Lakers' Kupchak can deal with it
库普切克能搞定它
General manager, a frequent target ofcriticism from fans, media and even his star player, just rolled withthe punches, until one great trade revitalized the team and hisreputation.
作为球队的经理，却是经常被球迷、媒体甚至他球队球星批判的对象，一直在骂声中摸爬滚打，直到一桩交易拯救了球队和他的声誉。
The first time Mitch Kupchak was mentioned forone of the most glamorous jobs in sports, general manager of theLakers, he was standing at a urinal.
当库普切克在体育界得到一份充满魅力的工作，湖人队的总经理时，他还什么都不懂。
An All-American at North Carolina who became astarting power forward for the Showtime-era Lakers, Kupchak's careerwas cut short after an injury in 1981 that shattered his left knee.After a limited comeback, Kupchak agreed to move over to the frontoffice in 1986 to serve an apprenticeship under then-general managerJerry West.
这位来自北卡罗来纳州的纯正美国人曾作为湖人的首发前锋出场，但自从1981年左膝粉碎性骨折以后他的上场时间便被减短。回归没几年，库普切克便在1986年转向球队管理层，他以助理的身份跟随当时球队的经理杰里-韦斯特。
 
"Aboutthe second week I was there, I'm standing in the bathroom at the Forum. . . when the door flies open and Jerry walks in, face red, smokeshooting out of his ears, every other word a four-letter word," Kupchakrecalled recently. "He's ranting and raving, talking to me, but notreally talking to me even though there's nobody else in there. I'mpetrified.
“当我来到这第二周左右，有一天我正在浴室里洗澡……然后门被撞开了，杰里走了进来，他面红耳赤，嘴里说出了每个字都很激动，”库普切克最近回忆道。“他情绪激昂、有点语无伦次的跟我说，但有好像不是跟我说，虽然当时只有我一个人。我有点吓呆了。”
" 'You know, I've had enough. I'm telling Dr.[Jerry] Buss I'm quitting and I'm recommending you for the job.' Andthen he walked out," Kupchak recalled West saying. "I'm still . . .staring straight ahead at the wall, saying to myself, 'I don't know ifI'm ready for this job.' "
“你知道的，我受够了。我已经告诉巴斯了，我辞退了我推荐你来做这份工作。‘然后他走了出去’，”库普切克回忆到韦斯特说的话。“而我依然呆呆的站在那，直直的望着墙，对我自己说，‘我不知道我是否准备好了来做这份工作。’”
Kupchak need not have worried. West wasn'tgoing anywhere for 14 years, although he would periodically threaten tobolt as his job anxiety continued to rise.
但库普切克不需要担心。因为韦斯特在14年里哪也没有去，虽然他会周期性的威胁说自己要走，但他对工作的热情依然不减。
When West finally stepped aside in 2000,Kupchak felt he was qualified to take the reins from the front-officelegend. Others weren't so sure. There was a perception that Westcontinued to pull the strings, first as a Lakers consultant, then fromthe golf course in retirement, and even, went the uninformed chatter,from Memphis after West went there in 2002 to revive the Grizzlies.
当韦斯特在2000年隐退后，库普切克感觉自己能胜任管理高层的这份工作了。但其他人却不这样确定。隐退后韦斯特起初作为湖人队的顾问，但许多人依然有韦斯特在背后掌管大局的感觉，然后韦斯特退休到高尔夫场休闲去了，一部分人还坚持认为是韦斯特在掌管大局。直到2002年韦斯特去了灰熊队的管理层。
"That perception is so grossly unfair," said West, once again retired. "Mitch is his own man."
“这种感觉太荒谬了，”再次退休的韦斯特说道。“米奇不会受他人的控制，他是一个有主见的人。”
West left a smoothly running dynasty thatinitially required Kupchak to do little more than add a few roleplayers as the team went on to complete a three-year title run.
