Just as Page, who had always loved hoops as much as music (even if he’d never worked in the sport), started to get anxious about what magazine he might launch next, a friend of his from the music business, Alan Grunblatt, suggested he start, effectively, “a hip-hop basketball magazine.” 

Sports media would never be the same.

Professional athletes have been “cool” for almost as long as sports have existed as a vocation. Page’s first favorite players were guys he saw in person growing up in Trenton, NJ—local legend Tal Brody, and New York City’s Lew Alcindor, whose Power Memorial team had visited Page’s hometown to take on Trenton Catholic. As Page’s hoops exposure grew with sports media’s gradual growth, he fell in love with players like Earl “The Pearl” Monroe and Julius “Dr. J” Erving. Then there was Isiah Thomas. And by the early 90s, of course, there was Michael Jordan. But the way these superheroes were covered by the press stayed pretty static. Newspapers focused on games and stats. TV focused on broadcasting games. Street & Smith’s magazine took the time to care about spotlighting young players and Sport and Sports Illustrated raised the level of writing in the field, and Page devoured all of them. There wasn’t much flavor, though.

As Page writes in the intro to the recently released book, 30 Years of SLAM: The Definition of Basketball Culture, “The idea crystallized as a basketball-only magazine from a hip-hop point of view. I could see it in my head clear as day; the design would look like those Nike/Mars Blackmon/Michael Jordan print ads, the photography would be as good as VIBE, and the writing would be irreverent like Rolling Stone.”

There were some hiccups over the early years—Michael Jordan retired just as Issue 1 was being planned, Reggie Miller didn’t appreciate some of the jokes made at his expense, some long-time NBA execs and old-school reporters did not enjoy SLAM’s tone—but more or less, Page’s vision played out beautifully. SLAM’s covers showed the players like the “rock stars” they were. SLAM introduced fashion shoots to sports magazines and has covered the look of basketball players in some manner ever since (most famously in the 2020s with its must-follow Instagram account, @leaguefits). SLAM introduced a KICKS section about sneakers that for many years was the first place players and fans would turn when they opened an issue. The KICKS section begat a KICKS Magazine that has come out annually since 1998 and in many ways set the tone for the now-countless numbers of sneaker mags, blogs, and social media accounts (including @slamkicks, natch) that have popped up since.

The mag’s almost non-stop ascension as a business lasted from launch in 1994 to early 2004, when the 10th anniversary issue dropped at a whopping, lucrative and Vogue-like 260(!!) pages, stuffed with ads from every sneaker brand and hip-hop label you could think of and it was the best-selling sports magazine on American newsstands.

Then the internet took over. SLAM—and in particular, Harris Publications, the old-school family publisher that operated it—was pretty slow to figure out how to monetize online. Issues shrank in terms of revenue and page count. There were some terribly hard times from a business perspective, but the staff—Page always had a gift for hiring and empowering talented folks who were on the rise in the profession, the best of whom had a gift for hiring and empowering an even newer generation of on-the-rise future stars—never stopped caring about the sport, the lifestyle, or the “#slamfam” that stayed loyal through it all. 

While SLAM had been slow to convert to the world wide web, it was lightning-quick as social media became the new place to reach fans, surpassing one million followers on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook very quickly on each of those platforms without ever spending a dime to “buy” or “boost” its reach. SLAM was, and is, an organic media outlet fueled by the love of the game.

In the most-recent stage of SLAM’s life, from about 2017, when SLAM was acquired by JDS Sports and Page became an actual part owner of the magazine he’d started, to today, you’ll occasionally “hear” Page say—either literally, in his classic South Jersey accent, or virtually, via an Instagram post or comment—“this shit ain’t easy.” 

It wasn’t. And isn’t. But with Page’s dedication to the game and the brand, and the many great folks who learned from him matching that devotion, SLAM has made it to 30 years and transformed the sport every step of the way.

Reprinted from the Basketball Hall of Fame Enshrinement 2024 Yearbook courtesy of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Ben Osborne is a longtime sports writer and editor who served as SLAM’s Editor-in-Chief from 2007-2016.

The post How Dennis Page Founded SLAM and Transformed Sports Media appeared first on SLAM.

RTG Features have partnered with Heartland Film to launch the first annual event, which will take place February 16-18, 2024 at Living Room Theaters in Indianapolis. There will be a mix of world premiere titles, recent festival circuit favorites and iconic films.

In addition to screenings and post-screening Q&As, the festival will also feature panel conversations with filmmakers, player-owned production companies, and network executives in the sports film and documentary space. ESPN Films, celebrating the 15th anniversary of their award-winning 30 for 30 series this year, joins the festival as a Supporting Sponsor and will host a must-see conversation looking back at the basketball documentaries they’ve produced.

Check out the full lineup below.

Above the Rim

In New York City, where thousands of teenagers compete for very few chances to play professional basketball—and the fame and money that come with it—one talented young man must choose between a scholarship to college and immediate wealth in this drama set on the blacktop courts of Harlem.

Winning Time: Reggie Miller vs. The New York Knicks

Reggie Miller single-handedly crushed the hearts of Knick fans multiple times. But it was the 1995 Eastern Conference Semifinals that solidified Miller as Public Enemy #1 in New York City.

Hoop Dreams

Two ordinary inner-city Chicago kids dare to reach for the impossible—professional basketball glory—in this epic chronicle of hope and faith. Filmed over a five-year period, Hoop Dreams follows young Arthur Agee and William Gates and their families as the boys navigate the complex, competitive world of scholastic athletics, while dealing with the intense pressures of their home lives and neighborhoods.

Director Steve James and film subjects Arthur Agee and William Gates join us for a special post-screening panel and Q&A.

Amongst the Trees

Amongst the Trees follows an upstart men’s basketball program at Copper Mountain College—a tiny community college in the middle of the Mojave Desert in Joshua Tree, California—during the final week of their season. In just its second year of the team’s existence, the film drops viewers directly into the action as the Fighting Cacti make one last push for the playoffs.

Executive Producer Paul George and director/producer Jack Jensen join us for a special post-screening panel and Q&A.

Gunnin’ For That #1 Spot

In 2006, the top 24 high school basketball players in the nation descended on Harlem’s Rucker Park to compete in the first annual Elite 24. Gunnin’ For That #1 Spot follows eight of those players as they showcase their skills at the most legendary playground in the world.

The Syd & TP Show

World Champions and bench warming besties Sydney Colson and Theresa Plaisance are determined to become the faces of the WNBA, despite the fact no one asked them to. This buddy comedy series follows Syd and TP on their quest to become the most famous basketball players on earth through a mix of stunts, interviews, hijinks and a complete lack of shame.

This 90-min event will feature Syd and TP doing a standup routine, screening the pilot episode and a reel of the funniest sketches from their series, and a panel conversation and Q&A. This event will also be filmed for Season 2 of “The Syd + TP Show” so dress to impress! By purchasing a ticket and/or being present at the event you are consenting to be filmed for “The Syd + TP Show.”

Perfect in ’76

Revisit the journey of the 1976 Indiana Hoosiers and their renowned coach Bobby Knight who led the team to a perfect season of 32-0 and a national championship.

Stephen Curry: Underrated

Stephen Curry’s former Davidson teammate, Jason Richards, joins us for a special post-screening panel and Q&A.

Candace Parker: Unapologetic

A wide-ranging, revealing, and often intimate portrait of WNBA player Candace Parker, one of the most transcendent women’s sports stars in history.

Candace Parker joins us for a special post-screening panel and Q&A.

D. Wade: Life Unexpected

For a decade, Dwyane Wade intimately documented his life and career with a film crew. The result is a remarkably candid portrait of one of the greatest NBA players of all time.

Blue Chips

Championship-winning coach Pete Bell runs the cleanest program in college basketball. But when he finds himself on the brink of his first losing season, Bell decides he must make a risky trade to protect his job: under-the-table dollars for talent.

Shattered Glass: A WNBPA Story

This trailblazing documentary is an exhilarating journey into the heart of professional women’s basketball, spotlighting the extraordinary lives, resilience, and triumphant achievements of WNBA MVPs Breanna Stewart, Jonquel Jones, Nneka Ogwumike, and Sheryl Swoopes.

Director/producer Andrea Buccilla and WNBPA Executive Director Terri Carmichael Jackson join us for a special post-screening panel and Q&A.

Handle With Care: The Legend of The Notic Streetball Crew

Handle With Care: The Legend of The Notic Streetball Crew chronicles the rise, fall and rebirth of The Notic, an upstart streetball collective from Canada in the early 2000s. While their creative basketball moves brought them global fame as teenagers, it set them at odds with the status quo in a battle involving self-expression, race and rejection. Driven by a twenty-year quest to finish their mixtape trilogy, the documentary charts how the group of friends from Vancouver played outside the confines of the NBA yet still left an indelible imprint on the game forever.

Directors Jeremy Schaulin-Rioux and Kirk Thomas join us for a special post-screening panel and Q&A.

Chang Can Dunk

Chang Can Dunk follows Chang, a 16-year-old, Asian American high school student in the marching band, who bets the school basketball star that he can dunk by Homecoming.

Writer/director Jingyi Shao and members of the cast join us for a special post-screening panel and Q&A.

Game Change Game

Game Change Game tells the story of a tumultuous basketball season plagued by once unimaginable circumstances.

The post The SLAM Film Festival is the FIRST-EVER Basketball-Focused Event: Buy Tickets, Full Lineup appeared first on SLAM.

We compiled a group of individuals (programming note: 30 entries, not 30 people total) who mean something special to SLAM and to our audience. Read the full list here and order your copy of SLAM 248, where this list was originally published, here.

The post SLAM Presents: 30 Players Who Defined SLAM’s 30 Years appeared first on SLAM.

We compiled a group of individuals (programming note: 30 entries, not 30 people total) who mean something special to SLAM and to our audience. Read the full list here and order your copy of SLAM 248, where this list was originally published, here.

Well, this is awkward. I was asked to write about Reggie Miller’s evolving relationship with SLAM, I’m assuming, because it started very poorly—and specifically because of me. And I just now realized that the 2024 NBA All-Star Game will be in Indianapolis. Given that fact, and the intervening years, I had a thought: let Reggie (the greatest-ever Pacers player) bask in his Hall of Fame-ness and enjoy the festivities without any childishness or negativity.

All these years later, it no longer hurts to give Reggie his flowers for his exemplary career, and we can now accept the fact that he is universally considered one of the greatest long-range shooters in NBA history. Over 25,000 points (including 2,560 three-pointers) in 18 seasons, two Gold medals. One of the greats.

It’s called growing up, people.

SLAM, during what I like to call “The Profanity Era” (issues 3-38), is linked to Miller more than any other player not named Iverson. But the way we treated them couldn’t be in starker contrast. Iverson could do no wrong in our eyes, while the magazine relentlessly targeted Miller. Why? Because we needed a foil. If we were looking to mix things up in the sports media world (lol), antagonizing a perennial All-Star was the most efficient way to do so. 

And Reggie was the best player on the Pacers and the Pacers routinely clobbered the Knicks, while Miller preened, pouted and flopped. He was like the annoying progeny of Mick Jagger and a professional wrestler, enjoying himself so thoroughly while riling the crowd. It was infuriating to us. 

And so we (OK, me) pounced on him and began a campaign of poking Miller with a stick. We (OK, I) said all kinds of things about him to try and get a rise from him. He never responded to me directly but, looking back, his annual teabagging of the Knicks in the playoffs was probably enough of an answer.

During his career, Reggie Miller made an enemy of every NBA fan in every city other than his own. He wore that hatred like Superman’s cape. It intrigued him, amused him, and then it fueled him. The hostility, however, was far, far worse in Madison Square Garden than in any other arena. When Miller played the Knicks, he was extra arrogant and spiteful and scornful and miserably clutch. The 25-point fourth quarter. The 8 points in nine seconds. The choke sign.

Those hijinks went on for years—way longer than our “Glen Rice’s wife” campaign or whatever other idiocy we cooked up—and culminated with SLAM publishing Miller’s high school prom photo—which he attended with his sister Cheryl, who was an unreal basketball player in her own right. That I considered it to be a “gotcha” moment shows that we were completely losing the plot.

Many issues after we’d begun our crusade, we were exhausted, frankly, and pumped the brakes. Not long after, Miller appeared on the cover of SLAM 33, sneering in victory. On the magazine’s spine we put the about-face into context, printing, “Hell Freezes Over.”

Once we crossed that rubicon, it was much easier to accept/swallow the fact that Miller was a clutch big-game player and, thanks in large part to his relationship with SLAM, the greatest and most willing villain in basketball history. It also became significantly less complicated to include his name in a conversation without relentlessly denigrating him and must have been freeing to the subsequent editorial staffs. Thankfully, grudges do not transfer well.

A few years ago, long after Reggie retired and began earning big bucks as a very capable color commentator, SLAM asked me to interview him—a first, as it turned out—in an attempt to settle our differences. We were both up for it.

Over the course of an hour, Reggie and I talked about his storied career, his relationship to SLAM and to opposing fans, and how players today would have a much harder time coping with our level of vitriol. I apologized for publishing the prom photo—a stunt that he accurately described as “crazy”—and then we talked extensively about how SLAM’s unrelenting public hatred of his persona had actually helped him. 

As it turned out, Reggie was likable, and we both blamed my dubious behavior on my misspent youth and a complete lack of journalistic training or, really, morals. As Russ Bengtson would say, “cool, cool.” 

He also credited me for burying my own hatchet and offering him the cover, which is great except for one thing: six months after the Reggie Miller cover was published, I ran away from SLAM, never to return. 

Photo by Clay Patrick Mcbride. Featured image via Getty Images.

The post THE 30 PLAYERS WHO DEFINED SLAM’S 30 YEARS: Reggie Miller appeared first on SLAM.

To celebrate the moment, we got San Antonio Spurs superfan Shea Serrano to explain what this moment means: to him, to the Spurs fanbase, to the world. It’s time. 

Victor Wembanyama covers SLAM 247. Get your copy here.

This cover story will eventually be about Victor Wembanyama, a 7-foot-4 exaggeration of a human and the most exciting and enticing new basketball prospect in two decades. First, though, it’s going to be about Ralph.

Ralph is a security guard at the building where I office out of. He and I talk, were I to guess, for an average of about 45 seconds each day, almost always in the mornings when I first arrive at work and only ever about sports. 

The way our interactions typically go is: I arrive to the building around 8 a.m. I type an entry code into a keypad at the front door. I wait half a second to hear a tiny clicking sound that lets me know that the door, large and metal and otherwise impenetrable, is momentarily unlocked. I pull the door open. I walk into the building. I look to my right. And that’s where I see Ralph, who is stationed at a desk some twenty or so feet away. I say “Ralphieeeeeeeee,” and I always stretch the final “E” out long like that in hopes that it makes me appear more charming and interesting than I actually am. He says, “What’s up, Shea” back to me, but he says it in a normal way because he doesn’t have to pretend to be charming and interesting because he actually is charming and interesting. 

I walk over to him, we touch fists, and then I comment on something sports-related, to which he responds with something sports-related. Then there’s one more conversational volley (either a follow-up to the first sports thing, or the introduction of a new sports thing that is slightly less important than the first), and then that’s it. I smile and laugh and he smiles and laughs and then I walk away, both of us knowing we very likely will not see or talk to the other person again until the next morning, at which point we will reenact the entire scene again with only slightly different dialogue. We have done this each work day for nearly three years now. It’s the best relationship I have ever had with someone who carries handcuffs.

When the Spurs won the NBA Draft Lottery this past May (and with it, the chance to draft Victor Wembanyama later that summer), I texted Ralph in celebration. We had never texted with each other before that moment (in fact, I had to text a separate person in the building to even get Ralph’s phone number) or even spoken with one another anywhere in the world other than at his desk on a weekday morning. But I felt compelled to reach out to him that evening. 

I felt compelled to expand the conditions and parameters of our relationship, even if I didn’t realize that that’s what I was doing at the time. 

Victor Wembanyama bends and reshapes everything.

Basketball things, obviously.

But other things, too, it seems. 

***

It’s always been weird to watch a human who is 7-foot-3 or taller dribble a basketball, but it’s never been weird the way Victor Wembanyama makes it weird. And what I mean is:

Picture, say, for example, Hasheem Thabeet (7-foot-3) dribbling the ball up the court. Or picture, say, for another example, Boban Marjanovic (7-foot-4) dribbling the ball up the court. Or picture, say, for a third example, Chuck Nevitt (7-foot-5) dribbling the ball up the court. Or picture, say, for a final example, Tacko Fall (7-foot-6) dribbling the ball up the court. Those are all very weird scenarios and situations and circumstances, both in abstraction and in practice. The arms, the legs, the elbows, the knees, the ball, the bouncing, the walking—it’s just all a weird combination together. With regard to traditional basketball aesthetics, nothing is where it’s supposed to be, or moving the way it’s supposed to move. Somebody that tall bringing the ball up the court is something that, if you turned on your TV and happened to see it during a game, you would say to yourself some version of, “Okay. Well, clearly something has gone wrong with this offensive possession. This couldn’t possibly have been the first option.”     

But that’s not what you say when you see Victor Wembanyama bringing the ball up the court. What you say when you see Victor Wembanyama bringing the ball up the court is some version of, “Okay. Well. Fuck. We’re all dead.”

Because it’s smooth, the way he dribbles.

And fluid.

And coordinated.

And beautiful.

And devastating.

It’s like if God was looking at a picture of a guard on someone’s iPhone in heaven, touched the screen with his pinched-together index finger and thumb, expanded the image to make it bigger, and then was like, “Boom. There you go. That’s a person now.” 

Victor Wembanyama dribbles a basketball completely normally. 

That’s why it’s weird in a way that it’s never been weird before. 

***

The San Antonio Spurs played the Miami Heat on October 13, 2023. It was the first home game of the preseason for the Spurs, and so I guess that was a little bit why it was important, but also Victor Wembanyama was playing in it, and so that’s mainly why it was important. 

And I would like to tell you about one specific play from that night. 

So:

With a little under 40 seconds to go in the second quarter, Wembanyama dribbled the ball up the court. There was no rush. And there was no urgency. There was just a very tall person dribbling a basketball calmly and confidently and normally, which, again, was entirely weird. 

His defender, a 6-foot-10 League veteran named Thomas Bryant, waited for him in a defensive position a few feet beyond the three-point line.

As Wembanyama crossed the half court line, Tre Jones (point guard for the Spurs) hustled over and angled to set a screen on Bryant. Wembanyama, spying the action, sped up slightly as Jones approached, hoping to force Bryant into making some kind of defensive mistake.

Bryant didn’t, though. He did what you’re supposed to do when a smaller player heads over to set a screen on a bigger player out on the perimeter: you get ready for the smaller player to slip the screen at the last second so as to create a new second action to potentially exploit a suddenly out of position defense. 

And that’s exactly what happened.  

Bryant’s instincts were 100 percent correct.

And it made 0 percent of a difference.

Jones slipped the screen and slid over to the right bend area of the three-point line. Wembanyama passed him the ball. And Bryant sat back in the space waiting for Jones to make a decision. And that’s when everything turned to muck for him, and for the Heat, and (potentially) (probably) for the NBA. 

Before Jones had even fully gathered the ball, Wembanyama, still out past the three-point line, pointed to the sky. The gesture, while completely ludicrous in its implication, was impossible to misinterpret. Despite (a) still being 22 or so feet from the rim, and despite (b) having a defender to his immediate left, and despite (c) Bryant still being directly involved in the play, and despite (d) the other three Miami Heat defenders also being in the general area, Wembanyama wanted Jones to throw him an alley-oop.

Jones, suddenly an audience member on stage with a magician during the reveal of a big trick, decided he wanted to see what would happen if he did what Wembanyama was asking him to do, and so he did what Wembanyama was asking him to do. 

Right as the ball touched his hands, Jones tossed it up into the air. 

Victor dove into the paint, planted both shoes nine feet before the rim, jumped as four of the five Heat defenders converged in the area, snatched the ball out of the atmosphere with both hands, cocked it back, then thunderdunked it before anyone else could even jump. 

The arena, rightly, erupted.

The internet, rightly, erupted.

Reggie Miller, who was one of the commentators calling the game that night, rightly, erupted.

“LOOK AT THIS!” he shouted, his voice fat with astonishment.

Or: “LOOK AT THIS!” he shouted, his voice fat with surprise.

Or: “LOOK AT THIS!” he shouted, his voice fat with glee. 

Or: “LOOK AT THIS!” he shouted, because that’s the only thing you can shout when you’re in the middle of watching something as ridiculous as a 7-foot-4 Frenchman fly into the paint against a completely set defense, jump from several feet outside of the restricted circle, and then dunk an alley-oop that he called for from out past the three-point line.

It was such a wild play. 

And an unbelievable play. 

And a preposterous play.

It was also, at best, only the fourth most impressive thing Victor Wembanyama would end up doing that night. 

***

The San Antonio Spurs played the Golden State Warriors on October 20, 2023. It was the final game of the preseason for the Spurs, and so I guess that was a little bit why it was important, but also Victor Wembanyama was playing in it, and so that’s mainly why it was important. 

During the game, Victor Wembanyama: (1) caught a pass out past the three-point line, crossed over his defender off the dribble, pump faked a jumper, then pulled up for real as his defender floated harmlessly past him; (2) grabbed a defensive rebound, brought the ball up court, initiated the offense, then hit an and-one circus shot from behind the backboard while being pushed out of bounds (he also hit the accompanying free throw); (3) closed out from 10 feet away to block a Klay Thompson three-pointer and then sprinted down court to receive and dunk the post-block outlet pass (my favorite part of this play is that he caught the pass, hit the brakes, waited for a trailing Klay Thompson to zoom by, then waited an extra second so that a second defender could catch up and get dunked on); and (4) defended a smaller player on the perimeter, forced him into the paint, blocked his shot, ran down court as a Jeremy Sochan gathered the errant ball, caught a pass from Sochan, then pulled up for 3, splashing it in.  

It was four great plays that would look great on anybody’s full-game highlight reel.

Victor Wembanyama did them all over just a 90-second stretch in the middle of the first quarter. 

***

There is no precedent for Victor Wembanyama. 

There’s no single player you can reach backwards in time for and attach him to, like how when LeBron James showed up and people were like, “He’s the next Michael Jordan,” or how when Clarence Weatherspoon showed up and people were like, “He’s the next Charles Barkley,” or how when any white player shows up and people are like, “He’s like that other white player.”

There is no precedent for Victor Wembanyama. 

There are only amalgamations.

“He’s like if you mixed Hakeem Olajuwon and Kevin Durant.” 

“He’s like if you mixed Kareem Abdul Jabbar with Tracy McGrady.”

“He’s like if you mixed a fighter jet and a jaguar.”

That’s the kind of shit you have to say when you talk about him.

I have no idea how Victor Wembanyama’s career is going to play out. 

I suspect there will be championship rings and MVP trophies and various other accolades. 

But that’s just a guess. 

What I do know, though, is that right now, right at this particular moment, it kind of doesn’t matter. 

What matters is what he’s already given us, which is to say: 

Joy. 

And excitement. 

Excitement for now and excitement for the future.

Excitement in imagining what might be; what he might do; what he might mean for basketball; what he might mean for everything.

Victor Wembanyama is here. 

SLAM 247 Cover Tees featuring Wemby are available now.

Photos via Getty Images.

The post He’s Here: What the Arrival of Victor Wembanyama Means to the World appeared first on SLAM.

And yes, they’re ranked.  

No. 1

Last week messed around and got a triple double/Freakin’ brothers every way like MJ/I can’t believe, today was a good day

— “It Was a Good Day,” Ice Cube

When Cube performs the song now, he switches MJ to Kobe, but this still remains a classic line that everyone knows no matter what age, race or nationality. Who doesn’t love a good day?

No. 2

Real sick, brawl nights, I perform like Mike/Anyone—Tyson, Jordan, Jackson/Action, pack guns, ridiculous

— “Victory,” The Notorious B.I.G.

No. 3

Simple and plain, give me the lane/I’ll throw it down your throat like Barkley

— “Rebel Without a Pause,” Public Enemy

Chuck D shouts out one of his favorite 1990’s NBA players on one of the hardest songs of that era.

No. 4

Just like I’m the king on the microphone, so is Dr. J and Moses Malone

— “Basketball,” Kurtis Blow

No list of this kind would be complete without the inclusion of the OG hoop hip-hop song.

No. 5

It’s Hovi baby you Kobe, maybe Tracy McGrady/Matter fact, you a Harold Miner, JR Rider, washed up on marijuana/Even worse you a Pervis Ellis, you worthless fella

— “Pump It Up (remix),” Jay-Z

Jay washed Joe Budden on his own beat with a couple bars that only true hoop heads will understand.

No. 6

Top baller in every state/In Chi I’m Mike/Boston I’m Kenny/In Miami I’m Timmy and Phoenix I’m Penny

— “What Means the World to You,” Cam’Ron

No. 7

Two shooters by the door and they grippin’ the thirty/That’s why they both got fifty pointers like Mitchell and Murray

— “Nothin Less,” Conway the Machine

No. 8

I used to be jealous of Arron Afflalo/He was the one to follow/He was the only leader foreseeing a brighter tomorrow

— “Black Boy Fly,” Kendrick Lamar

This bar is just the tip of the iceberg for Kendrick, speaking about his friend turned NBA player from Compton. The song shows a level of vulnerability that is not often seen in hip-hop.

No. 9

I got a chopper and a trimmer/Shooting like Jimmer

— “Sure Thing,” Lil Wayne

No. 10

Hip-hop scholars since being knee-high to a duck/The height of Muggsy Bogues, complexion of a hockey puck

— “Steve Biko (Stir it Up),” A Tribe Called Quest (Phife Dawg)

No. 11

Hold up, I ain’t trying to stunt, man/But these Yeezys jumped over the Jumpman/Went from most hated to the champion God flow/I guess that’s a feeling only me and LeBron know

— “New God Flow,” Kanye West

The epitome of talking yo sh$% and backing it up. It was a good run while it lasted.

No. 12

New York is the town and the team is the Knicks

— “One Two Sh**,” A Tribe Called Quest

Phife may be the hip-hop king of sports-related bars. RIP to the 5-foot assassin. 

No. 13

Real G’s move in silence like Giannis

— “Giannis,” Freddie Gibbs

No. 14

If I ain’t in Japan, I’m in the Valley (Valley, ooh)/Or maybe next door in Gary Payton bowling alley (Ooh)

— “Hope I Don’t Go Back,” E-40

A flex isn’t truly a flex if it isn’t true. The Vallejo rapper was actually neighbors with The Glove when he dropped this single.

No. 15

Kobe ’bout to lose a hundred fifty M’s / Kobe my n***a I hate it had to be him / B**ch you wasn’t with me shooting in the gym / (B**ch you wasn’t with me shooting in the gym)

— “Stay Schemin,” Drake

No. 16

She got me back livin’ sweeter, fresh Caesar/Guess, David Robinsons, Wally moccasins

— “Street Dreams,” Nas

No. 17

I was popping blue devils, Coach K ain’t recruit me

— “No Hook,” Dave East

This isn’t just a creative drug reference. East actually played AAU ball with Kevin Durant and Michael Beasley and received a DI scholarship, so this line is actually dope and believable. 

No. 18

See I used to pay Kobe, but now I pay LeBron

— “24-23,” Young Jeezy

No. 19

My team in the cut, packing metal things/I’ve got more foreign shooters than the Sacramento Kings

— “Follow Me Gangster,” Lloyd Banks

In 2003, when Banks dropped this song, Peja Stojakovic was the only foreign shooter on the Kings squad. But it’s still a super slick line.

No. 20

Kobe doin’ work / 2-4 on my shirt / He the greatest on the court / And I’m the greatest on the verse / Going for the fourth ring like it was his first / Gotta get the bling

— “Kobe Bryant,” Lil Wayne

As a huge sports fan, it’s only right that Wayne dedicated an entire song full of clever bars to Bean. 

No. 21

Country n**** never seen a passport/‘Til I popped off and got a bag for it/Now I’m at the Garden sittin’ half court/Watchin Jr. catch it off the backboard

— “Amari,” J.Cole

Dreamville boss Cole shouts out his fellow Fayettteville, NC, native Dennis Smith Jr. 

No. 22

Imma make you see L.A. like Ed O’Bannon

— “Sonset,” Ras Kass

No. 23

But I’m limitless mentally, I’m lyrically ZMT/LeBron shit, I was in that 6 after 23

— “Ambition,” Wale

No. 24

See the shots that I took (ayy), wet like I’m Book (ayy)/Wet like I’m Lizzie

— “SICKO MODE,” Drake

No. 25

I crossover like Steph Curry, crossover like CP/But I will not crossover so n***** can buy the CD

— “Just Another Day,” The Game

No. 26

Now who’s the first pick? Me. Word is born’in/Not a Christian Laettner not Alonzo Mourning

— “Can We Rock (What’s Up Doc),” Shaquille O’Neal aka Shaq-Fu

The beginning of Shaq’s career as a rapper started with this feature on a Fu-Schnickens song. Compared to later disses of fellow players, Zo and Laettner got off easy with this kinder and gentler version of Shaq.

No. 27

27. I’m Killa, you Andre Miller, got a basic game/I told your b**ch to hurry up, we don’t wait for trains

— “Cookin Up,” Cam’Ron

No. 28

And my shot kinda rusty but the fade clean/And me and Steph Curry on the same team

— “Cruising,” Lecrae 

No. 29

I’m Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf/I don’t pledge allegiance I raise the roof

— “Life Gets Brutal,” Heems

No. 30

I was raised to live, Lord I pray you forgive/If not, I just handle it like Jason Kidd

— “You’re Only a Customer,” Jay-Z

No. 31

Life is a journey before I went the rap route/I served ni**** off the bench like Stackhouse

— “Journey,” Cormega

No. 32

I’m slamming n***** like Shaquille, s**t is real /When it’s time to eat a meal, I rob and steal

— “Gimme The Loot,” Notorious B.I.G.

No. 33

From the past to the present, shouting out to the greats/Still love Phi Slama Jama, repping U of H

— “Houston Is,” K-Rino

IYKYK, Rino is a rap legend in the state of Texas. His reminiscent bars shouting out the early 80’s college squad that included Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler show genuine love to his city.

No. 34

And on top it’s lonely so keep your homies right by your side/And if life is short then we’ll be the shorts of the Fab Five

— “The Intro About Nothing,” Wale

No. 35

We back to back, back to back like the Comets

— “Getchya Hands Up,” ESG

Not only is this track a bonafide Texas classic, it is also one of the very few times that a WNBA team has gotten a shout out on a dope record. That’s the kind of love a four-peat championship team should receive!

No. 36

Like Kareem I got the hook up

— “Sum Sh** I Wrote,” Common

No. 37

Motor city technically Rasheed Wallace /Then moved to Chicago for dollars like Ben Wallace

— “Jingling,” Cool Kids 

No. 38

I’m from a place where junkheads and zombies dwell/And n***** keep the heat blazin’ like Bonzi Wells

— “Biscuits,” Trife 

No. 39

Courtside seats, this the big bag/Hit a Ja Morant shot, get ’em big mad

— “Big League,” Yo Gotti

No. 40

With my hair slicked back, I look like Rick Pitino

— “Nana,” Action Bronson

The fact that Bronson has very little hair on his head and bears little to no resemblance to the legendary coach makes this line equally ridiculous and dope. 

No. 41

Big ass shotgun look like Lauri Markkkanen

— “Bloxk Party,” Sada Baby

Well before he had a career year with the Jazz, Detroit rapper Sada Baby shouted out the All-Star forward on his 2018 underground hit.

No. 42

I got a crime record longer than Manute Bol

— “M.V.P.,” Big L

No. 43

Kevin Garnett earrings look like Fiji water

— “Stealing,” Gucci Mane 

No. 44

I got game, but not the hoop court/And plus, basketball’s never really been my sport/I probably woulda made it to the NFL/But I had grams for 50 in my possession to sell

— “Know What I’m Talkin Bout,” Keak Da Sneak 

No. 45

B**ch you ugly like yo daddy Reggie Miller

— “I’m Good,” YG

No. 46

Guaranteed, make ’em jump like Rod Strickland

— “Triumph,” Raekwon

No. 47

Either that or quit it, throw in the chair like you Bobby Knight

— “NBA,” Joe Budden

No. 48

Even if you have braids like Latrell/I got more numbers in my system than Pacific Bell/Pass the basketball around and go tell/Smoother than Rick Fox puttin’ on his hair gel

— “NBA,” Kool Keith

No. 49

I get my hair cut correct like Anthony Mason/Then I ride the IRT right up to Penn Station

— “B-Boys Makin with the Freak Freak,” Beastie Boys

Not the most technical bars, but anything that shows love to A. Mase is all love.

No. 50

We ballin’ like the March Madness

— “March Madness,” Future

Although he isn’t an elite lyricist, it’s hard to front on a song that’s this good and that name checks the biggest college hoops tourney in the world.

Photos via Getty Images, Portrait by Atiba Jefferson.

The post 50th Anniversary of Hip-Hop: These are the Most Iconic Basketball References of All-Time appeared first on SLAM.

Important reminder: there was women’s basketball before the WNBA, and there were players who helped elevate the game the whole time. The W has helped take the sport to a whole new level, and for that we are all thankful—and excited to see what’s next. But women were hooping way before David Stern and his gang got involved.

As the authors Pamela Grundy and Susan Shackelford detail in their 2005 book, Shattering the Glass: The Remarkable History of Women’s Basketball, women have been playing the sport since 1892. If we at WSLAM are allowed to use this platform to encourage further research on this topic, we’ve got it for you. Read the aforementioned book, and visit the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in Knoxville, TN. Completing these “assignments” will give you a sense of just how wide this sport’s reach has been and just how many memorable players have influenced
the game’s history. 

For the time being though, we really wanted to concentrate on five players from the pre-W era who we feel every fan of women’s basketball must know about. Some of the players we considered—that we can perhaps cover in the future or that you can simply look up—include Molly Bolin, Joan Crawford, Denise Curry, Anne Donovan, Hortencia Marcari, Pearl Moore, Uljana Semjonova, Theresa Shank-Grentz and Ora Washington. There were also folks who, whether you think of them as pre-W or not, did play in the W era, such as Nancy Lieberman, Katrina McClain and Lynette Woodard.

In the meantime, consider this a Cliffs Notes of sorts. This is an all-WSLAM, pre-WNBA team that would have lost exactly zero games and consists of players that we promise would have been in editions of SLAM/WSLAM had we existed back then.

All fans of the sport should know every single person listed, all members of the inaugural class of inductees into the aforementioned Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 1999. Class is in session.

Cheryl Miller: The GOAT

It is not sacrilege to say that women’s basketball was not a big part of the zeitgeist when many old-school SLAM staffers—or the mag itself—were growing up. But Cheryl Miller? She seemed to float above the sexism and noise to just be known as a baller. A 6-2 small forward who could score from anywhere on the floor, Miller was a four-time Parade All-American during an outrageous high school career in Riverside, CA, that once saw her put up 105 points in a game her senior year. Miller basically repeated her high school exploits at the college level, staying close to home to star at USC where she again received All-American honors all four years. She led the Trojans to national championships in ’83 and ’84 and posted career numbers that border on the absurd.

Over a four-year, 128-game college career, Miller averaged 23.6 points, 12 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 3.6 steals and 2.5 blocks per game. There was nothing she couldn’t do on the court, and she did it all with a flair and grace that transcended the sport. In the summer of ’84, Miller was the star of the US Olympic team that won Gold right at home in L.A. She hurt her knee soon after college, or else she surely would have made it as a pro with some combination of men’s teams, overseas women’s outfits or hanging on til ’97 and playing the first few years of the W like some of her contemporaries. And yes—her brother is Hall of Famer Reggie Miller, an all-time great in his own right. But don’t get it twisted—Cheryl was the far better player.

Carol Blazejowski The Blaze

A 5-10 shooter with the perfect nickname for a quick scorer, Blazejowski was a late-blooming baller from New Jersey who didn’t get serious about the game until she was a senior at Cranford High School. The Blaze moved just up the Parkway for college, becoming a three-time All-American at Montclair State from 1976-78. Playing before there was a three-point line, Blazejowski nonetheless scored a nation’s best 33.5 ppg in ’76-77 (including a Madison Square Garden-record 52 points in a March win over Queens College) and 38.6 ppg in ’77-78 (including topping 40 in her last three collegiate contests.)

Her hoop options after college were AAU and international play, and she excelled at the latter, winning gold at the ’79 World University Games and FIBA World Championships, where she led Team USA in scoring. She would have been a star on the ’80 Olympic team, but the US boycotted that summer’s Games in Moscow. Blazejowski signed a reported three-year, $150,000 deal with the New Jersey Gems of the short-lived WBL but the league did not last. Fittingly for a woman who set MSG on fire with her performance as a college player, Blaze returned to the Garden as vice president and general manager of the Liberty in ’97 and worked for the W’s flagship franchise through 2010.

Lusia Harris-Stewart: The Queen

A product of the deep South, Harris was one of 11 children born to the sharecropper Willie Harris. All of them hooped, but the 6-3 Lusia had a special gift. A classic big who piled up points and rebounds, Harris attended (barely) integrated Delta State University where she played for legendary coach Margaret Wade (whose name is on the annual Wade Trophy, awarded to the best women’s college player). Harris helped make Delta State the preeminent power of the AIAW, which was the biggest platform for women’s college sports in the ’70s. The only Black player on her team, Harris led Delta State to AIAW championships in ’75, ’76 and ’77 and finished her college career with per-game averages of 25.9 points and 14.4 rebounds. She was also the leading scorer for Team USA at the 1976 Olympics.

Harris achieved notoriety when the NBA’s New Orleans Jazz chose her in the seventh round of the Draft, but she declined the chance to try out for them and was largely out of the sport’s spotlight after that, living a quiet life as a married mother in Mississippi. Lusia’s story got a well-deserved injection of attention with the release of the 2021 documentary, The Queen of Basketball. Directed by Ben Proudfoot with Stephen Curry and Shaquille O’Neal listed as executive producers, the film won the 2022 Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject) just months after Harris-Stewart passed away at the age of 66. Needless to say, the film is a must-watch for readers of this issue.   

Ann Meyers Drysdale: The Athlete

Born into a sports-loving family in Southern California, the 5-9 Meyers’ high school career(s) alone is the stuff of legend: she lettered in seven different sports and won 13 (!) different MVP awards. Meyers then attended UCLA from 1974-78, where she became the first woman to ever receive a four-year athletic scholarship. UCLA more than got its money’s worth from the deal as Meyers was a star the whole time she was in Westwood. She was a four-time All-American and concluded her college career by leading the Bruins to the ’78 AIAW championship. Meyers also hit the podium for Team USA repeatedly in the late-’70s. After college she became the first-ever pick in the WBL and was co-MVP of the fledgling league in ’79-80. Shortly thereafter, she signed a contract with the NBA’s Indiana Pacers and had a legit tryout with them.

When her playing career ended, she pivoted into a ground-breaking, lengthy and extremely successful career as a broadcaster for the likes of the Pacers, Phoenix Suns, WNBA and the Olympics. As for the Drysdale part of her last name? That came when she married former Los Angeles Dodger pitching great Don Drysdale in ’86. When Meyers was voted into the Hoop Hall in ’93, they became the first married couple ever with both parties in their respective Hall of Fames.

Nera White: The Pioneer

Pre-WNBA can still feel like near-modern history when the players in question can still be seen on TV broadcasts and around the sport. But the women’s game has people who built it even before hooping in college was a realistic option. The greatest of the game’s true building blocks from the playing side of things has got to be Nera White. A native of Tennessee who played primarily for Nashville Business College’s AAU team, the 6-1 White was an AAU All-American 15 years in a row (1955-69) and won the AAU Tournament’s MVP award 10 times. As the Basketball Hall of Fame puts it in her bio, White was “quite simply faster, quicker and stronger than most women of that generation.”

Women’s basketball was not an Olympic sport until 1976, but the FIBA women’s World Championship has been around since 1953. White made her mark on that tourney in 1957 in Brazil, when the US faced the Soviet Union for the first time in a major competition. The Americans won the title game over the Soviets, 51-48, wrapping up MVP honors for White, who averaged a team-high 14.1 ppg for the event. White’s performance earned her the unofficial title of best female player in the world, which she could stake a claim to for years after.

Photos via Getty Images.

WSLAM 3 features cover stars A’ja Wilson, Kelsey Plum, Chelsea Gray and Jackie Young.

The post The Hall of Famers Who Helped Pave the Way Long Before the WNBA—from Cheryl Miller to Nera White appeared first on SLAM.

Then there’s the obvious: he’s into the moment and what we have in store for him at the shoot. A duffle bag full of mystery items to film an episode of “Bag Talk,” an oversized Pacers throwback jersey with a pair of Timberlands and more. Inside the gym, music is blasting through the speakers—it’s a mix of old school Drake and Disney Channel throwbacks like High School Musical (Tyrese, a huge HSM fan, can sing every word). His longtime girlfriend, Jade, and agency rep are here with us, too, and encourage him to just be himself while the camera snaps away.

Once he sits down to talk about his All-Star performance this season, that smile appears again. Actually, it’s more of a smirk now. Maybe he knows something that we don’t?

A few days from now, the news will drop that Haliburton is signing a five-year max extension worth $260 million, making him the face of the franchise.

“I’ve battled and clawed and fought my way to get to where I’m at,” he says. “Now criticism and all that stuff means nothing to me because when I was a kid, nobody would have cared enough to even give me criticism. So the fact that I get it now is pretty cool. I just love proving people wrong. I don’t know, I love negativity. I love seeing negativity on Twitter. I love hearing people say negative comments about my game. It always interests me. It could be somebody with, like, no followers, I just want to prove them wrong.”

SLAM 245 featuring the Indiana Pacers All-Star is out now. Shop here.

This is the same Tyrese Haliburton who was a three-star prospect in high school and, in his words, was expected to redshirt as a freshman at Iowa State. He went from there to becoming a lottery pick in the 2020 NBA Draft. After a mid-season trade last year sent him from Sacramento to Indiana, he’s now an All-Star and was the team’s leading scorer this past season.

While other people might not have seen the vision, Haliburton has always been in his own lane. It stems from his childhood. In elementary school, his guidance counselors would tell him to pick a career path that seemed more “realistic” when he would mention that he wanted to be in the NBA. For the sake of moving things forward, Haliburton would pick something else, but really, he was always thinking a step ahead about how to make it to the League. There’s even a video of a young Tyrese on the internet, rapping to Drake’s “The Motto.” In it, he sings, “How ya feel, how ya feel? 25, sitting on 25 mill.” Even little Tyrese knew what was up.

And like the flow Drake and Weezy carry in that song, Haliburton’s rise happened pretty quickly. In college, he thought he’d have a “good four-year career” at Iowa State but ended playing two seasons. There’s always been doubters, too, even when it comes to his shot-making ability, which he says has been critiqued since he was young. “It’s always just kind of been that way, but I’m just gonna be who I am at the end of the day. It’s helped me get here, so I must be doing something right.”

Now, in the city of Indianapolis, home to the Indy 500, Haliburton is bringing that same energy and speed to the Pacers’ offense. That’s just how he was taught to play the game—pushing the tempo, getting up and down at a rapid rate. “I feel like it’s contagious as well—good energy, and pace and all that stuff,” he says. “When we’re playing fast-paced like we do, I think everybody just falls in line.”

While the team showed flashes of promise this season, collectively and individually—Haliburton averaged 20.7 points and 10.4 points (both career highs), and big man Myles Turner hit new career marks with 18 points and 7.5 boards—there’s still room for improvement. Winning is Haliburton’s main priority right now.

