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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排名这回事，直到1992年秋天前都是不存在的。所以那时候多米尼克·威尔金斯的手机和推特账号也不会塞满各种短信和私信，他也不会为某些事感到烦心，比方说在毫无预警的情况下，自己在球员实力榜排名上被某个邪恶网站从第6降到了第25。
“I’d have been livid，” Wilkins tells ESPN. com.
“我一定会发飙的。”威尔金斯对ESPN这样说道。
“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.”
“他们一定脑子进水了。他们现在按照什么标准评价他？必须按照他伤愈复出后的表现去评价。而现在就做出评价结果，实在有些莽撞了。”
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“人类电影精华”这个后人无法复制的身份结束自己的名人堂级职业生涯后，威尔金斯如今成了解说，他还在亚特兰大老鹰队管理层担任职务。威尔金斯比NBA里的任何人都要了解，当科比从左脚跟腱撕裂的伤病中恢复后，摆在他面前的会是什么。也正是因为这个原因，在威尔金斯的内心深处，他清楚地明白，即便是科比——即便是这个被普遍认为位列历史最伟大球星前十的球员，姑且不论他在2013年的NBA排名——也不会在评论界得到太多支持。
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.
威尔金斯之所以明白，是因为他当时遭遇了同样的处境。20多年前，当他在1992年1月28日出现了右脚跟腱撕裂后，几乎没有人认为他能恢复到过去的状态。而那时，他比现在的科比还要小两岁。
“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.
“我是被人抬下楼的，我自己都没法走路。”威尔金斯回忆道，“我的伤那时候就是那么糟。我从来没有经历过那样的剧痛。我从未骨折过，没有出现过膝盖韧带撕裂之类的伤病，但跟腱撕裂，实在是太可怕了。”
“Everybody said my career was done.‘He’s done， stick a fork in him.’ I heard everything. They either said I wouldn’t come back， or if I did come back， there was no way I would ever be the same.”
“每个人都说，我的职业生涯完蛋了。‘他完了，给他的棺材上钉钉子吧。’他们说的我都听到了。他们要么说我不会再复出了，要么说，即便我复出，我也不会再和从前一样了。”
The doomsday talk， to be fair， was not without justification， because Achilles tendon tears have historically been harder to bounce back from for NBA players than any knee injury you wish to nominate. Research by ESPN’s Kevin Pelton， in a piece he wrote for Basketball Prospectus after Chauncey Billups tore his left Achilles in February 2012， confirmed that Wilkins’ feat in making two more All-Star teams and playing until age 39 after suffering his Achilles rupture at 32 is an extreme rarity. 平心而论，这种末日论并非没有合理根据。从历史上看，对于NBA球员来说，比起任何膝盖伤病，跟腱撕裂都更难恢复。当昌西·比卢普斯在2012年2月出现左脚跟腱撕裂后，在ESPN的凯文·佩尔顿写给《篮球说明》的一篇文章中证实，像威尔金斯这种在32岁出现跟腱撕裂的伤病后，还能再入选两次全明星、并且打到39岁的情况，实属个案。
Yet there’s nothing you can say to convince Wilkins that Bryant， whenever we see him this season， isn’t about to make his own history-defying grand return. Ditto for another all-time great we consulted who has first-hand knowledge of what it’s like to feel that unspeakable pop when one’s heel completely collapses： Isiah Thomas.
但不管我们怎么说，威尔金斯都相信，无论本赛季何时才能看到科比回归，他都认为后者能打出史诗级别的复出表演。我们咨询的另一个传奇球星也给出了同样的答案——伊赛亚·托马斯，对于脚踝中跟腱断裂那下无法言说的感觉，他也有过切身感受。
Neither Nique nor Zeke② are doctors ... and only one of those two continued to play at a high level after Achilles surgery. But both Wilkins and Thomas believe that sheer will --something Bryant obviously has in abundance-- is the biggest factor in determining whether an NBA player can carry on after such a devastating setback.
尼克和奇克都不是医生，而且两人中只有一人在跟腱撕裂后还能保持高水平的状态。但威尔金斯和托马斯都相信，顽强的意志力，才是决定一名NBA球员在遭受灾难性的伤病后能否继续前进的最重要因素——显然，科比在这方面是佼佼者。
“If anybody can come back， Kobe can，”Wilkins says. “And I’ll tell you why I say that： He’s one of the most competitive guys that I’ve ever met. He’s one of those guys that competes on a level like Jordan， Bird and Magic. He has that type of tenacity， that type of attitude， where he’s not going to let anybody tell him what he can’t do. It all depends on the person， how determined and how dedicated you are on working and training to get it back the way it was.