韦斯特留下了一个运转良好的体系，库普切克需要做的仅仅是增加几个角色球员就可以完成三连冠。
  
Thencame some heavy lifting. Karl Malone and Gary Payton came and went,Shaquille O'Neal was traded, and Kobe Bryant, apparently horrified atthe prospect of wasting his prime years on a not-ready-for-prime-timeteam, began to question the front office, quietly at first and thenvery publicly.
然后重任来了，马龙和佩顿来了一年就走了，奥尼尔也被交易出去了，还有为前途担忧的科比觉得是在把自己的黄金时段浪费在一个不是黄金时代球队上，起初只是私下质问管理层，最后就公开质问了。
There was the 2005 trade of Caron Butler toWashington. "My best friend gets shipped out without me knowing,"Bryant said. It didn't help that Kwame Brown, who came west inexchange, was a bust.
然后就有了2005年巴特勒被交易到奇才队。“我最好的朋友在我不知道的情况下远走东部了。”科比说道。而交易来的布朗没有任何帮助。
There were questions about the drafting ofAndrew Bynum and Jordan Farmar. There was the failure to consummate adeal with the Minnesota Timberwolves for Kevin Garnett and Kupchak'srefusal to part with Bynum in a possible deal for Jason Kidd -- adecision Bryant ripped in a fan's notorious video. "I was on Mitch's[butt]," Bryant conceded. "It was just rough for me . . . not havinganything done. It was extremely frustrating. We had talks privatelyabout trying to do something to be more aggressive and make changes andstill nothing got done."
在选秀选拜纳姆和砝码儿时也有争议。还有没有成功交易到狼王加内特，在交易基德时库普切克拒绝拿拜纳姆作为筹码--这一决定导致了科比那段录像事件。“我当时对米奇感到愤怒，”科比承认“我当时太气愤了……他们什么都没做。我非常失望。我们私下谈过几次要使球队做出改变，变得更有侵略性。但一直以来，什么事情都没有发生。”
All the while, Kupchak had the support of Buss, the only man who really matters.
一直以来，库普切克都获得巴斯的支持，唯一一个知道该做什么的人。
"I saw all the criticism of Mitch and I knewhe didn't deserve it," Buss said. "People would ask me, 'What are yougoing to do about Mitch Kupchak?' and I would reply, 'Support him 100%just like I always have.' "
“我看到了一切关于米奇的批判，我知道他不应该被这样批评，”巴斯说道。“人们会问我，‘你打算怎样对库普切克？’我会回答，‘我会一如既往的百分之百支持他。”
That support was rewarded with two key deals.In November, Kupchak obtained Trevor Ariza, a solid defender, from theOrlando Magic for Maurice Evans and Brian Cook.
这种支持最终获得了回报，两桩交易。在十一月，库普切克用埃文斯和库克从魔术队换来了防守悍将阿里扎。
 
Thencame the move that turned around a season and Kupchak's image. On Feb.1, he obtained forward/center Pau Gasol from the Grizzlies for Brown,Javaris Crittenton, two draft picks and other considerations.
然后接下来的举动改变了整个赛季，也改变了人们对库普切克的看法。在2月1号，他用布朗，科立坦顿和两个选秀权以及其他一些报酬从灰熊队换来了前锋/中锋加索尔。
"[Kupchak] had the patience to sit on theKwame piece and pulled off the coup de grace," Bryant told reportersrecently. "He goes from an F to an A-plus."
“库普切克在夸梅布朗的事情上表现的耐心是令人钦佩的，然后他突然做出决定完成致命一击，”科比最近对记者说道。“这使他从F一跃变为A+。”
Once again, Mitch Kupchak had exceeded expectations.
又一次，米奇库普切克的行动超出了人们的预期。
Growing up on Long Island, Kupchak's firstlove was baseball -- the New York Yankees his team, Mickey Mantle hisfavorite player.
在Long岛长大的库普切克，最初喜欢的事棒球—最钟爱的球队是纽约Yankees队，最喜欢的球员是Mickey Mantle。
"I'd sit in our kitchen on a Sunday afternoonlistening to a doubleheader on the radio," Kupchak said. "My momthought there was something wrong with me."