“I haven’t had a winning season in, like, four years dating back to college, so that’s just where I want to get to,” he says, later adding: “There’s obviously a lot more for me to accomplish personally, but I want to win. I want to be playing on the biggest stage, and that’s the playoffs.”

Haliburton doesn’t hesitate to keep it real about how last season went. The Pacers finished with a 35-47 record, ranked 11th in the East, and he found it “frustrating” to have to deal with injuries knowing that his team needed him.

“I felt like if I’m healthy, the situation for us changes a little bit last year,” he says. “But you can’t control everything. You can only put so much energy into what you can’t control. I think the best advice I’ve ever received is just control what you can.”

He’s constantly thinking about what’s next, too, and what he can do better individually and as a leader on the team. “I’m obviously already thinking [about] next year,” he says. “Like, what do I have to do for us to get to where we want to be?”

This summer is all about getting stronger so that he can protect himself from injuries and be able to last throughout the season. He’s been lifting 4-5 times a week and sharpening his skills on the court with Hanlen, who noticed a major shift in his mindset over the years. “I would say mentality, just being more aggressive and more confident, and feeling like he is that guy that can lead a franchise.”

Then there’s his approach to the game. Hanlen first got connected to Haliburton, who was playing on the Kings at the time, through his agent, Dave Spahn. Back in January of 2022, the team was set to play Philadelphia, and Hanlen happened to be already be in town to work with Sixers’ superstar Joel Embiid when he agreed to meet Haliburton for dinner the night before at Del Friscos. The conversation quickly turned into Hanlen “pressing” his potential client on what he wanted to achieve. He’d ask him, How many times are you going to be an All-Star? How many times will you make All-NBA First Team?

“I’m just giving [Haliburton] a bunch of these gut-punching questions,” Hanlen recalls now. “Then I said, you know what? The biggest thing is you’re not gonna be able to do any of this stuff if you keep attempting—I think he was attempting like 11 shots a game at the time or something like that. I was like, it’s just not possible. The math ain’t math-ing.”

Then Hanlen offered Haliburton a challenge: “You wore number 14 in high school, so that’s the number. If you wanna work with me this summer, you have to shoot 14 field goal attempts tomorrow night against the Sixers. Otherwise, I’m not working with you.”

The next night, on January 29, Haliburton went out and scored a career-high 38 points on 11-19 field goal attempts. Not only had he accepted Hanlen’s challenge, but he had dominated. The two have worked together ever since and talk after every game. From Hanlen’s perspective, Haliburton has grown in every aspect of the word: from improving his footwork to his shot creation and being a more “dynamic scorer.” Last summer, Haliburton gained 12 pounds, he says, and has become stronger and able to play through more contact. But in terms of Haliburton’s unconventional playing style, Hanlen also just lets him rock.

“You don’t break things that aren’t broken,” he says, later adding: “We always try to just strengthen his strengths and we try to attack his weaknesses. There’s nothing that can hold him back from reaching the heights that we think he can get to [and] there’s no reason to take away the uniqueness and the creativity that allows him to be unconventional, but also so dynamic as a player.”

The 23-year-old doesn’t take himself too seriously, either. Basketball, he says, is a “child’s game,” and brings him back to memories of having a ball in his crib and playing video games. That’s the joy behind Haliburton’s ever-apparent smile when he’s out there on the hardwood. “When I’m playing basketball, it’s just fun,” he says. “It’s like I’m a kid again, you know? And that’s what I love about it. This isn’t a job for me. This is a passion of mine and something I really love to do.”

Playing against All-Stars like Darius Garland, who was drafted a year before him in 2019, is his idea of fun. “We’re good friends,” he says. “I think that’s important. We just really enjoy competing against each other. I see that being a thing for both of us moving forward.”

He’s also a fan of the WNBA and tunes in to as many games as he can, including a recent match-up between the Las Vegas Aces and the Indiana Fever. Haliburton, who live-tweeted his reaction to Chelsea Gray’s elite behind-the-back pass, was taking notes, too. “I wouldn’t even think to try something like that. I mean, maybe I would in the moment, but just on TV it looked crazy. I couldn’t believe that she did that.”

“I’m trying everything [she did],” he admits later. “CC [Gray] in the caption.”

It’s that energy that’s got Pacers fans excited. Even Indiana’s own Caitlin Cooper, who runs the Basketball, She Wrote blog on Patreon and once wrote about the team for Indy Cornrows, has noticed it around the city. The team had its first two sell-out games since February 8, 2020, according to the Indy Star. “I can tell you that you’re starting to sense a shift,” says Cooper. “I’ve talked to people who would have never talked to me about the Pacers before and they’re like, I gotta get on the ground floor of this. They’re building something special and that Tyrese Haliburton is a really entertaining guy to watch.”

The way Haliburton has shown love to Indiana is a sign of a promising future ahead. He’s invested in the city, hosting youth basketball camps and even going as far as to promote Cooper’s work and wear her t-shirt, “JUMP PASSES ARE GOOD NOW,” in the tunnel this year.

“I think that the best thing about Tyrese Haliburton—having him as your franchise player—was just, from the Pacers’ perspective, they’ve talked about the fact that there are murals painted on buildings of Reggie Miller and that they think that Tyrese can get to that level at some point,” says Cooper. “And the way that he’s embraced the city and what he means as a franchise star, you can believe that [they’re] going to get there.”

According to Hanlen, even his other clients have noticed that something is brewing in Indiana, with Tyrese at the forefront of it. “I work with a lot of other NBA players. Anytime somebody signs with the Pacers, the first thing that all my clients say is, Oh, Ty’s gonna get ’em paid. Ty’s gonna get ’em paid. He’s gonna make ’em look so much better than that player really is just because Ty makes the game so much easier for everybody around him. When you ask, what is his ceiling? I mean, he’s a guy that I think will be one of, if not the best point guards for the next, next decade and a guy that I think can be a floor general for a championship caliber team.”

Spahn, says they set goals before every season—last year, it was for Haliburton to average 20 and 10 and be an All-Star, which he did. Going into next season, they’re ready for him to amp it up and be All-NBA. “I don’t think there is a limit right now, I think he’s gonna be the best point guard in the League one day,” Spahn says. “And I think he’s gonna be the best point guard in the League for a long time. I think he’s that level of player and person.”

What’s most important is that Haliburton sees it within himself, too. While the accolades and accomplishments continue to pile up—the week after our shoot, it was announced that he’ll join the 2023 USA men’s national team for the FIBA World Cup this summer—Haliburton knows that in order to get the Pacers where they want to be, they’re going to have to work for it. Proving people wrong ain’t nothing new for him, but right now, Pacers fans are expecting bigger and better things. He’s on a mission to prove ’em right.

“I always say, There’s no secret to success. All the most successful people in the world, they just usually work harder than everybody else,” Haliburton says. “I just want to be the best that I can and squeeze every bit of God given ability that I have [out]. Squeeze it all out before I’m done playing.”

SLAM 245 GOLD MEDAL EDITIONS + COVER TEES OUT NOW!

The post Inside the Rise of Tyrese Haliburton and His Mission to Lead the Pacers Back on Track appeared first on SLAM.

My name is Sammy, and I’m a collect-aholic. It’s an addiction—more like an obsession. My pursuit to possess every SLAM cover ever released is something that I act upon daily. It’s the eBay search that I’ve saved and the hashtag that I follow. It has me empathizing with the hoarders documented on TV shows. Like them, I want to hold on to something and store it away to capture a moment. It’s a nostalgic task to complete.

Collecting back issues of SLAM is cool (at least I think so; my wife, not so much…), but it’s not unique. Although they’re not as commonly collected as sneakers, trading cards or jerseys, old SLAM mags are widely available, with a community of us who carry a vulture-like quality when it comes to pouncing on a 30-something-year-old hoops fan who happens to be clearing out their parents’ garage. There are small pockets of basketball collectors, however, who obsess over items that are not so common…

Simon Jackson, Autographs

When Simon Jackson (@dallasmavsautos) began collecting Dirk Nowitzki trading cards in 2008, he was quickly impressed by Dirk’s speedy responses to fan mail, specifically autograph requests. His commitment to building a Dirk card collection soon got weighed down by a ton of Dallas Mavs cards. 

“I realized that I’d gained a surplus of Mavericks trading cards by searching for Dirk, which got me thinking…” he says.

Now a Mavs fan, and putting his cards to good use, Simon has made it his mission to get an autograph from every player who has ever stepped on the court in a Mavs uniform. He says there have been 358 players in total (at the time of this writing) and he has 325 of them.

This is some achievement—as an Aussie living in Australia, he acquires autographs by sending stamped envelopes to former players with cards for them to sign and return. He reaches out via Instagram, Twitter and emails. The fact that he has an autograph from Randall Jackson, a man who played 39 seconds for the Mavericks, confirms what I already knew: Simon Jackson isn’t playing around.

Chris Jungwirth, Armbands

When Chris (@nbagameworn_chris) was 14, he noticed players throwing armbands into the stands at the Target Center in Minneapolis. It was the early 2000s—prime KG era—and Chris would sneak from the cheap seats down to the court to grab a grail band from Garnett, or from the visiting Paul Pierce or Vince Carter. He even caught a Rookie LeBron James headband when the Cavs came to town in ’04. Before armband customization was banned for a few years in ’06, players would rock them with short messages, tributes and nicknames.

Chris made note of the ones he needed by studying the SLAMUPS posters on his bedroom wall. Waiting by the team bus, getting to know equipment managers, befriending ball boys and even getting to know players while hanging out by hotels—all of these tactics helped his collection grow.

In more recent years, Chris has splashed a little cash acquiring some of the big names of the past: the iconic “Pip” armband that Scottie rocked while winning hardware, the Reggie Miller finger sleeve that he wore while tearing the beating hearts out of our chests (Yes, I’m a Knicks fan…). He’s also got the unmistakable “Mailman 32” band that Karl Malone rocked while racking up countless buckets. Chris recently dropped $300 on a Jayson Tatum one and has seen a rare Penny Hardaway go for $1,000. I’m still trying to figure out how he managed to talk a Lakers locker room “source” into parting with some Kobe No. 24 finger sleeves for just $150! 

“There are only about five of us continually looking for armbands,” he says. “It gets competitive at times. I’ve been offered $3,000 for my LBJ rookie headband.”

Chris’ collection is currently at 130 armbands and rising. I didn’t even mention the signed PE sneaks he has…

Gerard Starkey, Sneakers

Arguably, basketball sneaker collections are only truly worth discussing if they’re game-worn, and not only that, but worn by the greatest player ever to step onto a basketball court. Gerard Starkey (@gerard_og_vi) had been buying Jordans since he was a 9-year-old skateboarder but when he was 15, he took a leap, figuratively of course, when he got his hands on a pair of Michael Jordan PEs (“Carmine” Jordan VIs). His previous collection suddenly eclipsed by the glow of an MJ exclusive, Gerard set his sights on the shoes that told stories. 

“If you just collect stuff, you end up boxing it and not really enjoying it,” he says. “If the items have a story, then they have context and meaning. If you don’t just have the VIs, but you have the VIs that MJ cut his toe on, then it means a lot more. I started off trying to collect a PE in every style he wore, and then it snowballed.”

He forged a network through his skateboarding and basketball communities. Before social media tied the whole world together, Gerard became tied in with a few of the OG basketball sneaker collectors, guys who’d built up deep catalogs before the market went crazy. He’d help them sell stuff and even claim a pair of game-worn Js in exchange—gathering items that he adamantly says he’ll never let go of. “I don’t sell stuff,” he says. “I don’t sell stuff ever.”

Not only has Gerard built up one of the best MJ sneaker collections in the world, but he’s also built a reputation as one of the most knowledgeable in the game. From offering advice and photo-matching to confirming that a pair has been laced by Mike himself, Gerard provides a service used by Christie’s Auction House as well as high-end collectors who need help sourcing legit items. If there’s a top-tier item sold that has touched Jordan’s feet, it’s usually been through Gerard’s reliable hands.

The game has changed drastically since Gerard started collecting, with the current market allowing millionaire collectors to build a viral-worthy arsenal of MJ PEs in six months. Gerard, though, is unfazed: “They bought their collections. I built mine.”

Ferran Salavert, Jerseys

Hoops hoarders often set out on one path, but become sidetracked by a different obsession. Spanish native Ferran Salavert (@fibawhatelse) initially began collecting FIBA jerseys, primarily from teams in Spain. His favorite, Club Joventut Badalona, produced the likes of Ricky Rubio and Rudy Fernández, and his love for the team prompted Ferran to hunt for game-worn jerseys of Joventut Badalona players who made it to the NBA.

“I like the NBA,” he explains, “but my roots are in European basketball.” 

This mission then expanded to Spanish NBA players, which eventually led him to expanding to jerseys of NBA players who hooped in Spain. Needless to say, this has created one of the most beautifully eclectic collections—“The European focus of my collection is what makes it unique”—of game-worn jerseys around. His collection currently stands at 250 jerseys, with his most valuable ones being the Gasol brothers and Ricky Rubio gamers.

Marcin Wójciuk, John Starks Gear

Even though he’s in Poland, Marcin Wójciuk (@john_starks_3) found himself collecting jerseys of each New York Knicks player who took the floor in the ’94 and ’99 NBA Finals. The collection grew, but so did his focus on John Starks. Marcin loved Starks. He could relate to the passion, the hustle and the sporadic nature of his game. This new focus on Starks led to a condensing of the initial collection. Quality over quantity was his new goal—game-worn jerseys and sneaks, the rarest trading cards, signed photos, but only the highest quality Starks items would suffice. 

“The first Starks jersey I bought was a fake,” Wójciuk says. “I waited three months for it to arrive in Poland from the States. I keep it as a reminder of where it all started.”

At the last count, he has 460 pieces. Marcin is still on the hunt for the adidas Intruders (rocked on the cover of SLAM 4) and has a friend who owns the pair that Starks wore in the ’94 Finals. If he’s reading this, I hope he sees sense and sends them to the place where all John Starks-related items can find their true home.

Leo Klein, All-Star Weekend Basketballs

The beauty of basketball collections is that most are never truly complete. New items are released, fresh players join the League and the hunt for another must-have grail item continues. One of the most complete collections I’ve ever seen, however, belongs to long-time NBA fan Leo Klein.

Like others, Leo has some of the more commonly collected items—jerseys and signed photos—only his are in mind-boggling quantities and presented beautifully in a man-cave-style basement to die for. The centerpiece of his incredible collection, though, is something much less common: a full run of NBA All-Star Weekend Three-Point Contest money balls dating back to when the competition began in 1986. There are 35 in total, all displayed in custom Lucite cubes. Leo has been to every All-Star game since 1994, picking up much of his collection in person. 

“I was often in the right place at the right time,” Klein says, “and so got handed things that someone in the regular crowd wouldn’t be privy to. Traveling to 25 All-Star games was part of the catalyst in why I decided to see if I could collect a full run of money balls.”

Others weren’t so easy. Despite knowing many of the top NBA personnel, grabbing any of the pre-1990 balls presented a difficult task, primarily because so few were produced. Klein contacted sponsors of the competition, tracked down collectors via auction houses and even placed an ad, specifically to find the balls from ’86 and ’87. 

Leo’s commitment to such a specific item, the way the collection was acquired and the fact that the last ball in his collection was the end of Spalding’s NBA era, make it all so unique. The collection has been valued at anywhere between $150,000 to $500,000, and to the right buyer, he might just consider selling. 

Photo credit Nathaniel S. Butler.  

The post The Most Elite Hoop Collections Out There: From NBA Jerseys to Rare Jordans Game-Worn by Michael Jordan appeared first on SLAM.

Herro makes NBA History by becoming the first player to record nine or more three points on back-to-back nights. On Thursday, he tied the franchise record for most three-pointers (10) in a single game against the Houston Rockets, which featured a career-high 41 total points for him.

Wednesday night was a similar performance with a victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder, as Herro knocked nine 3-pointers to his 35 points. The reigning Sixth Man of the Year has been on a tear lately, but Herro is only focused on what he can contribute to pushing the Heat back into one of the contenders of the East.

“I didn’t know it was the record until last night when I hit nine, and they said I was one short,” Herro said per ESPN. “I didn’t have any intention of coming in to tie the record, but I was just trying to get 3s up. I think shooting more 3s is helping.”

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It’s not like he’s just chucking three balls out there, either. His numbers are looking as efficient as ever from the outside. Herro shot a career-best 10-15 from beyond the arc. While he shot 12-23 from the field against the Thunder, Herro hit the game-winning basket from 15 feet to aid him as the best field goal percentage made shooter among starting guards the last two games.

“Regardless, he’s too good of a shooter for us to not take 3s off the catch,” Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra said after the game. “He has to continue to be assertive in those opportunities. He’s just a brilliant shooter. He can do it off the dribble and off the catch.”

The back-to-back historic nights for the Kentucky product aren’t one of his first marks in NBA history. Against the Boston Celtics in the 2020 Eastern Conference Finals, Herro recorded a 37-point game in a critical Game 5 that listed him with the second most all-time playoff points for a player 20 years old or younger behind Magic Johnson(42).

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This time around, Herro, at 22-years-old achieves another Heat record by becoming the youngest player to have a 40-point game in the regular season, breaking franchise legend Dwyane Wade‘s at 23.

Herro has lived up to his $130 million contract this season, and more importantly, he earned himself a spot in the starting lineup, a role he was excited to grab this past summer.

With the presence of All-Stars Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo, the Heat may have solidified a Big Three that can contribute at all ends of the court to reach the destiny of a fourth championship.

For now, only one thing is certain; Herro is indeed a Bucket.

The post Tyler Herro Makes History After Hitting Nine Triples in Back-to-Back Games appeared first on SLAM.

However, the two threes that Thompson hit moved him into some very elite NBA company. Coming off a recent game where he had just moved up to 13th in the NBA’s all-time made three-pointers list, Thompson is also the 13th NBA player ever to make 2,000 career three-pointers.

Thompson now joins Stephen Curry, Ray Allen, Reggie Miller, James Harden, Kyle Korver, Vince Carter, Jason Terry, Jamal Crawford, Damian Lillard, LeBron James, Kyle Lowry, and Paul Pierce as the only NBA players ever to accomplish such a milestone.

Becoming a part of such an elite group of sharpshooters must feel great to Thompson after battling his way back to form after suffering an Achilles injury in 2020 after just returning from an ACL injury in 2019.

This 2023 season has been sort of a “revenge tour” for Thompson, as he has trying to block out the noise and prove to the doubters that he’s still got it. Admittedly Thompson has come out and said that comments about his game “slipping” have hurt, but he knows that he can’t please everybody.

While it is a great career moment for Thompson, he and the Warriors look to get back on the winning track Thursday against the Indiana Pacers.

The post Klay Thompson Becomes the 13th NBA Player to Knock Down 2K Threes appeared first on SLAM.

Reggie Miller’s hands extending like prayer over Penny Hardaway and the wings of an angel; Bill Russell against the backdrop of the Milky Way; Kobe in Crayola contemplation. These are a few of the images in the collaged work of artist Bradley Ward. Born in Houston, TX, he says he grew up as a huge Hakeem Olajuwon fan. His first heartbreak came at the Rockets’ expense, when John Stockton hit “that shot” over Charles Barkley at the buzzer in Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals in 1997.

Ward and his older sister played basketball “religiously,” but his sister was the notable athlete of the two. She was “like the Michael Jordan or Cheryl Miller” of the family, he says. So, in his senior year of high school he decided to focus on something that could get him noticed: his artwork. 

He received a BFA from Texas Southern and an MFA from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, where a professor asked him to make something from his own experience. That assignment reminded him of an idea he had in undergrad after seeing a photograph from the iconic Walter Iooss of a David Robinson rebound in a Spurs vs Lakers game. It showed Robinson looking up at the rim, captured in light, which reminded Ward of a sketch in his Tumblr feed of King David. “It was the same exact composition,” he recalls.

He began meshing Western canonical paintings like Caravaggio’s “Calling of St. Matthew” with NBA photos of LeBron James shooting a free-throw in the Finals. This mixing got Ward thinking, “we have long since preserved and revered these images of white bodies, but here we have Black bodies, in real time, doing the same thing.” For Ward, it was Arthur Jafa and the collage work of Lorna Simpson that made him consider “who gets to tell the history” and wrestle with ideas of ownership, agency and what contemporary art can be about.

In the studio, while sourcing an image, Ward listens to hip-hop initially. Sampling is, of course, an artistic tool central to both hip-hop cultural production and African Diasporic practice, a way to pay homage to one’s history and referencing what came before. Like Kobe perfecting MJ’s fadeaway.

Once Ward begins to manipulate the image, drawing on top or around it, editing in photoshop or by hand, he switches the playlist, like a DJ, to something “much softer.” Earth, Wind & Fire, Sade, Luther Vandross or The O’Jays are his go-tos. The “softer” side functions both as a complement to the boom bap, but also as a space of deeper reflection. “When I first started out, I wanted to highlight the idea of agency and ingenuity. And now what I’m trying to do is show these moments of fraternal intimacy.”

In his artwork, Ward represents the kinship and camaraderie of being on a team, of working with a group toward a common goal, of winning but also forging bonds in the fire of blood, sweat and tears. He wants to uplift and honor the “small quotidian moment” of hoops, like Jerry Stackhouse touching the head of Rasheed Wallace, as if they are brothers.

For more information on the artistry of Bradley Ward visit his website and on IG, @brvdley.

The post Artist Bradley Ward’s Paintings Give a Deeper Look into the Beauty of the Game appeared first on SLAM.

We know there will probably be some disgruntled fans out there, but we’ve come up with a list that we’re standing by. Here’s our top 66-75 best teams of all time:

75. 1997-98 Indiana Pacers

Coach: Larry Bird

Record: 58-24

Roster: Travis Best, Etdrick Bohannon, Austin Croshere, Antonio Davis, Dale Davis, Fred Hoiberg, Mark Jackson, Derrick McKey, Reggie Miller, Chris Mullin, Mark Pope, Jalen Rose, Rik Smits, Mark West

Yes, the ’97-98 Pacers lost a seven-game Eastern Conference Finals series to the Bulls, but this was an extremely strong team. Indy was the next-to-last partner in Chicago’s “Last Dance,” but the Pacers won 58 games—second best in the East—and boasted a deep lineup led by the trio of sharpshooter Reggie Miller, 7-4 tower Rik Smits and do-everything forward Chris Mullin. The loss was disappointing, but the Pacers had plenty to be proud of.

74. 1994-95 Orlando Magic

Coach: Brian Hill

Record: 57-25

Roster: Nick Anderson, Darrell Armstrong, Anthony Avent, Anthony Bowie, Horace Grant, Geert Hammink, Penny Hardaway, Shaquille O’Neal, Tree Rollins, Donald Royal, Dennis Scott, Brian Shaw, Brooks Thompson, Keith Tower, Jeff Turner

In just their sixth year of existence, the Magic reached the Finals, thanks to the dynamic pairing of Shaquille O’Neal and Penny Hardaway. Orlando posted the East’s best record and then outlasted the Pacers to win the conference. Shaq was unstoppable inside, and Hardaway dazzled all over. Add in Nick Anderson and Dennis Scott’s long-range shooting and Horace Grant’s steady interior game, and the Magic were quite strong, even if Houston did sweep them in the Finals.

73. 1986-87 Boston Celtics

Coach: KC Jones

Record: 59-23

Roster: Danny Ainge, Larry Bird, Rick Carlisle, Darren Daye, Conner Henry, Dennis Johnson, Greg Kite, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, Fred Roberts, Jerry Sichting, David Thirdkill, Andre Turner, Sam Vincent, Bill Walton, Scott Wedman

A year after domination, the Celtics returned to the Finals once again, but lost to the Showtime Lakers in six. The usual cast was back for the conference title winners. Larry Bird was practically infallible, and Kevin McHale and Robert Parish plundered inside. Dennis Johnson ran the show, while Danny Ainge irritated everybody but Celtics fans. But Boston lacked a strong bench, and that’s why the ’86-87 edition was very good, but not a champion.

72. 2011-12 Oklahoma City Thunder

Coach: Scott Brooks

Record: 47-19

Roster: Cole Aldrich, Nick Collison, Daequan Cook, Kevin Durant, Derek Fisher, James Harden, Lazar Hayward, Serge Ibaka, Royal Ivey, Reggie Jackson, Eric Maynor, Nazr Mohammed, Kendrick Perkins, Ryan Reid, Thabo Sefolosha, Russell Westbrook

This was it. This was the last time the Thunder’s Big Three would be together, and Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden almost got it all done. The Thunder won the West and made it to the Finals. They even won the first game against Miami before dropping four straight. Durant, Westbrook and Harden combined for 70 ppg in the series but couldn’t finish the journey and hoist a trophy.

71. 1992-93 Phoenix Suns

Coach: Paul Westphal

Record: 62-20

Roster: Danny Ainge, Charles Barkley, Cedric Ceballos, Tom Chambers, Richard Dumas, Frank Johnson, Kevin Johnson, Tim Kempton, Negele Knight, Dan Majerle, Oliver Miller, Jerrod Mustaf, Kurt Rambis, Alex Stivrins, Mark West

The Suns had reached the Finals before, in 1976, but fell to Boston. This time would be different, even if they were facing the Bulls. Phoenix had the NBA’s best record, the League’s best offense and Charles Barkley, acquired from Philly in a blockbuster. The Suns were deep and fast and fun. But when they lost Game 4 of the Finals to Chicago to fall behind 3-1, you knew it was over. And it was.

70. 1988-89 Los Angeles Lakers

Coach: Pat Riley

Record: 57-25

Roster: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Tony Campbell, Michael Cooper, AC Green, Magic Johnson, Jeff Lamp, Mark McNamara, David Rivers, Byron Scott, Mychal Thompson, Orlando Woolridge, James Worthy

There would be one more last gasp for Showtime, but this really felt like the end of an era. Sure, the Lakers won the Pacific, put up the most wins in the conference and reached the Finals after posting a perfect 11-0 playoff record. But the usual suspects—Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, James Worthy, Byron Scott, Michael Cooper, etc.—were beat up by the same Detroit Bad Boys they had defeated a year earlier.

69. 2018-19 Toronto Raptors

Coach Nick Nurse

Record: 58-24

Roster: OG Anunoby, Chris Boucher, Lorenzo Brown, Marc Gasol, Danny Green, Serge Ibaka, Kawhi Leonard, Jeremy Lin, Kyle Lowry, Jordan Loyd, Patrick McCaw, Jodie Meeks, CJ Miles, Malcolm Miller, Greg Monroe, Eric Moreland, Norman Powell, Malachi Richardson, Pascal Siakam, Jonas Valanciunas, Fred VanVleet, Delon Wright

In Canada for just one year, Kawhi Leonard proved his absolute greatness. The Raptors had been good, but they weren’t championship good. No way. Then Leonard averaged 26.6. He hit a quadruple-doink jumper to beat the Sixers in the Eastern Semis. And Kyle Lowry brought the toughness, while Serge Ibaka and Pascal Siakam bumped and banged inside. The Trophy had never been north of the border, but Leonard made sure it got there.

68. 1961-62 Boston Celtics

Coach: Red Auerbach

Record: 60-20

Roster: Carl Braun, Al Butler, Bob Cousy, Gene Guarilia, Tom Heinsohn, KC Jones, Sam Jones, Jim Loscutoff, Gary Phillips, Frank Ramsey, Bill Russell, Tom Sanders

Bill Russell didn’t lead the NBA in points, rebounds or assists, but he earned his third MVP award for leading the Celtics to a League-best 60 regular-season wins and his (and Boston’s) fifth title. It was arguably his best statistical season—a career-best 18.9 ppg, along with 23.6 rpg—and he upped those averages to 22.9 points and 27 boards in the Finals to lift Boston from a 3-2 deficit to a 4-3 victory over the Lakers.

67. 1980-81 Philadelphia 76ers

Coach: Billy Cunningham

Record: 62-20

Roster: Maurice Cheeks, Doug Collins, Earl Cureton, Monti Davis, Darryl Dawkins, Julius Erving, Lionel Hollins, Ollie Johnson, Bobby Jones, Caldwell Jones, Steve Mix, Clint Richardson, Andrew Toney

It’s easy to forget how close the early ’80s Sixers came to dynasty status. There were Finals losses to L.A. in ’80 and ’82, and of course, before their eventual revenge in ’83. But the ’80-81 squad, led by Dr. J in his only NBA MVP season, was right there: They matched Boston’s 62 regular-season wins and took a 3-1 lead on the Celtics in the ECF before an epic Larry Bird-led comeback carried the Cs to the Finals.

66. 1984-85 Boston Celtics

Coach: KC Jones

Record: 63-19

Roster: Danny Ainge, Larry Bird, Quinn Buckner, Rick Carlisle, ML Carr, Carlos Clark, Dennis Johnson, Greg Kite, Cedric Maxwell, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, Scott Wedman, Ray Williams

The ninth Celtics-Lakers Finals matchup would be the first from which Boston did not emerge victorious. You could almost call it an upset. Larry Bird claimed his second straight MVP award, and the Cs won a League-best 63 games, then cruised through the Eastern Conference playoff bracket before stomping the Lakers by 34 in Game 1. Kevin McHale averaged 26 points and 10.7 rebounds for the series, but Boston couldn’t slow the Kareem-Magic-Worthy trio and fell 4-2 to L.A.

Get your copy of SLAM Presents TOP 75 NBA Teams Of All Time

Photos via Getty Images.

The post SLAM’s TOP 75 NBA Teams of All Time: No. 66-75 appeared first on SLAM.

But before I decide where to call home, there’s something else to think about: How and where could SLAM exist in another dimension? That question has been answered, a few times over. 

The biggest world, a universe really, where SLAM has a presence is the Marvel Universe. Luke Cage series creator Cheo Hodari Coker—who also wrote SLAM 24’s cover story on Kobe Bryant—showed some love to his SLAM Fam by including a fictional excerpt of the PUNKS column (our former HS section, now called The Come Up) in the first episode of the Netflix show. Fast forward to a scene in Pop’s Barbershop, and some of the article’s finer details can be seen in the freeze frame. I strained my eyes to read more about “RUN-DSC…”

You’ll also find SLAM in the world of comedy, thanks to Shea Serrano and Arturo Torres, the bestselling writer and illustrator of a ton of New York Times’ hits like Basketball and Other Things, who immortalized fictional Sixers fan Jim Halpert from The Office on a cover that I’d happily buy multiple copies of. There’s also a rumor going around the SLAM Dome that the publication’s fine literature can be found in STARZ’ Survivor’s Remorse. Any world with a character played by Mike Epps could be fun. 

Back in 1998, two universes almost intertwined for real, for real. Filmmaker Spike Lee was working on his next masterpiece, He Got Game, and the film’s lead character, Jesus Shuttlesworth, was (at the time) about to be an even bigger deal than Ray Allen. By then, SLAM was kind of a big deal too. Spike shared SLAM’s love for the Knicks, the playful hate of Reggie Miller and understood that the magazine’s readers were his viewers. Our mutual audience would be flooding movie theaters to watch Denzel Washington rock a pair of Jordan XIIIs and battle Ray one-on-one. He also understood that (in the basketball world of the late ’90s) a SLAM cover was as big of a promo as anyone could get. SLAM Ed. Tony Gervino also saw it as a chance to pull just about any stunt necessary.

A plan was formed. Spike wanted a Jesus Shuttlesworth cover and SLAM was the only mag who could legitimately pull it off. The movie was in production, yet no one knew about it or Allen’s involvement, so the idea was to drop the Jesus cover as the ultimate April Fool’s prank in the spring of 1998. It would make history as the first SLAM cover featuring a fictional character. But it didn’t happen. An irritating leak meant that the element of surprise was gone and the concept was void.

While the Shuttlesworth cover may not have entered our galaxy, fans of Spike’s classic movie will have observed that “Coney Island Jesus” did in fact get a cover. It sits in pride of place above the TV of Jesus’ humble abode…and in Spike Lee’s office in Brooklyn.

Before emails and comment sections in social media, SLAM’s Trash Talk section was made up of physical letters. Not only would fans complain to the editors about stories, yell at readers who made up the previous issue’s Trash Talk and vent about their team’s losing streak, some would also submit carefully crafted pieces of art. Sometimes it was a sketch of an older cover, sometimes their favorite player, sometimes just their own version of the SLAM logo. One such submission came from a storyboard/design team based in L.A. who happened to be huge fans of SLAM. In writing, they requested back issues, t-shirts and even offered content suggestions. Those letters were from the team who worked on a little up and coming animated series called South Park.

The crew at South Park sent SLAM a few letters in the early days, but the one that really caught the staff’s attention was a reworked SLAM cover sent in the form of a greeting card. It featured  Kobe’s Issue 24 joint, only with Kenny’s head replacing the Spalding ball under Bryant’s arm. They wanted to work it into a story that would be aired, but (in true South Park style) would take it a step further, with Kobe holding an AK-47.

World events in the spring of ’99 led to this cover never happening—it’s probably better that it didn’t—but we’ll always remember when Kobe was hanging out in South Park.

Seeing the magazine immortalized in animated form is wild. It was Christmas 2020 when we were once again reminded of that feeling. The pandemic had me, my wife and our 1-year-old daughter stuck in our tiny flat in London on Christmas Day. It wasn’t all bad. We bought some fancy food and drinks, didn’t need to travel anywhere and Pixar was premiering a movie called Soul that gave us something to look forward to. We loved the film and appreciated the finer details of the world that the lead character, Joe Gardner, called home.

One such detail was something I’d missed completely. It sat—of course—in the barbershop scene, on the table by the lollipops. A copy of SLAM. It was instantly recognizable as a rework of Issue 106, LeBron’s logo cover, with a fictional baller from the Pixar universe. No one at SLAM knew about it ahead of time, but everyone thought it was dope.  

The movie was the work of Kemp Powers, a writer from Brooklyn who understood the cultural importance of SLAM. Soul’s release capped off a year marred with tension, yet Pixar’s world felt like a place of solitude. 

These SLAM covers may be fictional, but they provided a hint of familiarity and were a nod of appreciation from the designers of alternate universes. For those of us who need to escape, even for a moment, they’re as real as it gets. 

The post From the Marvel Universe to Spike Lee, SLAM’s Connection to Film Runs Deep appeared first on SLAM.

Crawford, who was drafted eighth overall in the 2000 NBA draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers, suited up for nine different teams throughout his career.

After stints with the Bulls, Knicks, and Warriors, Crawford joined the Atlanta Hawks in ’09 where he backed up stars Joe Johnson and Mike Bibby. He averaged 18 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 3.0 assists off the bench that year, leading to him winning his first Sixth Man of the Year award. In addition, he also set an all-time NBA record for most career four-point plays in 2010, surpassing Reggie Miller.

In 2019, Crawford put the perfect cherry on top to his legacy by becoming the oldest player to tally 50-plus points; a record previously held by Michael Jordan. During the game, Crawford shot 60 percent from the field, 7-of-13 from three-point range, and 8-of-9 from the free-throw line.

Throughout his time in the NBA, Crawford has been a prominent figure in the basketball community with his filthy handles and crazy hoop mixtapes over the year. His game has opened the doors for many of the finesse players we see today such as Lou Williams, Immanuel Quickley, and Bones Hyland.

As we’ve said before, a moment of appreciation for all that he’s done for the game.

The post Three-Time NBA Sixth Man of the Year Jamal Crawford Retires from the NBA appeared first on SLAM.

From the jump, history was made. Using his signature stepback move, former Brooklyn Net James Harden moved past Reggie Miller for third place on the all-time made three-pointers list.

Sitting courtside announcing the game for TNT, Miller had nothing but love for Harden.

Opposite Harden, Kevin Durant was looking like his usual self for the Nets, scoring eleven points in the quarter.

Kyrie Irving continued his stellar play from Tuesday’s historic game, as he also scored eleven in the first, including this beautiful pull-up with 0.1 seconds left on the clock.

The Nets led 40-23 at the end of the first, with Durant and Irving scoring 11 apiece while Seth Curry had nine. For the 76ers, it was Joel Embiid carrying the load, scoring a massive 16 points with 10 of them coming from the line.

For the Nets, the trio of Durant, Irving, and Curry carried the offensive load in the second quarter, combining for 49 points. Durant, however, continued to give us highlight plays, including this coast-to-coast and one.

Brooklyn built a 21 point first-half lead thanks to their perimeter trio and hard-nosed defense. The Nets held Embiid to only five points in the quarter, with Harden entering the locker room with 11 points on 3-15 shooting.

When the action restarted, it was more of the same from the first half. Nearly two minutes into the second half, Durant put Tobias Harris in a blender to knock down a three-pointer.

By the time the third quarter was over, the once boisterous Philadelphia crowd had been all but silenced with the host down by 32 points.

The fourth quarter saw the onslaught continue and by the time the final horn went off, the Nets defeated the 76ers 129-100, their second largest margin of victory this season.

For Philly, the blowout loss is just the first they’ve suffered from Harden in the lineup. The main culprit was tough shooting (32.3 percent from the field) and turnovers.

Durant posted 25 points, 14 rebounds, seven assists, two steals, and one block. Irving finished with 22 points. Embiid led the way for Philadelphia, finishing with 27 points and 12 rebounds.

The Nets move to 34-33 while the 76ers fall to 40-25. The Nets will host cross-town rival New York Knicks on Sunday, while the 76ers will be traveling down to Orlando to take on the Orlando Magic.

The post The Brooklyn Nets Run the 76ers Out of Wells Fargo Arena, 129-100 appeared first on SLAM.

At the seven-minute mark of the first quarter, he hit that shot using his signature stepback move to pass Reggie Miller for third place on the all-time made three-pointers list.

Sitting courtside announcing the game for TNT, Miller was there to see it happen.

Harden now has 2561 career threes, with more likely to come from tonight’s game. Ray Allen is second on the list with 2973 made three-pointers, 412 more than Harden. While getting past all-time three-pointer king Stephen Curry is unlikely, the dual the two former MVPs will have could be a joy to watch as the two are playing in an era where the triple has become the most weapon in the game today.

.@ReggieMillerTNT @JHarden13 pic.twitter.com/vB9QkWnhcn

— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) March 11, 2022

The post James Harden Passes Reggie Miller for Third in All-Time Three-Pointers Made appeared first on SLAM.

As the tryouts progressed, Miller started scouting not just for players who could sink a pull-up jumper from the elbow or who could put a defender on his heels with a crossover, but also for the kids who offered up a hand to someone who had hit the deck or who encouraged a classmate to grab some water between drills. He wanted to identify not only the teens who would round out the roster, but also those who would support the team without ever wearing a uniform. That, after all, was the design of the Earl Monroe New Renaissance Basketball School.

“Not everyone could make the basketball team, but everyone could be an important part of the community we’re building,” Miller says. “That’s why we asked some kids who didn’t make the cut to be managers or run the scoreboard or take pictures. Those opportunities can be life-changing, too.”

For the 110 freshmen who signed up to be a part of this inaugural class, Earl Monroe New Renaissance Basketball School was an opportunity to prepare for a career around the game of basketball. Founded by filmmaker Dan Klores, who directed Reggie Miller’s 30 for 30 and Basketball: A Love Story, the program is an antidote to the myriad prep schools that have proliferated in the past two decades. 

Earl Monroe is a public charter school only available to students in New York City. Its inaugural class will expand to a total student body of 440 during the next four years, and the students will have the chance to “major” in fields that support the sport—like media, marketing, analytics, law and health care. In other words, in a world awash with basketball schools, Earl Monroe is a basketball school. 

“You probably won’t see any of our kids on the cover of SLAM,” Klores says. “But they’ll be in the background, helping to support the next generation of Hall of Famers.”

The door to James Ennis’ classroom is emblazoned with the Portland Trail Blazers logo. Around Earl Monroe’s campus, which is housed in a former Roman Catholic school in the Bronx while a $25 million facility is being built, all the rooms are named after NBA teams. (There are no rooms named after either of New York’s teams, though, to avoid the endless debates.) And Ennis takes his team connection seriously. On a Wednesday morning in early December, the 29-year-old teacher, who was wearing a ribbed tan turtleneck beneath a fitted blue suit, began a PowerPoint lesson about résumés with a quote from Portland superstar Damian Lillard: “To look good in front of thousands, you must outwork thousands in front of nobody.”

The school’s existence is a testament to the work Klores was willing to put in while no one was watching. Klores, who also founded the prestigious NY Renaissance (aka the “Rens”) EYBL program, first came up with the concept eight years ago. He slowly built a board of advisors that included former NBA Commissioner David Stern and Knicks legend Earl “The Pearl” Monroe, after whom the school takes its name. And he managed to raise nearly $5 million from the likes of Nike and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The school officially launched during a ceremony in October, which was attended by NBA commissioner Adam Silver and NBPA executive director Michele Roberts, who are both native New Yorkers. “For every NBA player,” Silver told the students, “there’s 100 related jobs in the NBA and its teams.”

Ennis teaches Foundations of Basketball, which is designed to introduce students to those jobs. For now, it’s the only course that focuses on the game. Classes on specific subjects like broadcast journalism and coaching will come later, as students become upperclassmen. Right now, Earl Monroe’s educators are focused on foundations of education for their pupils. Although Earl Monroe—like all public schools in New York City—is open to any student from the five boroughs, a disproportionate number of kids are from the Bronx. The borough has been disproportionately impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. Many of the students at Earl Monroe have not attended in-person school full-time since they were in the seventh grade. And during the two years of remote learning, many struggled with connectivity, because they were on unreliable devices or unstable internet connections.  

“Not everyone was connected to learning equally during the pandemic,” says Kern Mojica, the school’s principal. “We’re focused on the core classes that all students need first, and then we’ll branch out into niche areas of interest. But we make an effort to infuse basketball into every aspect of the curriculum.”

When Mojica was in the classroom as a teacher early in his career, he tried to infuse sports into every subject. He’d use Stephen Curry’s shooting to talk about parabolas, or Super Bowl start times to discuss distributions. A former defensive lineman at the University of New Hampshire, Mojica connected to the vision of Earl Monroe straight away. 

“The odds of making it to the NBA are about the same as winning the Powerball,” he said. “We wanted to provide our kids with other possibilities for the future—with other dreams. For us, a student going pro means that they work in a law firm, or the League office or TNT.”

In class, Ennis explained how a strong résumé could help the students get any job they want, from summer employment in the city to their dream gig at Nike. A boy in the back raised his hand and asked, “Why do I need a résumé? I want to be a streamer on, like, Twitch and YouTube, and you don’t need a résumé for that.”

“That’s a great question,” Ennis said. “You still need a résumé because that’s how you build partnerships and attract sponsors. That’s how you make money.”

Ennis then broke the classroom up into small groups. The school provids all students with Chromebooks, and they wrote their résumés on a Google Docs template that he designed. As the students worked, Ennis and Mojica checked in with each group, asking them about what jobs they could see themselves in long-term. One student named Alvin told Mojica, “I thought I was gonna be an NBA player, but I didn’t make the basketball team.” Mojica nodded, as 

Alvin continued. “So I’ve been thinking about some other stuff instead.” He wrote on his résumé that he wanted to be a broadcaster.

Before dismissing the class, Ennis reminded them that their podcasts were due next week. As part of their discussion of sports media, Ennis had them each come up with a concept for a show, design cover art for it, record an episode and upload it to Spotify. A student named Corey said that the podcast project has been his favorite thing he’s ever done in school. It’s called “The Greatest,” and it’s about the NBA GOAT debate. For the record, Corey is on Team Michael Jordan—even though he was born several years after MJ’s final game. 

