原文：https://reurl.cc/NQGb99
More than a decade after he was fired five games into the second year of his
Los Angeles Lakers coaching career, Mike Brown admitted he regretted taking
the job in the first place.
"If I could do it again," Brown said in an interview with Stephen Jackson and
Matt Barnes on the "All the Smoke" podcast, "I probably wouldn't."
在執教湖人的第二年第五場比賽後被解雇的十多年後，Mike Brown承認他後悔當初接受這
份工作。
"如果可以重新來過，"Brown在"All Smoke"Podcast的一次訪談中對Stephen Jackson和
Matt·Barnes說道，"我可能不會這麼做。"
NBA Hall of Famer Phil Jackson was just too tough to follow, Brown explained.
No one could live up to the standard he had set in L.A. (five NBA titles) and
Chicago (six titles).
Brown had known that when he took the job in 2011. He had said as much during
his introductory news conference.
"I have great respect for Phil Jackson and all of his accomplishments," Brown
said. "I'm not sure what size shoe he wears. But I'm not here to fill his
shoes. I'm here to help this team and this organization carve our own path to
success." But acknowledging how much pressure there is on the head coach of
the Lakers and actually living through that pressure are two entirely
different things.
NBA名人堂成員Phil Jackson實在太難企及了，Brown解釋道。沒有人能達到他在洛杉磯（五
冠）和芝加哥（六冠）的成就。
Mike Brown在2011年接受這份工作時就知道這一點。在他的入職新聞發布會上，他曾這樣說
。"我非常尊重Phil Jackson和他的所有成就，"Mike Brown說道，"我不知道他穿多大的
鞋子，我也不是為了削足適履而來。我是來幫助這支球隊和這個組織開拓我們自己通往成
功的道路的。" 但是知道湖人隊總教練承受的壓力有多大跟實際上經歷這種壓力是完全不
同的事情。
Six coaches have tried to fill Jackson's shoes in the past 13 years. None has
lasted more than three seasons. Darvin Ham became the latest to take that fall
when he was fired Friday after just two seasons, despite a 90-74 record and a
Western Conference finals appearance last season.
Of those six, two went on to win NBA Coach of the Year awards in subsequent
jobs -- Brown with the Sacramento Kings last season and Mike D'Antoni with the
Houston Rockets in 2018 -- suggesting it's not the quality of the coach that
determines success or failure on one of the NBA's biggest stages.
過去13年中已有六名教練試圖填補Phil Jackson的空缺。但沒有一個人能堅持超過三個賽季
。Darvin Ham成為最新一位僅兩個賽季就被解雇的教練，儘管他的戰績是90勝74負，去年
還打進了西部冠軍賽。
在這六位教練中，有兩人在之後的工作中獲得了年度最佳教練--上賽季在沙加緬度國王隊
的Mike Brown以及2018年在休斯頓火箭隊的Mike D'Antoni在--這表明教練的水準並不是在
NBA最大舞台上的成功或失敗的決定性因素。
It's how the coach manages everything else that comes along with guiding the
NBA's glamour franchise. The star-first culture. The magnified lights. The
pressurized history.
But his tenure unraveled quickly in his second season.
James bristled at the idea of restricting his minutes at the start of the
season, sources said -- an idea that was noticeably scrapped after just a few
games.
Throughout the season, James, Davis and other key rotation players barely
bothered to conceal criticisms of Ham's schemes, rotations and in-game
adjustments.
Ham在他執教的第一個賽季表現出色，巧妙地引導著球隊走過了Russell Westbrook時期的
尷尬，與球隊的超級巨星LeBron James和Anthony Davis建立了穩固的聯繫，並帶領球隊
意外地進入了西部冠軍賽。
但是這樣的好景在第二個賽季迅速瓦解了。
消息人士透露，LeBron對賽季初限制他的上場時間的想法感到不滿--這個想法在幾場比賽
後明顯地被放棄了。
在整個賽季中，LeBron、Davis和其他重要的輪替幾乎沒有隱藏對Ham的戰術、輪替和比賽
中調整的批評。
After Game 2 of the Lakers' first-round series loss to the Denver Nuggets,
Davis said bluntly: "We have stretches where we don't know what we're doing on
both ends of the floor."
Ham told ESPN he spoke to Davis privately before defending himself and his
staff publicly. But the damage had been done. Five nights later James
underscored the lack of faith in Ham by stomping his feet in frustration when
Ham refused to use his coach's challenge on a play where James insisted they
would win.
They were just two examples in a season long on barely-beneath-the-surface
griping. But they were exceptionally visible displays from the team's most
visible stars, and ultimately there was no coming back from it.
在首輪對陣金塊的第二場比賽失利後，Davis直言不諱地說：“我們有時候在場上的兩端都
不知道在做什麼。”
Ham告訴ESPN，他私下和Anthony Davis交談後公開為自己和他的工作人員辯護。但損害已
經造成。
五天後， Ham拒絕在一場LeBron認為他們會贏的比賽中使用他的挑戰時，LeBron沮喪地跺
著腳表示了對Ham的不信任。
這只是一個賽季中浮上水面的兩個例子。但這是球隊雙星明顯的表示，最終無法回頭。
And so another summer of churn begins. The question the Lakers must ask
themselves now is why -- and how to come back from yet another short, failed
coaching stint.
