February/March 2021

Slam

Your Source For The Best In Basketball

Slam2 min read
The Sixth Man
AT THE AGE OF 18, Luka Doncic was playing professional basketball in Spain and across Europe. He wasn’t only playing, either—he was dominating. He was named MVP of the 2017-18 season of the EuroLeague (he turned 19 during the season), averaging 16 po
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Slam
2021 VOL.28 NO.1 FOUNDER/PUBLISHER Dennis S. Page EXECUTIVE PUBLISHER David Schnur CHIEF CONTENT OFFICER Adam Figman MANAGING EDITOR Susan Price Thomas HEAD OF SOCIAL MEDIA Arvind Pitchai SENIOR EDITOR Ryne Nelson SENIOR CONTENT PRODUCERS Camille Bux
Slam2 min read
Trash Talk
People saying that s**t was boring not real fans. The bubble was holding s**t down for us when rona hit and now y’all saying Bron’s ring was easily given. Y’all mfs piss me off. Go for a run if you mad with ya life. davvvyswavey via Instagram First t
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The Opening Tip
THAT WAS WILD: an offseason so fast and dull and isolated that we didn’t have time to do much of anything and we couldn’t have if we’d wanted to. Such is the legacy of a deadly pandemic forcing quarantines on the world. The 2019-20 NBA Finals ended i
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Kira Lewis
IT’S NOT DIFFICULT TO get caught up in Kira Lewis’ speed. But there’s a whole lot more to the Pelicans rookie when he slows down. Kira Lewis doesn’t fit in. He doesn’t even stand out. He’s a lightning bolt, one that sprints forward with a never-endin
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The Connect
SET FREE RICHARDSON calls from Mexico, where he’s been quarantined for the past eight months. He feels good, he says, wearing his signature No. 7 hat while explaining how the AND1 mixtapes were born. To sit (virtually) with the very man who founded h
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The Games We Play
BEN SIMMONS TALKS trash on the court, but SimmoTheSavage25, in his own words, “talks a lot of sh*t” when he hops online to play Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War. As he runs around, sniping people left and right, Simmo lets it be known that there’s no
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2021 NBA Season Preview
DEYSCHA SMITH, ASSOCIATE EDITOR A 22-YEAR-OLD DESTINED to lead, having reigned supreme since he was only 19. Time Lord says he’s ready to move past his past performances. Fearless point guard is hurt, but his guards (in) waiting for minutes can now f
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To Find The Beauty
THE THING ABOUT KYRIE Irving is that he’s right. It’s art. I think Linsanity was art. Pretty much anything Michael Jordan did from 1986 to 1998 was art, including and especially playing minor league baseball. Charles Oakley as a concept is art. Kobe
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Built By Trust
CLEVELAND CAVALIERS rookie Isaac Okoro’s search for agency representation ended up being quite simple for him. He really only had one name on his list. “I didn’t want nobody else but him, just seeing how loyal he is and how loyal I am toward him. And
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Spill The Preictios
FOR CHANNING FRYE, wine is the ultimate connector. He started his own brand, Chosen Family Wines, to use wine as a way to connect people who may not have a traditional family nucleus but want to share something with those who love them. We sat down w
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Slamadamonth
It’s safe to say that 2020 has not been a normal year for anyone in any sense and 2021 likely won’t be one either, which makes it all the more difficult when one of those years is the one in your probable one-and-done. Take Jalen Suggs for instance,
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Now You Know
THERE’S MUSIC IN Jamal Murray’s game. The way he bounds around the floor has a rhythm to it. That cadance he plays with can be seen when he dribbles down the court, seemingly on his tippy-toes, in tempo with the bounce of the ball. His steps have the
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The World Is Not Enough
That’s my takeaway—He doesn’t pop athletically.” “I mean, he’s better than Ricky Rubio but he doesn’t look special to me.” “Doncic, at 6-7, will get exposed for all of the inadequacies that Dirk had. Dirk is not a great athlete. Dirk doesn’t have exp