“People like to bring up stats,” he said, “but I don’t see it in stats. If you last 19 years in the NBA, I’d expect you to pass somebody. I look at it like, his mental greatness—MJ lost and came back and still won it. Plus, he’s still beating LeBron in chips right now.”

Ennis smiled brightly when he saw students so excited about their schoolwork. “That’s what separates our school,” he said. “A lot of public schools are still using a 1970s format in the sense that they’re preparing students for life in the 1990s. Our school is preparing kids for 2021 and beyond.”

Of course, there’s still plenty of actual basketball. If they have spare time between classes, students are allowed to go to the gym to shoot hoops. On the weekends, Kenneth Miller hosts an empowerment program that helps kids develop their skills—in basketball and in reading. And on a Thursday afternoon in December, a crowd of about 75 stuffed into the school’s small gymnasium to watch the boys team play The Cathedral School. Because of scheduling challenges, it was only the team’s second game of the season. And it wasn’t technically a game—it was a six-quarter scrimmage, with the score resetting after each period. But that didn’t bother the crowd, who were mostly students and who were raucous from the first whistle to the last.

Miller coached Earl Monroe to an easy win in every quarter. Meanwhile, on the sidelines, athletic director Andy Borman coached the managers on how to run a game. Borman, who is also the executive director of the Rens and the nephew of Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, hovered over the scorer’s table, reminding the shot-clock operator to switch the possession arrow and the bookkeeper to mark turnovers. When a manager named Anthun abandoned the bench to say hi to some friends on the other side of the court, Borman tracked him down and pulled him into a tight, friendly hug. “Come on, buddy,” he said. “The team needs you!” 

Anthun had originally tried out for the basketball team, and he was disappointed when he didn’t make the final cut. But Borman and Miller told him that being a manager was a way to still contribute to the team. By the end of the game, he’d handed out every bottle of water and had even begun keeping individual stats for the players. After it was over, he helped clean up the gym—throwing away trash and putting chairs back in the closet. “Playing didn’t work out for me this year,” he said, “but I learned that I really love coaching. If I keep it up as a manager, I’ll show them I’m worthy of being a coach. That’s what I want to do now.”

He paused.

“Well, either that or work in real estate. Maybe I could sell houses to NBA players.” 

Photos via Mike Lawrence.

The post The Earl Monroe New Renaissance Basketball School is Preparing Students For Careers Around the Game appeared first on SLAM.

Three players from the Cleveland Cavaliers teamed up to participate in the All-Star Skills Challenge. First-time All-Stars, Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen teamed up with rookie Evan Mobley, whose star shined brightly in the NBA Rising Stars tournament, took on the Antetokounmpo brothers (Giannis, Thanasis, and Alex) and a team of rookies that consisted of Cade Cunningham, Josh Giddey and Scottie Barnes.

The Skills Challenge received a new look as the NBA revamped All-Star Weekend. The format featured the three teams participating in a competition broken down into three rounds of shooting, passing, and dribbling ability.

Round One (Shooting):

Team Cavs should thank their lucky stars they dominated this part of the competition because the next two rounds were not as kind. The Cavaliers trio played strategically, placing Jarrett Allen first and downsizing to Evan Mobley then Darius Garland. Garland dropped 24 points, outscoring the Antetokounmpos brothers by himself, followed by Mobley with 18.

Evan Mobley and Darius Garland close out the first round of #TacoBellSkills with a show for the Cleveland crowd!

Team @cavs in the lead on TNT pic.twitter.com/5vMS172BPh

— NBA (@NBA) February 20, 2022

Round Two (Passing):

At this point of the competition, it looked like it was a two-team race between Team Cavs and Team Antetokounmpo despite the smooth execution of the weave to pile up the points by Team Cavs.

“This is poetry right here”

Cavs were in sync during the #TacoBellSkills challenge pic.twitter.com/pGugDBdLCw

— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) February 20, 2022

The Greek Freak turned on the competitive drive that captured him two MVP awards, and his brothers tied Team Rooks at the end of round two. However, Team Antetokounmpo won the tiebreaker to collect 100 points from the passing competition for a tie leading into the skills competition that counted 200 points.

Round Three (Skills competition) and tiebreaker:

The idea of giving 200 points to the winner of the third round made this competition much more exciting. At this point, Team Rooks looked dead in the water when they put up a time of 1:18.5. That time presumably wasn’t fast enough to win the round.

In the end, poor shooting by Team Giannis and slow times by Team Cavs bailed the rookies out, and they took the 200 points to go to the final round. That left Team Giannis and Team Cavs with one shot for a chance to take on the rookies in the final round.

Darius Garland knocks out Team Antetokounmpo

Cavs move on to the final of the #TacoBellSkills pic.twitter.com/mfmkFOftPt

— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) February 20, 2022

In a surprise to some, Giannis did not take the shot, and Thanasis missed to the right. On the other hand, Garland hit his attempt to win the tiebreaker and a trip to the finals.

Final Round (Half-court shot):

The rules were simple, whichever team could make a half-court shot the fastest would be declared the winner of the Skills Challenge. Cade Cunningham knocked down the half-court shot for the rookies to set the bar at 9.9 seconds.

It didn’t take long for Evan Mobley to close the deal for the hometown Cavaliers. The moment became a classic after legendary sharpshooter Reggie Miller screamed, “Cleveland, this is for you!” over the airwaves as the competition concluded.

“CLEVELAND THIS IS FOR YOU!”

Evan Mobley wins the #TacoBellSkills Challenge for Team Cavs pic.twitter.com/hORIPbs6mS

— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) February 20, 2022

The post Cleveland Cavaliers Represents By Taking the NBA All-Star Skills Challenge appeared first on SLAM.

Jayson Tatum confidently strolled into Capital One Arena in Washington DC wearing a green t-shirt with the words “Believe In Yourself” printed across his chest. Below the text was an image of Dennis Rodman’s iconic “smiley face” hairstyle—only his hair, in this design, was made out of bright yellow flowers. On the back, the shirt read, “If you don’t like it, kiss my ass,” with a pair of lips in place of the word “kiss,” and the letters “always” covering the “ss” in “ass.”

That shirt, “Garden of Legends,” was produced by Always BIY (Believe In Yourself)—a new brand founded by husband and wife Michael and Melek Glasker—in collaboration with SLAM, with the goal of giving the Bulls legend his flowers. The brand, only a little over a year old, has seen its designs worn by many athletes and celebrities, including Chris Paul, Reggie Miller, Sue Bird, Fabolous and Megan Rapinoe. 

The SLAM x Always BIY “Garden of Legends” tee pays homage to modern Black History. BIY highlights the utilization of hair as a form of self-expression and infectious influence in the game of basketball.

Through all of their apparel, the Portland based duo seek to bring others the type of confidence that Rodman always exuded. 

“We’re dropping this in February because we want to modernize Black History Month,” Michael says, adding that the goal is to tell new stories. “We want to highlight how Black people have utilized their hair to express themselves. With Dennis Rodman, he was one of the first people to be uniquely himself. He was coloring his hair, putting designs in his hair, spray-dyeing his hair. He was painting his fingernails; he had a lot of piercings; he was wearing stuff that might have been crazy to people back then.” 

But now, you can easily spot Rodman’s influence, and how he has inspired others to be bold and believe in themselves. “We prefer to push the boundaries personally and I love seeing other people do that,” Melek says. “You can see where that influence came from. [Rodman’s] do-whatever-you-want attitude has been infectious in so many ways.”

The SLAM x Always BIY “Garden of Legends” tee is available now.

When Tatum entered Capital One Arena that night in the “Garden of Legends” tee, he hadn’t made a three-pointer in over a week, missing 20 straight. He went on to sink a career-high nine of them and scored 51 points in a 116-87 win.  

Always believe in yourself. 

The post SLAM Collabs with Always BIY For ‘Garden of Legends’ Tee to Celebrate Black History Month and Unwavering Confidence appeared first on SLAM.

After setting the record, the Baby-Face Assassin embraced the previous two record-holders, Ray Allen and Reggie Miller. 

One for the history books. (via @NBA) pic.twitter.com/nP5IMTUTk9

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) December 15, 2021

Last week as the Warrior legend was approaching the career mark, he only needed to knock 16 three-pointers going into games against the 76ers and Pacers.

“I’m enjoying the moment. Now that you’re knocking on the doorstep it’s pretty surreal, but it’s also trying to just let it happen,” Curry said. “It’s one thing I’ve learned over these last few games is just keep playing basketball, keep taking shots you think you’ll make, and enjoy the experience of it because it’s a long time coming.”

Curry posted 22 points, three assists, and three rebounds while hitting five three-pointers in a 105-96 win over the Knicks. He’s has now knocked down a combined 2,977 shots from beyond the arc.

On November 12, Curry broke the career mark for three-pointers made in the regular season and playoffs, scoring 40 points and passing out five dimes in a 119-93 win against the Bulls.

The Warriors return to play Friday for the front end of a back-to-back, playing against the Celtics and ending their road trip against the Raptors.

The post Stephen Curry Breaks Regular Season Three-Point Record appeared first on SLAM.

The two-time All-Star recently opened up about his weight and conditioning.

“I had a long summer,” said Doncic. “I had the Olympics, took three weeks off, and I relaxed a little bit. Maybe too much. I’ve just got to get back on track.”

Doncic’s weight was a frequent subject during the Mavs’ primetime matchup against the Brooklyn Nets (17-7). NBA on TNT analyst Reggie Miller criticized Doncic for his weight, saying he was “plodding up and down the court” and “has got to trim down.

Luka Doncic addressed the ongoing talk about his weight and conditioning with reporters after the Mavs loss to the Nets saying:

“I had a long summer. I had the Olympics, took three weeks off, relaxed a little bit. Maybe too much. I’ve just got to get back on track.” #MFFL pic.twitter.com/1K9BsYvL3e

— Kevin Gray Jr. (@KevinGraySports) December 8, 2021

Furthermore, according to Tim McMahon of ESPN, Doncic came into Mavericks training camp 30 pounds overweight at 260, more than his listed weight of 230 pounds on NBA.com. 

Doncic’s efforts to improve his conditioning have recently been interrupted by multiple injuries, including a sprained left knee and ankle, which caused him to miss three games. The Mavericks are currently 0-4 without Doncic.

Though Doncic weight has been a problem, Doncic is still performing at a high level averaging 25.5 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 8.5 assists for the 11-12 Mavs. 

The post Luka Doncic on His Conditioning: ‘I Gotta Be Better’ appeared first on SLAM.

For starters, he is 24 years old. That makes him the oldest player in the 2021 class. In fact, when the Pacers drafted him with the 13th overall pick back in July, he became the oldest player selected in the first round since 2002. But with age comes experience, composure, confidence and toughness—all of which Indiana’s staff identified in Duarte right away.

“We wanted the best player available at 13,” head coach Rick Carlisle told reporters shortly after the draft. “[Duarte’s] maturity—when you watch him play, he plays like a pro. He plays at his pace. He has a great feel for change of pace. He never plays in a hurry. A lot of the young kids in college, when you see them play, there’s kind of a franticness at times to the college game. This kid plays the game at a different tempo.”

“All the coaches we’ve talked to both at Oregon and that have played against him and coached against him rave about his toughness, his ability to shoot the ball,” added general manager Chad Buchanan. “Our league today is about shooting and guys being able to create their own shot, create their own space. He’s got a beautiful NBA stroke and I think it’s going to translate from day one.”

It has. With TJ Warren still sidelined by a foot injury, Duarte was inserted into the starting lineup immediately, and has been able to provide a crucial scoring spark. His skill set is extremely advanced and, as Buchanan alluded to, a perfect fit for the modern NBA. Duarte shoots it at a high clip from behind the arc and attacks the rims effectively, using his 6-6 frame and soft touch to finish inside. He can create for himself with a smooth handle or spot up to space the floor when one of Indiana’s other playmakers, like Malcolm Brogdon, Caris LeVert or Domantas Sabonis, is orchestrating the offense. Just look at the array of ways Duarte was able to score in his first NBA game, when he set a Pacers rookie debut record with 27 points on 9/15 shooting. (Also note the poise and change of pace that both Carlisle and Buchanan referenced. Duarte never seems rushed or out of control, even with the clock winding down. He plays at his speed.)

As of this writing, Duarte is averaging 14.8 points (third among rookies) on 43% shooting from the field and 40% from three. He’s attempting and hitting about the same number of catch-and-shoot threes as pull-up threes off the dribble. He recently joined Reggie Miller as the only players in Pacers franchise history to score 10 or more points in their first nine career games. On defense, Duarte competes with a lot of energy and uses his quick hands to be disruptive (he averaged almost two steals per game at Oregon last season). He also takes advantage of his size and length to help Sabonis and Myles Turner clean up the glass. Of the Pacers who have appeared in more than half the games this season, Duarte currently has the best plus-minus on the team.

Of course, Duarte’s age is what deterred a lot of NBA scouts and executives this past summer. Organizations tend to target younger—albeit less polished—prospects in the draft, betting on their future growth and development. Front offices are often more fixated on “what if” than “what is”—a fact that, as Duarte admitted in an interview with NBA.com, once got to his head a little bit. “I got mad one time,” he said, referencing a pre-draft camp. “I was like, ‘OK guys, everybody keeps talking about this age thing. The age, the age. You’re old, Chris.’ I got mad and said, ‘Hey man, I don’t want to hear nothing about my age anymore. If you want to win games, get me. If you want to win in four years, go ahead and draft a 19-year-old kid. Then you can develop him and make him a superstar in three, four or five years. But you don’t know if he’s going to be a superstar—you don’t know, who knows?’”

It’s true—who really knows? Some gambles are safer than others, but with rookies, you rarely know beyond any doubt. Duarte might be closer to his ceiling than most rooks; but when the draft took place a few months ago, he was also much closer to a “sure thing.” Indiana felt very, very confident that they knew exactly what they were getting in the guard from Oregon. And they’ve gotten it so far.

After his historic NBA debut, Duarte was asked whether his early success had impressed even him, given how rare it is for rookies to thrive from day one. “I always play around, telling some of my teammates that I’m not a rookie,” he responded with a laugh.

Well, certainly not your typical one.

The post SLAM x Panini Rookie Spotlight: Chris Duarte appeared first on SLAM.

Heading into the 2020 NBA Draft, Desmond Bane stuck out like a sore thumb.

In an era where highly-touted high school recruits are unlikely to spend more than a year in college, if they even opt to go the collegiate route, Bane was an unranked recruit out of Seton Catholic High School in Richmond, IN. What’s more, while he would help turn the basketball program into a formidable Big 12 power, Bane played four seasons at Texas Christian University (TCU).

Projected to be a 22-year-old rookie, Bane would have no choice but to fight against the typical refrains.

Questions about his potential and his value when he would be three or four years older than many prospects.

However, seen as one of the most NBA-ready prospects entering the draft due to his intangibles and ability to shoot from distance, Bane fit a valuable 3-and-D wing archetype and was ultimately selected in the first round.

As he was surrounded by family and friends, the Memphis Grizzlies unearthed the hidden gem with the 30th overall pick, and Bane’s journey would take an unforgettable turn.

[Editor’s note: This interview has been condensed for clarity]

Q: What was your experience like jumping from college to the pros? What did you think heading into the draft and how was that situation for you? Especially with it being draft season, what do you think the prospects are doing with their families and trainers?

Bane: It was a stressful time. The draft kept getting pushed back and back. They kept saying we might have a Combine, we may not have a Combine. So it really was just, you know, no certainty throughout the whole process—us as prospects were kind of left in the dark on what was going on.

So I’m just trying to lock in. Stay focused. Keep controlling the stuff that I can control and working on the things that I can do to put myself in the best position whenever that time comes.

But it was crazy. It was crazy.

I lost a loved one through that time as well, so it was a really tough time for me going through that draft process. But, you know, for the guys this year, I’m happy that they’re able to get a true process. They get trainers, they get to do all those things at the Combine, get in front of teams at workouts and things like that. I’m glad they get a true draft process.

Q: When you were leaving TCU that you thought or that your coaches pointed out to you specifically—whether it was intangibles or on-the-court stuff—that would would be best as far as translating to the NBA, besides the shooting?

Bane: I mean, shooting was the main thing and my build, you know, my size. They thought that I was an NBA-ready guard given my size and my strength. But my shooting, yeah, they definitely thought that was something that would carry over to the next level.

Q: So did you expect to have so much success early? There was a time when rookies weren’t getting to much playing time—and you got drafted into a good situation where you’re on a young team—but did you expect to become such a fixture in the rotation and for it to come together so quickly?

Bane: I mean, I didn’t know!

I didn’t know what the draft was going to look like—it was about two weeks before training camp, so I knew I wasn’t going to get a real training camp and opportunity to really showcase what we could do, necessarily. So I didn’t know what to expect.

We had a few injuries early on so I ended up getting an opportunity pretty quickly, right out the gate and I just sort of ran with it.

Q: Did you have a welcome to the NBA moment? Like your first moment when you were like, “OK, this is a little bit different than college.”

Bane: Right! Bron! For sure! Bron!

I mean the first time that we played the Lakers. We played the Lakers about, I would say, five games, six games into the season, so it was still early on, I’m getting a feel for things. And we had played I think maybe one playoff team—one or two playoff teams—and, you know, they were coming off a championship and being hungry for another one.

I think that that was my real “Welcome to the NBA” moment.

There was stretches when I guarding LeBron and I was like man, “this dude is so damn big. Shit crazy.”

But yeah, you know, it was cool. It was cool.

Q: Speaking of LeBron, plenty of guys in your generation look up to Bron but who were the guys you were looking up to when you were growing up watching—whether they’re growing up or retired? Who were your idols as far as basketball—or even other sports?

Bane: Nah, I was a big D-Wade fan. I was an Indiana kid so Reggie Miller. Kobe [Bryant], of course. Like I said, Bron. But those were all the guys.

You know, Reggie was when I just a real little kid, real little kid. I remember all the good Pacers teams with him, Jamaal Tinsley, all and them dudes. Those are probably the dudes I looked up to the most.

Q: Is you being a shooter something about being Reggie Miller fan?

Bane: You know what I’m saying? It makes sense [laughs].

That was my young idol, you know what I’m saying? I’ll go out in the driveway and I’m either saying “Kobe!” or “Reggie!”

One of the two, you know what I’m saying? So it probably did have a little correlation.

Q: What’s it like playing in Memphis, as far as the city? I’ve been up to Tennessee a few times—Memphis a few times but what do you like about the area?

Bane: Bro! So the season was so crazy, I mean I haven’t even really got a chance to get out and about too much. You know, with us playing in the second half of the season, the longest break that we had in between games was one day.

So we’re either playing every other day or it’s a back-to-back. So you know when I was home, I was really at home. You know, just chillin’ and relaxin’ and trying to recover my body.

So now that the summer’s come along and it’s the offseason, I’m excited to get out there and out and about.

Memphis got some good food spots, now I can tell you that. They got some good food spots, they’re big into music out here and stuff like that but I’m a fan. I’m a fan.

You know, I come from a small town—not saying Memphis is a small town but where I live it’s kind of got that slow feel to it. So I’m kind of—I’m chillin’ in my backyard for real.

Just sitting in the backyard relaxing, enjoying the nice weather, watching my dogs run around. That’s my vibe.

Q: Have you been able to have that bonding experience with your teammates with you having so little time between games?

Bane: Of course, and I almost think that it helped, you know? The fact that we was together so much made us even closer ’cause that’s pretty much all we had from December ’til the beginning of June. So I think that made us really close and, I mean, they were already a close group before the rooks had got there but I think we gelled in real nicely.

Q: What’s the dynamic in the locker room like? Who was your vet in your rookie season?

Bane: Man, we had a few!

It was kind of weird because we don’t really have no just old, old dude that’s been around for a long time, you know what I’m saying? So it’s been a little bit of everybody I would say.

You know, Dillon Brooks is a guy that I look up to and talk to the most probably, but there was a few guys.

Ja, of course. Tim Frazier came along at the end, You know, a few guys.

Q: What is it about Dillon Brooks that made you click with him so much?

Bane: I mean, he’s a hard worker. He work hard. That’s what he do.

He was a second round pick and he made a name for himself and I think that means a lot to me coming from a place there was only 20 kids in my high school class and being underrecruited.

I think that’s where it comes from. That bond. Just being overlooked and proving the doubters wrong.

Q: What’s your relationship like with Ja then, ’cause I know he’s another guy with an underdog mentality coming from a mid-major?

Bane: That’s my dawg. That’s my dawg.

Me and him are real close being backcourt partners and it’s obviously extremely important for our camaraderie but having a guy like that, being able to grow with, who’s around the same age as me is huge for us on and off the court.

Fast-forward seven months from the 2020 NBA Draft and Bane has been named to the All-Rookie Second team, ranking first in 3-point percentage (among rookies to average at least 10.0 minutes per game); fifth in made threes (117); eighth in minutes played (1,519); ninth in draft class in total points (625), and in the top-15 of total rebounds (210) and assists (118), and steals (41).

For a small town kids with big dreams—for the underdog who feels overlooked—Bane’s story is an inspiration.

And there’s no person better suited to be a role model than a young man as dauntless as he is compassionate. As humble as he is driven,

“I want people to just understand who I am. Understand who I am not only as a player but, you know, as a person. I really want to be able to do events and things to give to people in the community. I also want to do things for people that are less fortunate.

As far as Nike deals and all that stuff, that stuff comes. It’s what you do on the basketball court. But the stuff that’s important to me is the stuff that I can reach out and do personally—and do hands-on—throughout the community and throughout different places around the country.”

While a deal with Playmaker, sports media and management company, helps Bane to amplify his voice but it’s his message that’s what’s most important.

“I was raised by my great-grandparents (Fabbie and Bob),” says Bane.

“So I want to say that I’m, you know, an old soul in that regard. And all the time, that’s all they really talked about—they preached to me early as a kid that it doesn’t matter if you’re the CEO or you’re the janitor, treat everybody with the same respect. And I think that’s huge to me.

Sometimes people are looked down upon because they don’t have such things in this messed up society, so, I want them to know that I notice them and they’re just as good as everybody else walking this earth.”

[Bane’s great-grandfather, Bob, passed away last July after contracting COVID-19.]

As his aunt, Nsisong Bimpeh, controls his marketing opportunities, setting up community efforts and organizing his day-to-day schedule, Bane has continued finding balance between being a family-oriented man of faith, a pillar of his communities and a professional athlete.

Preparing to suit up for the Nigerian national team this summer as they prepare for Olympic and FIBA play, Bane is busy. Nonetheless, that hasn’t deterred him from hosting basketball camps and community days this summer for underprivileged youth in Memphis and Richmond.

“It was a big emphasis of mine to be able to get in touch with the community this summer just because of COVID and everything throughout the year really hindered us from doing those things. Now that people are getting vaccinated and are able to get out and do some things now, I really want Memphis to know me and I want to get to know Memphis.”

The post Looking in the Rearview: Desmond Bane Talks NBA Draft, Rookie Season appeared first on SLAM.

Yet the perennial ball-handler for this star-studded roster just achieved another great playoff feat. Harden has now moved up to 6th on the all-time playoffs threes made list, making him the second current Brooklyn player on the list. He did so on just 12 attempts from the field—eight of which were threes.

“It’s not about scoring for me,” Harden said. “It’s about doing everything else. Ultimately we got the win so that’s all that matters. Joe had it going tonight, we all knew that. … Whatever it takes to win, we’re willing to do.”

Congrats to @JHarden13 of the @BrooklynNets for moving up to 6th on the all-time #NBAPlayoffs THREES MADE list! #ThatsGame pic.twitter.com/Oowitx9sie

— NBA (@NBA) May 26, 2021

By the time this seasons playoffs wrap, Harden could very well surpass both Manu Ginobili and potentially Klay Thompson on the list.

Harden will get another chance to move up to #5 on the list on Friday when the Nets travel to TD Garden to face the Celts in Game 3 of the series.

The post James Harden Surpasses Reggie Miller on All-Time Playoffs Threes-Made List appeared first on SLAM.

In previous eras, players like Curry were more common, sticking with one team and playing out their entire career in one city. An example of this was Reggie Miller, who spent his entire career with the Indiana Pacers.

Miller recently spoke to Nick Friedell of ESPN, saying that he isn’t on board with the recruiting that goes on in the modern NBA. In fact, he said that even if Michael Jordan would have recruited him, he wouldn’t have even considered it.

“I would have told him to go f— himself”

While the league has shifted of late when it comes to the style of play on the floor, it’s also changed off the court. Like we’ve seen with the Los Angeles Lakers and the Brooklyn Nets, its not uncommon to have several superstars on one team these days.

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NBA veteran Udonis Haslem was recently a guest on the Neat and Unfiltered Podcast with Kenyon Martin Sr. and said that Duncan Robinson is the best shooter he’s ever seen. 

“Duncan the best shooter I ever seen bruh. I’ve been with the greatest ones. Ray Allen, Mike Miller, James Jones, Rashard Lewis, Daequan Cook. I’ve been with some people that have won 3-point competitions.”

Haslem, currently a member of the Heat and teammate of Robinson, would go on to give more detail on what makes him so special when it comes to converting from beyond the arc. 

“The thing that makes Duncan the best shooter is the way he gets his shot off. He gets his shot off in multiple different ways: off the dribble, off the handoff, step back, side step. I ain’t never seen nobody don’t stop moving throughout the whole game.”

Robinson is a second-year NBA player who went undrafted and started his college career at a Division III school. As a rookie in the 2019-20 season, he broke the team record for the most threes in a single season and got roughly a third of the way to becoming the franchise’s all-time leader in the category in that single season. 

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Not only is this a huge accomplishment in general, but it’s even more special for Curry—who has always said Miller was his favorite player growing up.

After the game, Miller joined the Warriors’ postgame media call to congratulate Curry, as well as showed him love on Twitter with a tribute video. Curry and Miller had always been close, but this brought things to a whole new level.

Curry needs just over 400 more three-pointers to pass Allen and become the NBA’s all-time three-point champion. To put that into perspective, from the 2012-13 season through the 2018-19 season, Curry made an average of 301 three-pointers per season. If he were to continue that rate, he would pass Allen at some point next season.

Steph Curry is only 32 years old and has plenty of basketball left in him. When it’s all said and done, not only should he earn the crown as the best three-point shooter ever in the next year or so, but he will likely completely shatter Ray Allen’s current record.

The post Steph Curry Passes Reggie Miller For Second Most Three Pointers in NBA History appeared first on SLAM.

Another thing that has changed is the physicality which teams are allowed to play with. In the modern NBA, fouls are much more prevalent and teams aren’t allowed to bully their opponents on defense.

Reggie Miller, who is one of the better shooters in NBA history, spoke on this topic earlier this week. As an analyst for TNT, he gave his thoughts on a foul that was called during a Milwaukee Bucks and Miami Heat game.

“If this was in the 90’s,” Miller said, “[and] you couldn’t contest my shots, you had to go on the side of me, I’d average 45 points. I just don’t know how you contest shots nowadays.”

The league certainly has changed when it comes to the rulebook and what is considered a foul. Defenders are at a disadvantage with how many ways they could be called for a foul against jump shooters. To Miller’s point, this also allows shooters to get off more clean looks, therefore further pushing the league towards shooting more threes.

Miller averaged 18.2 points per game in his career on .395 from three-point range. While he likely wouldn’t average 45 points in the modern NBA, it would be interesting to see how him and other shooters from his decade would have performed if the game were officiated like it is today.

The post Reggie Miller on Modern NBA: ‘I’d Average 45 Points’ appeared first on SLAM.

But going into that night, GMs and coaches had already determined that there were a half-dozen can’t-miss players. Allen Iverson, Marcus Camby, Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Stephon Marbury, Ray Allen and Antoine Walker were the “Super Six of ’96,” the dudes that were locks to be selected first. And that’s how it played out.

Another half-dozen teams would make their picks, all missing out on a chance to draft the man who would immortalize the #8 and the #24.

So cheers to the Dirty Dozen and Unlucky #13 for making the mistake of a generation.

In honor of UNDEFEATED’s new Kobe 5 pack, we’re running down every player selected before Kobe and every franchise that got it wrong by not taking him.

1.     Allen Iverson, Philadelphia 76ers

Italy was isolation. For most of his time over there, Kobe was alone, obsessing over basketball, dreaming and imagining the places that the game could take him. Then when he and his family got back to the States, they settled in Philadelphia. Lower Merion High School was the new headquarters for young Kobe to finally show the work he had put in during all those years.

It was like a comic book superhero had made his grand entrance.

Boom!

Pow!

Wham!

It wasn’t a bird or a plane—it was Kobe flying over every high school kid that dared to guard him. #33 was an unstoppable force, an immovable object that just wanted to see every school in Philly burn.

But the Sixers weren’t watching the story unfold. They selected Allen Iverson with the first pick in the ’96 draft.

Iverson and Bryant would have their battles. They’d each win and they’d each lose. Sometimes Kobe was the villain and sometimes he was the hero.

Until 2001, when Iverson earned League MVP and carried an offensively-challenged squad to the Finals. The roles were clear. Iverson was The Answer, the person that the entire country was rooting for. Kobe was the one standing in his way.

But there was no happy ending, no way the sun would shine on Iverson and Philly. Kobe made sure of that.

He sent his hometown team back home by doing everything on the floor and reminding them in between hounding defense, marvelous shotmaking and an evil competitiveness that their local kid wasn’t a kid anymore.

“It was always a war,” Iverson said in 2016. “You knew you had to come with your best. He brought everything out of me. He’s a fighter. With all the criticism that came his way throughout the years, he was able to overcome it all. That’s how he’s built. He loves proving people wrong.”

You hear that, Philly?

2. Marcus Camby, Toronto Raptors

Defense, rebounding and leadership were the qualities that made Marcus Camby a sure thing coming out of the University of Massachusetts. He was forever steady on the backline, plus he brought athleticism to the offensive end, as well as a very famous shooting form that was actually good money for the entirety of his 17 years in the League. 

But damn, did Kobe love playing against him. They played against each other 37 times and Camby came up on the wrong side of those matchups 24 times. Bean was out there giving him a light dose of 25 points every time they linked up. Then there were the times he gave Camby and his teams the gold-member level scoring treatment. Those were all-inclusive experiences that saw 51 points and 42 points (twice) get put on the Nuggets. 

And that career average of 25 points per game against Camby got upped to 33 a night when they met in the 2008 playoffs. Bean put that Nuggets team out of their misery swiftly. In the four-game sweep he put up 32 points, then 49 points, then a calm 22 and ended them with an efficient 31.

The defense that Camby got drafted for wasn’t ever enough vs #8 or #24. 

But back to the Raptors real, real quick. 

January 22, 2006. 

81 reasons to regret passing on him in ’96. 

3. Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Vancouver Grizzlies

The shots seemed to cascade down from the rafters when Kobe found the zone. It used to look like they were falling and descending from basketball heaven, like Kobe was above the floor, higher than the defense—hooping from the sky. He would raise up and no matter what the defense did, the shots would splash through the net. And it would happen relentlessly, until the final buzzer mercifully sounded. 

It wasn’t just that there were a lot of shots. It’s that, truthfully, they were often bad shots against good defense that somehow always went in. 

Ask Shareef Abdur-Rahim about January 19, 2006. 

The third pick in the ‘96 draft had moved on from Vancouver to Sacramento by that point. His Kings team caught up with Kobe just three nights before he hit 81. He was already in the zone. 

Kobe racked up 51 points, getting the step on every single member of the Sac-Town defense. He did his damage from wherever he wanted to on the floor but most of his buckets came in the midrange, taking bad shots that became good shots because they went in. Clinically speaking, it was a first-class education in midrange footwork out of the triple-threat. Prof. Bryant was nice enough to give the Kings a free course. 

The Lakers lost in overtime that night. But a decade into their careers, Bryant showed Adbur-Rahim what the zone truly looked like. 

4. Stephon Marbury, Milwaukee Bucks

Stephon Marbury deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. That’s how nasty he was. From Lincoln High School in Coney Island to Georgia Tech in Atlanta to the NBA to China, the only thing that ever changed was the jersey. The rest stayed the same. The hunger he played with, the fight he showed, the brilliance he brought to the hardwood, it all deserves to be rewarded with a spot in Springfield. 

That’s why the fourth pick’s words about Kobe, from a 2007 interview, carry so much weight. This isn’t Steph speaking about the finished product, the man with five chips and two Olympic Golds and over 30,000 career points. This is the single-minded, uncompromising, still-searching-for-the-next-rings Kobe. So listen up. Because real ballplayers know real ballplayers. 

“The way he goes at basketball and his preparation and dedication is something that’s unique. Kids think that he’s Kobe Bryant, he’s just as good as he is because of him just knowing how to play. They don’t know before the product touches the store, there’s a lot of things that has to go into that. People, when they look at him play, it’s like, ‘Oh, I could do that.’ Nah, you can’t do that. He’s the only person on this Earth that can do what he’s doing on a basketball court. He defends and plays offense. Who does that? He guards, he defends, he stops people. And then do that on the offensive end? Seeing him that night is like, ‘Damn, I can’t score and he about to bust my ass.’ That’s a hard pill to swallow.”

5. Ray Allen, Minnesota Timberwolves 

Enter the mind of a predatory animal on the hunt for food. Picture the hours that go by stalking and waiting for the right moment to make the right move to execute the right strike. Imagine all the time that is spent trying to survive and advance, all the skills sharpened by those experiences. 

But there’s something else out there in the wild. Another predator that’s just as big, just as cunning and even more cold-blooded. 

No matter what you do, that animal is marking you as its prey, just like you’ve marked others as your own prey. 

You know this. You know it’s coming. You know it wants blood. 

Ray Allen knew that Kobe had him marked. He learned about that when they met while traveling together to the Rookie Combine in Chicago. Kobe had Allen in his sights, studying him during his career at UConn, clocking the footwork and the instantly-squared-to-the-rim shoulders that Ray used on his jumpshot. Allen even knew how Kobe always felt disrespected about getting selected well after he did in the draft. 

They had their fights in between Los Angeles, Milwaukee and Seattle. All those scraps were meant to lead up to the battles in 2008 and 2010. 

When two alphas meet, it becomes a war of the mind. The bodyblows will land, but the spirit will stand. 

Allen won in ’08, catapulting three-pointer after three-pointer, setting what was then a Finals record for most threes. 

Kobe didn’t stop, though. 

He came back in ’10 and he got revenge for the draft, for all the times that Allen outscored him and beat him, for both the Bucks and Timberwolves thinking that Allen was a better player. 

The hunt was done. 

6. Antoine Walker, Boston Celtics

The Celtics were ready to draft Kobe. ML Carr, who was the director of basketball operations and the coach in 1996, and Red Auerbach, who needs no introduction, had him come to Boston for a workout before the big night on June 26, 1996. It’s no surprise that he bodied the workout. His shot was flowing and his interview was an early indication of the basketball genius he would morph into. 

They wanted to select him with the sixth pick. They saw all of it. They could see his skill level and his intellect and they could see his willingness to learn from older players and teach younger ones. They saw it from the drills that Hall of Famer Dennis Johnson put him through and they saw it from all the tapes they watched of him destroying high schoolers. 

But they didn’t take him. 

Their fear outweighed their interest. 

The Celtics were a bad team in 1996, far from all their glory of the previous three decades. They wanted to pick up a prospect that was pro-ready, somebody they could trust to adjust to the League.

They went with Antoine Walker, who ended up having a good career, averaging over 20 points per game during his time with the Cs. 

Carr and Johnson and Auerbach made the wrong decision, though. 

Bean came back and burned them in 2010 when he led the Lakers to the chip. 

They could’ve had him join the history that includes Russell, Bird and the countless other Hall of Famers that have worn the green. But they got scared. 

7. Lorenzen Wright, Los Angeles Clippers

Lorenzen Wright was tragically murdered in 2010 after a 13-year NBA career in which he averaged 8 points and 6 rebounds per game. 

He and Kobe matched up a handful of times in the League, and like everybody else, he didn’t have the answer. Kobe dropped 45 on his teams a couple of times, as well as multiple games of 25-plus. 

Out of respect for Lorenzen, let’s stick to the franchise that had spent decades in the basement—the Clippers. 

Bill Fitch, the Hall of Famer, was their coach and Elgin Baylor, the Hall of Famer, was their general manager. Even with all that brainpower and basketball history in between them, they didn’t pick up on Kobe’s potential. All they had to do was watch him play.

Here’s what Kobe did to the Clippers in 69 career matchups: 

22.4 points per game

5.1 rebounds per game

4.6 assists per game

1.6 steals per game

47-22 record

He kept the Clippers down, repeatedly making them look like the little brothers. Their “home” games belonged to him. There were more of his jerseys at Clippers home games than there were hot dogs, popcorns and sodas. He was the guest that never left, the neighbor who served as the ultimate reminder of the biggest miss that Baylor and Fitch ever had. 

8. Kerry Kittles, New Jersey Nets

It played out like a soap opera. The New Jersey Nets had made it known; they were ready to draft Kobe. John Calipari had just been named coach and general manager of the Nets and he didn’t hide any of his interest in the youngster. He had multiple private workouts in front of Calipari and his staff, with all of them playing out the same way—he was busting up every full-time Net they brought in to guard him. 

The love was immediate. Calipari and the front office recognized the greatness they were watching and they wanted to capture it in the draft and then set it free on the court.  

That love, unfortunately, wasn’t mutual. 

Bryant didn’t want to play in New Jersey and his agent, Arn Tellem, was going to make sure it didn’t happen. Drama followed from the moment that information became known. Tellem was threatening the Nets, saying that if they picked him, he’d ghost and go back to Italy. Arrivederci, idioti. Just like Calipari, Tellem knew what time it was. This was a special, special talent. 

Rumors flew for weeks. He said this and then he said that. But wait, then they said something else.

Oh, the storylines! Oh, the narratives! Oh, the lies! Oh, the truths?

The only people that know whether or not Kobe would’ve actually gone to the Boot aren’t giving up the informazione. Maybe he wouldn’t have. Maybe his dynasty would’ve been in East Rutherford, New Jersey, rather than in Los Angeles, California. Maybe he and Jason Kidd would have gotten to link up. 

Tellem’s plan worked. Calipari went with Kerry Kittles, a talented shooting guard out of Villanova. He had a nice eight-year career, calmly and efficiently averaging 14 points a game.  

The ghost came back to torment New Jersey in 2002. Swiftly, with no sympathy, Kob and the Show swept Kittles and the Nets in the Finals. It wasn’t even close. He was still #8, reigning down on those helpless defenders with towering poster dunks and the flashiest windmills. 

The love that never was hurts the deepest. 

9. Samaki Walker, Dallas Mavericks

Samaki Walker wound up on the Lakers for their 2002 championship season against the Nets. His head-to-head with Kobe isn’t on the same level (22.5 ppg vs 5.9 ppg) so let’s rewind to December 20, 2005 to show the Dallas Mavericks a souvenir they received for passing on Kobe in favor of Walker. 

It was a 75-degree day in Los Angeles. “Run It!” by Chris Brown was blasting on the radio every other moment. Kids were flocking to movie theaters to catch Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. “Gold Digger” was still getting airtime and so was “Disco Inferno.”

Kobe was scorching the League then too. From November 2 to December 19, he was out there getting 30 and 40-balls with consistency. Tearing people up with so much ferocity that it was no way he couldn’t be considered the best ballplayer on the planet. 

Three-pointers, midrange, dunks, lays were dropping with such such style and grace that double-teams and triple-teams couldn’t stop him. This was Prime Kobe. 

The Mavericks were in town and they were good that season, carrying an 18-6 record in the matchup. 

They weren’t good enough, though. 

Kobe scored 62 points in three quarters. He played 32 minutes, took 31 shots and outscored the visitors by himself. They wrapped up the third with a total of 61 points. 

It was all island-work. Nobody else around, just Kobe, the triple-threat position and pain. The water was too deep for any Maverick that came to Kobe Island. None of them could swim safely. He sunk ‘em all and then called it a night, allowing them to only lose by 22.  

Samaki Walker was long gone by then. Kobe wasn’t. 

Nobody was talking about those movies or songs on December 21. They were just talking about Kobe. 

10. Erick Dampier, Indiana Pacers

The knock on Kobe coming out of high school was about strength, both mentally and physically. The doubters all sang in unison; Is he strong enough to guard Michael and Reggie and Payton and Mitch and all the other PGs and SGs that will take him to the block? Then the chorus of those songs went like; Can he handle an 82-game season? He’s never played that many games before.

When he hardcore-failed against Utah in the 1997 playoffs, with those four straight airballs, that song of doubt rocked the nation. 

We told you, we told you.  

The Pacers didn’t want any part of the high school kid during the draft. They had their own shooting guard. He was the best three-pointer shooter ever at that point, an ironclad lock for the Hall of Fame. They were an old-school organization with a roster full of veterans. Didn’t matter how much talent the kid had, they weren’t about to draft somebody that had just gone to prom. 

So they went with Erick Dampier, a rock solid center that played three seasons at Mississippi State. 

And then they watched Kobe shoot the Lakers out of the 1997 playoffs. 

And then against the Pacers in Game 4 of the 2000 Finals, after Shaquille O’Neal fouled out, they watched Kobe shoot the Lakers into a huge road win. 

There were just over two minutes remaining in overtime. Kobe shook the shit outta Reggie Miller near the left side of the circle. A left-to-right cross that he threw between his legs sent Miller wobbling backwards. One bucket. A stare-down pull-up over Mark Jackson followed about 30 seconds later. Two buckets. Then when Brian Shaw went streaking from left to right down the lane and missed an awkward hook shot, Kobe sprang up off the floor and tipped in the miss with his right hand. Three buckets. Gametime. 

They weren’t singing that song of doubt anymore. It would be just a couple of games after that Kobe would win his first NBA championship. 

11. Todd Fuller, Golden State Warriors

To be real, it didn’t work out for Todd Fuller in the NBA. Things happen that way sometimes. He was nice at NC State and then his NBA career only lasted five seasons. Most of those years were spent on the bench. He might’ve been lacking in basketball skill or maybe he wasn’t able to mentally comprehend and then physically adjust to the way ball is played in the League.

Kobe never let the Warriors forget being so close to getting him and choosing Todd damn Fuller instead. He went 51-16 against them in his 20 seasons. He gave them a 50-piece combo in 2000 and treated them to nine different 40-point performances and 17 other outings with at least 30 points. He had even had a game in their building where he dished out 14 assists. Yeah, that guy making that many passes.

He never had to see them in the postseason and he only ever played against Fuller a combined 12 times. Ain’t hard to tell how those games went.

12. Vitaly Potapenko, Cleveland Cavaliers

On the night that Kobe set the record for the most three-pointers made in a game (it’s since been broken by Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry), he connected from distance 12 times and had three huge dunks. His primary defender was Desmond Mason but the Seattle SuperSonics threw everybody at him. Kenny Anderson tried. Rashard Lewis did, too. Vladimir Radmanovic also contested a few shots.

Bean was firing in a few different ways. Shaq got double-teamed a couple of times and hit him for some off-the-catch shots. He had some fall after he set up his own dribbles. He, of course, shot a bunch of them out of the triple-threat.

It was 2003, though. Dudes weren’t shooting three-pointers at will yet. The game still operated inside-out. Shaq got his post touches and Kobe ran the offense from the wing. So launching 18 missiles was exceptionally rare, even for the best guard in the League.

Because the crowd wasn’t used to that type of volume shooting, they were hanging on every attempt, sonically following the trajectory of every shot.