“如果有人能重回赛场，科比肯定也可以。”威尔金斯表示，“我会告诉你为什么我要这么说：他是我见过的竞争意识最强的人。他和乔丹、伯德、魔术师是一个等级的球员。他拥有那种人的顽强和态度，他不会让任何人对他说，他做不到什么。这一切都取决于个人，他的决心到底有多强，为了恢复到过去的状态，他到底愿意在训练中付出多少。”
“It’s a hard injury. It’s a time-consuming injury. But that’s how I was； I’m just a determined and competitive guy. I’m not going to let anybody tell me what I can’t do. I looked at the critics as another opponent that I had to compete with. And I’m one of those guys who loves to accept the challenge. Maybe that’s the difference.”
“这是一个非常痛苦的伤病，是一个很耗时的伤病。但我那时就是这样的：我是个意志坚定而又好胜的人。我不会让任何人对我说我不行的话。我把批评看作另一个竞争对手，而我是那种喜欢接受挑战的人。也许这就是不同。”
Said Thomas： “Devastating is the correct word. It is a devastating injury. Had I come back and played， I’m sure it would have affected my speed， jumping ability， quickness and so forth and so on. I was older， so I had lost some of that anyway.
托马斯说：“毁灭性是正确的形容词。这是毁灭性的伤病。如果我当初选择复出打球，我确定那会影响到我的速度、弹跳能力、敏捷度这些方面。我变老了，有些已经失去了。”
“But I would never bet against Kobe. Because what Kobe still has that I didn’t have at the end of my career is that hunger. When you listen to Kobe talk ... you still hear and see a hunger that， frankly， I just didn’t have at that point.”
“但我永远不会赌科比不行。因为科比有一样东西，是我在职业生涯末期没有的，那就是饥渴感。当科比说话时，你仍然能听到和看到他的饥渴感。坦白说，我那时没有。”
Wilkins is resolute in his stance even after brother Gerald was felled by the same injury at 31 and reduced to playing parts of four more seasons after missing all of the 1994-95 schedule. He remains undaunted even when informed that Bryant， who turned 35 in August， has already played more games and logged more minutes pre-injury than Wilkins did in his entire NBA career.
即便当弟弟杰拉德·威尔金斯在31岁时遭遇到同样的伤病，不仅缺席了94-95赛季的全部比赛、并且在接下来四个赛季都受到伤病影响时，多米尼克·威尔金斯的信心仍没有动摇。就算他得知今年已满35岁的科比在受伤前参加过的比赛场次和上场时间已经超过了自己职业生涯的数据，他依旧信心十足。
The additional mileage on Kobe’s legs， as covered in this accompanying story here， is staggering. But Nique was back on the floor 283 days after his tear and doesn’t sound as though he’ll be surprised if Kobe makes it back quicker. That’s even though NBA medical experts say that， while Achilles rehab practices are faster and more efficient than they were in Wilkins’ day， surgical procedures to repair such tears really haven’t changed much.
通过其他文章我们知道，科比身体经历的超于常人的磨损相当令人震惊。对于跟腱撕裂后283天才重返赛场的多米尼克来说，如果科比能更快复出的话，他并不会感到太惊讶。NBA的医疗专家表示，尽管相比威尔金斯那个年代，如今跟腱的复健过程会更快且更有效，但修补撕裂跟腱的手术本身，却没有太大的变化。
“I don’t care how advanced the medicine gets，” Wilkins said. “It depends on the person and how determined they are to be the same."
“我不关心医学到底有了多少进步。”威尔金斯表示，“这取决于个人，以及他们想恢复到过去状态的决心到底有多强。”
Wilkins， though， does acknowledge that Bryant is going to have to work through some initial fears of re-injury （“I was nervous at first”） in terms of trusting that heel again. Wilkins says he’ll also have to “develop some patience，” more than he’s ever had before， because Nique remembers needing “close to a year before you feel you can play on a level you once played.”