“我喜欢周日下午坐在厨房里通过无线电来收听联赛，”库普切克说道。“我的母亲认为我有毛病。”
He envisioned himself as a third baseman, but his body had other ideas. Kupchak soon towered over his peers.
"My strike zone kept getting bigger," he said.
他想象自己是个三垒手，但他的身体有其他想法。库普切克很快就从同龄人中脱颖而出。
“我的击球区域不断变大，”他说到。
Sam Kellner, the basketball coach at nearbyBrentwood High, spotted the 14-year-old Kupchak, then 6 feet 4, walkingdown the hallway in junior high.
"He grabbed me right there and became one of the most influential people in my life," Kupchak said.
直到有一天，Brentwood高中附近的一个名叫Sam Kellner的篮球教练相中了当时正在初中走廊上闲逛14岁，6英尺4高的库普切克。
Kupchak blossomed under Kellner, learning theintricacies of the game at a basketball camp, excelling in high schooland winding up at North Carolina.
库普切克在Kellner的指导下，球技日益见长，在高中时球技就胜别的球员一筹，然后他进了北卡。
 
A first-round draft choice of the Washington Bullets in 1976, Kupchak, by then 6-9 and 230 pounds, spent five seasons there.
华盛顿子弹队用它1976年的第一轮选秀权选中了当时6英尺9寸，体重230磅的库普切克，之后，他在那待了5个赛季。
But his life changed because of a picnic heldin a Palm Springs park. Buss had invited Magic Johnson to share abasket of food after the Lakers had been upset in the first round ofthe 1981 playoffs.
但他的人生从一次在Palm Springs公园举行的野餐之后发生了转变。巴斯邀请了魔术师约翰逊分享一篮子美食，那年湖人在第一轮被淘汰出局。
"You tell me what I have to do to win," Buss recalled saying to Johnson.
“你告诉我该干什么才能赢，”巴斯回忆和约翰逊的谈话。
"If we could get Mitch Kupchak, I know we could win," Johnson replied.
“如果我们得到米奇库普切克，我知道我们能赢，”杰克逊回答道。
So the Lakers acquired Kupchak and signed himto a 14-year contract (seven playing years, seven in management) fornearly $8 million.
所以湖人得到了库普切克，并和他签订了一份14年的合同（7年上场打球，7年进入球队管理层），这份合同价值约800万美元。
The final piece of the Showtime puzzle? Itseemed that way until the 26th game of Kupchak's first Lakers season.Facing the San Diego Clippers, Kupchak drove the middle, found ClipperJoe Bryant (Kobe's father) blocking his path, and planted his left legin an attempt to pull up and avoid the charge. Instead, the legbuckled, fracturing his knee and causing cartilage and ligament damage.
该他表演的时间了？似乎应该是这样，直到库普切克在湖人第一个赛季的第26场比赛，表演终止了。当时是和圣地亚哥快船队交手，库普切克在中场运球，发现快船的乔-布莱恩特（科比的父亲）挡住了他的路线，他伸出他的左腿试图突破以避免发生冲突。结果，左腿被折了，他的膝盖骨破裂，导致软骨和韧带受伤。
As he began the long road to recovery, Kupchak took a detour to UCLA to pursue a master's degree in business.
然后他就开始了很长的恢复之路，库普切克趁恢复期到UCLA（加利福尼亚大学洛杉矶分校）去攻读工商管理的硕士学位。
"My career was in jeopardy after four monthsin Los Angeles," Kupchak said. "I felt I had to be able to providesomething for the organization other than a political science andpsychology degree. I rehabbed two hours a day, but what else was Igoing to do? Going back to school was good therapy."