Their collective voice would rise in pitch each time he put one up and then it would crash down in unison when they dropped.

He had ten of them already in the books with 2:33 left in the third. He was on the right wing, Mason standing in front of him. He took a beat to stay there, without dribbling, holding the pumpkin in his right hand. Mason took a huge swipe at the ball, leading Kobe to rip through a right-to-left screen. He took one left-handed dribble and hopped into a shot off two feet, met with a right-handed contest from one of the Sonics’ big men.

With his follow-through up for an extra moment, Kobe laced a triple in the eye of Vitaly Potapenko, the man selected right before him in the 1996 Draft.

Life comes at you fast, Vitaly. There’s your defining moment in NBA history.

13. Charlotte Hornets

They had him. They really, really, really had him. They could’ve had Kobe Bryant playing for the team that Michael Jordan would one day own. That could’ve been real life.

Jerry West, who was running the purple and gold in ‘96, had a plan to make sure that the Hornets’ draft pick would become the Lakers’ rookie.

“Kobe Bryant, through his agent, they were trying to direct him here to us,” West said shortly after Kobe passed. “So Kobe wanted to come back again and workout for us. So Arn called me and said, ‘He’s in town, he wants to workout.’ I brought Michael Cooper in, one of the great defenders we’ve had in our League. Well, after 10 minutes, I said, ‘Stop this.’ He was embarrassing Michael.”

West didn’t stop working until he orchestrated a trade that sent Vlade Divac to Charlotte. It became official on July 11 of that year.

Then the Logo used that cap space to sign the Diesel, which in turn established the best guard/big tandem to ever play basketball.

For their part, the Hornets got Divac and some playoff appearances in the years that followed. And they also get to go down in history as unlucky #13, the last team that lost out on Kobe Bean Bryant.

—

Max Resetar is an Associate Editor at SLAM. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.

Photos via Getty.

The post The Biggest Miss Ever: The Teams That Passed On Drafting Kobe Bryant appeared first on SLAM.

During the summer of 1995, some of the best pickup basketball games ever played were organized under an inflatable dome in the VIP parking lot of Warner Bros. studio. They called it the Jordan Dome. 

While filming Space Jam, it was mandatory that Michael Jordan have the ability to work out in preparation for the upcoming season. He had just returned to the NBA after a brief stint in Minor League Baseball and the Bulls had been knocked out of the 1995 playoffs in the second round by the Magic.

Bob Daly, the head of Warner Bros., approved construction of a state-of-the-art facility nearby to the Space Jam set. From the outside, it looked like some sort of alien laboratory—a giant white bubble propped up in the middle of nowhere. The interior was designed by Tim Grover, Mike’s trainer. There was a regulation-sized basketball court (it was actually the floor from Long Beach State University), weight equipment, a putting green, an entertainment center furnished with big screen TVs, couches and an immense speaker system (the soundtrack of the summer was D’Angelo’s “Brown Sugar,” one of Mike’s favorites, and they blasted it), locker rooms with showers and a card table. The Jordan Dome had everything MJ needed. 

His final requirement? Serious competition.

THE GAMES

As shooting for the movie began, Mike quickly developed a routine.

Nate Bellamy (Technical Advisor for Space Jam; coordinated basketball scenes, casted talent and organized the pickup games): When it came to the Dome, Mike designated me as the guy to work along with Tim Grover. Tim had a key, security had a key and then I had a key. We were the only people who had keys to the actual Dome. When lunchtime came, we’d go up to the Dome and Mike would get his workout in—really, kind of foregoing lunch. He and Tim would hit heavy weights and they had various stations they would go through. After the weights, they’d do some stretching, loosen up, and then Mike would do his shooting drills. Every day would be a different kind of shooting drill. 

Nigel Miguel (Technical Advisor for Space Jam; also coordinated basketball scenes, casted talent and organized the pickup games): In his deal, Mike said I have to have my time to work out. The one thing that I will say is that this guy was religious and relentless about that…  He talked a lot about coming back [to basketball], what he had to do to regain that. That season, they got bumped by Orlando and he felt that he was just a little bit off. He actually felt that they could’ve won that year he came back if he would’ve had a little more time with the team.

After “lunch,” Mike would return to the set of Space Jam. Filming would continue until around 6-7 pm. As things wound down, Jordan would tell Bellamy to head to the Dome, link with Grover and start getting organized. He often had specific instructions about the games as well. 

Miguel: Nate and I would put the teams together a lot of times. Nate was more involved with that than I was because I was actually MJ’s stand-in, so sometimes I would go directly with him to the Jordan Dome while Nate went earlier to set stuff up. MJ would tell us that he wanted the teams set up a certain way because he wanted to work on certain things that day or whatever. He was very strategic. He’d say, I’m trying to work on going to my move this way, I’m trying to work on passing, I want to post-up. Those types of things. And he never stacked his team.

When the Jordan Dome first opened, invitations went out to local pros, other NBA players affiliated with Space Jam, additional clients of Jordan’s agent, David Falk, and the reigning NCAA champion UCLA Bruins.

Tracy Murray (Former NBA Forward): We’re doing our normal runs up at UCLA and then I start getting calls from my agent [Arn Tellem], saying: You might want to go up to Warner Bros. because they have a court that they made for Michael Jordan and he’s looking to work out while he’s filming Space Jam. I’m like, Man, this is the best player in the world, so I can’t do anything but get better by going up there and working out with Mike. 

Kris Johnson (Guard/Forward for UCLA, 1994-98): I remember going into the athletic department one day. Somebody was like, Michael Jordan called, he’s filming a movie on the set of Warner Bros. and he wants you guys to go play pickup. Now mind you, we had just won the national championship, so we were off the chain. We had been to the White House. We were on cloud nine. Now all of a sudden, Mike calls? Are you fucking kidding me? It was this really special call to get. He invited the whole team.

Before word fully spread about the games, the college kids got their chance to run with Mike. Even Bellamy and Miguel played early on. MJ would get to the Dome around 7 pm and pickup would start immediately. It went on for at least two hours each evening.

The structure of the games: 5-on-5 full-court. First to 7 points, straight up, all 1s. Call your own fouls. According to Bellamy, that last guideline was, for the most part, “respected without any major flare ups.”

Reggie Miller (NBA Hall of Famer): What stood out the most to me was how Jordan could film all day and some evenings and still come out and play two to three hours of games. Most of our pickup games began around 7 pm and lasted until 10. His call time on set the next mornings would be around 5-6 am.

Miguel: They’d play for, like, two hours and then the full court would stop, but guys were still in there to work out and do individual stuff. Mike would go lift weights so he’d still be around. And there was a section where you could socialize and play cards, so sometimes after he finished his workout, he’d go over there and play cards. It was set up for him not to have to leave if he didn’t want to. Warner Bros. really catered to him in that regard.

As with anything attached to Michael Jordan, the hype built rapidly. More and more NBA players started making their way to the Dome and the UCLA guys were gradually cast aside. Well, all but one.

Bellamy: Kris Johnson, who played on that 1995 team and was Marques Johnson’s son—Mike had an affinity for him. Mike made it clear that Kris was always going to be on his team. Part of that came from Mike admiring Marques Johnson when he was coming up. Marques was one of Mike’s favorite players.

Murray: Mike’s first pick every day was Kris Johnson from UCLA because Kris came in there and was a workaholic and Mike respected people that played hard. Kris worked his tail off and you saw that kid’s game go from one level to the next.

Johnson: I just remember everybody being salty. I didn’t play that year at UCLA. I just sat on the bench. There were a lot of times where I was the only college guy [at the Dome]. I was a 19-year-old sophomore on the floor with NBA All-Stars. So you got to understand when I was out there, it was like, Who is this? I don’t care that it’s Marques’ kid. But Mike showed me love. And here’s the thing, I balled my ass off to the point where we weren’t losing. They were doubling Mike and I’m just stepping in, spotting up in the corner, knocking down jumper after jumper.

Murray: You were getting almost an NBA All-Star Game every day. The games were to 7 so you didn’t have much time to get going. You had to hit the floor and really go right away or else it was a long wait. You had at least 100 players on the sidelines on days where everybody was in town. You’d look up and you’d have one team with Rod Strickland, Michael Jordan, Glen Rice, Larry Johnson and Alonzo Mourning. And then on the other team you’d have Tim Hardaway, Reggie Miller, Grant Hill, Charles Oakley and Pat Ewing. That one court was packed every day. You were getting everybody’s best shot because if you sat down, you might as well go lift weights because you’re going to be sitting down for a while.

GRAB YOUR COPY OF SLAM PRESENTS JORDAN HERE

Tim Hardaway (5x NBA All-Star): I was there for about a week. We played every day. You had Chris Mullin, Rod Strickland out there. Gary Payton, of course. Reggie, Pat, Charles [Barkley]. Charles needed it because you know, he’s always getting heavy during the course of the summer. He really needed to be in shape and ready to go. He loved it. Charles would be going at people. We had to go double team him because basically when he got it down low, nobody could stop him. If you didn’t want to lose, you had to go down there and double team.

Basketball stars weren’t the only ones flocking to the Jordan Dome. There was even a celebrity row.

Miguel: The who’s-who of Hollywood and the entertainment world that would drop by the Jordan Dome, just to stick their head in or to say that they were there or part of it, was amazing. All of the top brass from Warner Bros. came. You could actually get a deal done at the Jordan Dome if you were a big time celebrity. Halle Berry came by, Kevin Costner, Arnold Schwarzenegger, LL Cool J, Queen Latifah.

The weights that Mike used to work out with, after he finished using them, Clint Eastwood bought them. They ended up being a part of his regiment. He used them because they said he was pretty serious about his workouts prior to that, but the novelty of that being Michael Jordan’s gear kind of added something to it. He definitely used them.

Murray: Everybody that had a Warner Bros. show or a movie going on came in to watch the games. The Wayans brothers were there damn near every day. Queen Latifah came over a lot. The co-stars from the movie were in there. You had comedians, A-list celebrities. People that would show up at the front row of Laker games and stuff like that.

And those who did stop by were treated to a show every night.

Murray: It wasn’t like the All-Star Game today where dudes are letting each other dunk. Nah, if you went in there to dunk, you were going to get knocked on your ass. It was like an NBA playoff game of the 1990s. There was one particular day when Reggie Miller and Michael Jordan—and you know they had a rivalry—those two went at it. It was to the point where all of us on both teams, we just wanted to stand and watch the matchup. They were talking major trash, calling each other out. It got to the point where if you had the ball it was like, Man, you take it, I want to see what your reply is.

Miller: Mike and I used to do battle and get after one another. I always wanted to be on the opposite team as MJ. My whole purpose of going to these games was to try and find a vice I could use if and when we faced each other during the regular season and/or playoffs. Safe to say I never found one because he didn’t have any deficiencies.

Muggsy Bogues (Former NBA Guard): I was hurt and I couldn’t go take part in it. I had just had surgery on my knee. But you heard about all of the games and the trash talking that went on. They had some unforgettable trash-talking pickup games.

Hardaway: If you were there, you were there to play. You weren’t there to just BS around. There was shit talking up in your face, good defense. It was very, very, very competitive. You didn’t want to lose. It was all about bragging rights… You came with your best. You were there to bust people’s ass and show them, this is the way it’s going to be all season long when I play against you. You wanted to put something in people’s minds. Like, every time I play against you, this is the way it’s going to be.

Miguel: You felt it in the air when those guys walked in. You wanted to show what you could do. The fact that it’s on the Warner Bros. lot—you’re in Hollywood. You have people there that usually wouldn’t be there for a pickup game, so everybody wants to show up. And it’s bragging rights to a certain extent. The feel of MJ coming back and people testing him out. It was like lightning in a bottle.

Bellamy: One day, when Cedric Ceballos first came up, he saw Kris Johnson on Mike’s team. Cedric had been told it was NBA players only. He saw Johnson on the floor and he’s like, What is he doing out there? He was questioning why Kris was playing and all of that. So Mike said to him, When you get on this court, I’m gonna dunk on you. Cedric gets on the court. He picks up Mike. Mike is jabbing him, he makes a move and they split. Cedric went one way and Mike went the other way and they both met up at the rim and Mike scissor-dunked on him. BOOM! I swear to God.

Johnson: That dunk was a part of a series of plays, a flurry that Mike gave to Cedric. Imagine Mike’s in the mid-post, right? Cedric is on him with an arm-bar. Mike’s got the ball near his right shoulder, he has his head turned and he’s talking to Cedric as he’s leaning back. He faces up and he continues to talk and that’s when he went to a jab series and was like, Take off my number, you’re disrespecting my number! He’s jabbing, palming the ball and talking shit to Cedric Ceballos, telling him he’s disrespecting his number because Cedric Ceballos wore No. 23.

Bellamy: When Mike steps on that court, he becomes a whole different person. I remember one time he was warming up and shooting around. He was on the court with other NBA players, some of them NBA All-Stars, and he’s shooting around saying, “I’m a pro. I’m a P-R-O.” He’s saying that so they can hear him. And the way that he’s saying it, it’s almost like he’s saying, “I’m a pro, and you’re not.” He’d say, “I’m a pro,” and then he’d spell it out. [laughs]

Joe Pytka (Director of Space Jam): I only played up there three or four times. The only memory I have really is that Michael was a beast. One poor guy who was about 6-9 was trying to post Michael up. Every time he came down, he did the same move and Michael blocked his shot every time. After three or four times, Michael just chewed him out. He said, You’ve been doing the same move for the last 15 minutes and it ain’t working for you. Figure something else out. The guy was humiliated. He just killed the guy.

The most memorable experience I had up there was, Michael was coming down on a break and I was going to take a charge right in the middle of the key. Mike was coming right at me and he never went left or right, he went right through me and dunked over me. I’m gonna tell you something and you’re not going to believe this, I didn’t feel anything. I don’t know if he went over me, I’m 6-5 and weigh about 230. It was magic. It was like a ghost went through me and dunked. I don’t know whether he jumped completely over me. I wasn’t crouching down, I was standing straight up to take the charge. He just dunked it and it was like a ghost. I’ll never forget that.

Bellamy: I’ll never forget when Charles Oakley came. His first day playing at the Dome, he played in the first game against Mike’s team. And Oakley is the only player who came to the Dome and won every game that particular night. If you know anything about Charles Oakley, he only has one speed when he plays. Every game was like a playoff game.

Johnson: One of the highlights for me was Mike going against Grant Hill. We were playing five on five, but it was basically them two. They scored all the buckets. We gave it to them and got out of the way. No one was doubling or any of that. They’re saying, Don’t double! Don’t send no double, stay over there! This is when Grant was sick. Right in his prime, Grant was just incredible. That, for me, was a great matchup.

Miller: Juwan Howard and Dennis Rodman were the two players who really stood out to me, besides Jordan being Jordan. Those two guys always brought it.

THE IMPACT

On the very last day of games at the Dome, a new face entered.

Miguel: When we first started filming the movie, I don’t know if you remember but the [NBA] strike was on. Magic [Johnson] had wanted to come and work out, but because he was a part of ownership at that time, he couldn’t be associated with the workouts until the strike got settled. He came up, like, the last day, right before filming ended. They wouldn’t allow him to come before and it was driving him crazy. It’s Magic, plus you’re in L.A., Hollywood. This is his city. Needless to say, that day when the moratorium was lifted or whatever, Magic was there.

From those pickup runs, Mike was able to get his timing and endurance back, develop his skills, take notes on his opponents and learn valuable information about future teammates.

Hardaway: Everybody just wanted to play and see if Michael was serious [about his comeback]. He was definitely serious. He was definitely serious about coming back and being Michael Jordan again and winning another three-peat. That was his goal and he did it. I think it was more for him to gauge and see if he was still the best or if anybody could really compete against him.

Bellamy: When Mike’s team would lose a game, he would sit out and wait for his turn. He was always watching certain players and picking up on their tendencies. One of the players that he watched really closely, and he was there every night, was Reggie Miller. I remember one time he told me, Reggie doesn’t like to go left. And he kept that in his memory bank. If you watch from 1996 on, any time they played against Indiana, watch how he played Reggie. He always shaded Reggie to his left.

The Dome was really instrumental in convincing Mike that he could play with Dennis Rodman, too. I think if the Dome didn’t happen, I don’t know if that deal would’ve went through the same way it went through. Mike had an opportunity to see how Dennis was every day coming up in the Dome and playing. And what he realized was, and what most people realize when you’re around Dennis, he’s a quiet type of guy. Even though he kind of re-invented himself with all the hair color and all that, but basically, he’s a quiet guy. He comes and he plays hard. He doesn’t cause any controversy. Mike realized he could play with him.

Rodman was traded to the Bulls just prior to the 1995-96 season and the team went on to go 72-10 and win their fourth championship. Jordan was the regular season MVP and Finals MVP that year. But it wasn’t just MJ who benefitted from the experiences over the previous summer.

Murray: You couldn’t help but get better playing in that type of atmosphere—working out with Mike all summer, playing against the best players in the League. I even took my game to the next level and felt comfortable out on the floor during the season against those guys because I got to earn a little bit of respect in the summertime.

Johnson: The thing about those Jordan runs was that it gave me incredible confidence. I went into my sophomore year and ended up averaging damn near 13 points per game after averaging [around] 1 point per game as a freshman. I shot 56% from the field that year.

Miller: Those were some of the best competitive runs I’ve ever been associated with. The Jordan Dome served a great purpose for a lot of us to get better, which we did, and to try and size up with the GOAT.

Of course, no one was truly on Jordan’s level.

Bellamy: I really had a firsthand look at Mike’s dedication and love for the game and what that actually meant. He never took any shortcuts. No matter that he was starring in this movie, the No. 1 priority for him was his basketball. He was not going to let anything get in the way of him sharpening up his skills and getting himself ready for the upcoming season. That’s when I realized what separated him from most of his peers. Let me tell you something, working on a movie, doing 12 hours a day, that’s not easy to get acclimated to, especially when you’re not an actor. For Mike to be able to do that and still be focused on getting his work in during lunch and then come and play two hours of ball each night against the best players in the world, it was different. 

—

GRAB YOUR COPY OF SLAM PRESENTS JORDAN HERE

Alex Squadron is an Associate Editor at SLAM. Follow him on Twitter @asquad510.

Photos by Bruce W. Talamon/Warner Brothers Pictures.

The post An Oral History of Michael Jordan’s Legendary ‘Space Jam’ Pickup Runs appeared first on SLAM.

Also included in the team-by-team breakdowns are all partial/non-guaranteed players for the 2020-21 season, essentially expanding the list to include any individual that could plausibly hit free agency this summer.

Related: CBA Explained – Different types of NBA free agency

Boston Celtics

Brooklyn Nets

New York Knicks

Philadelphia 76ers

Toronto Raptors

The post 2020 NBA Free Agent List – Atlantic Division appeared first on SLAM.

• Atlanta Hawks – The Hawks are going to be shorthanded at the center spot once again. Dewayne Dedmon had a non-surgical procedure to help alleviate some right elbow pain. Dedmon is expected to miss at least three games and will be re-evaluated after that. With Clint Capela still out for at least another week due to an injured heel, Atlanta will lean on rookie Bruno Fernando and Damian Jones for minutes at the five.
• Boston Celtics – The Celtics return home to Boston off a 3-1 trip to west coast. All four of those games were played without Kemba Walker. You probably know all about how Jayson Tatum went off, and you might be aware that Jaylen Brown had a big trip as well. But did you know that Daniel Theis averaged 16.8 PPG on 64.1% shooting and 10.3 RPG out west?

• Charlotte Hornets – Charlotte has begun to focus on their future, as the 2020 playoffs have slipped out of reach. Terry Rozier, Devonte’ Graham, Miles Bridges and P.J. Washington will all be in the starting five, while rookies Cody Martin, Caleb Martin and Jalen McDaniels are now rotation fixtures. That means veterans like Cody Zeller, Bismack Biyombo and Nic Batum will likely see sporadic minutes the rest of the way.
• Chicago Bulls – There might not be an NBA team more banged-up than Chicago. The Bulls are already without starting big men Wendell Carter Jr. and Lauri Markkanen and now their backup Luke Kornet is joining them on the shelf. Kornet has a severely sprained ankle and a fracture in his foot and will likely miss the rest of the season. The wing group is also struggling, as Kris Dunn is likely out for the year and Chandler Hutchison and Denzel Valentine haven’t been able to stay healthy. On the plus side, Otto Porter Jr. recently returned to practice, so he could come back soon on a limited basis.
• Cleveland Cavaliers – The Cavs are finishing the season in a bit of a weird spot. They’ve got older players in the frontcourt and mostly young players in the backcourt and on the wing. Collin Sexton and rookies Darius Garland and Kevin Porter Jr. have all had flashes. Porter dropped 30 points this week in a win over the Miami Heat. Look for new head coach J.B. Bickerstaff to emphasize the team’s youth the rest of this season.

• Detroit Pistons – Reports surfaced this week that Detroit will not attempt to work a buyout agreement with Derrick Rose. The Pistons like Rose’s fit with their team and he’s signed for a reasonable salary for next season. With Reggie Jackson out of the mix, Rose has taken over as the starting point guard for Detroit. He’s expected to hold that role for the rest of the season.
• Indiana Pacers – Indiana lost Jeremy Lamb this week to a torn ACL, torn meniscus and a fracture in his left knee. Lamb had started for the Pacers while Victor Oladipo rehabbed during the first half of the season, and went to the bench when Oladipo re-assumed his starting two-guard role. Now, instead of having a double-digit scorer off the bench, Indiana will ask more of Justin and Aaron Holiday and T.J. McConnell on their second unit.
• Miami Heat – The Heat’s road woes continued this week, as they dropped their sixth-straight game away from South Beach. Miami was also upset at home by the Minnesota Timberwolves. With key rotation players Tyler Herro and Meyers Leonard out, the Heat’s depth has been tested. Erik Spoelstra is also dealing with the task of trying to work Andre Iguodala and Jae Crowder into his rotation. All of that has added up to Miami slipping five games behind Boston in the race to stay out of Milwaukee’s half of the Eastern Conference bracket.
• Milwaukee Bucks – Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: The Bucks are on a win streak. This time around it’s “only” four games (and counting!). The most recent of those games was a victory on the road against the Toronto Raptors. Giannis Antetokounmpo said that last year’s playoff loss to Toronto was on his mind entering that game and a motivating factor to come away with a win. The Bucks also became the earliest playoff-clinching team, when they locked up a postseason spot this week.
• New York Knicks – The Knicks continue to have flux at the point guard position. This week Frank Ntilikina went down with a groin injury. This time around Ntilikina will likely be out for a couple of weeks according to head coach Mike Miller. As Ntilikina went out, Elfrid Payton returned from a sore right ankle. Payton immediately reassumed his starting spot, which sent Dennis Smith Jr. back to the bench. The point guard revolving door continues in the Big Apple.
• Orlando Magic – The Magic have inserted trade deadline addition James Ennis III into the starting lineup. Ennis’ presence as a starter gives Orlando another shooter on the floor. While Ennis’ stats aren’t great, it seems to have opened things up for Aaron Gordon. In the month of February, Gordon is averaging 19.9 PPG, 9.0 RPG and 5.0 APG. That’s helped Orlando climb to within half a game of Brooklyn for the seventh seed in the East.

• Philadelphia 76ers – Philadelphia is going to be down both of their All-Stars for at least a little while, as Joel Embiid hurt his left shoulder on Wednesday. Embiid will join Ben Simmons on the sidelines, as Simmons’ return from an impingement in his back is still unclear. Philadelphia went back to Al Horford in the starting lineup with Simmons out, and Horford will remain a starter for however long Embiid is shelved.
• Toronto Raptors – The Raptors dropped a game to the Bucks, but have won 17-of-19 games, including a 15-game win streak. Toronto is getting a little bit healthier too, as they’re now down just Marc Gasol and Norman Powell from their regular rotation. Powell’s return is imminent, as he returned to full practice this week. Gasol will be a little bit longer, as he just started light practice, but the Raps are almost back to full strength in time for the stretch run.
• Washington Wizards – Bradley Beal is playing out of his mind right now. Beal has scored at least 26 points in 14 straight games. This week, he went supernova, as he scored 53, 55 and 30 points. That scoring binge has helped the Wizards cling to playoff life, as they’re 4.5 games behind Orlando for the final postseason spot in the Eastern Conference.

The post Newswire Notebook: Brad Beal’s Scoring Spree and More appeared first on SLAM.

Is he nervous?

“It’s just basketball,” Zion Williamson told ESPN’s Andrew Lopez. “This is what I’ve been doing since I was 4.“

He’s not wrong. For years Williamson has been wreaking havoc on his opponents and for nearly as long, fans and the media have been fixated.

Williamson made the cover of SLAM Magazine as a 16-year-old thanks in no small part to the fact that he terrorizes the basketball court like the Patrick Ewing Monstar in Space Jam.

Read It: Adam Figman’s cover story on 16-year-old Zion Williamson

Williamson wrote SLAM’s high school diary in 2017-18, went away to play college basketball at Duke, nearly precipitated the real-time implosion of NCAA basketball in front of none other than Barack Obama, got drafted with the top pick in the 2019 No. 1 NBA Draft and is now here, speaking about his regular season debut on the eve of his arrival.

The fact that we’re talking about Williamson’s debut in January, of course, stands out. After several preseason contests’ worth of brilliance in October, it became clear that a knee injury that required rehabilitation would sideline the standout rookie for an ambiguous amount of time.

Williamson’s rehabilitation stretched from an initial return timeline of six-to-eight weeks all the way to the three month hiatus that it ended up being. In the meantime, Williamson has remained a major part of the NBA narrative despite never having actually played when it matters.

In November, Reggie Miller riffed that Williamson could miss the entire 2019-20 campaign on live television and was immediately correct by a ‘little birdy’ that understood differently. Earlier this month the 19-year-old’s absence was at least partially credited with the ratings drop impacting the league at large.

Williamson will remain in the spotlight for the remainder of the 2019-20 campaign and much will be written about his integration into a Pelicans offense that has started to show promise after a miserable 13-game losing streak.

At the halfway point of the season, the Pels are just three games behind the No. 8 seed in the West. With or without Williamson, the crew assembled by first year executive David Griffin is proving that they’re as intriguing as many wondered in the summer.

Free here on out, with the uncertainty surrounding Williamson’s absence now all but vanquished, it’s just basketball.

The post Zion Williamson Prepares For Regular Season Debut appeared first on SLAM.

In this post, just one of a series of 30, we’ll break down the reports that have started to trickle out about Knicks players that may or may not be on the move. While there’s no guarantee when it comes to a league as wild as the modern NBA, it doesn’t hurt to brush up on each squad’s roster as the deadline draws near.

Players Unlikely To Be Traded

• R.J. Barrett
• Mitchell Robinson

The list of untouchables for New York likely shrinks to zero should a star somehow try to finesse his way to the city via trade. Short of that scenario, the Knicks are keeping R.J. Barrett and Mitchell Robinson long-term as building blocks for the future. 

The No. 3 pick from the 2019 NBA Draft hasn’t been the most efficient player in the league but he’s shown flashes of a potential star through the first half of the season. Robinson, who was selected with the No. 36 overall pick a year ago, likely would be a top-10 pick if NBA clubs were granted a re-do of that 2018 draft. Both players give the Knicks faithful some hope for the future.

Biggest Name Available On Market

• Marcus Morris

On a team with numerous power forward, Marcus Morris was expected to be an odd fit. It had been years since he had proven the ability to play the three efficiently, having practically moved to the four full-time during his Boston stint, and it wasn’t clear what the Knicks’ intentions were with regard to his rotation spot. However, Morris has embraced his role as a high-usage wing. At age 30, he’s put forth a career-high player efficiency rating, leading the team in NBA Math’s offensive points added, while creating a potential market for his services that wasn’t there over the summer.

New York could sell high on Morris (the Sixers and Clippers are said to be interested) and some speculate that the franchise could get a first-rounder for him in return. Yet, Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News hears that the Knicks would prefer to trade Bobby Portis over Morris and some members of the organization believe that Morris could be a long-term fit with the club, Ian Begley of SNY.TV writes.

Despite some recent success, New York projects to be deep in the lottery again and it seems more likely than not that the team will deal Morris, who is on an expiring deal.

Logical Trade Pieces

• Bobby Portis
• Taj Gibson
• Wayne Ellington
• Frank Ntilikina

The report signaling the team would like to trade Portis over Morris is concerning for the big man’s future in the big city. He signed a two-year, $30.8MM contract (team option in 2020-21) over the summer but has seen his role dwindle compared to past stops. His 21.3 minutes per game are his lowest since the 2016-17 season. Portis, like fellow free agent additions Taj Gibson and Wayne Ellington, has been eligible to be traded since Dec. 15.

While Ntilikina turned heads at the World Cup over the offseason, he remains a holdover from the Phil Jackson regime that has yet to average more than 22 minutes per game. The Knicks haven’t hid efforts to find other long-term solutions at point guard, as evidenced by the subsequent acquisitions of Smith Jr. and Payton.

Trades Are Possible

• Julius Randle
• Elfrid Payton
• Dennis Smith Jr.
• Kevin Knox
• Reggie Bullock
• Allonzo Trier
• Damyean Dotson
• Ignas Brazdelkis

Julius Randle has seen a resurgence under interim coach Mike Miller. Some around the league believe the Knicks would be open to moving the big man, according to Newsday’s Steve Popper. Elfrid Payton has taken control of the starting point guard position in New York, though he’s not tethered to the franchise. His salary for next season ($8M) is non-guaranteed. There were rumors that Dennis Smith Jr. wanted a trade, though the point guard publicly squashed those reports. Kevin Knox, who was selected with the no. 9 overall pick in the 2018 draft, has essentially been a role player in New York. He could have more opportunities if the team deals away some players at the deadline. Reggie Bullock recently returned from a neck injury. The wing is making just $4M this season and will make $4.2M next year, though that salary is non-guaranteed. Alonzo Trier re-signed with the club this offseason and hasn’t carved out a spot in the rotation this year. Prior to the season, Ignas Brazdelkis spoke about how he felt he could compete for the Rookie of the Year award. To date, he’s played eight games for the Knicks.

The post 2020 NBA Trade Deadline Primer: New York Knicks appeared first on SLAM.

Bullock, who underwent unexpected spinal surgery after an issue was revealed in his team physical, hasn’t been ruled out for New York’s contest on Jan. 1, Marc Berman of the New York Post reports.

We wrote about how Bullock’s failed physical prompted the New York franchise to reconsider its $21 million commitment and they instead signed Bullock to a one-year pact worth $4 million.

Bullock promptly began the rehabilitation process with the organization but that was interrupted by the tragic death of his sister. Bullock was away from the team for several weeks to be with his family.

Despite the horrific 2019, the swingman is eager to get to work in 2020.

“If the team and organization thinks it’s the best thing for me,” Bullock told the New York Post. “2020 is going to be great year for me. 2019 wasn’t the best. 2020 will be a great year for me. If I suit up for the game, I’ll be ready for it. I’m focused on 2020 for sure.”

The 28-year-old returned to practice over a week ago and will provide elite three-point shooting and depth for the Knicks and their recently appointed interim coach Mike Miller.

The post Reggie Bullock Could Return In January appeared first on SLAM.

As Scott Kushner of The Times-Picayune reports, we’re now six weeks into the original six-to-eight week timeline and the team has been mum about a projected return date.

When Miller, courtside at a Pels game, opined that Williamson may be out for the entire 2019-20 campaign, he was promptly informed that the 2019 NBA Draft’s first-overall pick was on pace to meet the initially forecast return window.

Miller relayed the correction on television and we’ve awaited further details since.

Now, TNT’s Kristen Ledlow is reporting that, while Williamson has turned a corner in his rehabilitation, his return will definitely come outside of the six-to-eight week window. That means hoops fans won’t see the rookie in action until the second half of December or later.

Williamson has been working his way back to game shape after knee surgery to correct a torn meniscus in October.

ESPN’s Marc J. Spears reported last week that the forward had begun working out and bearing partial weight but that he hadn’t yet been cleared for contact.

The post Zion Williamson’s Return To Exceed Projected Timeline appeared first on SLAM.

Now, TNT’s Reggie Miller confirms that the big man’s recovery is right on track to get back on the court in mid-December.

The No. 1 pick in the 2019 NBA Draft dominated preseason but was ruled out of the team’s final exhibition match and hasn’t seen regular season action at all.

Miller’s revelation came shortly after he speculated that the first-year forward could potentially miss the entire 2019-20 season.

Miller, of course, was courtside commentating on a Pelicans game and could have been corrected by somebody within the organization after broadcasting his more pessimistic “gut feeling”.

There have been no shortage of hot takes regarding Williamson’s injury, many of which center around the idea that he’s too heavy for his playing style. The team has emphatically denied that his weight has anything to do with the injury.

The post Zion Williamson On Pace For Mid-December Return appeared first on SLAM.

His father, Lindsay, was the general manager of the Victorian Basketball Association in Australia and their house was attached to a massive sports facility called Albert Park. “I don’t know a day without basketball because of the environment I was born into,” Andrew says. 

The story of Andrew Gaze and his passion for the game began in that stadium and eventually led him to play professionally in four different countries, participate in nine combined Olympic and FIBA tournaments and have an inconceivable NBL career. He is, without question, one of the greatest Australian basketball players ever. 

At 6-7, Gaze was big for the guard position and a knockdown shooter. He retired as a seven-time NBL MVP (the trophy is now named after him), 16-time NBL scoring champion (including one season in which he averaged over 44 points per game), and as the all-time leader in points, assists, field goals made, three-pointers made, and free throws made. He also won two NBL titles with the Melbourne Tigers and an NBA title with the San Antonio Spurs. Though he had just two brief stints in the NBA (26 total games), Gaze had several more opportunities to join the League. For various reasons, as he details below, he decided to pass on them. 

His greatest honor was being able to represent Australia in international competitions. After a remarkable 16-year run with the national team, Gaze currently stands as the second highest scorer in Olympic history and the third highest in World Cup history. 

Since his retirement in 2005, he’s served as a coach (most recently with the NBL’s Sydney Kings) and commentator. SLAM caught up with him at the 2019 World Cup in China, where he was calling games for FIBA, to discuss his journey, the state of basketball in Australia, LaMelo Ball and RJ Hampton joining the NBL and more.

—

SLAM: How would you describe your game?

AG: Slow and unathletic [laughs]. One that relied more on experience and structure… To see how the game is played now, it’s athleticism and a lot of natural ability. I came through an era where I was fortunate that I played with teams and for coaches that had enough structure that I could exploit my skills. I was never athletically gifted or good enough to just go out there and show my talent, I needed a lot more system to help me contribute.

SLAM: Did you have other offers to join the NBA throughout your career? If so, why did you pass up on them?

AG: My boyhood dream was always playing for Australia. The closest I got to knowing about the NBA was having the Converse Larry Bird and Magic Johnson pictures up on my wall. I had a life-size, full-scale picture of Pete Maravich on my wall. Our exposure to the NBA was really limited. Obviously, you know about the players. But we’d get a Sports Illustrated or something that’s three months old and try to learn about the League. We didn’t get to see a lot. It was on television a little bit, but not consistently. So never really got to see a lot. My dad would have friends in the States who would send him out tapes that we would get to see sometimes. But it wasn’t like today where you can just pick up your phone and see a game.

SLAM: Do you ever think about how things would’ve gone if you had moved to the NBA at the peak of your career?

AG: I remember there were times where I had some opportunities to look at programs. Probably the one that stuck out the most was following my time at Seton Hall [Gaze played for Seton Hall during their run to the NCAA Final in 1988-89, averaging 13.6 points and 4.5 rebounds], probably around 1990-91. I remember my dad was really good friends with Dave Gavitt who was the commissioner of the Big East Conference. He went on to be the general manager or somehow involved with the Boston Celtics and he was really keen to get me over there. At that time, I think it was probably a lack of self-belief and a lack of feeling like that was something that was going to be a priority or that that was something where I really had the confidence that I would be able to contribute.

And like I said, when you’re born into a family and environment where your whole being, your whole sense of doing something enormous was representing your country and competing in the Olympic games. As obscene as the money was in the NBA back then, and even now it’s off the charts, the experience is why I would’ve wanted to go, more-so than, Well, this is the NBA. I just didn’t have the same motivation, I guess. I regret nothing, but it’s something that I look back on and perhaps because you get caught up in the narrative of the NBA and what it means today you go, Well, maybe I should have been a little bit more dedicated to that. But I have no regrets. I’ve been blessed and I’m absolutely realistic about the opportunities that I’ve received and how I have no right to be disappointed or regretful of anything because I’ve been given way more than I should’ve ever received. I’m just incredibly grateful for the opportunities I did have.

SLAM: Who were the toughest players you ever matched up against?

AG: Oscar Schmidt was just a freak. Great size, he could shoot the ball from anywhere, and his greatest asset was that he could miss six in a row and it didn’t faze him at all. He had this incredible self-confidence and great ability. And with his size, he was very, very tough to stop. Matching up with Drazen Petrovic was very, very difficult. We learned a lot from those experiences. Toni Kukoc—he was at a younger stage when we got to play against him, but even then, you saw this incredible talent with his size and passing ability. Reggie Miller in the 1996 Olympics. The World Championships when we played in Toronto—Shaq was on that USA team. I think Mark Price was on that team. Dominique Wilkins, too.

SLAM: What are your thoughts on LaMelo Ball and RJ Hampton joining the NBL and how do you think it will impact the popularity of the league in Australia?

AG: The popularity is getting stronger. But it is pretty popular [already]. The league has got great recognition. It’s getting better. The marketing of the competition is a whole lot better now than it was a few years ago. Those guys coming through, and it’s not just those young guys. You know, Torrey Craig came through. Terrence Ferguson was a young guy, he came through. There have been many players that have come through the Australian system and gone on to the NBA. If you go back, I think it would’ve been in the 1990s, Doug Overton came out of college, went to Australia and went on to have a long, successful NBA career. And he’s just one example of many who’ve had that experience. Our league right now, it’s great to have the young guys coming through because it’s recognition. One, of the standard of the competition. But two, of the development programs we have in place. You look at the Australian players who are now in the NBA and the systems that we’ve had that have enabled them to have their skills to play at that level. And beyond the NBA, even at the next level down, I think we have over 200 kids at various levels playing college basketball. We got players in Europe playing at a very high level. I think that’s evidence of the development programs… With the guys you’re talking about with RJ and LaMelo, I think that they have respect for the teaching and the coaching that can help them on their journey.

SLAM: What sort of things do NBL programs preach that can be beneficial to guys like LaMelo and RJ?

AG: I think that they will learn team concepts. I know perhaps at the next level that becomes even more significant, but how you can work with the ball and away from the ball is just as important. Understanding team concepts. Because when you start matching extraordinarily elite athlete with extraordinarily elite athlete, then the IQ of the game, the understanding of how you read and react and how you work with your teammates to create opportunities—I think that’s a little bit more prevalent in our league.

What we do is a little different from the college system. I look at a lot of college games these days and I think that they’re a little bit behind in regards to the rules—as far as the shot clock is concerned, as far as borders are concerned. I think that because of the rules, along with other things, there’s attractiveness in coming to Australia, which might provide a better example of what they might receive at the next level.

SLAM: Are there other players in the NBL right now that you think have a future in the NBA?

AG: I think there are many players right now who are more than good enough to play [in the NBA]. A lot of it is being in the right place at the right time with the right program and system. You look at Mitch Creek, for example. He’s good enough. There are a lot of worse players in the NBA than Mitch Creek. You look at Chris Goulding. He could possibly find a home. They’re getting a little older and maybe the opportunity isn’t there for them, but there’s a lot of players either in Europe or around the world that are good enough to play but just need to find the right opportunity with the right system.

Our development programs—there’s a lot of kids coming through right now. There’s a kid that’s two years away from college. He’s only in his second to last year of high school. That’s Josh Giddey. I coached him throughout the juniors. He’s got college programs ringing him up and saying come play for us. And there’s a number of Josh Giddey’s in Australia where they’re so young so there’s still a lot of years to develop, and who knows how they end up turning out. But there are a lot of kids that you look at coming through the ranks that are potential NBA talents.

—

Alex Squadron is an Associate Editor at SLAM. Follow him on Twitter @asquad510.

Photos via Getty and Zach Samberg.

The post Australian Basketball LEGEND Andrew Gaze Talks Career, NBL and More appeared first on SLAM.

The reason was pretty clear: Jalen Rose.

Forget that he was a McDonald’s All-American, made two NCAA Finals at Michigan, won Most Improved Player in the NBA and averaged a career high 22.1 points per game at 30 years old. Yes, Jalen Rose could hoop, but to just list his basketball accomplishments wouldn’t do him justice. People wanted to be like Jalen Rose. They wanted to name their kids after him.

While at Michigan, Rose and four other freshman superstars, the “Fab Five,” redefined mainstream basketball. They wore baggy shorts and black socks. They shaved their heads. They talked trash. They bumped Ice Cube in the locker room. As Michigan assistant coach Perry Watson said in an ESPN 30 for 30 documentary about the team: “It was like going on the road with the Jacksons.” Even Muhammad Ali wanted to meet them. For their two years together, the Fab Five were the hottest basketball commodity in the country.

“When I watch sporting events today, I realize that athletes have become living billboards,” Rose said, via Yankees Magazine. “That really started with us. When we took the court wearing black socks and baggy shorts, business people became aware that the apparel athletes wear is marketable.”

And Rose was at the center of it all. It was Rose who manned the offense as the starting point guard. It was Rose who on the first day of practice grabbed the largest shorts he could find. It was Rose who did research before games to talk the meanest trash he could. It was Rose who threw the electric alley oops to Chris Webber. 

Rose was fearless on the court—a crafty lefty with sneaky hops and a killer mentality. After averaging 17.5 points per game during his three-year career at Michigan, Rose entered the NBA draft, going 13th to the Denver Nuggets. He brought the same demeanor to the NBA, but it took a few years for his game to catch up. In his first five years in the League, he never averaged more than 12 points per game and never started regularly.

But in classic Jalen Rose fashion, he silenced his critics right when they thought he couldn’t turn it around. In the 1999-00 season, Rose averaged 18 points, 4 assists and 5 rebounds, and shot 47% from the field and 39% from three. At 6-8, he was the perfect point-forward to pair with Hall of Famer Reggie Miller. Rose started every game for the Pacers, bringing home the League’s Most Improved Player award.

It’s no surprise that Rose’s best season to that point translated to an NBA Finals appearance. He and Miller were ruthless competitors. And Rose especially was the definition of a gamer. When the lights shined brightest—whether on the court or off—he was unafraid to step up. That was especially true in the NBA Finals, when Rose averaged 23 points per game. But he still couldn’t capture the championship that had eluded him at Michigan. Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant, and the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Pacers in six games. 

He only spent one and a half more years with Indiana, but the 1999-00 season re-energized his career. For the next three seasons, Rose averaged 20 or more points and finished out his career as a strong role player in Chicago, Toronto, New York, and Phoenix.

After his tenure in the NBA, Rose opened up his own school. Before LeBron James’ I Promise School, there was the Jalen Rose Leadership Academy. Located in Rose’s old Detroit neighborhood and opened in 2011, the school aimed to provide a stable, well-funded and tuition-free opportunity for inner city students.

“I started to get inspired around the time of the country’s economic downturn and I realized that my state was closing schools and opening prisons,” Rose said in an interview with HoopsHype. “I realized that this was my opportunity to do more and make a substantial impact in the neighborhood that I grew up in.”

From opening up his own school to rocking the black socks and baggy shorts, Jalen Rose is one of basketball’s (and sport’s) OG trendsetters.

