March/April 2019

Slam

Your Source For The Best In Basketball

Slam3 min read
The Sixth Man
Damn. Twenty-five years goes fast. When I launched SLAM back in 1994, I was just a hardcore basketball fan like everyone who follows or reads SLAM today. The idea was actually quite simple: I was going to make a magazine about basketball and its cult
Slam3 min read
Trash Talk
Dope photo shoot and write-up! Steph is another Carolina hoops transplant who became a global icon elsewhere. Like Mike did for Chicago he’s put Oakland on his back. You can hate on him, but it’s hard not to like dude. @JbMihdi via slamonline A guy n
Slam2 min read
The Opening Tip
What’s with all the hate dumped on James Harden? It’s been going on for some time now, and it’s almost amusing when you consider the rancor is hurled toward somebody so dominant at his shooting guard position on the Rockets that he’s nearly as unstop
Slam2 min read
Big Man On Campus
Patrick Douthit is a professor at Duke, and he’s one of the biggest Blue Devil basketball fans on the school’s campus. But you know him by a different name: 9th Wonder. The legendary hip-hop producer—he’s made beats for Jay-Z, Drake, Kendrick Lamar,
Slam1 min read
Picture Me Ballin’
JODI JOHNSON ASHLAND UNIVERSITY Talk about efficiency, and Jodi Johnson has it. After her breakout sophomore season, the current junior basically never misses. At the time of this writing, the Eagles’ star averages 21 points per game on 68.5 percent
Slam6 min readFashion
Drip Season
First impressions are everything, and today’s generation of hoopers know that. “All players know you have a 15-second walk in front of a camera every game,” Mike Conley says. “Guys are constantly trying to come up with something that’ll catch the eye
Slam2 min read
Landry Shamet
By age 8, Landry Shamet had learned how to take care of himself. The only child of a single mother, Shamet would often be home alone while his mother worked long, odd hours. “I understand what she sacrificed for me and how hard she worked first-hand,
Slam3 min read
Stranger Things
If you were an enormous fan of Mark Jackson circa 1990, and you wanted to buy his trading card on eBay in the last few months, you were out of luck. Turns out eBay doesn’t let you buy anything “affiliated with murders or serial killers.” Before we go
Slam9 min read
No Comparison
ON most nights, long after formal practice has ended, you’ll find Kemba Walker back in the Hornets’ facility. He’ll return when it’s dark outside to get additional shots up, and refuses to let members of the team staff rebound for him. Go help someon
Slam4 min read
A Love Supreme
HIS GAME has been a portrait of a masterpiece; the generational work of an artist striving for something that transcends the game; a spiritual declaration; an ethereal awakening, a love supreme; a celestial journey. The four stages. Like songs. Cleve
Slam5 min read
M0re And M0re
JOSH RICHARDSON used to be shocked during his early years in the NBA. For rookies getting acclimated to life as a pro, the first couple months can be a huge culture shock. There’s the traveling, rookie and team obligations, plus all kinds of meetings
Slam5 min readBasketball
Wanna Ball
RUI HACHIMURA KNEW it was coming because it always happened. For two weeks, his life was straight out of Groundhog Day. A 13-year-old junior high student at the time, Hachimura would walk into class, sit in his seat and just wait for that inevitable
Slam6 min read
I Can’t Quit
MIKE CONLEY JR is fascinated by the unknown. He loves mysteries and has studied all the popular conspiracy theories. One of his favorite television shows ever is The Twilight Zone, which first aired in 1958. He’s been convinced aliens are real since
Slam6 min read
Dreams 2 Reality
“IF YOUR DREAMS do not scare you, they are not big enough. So go big,” Dakota Gonzalez says with a big smile. Her twin sister, Dylan, is sitting right next to her at Sunset Park in Las Vegas, laughing along. But don’t get it twisted—the Gonzalez twin
Slam8 min read
Different Colors
LET’S PUT IT BLUNTLY: No uniform in NBA history was more groundbreaking—more unprecedented—than the one unveiled by the expansion Charlotte Hornets in the summer of 1988. From the famous fashion designer to the quirky color scheme, from the pinstripe
Slam6 min read
The Air Up There
CASSIUS STANLEY finds himself at a crossroads one morning before a team shootaround. The 6-5, five-star senior shooting guard is sitting down near his locker for an interview and is having trouble deciding how to answer. What’s your response to those
Slam5 min read
Super Smash Bros
ISAIAH AND EVAN MOBLEY are standing by an outdoor water fountain on Rancho Christian’s campus awaiting a photographer’s instructions when some classic big bro-little bro banter sparks up out of nowhere. Isaiah, about 20 months older than Evan, is hea
Slam3 min read
Kill ’Em With Success
HE CLAIMS “UNICORN” status with the confidence of a dude who can do pretty much anything on the court, but it’s an offcourt trait that really sets Jalen Green apart from his peers. “I don’t really play video games,” he says. “I don’t even watch TV. I
Slam3 min read
One of One
JOSH CHRISTOPHER’S DRIP is different. It’s a Tuesday morning at Mayfair HS (CA) and the Lakewood native is participating in a team workout before he heads off to his first class of the day. The Monsoons’ official colors are blue and white, but when i
Slam2 min read
No Strings Attached
A major collaborative project has quietly been going down at Nike’s headquarters in Beaverton, OR, for the last three years. Countless Swoosh employees, including sneaker designers, engineers and software designers have been working on a self-lacing
Slam2 min readFashion
Wow.
When it comes to aesthetic, Russell Westbrook is in a league of his own. Whether it’s fashion, his on-court play or kicks, the Brodie’s always been known to stand out. In early January, Jordan Brand unveiled Westbrook’s second signature sneaker, the
Slam2 min readSports & Recreation
New Flame
Watch Stephen Curry move off the ball. He never stops. Constant action, darting off floppy screens, running through split cuts or beelining to the corner. Under Armour noticed that No. 30 was forever in motion, so they looked into the stats. They fou

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