美式足球隊，他們肯定會聘請用一條腿扛著球隊在“糖果碗”比賽里前進的老線衛(wèi)。湖人采用了不同形式，試圖重獲輝煌：聘請拜倫·斯科特擔任主教練，給跟腱斷裂的科比一份頂薪合同，現(xiàn)在，任命“魔術師”約翰遜負責籃球運營。

This is only day one. Johnson may very well become the next Pat Riley， his old coach， forever reinventing in Miami. At the moment， all we know of his personnel acumen is what we read on his timeline. Twitter provides access to thoughts that otherwise might never go public， and Johnsons account has become notorious for broadcasting the most self-evident observations. Yes， Kevin Durant can play， and LeBron James is worth pursuing in free agency.

這不過是第一天。約翰遜當然有可能成為下一個帕特·萊利，也就是他的老教練，不斷地改造邁阿密。目前對他在人事方面的洞察力，我們只能依靠他的推特。推特能讓人了解到一些可能不會公開的想法，而約翰遜的推特一向以傳播顯而易見的信息而臭名昭著。誰都知道凱文·杜蘭特有能力，勒布朗·詹姆斯是一個值得在自由球員市場追逐的目標。

Those posts， while obvious， are also innocuous. There are others， though， comparing Michael Carter-Williams to Jason Kidd， calling Jimmer Fredette "the real deal，" claiming Rajon Rondo will make the Mavericks contenders， condemning Mike DAntoni， endorsing Jahlil Okafor， hailing the Bulls dysfunctional backcourt. Of course， its just Twitter， and outdated posts can make anybody look foolish. But with Magic fielding the calls before Thursdays trading deadline， Lakers fans might want to say prayers of their own while rubbing purple and gold rosaries.

這些推文盡管類似廢話，但也無傷大雅。但另一些推文就不一樣了，比如拿邁克爾·卡特-威廉姆斯和杰森·基德對比，說吉默·弗雷戴特“貨真價值”，聲稱朗多能讓小牛成為爭冠球隊，指責邁克·丹東尼，稱贊賈利爾·奧卡福，為公牛不正常的后場歡呼。當然，這不過是推特，過時的推文能讓任何人看起來像傻子一樣。但是當魔術師在周四交易截止日前打電話尋求交易時，湖人球迷大概也想摸著紫金色的念珠，向上帝祈禱。

Jeanie Buss took a flamethrower to the Lakers front office Tuesday， firing Mitch Kupchak and Jim Buss （who probably deserved it） and expert PR director John Black （who surely did not）. Kupchak and Buss bungled nearly every free-agent period they entered for the past five years， culminating with the $160 million they handed Timofey Mozgov and Luol Deng last summer， ludicrous contracts the organization will mourn for the entirety of Trumps first term.

珍妮·巴斯周二徹底廢黜了湖人管理層，解雇了米奇·庫普切克和吉姆·巴斯（他大概是活該）以及公關主管約翰·布萊克（他不該這樣被對待）。過去五年，庫普切克和小巴斯搞砸了幾乎所有自由球員簽約，以去年夏天為蒂莫菲·莫茲戈夫和魯爾·鄧奉上總價1.6億美元的大合同為最。這些荒唐的合同將會在川普的第一個任期內讓球隊痛苦不堪。

But Kupchak and Buss did help the Lakers in ways beyond inadvertent tanking. They didnt screw up the draft picks for Brandon Ingram or Julius Randle. They chose DAngelo Russell over Okafor， though in hindsight， Kristaps Porzingis was better than both. Still， they stole Larry Nance Jr. at No.27， Ivica Zubac at No.32， Jordan Clarkson at No.46. You can debate whether any of those are centerpieces， but theyre all young rotation players who havent scraped their ceiling， enviable assets that savvy rivals will inquire about.

但是在漫不經(jīng)心的擺爛之外，庫普切克和小巴斯某種程度上確實幫到了湖人。他們沒有搞砸選秀，選到了布蘭登·英格拉姆和朱利葉斯·蘭德爾。他們放棄奧卡福選擇了德安吉羅·拉塞爾，盡管馬后炮地看，波爾津吉斯比前面兩人都強。即便如此，他們還是在27順位，32順位和46順位搶到了小拉里·南斯，伊維察·祖巴茨和喬丹·克拉克森。盡管這些球員能否成為基石有待討論，但他們都是年輕的輪換球員，尚未打出能力上限，也是令人羨慕的交易資產(chǎn)，理智的競爭對手都會詢問他們的價格。

The timing of this move is questionable， and not only because of the looming deadline. President of Basketball Operations for the Lakers is still a highly attractive post， and if Jeanie had waited， she could have chosen from a handful of decorated candidates. The list of executives willing to work as a general manager， under Johnson， is not the same. The team is reportedly finalizing a multi-year deal with agent Rob Pelinka.

