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·巴斯废黜了湖人管理层，清除了76年的老经验，引入“魔术师”约翰逊清理废墟。

　　On Tuesday morning, before the phones started ringing, Magic Johnson said a prayer. What a life he's 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 he's 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，在电话开始繁忙前，“魔术师”约翰逊做了一次祷告。他的一生，可谓波澜壮阔。1979年他在大学拿到了全国冠军，一年后拿到NBA总冠军；他是“表演时刻”的头牌，是杰里·巴斯的骄傲；他是标志人物，有娱乐细胞；也是企业家和活动家。26年前，他被诊断出HIV阳性。从那之后，他做过主教练，当过电视明星，唱片制作人，是电影大亨，也做过湖人和道奇的股东。老巴斯离世前还给“魔术师”这个生命力的象征打了电话。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年时间，魔术师在洛杉矶证明了自己几乎无所不能。除了评估职业篮球运动员，但他周二恰好被赋予了这一角色。假如湖人是大学美式足球队，他们肯定会聘请用一条腿扛着球队在“糖果碗”比赛里前进的老线卫。湖人采用了不同形式，试图重获辉煌：聘请拜伦·斯科特担任主教练，给跟腱断裂的科比一份顶薪合同，现在，任命“魔术师”约翰逊负责篮球运营。

　　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 Johnson's 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.

　　这不过是第一天。约翰逊当然有可能成为下一个帕特·莱利，也就是他的老教练，不断地改造迈阿密。目前对他在人事方面的洞察力，我们只能依靠他的推特。推特能让人了解到一些可能不会公开的想法，而约翰逊的推特一向以传播显而易见的信息而臭名昭著。谁都知道凯文·杜兰特有能力，勒布朗·詹姆斯是一个值得在自由球员市场追逐的目标。

　　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 D'Antoni, endorsing Jahlil Okafor, hailing the Bulls' dysfunctional backcourt. Of course, it's just Twitter, and outdated posts can make anybody look foolish. But with Magic fielding the calls before Thursday's trading deadline, Lakers fans might want to say prayers of their own while rubbing purple and gold rosaries.

　　这些推文尽管类似废话，但也无伤大雅。但另一些推文就不一样了，比如拿迈克尔·卡特-威廉姆斯和杰森·基德对比，说吉默·弗雷戴特“货真价值”，声称朗多能让小牛成为争冠球队，指责迈克·丹东尼，称赞贾利尔·奥卡福，为公牛不正常的后场欢呼。当然，这不过是推特，过时的推文能让任何人看起来像傻子一样。但是当魔术师在周四交易截止日前打电话寻求交易时，湖人球迷大概也想摸着紫金色的念珠，向上帝祈祷。

　　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 Trump's first term.

　　珍妮·巴斯周二彻底废黜了湖人管理层，解雇了米奇·库普切克和吉姆·巴斯(他大概是活该)以及公关主管约翰·布莱克(他不该这样被对待)。过去五年，库普切克和小巴斯搞砸了几乎所有自由球员签约，以去年夏天为蒂莫菲·莫兹戈夫和鲁尔·邓奉上总价1.6亿美元的大合同为最。这些荒唐的合同将会在川普的第一个任期内让球队痛苦不堪。

　　But Kupchak and Buss did help the Lakers in ways beyond inadvertent tanking. They didn't screw up the draft picks for Brandon Ingram or Julius Randle. They chose D'Angelo 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 they’re all young rotation players who haven't scraped their ceiling, enviable assets that savvy rivals will inquire about.