HOOP May/June 2014 by HOOP

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WARM UPS

We know he can ﬁnish, but this season Blake Grifﬁn showed off an improved handle and passing eye. Here he is, celebrating after a perfect lob to DeAndre Jordan.

NOAH GRAHAM/NBAE/GETTY IMAGES

WARM UPS

Even when you’re an accomplished defender like Tim Duncan (14 All-Defensive Team nods and counting), sometimes there’s no remedy for a determined offensive player like Russell Westbrook.

LAYNE MURDOCH/NBAE/GETTY IMAGES

WARM UPS

DAVID LIAM KYLE/NBAE/GETTY IMAGES

His patented chase-down block was seen less this year, but that doesn’t mean LeBron James can’t come at you straight up to swat one away. Here he turns away Spencer Hawes at the rim.

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WARM UPS

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What makes Monta Ellis so tough to stop when heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s around the rim is his exquisite body control. Ellis can drive one way and contort himself against his momentum to confound any defender.

THE GAMEPLAN

MAY/JUNE 2014

FEATURES

52 Party Lines We’re in the midst of the greatest NBA rivalry since Magic Johnson and Larry Bird or Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain. They’ve jostled for MVP trophies for the past few seasons and have already clashed in the 2012 Finals as both are in the primes of their basketball careers. The NBA arena is set for LeBron James and Kevin Durant to battle for supremacy for the rest of the decade. Which side are you on?

62 Winning Adjustment The playoffs is when a head coach really cements his reputation. As teams grind out game after game against an all-too familiar foe, coaches are the ones who have to adapt and re-position their players and strategy. When a head coach can out-maneuver the opposing coach and/or overcome the odds to victory, that’s when he has truly “made his bones.”

38 Winning Formula The common adage around the League is that a talented roster will always win. While true to a degree, a stacked roster alone doesn’t guarantee a championship. It takes the proper mix of teamwork, sacrifce and even a little luck to bring it all together. We look at a few winning teams to try to come up with the exact formula.

46 Ray of Perpetual Light Thanks to a legendary training regimen, he has made more three-pointers before a game than the average NBA player in his lifetime. Even at almost 39, the end does not look near for Ray Allen. He’s still playing big minutes, competing for championships and ficking that magical right wrist that projects the basketball on a textbook parabola journey into the net. This Ray is still shining. 012

78 Tim After Time

70 Taking a Chance Second-round picks don’t usually have a good shelf life. The draft green room has long been cleared out and most NBA fans have already switched the channel when the Deputy Commissioner reads off their name. For second-round picks, making the roster is already beating the odds. Where does that leave Chandler Parsons, a relatively unknown second-round pick who is on the cusp on becoming an All-Star?

Three years ago, people started writing how Tim Duncan, at age 34 and entering the decline of his career, will fnish as the greatest power forward to ever have played the game. Three years later, Duncan has not dipped much from when the scribes marked his demise. So where does that leave Duncan? He sits down with us in this exclusive Q&A to expound on his long—and still going strong—career.

Poster John Wall strikes a pose while Isiah Thomas has his back. Cover photos by: Joe Murphy/NBAE/Getty Images; Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

THE GAME PLAN MAY/JUNE 2014 DEPARTMENTS

2 Warmups 18 The Point 20 Jumpball Starting Five: Veteran Elton Brand selects his personal NBA pick-up team; First Five: Terrence Ross, Tony Wroten, Kyle Singler, Marco Belinelli, Alec Burks; Transition Game: David West keeps it the same over 11 years; Head2Head: Serge Ibaka vs. Terrence Jones on the low block; Numerology: The 123s of the NBA; Celeb Row: Maria Menounos bleeds a deep shade of green; Know Your Newb: Memphis’ Nick Calathes is one of the best kept rookie secrets this season.

36 24 Seconds with Kyle Lowry We gave Kyle Lowry 24 chances to ignore us. He did no such thing.