—

Benjamin Simon is an intern at SLAM. Follow him on Twitter @BenjaminSimon05. 

Photos via Getty Images.

The post SLAM Legend of the Week: Jalen Rose 🌹 appeared first on SLAM.

This list is maintained by @AustinKent. Please forward any omissions, clarifications or helpful reminders about how the alphabet works to him on Twitter.

The post 2019 NBA Free Agency Tracker appeared first on SLAM.

The OKC Thunder superstar says he may have not “done enough” to earn the honor just yet.

PG’s second visit to Indiana since leaving in June 2017 was an emotional experience Thursday night—he was happy to see so many familiar faces, but less so with verbal abuse from “classless” fans during a 108-106 loss.

Per The Athletic:

“I felt I was welcomed more, welcomed better this year,” George said as we walked toward the exits. “And I’m fine with the boos. (But) there’s just the nasty fans. I mean, there was some explicit language. There was some name-calling. There were some middle fingers looking in the crowd. That’s the disrespectful part of it. … I mean, they don’t know me as a person. They don’t know me as a friend, as a father, as a human being. You know me as a basketball player, so all of that is uncalled for.

“It’s just more so them just being classless. In the real grand scheme of things, there’s nothing they can do to me and there’s nothing I can do to them. It is what it is.”

They going to hang your jersey here one day?

“Ah, if they do it’ll be 30 years from now.”

How come?

“I’m not sure. And quite frankly, I’m not sure if I’ve done enough to have a jersey hung here. But that’s not in my hands.”

Their bar is pretty high. It’s all Hall of Famers (and the late former owner, Mel Simon, who have had jerseys retired; players include George McGinnis, Reggie Miller, Roger Brown and Slick Leonard). Would that mean something?

“Well, I’m stacked up against a lot of greats. Again, what Reggie did here and the 18-plus years of excellence, that’s the last guy to do it, so that’s big shoes that I would’ve filled. … I would love to (have the jersey retired), because I can’t say I would’ve made it to where I’m at if it wasn’t for this opportunity here and the chance I got to be Paul George here. So we’ll see.”

Related ‘He’s on Another Level’: Damian Lillard Says Paul George is the MVP

The post Paul George Not Sure He Did ‘Enough’ for Pacers to Retire His Jersey appeared first on SLAM.

Luka Doncic did what he does best: get buckets in the clutch. The rookie scored seven of the Mavs’ last nine points, including the go-ahead 3-pointer that put Dallas up for good. He finished with 29 points, 12 assists and eight rebounds.

Luka in the clutch. If you know, you know (via @NBA) pic.twitter.com/gachCgmoyh

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) January 12, 2019

Hawks 123 (13-29), 76ers 121 (27-16)

Atlanta pulled out the sneaky road win over the Embiid-less Sixers thanks to a last-second fadeaway jumper by John Collins (25 points, nine rebounds). Kevin Huerter also dropped a career-high 29 points for the Hawks.

John Collins fadeaway game-winner (via @NBA) pic.twitter.com/5ygPb68nqR

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) January 12, 2019

Bucks 106 (29-12), Wizards 113 (18-25)

Washington’s Tom Satoransky registered a triple-double of 18 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists in the home win over the Giannis-less Bucks. Bradley Beal added the scoring punch with 32 points.

TRIP-DUB ALERT

.@Satoransky finished with 18 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists, and became the first Czech player in NBA history to record a triple-double!#WizBucks | #DCFamily pic.twitter.com/P02pNbuF5s

— Washington Wizards (@WashWizards) January 12, 2019

Pacers 121 (28-14), Knicks 106 (10-32)

Indiana shot an impressive 52 percent from the field in a comfortable road win. Domantas Sabonis put in 22 points and grabbed 15 rebounds for the Pacers.

DOMAS!

( https://t.co/T6jmxBf6kX ) pic.twitter.com/Bf4WLDAEgN

— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) January 12, 2019

Nets 105 (21-23), Raptors 122 (32-12)

Eight Toronto players hit double digits in scoring, led by Kawhi Leonard’s 20 points in 26 minutes. D’Angelo Russell had 24 points and nine assists for the Nets.

Savage playing bully ball. pic.twitter.com/JCc1rVSE9y

— Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) January 12, 2019

Cavaliers 113 (8-35), Rockets 141 (24-17)

James Harden put up a ridiculous triple-double of 43 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds as he continues his MVP campaign. Harden shot 12-of-24 from the field including 8-of-16 from 3-point land.

With this 3-pointer, James Harden has now passed Kobe on the all-time 3PM list (via @NBA) pic.twitter.com/PGDfzD5YNR

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) January 12, 2019

Lakers 95 (23-20), Jazz 113 (22-21)

Donovan Mitchell popped off on national television for 33 points and nine assists, including a nasty poster dunk in the second quarter. The LeBron-less Lakers never had a chance to lead, instead falling behind early as Utah grew its lead throughout the game.

THIS SPIDA AIN'T FRIENDLY (via @utahjazz) pic.twitter.com/Nb4PeKqRCw

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) January 12, 2019

Hornets 96 (19-22), Blazers 127 (26-17)

Portland scored 37 first-quarter points and never looked back. They were led by their backcourt of CJ McCollum (30 points) and Damian Lillard (20 points).

HALF COURT ALLEY-OOP FROM @DAME_LILLARD TO @JLAYMAN10 YES WE ARE YELLING pic.twitter.com/GABoCd06EC

— Portland Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) January 12, 2019

Bulls 109 (10-32), Warriors 146 (28-14)

Steph Curry made history in the Warriors’ easy win as he moved into No. 3 all-time on the career made 3-pointers list, passing Jason Terry. He now only trails Reggie Miller and Ray Allen for the No. 1 spot.

Steph is now No. 3 all-time in made 3-pointers. Respect (via @warriors) pic.twitter.com/mY3dw4N0Wb

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) January 12, 2019

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Luka Doncic Amazed By Comparisons to a Teenage LeBron James

The post Post Up: Luka Doncic Steps Up in the Clutch, Leads Mavericks to Win ❄️ appeared first on SLAM.

Speaking to Reggie Miller after the Lakers’ 114-121 win at Staples Center on Thursday, Kobe rebuffed Miller’s plea for Gianna to consider going to UCLA.

“She is hellbent on UConn,” Kobe said.

UCLA or UConn?

Kobe says his 12-year-old daughter, Gianna, is "hellbent" on going to UConn (via @ArashMarkazi) pic.twitter.com/w21cYLXvNQ

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) October 26, 2018

https://www.instagram.com/p/BpN9POFA3IN/

Photo via @kobebryant

RELATED:
Kobe Bryant’s Daughter Gianna Gives Her Dad Buckets

The post Kobe: Daughter Gianna ‘Hellbent’ on Going to UConn appeared first on SLAM.

The 2018 MSHTV Camp was lit. Held in the Midwest’s nicest basketball facility (Pacers Athletic Center, which is also home to the Nike EYBL), over 400 players from 37 states made the venture to Indianapolis to show that they could hold it down with some of the nation’s finest. In a generation where exposure is essential, there was no better place for a young hooper to be than MSHTV.

SLAM was holding it down with cameramen on four courts and there is a reason why. In the three years if the camp’s existence (this was year four), the MSHTV Camp has generated over 100 million video views on various platforms (YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, etc.) and 13 players obtained USA Basketball invites afterwards. While the vast majority of the nation’s top youngsters were in the building, the select group of older players in attendance all showed that they had some serious game, too.

Here are a few of the top high school prospects at the 2018 MSHTV Camp:

Terrence Clarke, 6’6, SG, Brewster Academy (NH), 2021

A consensus top-2 player in the class of 2021, Terrence Clarke came to Indy and showed why he’s next up out of Boston. Clarke shot the lights out of the rock from beyond the arc (both from the catch and off the bounce), created his own shot on anyone, and straight punished the rim with his explosive dunks. The underrated shot creator showed that his game is continually advancing and he will be on center stage this upcoming season at Brewster Academy.

Kyree Walker, 6’5, SG, Hillcrest Prep (AZ), 2020

A relative household name amongst recruiting circles, Kyree Walker continually is taking his game to new heights. The powerful guard finished through just about anyone, hit a number of deep J’s, and went in his bag to do his best Jamal Crawford shake ‘n bake impression. Bound for Arizona State, Kyree is set to be ASU’s biggest recruit since James Harden and has the talent to make a similar impact from the second he steps foot on campus.

Amari Bailey, 6’4, SG, Oaks Christian (CA), 2022

Making the move from the CHI to the left coast, Amari Bailey has quickly established himself as one of the next stars out west. The lefty is an explosive athlete who crushed the rim with dunks, put the clamps on guys defensively, and was able to create his own shot as a straight line driver. The one time Depaul commit has now reopened his recruitment and is already hearing from some of the nation’s finest colleges prior to playing his first high school game.

Josh Primo, 6’5, SG, Huntington Prep (WV), 2021

Continuing the Canadian pipeline, Josh Primo appare to be the next high major prospect from North of the border to land at Huntington Prep. He showed range out to the NBA three point line, was able to create separation for himself on the regular, and has the athleticism to finish everything around the rim with a dunk. A high academic kid, Primo appears to be the perfect fit on a loaded Huntington Prep squad.

Reggie Bass, 6’3, SG/PG, Muncie Central (IN), 2022

One of the better freshmen in the Hoosier state, Reggie Bass was straight up in attack mode all weekend long. He got to the rim at will, was an elite level finisher, and showed the ability to defend both backcourt spots. The highly touted freshman is certainly going to be one of the more sought after guards in the region, provided he continues to develop at the rate he has thus far.

Alex Karaban, 6’7, PF, Algonquin Regional (MA), 2022

A new age power forward, Alex Karaban shocked just about everyone at MSHTV with his sneaky bounce. He was great in pick and roll play, finished everything around the rim, and exhibited legit mobility for a young big man. Alex’s package of size, skill, and agility will immediately make him one of the Northeast’s better 2022’s.

DJ Dudley, 6’4, SG/SF, San Ysidro HS (CA), 2022

An explosive swingman, Dudley showed the ability to not only finish through defenders, but rise above them to finish over the top. He played the game at his own pace, was always under control, and has the size to defend a number of perimeter positions. Dudley is a part of the next wave of talent to come out of SD and has all of the tools of a big time wing.

Bowen Hardman, 6’4, SG, Cincinnati Princeton (OH), 2022

One of the better shooters in the event, Bowen Hardman picked his spots, but continually produced with some of the nation’s finest. The deceptive athlete banged everything in transition, shot the lights out from the corners, and showed off an IQ higher than most in the event. With shooters with size being at a premium (especially with the way the game is changing), expect Hardman to follow Darius Bazley’s footsteps at Princeton.

Sean Jones, 5’9, PG, Gahanna Lincoln (OH), 2022

Perhaps the shiftiest guard at the 2018 MSHTV Camp, Sean Jones already blew up with his initial mixtape and did enough to show why there will be plenty more to follow. His change of pace was straight nasty, he was able to get to the rack on anyone who attempted to stay in front of him, and he showed off a competitive side that made it clear to anyone that he believed he could ball with anyone on the court. Running with Miller Factory on the AAU circuit, Sean has plenty of experience playing up against older cats and it certainly showed in Indy.

Felix Okpara, 6’9, C, Hamilton Heights (TN), 2022

New to the states from Nigeria, Felix Okpara is a blank canvas with a world of upside. He was outstanding running the floor, showed off a great motor on the offensive glass, and made his presence felt immediately in the paint on D. Playing under an outstanding coach in Zach Ferrell at Hamilton Heights (developed Shae Gilgeous-Alexander from unranked to lottery pick), Felix will have all of the tools at his disposal to reach his fullest potential.

The post 2018 MSHTV Camp: Top HS Prospects appeared first on SLAM.

Amid the chaos of his departure from Cleveland, Irving was spending most of his time working on ‘Uncle Drew.’ The new film, which hits theaters tomorrow, also features NBA and WNBA players Aaron Gordon, Shaquille O’Neal, Chris Webber, Reggie Miller, Nate Robinson, and Lisa Leslie. It centers on a streetball tournament played at Rucker Park in Harlem, NY.

“It was an interesting dynamic coming into the movie,” Kyrie said, during a roundtable discussion in NYC earlier this week. “It was in the middle of a time in my career where I was going through a trade, so just a lot of attention behind that, and then waking up probably around 6 or 7 in the morning, being in the makeup chair for about three hours and then heading to the set for about 14-hour shoot days was a big commitment that I enjoyed.

“I had fun doing it. It was a sacrifice of time, but well worth it in terms of the companies affording me the opportunity to act in front of the big screen for the first time. Lionsgate, Temple Hill and Jay Longino, our writer, and Charles Stone — I’m just really grateful for the opportunity.”

Read more from the conversation with Kyrie below:

—

Q: Did you take acting classes to prepare for the role?

KI: Nah, I just had an acting coach. I utilized him a lot in the first week. It was really nerve-racking for me to be acting in front of a camera for the first time, but I just dedicated myself — going back from the set to my hotel room and just using some different preparation techniques and doing the best I could.

Q: Now that people have seen the movie, are you starting to get feedback from friends and family on how they think you did?

KI: It’s hard for me to accept at times. They’ll say you did a good job, you have the acting chops, but I’m just over here like, I hope I don’t bomb in front of everyone at the premiere. I just hope my rotten tomato score is good [laughs].

Q: What’s the minimum score you’ll be happy with?

KI: At least above an 85. It’s tough. Shoot for the stars.

Q: How distracting was it for you to be doing the movie while the trade stuff was happening?

KI: I mean, it was a distraction anyway. It was my career we’re talking about, and then here I am on a different scale of acting, so you have everyone on set and their dedicating their time, this is their profession and then for me, I have a profession outside of this that’s going on and taking place that has a lot to do with sacrifice and commitment, not just for me, but for my family as well. Brain-wise outside of acting, it was basketball and then you kind of had to dive back into what was in front of you, which was the movie.

Q: Is it true you found out on set that you were headed to Boston?

KI: Yeah, alerts started going off on everyone’s phones, and I got a call from my agent. And once it happened, the dance scene just got a little better [laughs].

Q: Have you ever played at Rucker?

KI: I played there. It was a time when I was supposed to play at Dyckman, but they shut down that game because it got ridiculously crazy. It’s a safety hazard there sometimes. But the culture — being engraved it in it — is something I’m down for. But then I went over to Rucker Park and actually played with Tyreke Evans there. It was just a random Saturday or random day during the week. And I played out there for a few minutes.

Q: Terry Rozier was at Dyckman the other day, you think Uncle Drew might make an appearance this summer? 

KI: [laughs] I haven’t played outdoor in a while, but now it’s just like you can sneak one in every maybe 3-4 years. Unless it’s being played inside, then it’s hard to be outside. But I mean T-Ro, he’s young, just doing the same things I was doing when I was 23-24 years old, so I respect him for going out there. I think a lot of people can struggle with making that transition from being a professional basketball player to being an entertainer outside. It’s a fine line between it, of being outside, being able to go one-on-one and just have the crowd going, too. Some people get more nervous being outside and playing in front of just random people than being in an NBA arena.

Q: Did your father play at the Rucker?

KI: Yeah, he’s a Rucker Park MVP, former. Just throwing it out there [laughs].

Q: Do you feel Rucker symbolizes the passion for basketball in NYC?

KI: I think it embodies a great niche and great part of the culture for not just streetball. You’ve seen a lot of historical players come through there. Streetball legends and high school legends that end up making a name, that really show why they can play in the NBA, at the highest level. I think that now, amateur basketball’s probabaly taken over Rucker a little bit more, and that’s a stepping stone for them to play in front of that type of environment. But it’s a 145th street, man. It’s a historical place, watching people go there, watching from the gate, being in the stands, kids running around outside the park, it’s cool.

Q: Physically, are you at the point where you could play yet?

KI: Yeah, but there’s so much time in between now and the start of the season that it’s literally imperative I take my time with this. It’s imperative for what I’m gearing up for. I’ve kind of been somewhat quiet about it but the last two-and-a-half months have been pretty intense for me. It wasn’t so much the surgery, but the reason why I had to go and get surgery. I had an infection. It was really, really intense. Leaving the games every eight hours for antibiotics. I had a PICC line on in my vein going straight to my heart. It was almost an embarrassing thing for me to be around people having a big PICC line. It was just weird for me, intense. Getting out of that was like, OK now it becomes the real climb to Mount Everest, back to the top.

Q: Are you all cleared?

KI: No, I would say in the next two weeks would be ideal of like when exactly I’ll be able to play. It’s just patience, man. It’s a lot of maintenance right now. I didn’t have the end of the season to kind of use this as a rest period, but I needed it. Over the last kind of three years, I’ve been really fortunate to be playing all the way until June. It was good. I needed it. I needed a break for now.

Q: There’s been a lot of news about your uniform number in Cleveland [his No. 2 was given to rookie Collin Sexton], did you pay attention to that story at all?

KI: Yeah, I did. It’s just in my face. It’s just in my face [laughs].

Q: Did you have a feeling either way about them giving away the number so soon?

KI: Nah, go ahead man. Do what you do. He wants to wear that number, let him wear the number. It don’t matter.

Q: The people in Cleveland said we can’t give away Kyrie’s number this soon, did that surprise you?

KI: I appreciate that. I mean, the history, it’s already captured, man. I was on one of the best teams in NBA history, in my opinion, just accomplishing something that was that much bigger than ourselves. A feat that’s — we’re one of no other teams. We’re one of one, in history. So for me, I think the biggest thing was giving that jersey to my dad. If that’s where the No. 2 legacy ends, then cool. Let ’em start up a new one. No pressure from anyone else.

Q: You gave your dad the Game 7 jersey?

KI: Yeah, right after the game. It was on Father’s Day.

—

Alex Squadron is an Associate News Editor at SLAM. Follow him on Twitter @asquad510.

Photos via Lionsgate.

The post Kyrie Talks ‘Uncle Drew,’ Rucker Park Basketball, Recovery From Surgery And More appeared first on SLAM.

Lil Rel is on a cast with some of his favorite hoopers ever, including Kyrie Irving, Aaron Gordon, Nate Robinson, Shaquille O’Neal, Chris Webber, Reggie Miller and Lisa Leslie.

“To do this movie was kind of insane, cause Chris Webber is my favorite power forward of all time, so to actually work with him was a dream come true,” Rel says. “Reggie Miller, Shaq. I mean when you get a chance to see how big Shaq is in person, it blows your mind. Like who guarded this dude? You can’t guard him. He’s huge, he’s athletic. It was cool to do a movie where I could have these conversations, because I asked Chris Webber how hard it was to guard Shaq and he’s like, Dude you have to put your whole body weight on that guy. You literally just have to lean your body and whatever happens, happens.” 

Check out more from SLAM’s interview below:

—

SLAM: There are a ton of big personalities in the movie. What was the vibe like when you guys were filming?

Lil Rel: It was fun. I was very impressed with how serious they were taking their acting. Somebody like Kyrie is just a really talented person, not just on the basketball court. He’s really smart and really talented and when people see this film, I think it’s going to blow them away how good he is. We have these kind of dramatic moments and he steps up and kills it.

SLAM: I asked Lisa Leslie who the biggest jokester was on set and she said without a doubt Nate Robinson. Would you agree?

LR: 100 percent. [laughs] He roasts you all day. He don’t stop.

SLAM: She called him the Kevin Hart of the NBA.

LR: You know who I would describe him as? I wouldn’t go with Kevin. I’d go with Mike Epps, because he roasts people all the time. I’d call Nate the Mike Epps.

SLAM: What was it like doing the basketball scenes? Several of the players have said that stuff was authentic, and sometimes even competitive.

LR: It was very, very competitive, because it’s real basketball moments happening. We had that crowd there, that Rucker crowd, when they started playing for real and they started really caring — Lisa Leslie hit, like, six threes straight. She was just on fire. I’m like, yeah right, you mean to tell me you’re that great? You can just step on the court when you feel like it and just destroy people? And that’s the truth. She literally hit six threes straight and the crowd was going crazy.

They ran real basketball plays. I thought that was interesting. I remember our director was trying to choreograph some of that and Reggie was like, No, we doing real plays. It was so funny that they all right away knew what play it was. It was very interesting. I was blown away by that. They ran real basketball plays. Reggie was coming off the screen, popping those threes. When Chris Webber got a dunk, it was crazy because he hasn’t jumped like that in a long time. I will never forget that experience.

SLAM: In terms of your game, I assume it must have improved while you were filming, just by getting tips or playing with the cast.

LR: It 100 percent did. Nate Robinson actually made my jumpshot better. He showed me how to properly follow through. I became a better shooter because of it. It’s crazy because we had a little downtime in between scenes, and during that downtime, it was like a basketball clinic [for me].

SLAM: And most of the talking during that downtime was about basketball? 

LR: It felt like I was a fly on the wall, bro. They had us in a sprinter one day, we were sitting on this little sprinter bus. The basketball conversations, were, man…. Erica Ash, who is also in the movie, brought this up yesterday. She was like, Do you remember stopping everybody and just being like hey, this is the greatest moment of my life? [laughs]. Cause there were questions I’ve always wanted to ask and they answered it. It was crazy, even the way they were giving Kyrie advice, I thought was amazing. Kyrie respects the game so much and the veterans, and he was taking all of that in.

SLAM: What were some of the more interesting tidbits or stories you heard from the guys?

LR: You know what’s funny? I asked Reggie Miller about – remember when he and Mike [Jordan] got into that little scuffle – and I was like, So who started it? Why were y’all so mad at each other? And he was like, Well Mike was elbowing me the whole game. Now this is even crazier, I got a friend who is good friends with Michael Jordan and Mike said Reggie was tripping him. And I don’t know which one of these dudes is telling the truth [laughs]. It sounds like they were messing with each other. Somebody was getting elbowed and somebody was getting tripped, but do you remember how angry they looked?

SLAM: I heard Kyrie and Reggie went head-to-head on a pop-a-shot on set. Can you tell that story?

LR: Man, that was crazy. That goes back to — If there’s a basketball in the vicinity, [Kyrie and Reggie] are gonna play. You know how they got the small [pop-a-shots]? This one was the one with the real basketball rim and a real basketball, and to see Reggie Miller just Reggie-Miller-it was one of the most real things I’ve ever seen in my life. Like I said, I’m a fan. He has a very unique shot, the way he shoots it and to watch him just grab it and shoot it.

But Kyrie won. They were very competitive about it. It was competitive and supportive at the same time. You could see Kyrie’s face lighting up watching Reggie and then Reggie watching Kyrie. It was beautiful to watch. Outside of these dudes being so great, they’re legitimate basketball fans also.

SLAM: Kyrie actually found out he was traded to Boston while you guys were in the middle of a scene. What was that like?

LR: That is a moment that you’ll never get again and just to see somebody be so happy about his new start – it was amazing to see, man. We gave him a moment because we were shooting and his brother told him what happened and Kyrie just ran out and had his moment. Then he came back in and we all started clapping.

SLAM: I know, coming from Chicago, you’re a Bulls fan. Have the relationships you’ve built with guys like Kyrie gotten in the way of that a bit? 

LR: This is what I realized this year, man… our cities put pressure on us with stuff like, I’m a Bulls fan for life, that’s all there is, I can’t enjoy nobody else.  I’m done with that. I’m 30 years old, I like basketball. I still love the Bulls more than any team because I’m from Chicago, but I like good basketball and the Boston Celtics this year looked really good and I really enjoyed them. And I remember Kyrie telling me that Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum were going to break out, you know what I’m saying? I will say this, I watched 82 Celtics games this year. I watched more Celtics games than Bulls games. Sorry Chicago, that’s just the truth. We had a really bad team this year [laughs].

SLAM: Overall, what can people expect from the movie?

LR: We screened the movie somewhere yesterday and someone walked up to me and was like, Yo I just watched the movie and I walked out of there just feeling happy. And I think that’s what you’re going to feel like. You’re just going to feel happy. It’s a beautiful, fun story with a lot of heart in it and a lot of laughs and I think fans are going to enjoy that. That’s what we love about the game of basketball is the drama and the fun, and this movie does a great job of showing a lot of that along with the heart and the laughs. I think people are going to leave out of there just happy.

—

Related
Kyrie Irving on His New Movie

Alex Squadron is an Associate News Editor at SLAM. Follow him on Twitter @asquad510.

Photos via Lionsgate. 

The post Lil Rel Howery Talks ‘Uncle Drew’ Movie, Kyrie Irving’s Acting Skills And More appeared first on SLAM.

Greatest shooter of all time. (via @warriors) pic.twitter.com/tI0fyrIbKr

— SLAM Magazine (@SLAMonline) May 11, 2018

The comments tell the story:

Layups! https://t.co/4QKaFxCEaP

— DWade (@DwyaneWade) May 11, 2018

Somehow he cheating…I just ain’t figured it out yet

— Zaywop (@Zaytxven) May 11, 2018

This dude is so consistent the video looks like its on a 5 second loop

— Kyle Jordan (@Kyle_Jordan) May 11, 2018

This shit truly is not fair,
Homie. Like seriously.
Is there a cheat code?!

— Hell Trell (@FollowThaTrell) May 12, 2018

Stephortless

— Trenton (@TButter_11) May 11, 2018

The video also reignited the debate about where Curry ranks among the greatest shooters in NBA history:

In the conversations with Ray Allen, Reggie, Korver, Dale Ellis, Nash, Peja. Only a matter of time until he gets up there in all time makes and it’ll be no question.

— Saomonella (@saomonella) May 11, 2018

I’m a big Ray Allen and Dale Ellis fan (Sonics) but Curry is easily the greatest shooter of all time. That’s not a knock on the rest of the guys in your list, but Curry has taken it to another level.

— Dangeric E (@Seattlelife) May 11, 2018

Best shooter of all time, period. If not, please provide name and numbers for whoever the supposed best (at mid-range) is. #stephBetter

— Justin Webb (@JustinWebb) May 12, 2018

That’s not Reggie Miller

— International GM (@jstafford545) May 12, 2018

Ray Allen the best. Jesus Shuttleworth com’on

— Maxadaisical (@Maxadaisical) May 12, 2018

Youre the greatest shooter of all time if people think this video is on a loop

— Ins Mable (@Xmablex) May 12, 2018

This guy is the greatest shooter of all time pic.twitter.com/DdlLSPWzZE

— +41 Akso (@mirrow24) May 12, 2018

pic.twitter.com/jMWANfCanY

— Spida future MVP (@randyslade) May 11, 2018

In your opinion, where does Curry rank? Comment below.

RELATED
Kevin Durant: Stephen Curry ‘Off the Leash’

The post Is Steph Curry The Greatest Shooter Of All Time? 🤔 appeared first on SLAM.

So, we enlisted some help. It’s not that we couldn’t do it alone—we’ve done it many times before—but we wanted to create a system that could protect ourselves from the inevitable “They don’t really know hoops!” that haters spew if (OK, when) they disagree with the list in any form. What we did was create a “board” of voters, a group of individuals who represent the sport of basketball in some fashion, and collected a Top 100 Players of All-Time list from each of them. (SLAM’s editorial staff submitted one list into that group.) Then we averaged them together using a fancy spreadsheet and voilà: We had a list, which became the one we used for our TOP 100 issue.

The folks we gathered lists from are connected to basketball in all sorts of unique ways. We wanted to make sure we were covered from top to bottom. Among those whose experience is on the court, we’ve got a Hall of Famer, a current NBAer, a current WNBAer, an NCAA stud/rookie-to-be and a top high school prospect. Off of it, we’ve got people who cover the sport for a variety of platforms—television, newspapers, books, social media—plus a basketball-obsessed celebrity and a single vote to our edit staff. The group of individuals span just about every age demo and all approach the game a little differently. It’s a good mix, and if our list looks a little awkward at times (like the run of consecutive Lakers in the top 10), it’s because it’s authentically an average of a bunch of other lists.

As for the rankings, we allowed those who submitted lists to dictate how they believe players new and old should be ranked against one another. Most people skewed young, favoring newer legends over old-school favorites—a practice we at SLAM stand behind more often than not—but enough people showed love to the forefathers that they’re repped well throughout.

(A quick note on those lists: They were compiled and averaged in very early 2018, so any amazing performances by active players over the past five or so months were not taken into consideration. Don’t worry, we’ll do all this again soon enough.)

Feel free to let us know what your Top 100 would look like in the comments or on any social network (@SLAMonline), or just argue about it with your friends. That’s what they’re there for. Enjoy.

—Adam Figman, Editor-in-Chief

—

Here are the people we asked to submit their rankings:

—

Below you’ll find 100-51 on the SLAM TOP 100. Here’s more of the list:

50-11
No. 10: Larry Bird
No. 9 Tim Duncan
No. 8: Wilt Chamberlain
No. 7: Bill Russell
No. 6: Shaquille O’Neal
No.5: Kobe Bryant
No. 4: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
No. 3: Magic Johnson
No. 2: LeBron James
No. 1: Michael Jordan

All player write-ups by Michael Bradley, Peter Robert Casey, Ryan Jones, Max Resetar, Drew Ruiz, Abe Schwadron, Alex Squadron and Yaron Weitzman.

*Active players

100. Shawn Kemp (6x All-Star)

He dunked like he had a point to make, and no wonder: Kemp skipped college and endured a difficult rookie season before finding his footing, averaging 18 and 10 over the next decade, including that unforgettable run in Seattle. He was far from perfect, but at his best, he made it reign, man.

99. Lenny Wilkens (Hall of Fame, 9x All-Star)

This left-handed PG could do a little bit of everything. Wilkens was a tremendous passer, stout defender, strong rebounder and was capable of scoring just about anywhere from 15 feet and in. The Brooklyn native was a classic New York City guard: tough, but savvy enough to run a successful team.

98. Spencer Haywood (Hall of Fame, 4x All-Star, 1x NBA Champion)

For the first seven years of his career, Haywood was one of the most imposing frontcourt players in the game. A strong, athletic specimen, Haywood exploded on the scene with Denver of the ABA before becoming one of the NBA’s top forwards. Injuries and off-court problems derailed him later in his career.

97. Dave DeBusschere (Hall of Fame, 8x All-Star, 2x NBA Champion)

Turning this over to this writer’s dad, a New Yorker who idolized DeBusschere’s 1970 and ’73 championship Knicks squads: “An all-time great defender and rebounder and an excellent shooter. This ranking is too low.” Two fun facts: DeBusschere spent two years pitching for the White Sox and he was a player-coach for the Pistons at the age of 24.

96. Tim Hardaway (5x All-Star)

In his prime—an eight-season run in which he averaged 20 points and 9 assists—Hardaway was as good as any point guard in the League. But forget the stats, and know that anyone connected to two of the best nicknames in hoop history—the UTEP Two-Step and Run TMC—was a lock on this list regardless.

95. Carmelo Anthony (10x All-Star)*

In late January 2018, Carmelo became the 21st player in NBA history to score 25,000 points, joining Dirk Nowitzki and LeBron James as the third active player to reach that milestone. Over the course of 15 seasons, Melo’s showcased why he’s one of the most elite scorers the League has ever seen.

94. Sidney Moncrief (5x All-Star)

Moncrief was a key member of the ’80s Bucks teams that were a perennial contender in the East. While Moncrief is most remembered for being able to jump out of the gym, he was also a fine shooter, rebounder and passer. He averaged more than 20 points a game for four years and was a lockdown defender who won the Defensive POY award in ’83 and ’84.

93. Pau Gasol (6x All-Star, 2x NBA Champion)*

Six times an All-Star, twice an NBA champion and a legend in Europe, Pau Gasol will go down as one of the most well-rounded big men to ever lace ’em up. With career averages of 18 and 9, the 7-foot Spaniard remains a matchup nightmare well into his late-30s.

92. Penny Hardaway (4x All-Star)

The numbers don’t do justice to his impact, although averages of nearly 20 points and 7 assists in his first four seasons come close. For that fleeting moment, he was Magic 2.0, and alongside a dynamic young Shaq, he looked ready to take over the League. Injuries cheated him, and us. But we don’t forget. 91. Jack Twyman (Hall of Fame, 6x All-Star)

91. Jack Twyman (Hall of Fame, 6x All-Star)

No player had averaged 30 points a game in a season until Twyman and Wilt Chamberlain accomplished the feat in the 1959-60 season. Twyman was a swingman with a good shooting stroke and the ability to get to the basket. A Hall of Famer, he is perhaps best known for becoming the legal guardian of teammate Maurice Stokes after Stokes became paralyzed following a fall during a game.

90. Hal Greer (Hall of Fame, 10x All-Star, 1x NBA Champion)

An old-fashioned 2-man who excelled at shaking loose to shoot—and hit—the foul-line jumper, Greer is one of the most underrated guards in NBA history. A 10-time All-Star, he played a key role on the Sixers’ 1967 championship team.

89. Dwight Howard (8x All-Star)*

Don’t let the low free-throw percentage fool you. Dwight Howard, who jumped straight to the League from high school in 2004, is an eight-time All-Star, eight-time All-NBA selection, five-time All-Defensive team member and three-time Defensive Player of the Year. In 2008, he anchored the paint for Team USA’s Gold medal run at the Beijing Games.

88. Chris Webber (5x All-Star)

Had his career not been slowed by injuries, Webber would have been much higher on this list. A highly skilled forward with some of the best hands in NBA history, he provided offensive versatility and strong board work for Sacramento’s early-2000s contenders but faded late due to knee woes.

87. Alex English (Hall of Fame, 8x All-Star)

It’d be damn near impossible to find an old-school player who was as smooth as Alex English, who appeared to glide across the court and was a centerpiece of the high-scoring Denver teams of the ’80s. English was outstanding with the pull-up jumper and could finish around the basket with tremendous consistency.

86. Dave Bing (Hall of Fame, 7x All-Star)

Long before guys like Westbrook, Curry and Harden took over, Bing helped originate the role of high-scoring combo guard. He averaged 24 points and 6 assists over his first seven seasons in Detroit. They might not know it, but today’s dominant lead guards are following the Duke’s lead.

85. Giannis Antetokounmpo (2x All-Star)*

Antetokounmpo’s “Greek Freak” nickname refers to his combo of 7-foot wingspan, 6-11 height, insane athleticism and All-Star guard skills. At 23 years old, he’s already one of the best players in the NBA. In 2016-17, Giannis became the first player in history to finish in the top-20 in total points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks.

84. Chris Mullin (Hall of Fame, 5x All-Star)

A member of Golden State’s “Run TMC” teams under Don Nelson, Mullin was a versatile scorer and master of completing old-fashioned three-point plays. Mullin lacked overwhelming speed and didn’t jump that high, but he excelled at getting open, burying shots from inside and outside the arc and finishing in the lane.

83. Joe Dumars (Hall of Fame, 6x All-Star, 2x NBA Champion)

The ’89 Finals MVP and a two-time champ, Dumars teamed up with Isiah Thomas to form one of the greatest backcourts in NBA history on the Bad Boy Pistons. Primarily known as a menace on the defensive end, it’s easy to forget Joe D averaged over 20 ppg in his prime.

82. Kyrie Irving (5x All-Star, 1x NBA Champion)*

Arguably the best ballhandler in the history of the game, Irving made the biggest shot of the 2016 Finals, lifting the Cavaliers to their first-ever title alongside LeBron. After a blockbuster trade sent him to Boston, the five-time All-Star and former ROY is now the face of one of the NBA’s most talented squads.

81. Grant Hill (Hall of Fame, 7x All-Star)

It’s too easy, where Hill is concerned, to focus on what could’ve been. For once, focus on what was: He averaged 22, 8 and 6 over his first six seasons, and despite the career-altering injuries, still averaged 17, 6 and 4 over 18 seasons. Yes, he could’ve been an all-timer. He was still awfully good.

80. Dikembe Mutombo (Hall of Fame, 8x All-Star)

The finger wag was Dikembe’s go-to taunt as he let opponents know they failed countless times when attempting to score anywhere near Mt. Mutombo. His defensive prowess to contest shots against some of the League’s best players during his 18-year career made him one of the most respected rim protectors.

79. Artis Gilmore (Hall of Fame, 6x All-Star)

By the time Gilmore made it to the NBA, he was something of a legendary figure, having dominated ABA lanes with his 7-2 frame (7-5 with the Afro) and tremendous strength. Gilmore remained an imposing figure in the paint with the Bulls and Spurs, scoring well inside and cleaning the glass.

78. Alonzo Mourning (Hall of Fame, 7x All-Star, 1x NBA Champion)

A two-time Defensive Player of the Year who averaged more than 20 points six different times, Zo was everything you could want in a center. But forget all that for a moment because this might be the only Mourning fact that matters: He played six seasons after undergoing a kidney transplant in 2003.

77. Adrian Dantley (Hall of Fame, 6x All-Star)

An undersized forward at 6-5, Dantley was a classic scorer who topped 30 ppg in four straight seasons. AD was not known for his willingness to pass the ball and defended with a decided lack of enthusiasm, but when the ball was in his hands, he was an unstoppable offensive force.

76. Kawhi Leonard (2x All-Star, 1x NBA Champion)*

Kawhi Leonard has always let his game do the talking. And damn if it doesn’t scream “All-Time Great!” He’s already got two Defensive Player of the Year Awards, a pair of All-NBA First Team nods, a ring and a Finals MVP trophy to his name, and he’s only 26 years old.

75. Billy Cunningham (Hall of Fame, 4x All-Star, 1x NBA Champion)

A bouncy small forward with the ability to drive to the basket furiously, the Kangaroo Kid was a dervish who could score, rebound and set up his teammates like few others at his position could. A knee injury and a detour to the ABA curtailed his career, but he became a successful coach who led the Sixers to the 1983 NBA title.

74. David Thompson (Hall of Fame, 4x All-Star)

As legacies go, you could do worse than being the primary inspiration for a young Michael Jordan. Thompson’s career was cut short by injures and offcourt issues, but for that soaring six-year run in Denver when he averaged 25 points per game, there were few better, or more fun to watch. Mike knew.

73. Dennis Johnson (Hall of Fame, 5x All-Star, 3x NBA Champion)

A three-time NBA champion and the 1979 Finals MVP, DJ was regarded as one of the best defensive guards of his era, earning All-Defensive honors nine consecutive seasons from 1978-87. He finished with career averages of 14.1 points, 5.0 assists, 3.9 rebounds and 1.3 steals.

72. Manu Ginobili (2x All-Star, 4x NBA Champion)*

The stats are nice—two-time All-Star, 2008 Sixth Man of the Year—but don’t do justice to the significance of Ginobili’s career. He starred for the 2004 Gold medal-winning Argentinian Olympic team that knocked off the US, and was an irreplaceable part of the four-time champion Pop/Duncan-led Spurs. Manu is a basketball legend, a player whose importance far outshines his career stats.

71. Walt Bellamy (Hall of Fame, 4x All-Star)

Bells announced his presence in the NBA with a remarkable rookie season for the Chicago Packers that included 31.6 ppg and 19.0 rpg. A 6-11 big man who could run the floor and bang inside, Bellamy was known as much for his curious behavior off the court as he was for his talent on it.

70. Vince Carter (8x All-Star)*

It was impossible, back when he led SportsCenter seemingly every night, to imagine the businesslike way that VC would extend his career to its 20th season. But nothing that’s happened since can change the legacy he set in those first few seasons. When you’re the greatest dunker of all time, people don’t forget.

69. Dolph Schayes (Hall of Fame, 12x All-Star, 1x NBA Champion)

As the bridge between George Mikan’s early dominance and Wilt Chamberlain’s reinvention of the position, Schayes was a legendary center in his own right. He averaged 20 and 13 over his first dozen seasons, and when he finally retired in 1964, he was the leading scorer in league history.

68. Bob Lanier (Hall of Fame, 8x All-Star)

He came into the League a year behind Kareem, and he never did manage to emerge from the shadow of his sky-hooking rival. But Lanier’s own lefty hook was nearly as unstoppable, and career averages of 20 and 10 over 14 seasons confirm that shadow or not, Dobber was a star.

67. Tony Parker (6x All-Star, 4x NBA Champion)*

A six-time All-Star and four-time champion, Tony Parker has been a staple at point guard for the Spurs for two decades, helping build the League’s winningest culture. He’s rarely mentioned among names like Kidd, Nash and CP3 when discussing this century’s best PGs, but he’s right there with ’em.

66. Bob McAdoo (Hall of Fame, 1x NBA MVP, 5x All-Star, 2x NBA Champion)

Only six players have averaged more points in an NBA season than the 34.5 McAdoo put up for the Buffalo Braves in ’74-75 (which occurred over a three-year run where he averaged 32.1 and 13.8 rpg). He never matched those numbers in later stints with the Knicks, Celtics or Lakers, but old heads know.

65. Sam Jones (Hall of Fame, 5x All-Star, 10x NBA Champion)

Jones was good during the regular season, but come the playoffs, Mr. Clutch really made his mark. He helped the Celtics win 10 titles, specializing in hitting big shots. Jones teamed with KC Jones to form the League’s sturdiest backcourt and was a mid-range machine who could get to the hoop against practically anyone.

64. Nate Thurmond (Hall of Fame, 7x All-Star)

A defensive juggernaut, Thurmond thrived in the ’60s and ’70s, protecting the rim with his athletic and chiseled 6-11, 225-pound frame. He recorded the first-ever quadruple-double (22 points, 14 rebounds, 13 assists, 12 blocks) in 1974 and his No. 42 jersey was retired by Cleveland and Golden State.

63. Connie Hawkins (Hall of Fame, 4x All-Star)

His legacy should not be the fact that he was blackballed by the NBA and spent some of his best years playing in the ABL or goofing with the Globetrotters. His legacy should be the dominant athleticism and game-changing skill that inspired Doc, Jordan and countless others to fly.

62. Paul Pierce (10x All-Star, 1x NBA Champion)

What’s so cool about Pierce’s career is how he smoothly transitioned from volume scorer (26.8 ppg in ’05-06, despite seemingly operating in slo-mo) to member of Boston’s Big 3. It’s a shift that landed him a championship ring and transformed him into a future Hall of Famer.

61. Pete Maravich (Hall of Fame, 5x All-Star)

Known for his shaggy hair, floppy socks and flick-of-the-wrist flair, Pistol Pete Maravich shattered every college basketball scoring record—including career points (3,667) and single-season average (44.5)—in just three years at LSU before becoming a five-time NBA All-Star and Naismith Hall of Famer. In 1988, Maravich tragically passed away at the age of 40 while playing pickup ball.

60. James Harden (6x All-Star)*

As a Sixth Man of the Year playing third fiddle in OKC behind Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, James Harden needed a change of scenery to reach his full potential. As the face of the franchise in Houston, The Beard’s been an All-NBA First Team performer three times, and is the favorite to win his first MVP trophy in 2018. Yeah…he’s just now entering his prime.

59. Dennis Rodman (Hall of Fame, 2x All-Star, 5x NBA Champion)

Beyond the tattoos, piercings, crazy hair colors and wild off-court antics, Rodman was a furious rebounder and defender who brought toughness and fearless physicality to championship teams in Detroit and Chicago. A little-known college player, Rodman became one of the NBA’s biggest personalities and impacted games without scoring very much.

58. Ray Allen (Hall of Fame, 10x All-Star, 2x NBA Champion)

Allen is one of the greatest shooters of all time, but what made him a legend was that he was more than just a deadeye marksman. He both leads the NBA in career three-pointers and defeated Denzel Washington on-screen in a game of 1-on-1.

57. Tracy McGrady (Hall of Fame, 7x All-Star)

The 13 points in 33 seconds will never be forgotten. With his 6-8 stature, he was a mix of Kevin Durant and Paul George in the early 2000s, and it earned him a trip to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2017.