Years ago, Lakers governor Jeanie Buss told ESPN that it's important to find a
coach and stick with him long enough to grow and develop an identity and
style of play.
That was several coaches and countless roster iterations ago. Each hiring and
firing was different, but the pattern has remained the same.
所以又一個夏季的變動開始了。湖人隊現在必須問自己的問題是為什麼--以及如何從又一
次短暫而失敗的教練任期中重新站起來。
多年前，湖人隊董事長Jeanie Buss告訴ESPN，找到一名教練並與他合作足夠長的時間以
培養與發展球隊的打法與風格是很重要的。
但那是幾個教練和無數陣容變化之前的事情。每一次的聘請和解雇都是不同的。
After last season's playoff run, general manager Rob Pelinka emphasized re-
signing the team's own free agents -- Rui Hachimura, Austin Reaves and D'
Angelo Russell -- rather than trading for a third star or pursuing more high-
profile free agents.
L.A. brought back Ham and his staff and hoped they'd build off of last year's
run. Early on, it seemed possible, as the Lakers won the inaugural in-season
tournament.
Then, once again, the season unraveled. Injuries mounted. Ham tinkered with
his lineups to try to recapture the defensive intensity that had driven last
year's success. But instead of sparking a resurgence, Ham sparked resentment.
Players started venting their frustrations publicly and privately.
Eventually it became obvious Ham would be the one to pay the price if L.A.
lost early in the playoffs.
在上個賽季的季後賽之後，總經理Robert Pelinka強調重新簽下球隊自己的自由球員—八
村壘、Austin Reaves和D'Angelo Russell--而不是交易第三名球星或追求更多知名的自
由球員。
洛杉磯帶回了Ham和他的教練團，希望他們能重建去年的成功。起初，這似乎是可能的，因
為湖人隊贏得了首屆賽季中的比賽。
然而，不斷的傷病拆散了這個希望。雖然Ham調整了他的陣容以期重新點燃去年成功的防守
強度，但最終Ham引發了敵意，球員們開始公開和私下抱怨。
如果湖人隊在季後賽早早出局，Ham將是付出代價的人。
It was so obvious that Nuggets coach Michael Malone tried to put in a good
word for Ham at his news conference after Denver's series-ending win Monday
night.
"I think Darvin Ham is a hell of a coach," Malone said after Game 5. "That's
not an easy job. I think Darvin does it with class. He's a good man, good
coach, and I wish him all the best. Hopefully, he'll be around there for a
long time because he deserves to be."
Four days later, Ham was fired.
事態如此明顯，以至於金塊教練Michael Malone在周一晚上結束系列賽的賽後的新聞會上
試圖為Ham說句好話。
"我認為Ham是一位出色的教練，"Malone在賽後說道。"這不是一件容易的事。我認為Ham用
他的方式做到了。他是一個好人，一個好教練，我祝他一切順利。希望他能在那裡待很長
時間，因為他值得這樣。"
四天後，Ham被解雇了。
Malone had faced a similar crossroads back in 2018, when the Nuggets lost Game
83 to the Minnesota Timberwolves and missed the playoffs. The Nuggets came
close to firing him after the season, sources said. But ultimately the team
decided to run it back and give him another chance. It still took two more
seasons for Malone and Denver to make a conference finals and five more for
them to win a championship, however.
The Nuggets are now the class of the NBA with soon-to-be three-time MVP Nikola
Jokic, the NBA's fourth-longest-tenured coach and a championship core that's
mostly under contract for two more seasons.
Malone在2018年也曾面臨類似的處境，當時金塊隊在第83場比賽中輸給了灰狼隊，未能進
入季後賽。消息人士透露，金塊隊在賽季結束後差點就要解雇他。但最終，球隊決定留下
他並給他另一次機會。對Malone和丹佛來說，還需要兩個賽季才能進入西冠，並且還需要
五個賽季才能贏得總冠軍。
金塊現在是NBA的佼佼者，有著即將成為三次MVP的Nikola Jokic，NBA現役任期第四長的
教練以及一個大部分合約還有兩年或更久的核心陣容。
Continuity matters. Fourteen of the team's 17 championships were won by three
coaches.
That kind of patience and stability is a luxury in the NBA. Everyone strives
for it, but very few franchises achieve it.
The Lakers have tried and failed to find it six times since Jackson retired in
2011.
Everyone who has taken the job says they know what they're getting into. From
Kobe Bryant to LeBron James, and everyone and everything in between, no one
the franchise has hired has been able to withstand it.
Before the Lakers hire their next coach, they need to figure out why.
連續性很重要。湖人隊的17個冠軍中有14個是由三位教練贏得的。
這種耐心和穩定對NBA來說是一種奢侈。每個人都在努力實現它，但很少有球隊實現了。
自從2011年Phil Jackson退休以來，湖人隊已經嘗試了六次並且通通失敗了。
曾經接受這份工作的每個人都說他們知道自己在做什麼。從Kobe Bryant到LeBron James
，以及所有其他人和事物，這個球隊所聘用的人沒有一個能夠承受得住。在湖人聘請下一
位教練之前，他們需要弄清楚為什麼。
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