It was a private predraft Lakers workout in 2015, and the Lakers went into it legitimately¹ tempted² to believe Porzingis was worth their No. 2 overall pick.

2015年湖人队曾在选秀前举行过一次私人试训，而当时湖人队坚信不疑波尔津吉斯的实力绝对配得上他们的榜眼签。

Porzingis had just dazzled all 30 teams' scouts³, including Lakers executives Jim Buss and Mitch Kupchak, with a showcase workout in Las Vegas. Porzingis went from Vegas to Los Angeles to see if he could seal the deal with the Lakers through a private workout at their training facility.

然而波尔津吉斯在拉斯维加斯的试训中的表现欺骗了所有30支球队，包括湖人的经理吉米-巴斯以及米奇-库普切克。波尔津吉斯从拉斯维加斯来到洛杉矶，在湖人队的训练馆里参加了他们的私人试训。

Obviously, he did not.

但显然，他没有达到湖人队的期望。

And the reason, according to league sources, is an interesting truth to bear in mind as the Lakers try to refashion themselves as a younger, more open-minded organization led by Luke Walton, the most youthful and inspiring head coach in the NBA.

至于原因，根据联盟内部的消息源，其实非常有趣，尤其是考虑到现在的湖人队不停地尝试把自己变成一支更加年轻、更加开明的团队——他们甚至聘用了NBA最年轻有为、最能鼓舞人心的主教练卢克-沃顿。

Old-school thinking.

原因就是他们老派的思想。

Father Time waits for no man, as the Lakers reluctantly accepted in bidding farewell to Kobe Bryant after last season.

时间不等人，上赛季湖人队依依不舍地告别科比-布莱恩特就是一个很好的例子。

And that inevitable⁴ aging applies even in management, as Knicks president Phil Jackson appears to be demonstrating with each out-of-touch remark he makes.

然而不可避免的衰老问题甚至会出现在球队管理层，比如尼克斯总裁菲尔-杰克逊就一次次示威般的做出毫无联系的评论决策。

And though Lakers management has not been as disconnected from the modern NBA in word, they were in deed, especially when Porzingis walked into their gym before the 2015 draft.

虽然口头上我们觉得湖人队管理层还没有那么和现代的NBA世界隔绝，但在波尔津吉斯选秀前踏入湖人队体育馆的那一刻，管理层实际上就已经和现代脱节了。

Kupchak structured Porzingis' private Lakers workout as essentially⁵ a challenge of his manhood rather than a validation⁶ of his gifts.

库普切克组织的波尔津吉斯个人试训看上去更像是对他男子气概的挑战，而不是关于他独特篮球天赋的测试。

In doing so, the Lakers lost sight of how truly unique this 7'3" player could be, with skills at a size already forcing the NBA to adjust to him rather than vice⁷ versa.

在这种情况下，湖人队自然看不到这样一位有技巧的7尺3的大个子能做些什么，他不需要去适应联盟，他的技术和体格会使得联盟来适应他自己。

The Lakers, though, wanted to test Porzingis' physicality, and especially his "bigness," in that workout. They overvalued Porzingis' need to prove he could play in the low post and wrongly equated⁸ his shaky stamina⁹ with his overall NBA readiness.

但是湖人队在试训中太过强调波尔津吉斯的身体素质——尤其是他的“大个子”。他们过分地想要波尔津吉斯在低位展示自己的能力，又错误地由于他耐力上的缺点忽略了他联盟顶级的敏捷性。

Lakers assistant coach Mark "Mad Dog" Madsen, notorious for physical play in his 2000-09 NBA career, was pushed on Porzingis in the workout. To put it in preschool-level terms, the workout looked a lot like Big Bird being pushed all around the court by his dinosaur-ish friend Snuffleupagus.