56. Bob Pettit (Hall of Fame, 2x NBA MVP, 11x All-Star, 1x NBA Champion)

During 11 seasons with the Hawks, Pettit never failed to score fewer than 20 points or pull down 12 boards per game. A 6-9 bully who could also shoot from the outside, Pettit helped the Hawks to the 1958 NBA title, the only interlude in the Celtics’ 10-year championship run.

55. Reggie Miller (Hall of Fame, 5x All-Star)

Reggie was raining three-pointers and sinking clutch shots—usually against the Knicks—long before his career as a TV analyst. The Hall of Famer and Indiana Pacers legend is No. 2 all-time in three-pointers made (2,560), and is one of only seven players to record a 50-40-90 season (’93-94).

54. Robert Parish (Hall of Fame, 9x All-Star, 4x NBA Champion)

The Chief spent 21 years as a stoic force in the paint primarily for the great Celtics teams of the 1980s. He lacked flash and thunder but was a reliable post presence capable of hitting the mid-range jumper, muscling up other big men and running the floor with surprising agility. It was Larry’s team, but without Parish, there would be no rings.

53. Jerry Lucas (Hall of Fame, 7x All-Star, 1x NBA Champion)

A seven-time All-Star (and two-time College Basketball Player of the Year), mostly because he was a double-double machine. Also, the only NBA player that we know of to become a best- selling author for a book detailing how to improve your memory.

52. Dave Cowens (Hall of Fame, 1x NBA MVP, 8x All-Star, 2x NBA Champion)

Imagine trying to replace Bill Russell. Undersized but undeterred, Cowens stepped up fearlessly to that impossible task, averaging 17 points and 15 boards as a rookie—numbers he’d maintain for 10 seasons in Boston—claiming MVP honors in ’73, and leading the Celtics to titles in ’74 and ’76.

51. Bernard King (Hall of Fame, 4x All-Star)

King torched anyone who came at him during the 1984 NBA playoffs and was even better the next season before a knee injury flattened the scoring machine. He returned to score plenty but could never recapture the period when he could score at will.

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Cook, who led the Santa Cruz Warriors with 25.3 points per game shot 52.4 percent from the field, 43.7 percent from 3 and 95.0 percent from the free throw line in 29 games in the G-League this year.

Injuries to Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry resulted in Cook being called up to Santa Cruz’s NBA affiliate where he’s averaged 8.8 points per game on 48.7/42.5/89.5 shooting splits in 28 contests.

The NBA’s 50/40/90 club is an exclusive one with only Curry, Kevin Durant, Mark Price, Reggie Miller, Steve Nash, Dirk Nowitzki and Larry Bird having made the cut since the addition of the 3-point line in 1979.

The post Quinn Cook Becomes First G-League Player to Shoot 50/40/90 in a Season appeared first on SLAM.

Kerr argues that players—outside shooters especially—are “taking more and more liberties.”

Steve Kerr had some interesting comments pregame on how NBA officiating has changed over the years: pic.twitter.com/qc0QnIuZrQ

— Connor Letourneau (@Con_Chron) February 27, 2018

Kerr says players are understandably “trying to fool the refs.”

Per Newsday:

“It has changed a lot. Twenty years ago, you were allowed to literally smack the shooter on the hand, and if it was after the release, it didn’t matter,” Kerr said before Monday night’s game against the Knicks at Madison Square Garden. “You could run into the guy. You had Reggie Miller kicking people, the refs didn’t know who was fouling whom. Now there’s a huge emphasis on protecting shooters to the point where last year in the playoffs, it felt like it was almost a joke. Ten fouls on three-point shots a game, where one guy is grabbing the other guy’s arm and flailing and flopping.”

Kerr went on to say, however, that it’s never been this hard to be an official because shooters are taking more and more liberties. “I think what happens in this league is the players test the boundaries every single night and try to fool the refs,” he said. “And why not? They’re trying to win.”

The post Steve Kerr: NBA Officiating Harder Than Ever appeared first on SLAM.

The film features former and current NBA and WNBA players Kyrie Irving, Shaquille O’Neal, Chris Webber, Reggie Miller, Nate Robinson, and Lisa Leslie.

Who’s seeing it?

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The Legend is ready to ball on the big screen. Get ready to watch #UncleDrew in theaters June 29! #JustDrewIt @UncleDrewFilm pic.twitter.com/hetZxkgozM

— Kyrie Irving (@KyrieIrving) February 12, 2018

The film’s official Twitter page offered a glimpse at several of the other characters, including those played by Shaq, Reggie Miller, Lisa Leslie, Nate Robinson, and Chris Webber:

The bigger we are, the harder we ball. Meet the #BigFella when #UncleDrew hits theaters June 29! @UncleDrewFilm pic.twitter.com/2fdotuTGTE

— SHAQ (@SHAQ) February 12, 2018

Who’s hyped for this?

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The post Kyrie Irving Announces June 29 Release Date For ‘Uncle Drew’ Movie appeared first on SLAM.

Nate Robinson, Baron Davis and Rachel Demita have been tapped to host the live-streams together. Demita, who’s been the host of NBA 2K TV since 2014, will be on the mic for each week and she’ll be joined by either Robinson or Davis, who will take turns hosting each week.

We caught up with Robinson, the three-time NBA Dunk Contest champ, to talk about #TheDebut, the new sneakers that he’s been feeling, Isaiah Thomas in Cleveland, keeping his NBA dream alive and the announcement that he’ll be playing in the BIG3.

SLAM: What will your role be with #TheDebut?

Nate Robinson: Interaction with the fans, commentating with the games. Pretty similar to what you see with what Reggie Miller does. Basically calling the game, getting kid’s input on the coverage of the game. How do they feel about certain things, interacting on Twitter.

SLAM: So you’re going to be all business on the air, like Reggie or Kenny Smith?

NR: I’m going to add my own creativity for sure. But for me, it’s always going to be high energy. When something cool happens, if someone gets posterized, you know I gotta step out of my seat and give the crowd what they want. So you know, just getting that energy and giving the crowd what they want, to give it back to them, I think that everyone’s going to have a good time. On top of top, interacting with the fans. Anything to get the fans going and rocking.

SLAM: What does this kind of opportunity do for the kids that are going to be playing?

NR: I’m just jealous that I didn’t get the opportunity to be able to have my high school games broadcast like this. I would’ve gave people a great, great show. But for them, they get exposure. They get their name out there. People know who you are. Back in the day, when we were in high school, nobody knew. You had to be there. Here, they get the opportuneity to broadcast their stuff all over the world. Everybody can see it.

SLAM: You’ve seen a lot of great NBA players when they were in high school. Growing up out there in the Northwest, you got to see Jamal Crawford, Isaiah Thomas, Dejounte Murray, Michael Porter Jr, Brandon Roy and of course yourself. Who do you think had the nastiest high school career out of those guys?

NR: That’s tough because I was there when Jamal scored 43 in the state championships. I was watching Isaiah Thomas kill Franklin. He had 50-something in the tournament. But two players that I’ve seen and that I’ve played with were Lodrick and Rodrick Stewart. They played at USC. People won’t know who they are. But they were top ranked guys, next to LeBron James in high school. They were the best in the West coast. And nobody ever heard of them. We didn’t have a platform like what you guys are getting right here.

SLAM: Are they playing overseas now?

NR: One just had a new son, Lodrick. And Rodrick, he’s in the community here in Washington, helping the youth. Him and his other brother are coaches. They’re in the community doing great things. It would’ve just been good for people to actually know who they are. From what I seen with my eyes, them being in high school, the things that they were doing. Jumping over people, between the legs, reverse, behind-the-back. And I got to see that. And it was pretty cool that I got to play with two of the best players in the country on my team.

SLAM: Will you and Baron get on the court at all, do any light work out there?

NR: I don’t know, but whatever it is that we can feed off the fans. We’re just going to play it by how the fans are feeding off of us.

SLAM: It was just announced that you’re going to be playing in the BIG3. Have you heard of anyone else that’s also signing up to play?

NR: I’m not sure if BD played, but he’s playing. He has my guy, Carlos Boozer, playing. I heard Big Baby Davis is playing. He saw me put my name in so he got in. I want the guys to come back and play, guys like Kobe. It’d be cool to see Kobe, Paul Pierce. Old school guys like that. They really can still ball if they want to play three-on-three. That’d be cool.

SLAM: You’ve got to be pretty excited, right?

NR: I’m very excited. I wouldn’t say that I’m upset that I can’t show my talents in the NBA, which I want to do. Hopefully again one day because I’m in great shape. But I just want to give the fans what they want to see. I want to give that to myself. I want to give them the gift of playing hard, having fun, making shots, playing defense, blocking shots, dunking. I want to give them what they want to see. I talked to Ice Cube and he’s excited. It’s going to be fun, man.

SLAM: Where does all that passion you play with come from?

NR: I watched my mom. My mom is a one-foot dynamite. She’s a little lady, but she packs a mean punch. But her energy, as a kid, watching her raise three children on her own. Or work three, four jobs, not complain about nothing. Just go. Being a parent now I have so much more respect for her. So I play with that same fire. I’ve learned from the best person in the world to learn from, from a little lady. She’s the people’s champ here. Everybody loves my mom.

SLAM: Have you been talking to Isaiah Thomas throughout the season?

NR: Not really. Zeke, once he’s focused and he’s into his craft, he’s locked in. That Mamba Mentality. He has that. The Force is strong with him.

SLAM: You’re a real big sneakerhead. Are there any new joints that have caught your eye?

NR: Yeah, man, the new Russell Westbrooks. He had some blue ones on that were unbelievable. Those new Westbrooks, those are one of my favorites. Those and the Kyrie Irvings. The new 4s. Me and my son waited in line to go buy those, just because. Uncle Drew, what he’s doing, I just love him. I love his game. I love his sneakers. He’s making them affordable for kids to actually go and get a couple of pairs.

SLAM: He didn’t hook you up with the plug? You’re in the Uncle Drew movie.

NR: Nah, he had a pair for everybody. These are the ones that I wanted, had to go buy them with my kid.

—

See below for #TheDebut’s full schedule, tipping off this Friday:

Jan. 19 – Spartanburg vs. Shannon Forest Christian (SC)
Jan. 20 – Vermont vs. Tilton (VT)
Jan. 23 – Apple Valley vs. Lakeville South (MN)
Jan. 25 – Simeon vs. Curie (IL)
Jan. 27 – Montverde Academy vs. TBD
Feb. 2 – IMG Academy v Florida Prep (FL)
Feb. 8 – Windward v Crossroads (CA)
Feb. 23 – Findlay Prep vs AZ Compass (NV)

The post Nate Robinson Talks BIG3, Kyrie Irving’s Sneakers and Gatorade’s #TheDebut appeared first on SLAM.

Serrano’s book contains beautiful illustrations from artist Arturo Torres and 33 interesting chapters ranging from “Who’s the Greatest Dunker in NBA History?” to “What Attributes Make for the Best Basketball Villain?” The book also includes a foreword from one of Serrano’s favorite players, Hall of Famer Reggie Miller.

With the 2017-2018 season fairly new, SLAM caught up with Serrano to talk about his new book, his beloved Spurs, and get his thoughts on players throughout the NBA.

SLAM: What really caught your attention while you researched for Basketball (and Other Things)?

Shea Serrano: I learned a billion things, but the one thing that I’ll never forget is that Kobe Bryant scored more points against the Spurs in the playoffs than any other player ever in history. And I’ll always remember that because watching the playoffs—when the Lakers and Spurs were going back and forth—it 100 percent felt like that was the case. Not that it was actually true, but it was like, Oh, shit, I’ll never forget this.

SLAM: In one chapter you sorted out each of Kobe’s averages per season and determined if he was the best player in the League that year. Have you gotten any slander from Kobe loyalists?

SS: Not anything serious—it’s mostly jokey things. I think it’s because when you read the chapter, it does a pretty good job explaining why he was never the best player in the League—or maybe one year he was in 2009. But other than that, it’s really hard to argue he was the best player in the League.

SLAM: You also wrote about how Reggie Miller drew you to basketball at first. At what point did Tim Duncan eclipse Reggie as your all-time favorite?

SS: Probably by, like, the 2003 season when he became the best player in the world, because we never had that on the Spurs ever. We never had the guy that everybody was afraid of. That was when it really started and I loved it.

SLAM: You mentioned that you had planned to write a book about basketball after you wrote The Rap Year Book. What was the thought process like writing BAOT? How were you able to decide what you wanted in this book?

SS: I wanted to do a cool book about basketball that I hadn’t seen yet. The way we decided what was going to be in there was I made a spreadsheet and it had the “X” number of chapters that were super researched and gave a big picture of the NBA’s history. I wanted to have “X” number of chapters about specific players, and “X” number of chapters about other things.

Along with that, I had a list of 50 questions that I wanted to answer. I was just grabbing them and plugging them in where I thought they needed to go. Then I was arranging it so that it felt like it had the correct pace and correct tone. And there you go, that’s how we made the book.

SLAM: When you drafted the book, was it really long and you had to cut it down? Or was it the other way around?

SS: Yeah, it was like fucking five hundred pages or something beforehand. When they give you the specs of the book—before you start writing and after you sign the contract—it was 240 pages. So after I laid down all the chapters, I realized, OK, I need to cut down a lot of shit here. What’s the stuff that’s the least important to me? Then just work backwards like that.

SLAM: What do you want an average joe to come away with after reading BAOT?

SS: Come away with whatever you want [laughs]. You know, books mean different things to different people all the time. All I wanted to do was write a book that celebrated the NBA. Even the stuff about Kobe where I’m like poking him in the eye, it’s all very reverential and we’re acknowledging he’s one of the greatest of all time and I’m terrified of him. But also he’s kind of a nerd. I just wanted to people read it and go, Oh, this guy really appreciates the NBA, he loves the NBA. But as far as individual things, take from it what you will.

SLAM: Did you think it was mathematically impossible to catch and shoot with four tenths of a second left in a game like Derek Fisher did against the Spurs in the 2004 playoffs?

SS: No, the only reason I didn’t think that was because they tell you that 100 times before. As long as there’s four tenths of a second, you can get a shot off. If anything, I was mad at the shot clock people in San Antonio. Like, just let that shit run out when Duncan’s shot goes in.

If you watched the Alonzo Mourning buzzer beater that he hit in Charlotte in the 1993 playoffs, he makes it with a good 8/10 of a second left, and the clock just keeps on running. Ball goes all the way through the net, bounces around, and the clock just runs and runs until it’s out. They should have done that in San Antonio.

SLAM: Did you feel like Game 6 of the 2002 Western Conference Finals between the Lakers and Kings was rigged?

SS: I didn’t realize it was rigged until people started saying it. I’m never that insightful or smart. I just thought, Oh, that sucks, they lost. They should have won. You know, I just didn’t think that was something that could have happened. That was just beyond comprehension for me, there’s no way the NBA’s ever rigged. I still don’t think it was rigged. It was just a shitty game. Sometimes you have shitty games.

SLAM: In the book you find ways to poke fun at Rick Fox whenever you get the chance. What’s your beef with him?

SS: I don’t like Rick Fox because he’s all the things I’m not: Tall, very handsome, great teeth, successful in basketball and acting. Like, he’s just a guy you look at and you hate.

SLAM: By comparison, do you relate more to someone like Patrick Beverley? An underdog-type that wants to destroy everything in his path?

SS: That’s exactly what this is. I love Patrick Beverley because he’s that kind of person. Those are always my favorite types of players.

SLAM: Who are you jumping into a foxhole with? Matt Barnes or Stephen Jackson?

SS: Give me Stephen Jackson. If only because he was the first guy behind the stands with Ron Artest [during the Malice at the Palace]. He’s that kind of person. That’s who I want to be with.

SLAM: How much do you hate Karl Malone?

SS: San Antonio and Utah was a very heated rivalry in the ’90s and Karl Malone is just kind of a dick. He hammered David Robinson, I think [Malone] broke [Robinson’s] thumb. He knocked him out of a game, elbowed  him in the back of the head. He was just a bad guy, so it was cool to find out that he was a bad person as well. Then you can just hate him all the way around.

SLAM: What about John Stockton? Do you hate him?

SS: No, I like John Stockton because he wasn’t supposed to be the player he became. He was always thought of as just too small or too slow. I can relate to that. Also, he was fucking clutch, he hit every big shot you needed to get hit. When you think of all the big shots in Jazz history, it was always John Stockton doing it. It was never ever Karl Malone. You remember Karl Malone getting the ball stolen from him, you remember Karl Malone missing the two free throws after Scottie Pippen told him that, The Mailman doesn’t deliver on Sundays. You remember Malone fucking up. John Stockton, you remember Game 6 against Houston when he hit the game winner. You remember him almost winning Game 6 for Utah against the Bulls. If Karl Malone doesn’t fuck that up, they win that championship.

SLAM: From the 1990s eras of Charles Barkley, Clyde Drexler, and all those other superstars, who do you think got screwed the most legacy-wise by Michael Jordan?

SS: Charles Barkley, he was the one who would have benefitted the most if he won a championship. He would have been a legendary figure if he had gotten a ring. He would have been up there as top-15 all-time.

SLAM: Who do you think is the best rookie out of this past draft class, and why?

SS: Right now, I’m going Lonzo. I think he will win Rookie of the Year. I’m not sure he’s the best, though. I think maybe Dennis Smith Jr  might be the best secretly. But I’m pretty sure Lonzo’s going to win, mostly because of how much attention he gets and how famous he is. As long as he’s not playing Patrick Beverley every night, he should be okay.

SLAM: Do you think LaVar is detrimental to Lonzo’s career?

SS: I don’t know. That’s a tricky question because I definitely don’t think he’s a top-3 pick without the dad around barking at everybody. I don’t know if we’ll get to a point where it’s a LaVar thing first, now that he’s in the pros. It made sense to me that dad was doing that in college or leading up to college in high school. It makes sense because you’re the man of the house, but once your kid is full grown in the NBA, I don’t know if that starts to hurt him or not. It’s all very interesting.

SLAM: What is your favorite SLAM cover?

SS: My favorite SLAM cover is the Tim Duncan, Iceman thing they did in 2000 [SLAM 47—Ed.]. Of course, I like the one from 2014 when Kawhi was on the cover celebrating the title.

SLAM: Would you have been pissed if SLAM put LaMarcus Aldridge on there?

SS: [Laughs] Nooo, I’m pro-LaMarcus this season. I did the thing last season where I shitted on him all year and it didn’t work out that way, so I’m going the opposite way.

—

Related: What If Nick Anderson Made One Of Those Free Throws? An Excerpt From Shea Serrano’s Basketball (and Other Things)

–

Sam Yip is a contributor to SLAM. Follow him on Twitter @samyip_.

Illustrations by Arturo Torres

The post Shea Serrano on ‘Basketball (and Other Things),’ Kobe, Lonzo Ball, and More appeared first on SLAM.

According to Reggie Miller, who plays one of Drew’s teammates in the movie, Kyrie didn’t have his phone when the trade was first reported.

“We’re on this small van getting ready to shoot a scene and all of our phones ding at the same time, except for Kyrie’s. He didn’t have his phone.

 

“And we looked at our phones, and C-Webb, he looked at us like, ‘Kyrie Irving’s been traded to Boston, right?’ And we’re looking at one another like, ‘Should we tell him?’

 

“Obviously we had to tell him because he was like right in front of us. So we all showed him the phone.

 

“It was so funny, his expression. He looked at it and was like, ‘Huh. OK, let’s do this.’ And that’s how we all found out that he had been traded to the Boston Celtics.”

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The post Kyrie Irving Found Out About Celtics Trade While Filming ‘Uncle Drew’ Movie appeared first on SLAM.

—

At the end of the 1995 NBA Finals, Jim Gray interviewed Nick Anderson, shooting guard for the Orlando Magic. The Magic had lost the series four games to no games to the Houston Rockets, who’d repeated as champions, and so Gray wanted to ask Anderson about that, but really he just wanted to ask him about the end of Game 1.

The championship series that year was mostly an unremarkable one, save for the first game, which remains an all-timer. The Magic, overwhelmingly talented [1] but still very young, [2] built up an early 20-point lead at home, only to give it all back later in the game. The fourth quarter was taut and perfect; no team had a lead larger than four points in the final six minutes. The Rockets’s Kenny Smith hit a very contested three with just under two seconds to go, which sent the game into overtime, and then Hakeem Olajuwon won it in overtime by tipping in an errant Clyde Drexler layup with 0.3 second left. All most anyone remembers from that game, though, is what happened right before Kenny Smith’s three.

The Magic had the ball and were up three with 55 seconds left in the game. After a bit of stalling, Penny Hardaway drove into the lane and missed a layup. Horace Grant grabbed the offensive rebound and dribbled it out so the Magic offense could reset itself (37 seconds left). The Magic ran down the clock a bit more, then Brian Shaw fired up a three-pointer. It missed. But Grant, banging around in the paint again, got just enough of his fingers on it to deflect the ball over to Penny (20 seconds left). Penny threw it out to Nick Anderson, and then Anderson and Brian Shaw and Penny played keep-away with the ball until the Rockets were able to foul Nick Anderson a few seconds later, sending him to the line (10.5 seconds left).

At that exact moment, the Magic had a game win probability of 98.5 percent. [3] Then all of the trees and birds and humans and animals in Orlando died.

Anderson short-armed his first free throw. It clanked off the front of the rim. The second free throw was even shorter, ricocheting back toward Anderson. After the ball was batted around some, Anderson managed to secure the rebound and was fouled again (7.9 seconds left). And at that exact moment, the Magic had an overall game win probability of 99.0 percent. “How can you expect to win an NBA Finals game if you . . .can’t get a rebound after a really tough player like Nick Anderson misses two free throws?” Bill Walton, a large set of teeth acting as a commentator for the game, asked exasperatedly.

Nick Anderson settled in to shoot his third free throw. This time it was too long, and when the camera zoomed in on his face after the miss he was fake-smiling to himself and everyone knew right then that not only was there no chance he was going to make that next free throw, but that we were all watching a potentially legacy-altering, history-shaping meltdown, and that’s exactly what happened. Anderson missed that fourth free throw, the Rockets (fucking finally) rebounded the ball, Kenny hit his three, Hakeem hit his game-winner, and the Magic never recovered. They lost the series, Shaq signed with L.A. 13 months later, Penny’s knees turned into bubble gum, and everything went dark. [4]

But so that’s why when Jim Gray was interviewing Nick Anderson after the Magic lost the series; [5] he wanted to ask him about those free throws. He said, “Would it have been a difference had you made one of those free throws back in Game 1?” And Nick, who, for my money, only ever handled the situation like a hero, stood right there and considered the notion and then said, “Yeah, maybe it would’ve. But, uh, yeah, I can’t think about that. That’s in the past. Can’t change what happened.” [6]

Here’s the thing of it, though: We can change what happened. At least, we can change it here anyway. So let’s do that. What happens—how are things different—if Nick Anderson makes those free throws? How is the NBA different after that?

What happens in the Finals that year?
The Magic players talked a bunch later about how that Game 1 loss sapped them of their confidence. So let’s assume the inverse is true, too: Let’s say that Nick hit at least one of those first two free throws, and so they won that game, and so then they’d have really been feeling themselves. Then someone would’ve leaned in their ear and told them that home teams who win Game 1 of a best-of-seven series end up winning the series 85 percent of the time, and so then they’d have been feeling themselves even further. So then they’re feeling unbeatable, which is what they become. They end up winning the Finals 4–2. (I can’t say it’d have been a 4–0 sweep in their favor because even in a dream imaginary scenario with all of the knobs and levers turned to your favor, 1995 Hakeem Olajuwon is still going to beat you twice.) So the Magic win the 1995 championship. And if that happens, then the whole NBA as we know it today gets turned upside down.

Like what? How do you mean?
Well, there’s an ESPN documentary that came out in 2016 called This Magic Moment that was all about how the Magic came within earshot of becoming a dynasty before watching it wash away. [7] As the credits roll at the end of it, Shaq and Penny are sitting in deck chairs by a pool talking about things. During their conversation, Shaq says that if Orlando had won a title, he’d have never left. So there’s that: Shaq stays with the Magic.

And since we’re rewriting pieces of history, let’s go ahead right now and erase the parts where injuries stole Penny Hardaway’s career. That means you’ve got a young and healthy Penny Hardaway, an unbroken Nick Anderson, an unflappable role player in Dennis Scott, a seasoned winner in Horace Grant, a wonderful basketball mind in Brian Shaw, and a not-yet-to-his-prime-but-already-dominant Shaq. And those guys all get to stay together for several years after having won a championship? Shit, man. It’s murder for the rest of the ’90s and early 2000s.

Yeah, but what about Jordan? He was all the way back from his retirement by then. And the Bulls swept the Magic out of the playoffs in 1996 in the version of the NBA that we know as true today. What happens there?
That’s fair. But if the Magic didn’t lose to the Rockets in 1995, I can’t say for certain that the Bulls would’ve beaten the Magic in 1996. I’m just not quite sure how that series plays out, especially when you consider that the Magic knocked the Bulls out of the playoffs in 1995. [8] And, I mean, sure, that was the first year Jordan was back from his retirement and he only played in 17 games before the playoffs started so you can argue that he was not the fully formed Jordan that nobody could beat, but it still happened. We can’t just ignore that. But, okay, let’s go conservative: Let’s say the Bulls did beat the Magic in 1996. They probably would’ve beaten the Magic in 1997, too (the Bulls were so good in 1996 that when they went 69–13 in 1997 it was somehow a regression). But let’s at the very least give the 1998 championship to the Magic. That opens up a whole bunch of interesting doors, too.

Like what?
Well, let’s jump back a bit first. So the Magic win the 1995 championship. Shaq falls in love with the way being a champion paints him, and so all of his side projects (the rapping, the acting, etc.) all get pushed aside as he tries to chase down more rings. That means that the leading role in Kazaam is open. And Hakeem, distraught from having lost the 1995 title and looking to boost his own signal, picks it up. So, boom, behind Shaq staying in Orlando, there’s the next major thing that happens: We get Hakeem Olajuwon as Kazaam.

WHAT?
I know, right?

What else?
If the Magic get the 1998 championship then that means Jordan only gets five championships instead of six, and so all of a sudden his accepted status as the Greatest of All Time starts to get a little bit grayer.

What about Kobe? We’re basically replacing Kobe and Shaq with Penny and Shaq. What happens to Kobe?
There are probably two ways that that situation plays out.

The first is that Vlade Divac, who the Lakers traded to Charlotte to get the rights to Kobe, decides he doesn’t want to play in Charlotte. In January of 2016 he said he’d contemplated retiring when his agent told him that the Lakers had traded him to Charlotte. And so if that had happened, then: (1) Kobe plays for Charlotte, [9] which would’ve been a real disaster. [10] Kobe probably ends up with a career closer to, say, Tracy McGrady’s or Vince Carter’s. (2) We don’t get the 2002 Sacramento Kings (Webber, Vlade, Bibby, Peja, Doug, Jackson), and let me tell you something: You can get fucked if you think I want to live in any branch of reality that doesn’t include the 2002 Kings.

The second is that Vlade says, “Okay, fine, I’ll play in Charlotte,” then goes to Charlotte. [11] The Lakers get Kobe but they don’t get Shaq, and so that means Kobe definitely isn’t finishing with five rings. Here’s the cool thing, though: Rather than teaming up with Pau, Kobe calls Kevin Garnett in the summer of 2007, tells him he’s sick of losing and also tired of seeing KG lose, and convinces KG to make the move to LA instead of Boston for the 2008 season, so we get at least three seasons of Kobe and KG together, which is like if you put a sun right next to another sun. That’s good for two championships, maybe three. Of course, just as likely is that the Kobe/KG partnership turns toxic real quick and ends with zero titles for them and so then Kobe becomes Carmelo before Carmelo becomes Carmelo.

And all of that means the championships for 2000, 2001, and 2002 are definitely all up for grabs since the Shaq/Kobe Lakers aren’t around to win them, and the 2008, 2009, and 2010 championships are possibly also up for grabs since the Celtics don’t have Garnett to help them win in 2008 and Kobe doesn’t have Pau to help him win in 2009 and 2010.

Who gets those?
The Magic beat the Trail Blazers 4–2 to win the 2000 championship, giving Shaq and Penny their third title together. (They cap off an amazing Game 7 fourth-quarter comeback when Penny throws an alley-oop to Shaq to put the game out of reach.) The Spurs beat the Sixers 4–3 to win the 2001 championship. (Allen Iverson steps over Avery Johnson.) The Kings beat the Nets 4–0 to win the 2002 championship. (Vlade Divac gives an all-world petty postgame interview where he talks about how none of anything would’ve been possible without the Lakers trading him to the Hornets for Kobe.) The Pistons beat the Pelicans 4–2 in 2008 (the lowest-rated Finals in history). The Magic (this time with Dwight Howard) beat the Nuggets 4–3 in 2009 (people start to talk about how Dwight vs. Carmelo is the next big rivalry because people are stupid). And the Cavs (!) beat the Lakers (!!) 4–3 (!!!) in 2010 (the highest-rated Finals in history).

What happened with Hakeem’s acting career, though? It seems like you didn’t talk enough about that. Were there any ripple effects from that?
With Hakeem at the lead, Kazaam, regarded now as basura, is an international smash success. Everyone loves it. Kazaam 2: This Time Call Me Hazaam is an even bigger hit. It sets into motion a two-year period where movie studios plug in basically any NBA player they can get into any movie that’ll let them. We get Titanic starring Kate Winslet and Jason “White Chocolate” Williams (the scene where Jack and Rose go to a party in the bowels of the ship and dance gets replaced with a scene where Jack and Rose go to a 2-on-2 tournament in the bowels of the ship; Jack gives an Oscar-worthy speech to Rose where he delivers the iconic line “I’m throwing you a no-look pass with my heart, Rose. Will you catch it?”), Good Will Hunting starring Robin Williams and Latrell Sprewell (there’s still the scene where Robin Williams’s character chokes Matt Damon’s character, except this time it’s Williams choking Latrell and so everyone gets a big kick out of that), Boogie Nights starring Patrick Ewing (Pat Riley gets used for Burt Reynolds’s part), The Devil’s Advocate starring Al Pacino and Shawn Bradley (a total box-office bomb because Bradley decides halfway into the movie that Pacino actually really is the devil and so he refuses to film any of the remaining scenes with him so half of the movie is CGI’d), Face/Off starring Keith Van Horn and Kerry Kittles (shoutout the Jason Kidd–era Nets), Armageddon starring Reggie Miller, American History X starring Steve Kerr (Kerr gives a rousing performance as a reformed Nazi), and Rush Hour starring Shawn Kemp and Dennis Rodman (shamed by everyone because Rodman decides he’s only doing the movie if the studio lets him do so in yellowface, which it does).

Holdonasecond. You’re telling me that if Nick Anderson had made one of those four free throws, we’d have all ended up seeing Patrick Ewing’s dick? That’s what you’re telling me?
That’s exactly what I’m telling you.

Is that a good thing or a bad thing?
I suppose that depends entirely on whether or not you are pro–Patrick Ewing’s dick or anti–Patrick Ewing’s dick.

That’s fair. So what’s the tally?
Where are we right now in this Nick-Anderson-Makes-A-Free-Throw version of the universe? To this point: The Magic win the 1995 championship; Shaq stays in Orlando and he and Penny win three titles together; Hakeem Olajuwon does Kazaam, which vibrates out into Hollywood massively; Jordan wins five titles instead of six and his legacy isn’t as guaranteed as it is now; [12] Kobe possibly wins two titles instead of five but probably actually wins zero; Duncan wins six titles instead of five; Chris Webber gets a ring (hooray!) but so does Dwight Howard (boooooooo!); Carmelo makes a Finals; we get LeBron vs. Kobe in an NBA Finals Game 7, which LeBron wins, which means he never goes to Miami; and everyone sees Patrick Ewing’s dick. All if Nick Anderson makes one of those free throws.

—

Footnotes

1. Shaq, Penny Hardaway, Nick Anderson, Dennis Scott, Horace Grant, Brian Shaw.
2. I mean this as far as the players go (Shaq and Penny, the team’s two best players, were both 23), but also in relation to the franchise (it was only in its sixth season of existence).
3.  This is according to Inpredictable.com’s Win Probability Calculator.
4.  Following the 1996 season, the Magic didn’t make it out of the first round of the playoffs for 12 years, and five of those years they didn’t make the playoffs at all.
5.  A neat little note: Nick Anderson was actually the very first pick that the Orlando Magic ever made. They drafted him 11th in 1989.
6.  By two seasons after the missed free throws, Anderson’s free throw percentage plummeted from 70 percent to 40 percent.
7.  How unlikely was the formation of that championship-caliber Magic team? The Magic not only had to win the number-one overall pick two years in a row to get there (they drafted Shaq with the 1992 pick; they had a 1/66 chance of winning the number-one pick in 1993), but they also had to be lucky/smart/dumb enough to trade Chris Webber, who was their number-one pick in 1993, for Penny Hardaway (and three first-round draft picks).
8. The defining play of that series also happened in Game 1 and also involved Nick Anderson, though his role in it was philosophically the exact opposite of his role in the Rockets Game 1 disaster: The Magic were down by one with 18 seconds left in Game 1. Anderson, guarding Michael Jordan, was able to poke the ball away from him, leading to a game-winning basket from Horace Grant.
9.  Or the Nets. The Nets really wanted to draft him with the eighth pick that year. They were warned against it since he wanted to get to Los Angeles once he heard Jerry West wanted to trade Vlade for the pick to get him. The Lakers don’t trade Vlade if Shaq never leaves Orlando, though.
10.  Their roster that season: Rafael Addison, Muggsy Bogues, Scott Burrell, Tom Chambers, Dell Curry, Tony Delk, Jamie Feick, Matt Geiger, AnthonyGoldwire, Eric Leckner, Anthony Mason, Ricky Pierce, Glen Rice, Malik Rose, Donald Royal, Tony Smith, and George Zidek. The five names italicized there are big white guys. Five big white guys is way too many big white guys to have on a team hoping to win a title in the mid-to-late ’90s and beyond.
11. Vlade says it was Jerry West who talked him into going to Charlotte rather than retiring.
12. Thinking about Jordan with only five championships is somehow the weirdest part of this whole thing.

–

Shea Serrano is a Staff Writer for The Ringer and the author of The Rap Year Book: The Most Important Rap Song From Every Year Since 1979, Discussed, Debated, and Deconstructed and Bun B’s Original Coloring and Activity Book.

Illustrations by Arturo Torres

The post What If Nick Anderson Made One Of Those Free Throws? An Excerpt From Shea Serrano’s ‘Basketball (And Other Things)’ appeared first on SLAM.

“I wore Kobes for eight years and then I had to switch over to Kyries because I needed a higher shoe,” Toliver said shortly after she was done stunting. “So when this came out, I told the Nike rep, ‘Hey, I need those,'” she laughed. “I’m thrilled. It’s my two favorite shoes put together. They’re awesome.”

The upcoming Kobe x Kyrie collab is a tribute to Bruce Lee. The superstars both take inspiration from Lee’s life motto, to “Always be yourself. Express yourself. Have faith in yourself.”

Kobe and Kyrie have formed a bond with each other in recent years, with Kyrie trying to adopt Kobe’s killer instinct. They teamed up on this special colorway that features Bruce Lee’s famous yellow and black combination, four red slash marks and a fused “Kyrobe” logo on the tongue.

It might’ve been the sneakers that led Toliver to singlehandedly dismantle the New York Liberty. She scorched the home team for a season-best 32 points and a WNBA-record nine three pointers, leading the Mystics back from a 14-point deficit.

“I’ve never witnessed something like that,” Toliver’s teammate Elena Delle Donne said after the game. “To be on the court and on the right side of it was unreal. She was unconscious.”

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The Kobe x Kyrie 3 Collab Drops on September 15
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The WNBA Has a Sneaker Heat Wave
Kristi Toliver is the Ultimate Floor General

Photos courtesy of Getty Images and video courtesy of WNBA

The post Sneaker Moments: Kristi Toliver Lights up Madison Square Garden in the Kobe x Kyrie 3 appeared first on SLAM.

Irving was in a never-before-seen Nike silhouette that features his logo on the tongue. It also has a teeth-like design feature, similar to the design on the Nike Kyrie 1.

We reached out to Nike to see if they could confirm that this was the Kyrie 4, but they declined to comment. Keep it locked for more updates.

h/t Sole Collector

The post Kyrie Irving Might Have Accidentally Unveiled the Nike Kyrie 4 appeared first on SLAM.

Check out the gallery above to see Beck’s work, which gives Kobe, Vince Carter, KG and other Hall-of-Famers a new and very clean look. Beck has made a lot of cool NBA graphics over the years but this might be his most ambitious venture yet.

Beck released his Old Faces Fresh Cuts series on Instagram, where he shares his edits. What other hoop legends deserve a hair upgrade?

Courtesy of Tyson Beck

The post A Graphic Designer Photoshopped New Haircuts on NBA Legends and the Internet Is Loving It appeared first on SLAM.

The Lakers and Celtics, the NBA’s titans, were meeting for the second and final time that season. Nearly two weeks earlier, the C’s stormed into Los Angeles to steal a 109-96 win.

That game was the first time that they had matched up since the 2010 Finals, when Ron Artest’s three-pointer helped the Lake Show capture the title in Game 7. Before that, in 2008, the Celtics demolished the Lakers in Game 6 to win the championship.

By early February, 2011, the historic franchises had rekindled their rivalry. And they were both steamrolling through the regular season. Before they did battle on February 10, Boston had a 38-13 record. LA wasn’t far behind, sitting with a 36-16 mark. Between Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, Andrew Bynum, Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo, the star-power was through the roof. But February 10 belonged to the sweet-shooting Suga Ray Allen.

He needed to hit a pair of three-pointers to jump ahead of Reggie Miller for the number one spot on the League’s all-time three-pointers made list.

He warmed up in a green, white and gold Air Jordan IX and Air Jordan XI. But the mismatched PEs were only an appetizer.

He came out for the game in an Air Jordan XIII PE. His name was written in script across the tongue of the white and green kicks and they featured a green hologram on the lateral side.

“And then there were the XIIIs, which I broke the three-point record in. Those bring me right back to that moment in 2011,” Ray wrote in SLAM Jordans Vol. 3 last year.

Scroll through the gallery above to see the photos of the special pair and peep the video below to watch Ray Ray make history back on that February night. Happy birthday, Ray!

Related
Ray Allen Writes About his Love for Sneakers

Photos courtesy of Getty Images

The post Sneaker Moments: Ray Allen Breaks the Three-Point Record appeared first on SLAM.

Unsurprisingly, LeBron James was not a top-three MVP vote-getter (Russell Westbrook, James Harden and Kawhi Leonard were the finalists).

After the Cavs crushed the Celtics 130-86 in Game 2, some wondered if the snub served as motivation for LeBron.

But Bron said he didn’t even hear about the MVP finalists until after the game. Starting at 0:52:

https://youtu.be/WlwrLWSHKLE?t=52s

“I didn’t see it, and what you gon do about it at the end of the day.

 

“My only job is to try to be the MVP for this team every night. Put my teammates, put our franchise in the position to be successful and ultimately compete for a championship.

 

“For me, I know what I bring to the table. This league knows what I bring to the table, so it’s for you guys to write about. It’s not for me to be concerned about.”

LeBron finished with his eighth-straight 30-plus point playoff game.

And as Reggie Miller pointed out in the TNT broadcast, Bron would probably much rather be Finals MVP than regular-season MVP.

RELATED:
WATCH: LeBron James Chasedown Block on Avery Bradley

The post LeBron James on MVP Snub: ‘This League Knows What I Bring’ appeared first on SLAM.

LeBron James becomes the 4th player in NBA playoffs history to reach 300 three-pointers. pic.twitter.com/dAlXD1w7FA

— The Crossover (@TheCrossover) May 3, 2017

Like Butta! pic.twitter.com/OKfw1qRqrt

— Dime on UPROXX (@DimeUPROXX) May 3, 2017

The other three to do it: Ray Allen, Reggie Miller, Manu Ginobili.

Not bad company.

Related
WATCH: LeBron James Recharges in Hyperbaric Chamber
LeBron James Says Isaiah Thomas’ Late Sister Was ‘Looking Down on Him’ During 53-Point Game

The post LeBron James Becomes 4th Player in NBA Playoffs History to Reach 300 Three-Pointers appeared first on SLAM.

But for current and former teammates and coaches, LeBron’s comments were no surprise. Perry Clark, who coached Jones at the University of Miami, knows that LeBron respects any player with a high basketball IQ. In that regard, few rank higher on his list than Jones. “LeBron respects certain characteristics in people, and James has those,” Clark says. “James can really sit down and break down and analyze a game. He knows how to communicate and make people feel comfortable around him.”

Even as a senior at Miami, when Jones averaged 16.9 points, 6.0 rebounds, 1.6 steals and 1.8 blocks, Clark remembers Jones as the vocal leader of the team. He leaned on Jones to get a sense of where the locker room was at throughout the season, whether it was deciding on team curfews or how long the team should practice between games. “He cares so much about the players on the team,” Clark says. “He’s got a lot of pride in himself and in doing things the right way.”

Jones was selected 49th overall by Indiana in the 2003 NBA Draft, and joined a team led by Jermaine O’Neal, Ron Artest, Reggie Miller and Al Harrington. The Pacers won a League-best 61 games in his rookie season, making it to the Eastern Conference Finals before losing to the Detroit Pistons in six games. As a rookie, Jones appeared in only six games and played a total of just 26 minutes during the regular season, but he learned plenty from the veterans on the team.

Artest, who was 24 when Jones joined the Pacers, saw a rookie who had a sweet shooting stroke but needed work on polishing the other parts of his game. “I took him under my wing,” says the man now known as Metta World Peace. “I made sure he saw what hard work was. We worked at it every day.”

Jones learned about the importance of being a professional, and while World Peace pushed him in practice, he also took after Miller, always the first person in the gym and the last person to leave. “They challenged me,” Jones says, looking back. “They understood I could absorb their wisdom, so they gave a lot of it to me. I owe a lot to those guys.”

Although there was a clear hierarchy in the locker room of a championship contender, Jones was already starting to earn the respect of his teammates. Mike Brown, an assistant coach with Indiana at the time, remembers when he divided the starters and bench players into two teams for a scrimmage during training camp. World Peace started talking trash to the second unit and started making it personal by calling every player, including Jones, out by name.

“James grabbed the ball and stopped the scrimmage,” Brown says. “He told Ron, ‘If you call me by my name again, we’re going to have a problem.’ He was real calm about it, but he was serious,” Brown says. “From that point on, not only did Ron respect him, but the entire team did. He commanded that respect.”

The following season, Indiana’s championship hopes were derailed on a November night when World Peace earned a season-long suspension in a melee that became known as the Malice at the Palace. O’Neal and Stephen Jackson were also suspended for an extended period. With the shorter roster, Jones became a part of the team’s rotation and averaged 17.7 minutes in 75 games. As Jones spent the next three seasons in Phoenix and Portland, he started to set realistic goals as to how a bench player like himself could carve out a long-term niche.

“This league has a few exceptional talents, a bunch of very good players, and then the majority of this league is filled with supporting cast members,” Jones says. “These are guys that are very similar in talent and skill set, but different in their approach and professionalism. I wanted to make sure I was the ultimate professional, the ultimate pro, and with our talent being equal, I felt those things would allow me to stay above everyone else.”

