Melo responded immediately to the apparent insult, and he found a chorus of players and media voices in support, including some at ESPN. The loud consensus¹ was that the ranking was ridiculous and indicated an embarrassing lack of basketball knowledge among the panel.

对于这样明目张胆的侮辱，甜瓜即刻予以回应，他找到媒体和球员集体为他声援，其中不乏ESPN的评论员。舆论普遍认为这个排名简直是不可理喻，排行榜所表现出的对篮球专业领域的无知着实令人尴尬。

Within months, however, the thunderstorm of criticism was directly over Melo himself — Stephen A. Smith said during the playoffs, "I cannot believe what I am seeing. He looks bad. He looks bad. He looks incapable² of doing much. ... Carmelo Anthony looks done."

可惜好景不长，几个月后，针对甜瓜的批评如疾风骤雨一般。季后赛期间，斯蒂芬A 斯密斯说到:“我简直无法相信我的眼睛。他看起来很糟糕。他无法胜任现在的位置……卡梅隆 安东尼似乎彻底完了。”

How this happened is what makes NBA rank unique. And the results have created controversy³ when popular players like Anthony, Kobe Bryant and DeMar DeRozan are ranked lower than fans expect.

考虑到NBA排名的独特性，这种引发巨大争议的排名市场出现。当一些久负盛名的球员，如安东尼 科比和德罗赞，当他们的排名低于球迷预期时，评比结果往往会引发争议。

One primary accusation⁴ against the NBArank panel every year is that it lacks "respect." Melo himself said it best in his response:

每年针对NBA排名榜的一个主要质疑就是它缺乏对球星的尊重。甜瓜在他的回复里也明确了这一点。

NBA rank isn't a lifetime achievement award or a celebration. We have plenty of hugs and high-fives in the NBA. Rather, it is supposed to be an objective assessment⁵ — a way to transmit information about what fans should expect in the coming season.

NBA排名并非是终生成就奖这一类的奖项或者是庆典。在NBA中并不乏激情四射的场景。而NBA排名在大家看来则是一种客观评定——一种传达球迷对新赛季值得期待的看点的方式。

So we made NBA rank a prediction. That decision was inspired by social science, and particularly the finding by the The Brookings Institution that one of the most accurate ways to forecast a presidential election is to ask a diverse bunch of people to predict who they think will win. It's the wisdom of the crowd in action. It sounds simple, and it is.

所以我们认为NBA排名是只是一种预测，是一种符合社会科学的预测方式，布鲁金斯学会发现预测总统大选结果最准确的方式就是让选民自己来预测谁会胜选，这就是群众的智慧。

NBA

Kobe and NBArank added up to a contentious⁶ topic even before his devastating⁷ Achilles tendon injury of April 2013. Although he had always landed in the top 10, Bryant had scoffed⁸ openly at his ranking, particularly after being ranked No. 7 in 2011. And his supporters — fans and many media members — generally had his back.

科比在2013年4月前遭遇跟腱重伤前，他的NBA排名一直是引人争议的话题。尽管一直排名位列联盟前10，但科比曾公开吐槽他的排名，特别是11年排名第七时。而他的支持者们——球迷和媒体们——总是力挺他。

Before the 2013 poll, we made an important change: NBArank became a prediction, rather than just a rating. As mentioned, this was to eliminate "respect" from the equation and to focus on what the player could provide in the coming season.

2013年，我们做出了改变：将NBA排名仅作为预测而非单纯的排名。正如先前提及的，该排名不再涉及尊重，只关注新赛季球员的表现。

So our panelists, despite knowing how difficult it might be for Kobe to return to health, and despite our voting system minimizing the impact of "respect," did extend Bryant a large measure of respect and put him in the top 25 — a sort of compromise between crediting his previous all-world talents and assessing his new, more limited powers.

尽管知道科比的康复是多么艰难，尽管投票系统已经尽可能降低“尊重”的影响，但我们的评测者还是很顾及到科比的江湖地位，把他排在了前25名——算是褒奖他先前举世无双的天赋和评测他复出后有限势力的折中。

Of course, that's not how Kobe and his supporters saw it — at all. The public outcry was deafening⁹, and Kobe's response was creative: He changed his Twitter avatar to read "1225," after ESPN had forecasted the Lakers to finish 12th in the Western Conference in 2013-14 and Bryant to be the 25th-best player.

当然，科比和球迷完全不这么想。球迷的呼声振聋发聩，科比的的答复也颇具新意。ESPN预测湖人13-14赛季西区排名12，科比球员排名第25后，科比更新了他的Twitter，写下“1225”。

DeMar DeRozan is a skilled scorer who has put up as many as 27.3 points per game. And because scorers and shot creators are valued so highly in the NBA, it's no surprise that DeRozan is a four-time All-Star.

德罗赞场均能砍下27.3分，是一个有着各种得分技巧的进攻万花筒，也是联盟一向器重的得分手和投篮空位创造者，所以他4度当选全明星不足为奇。

DeRozan's ranking has reflected his positive contributions, as he has finished with an average ranking of 39 from 2014 to 2018. And that's exactly where he sits this year, just like last year: No. 39.

2014年到2018年他平均排在第39位，这反映了他积极的贡献。没错，今年亦是如此，和去年一样，第39位。

DeRozan is not the only one-way player near the top of the food chain. At various times, that could describe James Harden, Kyrie Irving and many other stars. But when we pair DeRozan's lack of defense¹⁰ with his so-so offensive efficiency, and mix in his well-documented struggles in the postseason, we end up with a player who contributes less to winning than it might appear. That's something the voters take seriously.

德罗赞并非是唯一一个有机会攀至顶峰的球员。你可以这样说詹姆斯哈登，凯里欧文和其他球星也可以排名榜首。但是，当我们把德罗赞的防守漏洞和高效进攻放在一起看，再加上季后赛一直以来的举步维艰的表现，我们只看到一个对赢球贡献很有限的球员。而赢球是投票者考虑的重点。

For inspiration, he can look right down the road. In 2012, before NBArank was a prediction, we ranked Harden at No. 26, as he was a sixth man coming off a miserable¹¹ NBA Finals performance for the Oklahoma City Thunder. But shortly after our vote, Harden was traded to Houston. When the Rockets gave him the keys to the offense¹², he soared into the MVP conversation and has resided there ever since. DeRozan will have his chance to do likewise in San Antonio.

我们可以回顾一下，在2012年，那时NBA排名还不是预测性质，哈登排在第26名，因为他是最佳第六人，雷霆总决赛尽管表现欠佳，但哈登脱颖而出。随后，他被交易到火箭。火箭赋予他进攻主导权，他一飞升天，进入MVP争夺行列，自此一直也都是MVP的有力竞争者。德罗赞在那次之后也将遇到类似的机遇。

NBArank is intended to inform, not confirm, the public consensus. It's not about popularity or parroting conventional wisdom. It's about each player's contributions to winning, whether he has great teammates or not. It's about looking ahead with the question: Which player will be better in 2018-19?

NBA排名只是表现而非确认公众的共识，无关乎声望或者是回顾历史，只关乎每个球员对于胜利的贡献度，以及他是否有伟大的队友。今年的排名也带着一个前瞻性问题：谁将在18—19赛季更加出色？