不过威尔金斯也承认，科比首先要克服担心再次受伤的恐惧（“起初我就非常紧张”），也就是说，要重新相信自己的脚踝。威尔金斯还说，科比得先“培养出比过去更多的耐心”，因为他还记得自己“需要大概一年时间，才能感觉到自己能用过去的那种状态打球”。
The only concern coming from Thomas， meanwhile， is likewise on the mental side. The reason he didn’t attempt a comeback from his own Achilles tear is because Isiah had already announced his retirement before suffering the injury， revealing his plans to move into the Toronto Raptors’ front office instead of trying to play on at age 33 and at a couple notches below his 1990 NBA Finals MVP peak. So he’s naturally curious to see how Kobe will cope if “this injury makes him drop down to where he’s not a superior athlete.” 与此同时，托马斯唯一担心的，同样也在精神层面。之所以当初跟腱撕裂后没有试着复出，是因为伊赛亚·托马斯在受伤前已经宣布了自己的退役决定，他没有选择在33岁高龄、而且已经不复1990年拿到总决赛MVP那时的巅峰状态下重回赛场，而是计划好加入多伦多猛龙队的管理层。所以他很自然地对科比的状态充满好奇，他想看看科比如何面对“这种使他不再是顶级运动员的伤病”。
“The game wasn’t much fun for me when I couldn’t dominate my opponent，” Thomas says. “If I was getting 14 points and like seven or eight assists， that wasn’t fun. And if I couldn’t dominate the opponent and dominate the game， I didn’t enjoy it. And I sure as hell didn’t enjoy being dominated. So it’s going to be interesting to see if Kobe can accept some nights， with this injury， not being dominant against players he normally dominates.
“当我无法再征服对手时，比赛对我来说已经没有多少乐趣了。”托马斯说道，“如果我只得14分，只有7到8个助攻，那就无聊了。如果我无法征服对手，无法统治比赛，我就不会享受比赛。而且我很肯定，被人征服的感觉很不好。所以要看科比能否接受在某些比赛里，因为这个伤病，使得他无法统治平时他可以征服的对手，这是很有意思的。”
“I don’t think he can ever be satisfied with being a 17， 18-point scorer in this league. It’s crazy to say， but unfortunately that’s how the great ones think. When they drop down from 26 to 17 or 16 [points per game]， those guys are devastated. And people look at you differently. So if he’s not dominating， he may have physically come back from the injury， but mentally can he come back from the injury？”
“我不觉得他会满足于在这个联盟成为一个场均得到17或18分的球员。这么说很疯狂，但不幸的是，这正是伟大球员的心态。当他们从场均25分下滑到场均17或16分，这些人就会倍受打击。人们对你的态度也会发生变化。所以说，如果他无法统治比赛，即便身体上他能从伤病中恢复，但从精神上来说，他会恢复吗？”
Yet when you press Thomas for a prediction， there is no hesitation.
如果你非要强迫托马斯做出预测，他还是没有任何迟疑。
“Yes，” Isiah says.
“没问题的。”伊赛亚说。
As in： Thomas， too， thinks Kobe will rebound strongly and gradually look Kobeesque again regardless of the overwhelming anecdotal and numerical evidence stacked against him.
此外，尽管历史和无数的证据都对科比极为不利，但托马斯还是认为，科比会有一个强势反弹，他也会逐渐找回科比式的状态。
“I went through that same exact crap，”Wilkins added， referring to all the doubters.“And then when I came back and saw the same critics， they said， ‘We knew you could do it.’ Yeah， sure.
“我也听过同样的废话。”威尔金斯补充道，他说的就是那些质疑，“等我复出后又看到那些质疑者时，他们说：‘我们知道你能做到的。’当然，毫无疑问。”
“It’s just amazing to me [to see Bryant at No. 25 in #NBArank] just out of respect for who he is and what he’s done. I think he can and will come back from this.
“出于对他本人和他取得成就的尊敬，（看到科比排在第25名）真让我吃惊。我想他能，他也会从这个伤病中强势回归的。”
“I don’t know if I’d put my house on anybody； I kind of like my house，” Wilkins said with a laugh. “But I would bet that he’ll come back and be Kobe. He’ll be The Mamba.”