湖人助教“疯狗”马克-马德森，在他从2000年到2009年的职业生涯里，一直以爱好激烈的身体对抗为人所知，而正是他参与了波尔津吉斯的试训。做个简单的比较，这次试训就像大鸟伯德被他恐龙一样的朋友Snuffleupagus（伯德想象中的一个可怕形象）追着满球场乱跑。

Then-Lakers head coach Byron Scott, whose outdated¹⁰ mindsets have been well documented, even joked with Lakers staffers after watching Porzingis wilt¹¹ with exhaustion¹² that Scott had better get a contract extension if the club decided¹³ to draft Porzingis and wait for him to grow up.

当时湖人队的主教练拜伦-斯科特——现在他的老派思想已经广为人知——在看到波尔津吉斯试训时的筋疲力尽之后，甚至和湖人队的员工们开起了玩笑：如果球队要选择波尔津吉斯还想等他成长起来的话，那还是先给斯科特自己一份续约合同吧。

The physicality of the Lakers' workout was not what Porzingis' agent, Andy Miller¹⁴, had expected or approved. But the results led the Lakers to lock in on D'Angelo Russell despite how intrigued¹⁵ they'd been by Porzingis, one of the few quibbles anyone could have with how well they've scouted¹⁶ lately.

湖人队训练的肉体强度和波尔津吉斯的经纪人安迪-米勒想象的相去甚远。尽管湖人队被波尔津吉斯深深吸引，他们依旧用榜眼签锁定了丹吉洛-拉塞尔。

With a preference first endorsed¹⁷ by director of player personnel Ryan West, the Lakers were new-school enough to see Russell, a 6'5" guard with a gift for passing and Stephen Curry's one-motion shot form, as a better choice than low-motor Jahlil Okafor, projected initially¹⁸ among the top two picks because of his traditional value as a polished, scoring big man.

在人事经理莱恩-韦斯特的大力支持下，湖人队还算“新派”地发现了拉塞尔，这样一个能传球，又和斯蒂芬-库里一样one-motion投篮的6尺5后卫，相比于贾利尔-奥卡福这样一个有脚步能投篮，传统前二顺位的大个子确实还算是一个不错的选择。

Okafor went No. 3 to the Philadelphia 76ers before Porzingis went No. 4 to the Knicks; Karl-Anthony Towns went No. 1 to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

最终奥卡福第三顺位被费城76人选走，而波尔津吉斯紧随其后去了尼克斯。卡尔-安东尼-唐斯则成为了明尼苏达森林狼的新晋状元。

The Lakers remain high on Russell, whose recent injury absence was a huge reason the team's encouraging start came to a quick halt with this six-game losing streak¹⁹. But in his return Sunday from a knee injury, Russell shot poorly and acknowledged his lack of defense²⁰ allowed Derrick Rose to get going for 25 points.

湖人队对拉塞尔期望很高，球队这赛季不错的开局也由于他的伤势终止，最近打出了一波六连败。但是周日拉塞尔从膝伤中复出后，他的投射非常糟糕，并且承认是由于自己防守上的问题让德里克-罗斯拿到了25分。

The contrast became even starker²¹ when measured against Porzingis' 26 points, 12 rebounds²², seven blocks and three three-pointers.

这样的表现和波尔津吉斯的26分，12板，7冒以及三个三分形成了鲜明的对比。

It was a private predraft Lakers workout in 2015, and the Lakers went into it legitimately tempted to believe Porzingis was worth their No. 2 overall pick.

2015年湖人队曾在选秀前举行过一次私人试训，而当时湖人队坚信不疑波尔津吉斯的实力绝对配得上他们的榜眼签。

Porzingis had just dazzled all 30 teams' scouts, including Lakers executives Jim Buss and Mitch Kupchak, with a showcase workout in Las Vegas. Porzingis went from Vegas to Los Angeles to see if he could seal the deal with the Lakers through a private workout at their training facility.

然而波尔津吉斯在拉斯维加斯的试训中的表现欺骗了所有30支球队，包括湖人的经理吉米-巴斯以及米奇-库普切克。波尔津吉斯从拉斯维加斯来到洛杉矶，在湖人队的训练馆里参加了他们的私人试训。

Obviously, he did not.

