May/June 2019

Slam

Your Source For The Best In Basketball

Slam3 min read
The Sixth Man
“Momma, I made it!” According to one of his agency reps, D’Angelo Russell said exactly that when he learned he’d be on the next cover of SLAM. We’ve covered D-Lo for a minute now—his stacked high school team at Montverde, college days at Ohio State,
Slam3 min read
Trash Talk
I haven’t been down since Day 1, although I remember my first issue. Dad came home with Derrick Rose “No Bull” (No. 143). How seldom do we see promise fulfilled, especially after it appears on a magazine cover? That was almost a decade ago. Since the
Slam3 min read
Hype
How many times have you seen it? A close game is moving along, and then in a flurry of long-distance shots raining from the sky one team is abruptly ahead by so much that the score looks rigged. Or maybe this: Your team is ahead by a bundle with not
Slam2 min read
Arike Ogunbowale
Wearing No. 24 after Kobe Bryant, her favorite player growing up, Arike Ogunbowale shares some of the Mamba DNA. Within the span of 48 hours last April, Ogunbowale drained two game-winning shots to give Notre Dame their first National Championship si
Slam1 min read
Picture Me Ballin’
LEHIGH UNIVERSITY Lance Tejada has no problem getting buckets. In January, he lit up Holy Cross for 36 points, knocking down 10 three-pointers en route to a 99-94 overtime win. A transfer from East Carolina, Tejada leads Lehigh in scoring (14.7 ppg)
Slam3 min read
True Lies
I started direct messaging Shams Charan1a on Twitter about two hours after he had convinced a bunch of NBA writers that Anthony Davis would only re-sign with four teams, and one of them was somehow the Phoenix Suns. This was all an elaborate lie, whi
Slam7 min read
I Ain’t No Joke
“HE’S an offensive juggernaut,” says one opposing coach. “When he has the freedom to create, he’s a killer,” says another. “He’s a lot like Anthony Davis in that way.” “The way he baits a defense can’t be taught,” says a third. “When all is said and
Slam8 min read
Three Times Dope
DWYANE WADE EYES HIS FIRST EVER SLAM COVER AND SMILES SOFTLY AT THE SIGHT OF A 23-YEAR-OLD VERSION OF HIMSELF. “Man, I look way different,” he says. He was just a kid in his second season in the NBA then, beginning to make his name and eager to write
Slam7 min read
Leader Of The New School
KOBE BRYANT WAS 37 YEARS OLD WHEN HIS SECOND HALF STARTED. NOW, NEARLY THREE NBA SEASONS LATER, THERE ARE FEW REMINDERS OF HIS FIRST HALF, OF HIS FIVE CHAMPIONSHIPS, 20 YEARS AND 33,643 POINTS AS AN L.A. LAKER LAYING AROUND HIS SPACIOUS ORANGE COUNTY
Slam7 min read
The Notorious D-lo
Jeru the Damaja introduced that lyric to the world in “Brooklyn Took It,” which dropped in 1994. It’s been 25 years since then, but for the Brooklyn Nets, it still holds weight today. The Nets are most definitely back. They’re in the middle of the pl
Slam7 min read
Big Dreams
BOBAN MARJANOVIC’S BIG BASKETBALL DREAMS STARTED SMALL. He can picture himself at 10 years old, watching the Serbia national team win the 1998 FIBA World Championship on television in his house—“Come on, make free throw!”—as Dejan Bodiroga led his co
Slam3 min read
Took Off Like A Rocket
“To do it at this high a level, I legitimately think [James Harden] is the best offensive player ever,” says Irv Roland. There’s some bias, of course. Roland is a player development coach for the Rockets and has served as Harden’s primary trainer for
Slam6 min read
Killa Season
It doesn’t bother Cam Reddish. Not at all, really. He doesn’t seek the attention or crave the spotlight. He doesn’t need your approval or recognition. He isn’t concerned with highlights or headlines. He doesn’t do it for that. You can sleep on him if
Slam4 min read
Rule The World
There must be something special about 47 points for Asia Durr. On her senior night against NC State, Durr exploded for 47 points, tying Louisville’s single-game scoring record and breaking the ACC record with 11 threes. The Louisville record she matc
Slam3 min read
Ready For Whatever
Katie Lou Samuelson has been hooping for so long that she can’t even remember when she started. She was just always in the gym. “I have two older sisters and when they started playing basketball I would always be over on the sidelines,” Samuelson say
Slam5 min read
We Here Now
Located on the campus of Nova Southeastern University, two of America’s top recruits have been quietly building a powerhouse at University School right in the shadows of a DII collegiate program in South Florida. Just a couple of years ago the school
Slam6 min read
Goin’ In
Every great team has characters. The best teams have a roster full of them, players with distinct skill sets and personalities that make their on-court success that much more memorable. All of which is to say, you could build a binge-worthy Netflix h
Slam3 min read
My Dawg
Back in January, a few weeks before Anthony Edwards made the program-altering announcement that he’d be staying home for college, he was talking about a growing awareness of his fame and the sense of responsibility that comes with it. It was somethin
Slam3 min read
Emotionless
The guys at McEachern (GA) High were short one basketball at practice this season. It was all Sharife Cooper’s fault. The 6-0, 160-pound motor that makes McEachern go, Cooper has spent most of the 2018-19 season making his case as the best point guar
Slam3 min read
Never Stop
The state of Georgia, specifically the ATL area, has been a breeding ground for talented young hoopers for quite some time now. And it doesn’t look like that’s about to change anytime soon. At the grassroots level the Peach State is currently home to
Slam2 min readFashion
Double Up
The PUMA Hoops team immediately made their presence known with last summer’s Clyde Court Disrupt silhouette. The knit-based basketball sneaker, dressed up with bright colors, borrowed its design from the Clyde, the model that Walt “Clyde” Frazier mad
Slam1 min read
Catching Fire
Sitting in the visiting locker room in Barclays Center, near the end of his second season in the League, Charlotte Hornet Dwayne Bacon leans back in his chair. On his feet? A black-based colorway of the Jordan Jumpman Hustle, complete with hits of te
Slam3 min read
Watch Closer
The LeBron 15 re-ignited LeBron James’ sneaker line. The anticipation to see what colorway he would wear was sky-high by the time he was pulling out special edition joints that honored the Shox BB4, his OG Air Zoom Generation colorways and the “South

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