June/July 2021

Slam

Your Source For The Best In Basketball

Slam3 min read
The Sixth Man
THE WORLD CHANGES fast these days, maybe faster than ever before. At least that’s how it feels—blink once, everything is different, blink twice, everything is even more different, and the world keeps spinning. So when actual history takes place, it r
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Slam
FOUNDER/PUBLISHER Dennis S. Page EXECUTIVE PUBLISHER David Schnur CHIEF CONTENT OFFICER Adam Figman MANAGING EDITOR Susan Price Thomas VP, SOCIAL MEDIA Arvind Pitchai SENIOR CONTENT PRODUCERS Camille Buxeda, Franklyn Calle CONTENT PRODUCER Max Reseta
Slam2 min read
The Opening Tip
YESTERDAY I WAS strolling down a quiet sidewalk, and two walkers coming toward me stepped off the sidewalk into the wet grass in a wide parabola, as if I were a leper and this were Medieval times. Who knows, kids? Maybe this is. It sure doesn’t seem
Slam1 min read
Chosen One
“I WAS BORN deaf with a broken foot, and my mom was a single parent. So I’ve always had the odds against me from the moment I was born.” Rahim Thompson’s story is filled with ups and downs, and his book Choose Wisely sheds light on his early struggle
Slam2 min read
Selom Mawugbe Santa Cruz Warriors 6-10, C
SELOM MAWUGBE had done the impossible. He’d caught the attention of NBA scouts despite playing Division II hoops. He was 6-10, dominated Division II with a 71.8 field goal percentage and 3.1 blocks per game. He also led Azusa Pacific, a small school
Slam2 min read
With A Purpose
ART SEEMS TO have a way of stepping in when humans are faced with trying times, often helping people with the challenge of expressing anger, hurt and pain. Brooklyn artist Raafi Rivero took that pain and vulnerability and went on a six-month long tou
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Jae’sean Tate Houston Rockets 6-4, F
HOUSTON ROCKETS rookie Jae’Sean Tate can hoop with anyone. Undrafted in 2018, with pit stops in Belgium and Australia the last two seasons, the 6-4, 230-pound, 25-year-old lefty brought his relentless nature on the court to the League and has started
Slam2 min read
Grit N Grind
SONIA RAMAN remembered the tide shifting. Maybe, it was finally time to go all in on basketball. Raman would swap pantsuits for sweatsuits for six years as she transitioned from her day job as a lawyer at Fidelity Investments to assistant coach of We
Slam4 min read
Metamorphosis
BASKETBALL IS AN art form. Everything about the game is intricate and extraordinary, from the game lines that are painted onto hardwood and asphalt surfaces, to the way it’s played and adored around the world. Art, while it should be admired and appr
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Slamadamonth
APRIL 11, 2021 SPECTRUM CENTER CHARLOTTE, NC Eric Collins was wrong, as it turned out, but it didn’t matter. Miles Bridges had detonated all over Hawks center Clint Capela and effusive Hornets play-by-play guy Collins had detonated all over the airwa
Slam9 min read
THE GARDEN Blooms
OOCTOBER 2019. The New York Knicks are getting ready to embark on the first road trip of the new season. As the team boards their chartered plane for the first time, guys are naturally looking to feel out where exactly to sit (and with who)—a seeming
Slam7 min read
Can't YOU SEE
NIKOLA JOKIC is not of this world. Fine, let’s put it this way: This version of Denver Nuggets do-all frontman Nikola Jokic is playing like the best basketball player in the world right now. The skills, stats and eyeballs all pass the same test; at 6
Slam11 min read
KICK IN THE Door
WHEN THE WNBA was first launched in 1997, its first wellknown tagline was We Got Next. Twenty-five years later, the League is about to embark on a historic season as it celebrates its quarter of a century existence, and it’s no longer about We Got Ne
Slam14 min read
“Now What?”
“I'M AT A POINT in my life where I’m like, Are you going to be doing this forever?” That’s how my afternoon conversation with J. Cole begins. He repeats the question he posed to himself. We’re posted up in the workout room of a parks and recreation f
Slam7 min read
CITIZEN OF THE World
AT 14 YEARS old, Yannick Nzosa found himself boarding an airplane alone, saying goodbye to his family in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and en route to Rome, Italy. He was embarking on a journey in 2017 that was about more than basketball. With
Slam3 min read
STRONG Island
WHEN A LION is preparing to make its kill, it coils and springs into a fierce sprint. The speed is punishing, as the lion’s need to successfully eat far overpowers anything in its way. Arella Guirantes can relate to that innate need. It’s what drives
Slam9 min read
WHERE THERE’S SMOKE, THERE’S Fire
DEANDRE AYTON once said something that might have slipped past all of us. It was a statement, something that could be confused as a prophecy, or, if that’s too dramatic, something a typical then 19-year-old would say, especially when you’re the best
Slam8 min read
ONE STEP AT A Time
MAY IS ASIAN American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. This year, it’s happening as anti-Asian hate crimes rise at an alarming rate. In response, the #StopAsianHate campaign has generated nationwide support, with NBA veteran Jeremy Lin as a leadi
Slam7 min read
The SUMMER THAT WASN’T
KEN STEVENS remembers the moment it became official like it was yesterday. He was at home watching the local news in May 2020. Like the rest of the world, he was looking for any sense of hope or even just some clarity as a global pandemic raged on af
Slam7 min read
Lltc5 Tc
Auburn University Guard I remember him being the first one to show love, as another well-known basketball player. He was the first person ever to show love. He loved my game. He would send me videos of myself, back when I was in 10th grade. That was
Slam3 min read
No LONG TALK
SOME PLAYERS like to talk a lot before stepping on the court. Others sneak in quietly like secret agents knowing full well they won’t need to say a word because their actions will speak for them. That’s Paris Clark. The 5-8 athletic combo guard who p
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The Low Down
“WE ACTUALLY went to the DNA space,” Ross Klein, Nike’s Senior Creative Director of Footwear Performance, says. “It’s a separate area, and we took a look at all the walls. One wall has the ’70s, one wall has the ’80s, one wall has the ’90s and the 20
Slam1 min read
Uncharted Waters
ELEVEN SIGNATURE sneakers. Five post-retirement silhouettes. Three other iconic pairs forever linked to his name. That’s how to sum up Kobe Bryant’s 18 years with Nike. His contract with the Swoosh officially expired on April 13, 2021 and his wife, V
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@slamarchive
WAS THE NBA READY for Chamique Holdsclaw back in 1998? Sadly, I doubt it. The sports realm was yet to be shaken up by the likes of Serena Williams and the issue of gender equality had barely been addressed generally in wider society. As for the baske
Slam1 min read
Frozen Moment
Was almost the cover. NIKO RODRIGUEZ AND KE VIN CL ARK @NY KNICKS ■

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