102 Stepback 10 years ago, the Detroit Pistons shocked the Lakers in the Finals.

87 Check It Spin Moves: Gerald Green has enough big highlights to ’gram or fll any 140-character missive, but he’d rather just chill with one of his TV shows; Good Reads: To date, Michael Jordan: The Life is the most complete MJ biography; The Goods: The Galaxy S5 or the HTC One (M8)? Gear: Are the postseason kicks worth your dollar?; Wear: A few suggestions for maximum summer fow.

104 Call-Out NBA stars did their part for the enviroment.

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THE POINT

Ten players from the 2005 West All-Star team are still very relevant.

For the longest time, I was never able to appreciate longevity. A likely reason was because I hadn’t been around long enough.1 But then I noticed2 something. Some of my favorite players around my age were slowly vanishing. It started with the Fab Five.3 Or at least the three that had long NBA careers.4 First came Jalen Rose,5 who collected his last NBA check with Phoenix in 2007. Then bad knees took their toll on Chris Webber.6 Juwan Howard held down the F5 for so long that I took for granted that he’d be on the Miami Heat7—or any other contending roster8—long enough to be the frst father-son9 pair to play in an NBA game. There were others,10 but this season really left me feeling old and nostalgic. But I was offered youthful reminders. Ray Allen still got game.11 Even on the cusp of 39,12 Allen is as spry and ft13 as any 20-year-old in the NBA. He still has that magical fick of his right wrist14 and his shoe game15 still breaks necks of the youngest and thirstiest hypebeasts. The craziest part of Tim Duncan is that obituaries16 had been written about his game for so long, that he’s now entering the oh-snap-he’s-still-around stage.17 Astute watchers and number crunchers will know that Tim never left. He’s still as dependable on the post, good for sucking down 10 rebounds, anchoring the Spurs defense and getting his team to 50plus wins. It’s a proven fact that Duncan cannot be overrated in the NBA. Just impossible. Steve Nash has been living on borrowed time as far as I’m concerned.18 No one ever thought Nash would be an 18-year player who would win two MVPs and be third all time in assists. And this is when he was a full-of-promise 22-year-old rookie. Nash actually shined his brightest after 30. As limited as he was this year, I see a return next season.19 Dirk Nowitzki might be the most infuential name on this page and that’s not even counting his 26,786 points, MVP and Finals MVP. Nowitzki revolutionized the power forward position and had scouts looking for the next “Dirk” and coaches teaching the one-legged jumper. Nowitzki proved he’s still got plenty left; the 30K-point club is not crazy talk. And then there’s Kobe. Say what you want, but there’s been no player who made a six-game season so intriguing. Kobe rewrote the book on returning from an Achilles tear,20 only to show that he is actually mortal. Most 35-year-old shooting guards, after an Achilles injury and subsequent knee injury that combine to cause them to miss 76 games, start mulling retirement. Kobe? He’ll be starting on a new two-year $48.5M21 extension next season. As for me, I’m coping. I can no longer stay up for the end of West Coast games, but I can still remember which year a player was drafted, the last 40 NBA Champions and all the players I’ve met through the years. I even learned how to fawlessly spell Giannis Antetokounmpo.22 There is still game in me.