這個舉動的時機卻有待商榷，不止因為交易截止日即將到來。湖人的籃球事務總裁仍然是一個非常有吸引力的職位，如果珍妮愿意等待，她本可以從很多有經(jīng)驗的候選人中挑選。愿意在約翰遜手下做總經(jīng)理的管理人員，和想做總裁的不是一回事。有消息稱球隊正在和經(jīng)紀人羅伯·佩林卡簽訂多年的合同。

"Its not about what I did when I played， what Kobe did when he played，" Johnson said. "Its about the new Lakers." Thats a start， and during Tuesdays coup， the Lakers did purge 76 years of history between Kupchack， Black and Jim Buss. But Johnson goes back farther than any of them and Pelinka happens to be Bryants agent. During an interview with Jeanie and Magic on Spectrum SportsNet， they said they would distance themselves from Showtime and all the old stories—but then they started talking about Showtime and all the old stories.

“這和我以及科比的球員時期沒有關系?！奔s翰遜表示，“重要的是新湖人?！边@是個開始，在周二的“政變”中，湖人放棄了庫普切克，布萊克和小巴斯加在一起的76年工作經(jīng)驗。但約翰遜的嘗試更加深入，而佩林卡恰好是科比的經(jīng)紀人。在Spectrum SportsNet（湖人官方電視臺）對珍妮和魔術師的采訪中，他們都說會和“表演時刻”以及曾經(jīng)的歷史保持距離——但他們隨后就開始講“表演時刻”和歷史上的那些故事。

Maybe those memories hold value. Riley famously recruited LeBron by dumping his championship rings on a table during a free-agent meeting in Akron. But shiny jewelry has not had the same effect for Phil Jackson during his tenure as Knicks president. Many of the brightest execs in the league （including Bob Myers， who lured Durant） never played in the pros.

也許這些記憶還有價值。傳說中萊利就在阿克倫招募勒布朗的會議上把自己的冠軍戒指扔在了桌上。但閃亮的總冠軍戒指在菲爾·杰克遜擔任尼克斯總裁時卻沒能起到同樣的作用。聯(lián)盟中很多優(yōu)秀的管理人員（包括成功說服了杜蘭特的鮑勃·邁爾斯）從未打過職業(yè)聯(lián)賽。

Johnson acknowledged that he requires a lieutenant who is "super duper smart，" specifically in regard to the Collective Bargaining Agreement. After Byron Scott was introduced four years ago， Johnson declared， "If I dont see another three-pointer from a Laker team， Ill be happy." In the socalled new NBA， that may not be such a sound strategy.

約翰遜承認，他需要一個“極端聰明”的人，特別是對勞資協(xié)議非常了解。四年前拜倫·斯科特成為主教練后，約翰遜曾經(jīng)宣稱：“如果湖人不再投三分，我會很高興?！痹谒^新NBA環(huán)境下，這聽起來不是什么好的策略。

When Johnson was brought on as a consultant earlier this month， the role sounded ornamental， as if he were just going to provide cover for Jeanie when she inevitably dismissed her brother. Jeanie admitted Tuesday that she waited too long， a lapse that likely allowed Mitch and Jim to go on that mindless spending spree last summer. But Johnson is no figurehead， after all. He is already talking about accompanying the Lakers on the road and reportedly pulled off his first move by sending Lou Williams to the Rockets on Tuesday night. "Im a guy who understands what this team needs，" Johnson said.

本月早些時候約翰遜成為球隊顧問時，那看上去更像是一個虛職，為珍妮最終解雇哥哥時打的幌子。珍妮在周二承認，她等得太久，她的疏忽可能導致了米奇和吉姆去年夏天對工資帽毫無意義的揮霍。不管怎么說，約翰遜不是傀儡。他已經(jīng)提到和湖人一起去客場，并且在周二晚做出了第一筆操作，將路·威廉姆斯交易到了火箭?！拔沂且粋€了解球隊需求的人?！奔s翰遜說。

To his credit， he promised no quick fixes， no three-year plans. No magic. Whats ahead for the Lakers cant be accomplished with a big smile or a blank check. Rebuilding in the NBA is slow， arduous work. Johnson has watched， and critiqued， from afar. Now he will experience it himself.

值得稱贊的是，他沒承諾迅速解決問題，沒提三年計劃，沒有魔法，湖人的未來。這些都不是一個微笑和空頭支票能解決的。在NBA重建是一個緩慢而艱苦的過程。約翰遜曾經(jīng)作為旁觀者觀察過，批評過?，F(xiàn)在，他要親身經(jīng)歷了。