“我不会拿自己的房子跟别人打赌，我还挺喜欢我的房子。”威尔金斯笑着说，“但我敢打赌，他会回归，他会成为那个科比。他仍会是那个曼巴。”
NBA排名这回事，直到1992年秋天前都是不存在的。所以那时候多米尼克·威尔金斯的手机和推特账号也不会塞满各种短信和私信，他也不会为某些事感到烦心，比方说在毫无预警的情况下，自己在球员实力榜排名上被某个邪恶网站从第6降到了第25。
“I’d have been livid，” Wilkins tells ESPN. com.
“我一定会发飙的。”威尔金斯对ESPN这样说道。
“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.”
“他们一定脑子进水了。他们现在按照什么标准评价他？必须按照他伤愈复出后的表现去评价。而现在就做出评价结果，实在有些莽撞了。”
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“人类电影精华”这个后人无法复制的身份结束自己的名人堂级职业生涯后，威尔金斯如今成了解说，他还在亚特兰大老鹰队管理层担任职务。威尔金斯比NBA里的任何人都要了解，当科比从左脚跟腱撕裂的伤病中恢复后，摆在他面前的会是什么。也正是因为这个原因，在威尔金斯的内心深处，他清楚地明白，即便是科比——即便是这个被普遍认为位列历史最伟大球星前十的球员，姑且不论他在2013年的NBA排名——也不会在评论界得到太多支持。
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.
威尔金斯之所以明白，是因为他当时遭遇了同样的处境。20多年前，当他在1992年1月28日出现了右脚跟腱撕裂后，几乎没有人认为他能恢复到过去的状态。而那时，他比现在的科比还要小两岁。
“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.
“我是被人抬下楼的，我自己都没法走路。”威尔金斯回忆道，“我的伤那时候就是那么糟。我从来没有经历过那样的剧痛。我从未骨折过，没有出现过膝盖韧带撕裂之类的伤病，但跟腱撕裂，实在是太可怕了。”
“Everybody said my career was done.‘He’s done， stick a fork in him.’ I heard everything. They either said I wouldn’t come back， or if I did come back， there was no way I would ever be the same.”
“每个人都说，我的职业生涯完蛋了。‘他完了，给他的棺材上钉钉子吧。’他们说的我都听到了。他们要么说我不会再复出了，要么说，即便我复出，我也不会再和从前一样了。”
The doomsday talk， to be fair， was not without justification， because Achilles tendon tears have historically been harder to bounce back from for NBA players than any knee injury you wish to nominate. Research by ESPN’s Kevin Pelton， in a piece he wrote for Basketball Prospectus after Chauncey Billups tore his left Achilles in February 2012， confirmed that Wilkins’ feat in making two more All-Star teams and playing until age 39 after suffering his Achilles rupture at 32 is an extreme rarity. 平心而论，这种末日论并非没有合理根据。从历史上看，对于NBA球员来说，比起任何膝盖伤病，跟腱撕裂都更难恢复。当昌西·比卢普斯在2012年2月出现左脚跟腱撕裂后，在ESPN的凯文·佩尔顿写给《篮球说明》的一篇文章中证实，像威尔金斯这种在32岁出现跟腱撕裂的伤病后，还能再入选两次全明星、并且打到39岁的情况，实属个案。
Yet there’s nothing you can say to convince Wilkins that Bryant， whenever we see him this season， isn’t about to make his own history-defying grand return. Ditto for another all-time great we consulted who has first-hand knowledge of what it’s like to feel that unspeakable pop when one’s heel completely collapses： Isiah Thomas.
但不管我们怎么说，威尔金斯都相信，无论本赛季何时才能看到科比回归，他都认为后者能打出史诗级别的复出表演。我们咨询的另一个传奇球星也给出了同样的答案——伊赛亚·托马斯，对于脚踝中跟腱断裂那下无法言说的感觉，他也有过切身感受。
Neither Nique nor Zeke② are doctors ... and only one of those two continued to play at a high level after Achilles surgery. But both Wilkins and Thomas believe that sheer will --something Bryant obviously has in abundance-- is the biggest factor in determining whether an NBA player can carry on after such a devastating setback.
尼克和奇克都不是医生，而且两人中只有一人在跟腱撕裂后还能保持高水平的状态。但威尔金斯和托马斯都相信，顽强的意志力，才是决定一名NBA球员在遭受灾难性的伤病后能否继续前进的最重要因素——显然，科比在这方面是佼佼者。
“If anybody can come back， Kobe can，”Wilkins says. “And I’ll tell you why I say that： He’s one of the most competitive guys that I’ve ever met. He’s one of those guys that competes on a level like Jordan， Bird and Magic. He has that type of tenacity， that type of attitude， where he’s not going to let anybody tell him what he can’t do. It all depends on the person， how determined and how dedicated you are on working and training to get it back the way it was.