Jones signed with the Miami Heat in 2008. After back-to-back first-round exits, the team signed LeBron and Chris Bosh to form the Big Three with Dwyane Wade. Expectations were high. The Heat suddenly became villains, and many rejoiced when Miami lost the 2011 NBA Finals to the Dallas Mavericks. Jones had learned about personal sacrifices and approaching the game with no ego in his many NBA stops. The circumstances were different for his three superstar teammates, who carried the burden on a nightly basis, but that didn’t stop Jones from talking to LeBron, Wade and Bosh about those topics.

“I’m about winning,” Jones says. “My guys know that. And once they know that, it allows me to be honest with them, because there’s no ulterior motive. I was invested in their personal success. I wanted to be aware [of everything] so in those crucial moments, I can provide some insight that matters when they’re looking for someone to give it to them straight.”

The Heat won back-to-back championships after their disappointing finish in 2011. After losing the 2014 NBA Finals to the San Antonio Spurs, LeBron decided to return to Cleveland. In the same offseason, Jones followed him and signed with the Cavaliers. Once again on a championship contender, Jones was presented with a new challenge: to help two younger stars, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love, learn how to become championship-caliber players.

In their first season with LeBron in Cleveland, both Love and Irving suffered season-ending injuries during the team’s run to the NBA Finals, where the Cavs fell in six games to the Golden State Warriors. Last season presented its own challenges. In January, while sitting atop the Eastern Conference standings, Cleveland decided to make a coaching change, replacing head coach David Blatt with Tyronn Lue.

Jones recognized a need for the team to re-focus. At a players-only meeting after the firing, he reminded everyone on the team about accountability and the sacrifices required to win a championship. “It was just a friendly reminder,” Jones says.

That’s Jones’ approach. He’s outspoken, but only when necessary. He gets to know every player on the team, from the superstars to the 15th man on the roster, so he can figure out how to talk to them individually, whether it’s in between games, during a game or at halftime when the team needs a speech. “He doesn’t always say much,” Love says. “But he’s the master of timing.”

So when does Jones feel the need to make his voice heard? When everyone wants to say something but no one actually wants to speak up. In those moments, he’ll find the necessary words to bring the team together. “I’m a talker,” Jones says. “I can verbalize what I’m feeling to each individual person depending on my audience. I’ve been blessed with the ability to get a collective point across to individuals and not make it personal.”

Last season, Love found himself next to Jones in the locker room. “It was like sitting next to the smartest kid in class,” Love says. The two would talk constantly about opposing team’s defensive schemes, or just get their mind off basketball when Love was going through a difficult stretch. Throughout his time in Cleveland, Love has dealt with trade rumors and constant criticism from the outside about his fit next to LeBron in the Cavs offense.

Jones continued to provide encouragement, especially in the playoffs, when Love suffered a concussion during the NBA Finals against Golden State. He watched as the Cavs fell behind 3-1 in the series, then provided a concise and consistent message to his locker room neighbor: It doesn’t matter if it’s one game, one quarter, or even one play, you could make your mark at any moment. “He just told me to keep thinking about that,” Love says. Those words proved prophetic, as the Cavs came back to win three straight games against the Warriors, winning their first NBA championship in franchise history. In the closing moments of Game 7, Love did indeed make his mark, switching onto Stephen Curry at the top of the key and delivering the greatest individual defensive sequence of his career.

Afterward, Love posted a photo on Instagram of himself next to Jones on the team plane, wearing championship gear and holding the Larry O’Brien trophy. In his caption, Love called the 36-year-old Jones the best teammate he’s ever had. In the Cavs locker room, teammates refer to Jones as “Champ.” He might not have any individual accolades worth mentioning, but Jones has made a lasting impact on the teammates he’s played with throughout his career. He’s also accomplished his stated goal of being a winner. Jones has three championships and missed the playoffs just once in his career. He has never played for a team that finished with a losing record.

The Cavs are expected to make another trip to the NBA Finals this season. During these playoffs, we won’t see Jones on the floor too much, if at all (he did not play in the Cavs’ Game 1 win over the Pacers). But whether it’s breaking down plays with his teammates in the huddle, keeping the team focused in practice or speaking out in the locker room when necessary, Jones will have an impact on another contender. The numbers will never truly prove his contribution to the team, but hearing the praise from some of the best players in the game is all that matters to Jones.

“My mom raised me to be genuine,” Jones says. “When you’re genuine, some people will like it, some won’t, but you can’t worry about what other people think. But to have teammates, the guys who I’ve sacrificed with, recognize me and think that highly of me—it means a lot. Because those are the people—outside of my wife and my kids—whose opinions matter to me. I love these guys. They’ve helped me become a better person, which is what I hope to be when I leave this game.”

—

Alex Wong is a SLAM contributor and freelance writer. Follow him on Twitter @steven_lebron.

Photos via Getty Images

The post The Champ is Here appeared first on SLAM.

Of course, after he left college, he went on to have a Hall of Fame career with the Pacers where he became one of the game’s most prolific clutch performers.

Since hanging ’em up, Miller’s been a staple of TNT’s NBA and NCAA coverage. He’s spent more than a decade behind the mic and this year’s NCAA Tournament will be the seventh he’s called. We caught up with Reggie to talk about where his Bruins are headed in this year’s Tourney and what he thinks about Lonzo Ball.

SLAM: What have you seen from Lonzo Ball and the rest of your Bruins?

Reggie Miller: Hopefully they’ll show out here in the Tournament. Like David Levy was saying about the West Coast teams finally having the presence and emergence. Look, I’ve always liked Lonzo’s game, growing up in the inland empire, obviously we’ve heard of the Ball brothers. This is going to be another place for him to showcase his talent.

SLAM: What are the expectations?

RM: Short of a Final Four, I think that’s what most people are going to assume. But it’s game by game. What I do like about this tournament, and we’ve been talking about this internally, no longer do you have the days where you’ve gotta have a big. You’ve got to have great guard play. That’s one thing UCLA has, with Alford and Ball. Two guys that can control the tempo. Both can make shots.

We saw that last year with Villanova. No one was picking Villanova. I was like, Guys, it’s all about guard play! And being able to play good defense. That’s the only thing that’s a question mark a little bit for UCLA. They don’t play great defense, but over their last five ballgames, they’ve kinda gotten back to that.

Case in point, that Arizona win when they went to the zone. That was probably their best defensive effort of the season. If they can play like that, mix up their coverage, anything is possible.

SLAM: Have you had a chance to spend any time with the squad?

RM: A little bit. I’ve talked to Steve. He wanted me to come by. They got off to a quick start and he wanted me to come by and talk to them. I was like, I’m not coming to talk to them because I’m not going to be the one responsible for when they first lose.

It’s good having those conversations with Steve because UCLA can be a hard place to coach because of the mystique and history. Sometimes you’re living under John Wooden’s shadow. But he’s accepted the challenge and just look at the results.

Hopefully they can carry this momentum. I think it’ll be a difficult Pac-12 tournament with Arizona and Oregon both vying for a No. 1 seed. Maybe they get two No. 1 seeds out West. Who knows? But it’ll be very important for [UCLA] to at least get to the Pac-12 championship game if they really want that No. 1 seed out West.

SLAM: You mentioned the mystique and history of the program. Do you ever feel those butterflies from when you were playing?

RM: Absolutely! This is the best thing about this being my seventh year covering college basketball. You almost take it for granted. I played 18 years and I think this is my 12th year at Turner, and you call games professionally, you kinda get jaded because you’re seeing the best players. It’s good to take a step back and go back to where it all began.

Four years for me at UCLA and see the development and the excitement on a lot of these young men’s faces, having a chance to dance. That’s what it’s all about. And there’s so much parity this year. There’s not any one or two dominating teams. It’s all about getting hot right now.

There is legitimately, in my opinion, 10 teams that can run the table. UCLA, Kansas, North Carolina. Don’t be surprised by SMU, Butler, who I’ve always loved being in Indiana. It’s all about fundamentals. Great guard play, good defense, they can shoot the basketball and they rebound.

SLAM: Lonzo’s most likely leaving after this season. Are you a fan of one-and-done players?

RM: I am not, but I’m not gonna hold a young man from pursuing his dream of becoming a professional athlete. If that’s what the rules will allow, then so be it. It waters down both brands because a lot of guys are not as good as they think they are coming in. It hurts them. And it kinda depletes the college system because if you get a guy two, three, four years, it makes the college game that much better.

I’m not a fan of it but I’m not gonna be critical of a guy making a lifelong decision, not only to help out himself, but to help out his family’s structure.

The post Reggie Miller Talks Lonzo Ball and UCLA appeared first on SLAM.

The Craig Sager-inspired artwork used throughout the tribute was originally created for Foot Locker’s SagerStrong Pintrill Pin Pack. Craig and Foot Locker partnered on creating these designs before he lost his own battle with cancer.

The Foot Locker SagerStrong Pintrill Pin Pack is available in select Foot Locker stores and on footlocker.com for $25, with all net proceeds benefitting the SagerStrong Foundation.

Photos courtesy of Foot Locker

The post Foot Locker Honors Craig Sager at ASW appeared first on SLAM.

The Three-Point Shootout finalists—Eric Gordon, Kyrie Irving and Kemba Walker—were joined by Reggie Miller, James Harden, DeMar DeRozan, Candace Parker, DJ Khaled, Michael B. Jordan, Anthony Anderson, who raised the first $130,000.

Stephen Curry was then called upon to hit a half-court shot to raise the total to $500,000, but perhaps for the first time in his career, the two-time reigning MVP couldn’t get his shot to fall.

Instead, Shaq and Craig Sager’s son, Ryan, made a layup to bring the total up to half a million.

And in case you missed the tribute in Sager’s honor, here it is:

#NBAAllStar Weekend is #SagerStrong pic.twitter.com/igEMsdAZNN

— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) February 19, 2017

RELATED:
NBA Players React to Craig Sager’s Passing

The post WATCH: NBA Stars, Celebrities Raise $500,000 for Sager Strong appeared first on SLAM.

Toliver, who turned 30 in January, is from Virginia and she was a key player on Maryland’s 2006 National Title team. The eight-year pro averaged 13 points and 4 assists last year, as well as 42% three-point shooting, good for fourth in the W. She played her rookie season in Chicago and then spent the next seven years in LA. For her career, Toliver’s averaged 12 points, 3 assists and 40% shooting from deep. She’s established herself as of one the League’s most clutch floor generals.

She joins what’s quickly becoming the WNBA’s most scary team, alongside 2015 Elena Delle Donne and one-time All-Star Emma Meesseman. Under head coach Mike Thibault, the Mystics attempted the third most three’s last season. Now with Meesseman, Toliver and Delle Donne, Thibault has three of the best shooters around. Washington also has Tayler Hill, a talented scorer who averaged 15 ppg last season.

Breaking: #Mystics have signed All-Star PG Kristi Toliver, formerly of WNBA champion LA Sparks & 2006 NCAA champion @umdwbb. Story to come.

— Gene Wang (@gene_wang) February 6, 2017

Related
Kristi Toliver: Winning Time

The post Kristi Toliver Signs with Washington Mysitcs appeared first on SLAM.

50. “Michael Jordan” — Lil Uzi Vert

49. “Ballad of Larry Bird” — Vermont

48. “Rondo” — RondoNumbaNine

47. “The Continuing Glory of JaVale McGee” — The Brothers Caldon

46. “Magic Johnson” — Red Hot Chili Peppers

45. “Detlef Schrempf” — Band of Horses

https://youtu.be/oGiMWMVqp_M

44. “Yeah Carmelo” — Maino

https://youtu.be/Bo36FfFRNzw

43. “Derrick Rose” — Meek Mill

42. “Dennis Rodman” — Gucci Mane & Migos

41. “K.O.B.E.” Kobe Bryant

40. “Rondo” — Sasha Go Hard

39. “Reggie Miller” — Lil B

38. “LeBron James” — Yo Gotti

37. “Like KD” — Lil Haji

36. “LeBron On” — Obie Trice

35. “Kyrie” — Rick Ross

https://youtu.be/3fw7ly5tzB4

34. “#PORZIŅĢIS” — Transleiteris

33. “Kobe and Ginobili Freestyle” — Mack Maine

32. “Chris Paul” — Riff Raff

31. “Kyrie Irving” — Bleezy

30. “Cryin’ For Me (Wayman’s Song)” — Toby Keith

29. “Dirk Nowitzki” — Migos ft. Young Dolph

28. “Keep Calm Like Kristaps Porzingis” — Olas

27. “Kyrie Irving” — Lil Cray

26. “That’s How I Beat Shaq” — Aaron Carter

25. “Pistol Pete” — The Ziggens

24. “Kevin Durant” — Rowdy Rebel

23. “Worthy and Erving” — Gucci Mane ft. Yo Gotti

22. “Love, Robert Horry” — Mick Jenkins

https://youtu.be/TNTkxPpIwLA

21. “Larry Bird” — Riff Raff

20. “Jordan Fade” — Cousin Stizz

19. “Russell Westbrook On a Farm” — Lil Dicky

18. “Bill Russell” — Waka Flocka Flame

17. “Melo” — Lil Snupe

16. “Tim Duncan” — Tory Lanez

15. “Do the John Wall” — Troop 41

14. “Larry Bird” — Ski Beatz feat. Stalley

13. “Black Mamba” — Fabolous

12. “Steph” — Lil Bibby

https://youtu.be/RN-T5Zz9cTI

11. “Steve Nash” — OB O’Brien

https://youtu.be/AEdeylKNZxY

10. “24 23 (Kobe, LeBron)” — Jeezy

https://youtu.be/XfvU6irQBPo

9. “John Wall” — Shy Glizzy ft. Lil Mouse

8. “Allen Iverson” — Don Trip

7. “Charles Barkley” — Migos

6. “Kobe” — Chief Keef

5. “White Iverson” — Post Malone

4. “Kobe Bryant” — Lil Wayne

3. “KD” — Dave East

2. “(I Wanna Be) Like Mike” — Teknoe

1. “Michael Jordan” — Kendrick Lamar

The post The 50 Best Songs Named After NBA Players appeared first on SLAM.

Ernie Johnson honors his friend Craig Sager. #SagerStrong https://t.co/d157NyGNYk

— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) December 20, 2016

Among those in attendance at the service were Johnson, Gregg Popovich and Reggie Miller.

Per the AP:

Rev. Randy Mickler, former senior pastor of Mount Bethel United Methodist Church in Marietta, Georgia, led the service. Mickler noted he decided against wearing his normal black robe and instead wore a purple shirt and colorful jacket he said would have made Sager “extremely proud and pleased.”

 

Sager, 65, died Thursday following a two-year fight with acute myeloid leukemia.

 

Grammy winner Yolanda Adams sang two songs at the service. Johnson said Sager “planted sequoias” by inspiring others with his determined fight against cancer.

The post Ernie Johnson Delivers Moving Eulogy for Craig Sager appeared first on SLAM.

I looked over to him and asked, “How’d you get that?”

He stared at me like I was an idiot.

“That’s 10 years, young fella.”

I should’ve known the answer. I’d been watching him my whole childhood. Why would I ask such a dumb question?

It wasn’t my best moment, but it came from a genuine place—I loved sneakers and everything about them. As a kid, my family couldn’t afford to buy me lots of tennis shoes. I had a Bart Simpson shirt, and on the shirt Bart was wearing Jordan Vs. Since we couldn’t afford the shoes, I just wore the shirt, because it was as close as I could get. Kids around the neighborhood would be wearing those “Fire Red” Jordan IVs, but I didn’t have those, either.

I was a military child, so I grew up traveling the world, not really understanding the cultural impact that sneakers had. When I look back at it now, they truly transcended sports. I remember kids not wanting to wear their nice basketball sneakers when they played ball, because they wanted to keep ’em clean. When I was 14, I would watch Michael Jordan, and finally I started to get it. I was getting into the scene—hooping, working out, trying to do it all with flash. I’d have one or two pairs of sneakers, and when they got dirty, I’d take the strings out, put them in bleach and dishwashing liquid, wipe them with a toothbrush, scrub the bottom of the shoe and make them look brand new.

After I left UConn, when I was headed into the NBA, I had a sneaker decision to make. I had worn mostly Nike through my college career, but FILA and Reebok were also interested in signing me. I went to visit the Nike campus, and they brought me to the employee store and were like, “Get whatever you want.”

I was like, “Um, OK. Sure.” But I didn’t really understand.

When I was a kid, I’d never had many material things, so those kinds of things never really impressed me. I knew how to get by without them. So I went into that store, and I was going from sneaker to sneaker, asking the employees, “What do you think of these? Are these cool?” They just laughed. One said, “Listen, there’s no limit. If you don’t know if you like it, just put it in the cart. Throw it all in there. Just take whatever you want.”

I left with four full shopping carts. I should’ve gotten more, like other sizes for friends and family, but I didn’t have anything for myself yet and I didn’t know any better.

I thought hard about signing with FILA that summer, but they put some stipulations in the contract that I wasn’t particularly happy with. I remember having a conversation with someone who worked for me, and he said, “If you blow up and become a great player in the NBA, would you rather blow up with FILA or blow up with Nike?” And from that day forward, I wore Nike. I knew that marketing-wise, they could take you to a new stratosphere, because I had seen what they’d done with Charles Barkley, Scottie Pippen and obviously MJ.

We filmed He Got Game the summer after my rookie year. It was a Spike Lee movie, so naturally sneakers would be included—his ability to weave sneakers into his movies’ storylines is incredible. He let me go through a big wardrobe and pick out the clothing my character [Jesus Shuttlesworth] would wear. I had to decide what a young person in Brooklyn would be into. I remember going through shoes and picking out different pairs of Nikes, and yet never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that the shoes that I picked were shoes that people would equate to the movie. People have come up to me and said, “I wore certain sneakers because you wore them in He Got Game,” which is unbelievable.

I had never seen that white, black and red colorway of the Jordan XIIIs before we started filming. Denzel Washington wore them to the set, and I remember staring at them and then asking him, “How did you get those?! I don’t even have them.” Jordan had sent them directly to Denzel. It was brilliant product placement. At the time, I didn’t understand how the machine works. They knew that a Spike Lee movie had to have the latest Jordans, because that’s the perfect marketing tool. Now they call that shoe the “He Got Game” XIII. It’s still incredible to me that I could be part of a pop culture moment like that, especially because as a kid, I was on the outside looking in. Then as an adult I’m personally having a big impact on pop culture. It was wild.

As I was beginning my pro career, I was one of the first players chosen to be a Brand Jordan-endorsed athlete—I even wore a Jordan shoe in my first NBA game. It was a huge honor, because I had always looked up to him, compared my game to him, even dressed how he dressed. He’d wear suits to press conferences, so I would wear suits to press conferences. He was always clean. Plus, he was the ultimate competitor, which is exactly how I felt about myself. He would never quit—he was always going to make himself better and his team better. I modeled my own style of play after that.

It also helped that we’ve had such a great relationship. Any time I was around Mike, he was always good to me. Of course, we’ve talked about shoes a lot. I’ve been in his closet and seen some things that nobody’s seen before. But I can’t even go into that…

I’ll forever remember wearing certain pairs of shoes that align with important moments of my career. The gold-and-green XIs that symbolized winning the NBA championship with the Celtics, for starters. I asked Jordan Brand to make those for me in 2008. I feel like those started a trend as far as wearing a certain pair of kicks that directly symbolizes winning a championship. And then there were the XIIIs, which I broke the three-point record in. Those bring me right back to that moment in 2011.

Each year I played I had a base pair that I’d wear to each game—usually that year’s Jordan signature—and then every now and then I’d wear something different just to switch it up. During my last few years, we were able to get away with different colors that we weren’t allowed to wear early in my career, so I would throw on certain sneakers just to give people something to talk about.

Sneaker culture is a global phenomenon now. I’ve been to China and people have entire rooms dedicated to Jordan Brand sneakers. Everyone always wants to know what’s coming next. You credit that to Mike, but also people like Howard White and Tinker Hatfield. The creative minds behind the brand are incredible. Kids growing up now want to draw and create art for shoes, and they have so many ideas—and sneaker companies are allowing and fostering those thoughts. That’s why it isn’t slowing down: There are always new looks. Plus the retro business is thriving, so they’re pushing forward while also showing love to the past. It’s the perfect combination.

I don’t think the Jordan signature line is going away any time soon. Mike was so great that his legacy continues to live on in his shoes. You look at what’s happened since he’s retired—it just keeps growing, and it’s only going to keep getting bigger.

These days I’m really into cycling and bowling, so I’d love if Jordan could hook me up with shoes for those sports—maybe some clip-ons for biking, or some Jordans for when I compete in a marathon, or a triathlon, or an Iron Man competition, which I’ve been getting into lately. When I go bowling, I have to wear the random shoes that they give you, and since I’m so used to Jordans, those are unfamiliar to my feet. Definitely need some Jordan bowling shoes.

I’ve also been playing a lot of golf, and that’s one way I’ve been able to get some unreleased stuff. With today’s technological advancements, you can translate the technology seamlessly, so basketball shoes can become golf shoes. I’ve seen Mike pull out some crazy golf shoes—stuff that I had never even known existed. Just recently the golf shoes have gone into the marketplace where people can buy them, but MJ has been making golf shoes for around 10 years and gifted them to friends of his. I’ve given a lot of those away, but I still keep some in my closet because I don’t want to give away a piece of history. It’s tough, figuring out what to hold on to and what to give away. I’ve become a bit of a hoarder—I’ve got a ton of shoes in my house, plus some in storage.

I make sure to give away lots of sneakers, though. When I have camps in the summertime, all the campers have an opportunity to win free shoes with their teamwork, hustle and play. I do sneaker giveaways on my Instagram, too; I’ll find an old shoe and I might place it somewhere and take pictures and do a little scavenger hunt. Some of my friends that I played ball with in college are the same size as me, so they always come over and pick up boxes and boxes of kicks.

Sneakers are going to be a love of mine forever. It’s fashion. People say when you look down at someone’s shoes, it tells you a lot about that person, and I believe that. You can learn a lot about people like that. You might see a 70-year-old man with some Jordans on his feet and you’ll be like, “Yo, look at Pops!” Some day that’ll probably be me.

I’m always going to be a representative of Jordan Brand. It’s in my bloodline. There’s no stopping it now.

CLICK HERE TO ORDER YOUR COPY OF JORDANS VOL. 3!

Top sneaker portrait: Tom Medvedich, Action photos: Getty Images

The post The Perfect Luv appeared first on SLAM.

The sample size is still small, but it looks like the Lakers have turned the page. Through all the coverage about the youth, let’s not forget the veterans who have helped guide the young core.

Seven guys are at least 30 years old on the roster. From Nick Young’s carefree attitude of nicknaming himself “Uncle P,” to Luol Deng’s attentive approach, there’s no shortage of knowledge for the young players to tap into.

“I try and help them with everything I can,” Marcelo Huertas says. “All my international experience, especially with the young guards, teaching them things I’ve learned throughout my career.”

The 33-year-old Brazilian has been around the circuit for quite some time. Huertas started playing in the NBA last season with the Lakers, but he brings along a decorated international resume, which includes a four-year stint with FC Barcelona.

Jose Calderon is going on his 12th NBA season, and has played with the Gasol brothers for Spain, earning three Olympic medals (two Silver, one Bronze).

“Just talking to them, trying to keep them going. Advice if they need to. Just whatever, you know, sometimes it’s very simple, just being there every day, trying to do the right thing, and do what you got to do to get ready for the next game coming up.” Calderon says. “Not only point guards, to everybody. Once you win in the league, even just the plays in the game. Some of the guys don’t know them that well yet, so you always just got to let them know.”

Fresh off signing possibly his last big multi-year contract, Deng understands his current role as a mentor at this juncture of his career.

“I know for me I got a different role now that I’m here,” he says. “For the younger guys, I always try to stay positive and communicate with them throughout the game. [We] know what we’re trying to build here as a team and where we’re going. We’re trying to build a winning culture.”

Several vets said there hasn’t been a need to provide a mentorship role with the young core. The surprisingly comical Timofey Mozgov talks about leading by example in silence.

“I don’t try to be a veteran,” says Timo. “All the things you show them, you do by not talking. You do your own business, be a professional. You just see what they can get out of it.”

Likewise, Metta World Peace talks about how there hasn’t been a need to provide a leadership role with the younger guys. He simply wants them to focus on one thing, and one thing only.

“Not really, you just gotta live your life. If you live your life, then everything else will be easy,” World Peace says. “Basketball will be easy. Having fun will be a norm. So, I just tell [the younger guys], don’t change. Just be yourself and have a good damn time.”

Although Mozgov and World Peace don’t realize it, some of the younger guys look up to guys like them with more respect—especially Metta, given his remarkable career.

“I had Reggie [Miller], that was great,” MWP acknowledged. “He was probably my biggest mentor because he was such a good basketball player. So, I kind of respected him on that level.”

Imagine someone like World Peace, who clearly was a bit irrational and immature in his younger days, admitting that even he looked up to Miller as a mentor with respect. With that in mind, it shouldn’t be difficult to see how the younger guys on this Laker squad could look up to the Queens native.

Coach Luke Walton addressed the media after a recent win against Atlanta on how the chemistry and synergy has been great, led by some veterans’ willingness to sacrifice.

“It’s been a lot of fun coaching these guys. They’re all willing to take whatever role it is to help the team win,” Walton applauds his team. “Tonight, the guys on the bench all played more minutes than the starters. And when I turned around to survey the bench to see if I wanted to make a move, literally two or three of the starters told me, ‘leave them in, let them go’. It’s a lot of fun to coach that way.”

Whether or not the Lakers grab a playoff spot, the team is finally on the upswing after three brutal years, thanks in part to the leadership of their diverse group of veterans.

The post Knowledge Is Power appeared first on SLAM.

More info from the Indy Star:

Kris Wilkes has worn a No. 31 jersey since his elementary school days playing at the SportsZone on the west side. That No. 31 was for his favorite player, Reggie Miller.

 

So perhaps it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Wilkes, a 6-8 North Central star and one of the top senior basketball players in the country, chose the school where Miller’s No. 31 jersey is retired.

 

Wilkes announced his decision to attend UCLA on Sunday at North Central, choosing coach Steve Alford’s Bruins over Indiana and Illinois.

 

“When I went to Westwood, it felt like my second home,” said Wilkes, considered a front-runner to win IndyStar Mr. Basketball this season.

 

Wilkes’ announcement marked the end of a long recruitment that had included Indiana since the eighth grade. While some Hoosiers fans are sure to lament missing out on such a talented in-state recruit, Wilkes said it was more about what UCLA had to offer than what Indiana did not.

 

“Indiana was the first one there and I have a lot of love for them,” he said. “It just came down to where I could see myself and I could see myself at UCLA, trying to win it all. I hope that (Indiana fans) are still there, but if they don’t like me anymore, you are always going to have people who don’t particularly care for where you go.”

The post UCLA Lands Top-20 Recruit Kris Wilkes appeared first on SLAM.

Reggie makes a quick cameo in the Funny or Die’s fake morning show, where he proposes to Lapkus’ character and talks about being clutch. Check out the video up.

Video courtesy of Funny or Die

The post Reggie Miller Shows Off His Improv Skills on ‘The Earliest Show’ appeared first on SLAM.

The process itself is jarring. Cameras flash everywhere as players go through a gauntlet of TV interviews, press conferences, photo shoots, radio hits, podcast spots, Snapchats, tweets and flicks for the ’gram. There are strong “first day of school” vibes.

Out in Oakland, the calendar reads late September but it feels like mid-July as the temperature creeps into the mid-’90s. Though players aren’t scheduled to show up for another few hours, the Warriors’ training facility is already starting to fill up with camera crews, media and team staff members waiting to get a glimpse of two of the game’s biggest stars side-by-side as teammates for the first time.

By our estimation, it is the highest-attended Media Day across the League (perhaps in history even), and for good reason. Not since LeBron joined the Heat in the summer of 2010 has a basketball team captivated the country to this degree. The team, which has been cast as the NBA’s new villain, will be the League’s most covered—maybe the most covered in all of sports—and Warriors PR guru Raymond Ridder is going through an exhausting list of beat reporters and national writers who will be covering the squad on a day-to-day basis.

As you make your way through the very top floor of the Oakland Convention Center, massive photos of Warriors greats like Wilt Chamberlain, Rick Barry, Chris Mullin and Al Attles line the walls. Any minute now, a group of young millionaires, many of whom will join the aforementioned legends on the wall when their respective careers are over, will enter the building.

Once Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant show up and start to pose for portraits, a small hysteria takes over the gym, as everyone tries to get a look at the back-to-back MVP and his new running mate. Despite the crowd that has surrounded them, Curry and KD are at ease, joking and laughing together. Spirits are high, as they should be—the greatest regular-season team of all time just added one of the five best players in the League, and one of the most prolific scorers in NBA history.

Even in person, it’s hard to fathom.

Dark Knight feelin’, die and be a hero
Or live long enough to see yourself become a villain
I went from the favorite, to the most hated…
—Jay Z, “So Appalled”

Not that long ago, KD was the the NBA’s darling.

While LeBron dominated over the past decade, Durant became the people’s champ. A humble kid with unbelievable talent, Durant was a pillar in the Oklahoma City community and wasn’t scared to publicly nudge James for leaving Cleveland for Miami while he quietly signed his own extension with the Thunder back in the summer of 2010.

His success and popularity peaked during the 2013-14 season, when he won the MVP award and won fans’ hearts with a teary-eyed dedication to his mother during his acceptance speech.

This past season, Durant’s future and the Warriors’ chase for 73 wins were the biggest storylines in the NBA. Little did anyone know that the two were on a collision course that would shake up the entire landscape of professional basketball.

As the season wore on, a February report from Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical suggested Durant was considering leaving OKC and the Warriors had a real shot at getting him. The thought seemed so outlandish that other high-profile media members laughed it off and doubted the legitimacy of the report, even calling it “idiotic.” [Never doubt Woj!—Ed.] In most people’s eyes, there was no way KD would leave the franchise he was so integral in building, especially with a player like Russell Westbrook as his P.I.C.

In the Western Conference finals, Durant, Westbrook and the Thunder held a 3-1 lead over the Warriors. They were on the cusp of facing LeBron and the Cavs in the Finals. And then, thanks to Klay Thompson’s heroics in Game 6 and 36 points from Curry in Game 7, the Thunder were sent packing. It was another disappointing end for Durant, an outcome that was becoming frustratingly routine in OKC.

During his exit presser in June, KD was asked about his future and where he would sign in a few weeks. While he deflected most of the prompts, he did reveal what he was looking for during the decision-making process:

“Most important thing for me is the type of people I’m around every day and if I enjoy playing basketball,” he said. “That’s what I’ll center everything around…Winning a championship is what we all want to do. But at the same time, you want to be around good people, you want to be around a good environment and good coaching. That’s what’s most important to me.”

After the Warriors and Cavs duked it out in an all-time great Finals matchup, Durant dipped to the Hamptons in Long Island for a little R&R and to set up shop for meetings with potential suitors. The visiting teams pulled out all the stops.

The Celtics brought along Tom Brady. The Heat came strapped with master salesman Pat Riley. The Warriors pitched “Strength in Numbers”—with Curry, Thompson, Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala all present for the meeting—and a chance to win championships immediately. It was everything Durant said he was looking for.

On July 4, 2016, the basketball world came to a screeching halt.

“The primary mandate I had for myself in making this decision was to have it based on the potential for my growth as a player—as that has always steered me in the right direction,” Durant wrote in The Players’ Tribune. “But I am also at a point in my life where it is of equal importance to find an opportunity that encourages my evolution as a man: moving out of my comfort zone to a new city and community which offers the greatest potential for my contribution and personal growth. With this in mind, I have decided that I am going to join the Golden State Warriors.”

The immediate backlash against Durant was intense. Popular media figures took shots at him. Former players blasted him. Local Oklahoma City rappers made diss songs. The internet ran wild with memes and jokes. When a Thunder “fan” used a Durant jersey as a target for his assault rifle, the backlash went to a dark, scary place.

In the dog days of the offseason, old heads like Charles Barkley and Reggie Miller took verbal shots at Durant for heading West. But for better or worse, NBA legacies are defined by rings. It’s the reason Robert Horry is considered a potential Hall of Famer and not remembered for being a mostly marginal role player who bounced around the League. It’s the reason Kobe spent the last 20 years obsessively chasing Michael’s six rings. It’s the reason why Curry, Green, Thompson, Iguodala and the Warriors’ brass traveled across the country to meet with Durant.

Durant’s decision wasn’t about money, MVP awards, sneaker deals or publicity. It was about putting himself in the best position to win a ring (or rings, plural) and enjoy himself along the journey.

As the vitriol hit its peak, Durant found solace in Rio De Janeiro, of all places, as Team USA made the trip for the Olympics. Not only did we see KD loosen up and smile as he cheered on his fellow Olympians at their respective events, basketball fans got a glimpse of how dominant a player like Durant can be on a team surrounded by star players. The entire experience was therapeutic for KD.

“I think it was a blessing in disguise for him just to be away,” says basketball lifer and the architect of Team USA, Jerry Colangelo. “I think there would have been a great deal more attention had he been in the States. I think that was a little bit of refuge for him. He was very happy, he was very excited and he was happy to get away.

“When I met him for the first time, he was a freshman at the University of Texas. I was at the Final Four in Atlanta and getting out of a car in front of the hotel and Kevin was walking up to the front of the hotel with a couple buddies,” continues Colangelo. “We stopped them and I introduced myself and he knew who I was and he had this wide-eyed look on his face. I said, Kevin, I don’t know what your plan is for staying in school or going to the Draft, but it doesn’t matter to me, I want to invite you to our USA Olympic camp. And he was excited. He said, ‘You can count on me! I’ll be there.’ And that was my first introduction to Kevin Durant.”

Durant certainly isn’t that wide-eyed kid anymore. He’s developed a bit of an edge over his time in the NBA. At Media Day, though, it’s obvious that being around a new team has him feeling refreshed and energized.

“It’s becoming more and more realistic with each day that goes by,” says Durant. “Now that I’m here at Media Day with my jersey on and with all my teammates, it’s real. I’m excited, man. It was a fun, fun summer—a different summer than I ever experienced, and for the most part it was good to go through. I’m ready to go, I’m ready to play and I’ve been anxious to play.”

I don’t know what the fuss is,
my career is illustrious
My rep is impeccable,
I’m not to be fucked with.
—Jay Z, “Success”

Curry, a 6-3 baby-faced assassin, overcame worrisome ankle injuries that plagued him early in his career and proceeded to take the NBA by storm with unreal handles, unlimited range and a playground-type game so refined that on some nights, Warriors games looked more like NBA 2K than real life. His stature and story from an under-recruited prospect to two-time MVP resonated with kids who aren’t 6-10 superhumans, and made him beloved in gyms and living rooms across the globe.

In 2014-15, he went toe-to-toe with LeBron and won, becoming a global icon in the process and flipping the NBA on its head with never-before-seen three-point barrages.

Leading up to the 2015-16 season, most assumed that Curry had peaked.

Nah, son. In the very first game last season, he dropped 40. Four days later, he put up 53. He followed that up by smashing the single-season record for three-pointers, leading the Dubs to a regular-season record 73 wins and becoming the first unanimous MVP in League history. Not a bad encore.

In the 2016 Playoffs, everything fell apart. Hampered by injuries, Curry wasn’t himself. And while he displayed some flashes of brilliance, he limped to the Finals for a rematch with LeBron and the Cavs.

As exhilarating as it was to bounce back from a 3-1 deficit in the conference finals, blowing a 3-1 lead in the Finals will haunt Curry and the Warriors forever. Golden State learned first-hand how slim the margin is between immortality and failure, and it’s not a fleeting feeling.

“The truth is, that’s a pain you’re never gonna forget for the rest of your life,” says Green. “Whether you use it for motivation or not, I mean, in this organization we want to win, so we don’t need any other motivation.”

In the Playoffs, Curry and the Warriors’ popularity dissipated. Once praised for his hard work and hustle, Green was now being dismissed as a dirty player for his below-the-belt shots that resulted in a one-game suspension during the Finals. Curry, arguably one of the most beloved players in League history, wasn’t spared, either. The two-time MVP was criticized for his shaky defense and his celebrations after hitting big shots.

“It didn’t bother me much at all,” says Curry. “You talk about how the Finals ended, it obviously didn’t go our way, it didn’t go my way. What are you going to do about it? What’s next? That’s how I feel about it. I never got too wrapped up in the praise, either. It’s obviously a much better feeling but I don’t feed off that. It doesn’t change the way I play, it doesn’t change who I am. The criticism, you hear it, you have a human emotional reaction to it and you move on. It doesn’t really bother me or affect my daily life, or how I play the game.”

Curry, who looked to be noticeably bulked up at Media Day, has a lot to prove after the way the Finals went. What’s scary for the rest of the League is last season may have been a warmup. With Durant in tow and Klay and Draymond now reaching superstar status, Curry will see more one-on-one defense than he did all of last season, making his potential stats absolutely mind blowing.

First they love me,
then they hate me,
then they love me again.
— Jay Z, “Meet the Parents”

Fair or not, the Warriors are the NBA’s new villains. Unfortunately, that’s often what comes with greatness. It wasn’t until the end of LeBron’s run in Miami that fans began to appreciate just how amazing those Heat teams were. From a purely basketball-viewing standpoint, though, the Dubs will be an absolute joy to watch.

On any given night, texts between basketball junkies will be flying. “Oh shit, Steph is going off!” followed by, “Yo, and KD has 40!” Never mind the fact that a hot Klay Thompson can give a team 30-plus in a quarter and Draymond is a walking triple-double.

The team will miss the contributions of fill-in coach Luke Walton (now the Lakers’ head coach), Andrew Bogut and Harrison Barnes (both with the Mavs), Festus Ezeli (Blazers) and Leandro Barbosa (Suns), but a player like Kevin Durant makes up for any and all losses.

“There were some holes and weaknesses that we had and we got a monster that fills them all,” says Iguodala. “We got a monster on our team now, and it’s going to be really fun to see him play. We don’t have too many weaknesses with a guy like that.”

All eyes will be on the Warriors. And every move they make will be dissected and broken down ad nauseam. Golden State is must-see TV. The Dubs know that with the addition of Durant, their team will be under a microscope the whole season.

“There’s no more pressure than there was last year,” Curry insists. “Coming off a Championship, trying to defend that, the regular season we had, getting to a Game 7 of the Finals, that was so much fun. That’s what you live for, that’s what you play for. This year, we’re as confident as we were last year, but it will be a different journey. Our expectations are really, really high, as they should be…Every year on [Media Day] you can’t fast forward to April, you have to stay in the moment. For us, that’s even more important with the changes we made. Take each day as an opportunity to get better.”

His media duties fulfilled, Curry grabs a ball and hoists the first and only shot he’ll take today before he leaves the court. Swish. The first of hundreds of three-pointers that he’ll drain over the next six months while wearing a Warriors jersey. As Steph heads for unseen quarters, Durant makes his final statements: “I’ma be who I am every single day. I’m gonna approach the game the same way I’ve always approached it. Nothing’s changed except my jersey.”

—

Peter Walsh is an Associate Editor at SLAM. Follow him on Twitter @Peter_M_Walsh. Portraits Atiba Jefferson.

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The only men that have more NBA rings than Horry are seven Celtics that played back in the day. Names like Russell, Havlicek, and Jones (do your Googles on Sam Jones and KC Jones).

Since he retired in 2008, Horry’s become a valued member of the NBA’s extended family. He’s popped up all over the place, from the annual Hall of Fame celebrations, to the NBA Finals, to appearances on NBA TV and the Lakers’ Time Warner Cable channel.

For the last two weeks he’s been touring Europe, again working for the League. He’s been in Malaga, Barcelona & Paris to spread the game and connect with fans. We caught up with Big Shot Rob on the final leg of his trip.

SLAM: What have you been working on with the League? 

Robert Horry: It depends on which city you’re talking about. When I was in Spain, we were doing a couple things getting ready for the EuroGames. When I was in London we had some fun time where I was doing stuff with local celebrities with NBA 2K17. Now here in Paris, there’s a lot of court dedication, trying to provide a place to go and play on a good court, a regulation court for kids to try and better themselves.

SLAM: What’s the reception to the game in Europe now? How much has basketball grown?

RH: Each city has a different reaction. When I was in the Hoops Factory the other day, watching all these kids play with a passion and love for the game. And it’s amazing. It was 30 teams of three. And there were so many guys that had crazy handles.

I’m like, ‘Wow, all these guys have handles. At that age, I could barely go left.’ These guys have learned the game. It’s exciting to see them have the love and the passion for it. They went out and just played hard.

A couple of them were asking me questions. ‘What can I do to get better?’ I tried to give them little tips and little drills.

SLAM: Do they know about you and all you’ve done as a player?

RH: Thanks to Tony Parker, a lot of those guys knew who I was. Usually it’s, ‘Oh, you played for the Lakers.’ Here it’s, ‘Oh, you played for the Spurs.’ That has a lot to do with Tony and his influence and the impact he put on the game here.

SLAM: What has separated Tony Parker throughout all these years?

RH: He’s so fast, so crafty. For a couple years, like, four or five years, he led the NBA in points in the paint. For a point guard to be able to get in the paint and take that contact, and shoot over big guys… He just kept on showing you his resolve and resiliance to get to the hole. I look at him and he reminds me of some of the things that Rod Strickland used to do when he would get to the paint and shoot up floaters. He reminds of his quickness off the dribble like a Tim Hardaway. His toughness in there like a Joe Dumars. There were so many things, if you look at his game, that he was able to do at his size. He’s not supposed to be able to do that.

Like, ‘Who’s this Frenchmen that’s coming in with a floater? Who’s this little Frenchmen that’s scoring more points in the paint than anybody in the NBA?’

What he brought to the NBA was amazing. The thing that I like best about him is everybody knew he could get to the hole and drive but he worked on his outside shot so much, and he worked on his three so much that he’s able to knock that down with consistency.

SLAM: Do you have a favorite championship?

RH: It’s definitely my ’95 championship. To not have homecourt advantage and if you go back and look at all the teams we beat–there’s about 10 Hall of Famers that we came across. John Stockton, Karl Malone, Kevin Johnson, AC Green and Charles Barkley. Then you had Dennis Rodman, Avery Johnson and David Robinson.

Then the next round, of course, he recently got into the Hall of Fame–Shaq. Penny and that crew. It was a crazy run. Not to have homecourt advantage, beat the teams, come back from down 3-1 [against Phoenix], sweep Orlando, who was America’s team then. I could go on and on about the fantastic moments we had that during that run.

SLAM: From you and Kenny Smith, to Vernon Maxwell, and then Hakeem, that was an incredible team. 

RH: The fact that we revolutionized smallball during that period, too. Being down 3-1 to Phoenix. It’s funny because Charles Barkley was killing Chucky [Brown] and Pete Chilcutt. It was like, ‘Let’s put Robert on him.’ I was like, ‘Oh, crap.’ But it worked out. It gave Hakeem more room to operate and it gave me more room to knock down three’s.

SLAM: What about a favorite clutch shot that you hit?

RH: It happened back in ’95. We were playing our nemesis, the San Antonio Spurs. In the first game, Dennis Rodman didn’t come out. I was 0-9 and I stepped in and knocked down a shot in that very first game. For me that’s special because to be 0-9 and have the confidence to take that shot, it means a lot more to me for my self-confidence and to strive to be the best I could be. That shot means a lot. Nobody ever talks about it. It’s probably not even on film anywhere. But to me, that’s a big one.

SLAM: Do you think we’ll ever see someone win seven championships again?