Ming Wong #2

BONUS POINTS 1. Now I’m on the other side where I think I’ve been around too long. 2. Other things I’ve noticed: my back will ache for no reason, getting out of bed requires several stages, editing text on screen necessitated a bump in font size. 3. In order to make up for a ton of days absent at gym class in my senior year of high school, I cut a deal with the teacher to write a paper on the Fab Five. I sat there while he read it, proceeded to have a long discussion on them before he ended it with: “Oh, and you passed.” 4. No disrespect Jimmy King and Ray Jackson. 5. One of my personal highlights was the time Jalen spent a day at the HOOP offce to take part in a magazine feature about best NBA players grouped by their colleges. 6. Webber was one of my favorite players with his big-man handle and that quick snap dunk he’d do. 7. Technically, he’s still on the Heat bench, as an assistant coach. 8. What team couldn’t use Juwan cabbage-patching during championship celebrations? 9. Juwan Howard Jr. is a junior at University of Detroit Mercy. 10. Rasheed Wallace, Sam Cassell, Robert Horry, Tracy McGrady. 11. Assuming he was that good to go one-and-done, Jesus Shuttlesworth would be on his 15th NBA season now. 12. Earlier in the year, Spike Lee and Allen discussed the possibility of a sequel. Jesus would be about as old as Jake Shuttlesworth now. 13. For the 18th year in a row, Allen takes home the title for best calves in the NBA. 14. It was a “down” year in three-point shooting for Allen at .375, his lowest mark in the past four seasons. 15. After Mike himself, Allen is the longest-running athlete associated with Jordan Brand. Because of that, you can regularly see one-of-ones on Ray’s feet. 16. It was around 2010 that scribes thought we’d seen the last of Duncan. Myself included. 17. Now folks pooh-pooh anytime Duncan achieves another milestone or pass another all-time great. 18. In 2012 I attended a media event where I was asked to dunk on Nash on a very-lowered rim. My frenzied enthusiasm (and no one telling me not to hang on the rim) caused the entire basket support to crash down on Nash. Only some quick-refex folks saved Nash from getting seriously hurt by yours truly. 19. I mean dude doesn’t eat pizza and added sugar. That trade-off itself has to be worth like 500 points and 600 assists. 20. Seven months, but I really think he was ready for the season opener. 21. It’s actually a pay cut from the previous three-year $83.5M deal. 22. Proving an old dog can indeed learn new tricks.

Volume 42, No. 4

Editor-in-Chief Ming Wong #2 Design Director Kengyong Shao #31 Assistant Editor Phil D’Apolito #14 Online Editor Darryl Howerton #21 Editor-at-Large Jeramie McPeek #4 Copy Editor Trevor Kearney #8 WNBA Editor Lois Elfman #40 Senior Writer Michael Bradley #53 Contributing Writers Russ Bengtson #43, Alex Bracetti #44, Jon Cooper #10, Brandon Edler #36, Jim Eichenhofer #12, , Anthony Gilbert #1, Brian A. Giuffra #17, Vincent Goodwill #5, Melody Hoffman #34, Steve Hunt #29, Andy Jasner #27, Holly MacKenzie #32, Brett Mauser #25, McG #93, Jacques Slade #22, Earl K. Sneed #23, Duane Watson #7 Illustrator Matt Candela #52 Retired Numbers #6, #11, #13, #30, #99

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NBA Publishing/NBA Photos Executive VP, and Executive Producer, Production, Programming, and Broadcasting Danny Meiseles Senior VP, Multimedia Production Paul Hirschheimer Senior VP, Entertainment & Player Marketing Charlie Rosenzweig Senior VP, Marketing Communications Mike Bass Senior Director, NBAE Production John Hareas President, Global Operations and Merchandising Sal LaRocca Sr. Vice President, Global Merchandising Group Vicky Picca Senior Director, Global Merchandising Group Matt Holt Senior Coordinator, Global Merchandising Group Brandon Eddy Senior Coordinator, Global Merchandising Group Greg Brownstein Coordinator, Global Merchandising Group Wonnie Song Manager, Global Media Programs Felecia Groomster Senior Directors & Senior Offcial NBAE Photographers Andrew D. Bernstein, Nathaniel S. Butler Vice President, NBA Photos Joe Amati Director, Photos Imaging David Bonilla Offcial NBAE Photographer Jesse Garrabrant Senior Photo Editor Brian Choi Photo Coordinator Kevin Wright All NBA photos appearing in this magazine, unless otherwise indicated, are copyright of NBA Entertainment. All WNBA photos appearing in this magazine, unless otherwise indicated, are copyright of WNBA Enterprises. All NBDL photos appearing in this magazine, unless otherwise indicated, are copyright of NBDL Enterprises. HOOP is published bimonthly, December through June, by PSP. © 2014 Professional Sports Publications. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part without permission of publisher is prohibited. To subscribe to HOOP, call (800) 829-3347. PRINTED IN THE USA

