接手湖人,任重道遠

Here comes Magic Johnson, the Hall of Fame guard with the 1,000-watt smile. Lakers vice president Jeanie Buss celebrated her civil war win over her brother, Jim, by elevating Johnson, an adviser for all of three weeks, to president of basketball operations.

魔術師約翰遜報道，一位總是掛着1000瓦特感染力微笑的名人堂後衛。將當了三週顧問的約翰遜提拔到籃球運營總裁，湖人總裁珍妮-巴斯以她自己的方式慶祝了與她哥哥吉姆-巴斯之間內鬥的勝利。

Gone was general manager Mitch Kupchak, ousted from his executive vice-president role was Jim Buss, and in comes Johnson, a legendary player, a successful businessman … and when it comes to being a basketball executive, a total novice.

總經理米奇-庫普切克因此離開，吉姆-巴斯則被剝奪了執行副總裁身份，而上位的則是約翰遜——一位傳奇球員、成功的商業人士，但作爲一個籃球運營總裁，則是一個徹底的新手。

That's the thing: When the dust settles and all the friendly interviews are complete, the Lakers will be spearheaded by a top exec with no idea how to do the job for which he was hired.

事實是這樣的：當一切鬧劇塵埃落定，當所有友好的新聞採訪都結束，湖人將會被一個完全不知道該如何做好自己工作的總裁所掌管。

Harsh? Yes. Accurate? Absolutely.

也許殘酷，卻是事實。

For all of Magic Johnson's accomplishments, successfully Running an NBA team — or even being a part of running one — is not one of them.

縱觀魔術師約翰遜生涯的種種豐功偉績，成功地經營一個NBA球隊並不在其中，哪怕僅是作爲一份子。

And that's OK — if Johnson understands his limitations. First: Johnson is not a general manager. He needs a staff that knows the league and has relationships with key people in it.

不過如果約翰遜能理解自己職責界限的話，這都還好辦。最重要的事實是：約翰遜並不是球隊總經理。他所需要的是一個瞭解這個聯盟並與聯盟裏的重要人物有良好關係的管理層團隊。

Rob Pelinka, the Lakers' new GM, is a good start. Pelinka is a player agent, and there is a history of ex-agents, most notably Golden State GM Bob Myers, having success.

僱傭羅勃-佩林卡作爲湖人的新總經理是一個不錯的起手。佩林卡曾經是一位球員經紀人，而之前已有過前經紀人轉行當總經理的成功歷史，最著名的例子是金州勇士的總經理鮑勃-邁耶斯。

Assistant GM Ryan West, son of Jerry West, is another important piece. Over the next few months Johnson must flesh out the Lakers' front office with experienced, skilled people.

另一個重要的拼圖則是助理經理萊恩-韋斯特—傑裏-韋斯特的兒子。在接下來的幾個月裏，約翰遜的首要任務就是用有經驗、有能力的人才把湖人的制服組填滿。

And he needs to empower them. Pelinka is not dumping his client list to be a glorified assistant. Nor should he.

不僅如此，約翰遜還需施予他們權力。佩林卡畢竟不能單靠他龐大的前客戶名單以成爲一個榮耀助理經理，而他也不應該這麼做。

He has nearly two decades of NBA experience. He represented Kobe Bryant — and here is where we pause to note the irony that the man who negotiated the salary cap-killing contract that help put the Lakers in this current hole was hired to help dig them out of it — and has pieced together hundreds of player contracts.

他有着接近二十年的NBA工作經驗，不僅曾作爲科比-布萊恩特的經紀人，還幫助商討了其他幾百個球員合同。這其中的諷刺之處在於，這一位通過商討科比的天價合同而爲湖人挖下工資大坑的經紀人，現如今的工作則是幫忙填好這個坑。

He knows what he is doing. For now, Magic does not.

佩林卡能夠勝任他的工作，而就現在來講，魔術師還不行。

There's more. Johnson needs to scout. A lot. It's not enough for a top executive to periodically pop on the Pac-12 Network or sit through the NCAA tournament.