“在洛杉矶待了4个月后，我的职业生涯面临危机，”库普切克说道。“我感觉我得给组织提供点东西，不仅仅是政治学和心理学。我每天做恢复训练2小时，剩下的时间我该做点什么？回到学校是个很好的选择。”
He missed the rest of that season and thenext, but came back for three seasons as a reserve. But he was neveragain the player he had been.
他错过了那个赛季剩余的比赛，但他之后回归3年，只不过他已不再是当初的库普切克了。
 
"Jerry[West] would watch me limp up and down the court and ice my knee,"Kupchak said. "He said to me, 'Mitch, you don't have to do this. I seewhat you are going through. You know, I could use some help in thefront office.' "
“杰里-韦斯特看到我在场边蹒跚着走来走去，用冰敷我的膝盖，”库普切克说道。“他对我说，‘米奇，你不需要做这些。我看到你的经历了。你知道的，我在管理方面还需要帮助。’”
Kupchak retired at the end of the 1985-86 season and became West's assistant.
库普切克在1985-86赛季结束后就退出赛场，他成为了韦斯特的助理。
"From day one, all Jerry West did was give meresponsibility," Kupchak said. "He challenged me. . . . He wasn'ttrying to protect his turf. He wasn't questioning what my motives were.He was great, a true mentor."
“从那天起，杰里-韦斯特所做的就是给我责任，”库普切克说道。“他不断挑战我……我不是在试图保护我，他不问我的动机是什么。他太伟大了，是一个真正的导师。”
Said West, "To me, it was an easy decision tobring Mitch in. With his business experience, it was a perfect fit. Weare two people who really liked each other and respected each other. Itwas the start of a really special relationship."
韦斯特说道，“对于我来说，他米奇带进管理层是个很简单的决定。他的工商经历和我的配合简直完美无缺。我们连个是彼此连接在一起的，我们互相尊重对方。这是一段特殊友谊的开始。”
Kupchak remembers the moment he realized theworking relationship was over. It was the morning in June 2000 afterthe Lakers had beaten Indiana for the championship.
库普切克还记得这段工作友谊结束的时刻。那是2000年6月份湖人击败印第安纳步行者队夺得总冠军的时候。
Unable to bear watching in person the team hehad built, West spent the night driving around Malibu, listening to thegame on the radio.
不能忍受亲自看他自己建设的球队比赛，韦斯特晚上喜欢一边冲浪，一边通过无线电收听比赛。
WhenKupchak got to work the next day, he recalled, he found West already inhis office. With the door ajar, Kupchak peeked in. West was seated athis desk in the dark, staring straight ahead, eyes bloodshot. Westacknowledged Kupchak in a low, somber voice.
"That's not what youexpect when you just won a championship less than 12 hours earlier,"Kupchak said. "When I left Jerry, I told myself, 'This may be it.' "
当库普切克第二天去工作时，他发现韦斯特已经在他办公室里了。门是微开着的，库普切克轻瞥了一眼，韦斯特在黑暗中坐在他的桌子上，充满血丝的眼睛呆呆的看着前方。韦斯特用很低很忧郁的声音让库普切克进来。
“在刚刚赢得总冠军还不到12个小时，你怎么也想不到事情会变成这样，”库普切克说道。“当我离开杰里时，我告诉我自己，‘或许事情本来就该这样。’”
West briefly stayed on as a consultant.
"Ididn't bring him into the decision-making process very often," Kupchaksaid. "He retired to get away from that pressure. We spoke a lot, butall I ever asked him was to maybe compare two players, exchange rumors,that kind of stuff. When I did something that he thought was a positivething, he would call. But if I did something he didn't think waspositive, he just wouldn't call, so I knew the answer."
韦斯特留下了做了一个闲职—球队顾问。
“我通常做决定时不把他拉进来，”库普切克说道。“他已经退休了，他想从这种压力中解脱出来。我们会谈很多，但从来没有谈过两个球员的比较，交易传闻之类的事情。当我做了他认为是正确的事以后，他会给我打电话。但如果我做了某些他认为不正确的事，他就不会给我打电话，所以我知道答案是什么。”
Kupchak shrugs off any public perception thathe was constantly on the phone with West and that West still deservedmuch of the credit for the Lakers' success.