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JUMPBALL

AS TOLD TO JON COOPER #10 STARTING 5

ELTON BRAND ATLANTA HAWKS

For the last 15 years, Elton Brand has been the ultimate team player. He’s talented, averaging 16.7 ppg and 8.9 rpg for his career, and is one of only 10 players in NBA history to score 15,000 points, grab 8,000 rebounds, hand out 2,000 assists and block 1,500 shots. Off the foor, he is a renaissance man, looking to break into the flm industry as founder of his own production company, Milk&Media Studios. Brand was drafted by the Chicago Bulls with the frst pick of the 1999 NBA Draft. He’d win NBA Rookie of the Year in ’99-00, averaging 20.1 points and 10.0 rebounds, while shooting 48.2 percent for the rebuilding Bulls. But his stay in the Windy City would be short, as he’d be traded to Los Angeles after the next season. He’d spend the next seven years with the Clippers, turning the fates of that beleaguered franchise around. Brand made both of his All-Star Game appearances with the Clippers (2002 and 2006), and was the team’s rock. In 2005-06, the Clippers had their frst winning season in 14 years and made the playoffs for the frst time in nine years. They would beat Denver in fve games to win the franchise’s frst series in 30 years.

SMALL FORWARD: METTA WORLD PEACE Teammates in Chicago from 1999-00 through 2000-01

He’d miss all but eight games of the 2007-08 season after rupturing his Achillies in an offseason workout, then, following that season, would sign with Philadelphia as a free agent. Brand would continue leading winners in Philly, helping the Sixers to a pair of playoff appearances. After the Sixers, Dallas wisely snapped him up, signing him to a one-year deal. Brand flled a vital role off the bench and made 18 starts for the Mavs. During the summer of 2013, he inked with Atlanta and came in handy when injuries devastated the Hawks’ frontline. Selecting a Starting Five was a carefully thought-out process for Brand (he even amended a name at the last minute), but he put together a team that combines superstars, glue players and just a touch of fair.

SHOOTING GUARD: KYLE KORVER Teammates in Atlanta 2013-14

CENTER: DIRK NOWITZKI Teammates in Dallas in 2012-13

“He’s made the most threes in NBA history in a row per game. Just that consistency, that shot. He’s more than just a shooter. He hustles and plays great team defense, plus being able to shoot like that.”

“He played a lot of center last year when we played. He’s just clutch. It was amazing. He won so many games by himself when I played in Dallas. He had this uncanny ability to take over games when needed. Playing against him you just try to get him out of his comfort zone, try to make him do other things, like dribble or attack the rim. But he can do that, too. He’s such a special talent.”

POINT GUARD: JEFF TEAGUE Teammates in Atlanta 2013-14

POWER FORWARD: SHAWN MARION Teammates in Dallas in 2012-13

“I like his penetration. He’s a tough player and he’s only going to get a lot better. He’s still growing. His role has changed. He had Joe Johnson and Josh Smith [in the past]. In his new role he’s more of a scorer and leader and he’s taken that role and done a great job.”

“He’s the ultimate glue guy. He plays the right way and does whatever’s asked of him defensively and offensively. I never asked him about his [unorthodox shot]. We just let it go. We don’t want him to change it it’s so good. If it ain’t broke, don’t fx it. It looks broke but don’t fx it [laughs].”

WILD CARD: SAM CASSELL Teammates with Los Angeles Clippers from 2005-06 through 2007-08

“I just liked his defense, his intensity and his unselfshness to the team. We were drafted as rookies together with the Bulls (15 picks apart). He was that intense. I played AAU ball with him, too. He was colorful then [laughs]. We lived the dream together, got drafted together, stuff like that.”

SCOTT CUNNINGHAM (3); MELISSA MAJCHRZAK; DANNY BOLLINGER; FERNANDO MEDINA; NOAH GRAHAM/NBAE/GETTY IMAGES

“He was just such a winner. He wasn’t afraid of the big shots when he was in his prime and even in later years, he’d fnd a way to win and hit some big shots. He never shut up [laughs] but that was a good thing sometimes. He defnitely could back it up.” 021

