If you ask someone to summarize Allen Iverson in one sentence, you'll often hear some version of this in response: "Pound-for-pound, one of the greatest players in NBA history."

如果让人一句话总结阿伦-艾佛森，大多数人的回答都会说：“他是货真价实的NBA史上最伟大的球员之一。”

The 6'0″, 160-pound Georgetown product sits seventh on the NBA's points-per-game leaderboard and fourthin terms of minutes per game, trailing only Wilt¹ Chamberlain, Bill Russell and Oscar Robertson.

这位来自乔治城大学身高6英尺体重160磅的球员在NBA历史场均得分第七，场均时间第四，仅落后于威尔特-张伯伦，比尔-拉塞尔和奥斯卡-罗伯特森。

He's the lone² player in league history to average at least 20 points per game while standing³ 6'0″ or shorter, per ESPN Stats & Info.

据ESPN Stat & Info，他是历史上绝无仅有的6英尺以下，场均得分超过20分的球员。

Despite going to war against some of the greatest players the NBA has ever seen—Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal and Michael Jordan, just to name a few—the diminutive⁴ Philadelphia 76ers legend refused to back down against anyone.

尽管要和科比-布莱恩特，沙克-奥尼尔以及迈克尔-乔丹这样NBA史上最伟大的球员们同场竞技，这位小个子的76人传奇从来不向任何人低头。

What's equally true is this: Among players of all sizes, Iverson is one of the most influential⁵ in NBA history.

同时很重要的是：不管和什么体型的球员比，艾佛森是对NBA历史影响人之一。

His relentless⁶ aggressiveness inspired a generation of small, bulldog-esque guards, as Los Angeles Clippers floor general Chris Paul told Rowan Kavner of the team's website back in February: "I just loved the grit⁷ that he played with. He always played with a chip on his shoulder. I feel like I sort of do the same."

他永不休止的战斗精神激励了一代斗牛犬式的小个后卫，如洛杉矶快船的场上指挥官克里斯-保罗二月在球队官网上对Rowan Kavner所说：“我特别喜欢他带伤任然奋勇作战。我也愿意像他一样。”

Clippers head coach Doc Rivers echoed those comments to Kavner, saying, "I think he brought back the little, young, small, fast guards. Ish Smith and all these guys, I mean, there was a time where I was an average point guard size, and I'm big."

快船主教练道格-里弗斯应和保罗的话对Kavner说道：“他给了那些年轻，小个，速度惊人的后卫球员带来了希望。我是说尤其对于像伊什-史密斯这样子的—我曾经算是个常规体型的控卫，但是我比他们大只多了。”

"I think he changed the game," Philadelphia native Maalik Wayns told Clippers.com's Eric Patten in December 2013, roughly a month after Iverson officially announced his retirement⁸ from the NBA.

“我认为他改变了这项运动。”来自费城的球员马利克-韦恩斯在2013年12月，艾佛森正式宣布退役大概一个月之后对快船官网记者Eric Patten说，

"I was just a little small, and quick, so it was like; those were the guys I thought I could be like in the NBA. Iverson's just, you know, an inspiration."

“我就是一个小快灵型的球员，而（那些小个子）就是我在NBA的模板。艾佛森就是那个激励着我的人。”

Beyond his legion of undersized imitators, though, A.I. had an even larger impact off the court. Prior⁹ to his arrival in the league, hip-hop culture was largely relegated¹⁰ to the periphery¹¹.

除去小个模仿者军团，AI在场下给联盟带来了更大的的影响。在他进入联盟以前，嘻哈文化只是很边缘的存在。

Dennis Rodman bared his tattoos¹² for the world to see during the mid-1990s, but Iverson became the embodiment of hip-hop in the NBA.

在90年代丹尼斯-罗德曼给世界看他满身的纹身，但是艾佛森把嘻哈真正带进了NBA。

His stylistic choices, from baggy¹³ clothes to cornrows, forced the league to confront its relationship with urban culture directly.

他穿着打扮，从松松垮垮的服饰到地垄沟式的发型，让联盟不得不直面城市文化。

After Iverson infamously¹⁴ crossed over Michael Jordan during his rookie season, younger players in particular began to emulate¹⁵ both his on- and off-court style.

