王者歸來

The phenomenon known as #NBArank did not exist back in the fall of 1992， so Dominique Wilkins was spared from the sensation of seeing his phone and Twitter account flooded with messages about how an evil website just dunked his name， without warning， from No. 6 to No. 25 in the game’s most prominent player rating system.

NBA排名這回事，直到1992年秋天前都是不存在的。所以那時候多米尼克·威爾金斯的手機和推特賬號也不會塞滿各種短信和私信，他也不會為某些事感到煩心，比方說在毫無預警的情況下，自己在球員實力榜排名上被某個邪惡網站從第6降到了第25。

“I’d have been livid，” Wilkins tells ESPN. com.

“我一定會發飆的。”威爾金斯對ESPN這樣說道。

“They must be out of their minds. What are you judging him on？ Judge him after he comes back from his injury. It’s a little premature for them to start judging him already.”

“他們一定腦子進水了。他們現在按照什么標準評價他？必須按照他傷愈復出后的表現去評價。而現在就做出評價結果，實在有些莽撞了。”

Now a broadcaster and executive with the Atlanta Hawks after his Hall of Fame career as the the inimitable Human Highlight Film， Wilkins knows better than anyone on the NBA map what awaits Bryant in his forthcoming return from a torn left Achilles. Which is why Nique also surely knows deep down that not even Bryant -- widely considered one of the 10 greatest players in history no matter how he fared in #NBArank 2013 -- would be granted that sort of courtesy.

以“人類電影精華”這個后人無法復制的身份結束自己的名人堂級職業生涯后，威爾金斯如今成了解說，他還在亞特蘭大老鷹隊管理層擔任職務。威爾金斯比NBA里的任何人都要了解，當科比從左腳跟腱撕裂的傷病中恢復后，擺在他面前的會是什么。也正是因為這個原因，在威爾金斯的內心深處，他清楚地明白，即便是科比——即便是這個被普遍認為位列歷史最偉大球星前十的球員，姑且不論他在2013年的NBA排名——也不會在評論界得到太多支持。

Wilkins knows because he certainly wasn’t， either. Few thought he could recover to the standard he did 20-odd years ago when， more than two years younger than Bryant is now， he shredded his right Achilles on Jan. 28， 1992.

威爾金斯之所以明白，是因為他當時遭遇了同樣的處境。20多年前，當他在1992年1月28日出現了右腳跟腱撕裂后，幾乎沒有人認為他能恢復到過去的狀態。而那時，他比現在的科比還要小兩歲。

“I was carried off the floor； I couldn’t walk off，” Wilkins recalls. “That’s how bad mine was. I never felt that kind of pain. I’ve had broken bones， torn knee and all that stuff， but an Achilles tendon tear is horrific.

“我是被人抬下樓的，我自己都沒法走路。”威爾金斯回憶道，“我的傷那時候就是那么糟。我從來沒有經歷過那樣的劇痛。我從未骨折過，沒有出現過膝蓋韌帶撕裂之類的傷病，但跟腱撕裂，實在是太可怕了。……