“如果有人能重回赛场，科比肯定也可以。”威尔金斯表示，“我会告诉你为什么我要这么说：他是我见过的竞争意识最强的人。他和乔丹、伯德、魔术师是一个等级的球员。他拥有那种人的顽强和态度，他不会让任何人对他说，他做不到什么。这一切都取决于个人，他的决心到底有多强，为了恢复到过去的状态，他到底愿意在训练中付出多少。”
“It’s a hard injury. It’s a time-consuming injury. But that’s how I was； I’m just a determined and competitive guy. I’m not going to let anybody tell me what I can’t do. I looked at the critics as another opponent that I had to compete with. And I’m one of those guys who loves to accept the challenge. Maybe that’s the difference.”
“这是一个非常痛苦的伤病，是一个很耗时的伤病。但我那时就是这样的：我是个意志坚定而又好胜的人。我不会让任何人对我说我不行的话。我把批评看作另一个竞争对手，而我是那种喜欢接受挑战的人。也许这就是不同。”
Said Thomas： “Devastating is the correct word. It is a devastating injury. Had I come back and played， I’m sure it would have affected my speed， jumping ability， quickness and so forth and so on. I was older， so I had lost some of that anyway.
托马斯说：“毁灭性是正确的形容词。这是毁灭性的伤病。如果我当初选择复出打球，我确定那会影响到我的速度、弹跳能力、敏捷度这些方面。我变老了，有些已经失去了。”
“But I would never bet against Kobe. Because what Kobe still has that I didn’t have at the end of my career is that hunger. When you listen to Kobe talk ... you still hear and see a hunger that， frankly， I just didn’t have at that point.”
“但我永远不会赌科比不行。因为科比有一样东西，是我在职业生涯末期没有的，那就是饥渴感。当科比说话时，你仍然能听到和看到他的饥渴感。坦白说，我那时没有。”
Wilkins is resolute in his stance even after brother Gerald was felled by the same injury at 31 and reduced to playing parts of four more seasons after missing all of the 1994-95 schedule. He remains undaunted even when informed that Bryant， who turned 35 in August， has already played more games and logged more minutes pre-injury than Wilkins did in his entire NBA career.
即便当弟弟杰拉德·威尔金斯在31岁时遭遇到同样的伤病，不仅缺席了94-95赛季的全部比赛、并且在接下来四个赛季都受到伤病影响时，多米尼克·威尔金斯的信心仍没有动摇。就算他得知今年已满35岁的科比在受伤前参加过的比赛场次和上场时间已经超过了自己职业生涯的数据，他依旧信心十足。
The additional mileage on Kobe’s legs， as covered in this accompanying story here， is staggering. But Nique was back on the floor 283 days after his tear and doesn’t sound as though he’ll be surprised if Kobe makes it back quicker. That’s even though NBA medical experts say that， while Achilles rehab practices are faster and more efficient than they were in Wilkins’ day， surgical procedures to repair such tears really haven’t changed much.
通过其他文章我们知道，科比身体经历的超于常人的磨损相当令人震惊。对于跟腱撕裂后283天才重返赛场的多米尼克来说，如果科比能更快复出的话，他并不会感到太惊讶。NBA的医疗专家表示，尽管相比威尔金斯那个年代，如今跟腱的复健过程会更快且更有效，但修补撕裂跟腱的手术本身，却没有太大的变化。
“I don’t care how advanced the medicine gets，” Wilkins said. “It depends on the person and how determined they are to be the same."
“我不关心医学到底有了多少进步。”威尔金斯表示，“这取决于个人，以及他们想恢复到过去状态的决心到底有多强。”
Wilkins， though， does acknowledge that Bryant is going to have to work through some initial fears of re-injury （“I was nervous at first”） in terms of trusting that heel again. Wilkins says he’ll also have to “develop some patience，” more than he’s ever had before， because Nique remembers needing “close to a year before you feel you can play on a level you once played.”