但显然，他没有达到湖人队的期望。

And the reason, according to league sources, is an interesting truth to bear in mind as the Lakers try to refashion themselves as a younger, more open-minded organization led by Luke Walton, the most youthful and inspiring head coach in the NBA.

至于原因，根据联盟内部的消息源，其实非常有趣，尤其是考虑到现在的湖人队不停地尝试把自己变成一支更加年轻、更加开明的团队——他们甚至聘用了NBA最年轻有为、最能鼓舞人心的主教练卢克-沃顿。

Old-school thinking.

原因就是他们老派的思想。

Father Time waits for no man, as the Lakers reluctantly accepted in bidding farewell to Kobe Bryant after last season.

时间不等人，上赛季湖人队依依不舍地告别科比-布莱恩特就是一个很好的例子。

And that inevitable aging applies even in management, as Knicks president Phil Jackson appears to be demonstrating with each out-of-touch remark he makes.

然而不可避免的衰老问题甚至会出现在球队管理层，比如尼克斯总裁菲尔-杰克逊就一次次示威般的做出毫无联系的评论决策。

And though Lakers management has not been as disconnected from the modern NBA in word, they were in deed, especially when Porzingis walked into their gym before the 2015 draft.

虽然口头上我们觉得湖人队管理层还没有那么和现代的NBA世界隔绝，但在波尔津吉斯选秀前踏入湖人队体育馆的那一刻，管理层实际上就已经和现代脱节了。

Kupchak structured Porzingis' private Lakers workout as essentially a challenge of his manhood rather than a validation of his gifts.

库普切克组织的波尔津吉斯个人试训看上去更像是对他男子气概的挑战，而不是关于他独特篮球天赋的测试。

In doing so, the Lakers lost sight of how truly unique this 7'3" player could be, with skills at a size already forcing the NBA to adjust to him rather than vice versa.

在这种情况下，湖人队自然看不到这样一位有技巧的7尺3的大个子能做些什么，他不需要去适应联盟，他的技术和体格会使得联盟来适应他自己。

The Lakers, though, wanted to test Porzingis' physicality, and especially his "bigness," in that workout. They overvalued Porzingis' need to prove he could play in the low post and wrongly equated his shaky stamina with his overall NBA readiness.

但是湖人队在试训中太过强调波尔津吉斯的身体素质——尤其是他的“大个子”。他们过分地想要波尔津吉斯在低位展示自己的能力，又错误地由于他耐力上的缺点忽略了他联盟顶级的敏捷性。

Lakers assistant coach Mark "Mad Dog" Madsen, notorious for physical play in his 2000-09 NBA career, was pushed on Porzingis in the workout. To put it in preschool-level terms, the workout looked a lot like Big Bird being pushed all around the court by his dinosaur-ish friend Snuffleupagus.

湖人助教“疯狗”马克-马德森，在他从2000年到2009年的职业生涯里，一直以爱好激烈的身体对抗为人所知，而正是他参与了波尔津吉斯的试训。做个简单的比较，这次试训就像大鸟伯德被他恐龙一样的朋友Snuffleupagus（伯德想象中的一个可怕形象）追着满球场乱跑。

Then-Lakers head coach Byron Scott, whose outdated mindsets have been well documented, even joked with Lakers staffers after watching Porzingis wilt with exhaustion that Scott had better get a contract extension if the club decided to draft Porzingis and wait for him to grow up.

当时湖人队的主教练拜伦-斯科特——现在他的老派思想已经广为人知——在看到波尔津吉斯试训时的筋疲力尽之后，甚至和湖人队的员工们开起了玩笑：如果球队要选择波尔津吉斯还想等他成长起来的话，那还是先给斯科特自己一份续约合同吧。

The physicality of the Lakers' workout was not what Porzingis' agent, Andy Miller, had expected or approved. But the results led the Lakers to lock in on D'Angelo Russell despite how intrigued they'd been by Porzingis, one of the few quibbles anyone could have with how well they've scouted lately.