当艾佛森在菜鸟赛季那次著名的cross over过掉乔丹之后，年轻球员开始模仿他场上场下所做的一切。

His influence was so pervasive¹⁶, in fact, that then-NBA Commissioner¹⁷ David Stern instituted a mandatory¹⁸ dress code prior to the 2005-06 season, which many viewed as a direct response to A.I.

他的影响简直无处不在，以至于NBA总裁大卫-斯特恩不得不在2005-06赛季前颁布了着装令—这被被广泛认为主要就是针对AI的。

Players were banned from wearing sleeveless shirts, chains or baggy jeans while conducting official league business, all of which were staples¹⁹ of Iverson's wardrobe throughout his rise to power during the late 1990s and early 2000s.

在举办联盟官方活动时，球员们被禁止穿无袖T恤，戴大金链子或者宽松的牛仔裤—这些都是艾佛森从90年代末到00年代初走上巅峰时候的常规打扮。

At the time, then-Phoenix Suns guard Raja Bell was critical of the NBA's new policy, telling reporters, "I understand they're making it out to make us look better to corporate²⁰ and big business.

着装令颁布时，当时太阳队的后卫拉加-贝尔对记者抨击过联盟的政策：“我理解他们的政策是希望我们看起来形象更友善商业形象更好。

But we don't really sell to big business. We sell to kids and people who are into the NBA hip-hop world."

但是我们的基础不是这些赞助商，而是广大热爱NBA嘻哈王国的孩子和群众们。”

According to Yahoo Sports' Marc J. Spears, Bell wasn't the only one frustrated²¹ with the change at the time.

据雅虎体育的马克-斯皮尔斯报道，贝尔不是当时唯一对着装令不满的球员。

Golden State Warriors²² forward David West said he remembered "a lot of guys being upset with it."

金州勇士前锋大卫-韦斯特说他记得“好多哥们都不爽”。

Former Detroit Pistons²³ guard Chauncey Billups told him "It was like us versus²⁴ the league, and there was a little tag going on us on who we were and what we represented, the black players, the whole hip-hop culture."

前活塞球员昌西-比卢普斯告诉斯皮尔斯：“这就像球员和联盟的对抗，（这些服饰）是我们的标签，告诉人们我们这些黑人球员来自哪里，代表着什么样的群体，以及我们的嘻哈文化。”

Some players began referring to the new dress code as the "A.I. rule," Billups told Spears, a concept with which Iverson concurs²⁵.

有些球员称着装令为“AI规则”，比卢普斯告诉斯皮尔斯说，AI本人也同意这个观点。

"I knew the reason it changed was because of me," he told Complex's Sean Evans last year. "Anybody with (half a brain) would know that.

“我知道这些规则是为我制定的。”AI去年告诉过Complex的Sean Evans，“稍微有点脑子的人都知道这一点。

It wasn't just because I was dressing²⁶ like that, it was because everybody started doing it.

颁布着装令并不是因为我这样穿着，而是大家都开始这样穿。

Guys wanted to do it. Guys wanted to wear tattoos and dress the way they wanted to dress and wear jewelry²⁷, but they didn't know the effects of it."

这些哥们们都愿意这样穿。他们愿意去纹身去按自己喜好穿衣服戴首饰，但是大伙并不知道这些对公众的影响。”

Though Stern's dress code largely legislated²⁸ hip-hop culture out of players' off-court wardrobes, one of the stylistic trends Iverson established remains²⁹ prominent to this day.

尽管斯特恩的着装令很大程度上限制了球员们场下的着装选择，但是艾佛森带来的潮流一直延续到今天。

In 2001, he began donning a sleeve on his right arm to temporarily relieve bursitis in his elbow, according to Jay Caspian King of the New Yorker.

据《纽约客》的Jay Caspian King报道从2001年起，他开始带上护臂来缓解肘关节滑囊炎的影响。

After going off for 51 points during the sleeve's debut³⁰ and averaging nearly 35 points per game throughout the remainder of that season, Iverson made it a fixture³¹ of his game-day attire³².

但是当他戴着护臂首秀砍下51分并且在当季剩下比赛中场均近35分后，护臂成了艾佛森每场必备的标志性装备。

A decade and a half later, 65 percent of NBA players wear at least one shooting sleeve or one legging, per Zolan Kanno-Youngs of the Wall Street Journal.

