When Slam was first published in 1994, it was a godsend. I was a burgeoning hip hop aficionado and a bona fide hoops junkie at the time, and I still vividly remember buying that first issue with Grandmama gracing the cover. (Nice work proofreading “Premier,” gents. Or were yall just being clever?)
It was like nothing I had ever seen. No other magazine had approached basketball coverage that way and half the reason I still consider myself a Stephon Marbury fan is probably because I eagerly read his High School Diary column each month. Hell, I even bought these 85-lb kicks on the strength of Starbury’s endorsement and proudly wore them in public.
Even though I stopped subscribing a while back and pick it up at the newsstand less and less often, the magazine — and particularly its covers — will always a remain hallmark of my youth. And even though I have little desire to make a career as a basketball writer, Slam will always remain one of the inspirations that made me want to write professionally.
Thus, I really enjoyed current editor Lang Whitaker’s alternate reality Slam covers today. I’ve tried not to pile on Dirk given his personal struggles, but the top cover line on this one is brilliant. Head over to Slamonline for two other good ones.
Known Associates:
Blazers,
Greg Oden,
Rockets,
Slam,
Starbury,
Yao
Since I didn’t watch any of the Portland/Miami game last night, here are Greg’s thoughts, straight from his blog.
Tonight i played my first full game in the NBA, we played the Miami Heat. All i can say is that we came out wiith a victory. So that was a big thing for me having us win my first game back. I wouldnt say i had the best contribution on the floor, i didnt play, score, or rebound that much. I only played like 16 minutes with 3 points and 2 rebounds, not a good individual game. All i can do is go out there the next game with a more aggressive attitude out there on the court. Right now im still trying to come in and get use to playing with these guy who have been playing for a couple of games already, i got to catch up.
Welcome back, big fella. Let’s try to stay on the court.
Known Associates:
Blazers,
Greg Oden,
Heat
It’s Weezy, baby. And he wants to thank all of you that congratulated him on his new-to-the-world, first-born son Dwayne Carter III. Yup, the real Carter III is here.
I want to shout out to everybody who came through on the two-way to congratulate me. LeBron sent me a message, Michael Smith texted me and Chris Paul sent me a Hornets baby jersey, which was amazing.
He discusses how his life essentially revolves around sports before moving on to the NBA. And, yup, he’s prognositcating.
I watched the Celtics get their rings last week and that was a very emotional night. Paul Pierce deserved it most, so it was great to see him get it. But will the Celtics repeat? No.
The champions this year will come from the West so consider me your Western Conference correspondent.
The Lakers look wonderful. I think they won their first three games by 65 points combined. It’s tough to predict how many wins they’re gonna get this season. If they keep going like this and they reach 60 then I think they’ll pass the Celtics 66 wins last year, which would be nothing short of amazing.
And it’s getting a little harder to post this stuff with tongue-in-cheek mockery when he has the same opinions of guys like Trevor Ariza (a definite key to that team) and Derrick Rose (a Hall of Fame talent) as I do.
Lastly, he keeps the block hot by jumping on the disparaging Greg Oden bandwagon.
Greg Oden is a bust. He’s gotta show me something, man. I don’t get it. At what point in time was he dominant? I’ve never seen it. You’ve never seen it. Maybe NBA officials know something we don’t. That’s all I can figure. Maybe somebody on that staff has seen something we haven’t. But until he shows me something, I’m gonna declare him a bust. Damn shame, too.
Ouch. Burned big man with that 500 degreez fire.
Known Associates:
Ariza,
Best Blogger Alive,
CP3,
Greg Oden,
Lakers,
LeBron,
The Truth,
Weezy