湖人队训练的肉体强度和波尔津吉斯的经纪人安迪-米勒想象的相去甚远。尽管湖人队被波尔津吉斯深深吸引，他们依旧用榜眼签锁定了丹吉洛-拉塞尔。

With a preference first endorsed by director of player personnel Ryan West, the Lakers were new-school enough to see Russell, a 6'5" guard with a gift for passing and Stephen Curry's one-motion shot form, as a better choice than low-motor Jahlil Okafor, projected initially among the top two picks because of his traditional value as a polished, scoring big man.

在人事经理莱恩-韦斯特的大力支持下，湖人队还算“新派”地发现了拉塞尔，这样一个能传球，又和斯蒂芬-库里一样one-motion投篮的6尺5后卫，相比于贾利尔-奥卡福这样一个有脚步能投篮，传统前二顺位的大个子确实还算是一个不错的选择。

Okafor went No. 3 to the Philadelphia 76ers before Porzingis went No. 4 to the Knicks; Karl-Anthony Towns went No. 1 to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

最终奥卡福第三顺位被费城76人选走，而波尔津吉斯紧随其后去了尼克斯。卡尔-安东尼-唐斯则成为了明尼苏达森林狼的新晋状元。

The Lakers remain high on Russell, whose recent injury absence was a huge reason the team's encouraging start came to a quick halt with this six-game losing streak. But in his return Sunday from a knee injury, Russell shot poorly and acknowledged his lack of defense allowed Derrick Rose to get going for 25 points.

湖人队对拉塞尔期望很高，球队这赛季不错的开局也由于他的伤势终止，最近打出了一波六连败。但是周日拉塞尔从膝伤中复出后，他的投射非常糟糕，并且承认是由于自己防守上的问题让德里克-罗斯拿到了25分。

The contrast became even starker when measured against Porzingis' 26 points, 12 rebounds, seven blocks and three three-pointers.

这样的表现和波尔津吉斯的26分，12板，7冒以及三个三分形成了鲜明的对比。

波神

Because Porzingis sat out the Knicks' visit in his rookie year with an illness, Lakers fans on Sunday saw for the first time all that they are missing.

新秀赛季波尔津吉斯由于伤病错过了洛杉矶主场的比赛。于是这周日湖人球迷们才第一次亲眼看到自己究竟错过了什么。

Not too many people anywhere besides Jackson's Knicks adviser²³ Clarence Gaines, who scouted Porzingis in Spain, were thinking predraft that he should be viewed as comparable to the thicker yet similarly skilled Towns. The opportunity was there for the Lakers to identify it, though.

除了杰克逊在尼克斯的助手克拉伦斯-盖恩斯之外，很少有人会在选秀前把波尔津吉斯看作虽然瘦，但是技巧同样丰富的唐斯，而也正是盖恩斯在西班牙发现了波尔津吉斯。虽然湖人队曾经有机会证实这一观点。

Unlike the 76ers, who picked third but were denied almost all access to Porzingis to discourage them from selecting him, the Lakers got that early private audience. Porzingis' favorite team growing up? The Lakers.

不像76人——他们虽然是第三顺位，但是波尔津吉斯拒绝了所有他们想要深入了解他的机会——湖人可是早早就有了试训机会。波尔津吉斯从小到大最喜欢的队伍？正好就是湖人队。

Nevertheless, the Lakers squandered²⁴ the opportunity with the outdated premise²⁵ that Porzingis needed to fit into a customary NBA power forward position.

但是，湖人队关于大前锋和波尔津吉斯老旧而习惯的观念让他们白白丧失了这次机会。

And as much as Kupchak has finally come around to hire new-school thinkers and younger people into the organization, you don't get to roll your odometer back.

