Slam

THE NBA TURNED 75 YEARS old this season. That’s a crazy amount of history, and I think I speak for most 30-somethings (and younger) when I say that it’s both cool and weird that there are decades of elite hoops that were played before my time or when I was too young to have any idea what was going on. Even if I had been a fully formed adult around the time SLAM debuted (1994), that would still put a couple decades of pro ball before my era. All of which means that in order to pay respect to the history of the NBA, we at SLAM need to look before the year we started publishing. This was the motivation for the “75 BEFORE ’94” program, a collection of 75 brand-new…

Need to make this [Bulls cover] a shirt. Sebastian Rivera via Instagram Yo THIS FIRE I JUST Fn screamed!!! So proud of you dude!! Candace Parker via Instagram Kah is the COOLEST player in the W right now. No contest. Michael burns via twitter Put some respect on Vuc, too! Gabriel Valle via Facebook We need this shirt on 2K!!! SmokeydaOne via Instagram Had to cop! The Slash Bros!!! Youngjordan via Instagram DeMar + LaVine equals greatness and team play basketball fr greggg1211 via Instagram EARL “THE PEARL” MONROE… When You Reach He Teach! Born Legendary on the streets of Philadelphia, Breakin Ankles in Baltimore, and Raising the last Knicks 1973 Championship Banner at MSG! On the Court a Top 75 Player All Time and Off the Court a True Hero! SLAM DROPPIN KNOWLEDGE, INSPIRATION and LOVE…EARL MONROE NEW RENAISSANCE BASKETBALL SCHOOL! Mike Verderber, San Diego,…

LEBRON JAMES IS SLOWLY earning consideration as the best player of all time. Remember, this thought is coming from a scribe who worships at the Church of Michael. That is, I don’t believe there will ever be another player with the charisma, talent, timing, historical significance—perhaps even the lore—of Michael Jordan. But LeBron is in his 19th season, has won four NBA championships, four MVP awards, four NBA Finals MVPs and is an 18-time All-Star. He’s near the top in many stat categories, but the big one he’s chasing is career points scored. Right now, he’s in third place, behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Karl Malone. As you read this, LeBron’s probably getting ready to pass 37,000 points, which will put him about two seasons behind leader Jabbar’s record 38,387 points. It’s…

JUST TWO WEEKS before she cemented her name in Kentucky’s record books by becoming the program’s second all time leading scorer, senior guard Rhyne Howard admits over the phone in February that when she first arrived in Lexington, she “never thought it would be like this.” “I knew I was gonna be good, but [to] get all the way here and achieve all these goals, to [have] everyone look at Kentucky and think, Rhyne Howard, that’s big,” she tells SLAM. “I have a huge smile on my face right now, just even thinking about that. It is very exciting and I’m super happy that I’ll be able to leave a legacy.” Throughout her four-year career, Howard has not only solidified herself as one of the coldest scorers in college basketball but one…

FOR THE VERY FIRST time, Merl Code is finally ready to speak his truth. It’s been three years since he and his co-defendants, Christian Dawkins and Jim Gatto, were found guilty of fraud, conspiracy and bribery back in 2019 after the FBI conducted an investigation into the inner workings of college basketball recruiting two years prior. Code, who will soon serve prison time, says on our hour-long Zoom call in February that he’s ready to share his story with the world. And, in his new memoir, Black Market: An Insider’s Journey Into the High-Stakes World of College Basketball, he holds nothing back. Black Market, out now, masterfully reveals how the business side of college athletics actually operates—all from the perspective of someone who not only was a college athlete himself (Code…

PUERTO RICO IS mostly known for its picturesque beaches and vibrant cobblestone streets, but beyond the swaying palm trees are countless outdoor basketball courts filled with kids hoping to one day fulfill their hoop dreams. And the island’s young girls have an amazing example to look up to: Carla Cortijo. Cortijo is the first Puerto Rican woman to ever play in the WNBA and she led the Island’s national team to the 2011 Pan American gold medal. She’s currently coaching in the men’s Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN) of Puerto Rico for the famed Santurce Cangrejeros, the team co-owned by native son and Grammy winner Bad Bunny and where JJ Barea currently plays. Born and raised in a pueblo just outside of San Juan called Carolina, Carla was gifted her first basketball by…