魔術師的工作還有更多。他需要做好球探工作，許多的球探工作。如果一個高層總裁只是定期地瀏覽太平洋十二校聯盟網站或是到現場看完NCAA錦標賽，他一定是不稱職的。

He needs to hit the road. Other execs do it. Oklahoma City's Sam Presti is there. Toronto's Masai Ujiri is everywhere. Even Miami's Pat Riley — as inconspicuous at college games as a Volkswagen in a Ferrari lot — is regularly on campus.

他需要不斷地來往美國各地，畢竟他的同行也會這麼做。雷霆隊的薩姆-普雷斯蒂會這麼做，猛龍隊的馬薩伊-烏傑裏更是這麼做的典範。哪怕是無論在哪個大學比賽都顯得鶴立雞羣的帕特-萊利，也會經常出現在大學校園裏。

Come to think of it, why didn't the Lakers hire one of them? Star power in today's NBA gets you nowhere. Johnson can't divine who will be a great player just because he was one. And marquee free agents won't sign with L.A. because Magic told them to.

回過頭來一想，爲什麼湖人不僱傭這些優秀總裁中的一位呢。在如今的NBA管理層裏，名氣並不能帶給你什麼。哪怕約翰遜有着多麼偉大的球員經歷，他也不會因此而擁有預測誰將成爲一個偉大的球員的能力。大牌自由球員也不會只因魔術師的一兩句勸告而選擇與湖人簽約。

The marketing power that comes with being a Laker has diminished. Who is the biggest star in the NBA? LeBron James — in Cleveland. Who was right behind James in off-court earnings last season? Kevin Durant — in Oklahoma City. L.A. offers great weather. Fame? You can get that anywhere.

現在成爲一個湖人球員的市場影響力已大不如前。誰是當前NBA最大牌的球星呢？看看克利夫蘭的勒布朗-詹姆斯。而上賽季誰是詹姆斯之後球場外收入最多的球員呢？看看俄克拉荷馬城的凱文-杜蘭特。在洛杉磯你也許能享受到四季如春的天氣，不過你想要名氣的話，在其他任意一支球隊都可以得到。

So why not make a run at a proven commodity? Unclear. The Knicks didn't. James Dolan had $12 million per year to spend on a team president. He hired the NBA's best coach.

那麼湖人爲什麼不嘗試僱傭一個已經證明過自己的總裁呢？沒有人知道原因。尼克斯沒有這麼做。詹姆斯-多蘭每年在球隊運營總裁上要花1200萬美元，這位運營總裁是曾經NBA中最好的教練。

The Lakers had millions to spend, too. They hired one of the league's greatest players. Would Presti, Ujiri or San Antonio's R.C. Buford be interested in either gig? Who knows? But it's stunning that neither team bothered to try.

湖人同樣也有幾百萬美元的預算，而他們把這錢花在了聯盟中最偉大球員之一身上。誰也不知道是否普雷斯蒂、烏傑裏或者馬刺的RC布福德對這兩份工作之一有興趣，但令人驚訝的是兩隻球隊居然都懶得去嘗試挖角。

Magic Johnson can be good at this job. But it's foolish to think because he's Magic Johnson that he will. Success in other walks of NBA life means little.

魔術師約翰遜完全有可能做好這份工作。但認爲他能做好只因爲他是魔術師約翰遜的想法是愚蠢的。在NBA的各種工作中隔行如隔山。

Phil Jackson is floundering in New York. Vlade Divac is under fire in Sacramento. Running an NBA team is a year-round job with few breaks. The competition is fierce and talent is everywhere in an increasingly global game.

菲爾-傑克遜掙扎於紐約的爛泥中，弗拉德-迪瓦茨在薩克拉門託飽受爭議。管理一隻NBA球隊是一份活多假少的全年工作，聯盟內的球隊競爭十分殘酷，而在如今不斷全球化的籃球運動裏有天賦的運動員又出現在世界各地。

To succeed with the Lakers, Magic Johnson needs to know: It's time to get to work.

想要成功接管湖人，魔術師約翰遜需要明白一件事：現在該開始努力了。

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