据《华尔街日报》的Zolan Kanno-Youngs报道，在15年后的今天，65%的NBA球员至少佩戴一个护臂或护腿。

"I've always said Allen Iverson had the biggest effect on the culture of the NBA out of any player," Paul told Kavner.

“我一直说阿伦-艾佛森给NBA带来的文化改变比任何人都大，”保罗告诉Kavner，

"He started a culture. He started the arm sleeve, the tattoos, all that stuff.

“他创造了一种文化，他带来了护臂，纹身还有其他的标志。

He's the biggest influence in the NBA out of anybody. I wanted braids because A.I. had them."

他对NBA的影响超过了所有人。我也想留小辫子头因为AI留着。”

Whereas Major League Baseball is currently confronting a culture clash between old-school and new-school players over how much individuality and personality they should demonstrate on the field, Iverson paved the way for this generation's of NBA stars to represent themselves however they see fit.

正如职棒大联盟（MLB）现在面临的新老两派球员之间关于在球场上展示球员个性的争论，艾佛森为这一伐的NBA球员充分展示自我铺平了道路。

Russell Westbrook, Dwyane Wade³³ and James Harden rock wardrobes that would put Craig Sager³⁴ to shame.

拉塞尔-威斯布鲁克，德韦恩-韦德还有詹姆斯-哈登的衣柜足以让克莱格-赛格汗颜。

Damian Lillard turns into "Dame³⁵ D.O.L.L.A." when he's not dropping fourth-quarter daggers³⁶ and breaking hearts left and right.

达米安-利拉德在他不用在第四节左突右冲冷血杀人的时候，会化身成为说唱歌手“Dame D.O.L.L.A.”。

None of that is possible without Iverson.

没有艾佛森，这一切都不可能出现。

"I felt proud that I started something, and people can open up and be themselves," Iverson told Nick DePaula of The Vertical³⁷ earlier this year.

“我很自豪自己开创了一些风格，然后人们可以更开放地展示自我，”艾佛森在今年早些时候告诉The Vertical的Nick DePaula，

"That's what sports is. Everybody can't be the same. That's why fans love certain people and different guys in sports. They have their own originality³⁸.

“这是体育的意义。每个人都彼此不同。这就是为什么粉丝们会喜欢不一样的球星。人们都来自不同的背景。

If everybody was the same, you would like every player and everything. Wouldn't no player stand out.

如果人人都一样，那个大家会喜欢每一个球员所有的东西。这样也就不会有任何出跳的球星了。

It was bittersweet, and I'm happy I took the beating for it."

这种事情苦乐参半，但是我很开心自己起头做了这事情。”

In a 2013 article for The Atlantic, Bryan Armen Graham described Iverson as a "vital counter-cultural icon³⁹ of the '90s and '00s—a folk antihero for the millennial⁴⁰ set whose impact on society is still being felt, both consciously and otherwise, more than a decade and a half after he first penetrated⁴¹ the mainstream⁴²."

在《大西洋月刊》2013年的一篇文章里，Bryan Armen Graham把艾佛森描述成为一个“90和00年代重要的反文化偶像—一个千禧年左右的民间反英雄，在他开始渗透进主流文化的15年至今，社会影响至今仍然深远。”

Nonconformity became a defining characteristic of his career. Just as he refused to back down against bigger and stronger players on the court, he stayed true to his identity and his upbringing off the court.

永不妥协成为他职业生涯的写照—正如他拒绝向球场上的任何对手低头，他在场下也一样保持着他的骄傲。

Iverson earned his soon-to-be spot in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame by being one of the most dominant⁴³ scorers in the game's history despite his diminutive stature⁴⁴, but his off-court impact shouldn't be discounted either.

艾佛森作为一个小个却是统治级的得分手即将步入奈史密斯篮球名人堂，但是他在场下的贡献也是不可磨灭的。

Without A.I. being A.I., the league would likely be far more homogeneous.

如果没有AI坚持自我，联盟可能更加一团和气，寡淡无味。

Instead, thanks in large part to Iverson, distinctive⁴⁵ personalities⁴⁶ reign⁴⁷ supreme⁴⁸, helping⁴⁹ make the NBA into the social media phenomenon⁵⁰ it is today.

相反，正是艾佛森的存在，鲜明的个性变得如此至高无上，也使得NBA成为今天这样的社交媒体现象。