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Rookies Most Likely To…
CAREY: KENT SMITH; ACHIUWA: ISSAC BALDIZON; NNAJI: GARRETT ELLWOOD; EDWARDS: JORDAN JOHNSON/ALL NBAE VIA GETTY IMAGES; WISEMAN: EZRA SHAW/GETTY IMAGES: BALL: KENT SMITH; STANLEY: RON HOSKINS; OKONGWU: COURTESY OF ONYEKA OKONGWU; RAMSEY: ROCKY WIDNER;
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The imperfect Storm
WHEN ISAAC OKORO ARRIVED on Auburn’s campus in the summer of 2019, he expected to be there for some time. Like, a couple of years at the very least, kinda-time. Despite helping lead McEachern HS (Powder Springs, GA) to an undefeated season and the No
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The Te’a Show
WHEN AN ARTIST STEPS into a studio, there’s an energy that pours in the second the recording light flashes on. It’s a palpable feeling, an energy felt as the musician is laying down the tracks to the songs that are going to change everything. Like a
Slam7 min read
The Other Side
HONESTY, TRUE look-in-the-mirror, keep-it-a-buck sincerity, is all too uncommon. The admitting-a-loss-when-you-don’t want-to-hurt-your-pride level is a difficult, difficult plateau to reach. It’s that type of talk that has kept Trey Burke going, thou
Slam4 min read
It’s Her Time
CHARLI COLLIER, a talented junior center at the University of Texas, has some decisions to make in the next few months, but there are no bad options. She can stick around at Texas for her senior season next year, anchor a team under head coach Vic Sc
Slam6 min read
From Canada With Love
Loess Cedric Lath is an Ivory Coast native who moved to Canada last February to study—and play a lot of basketball—at a new prep school, Institut de Sport Dynastie, located just outside Montreal in the French-speaking province of Quebec. Asked what h
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“Basketball Is All I Know”
RODNEY PRYOR IS 28 years old, and has never held a job outside of basketball. He picked up the sport as a kid and starred in high school, and while he was never a blue chip prospect, he managed to claw his way from junior college up to Georgetown. In
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Fits Of The Fall
ROZIER : @SLOWMOTION00; SCHRODER : @ITSJOELFG; TATUM: @KOOLMAC; JACKSON : TREY ROSE; HAYES : @ELIHOLTTMAN; CLARKSON: @DONCAMSS ■
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Do Ya Know?
About Last Night, based on David Mamet’s acidic and observant play, Sexual Perversity in Chicago, and directed by Ed Zwick, is the epitome of a mediocre movie. “You’ve a right to wonder why anyone would want to work so hard—with such an expenditure o
Slam1 min readSports & Recreation
Supreme Love
MANILA DOESN’T HAVE any competition. The intense devotion the city brings to the game of basketball and all the different parts of life that surround it can’t be duplicated and can’t be found anywhere else. Youngsters shoot around barefoot while the
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Wit It
THE START OF A new season is an opportunity to reinvent oneself, to come back looking like a brand-new version of what you once were. Kendrick Nunn has been into fashion since high school, but after going undrafted in 2018, he felt like it was time t
Slam1 min readFashion
It’s a New Day
IT’S BEEN WAY, WAY, way too long since we’ve seen Stephen Curry play ball. His return in the 2020-21 season is going to be special no matter what—it’s the best shooter the game’s ever known stepping back out under the lights. The comeback, however, i
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Endurance
TIME IS A CONSTRUCT. Seconds, hours, minutes, days, months and years continue to roll, no matter who’s clocking it all. But that which is timeless, that’s fully real. That which stands the test, everything that the people deem worthy, can be seen, fe
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@slamarchive
WHAT DOES A CANADIAN basketball player look like? Ten years ago, the answer to that question would’ve probably involved picturing Steve Nash who, in some ways, affirmed some of our stereotypes. I can still see rookie Nash skating around a hockey rink
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Frozen Moment
READ THE SIGN DECEMBER 10, 2020 ■

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