库普切克从来不在乎公众的感觉，他只是一直和韦斯特保持电话联系。韦斯特依然为湖人的成功做过不少事情。
"Didn't bother me," he said. "That was never important to me."
“别来打扰我，”他说到。“那对我来说从来都不重要。”
Indeed, Kupchak, 53, abhors the spotlight. Hewas reluctant to be interviewed for this story, and guards his family'sprivacy, refusing to reveal the names or ages of his two children.Asked to be photographed, he insisted on including Ronnie Lester, hisassistant.
确实是这样，53岁的库普切克厌倦聚光灯，他不情愿做一个关于他的专访，而且他很会保护家庭隐私，拒绝公布他两个小孩的名字和年龄。当被要求照像时，他坚持要带上他的助理教练Ronnie Lester。
While Buss remains supportive, he, too, would like to see some of the credit shared.
巴斯一直都很支持他，所以他能获得管理层的一些信任。
"I had a lot of faith in Mitch, and there havebeen no surprises," Buss said. "It's never been like, 'Oh my God, youdid what?' But I think it should be pointed out that my son Jim [a teamvice president] was equally responsible for the drafting of AndrewBynum. After Jim saw Bynum in a workout, he said, 'This is someone wemust have, no ifs, ands or buts.' "
“我对米奇很信任，所以对我来说从来都不会有惊奇出现，”巴斯说道。“从来不会发生这样的事，‘奥，天哪，你都做了些什么？’我想指出的一点是，我的儿子吉姆（球队的副经理）在选秀选拜纳姆时也担负了相同的责任。当吉姆在测验中看到拜纳姆时，他说到，‘这是我们必须要的人，没有什么如果但是。’”
  
Jerry Buss said it was he who initiated the idea of obtaining Gasol.
杰瑞-巴斯说他是那个提出得到加索尔想法的那个人。
"I saw that he said in the paper he wanted tobe traded," Buss said. "Knowing that Memphis was losing a great deal ofmoney, I suggested we pursue it. Mitch made the call, but it was Jimwho also stayed on it."
“我在报纸上看到他说他希望被交易，”巴斯说道。“我知道灰熊正在流失大量的薪金，我建议交易到他。米奇打的电话，而吉姆也非常同意。”
Kupchak said his toughest time on the job camein the summer of 2004, when the Lakers had traded O'Neal, but Bryanthad not yet decided whether he would stay with the Lakers or join theClippers.
库普切克说他工作以后最艰难的时期就是2004年的夏天，那时湖人交易走了奥尼尔，但当时科比还没有做出决定到底是继续留在湖人，还是加盟快船队。
"I was told Kobe would let both clubs know hisdecision on the morning he was eligible to sign," Kupchak said. "I wasin my office when I heard, 'Mitch, Kobe's on the phone.' That was apretty high-stress moment. I got on and he said, 'Mitch, I want to be aLaker.' "
“我告诉科比他可以到签约的那天早晨再决定到底签哪支球队，”库普切克说道。“当我在办公室里听到，‘米奇，科比的电话。’那个时候压力真大。我接过电话他说到，‘米奇，我想成为一名湖人球员。’”
 
Anda Laker Bryant remains, not only leading the team back into contentionfor the NBA championship, but leading cheers for the once-beleagueredgeneral manager.
湖人的科比依旧在，他不仅继续带领球队冲击总冠军，而且带头为曾经受围攻的经理喝彩。
Kupchak, though, is ever-cautious: "In six months, I could be back to an F."
而库普切克，还是一如既往的谨慎：“在6个月之内，或许我又会变为F。”
steve.springer@latimes.com
http://www.latimes.com/sports/basketball/nba/lakers/la-sp-kupchak28apr28,1,7689893.story?page=3
by kc
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發表於 2008-4-30 04:31 AM
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