JUMP BALL BY HOLLY MACKENZIE #32

FIRST FIVE

When the Toronto Raptors selected Terrence Ross out of the University of Washington with the eighth overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft, many people were surprised to see him drafted so high. Ross included. While the 22-year-old high flyer has athleticism for days, his name wasn’t one mentioned in the weeks leading up to the NBA Draft. After an up-and-down rookie season, the Raptors knew they needed to get a closer look at his game. A December trade sending swingman Rudy Gay to the Sacramento Kings allowed Ross to slide into the starting role. Says Ross: “I’m learning a lot more because I’m on the floor more and there’s more opportunities for me to learn.” Opportunity—or should we say opportunities— certainly came a month and change later, when Ross erupted for a career-high 51 points1 against the Los Angeles Clippers. That performance2 tied Vince Carter’s franchise scoring record and taught the casual fan that Ross, a two-time Slam Dunk Champion,3 has more in common with Carter than just his ridiculous bounce. Not that we want to typecast Ross as just a onetrick dunking pony, but… During a game against the Denver Nuggets earlier this season, Ross elevated4 higher than everyone in the Mile High and went through Nuggets big man Kenneth Faried to throw down a poster5 that remains a strong candidate for dunk of the year. “I’m having the time of my life,” Ross says. “I’m blessed to be in this position.” BONUS POINTS 1. While Ross received plenty of texts after his 51-point night, he said the biggest difference has been other players around the League knowing who he was and trying to trash talk to him before games. 2. The game ball from his 51-point game was hand delivered to Ross’ mother Marcine by Ross himself. Ross chose to wear the number 31 because it was his mother’s number during her five-year college career. 3. Ross won the 2013 Slam Dunk Contest and was a member of the winning Eastern Conference Slam Dunk squad in 2014. 4. Ross stands 6-6 and is blessed with a breathtaking 37.5inch vertical, making him one of the best in-game dunkers in the League. 5. The biggest trash talker Ross has encountered this season? Gerald Green of the Phoenix Suns.

31 TERRENCE

ROSS

GUARD - TORONTO RAPTORS

022

JESSE D. GARRABRANT/NBAE/GETTY IMAGES

59.6%

NUMEROLOGY

Since becoming a Houston Rocket, James Harden has averaged 25.6 points per game and 59.6 percent of those points have come from either 3s (7 ppg) or free throws (8.2 ppg).

302 218

Chris Bosh’s 3-point attempts in his frst 10 NBA seasons.

17---->10

Bosh’s 3-point attempts in 2013-14.

13 On 3/4/14, the San Antonio Spurs became the 1st team to have all 13 players on the team collect at least 1 assist.

490

500

540

2,633 The number of consecutive games offciated by longtime NBA referee Dick Bavetta dating back to 1975. The 74-year-old’s streak passed legendary MLB player Cal Ripken’s ironman streak.

35 The number of victories by Spurs trio Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili as they passed the Lakers troika of Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Michael Cooper (490 wins). The Spurs 3some now just trail the Celtics trinity of Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish’s 540 wins. NATHANIEL S. BUTLER; DAVID LIAM KYLE; BILL BAPTIST/GETTY IMAGES SPORT; SCOTT HALLERAN (2); JONATHAN DANIEL/GETTY IMAGES SPORT

After starting the season in 17th place on the NBA all-time scoring leaders list, Dirk Nowitzki fnished 2013-14 in 10th place with 26,786 points. This season he leapfrogged Jerry West, Reggie Miller, Alex English, Kevin Garnett, John Havlicek, Dominique Wilkins and Oscar Robertson.

22 J.R. Smith set a new record for 3-pointers attempted with 22, breaking Damon Stoudamire’s record of 21 set in 2005. Smith made 10 of them.

The number of years since an NBA center registered 14 assists in a game. Joakim Noah ended that when he dropped 14 dimes against the Knicks on 3/2/14. The last center to do it was Sam Lacey of the Kansas City Kings in 1979.

The number of minutes it took Russell Westbrook on 3/4/14 to notch a triple-double. The fastest was 17 minutes by Jim Tucker of the Syracuse Nationals in 1955. 023

JUMP BALL HEAD 2 HEAD

Serge Ibaka vs. Terrence Jones

The power forward position has been blurred recently with the likes of LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony manning the 4 spot. Traditionally, the power forward is a blue-collar position, whose job description always includes rebounding, help defense and inside scoring. Oklahoma City’s Serge Ibaka and Houston’s Terrence Jones both still ft the power forward hard hat, but who wears it better?