尽管最后库普切克终于醒悟，雇佣了思想更为先进的决策者和年轻人，但历史的齿轮已经不容改变。

You are however old you are in this business, and one of the complaints about Buss, 57, and Kupchak, 62—amplified by their free-agent failures—is that they don't play the modern management game of working angles behind the scenes with agents and players.

关于57岁的巴斯和62岁的库普切克，除了他们太老，人们还总是抱怨他们不懂得现代篮球的管理方式。

Jackson, 71, is a legend in this league but has been criticized in New York for stubbornly sticking to his longstanding philosophies.

71岁的杰克逊无疑是联盟中的传奇人物，但他也经常被人诟病在纽约固执地使用三角战术。

And if Jackson is being cast now by none other than LeBron James as some fossil reluctant to give players credit for their business acumen²⁶, it's fair to wonder how much help Jackson would be to fiancé Jeanie Buss as a potential Lakers consultant²⁷ in the future to recruit free agents.

我们就很好奇杰克逊作为湖人队未来的潜在顾问，在招募自由球员方面能为他的未婚妻巴斯起到些什么帮助。

Yet Jackson, despite his age and the pressure to win now with Carmelo Anthony, had his mind open enough to endure the draft-night boos and choose Porzingis.

然而，即使杰克逊已经年龄很大，甚至还负担着和卡梅隆-安东尼一起赢球的巨大压力，他的思维依然足够开放，忍受住巨大的嘘声选择了波尔津吉斯。

Jackson did it even though Porzingis hurt his leg early in his private workout at the Knicks' practice facility three days before the draft and couldn't even continue…with Anthony among those watching with frustration²⁸.

他这样做了，即使三天前尼克斯的私人试训中波尔津吉斯还伤了自己的腿，即使波尔津吉斯当时甚至不能继续试训，即使安东尼眼睁睁地看到了这一切并且难掩失望之情，他依然这样做了。

"The Lakers are a great organization," Porzingis said late Sunday night. "But I'm happy where I am."

“湖人是一支伟大的球队，”波尔津吉斯周日晚上说道，“但我很满意我现在的位置。”

Though he is only 21 years old and has much to learn, Porzingis is already a superstar. The Lakers will need superstars for the "great organization" to stay great with future championships.

即使他只有21岁，还有很多要学，但波尔津吉斯已经是一名巨星了。而“伟大的球队”湖人正急需一名巨星在未来夺得总冠军，继续他们的伟大之路。

They could also use real trendsetters.

他们也可以去发掘一些真正敢于吃螃蟹的人。

And along those lines, though it may be downright blasphemous²⁹ to state, the Lakers are better off having Walton around than Jackson. One is new; the other is old.

虽然有些难以启齿，但是我还是要补充一句，湖人队拥有沃顿无疑要比杰克逊更好。一个是新人；一个是元老。

The reality is the Lakers' young players get more out of connecting with a Jackson disciple³⁰ who vibes with them than they would having Jackson himself around as an overseer.

事实是湖人的年轻人们有一个能够与他们打成一片的杰克逊门徒，要远比他们有一个监工一般的杰克逊作为主教练更便于交流，也能因此学到更多。

Walton's system is basically reenactment of what worked when he was an assistant coa ach for the forward-thinking Golden State Warriors³¹, representing the game's direction today.

沃顿现在的体系根基正是他在联盟先驱者——金州勇士任助理教练时思考的产物，直到现在这种体系依然彰显着联盟比赛的发展方向。

It's very good to be a quality copycat.

有一个高质量的山寨货是极好的。

It's even better to be ahead of the game.

能走在潮流的前面当然就更好了。

Had they understood a year-and-a-half ago that Porzingis would find his unique place in the modern game, the Lakers would've set their own trend right there instead of watching it happen in front of them.

如果一年半以前湖人队能够想到波尔津吉斯会在现代联盟中独当一面，他们也许可以建立自己的潮流，而不是眼睁睁地看着新的潮流在自己的眼前发生。