不过威尔金斯也承认，科比首先要克服担心再次受伤的恐惧（“起初我就非常紧张”），也就是说，要重新相信自己的脚踝。威尔金斯还说，科比得先“培养出比过去更多的耐心”，因为他还记得自己“需要大概一年时间，才能感觉到自己能用过去的那种状态打球”。
The only concern coming from Thomas， meanwhile， is likewise on the mental side. The reason he didn’t attempt a comeback from his own Achilles tear is because Isiah had already announced his retirement before suffering the injury， revealing his plans to move into the Toronto Raptors’ front office instead of trying to play on at age 33 and at a couple notches below his 1990 NBA Finals MVP peak. So he’s naturally curious to see how Kobe will cope if “this injury makes him drop down to where he’s not a superior athlete.” 与此同时，托马斯唯一担心的，同样也在精神层面。之所以当初跟腱撕裂后没有试着复出，是因为伊赛亚·托马斯在受伤前已经宣布了自己的退役决定，他没有选择在33岁高龄、而且已经不复1990年拿到总决赛MVP那时的巅峰状态下重回赛场，而是计划好加入多伦多猛龙队的管理层。所以他很自然地对科比的状态充满好奇，他想看看科比如何面对“这种使他不再是顶级运动员的伤病”。
“The game wasn’t much fun for me when I couldn’t dominate my opponent，” Thomas says. “If I was getting 14 points and like seven or eight assists， that wasn’t fun. And if I couldn’t dominate the opponent and dominate the game， I didn’t enjoy it. And I sure as hell didn’t enjoy being dominated. So it’s going to be interesting to see if Kobe can accept some nights， with this injury， not being dominant against players he normally dominates.
“当我无法再征服对手时，比赛对我来说已经没有多少乐趣了。”托马斯说道，“如果我只得14分，只有7到8个助攻，那就无聊了。如果我无法征服对手，无法统治比赛，我就不会享受比赛。而且我很肯定，被人征服的感觉很不好。所以要看科比能否接受在某些比赛里，因为这个伤病，使得他无法统治平时他可以征服的对手，这是很有意思的。”
“I don’t think he can ever be satisfied with being a 17， 18-point scorer in this league. It’s crazy to say， but unfortunately that’s how the great ones think. When they drop down from 26 to 17 or 16 [points per game]， those guys are devastated. And people look at you differently. So if he’s not dominating， he may have physically come back from the injury， but mentally can he come back from the injury？”
“我不觉得他会满足于在这个联盟成为一个场均得到17或18分的球员。这么说很疯狂，但不幸的是，这正是伟大球员的心态。当他们从场均25分下滑到场均17或16分，这些人就会倍受打击。人们对你的态度也会发生变化。所以说，如果他无法统治比赛，即便身体上他能从伤病中恢复，但从精神上来说，他会恢复吗？”
Yet when you press Thomas for a prediction， there is no hesitation.
如果你非要强迫托马斯做出预测，他还是没有任何迟疑。
“Yes，” Isiah says.
“没问题的。”伊赛亚说。
As in： Thomas， too， thinks Kobe will rebound strongly and gradually look Kobeesque again regardless of the overwhelming anecdotal and numerical evidence stacked against him.
此外，尽管历史和无数的证据都对科比极为不利，但托马斯还是认为，科比会有一个强势反弹，他也会逐渐找回科比式的状态。
“I went through that same exact crap，”Wilkins added， referring to all the doubters.“And then when I came back and saw the same critics， they said， ‘We knew you could do it.’ Yeah， sure.
“我也听过同样的废话。”威尔金斯补充道，他说的就是那些质疑，“等我复出后又看到那些质疑者时，他们说：‘我们知道你能做到的。’当然，毫无疑问。”
“It’s just amazing to me [to see Bryant at No. 25 in #NBArank] just out of respect for who he is and what he’s done. I think he can and will come back from this.
“出于对他本人和他取得成就的尊敬，（看到科比排在第25名）真让我吃惊。我想他能，他也会从这个伤病中强势回归的。”
“I don’t know if I’d put my house on anybody； I kind of like my house，” Wilkins said with a laugh. “But I would bet that he’ll come back and be Kobe. He’ll be The Mamba.”
“我不会拿自己的房子跟别人打赌，我还挺喜欢我的房子。”威尔金斯笑着说，“但我敢打赌，他会回归，他会成为那个科比。他仍会是那个曼巴。”