RH: I look at LeBron James, the fact that he started out so young. He’s somebody that can do a lot of things. He’s probably going to play about six more years, the way he keeps his body up, the machine that he is. He could have the opportunity to bypass me and get close to, I’m not going to say Bill, but I’d say Sam Jones. Sam had 10. I think he’d be close to that range, if he’s able to stay healthy and he stays in the right situation.

—

Photos courtesy of NBA

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But that team could never match the impact the Dream Team had on or off the floor. Or the star power that the Dream Team rolled around with. Michael, Magic and Larry? C’mon.

The 1996 Olympics were even held in America. That team, though, hasn’t been remembered the way the best of the national teams have. Look closely at the roster and it doesn’t make any sense. The squad was STACKED:

David Robinson, Charles Barkley, Hakeem Olajuwon, John Stockton, Karl Malone, Scottie Pippen, Gary Payton, Mitch Richmond, Reggie Miller, Penny Hardaway, Shaquille O’Neal and Grant Hill, with the legendary Lenny Wilkens sitting at the helm.

That’s 10 Hall of Famers, with possibly two more to come. Add in the second winningest coach in NBA history, too. Sure, their 102 points per game isn’t the Dream Team’s 117 ppg. But the 1996 team gave up the fewest points per game to their opponent since NBA players were allowed to wear the Red, White and Blue. With just 70.2 points given up each time out, 106 total steals and and everyone besides Miller registering at least one block, Dream Team II’s defense was actually a nightmare.

So was their offense. Hakeem got subbed out by Shaq, the Admiral rotated with Malone and Barkley. Double the big men? Open three for Miller or Richmond or an open lane for Pippen, Hill or Hardaway. Then the pick-and-roll was run to perfection by Stockton and Payton.

They whipped the ball around beautifully. Five players had at least 20-plus total assists. Nine of the 12 had double-digit dimes throughout the eight games. By the end of the Atlanta Games, the basketball team had firmly established its chokehold over the rest of the world, even if no one gives them the credit.

“The whole Olympic experience was off the charts,” says Grant Hill. “There was a pretty significant degree of separation between our team and the rest of the field. Although we respected everybody, we knew we were gonna win.

“Really it was the relationships with the guys,” he continues. “We spent a lot of time together. What I loved and what I think back on is the practices. The matchups. Going against Scottie, at my position. Looking at David Robinson battling with Shaq or Hakeem Olajuwon. The practices were just insane. The banter, the trash talking.”

The 1992 team might be most famous for their time away from the cameras when the trash talk floated all around Barcelona. While they were together, there were intense practices, drunken beach days, tee times at the links, card games all night. One of the reasons the world connected so much with that team is because they were let into the lives of Barkley, Jordan and Ewing.

There aren’t so many of those stories about the 1996 team, which could be why they aren’t thrown up there with the ’92 or 2008 teams. But just because we don’t know about them doesn’t mean those moments didn’t happen.

“One night, before we got to the Olympics, I went out with Scottie,” Hill remembers. “We were in Orlando. We went to a party. We got back, played cards, and I might’ve left at like 5:30, six in the morning. We had practice at, like, 11. Scottie might’ve stayed up the whole night. In practice, he was running circles around me.”

Twenty years later, Hill’s face looks tired even thinking about how Pippen did all that. “I could not understand how he could stay out that late and still come in and practice and be great.”

Hill goes on to say that the 1996 team did have a bunch of those late nights and crazy bus rides and dinners together. The chemistry they showed on the court would back that up. Their 133 points against China is the second most scored in one game between the 1992 and 2012 Olympics. The only team that put up more b-b-buckets is the 2012 group, when they dropped 156 on Nigeria. (Salute, Captain America.)

It seems like the only way the 1996 team would get their due is by beating the Dream Team. Grant Hill is confident in the outcome of a single game between the two.

“I’d say 1996.” Hill looks up into the sky while he picks the winner, looking like he’s picturing the game.

“We had good balance. We had some younger players. I think with Shaq, with Penny when he was right—you had the legends like David Robinson, Karl Malone, Charles Barkley, John Stockton, Scottie Pippen. Then you had those guys that were right in their prime. Reggie, Mitch Richmond, Gary Payton. Then you had the young guys like myself, Penny and Shaq. I’d pay to see it. I’d like to think that we could get them. I’m glad you brought that up, I feel like we don’t get the respect.” He says that last sentence with a smile.

Coach Wilkens, an assistant in 1992 and the head coach in 1996, however, isn’t quite as sure.

“They’re both good teams,” he says, remaining completely neutral. “I know what Gary and Mitch Richmond would say. They would say we’d win. I’m sure that the ’92 team would say the same thing. I enjoyed coaching all those guys.” Forever the player’s coach.

The 1992 team told the world that America was the example for basketball. The 1996 team backed that up almost effortlessly.

“The 1996 team, we were,” Hill begins. Before he finishes his sentence, an adjective to describe his Olympic team is thrown out at him. He agrees with it. “We were stacked,” he says.

—

Top image courtesy of Getty, other images courtesy of Bayley Claro Resetar

The post Way Past Due appeared first on SLAM.

Other Twitter users called Jennings crazy, considering that Reggie is one of the greatest 3-point shooters ever and racked up thousands of points. But when it comes down to rings, Horry has seven while Miller has zero.

To be clear, Jennings did not say that Horry is a better player than Miller, he’d rather have a fistful of rings over individual accolades.

Peep Brandon’s argument below:

https://twitter.com/brandonjennings/status/769938263666601984

https://twitter.com/brandonjennings/status/769940611956748288

https://twitter.com/brandonjennings/status/769943081030344704

https://twitter.com/brandonjennings/status/769943641020178432

https://twitter.com/brandonjennings/status/769943977738932224

https://twitter.com/brandonjennings/status/769944713059151872

https://twitter.com/brandonjennings/status/769945060653666304

https://twitter.com/brandonjennings/status/769946184278388736

https://twitter.com/brandonjennings/status/769946290545266688

Jennings also weighed in on the Knicks, saying that if the team is healthy they have a shot at making noise in the L this upcoming season:

https://twitter.com/brandonjennings/status/769948561299476480

https://twitter.com/brandonjennings/status/769948711027744770

The post Brandon Jennings: ‘I’m Taking Robert Horry’s Career Over Reggie Miller’s’ appeared first on SLAM.

“Certain people used to joke that I used to try to put myself in those moments as far as not scoring at certain times, so I could have those opportunities,” Toliver says, smiling, before her Sparks faced the Sky earlier this summer.

“The players I’ve watched growing up and the guys I’ve admired so much, they made those kind of shots,” says the 29-year-old PG. “I wanted to be like that, too.”

That’s why the eighth-year pro, who is draining a career-best 45 percent of her threes to go with 14 ppg through the first month of the season, chose Reggie Miller as the subject of her fourth-grade English report.

Like Miller, she wasn’t the most athletic. She wasn’t always sought after. But when the shot clock wound down, she craved the ball.

She’d practice Miller’s push-off, game-winning three over Jordan in the ’98 Eastern Conference finals, memorizing his footwork the way other kids memorized lyrics.

It’s no surprise Toliver earned the rep of Ms. Clutch. As a freshman back at Maryland, she hit the game-tying three to force OT against Duke in the ’06 National Championship game.

Last season, she once poured in a Sparks’ record 43 points—including a 19-point third-quarter outburst—to lead L.A. past the Shock, 98-95.

“I’m not afraid to miss shots and miss those kind of moments,” Toliver says. “I live for those moments. It’s why I play.”

Posting 3.8 dimes and 2.6 boards to go with her scoring this year, Toliver has guided L.A. to a WNBA-best 21-3 record. Alongside budding superstar Nneka Ogwumike and veteran Candace Parker, Toliver is hungry to bring L.A. its first WNBA crown since ’02.

“We’re a veteran-based group,” she says. “We have all the pieces to do something special.”

—

Photo via Getty Images

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Terry, 38, spent the past two seasons in Houston.

And a link to the latest on the Milwaukee @Bucks' pursuit of veteran sharpshooter @jasonterry31 –> https://t.co/kkPsu8k1wp

— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) August 19, 2016

The Bucks would be looking to Terry to provide leadership to their young roster.

Per ESPN:

Terry is a former NBA Sixth Man Award winner (2009) who won an NBA championship with the Dallas Mavericks in the 2010-11 season alongside Bucks coach Jason Kidd, then the Mavericks’ starting point guard.

 

Selected No. 10 overall in the 1999 draft, Terry has played for ‎five teams in his 17 seasons — Atlanta, Dallas, Boston, Brooklyn and Houston — and ranks third all time in the NBA in 3-pointers made, behind only Ray Allen and Reggie Miller.

The post Report: Jason Terry Close to a Deal With Milwaukee appeared first on SLAM.

Durant says that his frustrations with former All-Star teammate Russell Westbrook had nothing to do with his choice to join the Warriors.

The ex-Thunder star also addressed his reputation and the criticism he’s received from fans, media and players (current and former.)

Per USA Today:

There was certainly criticism, though, none louder than the dissenting perspective shared by Charles Barkley and Reggie Miller. But as Durant said repeatedly, it wasn’t nearly as bad as he had imagined – not yet anyways. […] “Those are two guys, you know?” he said of Barkley and Miller. “They’ve got a voice in our game, and a lot of people probably felt the same way but they don’t have a voice so obviously what they say is translated through a megaphone so it feels like everybody else (thinks that). If Charles Barkley said it, it must be true. If Reggie Miller says it, it must be true. It just feels like it’s bigger than what it is. But for the most part, I got the support around me. I’ve got the family that supports me no matter what, that love me no matter what I do. I could be playing tennis right now, and I could retire from the game of basketball and they’re still going to love me. If I think about that, I’ll be fine.”

 

As one Warriors person had described it even before Durant came their way, there are no hockey assists with Westbrook – the pass that leads to the pass that leads to the shot. More often than not, he’s either scoring on the possession or assisting. All season long, the Warriors’ intel that Durant had grown frustrated with that aspect of his Thunder experience was the root of their free agency confidence. [….] “Nah, it wasn’t (a factor in him leaving),” Durant said. “I mean obviously (that alleged subplot is) coming out now (that) I’m gone, all these reports are going to come out. I can’t really control it, but I just made a decision based on where I wanted to go, man. It was as simple as that. We can think about all the reasons and the factors and what factored in, but it was simple. That’s where I wanted to play basketball.”

 

Because Westbrook is a free agent next summer, the widely-held belief was that Durant would want to know whether or not his running mate was likely to remain before picking his team. Alas … “No, we didn’t talk about (Westbrook’s free agency future),” said Durant, who had gone to dinner with Westbrook and Thunder forward Nick Collison in the days leading up to free agency. “I mean we didn’t really talk about anything at all. I wish him nothing but the best, man.”

Related
Kevin Durant: Relationship With Russell Westbrook ‘Probably Won’t Ever Be the Same Again’

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This backlash came both from outside the L and inside the commissioner’s office of David Stern. It was a hysteria born of insecurity after the retirement of Michael Jordan and directed against the new generation of players deemed to be “destroying” the League. They were the ones coming straight out of high school, cornrows in their hair, tattoos on their arms and hip-hop in their ears. The solution would be dress codes, a mandatory year in college and League promotion of players—through no fault of their own—like John Stockton, Karl Malone and Reggie Miller: Hall of Famers with an absence of soul.

This was a time of code words from David Stern’s allies about wanting the League to have “red state appeal.” It was when the most unassailable genius in the sport was Phil Jackson and he said of young NBA players, “I don’t mean to say [this] as a snide remark toward a certain population in our society, but they have a limitation of their attention span, a lot of it probably due to too much rap music going in their ears and coming out their being…The players have been dressing in prison garb the last five or six years. All the stuff that goes on, it’s like gangster, thuggery stuff.”

All of this was a painfully transparent attack on young black men and hip-hop youth culture, as old men stressed about how they were going to market this majority black league to a majority white audience. And yet the future HOFers, the icons, were all around them, but they were seen by the League as enemies to future progress. This was symbolized most dramatically when the NBA’s own—now defunct—magazine put Allen Iverson on the cover and airbrushed off his tattoos. This was a league desperate to photoshop the very personalities of a new generation.

Yet then there was SLAM. While the League was airbrushing the most iconic player of his generation, SLAM was putting The Answer on the cover, his fro flying at full height, with the headline “Soul on Ice.” When Latrell Sprewell was trying to make his way back into the League’s good graces after his season-long suspension for choking his Warriors coach PJ Carlesimo, SLAM put Spree’s mean mug right on the front with the headline, “How He Saved the NBA.” When the League saw Minnesota as an afterthought and hip-hop as an enemy art form, SLAM gave us “Showbiz and KG.” These covers—and seeing demonized faces staring back at us on the newsstands—meant something. But it wasn’t the covers alone. Whether it was the Trash Talk letters section when SLAM’s editors constantly yipped back to the readers, or the NOYZ at the front of the mag with its constant stream of hoops #hottakes, SLAM really was our social media before there was social media. If only they had bottled the concept, editors like Tony Gervino, Scoop Jackson, Russ Bengtson, Ryan Jones and Ben Osborne would all be swimming in champagne or conducting their own vanity runs for the President of United States. Instead, the SLAM fam has to settle for knowing that they were ahead of the curve at a time when David Stern and his cronies thought the curve led straight off of an economic cliff.

Today’s League is more entertaining than ever and it is built around a foundation of stars who are more likely to be distinct individuals then cookie cutter corporate cutouts. These are the children of AI, not Karl Malone. When players like Russell Westbrook are redefining just what a dress code is really supposed to look like, when players like Draymond Green and Stephen Curry are more likely to break molds than try to fit in the ones already created, that’s the SLAM legacy. Maybe the mag won’t be getting a thank you note from the commissioner’s office, but true fans know who deserves love for the blueprint of the style, flavor and politics of the greatest sport on earth. It was conjured and defended by a bunch of ink-stained wretches in Midtown.

—

Photo via Getty Images

The post Where It All Began appeared first on SLAM.

In ’76, the ABA merged with the NBA, but only the four most successful franchises were welcomed into the Association. Those four franchises were the Denver Nuggets, Indiana Pacers, New York (now Brooklyn) Nets and the San Antonio Spurs. While some players found success in the NBA, the merger left plenty of ABA guys high and dry. These ballers didn’t have any pension benefits and fell into difficult financial situations.

This is where the Dropping Dimes Foundation comes in.

This not-for-profit Foundation was founded by Scott Tarter and Dr. John Abrams in an effort to lend a hand to many of these old-school ballers.

A few years ago Tarter was working with documentary film producer Ted Green when he met Abrams, who is a local doctor in Indianapolis and the Pacers’ eye doctor. While both of them were supporting Green, they found out that they had a mutual love for the ABA. They ended up working with a lot of their ABA heroes who would always talk about a lot of lesser-known players who needed help. After doing research, Tarter and Abrams found out that there aren’t any programs that help with getting ABA players back on their feet. Noticing that there is a void, the two linked up and started the Dropping Dimes Foundation.

“These guys were being contracted in a range of $12,000-$50,000 a year,” says Tarter. “There were no established or viable healthcare or pension plans. They were at a huge disadvantage.”

One of the great aspects of Dropping Dimes, besides the work they do to assist old ABA players, is that its advisory board is filled with ABA and NBA legends. The advisory board consists of ex-players like Bobby Leonard, Issel, George McGinnis, Reggie Miller and ancillary members of the basketball community, such as renowned sportscaster Bob Costas. All these guys go above and beyond to volunteer with the foundation.

“I got a call from the guys who started the foundation. It was trying to find a way to help some of those guys who played in the old ABA,” says McGinnis. “[Scott] talked to myself, Bob Leonard, Mel Daniels, Darnell Hillman, Billy Keller, and a few other people. We all got on board with it and that’s kind of how it all started.”

Dropping Dimes doesn’t just help out these ABA players financially, they do much more. For example, Ron Thomas who played for the Kentucky Colonels during the ’70s lives in a nursing home and Tarter and some of the advisory board members paid him a visit. They gave him shoes and clothing. Another gift they gave him was a blown up Topps basketball card. Tarter says they do that for every player and if the player doesn’t have a card, they make one for them. After that, they just hung out with him and Thomas was loving it.

“There are a lot of ABA players that didn’t make a lot of money,” adds Issel. “Some of those former players need some help right now. I have very fond memories of me in my ABA days. It was a fun league and we had a lot of exceptional talent. My ABA days hold a special place for me.”

Tarter’s hopes to help as many ABA players as he can so that in a few years this Foundation won’t be necessary.

“We’ve got some guys here who are great people. There’s just a lot of people involved,”Leonard said. “When you can help somebody else, especially guys that you knew and coached against. You want to do that.”

For more information on the Dropping Dimes Foundation, check out droppingdimes.org.

Photos courtesy of Scott Tarter

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Larry Legend says current players are as good as they were during his own era—often considered the best of all time.M

Bird cautions, however, that comparing eras is oftentimes a fruitless exercise.

Per ESPN:

Q: What’s changed in this league, obviously, is the financial and economic impact of it all. When you guys talk to each other, guys who played 20, 30 years ago, are you as stunned as fans at all the money that has come into the game? […] A: “I’d be lying if I told you I thought it would get to this point. I never thought that. I’m happy it has. That means the league’s doing well, the owners are doing well, the players are doing well. That’s what it was all about. But you got to remember, when I came into the league, the guys before me were bitchin’ about how much money I made. So it just goes down the line, so that’s how it works.”

 

Q: I saw you said recently in a New Yorker article, “My era, you always think that’s the greatest era, but I’m not so sure anymore.” Why do you believe that now? […] A: “Because everybody that plays, no matter if it was ’60s, ’70s, ’80s, they think their era’s the best. Well, prove it to me. Like I said earlier, I think we have more stars than they do now. On every team, they had at least one, maybe two. I’m talking about Dominique Wilkins — you just go down the line. But in saying that, I don’t think our era’s any better than anyone else’s, when it comes right down to it.”

 

Q: Do you think there are better all-around players before the current era? […] A: “I don’t know. There’s some guys I really like to watch play. Draymond Green is fun to watch. All of those [Michigan] State guys are because they defend, and they play, they play together — that’s how I like the game to be played. Move the ball, cut, pass; if you do the right things, you’ll get it right back. I don’t know, I hate to compare eras. It’s been so long since I played, but I liked to play the total game. Magic liked to play the total game. Some guys are just scorers. Some guys just defend and rebound. But the guys that are playing now are just as good as what we were when we played.”

The post Larry Bird Says Today’s NBA Players as Good as Any Era appeared first on SLAM.

"Kevin Durant is trying to cheat his way into a championship."

– Charles Barkley pic.twitter.com/vf6hUC1TI6

— Mike & Mike (@MikeAndMike) July 6, 2016

Durant stunned the hoops world this week by leaving the OKC Thunder as a free agent and joining the Golden State Warriors.

Sir Charles isn’t the only old-timer who’s less than thrilled with KD’s decision.

"To me, it's about your legacy versus rings." @ReggieMillerTNT on KD's #FreeAgency decision: https://t.co/kWPVIijwcw pic.twitter.com/rqiAZXHDsV

— NBA TV (@NBATV) July 6, 2016

Per Bleacher Report:

The idea of a recent MVP joining the reigning MVP on a team stocked with All-Stars will be judged as unseemly, even cowardly. […] “If u can’t beat um join um,” 10-time All-Star Paul Pierce tweeted, adding a chin-scratching emoji for effect:

 

It was an accurate summation. Durant is literally joining the team he couldn’t beat, the Golden State Warriors, who overcame a 3-1 deficit to knock out the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference Finals just five weeks ago.

 

But consider it another way, for a moment: Durant is joining the team that gives him his best chance to evolve. […] “Ultimately, he got frustrated and felt that they had plateaued,” said a person with insight into Durant’s thought process. “[Billy Donovan] came in, and he still had the same issues that he had with (Russell Westbrook) under (Scott Brooks.) The offense didn’t change much. He still had to take a ton of contested shots every game; and that’s when he had the ball at all.”

The post Charles Barkley: ‘Kevin Durant is Trying to Cheat His Way into a Championship’ appeared first on SLAM.

“Jimmy Kimmel Live” aired the bit Thursday night to coincide with Game 1 of the Finals.

Per the late-night talkshow:

Sports fans are very passionate about their favorite teams and players. They love to love, and sometimes they love to hate.

 

With that said, it’s time for another special NBA edition of #MeanTweets featuring Jalen Rose, Klay Thompson, Blake Griffin, Andre Iguodala, Russell Westbrook, Reggie Miller, Doc Rivers, Magic Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal, Stephan Curry, DeAndre Jordan and Dikembe Mutombo.

The post WATCH: NBA Stars Read Mean Tweets appeared first on SLAM.

It happened during a Dream Team scrimmage at the 1992 Olympics, and according to Magic, Jordan unleashed the single greatest move he’s ever seen shortly after the chirping began.

Johnson also re-affirmed that he thinks Kobe Bryant is the greatest Los Angeles Laker ever, and told a great story about hanging out (and hooping) with the late, great Prince.

Related
Reggie Miller on Michael Jordan Torching Him for Trash Talking (VIDEO)

The post Magic Johnson Only Talked Trash to Michael Jordan Once appeared first on SLAM.

45 consecutive playoff games with a 3… a new record for @StephenCurry30! #WARRIORSvTHUNDER pic.twitter.com/hgBwXzeL8u

— NBA (@NBA) May 17, 2016

The Golden State Warriors blew a 14-point third-quarter lead in the series opener, and Curry credited the Thunder’s defense for disrupting the Dubs’ offensive flow.

Steph finished with 26 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists in the loss.

Per the SF Chronicle:

If Game 1 was a “feeling-out” process, as head coach Steve Kerr suggested, the Warriors have to be feeling pretty sick. […] “I do think that we lost our poise a little bit,” Kerr said. “I think we were trying to rectify the situation in one or two plays, instead of letting it play out. … It was a tough game for our whole team. We had some good moments in the first half, but we lost that in the second.”

 

The Warriors called timeout with 30.7 seconds remaining, but couldn’t draw up a five-point play. Andre Iguodala sneaked inside for a layup to trim Oklahoma City’s lead to 105-102 with 22.6 seconds left, and (Russell) Westbrook was granted a timeout — instead of being called for a traveling violation — with 17.2 to play. […] “It’s an unfortunate miss,” said Joe Borgia, the NBA’s senior vice president of Replay and Referee Operations, of the non-call. “But so much is going on in the play and the speed of it. Officiating is about getting angles, and sometimes you just can’t get them. They did not get a great angle on that play.”

 

Curry made two three-pointers in the first half’s final 42.4 seconds. The first gave him at least one three in 45 straight postseason games — passing the record streak set by Reggie Miller from 1995-2000 — and the second, at the horn, sent the Warriors into the locker room with a 60-47 advantage. […] “They didn’t make many mistakes on the defensive end, which forced us into some tough shots,” Curry said. “We are at our best — no matter how good a defense is — when we move the ball, move bodies and set screens. Tonight, that wasn’t us.”

The post Stephen Curry Breaks Reggie Miller’s Playoff Record for Consecutive Games With a Three appeared first on SLAM.

The opening round featured a matchup between the 2-seeded Boston Celtics and the 7-seeded Indiana Pacers. The Celtics won 56 games that season, started the year 40-13, and were side by side with the Bulls in the standings until Larry Bird’s back starting acting up and the green finished with a modest 16-13 record down the stretch.

The Indiana Pacers were making just their fourth Playoff appearance after joining the NBA in 1976. The fans in Market Square arena were hungry for some post-season success and the Pacers were confident they could battle the Celtics. Boston’s 90-91 team, when healthy, was a team that many thought had a chance to make a deep run.

After falling to the Knicks in shocking fashion the previous season in the opening round, Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish all came back strong despite fighting age and lingering injuries.

With the growth of Reggie Lewis as a force at 2-guard, Kevin Gamble, Brian Shaw and Dee Brown adding athleticism and youth, Celtics fans were again very excited about their team as the Garden remained a very tough place for visitors.

With Chuck Person, Reggie Miller, Detlef Schrempf (the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year) and the speedy Michael Williams, the Pacers presented some interesting match-ups. Person and Bird battled as if they had a personal vendetta. Miller and Lewis battled for five straight years in the East before Lewis’ tragic passing in 1993.

Following the Celtics winning Game 1 at home behind Lewis’ 28 points and a Bird
triple-double, the Pacers captured Game 2 in the Garden behind 39 points from Person, which included a Playoff record (at that time) 7 threes.

The teams then split a pair of heated nail-bitters in the raucous Market Square Arena before returning to Boston for a Sunday afternoon Game 5 classic. With a home crowd looking for vengeance from a year prior and a new enemy in Person, this had all the makings of a special afternoon in this win-or-go-home clash.

With Marv Albert and Mike Fratello on the call for NBC, the stage was set for drama, but what unfolded on the Garden parquet is something you could have never scripted.

This is Part 1 of The Ode to ’91…

Previously:
WATCH: Ode To ’91 – The Dawn of the Bulls’ Dynasty

The post Ode To ’91 – Larry Bird’s Last Great Playoff Performance (VIDEO) appeared first on SLAM.

Allen won a pair of championships over an 18-year NBA career with Milwaukee, Seattle, Boston and Miami. He last played with the Heat in 2013-14 and will turn 41 this summer, and yet as recently as January he was still getting calls from Miami about returning to play. In speaking with us, Allen declined to officially announce anything one way or the other in regards to his retirement, but he certainly took a reflective tone when discussing his career and the career of fellow ’96 Draft Class member Kobe Bryant.

But first and foremost, the man known to many as Jesus Shuttlesworth was in the building to spend some quality time with the next generation of great basketball players, preaching the importance of keeping a tight circle, urging them to treat their bodies as “high-performance sports cars” and encouraging them to simply out-work the opposition, like he did for so many years.

“I knew a lot of guys who guarded me, who didn’t want to guard me because they didn’t want to have to chase me,” Allen told the group of high school seniors, before indulging with a quick story: “We’re playing San Antonio in the [Finals], and Gregg Popovich is shifting lineups around, and Matt Bonner comes in the game. Matt Bonner’s looking around trying to figure out, like, OK, he has him, he has him… He sees me on the floor and he’s like, Coach! Who’s guarding Ray? I looked at him and said, You got me.”

“Pop took him out right then. He knows he’s already beat.”

Allen signed with Jordan Brand in 1996, just as the brand was beginning to branch out and sign athletes not named Michael Jordan (of his first NBA match-up against MJ, he admits, “I was scared shitless”). Since, he’s become one of the most recognizable faces of the brand in the sneaker world thanks to his smooth jumper and his incredible collection of rare retros and PEs. After spending some time with the kids at Terminal 23, Allen sat down with SLAM to talk about what message he hopes to impart on the youth, how he’s grown with Jordan Brand, his thoughts on Kobe’s retirement, the “best shooter ever” comparisons with Stephen Curry and more.

SLAM: When you have an opportunity to speak to young athletes like this, is there a specific message or piece of wisdom you’re hoping to impress upon them?

Ray Allen: It’s hard because you have five or 10 minutes to try to convey some thoughts that will hit home with them. So you just really want to be in front of them and talk to them about where they are and how they should just enjoy the moment. We’re not different—there’s a lineage from me to them, and they’re all heading down this path where ultimately they’ll be walking into a room like this and giving kids a speech themselves some day.

SLAM: How do you think being a high school prospect is different now than it was for you?

RA: I think each kid, back then, we felt like we were alone, we were on an island. But now, these kids, since social media they have a way to connect and create a brand for themselves. You don’t need a corporation or a marketing company to brand you now, you can do it yourself. You can establish who you are with a social media following. As these kids now grow from high school to college, think about the followings that they’ll have, deep into their college years, because kids have been following them for so many years.

SLAM: You went to things like the Nike All-American camp, but never something like what Jordan has in store this week for the JBC.

RA: No, but see Nike camp, we got gear and we were around other players, but it was very blue collar-ish. We didn’t have photo shoots and we didn’t have performances. I told one of the girls today, You guys are lucky, to be able to be here and do these types of things, and to wear Jordans on your feet. You’ve got to make sure you understand it, because it doesn’t happen like this. None of us got this type of treatment. So just remember that the fact that you worked hard and you played well, you got rewarded, and it continues to grow that way, each level you get to.

SLAM: You were one of the original Jordan Brand athletes, with guys like Randy Moss, Roy Jones Jr. and Derek Jeter. Is it crazy to see how much the brand has grown since you signed with them?

RA: I made a gamble when I was 21. I had a few contracts on the table, including one with another shoe company. I had to make a choice between two shoe companies. The other shoe company threw out all these criteria. Me and a few people on my team asked amongst ourselves, If I’m a great NBA player, which company would I want to be a part of? And then Nike came and said, Jordan is starting his own line and we’d love to introduce you as one of the new players to be a part of it. It was a no-brainer for me, just to be able to be associated with Nike, and then Jordan on top of that. I didn’t know what it was going to be like, but I was in. Being a part of it was incredible, because every player wanted to wear the shoes that I’ve worn. Even before I started wearing retros. My first couple years, I had shoes that everyone wanted, and the gear was different. Then when I started wearing retros in Seattle and Boston, that’s all other players ever talked about. It was always special for me.

SLAM: How often would guys talk to you about your sneakers during games?

RA: Every game. Guys were asking me if they could get a pair, if I could send a pair to their locker room, if they could get the pair on my feet.

SLAM: Literally the ones you had on?

RA: Mmhmm. Like, Can you send those shoes to me?

SLAM: Wait—to wear the ones you already wore, or to keep them as memorabilia?

RA: Both. I’ve had guys that couldn’t find the shoes, so they wanted the ones I had to wear. And then I had guys that wanted to auction them off for charity. It was always an honor, knowing that they were asking me, because I always felt like they held me in a high regard. That’s how I looked at MJ.

SLAM: You obviously have an incredible sneaker collection. You’ve seen it all when it comes to kicks. So what gets you excited in terms of sneakers these days? What sneakers make you perk up when you see them?

RA: Umm. I have seen it all. As much as I’ve seen, I don’t think anything like, sparks my attention. I think I have some shoes, too, that some people haven’t seen.

SLAM: Will we ever see them?

RA: I don’t know. I have shoes in my closet, some guys will come in and go, Where’d you get these from? I give a lot of shoes away, but there are some shoes that sometimes I’m like, I don’t think they ever even released these. Sometimes I don’t know what they’ve released. But sometimes friends of mine that work for Nike will visit and say, They never made these, so you need to hold on to these.

SLAM: What kinds of emotions have you felt watching Kobe’s farewell tour?

RA: It just gives me pause, thinking about the last two decades. We came in, got drafted together. Just thinking about the eras that we played in, the players that we played with. It was such a great ride, because he’s won championships, but I think he’d also tell you that some of the bad teams were some of the funnest times, too, because you learn a lot. That’s how you appreciate winning a championship. He was a pace setter in the game, and he ushered in a lot of young people into the game of basketball. You always have to bow to the end of an era.

SLAM: Is there one Kobe moment that sticks out for you?

RA: I don’t think of anything in particular. He and I used to go at it. We used to go at it pretty good, it was competitive. It was appropriate that I ended up in Boston. And we had those two Finals years, playing in the best rivalry in the NBA. That was definitely great for TV, and it was great competition. Those things I’ll always remember.

SLAM: Where do you rank Stephen Curry in terms of the greatest shooters in the history of the League? A lot of fans might argue that you hold that title.

RA: Based on what he’s done, I think he has to be—he’s on his way to being the best ever. It’s always arguable, based on who’s telling the story. One thing I always tell people is, it’s hard to compare generations. Everybody has something or somebody that makes him feel special about the game, or the way they saw and the way they appreciate the game. I’ve sat back and watched a lot, and listened to a lot of people talk. He’s creating a lane all of his own. People comparing him to me, to Reggie [Miller]. But I think Steph is in a category of his own. Just being able to have great handles the way he has with the ball, to be able to score at will by getting to the basket. Myself, Reggie Miller, Kyle Korver, Klay Thompson—we play a different game. We’re shooters. We come off screens, pindowns—Steph can do that, but he’s creating a different lane. Point guards haven’t been able to do what he’s been able to do, because he’s mixing that 2 guard-ish in there with having the great handles of a point guard. When I broke the three-point record, they (Steph and Klay) watched that and it became something they said in their mind, this is what I want to do. Now, there are kids watching him, saying I want to work on these things, I want to be just like Steph.

—

Abe Schwadron is an Associate Editor at SLAM. Follow him on Twitter @abe_squad. Photos courtesy of Jordan Brand.

The post Q+A: Ray Allen appeared first on SLAM.

The League and its broadcast partner TNT gave a non-NBA player nearly 30 seconds of airtime when they showed footage of the 6-1 Jordan Kilganon performing a reverse baseline dunk for the ages during a commercial break in the fourth quarter of the All-Star game.

The twisting throwdown elicited sideline whoops from Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Carmelo Anthony and others, which TNT cameras showed, and plenty of praise from the game’s broadcasters. “Where was he last night?” said Reggie Miller, alluding to Saturday night’s dunk contest. “We could have had a three-way tie.”

Miller was only half joking.

Previously, the idea of a pro dunker getting a primetime spot on an NBA national broadcast had largely been thought of as likely as the Lakers winning the 2016 Championship. Why would one of the world’s most wealthy sports leagues allow free advertising for someone not a part of it?

While professional dunkers don’t yet have official direct ties to the NBA, they are developing significant ties to its powerful business partners. Consider there would have been no reason to provide Kilganon a national platform on Sunday unless TNT wanted to boost his celebrity for a very obvious reason: Kilganon is one of 32 dunkers featured in a new reality TV series called The Dunk King that will air during this spring’s Western Conference Finals. The four-part series will follow the dunkers as they compete for a $100,000 prize.

That’s a huge jump from the $1,000 to $15,000 prizes which are the current standard in the pro dunking world. As Turner Network Television ramps up promotions for the show, expect the mass appeal of dunkers like Kilganon to skyrocket from their current social media grassroots to a new stratosphere. No doubt, TNT executives hope Dunk King will do for these YouTube sensations what American Idol did for up-and-coming pop stars.

If the show succeeds and inspires new seasons, then the idea of including pro dunkers in a Dunk Contest moves from fantasy toward legitimate business opportunity. It will, after all, be in the best business interest of TNT to tout The Dunk King and its stars in the promos of the actual NBA games it airs. And with Turner Sports a big part of a nine-year, $24 billion deal that will enrich the NBA, what’s good for TNT is generally good for the NBA.

If TNT really wants to take The Dunk King to American Idol-like heights, it should throw down another prize for the winner besides money: an opportunity to compete in the NBA’s dunk contest. This provides a win-win cross promotion for the NBA and TNT. The dunk contest would provide a ratings boost to the show, while the show will provide months of anticipation for the dunk contest.

Players as well as fans already support the idea of expanding the dunk contest field. Last year, Shaquille O’Neal posted on Facebook he wanted to see Kilganon in this year’s contest. Former NBA Slam Dunk winner Jeremy Evans told SLAM he also welcomes the idea: “It would just be a bigger challenge,” he said. “They have different tricks and ideas that we’re gonna have to prepare for.”

Most NBA players want to compete against the best in the world, regardless of the league they do or don’t belong to. They want this even though they know the pro dunkers have thousands of extra hours of practice on them. Kilganon, for instance, has apparently been working for years on a Holy Grail-esque 360, between-the-legs-twice dunk. Were he able to unleash that in a contest, it’s almost guaranteed no NBA player could match him. Even matching his signature “Lost and Found” dunk will be hard enough.

But notice almost all pro dunkers are in the 6-feet or under range. While every bit as explosive as the best NBA dunkers, they are nowhere near as long. That is, if they had the height of professional basketball players, they would probably be making a lot more money right now as professional basketball players. For comparison, look at the 6-5 Zach LaVine and 6-9 Aaron Gordon. No matter how much training Kilganon does, they can pull off stunts Kilganon can’t because he simply isn’t long enough.

Gordon’s “sit” dunk during Saturday night’s contest is a prime example.

In the end, pro dunkers and NBA high-flyers would each bring their own distinct advantages to the contest. For years, fans have waited to see how they will employ them against each other under the bright lights. After Kilganon’s primetime promo in advance of The Dunk King, that wait shouldn’t be much longer.

The post The Best Is Yet To Come appeared first on SLAM.

Last season the Philadelphia 76ers finished 18-64. In 2013-14 they were 19-63.

This year, the Sixers are 1-30.

Joel Embiid is once again injured. The team’s best player, Nerlens Noel, is 21. Jahlil Okafor was suspended two games for off-court indiscretions. They sent their best scorer—2014 Rookie of the Year Michael Carter-Williams—to the Milwaukee Bucks for a future first-round pick of the Lakers in a three-way deal.

Last season, the Sixers finished last in fan attendance, and they’re 29th this season.

The toll planned, habitual losing takes on player morale is not worth shuffling rosters and dealing veterans. This is especially true of the effect on players from high school and college programs where they have almost never lost. In addition, the years of discouraged fans, revenue and marketing loss, draft busts, and loss of respect from opposing teams, is not worth the strategy.

The Lakers and Sixers’ best opponents do not take them seriously. Local media deride them. High-paying fans and others, are asked to wait.

The Chicago Bulls did not earn the right to draft Michael Jordan, the Rockets, Hakeem Olajuwon, or the Warriors, Stephen Curry, by planned poor performance. The presence of those players, and strong rosters built around them, reaped the benefit of NBA Championships. The same formula worked for the Lakers with the young Kobe Bryant.

More now than then, draft lottery choices are highly risky, as the pick of the litter generally only have one year of college as a sample size of their gifts. Few are leadpipe cinch successes a la Isiah Thomas, Jordan, Hakeem or David Robinson.

Even the selection of lottery picks, players such as Patrick Ewing, Larry Johnson, Danny Manning, Allen Iverson, Grant Hill, Tracy McGrady, Penny Hardaway, Carmelo Anthony and Yao Ming, would not have been guarantees to the team that mortgaged three-to-five years of tanking, would have won an NBA title.

None of those players won a Championship, and most played on formidable teams built to succeed, not fail. In many cases, they will not even make the Finals. How long would it have taken Kyrie Irving to play in an NBA Finals, had LeBron James not decided to come home?

Losing is a culture. Losing discourages free agents and top coaches from signing with a team. Great work habits and winning methods are learned through patience and hardship, yes, but with victory as a goal.

It took Michael Jordan seven years to win his first ring, but he and teammates, front office and coach, were giving it their all. Intentional losing is disingenuous in any line of work. It can’t send an inspirational message to the youngest fans. There’s nothing wrong with embarrassing losses tied to maximum effort. Teams learn how to better prepare for their most challenging opponents.

Consider how other national basketball teams in FIBA competition grew since the Dream Team routed all whom they faced in the 1992 Olympics. The other coaches wanted to play the best, despite the lopsided scores, and games that looked like exhibitions—the ball often not touching the floor during USA fast breaks.

Countries who hoped to develop in international play, and even groom future NBA talent, went back to the drawing board, sent kids to play at US colleges, hired American coaches and consultants, revamped their training and recruitment processes, and studied game film and instructional video.

Today, some of those teams are as likely as the US to medal in world competition. The style of play, with great spacing, drive-and-kick, has been absorbed by top NBA teams like the Warriors, Spurs and Atlanta Hawks.

There is a genuine learning curve involved in trying one’s best, no matter the sport. Pacers veterans said that high school-to-pro players such as Jonathan Bender and Al Harrington didn’t even know some basic elements of offensive execution.

The Wizards found that Kwame Brown was poorly conditioned, and nutritionally naive. But at least those teams had Reggie Miller, Antonio Davis and Michael Jordan to babysit the high school products.

They weren’t tanking. Playing one’s best is the sole measure of the distance to achieve elite status. Intentional ineptitude will not give an NBA team that frame of reference. Placing Colangelo in the Sixers’ front office, proves the point.

Bijan C. Bayne is the author of the books Martha’s Vineyard Basketball: How a Resort League Defied Notions of Race & Class and Elgin Baylor: The Man Who Changed Basketball.

The post Results & Resolve appeared first on SLAM.

"I just want to hoop," – Brandon Jennings on his voluntary assignment to @grdleague for an injury rehab stint pic.twitter.com/pykaTgLyP2

— NBA D-League (@nbadleague) December 17, 2015

Jennings says he simply wants an opportunity to play.

The 26-year-old lost his starting spot to Reggie Jackson last season, and has expressed a willingness to come off the bench upon his return to action.

From the Pistons’ team website:

“I don’t think there’s a lot of guys with Brandon’s status in the league, even coming off an injury, who would do that,” said Stan Van Gundy, who’ll board a bus with Pistons staffers and Jennings well-wishers to Grand Rapids for the game. “But Brandon just loves to play basketball. I asked him, ‘Do you want this publicized or kept quiet.’ He said, ‘I don’t care. I just want to hoop.’ That’s Brandon. He truly loves to play basketball.

 

“Number two, I think it shows how important the commitment Tom was able to make to have a D-League team and putting money into it. We’ve already gotten a value of last year sending Spencer and Quincy Miller there and this year sending Spencer and Darrun down. Now you’ve got a guy who can be a big part of what you do and you’ve got somewhere close by where you can send him and he can play. Those kinds of things seem minor when we’re talking about ownership commitment, but that’s a big one. We can send Brandon there to get significant minutes. […] That’s a tremendous advantage and it’s great Tom made that commitment and it’s great that Brandon is willing to do what he’s doing.”

 

“Not a lot of guys (would),” Van Gundy said. “But from our standpoint, how well Brandon plays is absolutely meaningless from my standpoint. I don’t have an expectation one way or another. It’s a matter of him getting minutes and getting up and down the court. I’m not judging him at all. I just want him to get minutes and I think that’s more important – how much he’s able to run up and down.”

The post Brandon Jennings Volunteers for D-League Assignment appeared first on SLAM.

LeBron James is now in 18th place on the NBA’s all-time scoring list, leapfrogging Miller on Wednesday night.

.@KingJames has just passed @ReggieMillerTNT for 18th on the all-time scoring list (25,280 points) pic.twitter.com/ZGqB2urydF

— NBA.com (@NBAcom) November 26, 2015

LeBron’s heroics weren’t enough for the Cleveland Cavaliers, though, as they suffered a 103-99 road loss in Toronto on “Drake Night”.

The superstar musician introduced the Raptors prior to the game, though there are rumblings about his relationship with the team possibly being on shaky ground.

Per the Akron Beacon Journal:

Maybe they were tired. Maybe the injuries caught up with them. Maybe it was the bigs. Maybe it was poor rotations defensively. Maybe the East is legitimately improved. All of that was thrown around as possible reasons for this loss, but LeBron James was having none of it. […] “It’s not an excuse,” James said of fatigue and injuries. “We have to hold each other more accountable, we have to play better. And we will. But I don’t think we improved tonight.”

 

The Cavs fell to 3-4 on the road, which seems troubling. They join the Miami Heat as the only first-place teams with a losing road record. Of course, it’s still early, the Cavs haven’t been whole at any point yet and they still have the best overall record in the East. […] They were just 3 of 16 in the fourth before making their last four shots, but the game was over by then. Blatt blamed that on fatigue and thought guys just ran out of gas.

 

Bismack Biyombo will never be confused as an adequate offensive player, but he had three big baskets in the fourth. Kyle Lowry, an All-Star last season, had 20 points and five assists in the second half, including a big three-point play late in the fourth. […] “The bigs, we’re playing soft. It’s on the bigs,” Tristan Thompson said. “That’s our job. We got to play physical, be a force in the paint and we’re just not doing that right now.”