01 Scoring: Ibaka’s offensive production has been surging. His scoring output per game went up three points from the previous season to 15.2 in 2013-14, thanks in part to an improving jumper that he has put a lot of hours into perfecting. From the right side of the foor, just inside the three-point line, Ibaka has been above average, making them at a 46 percent rate. It’s a shot that—because of the presence of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook—teams will often give to Ibaka, and he’s made them pay. Of course Ibaka is also adept at rolling off the pick and using his nifty runner to fnish in the 8-10 feet zone. Any closer and Ibaka could always turn that pass into an elevating dunk. The whole fad of stretch fours? Jones wants none of that. He’s quite content in the paint, thank you very much. Of his 700-plus feld-goal attempts this season, more than 500 have been in the paint. And for good reason. Jones has been 61 percent from that area. He’ll occasionally have a set play drawn for him, but likely it’s Jones getting the ball after Harden penetrates and draws the defense. Off the screen, don’t expect to see much pop. Jones will rarely settle for a long jumper. But if he were to develop that shot, Jones could conceivably turn into a consistent 18-20-ppg scorer. But in today’s NBA, a power forward who can step out to 20 feet affords his team more options. Advantage: Ibaka

Terrence Jones

Forward, 6-9, 252 pounds Houston Rockets

Floor Game: On an Oklahoma City fastbreak, fans pay to see headliners Durant and Westbrook fnish on the open court, but pay attention and you’ll notice a chugging forward with gazelle-like strides fll a wing. Once Ibaka receives the pass on the break you can expect a fnish that’s every bit as satisfying as Durant’s or Westbrook’s. Just make sure Ibaka isn’t the one leading a break as his ballhandling leaves much to be desired. In fact, anything beyond a single dribble would be discouraged. Take one glance at Jones’ sturdy frame and his penchant for interior scoring and you’d make the logical conclusion that he’s not someone you want putting the ball on the foor. You’d be terribly mistaken. After gobbling up a defensive board, Jones can often be seen turning upcourt to start the Rockets’ attack. Before you think it’s just a 250-pound freight train trucking down the lane, Jones exhibits tremendous skill as a ballhandler. Behind-the-backs, crossovers, ball-fakes and even eurosteps are part of his repertoire— all the while with his head up looking for the open man. Advantage: Jones

Jones

Ibaka

PPG

12.1

15.1

APG

1.1

1.0

RPG

6.9

8.8

BPG

1.3

2.7

SPG

0.7

0.5

FG%

.542

.536

3PT%

.307

.383

FT%

.605

.784

PER

19.1

19.6

2013-14 stats

024

BY MING WONG #2

Serge Ibaka

Forward, 6-10, 220 pounds Oklahoma City Thunder

Defense: As a defender, Jones is above average, especially given the fact that he’s only a second-year player. He can hold his own against a post player with his bulk, but his length enables him to block shots as well. What he excels at is as a help defender. For a young player, he understands where he should be on rotations. It certainly helps that Jones has Dwight Howard alongside when things go awry. While it seems obvious that Ibaka is the better defender—he is, after all, the league leader in blocks for the past four seasons and an All-Defensive First Teamer two years (and likely again this season) running—keep in mind that blocked shots are the equivalent of a dunk on the offensive end: It looks spectacular, but as a dunk is still worth just two points, a block is merely a stop (and the offense has a chance at getting it back). Still, there’s no denying that Ibaka is one of the best at this skill. His long arms and coiled springs help, but it’s really Ibaka’s sense of timing and dogged attitude that makes him a supreme swatter. The other less-heralded parts of his defensive game—not letting his man establish position, denying the ball and being able to guard the pick and roll—are all top notch, giving the Thunder a defensive presence in the paint. Advantage: Ibaka

Intangibles: We did earlier say that a block is overrated, but you can’t discount the boost it gives your teammates knowing that you erased a potential score, the intimidation factor on the opponent and the effect on the crowd (a boost for the home crowd or a defating crowd silencer on the road). To that, no one in the NBA does it better than Ibaka. Like any great shotblocker, Ibaka sometimes gets caught by a dunk and his overeagerness might lead to free throws or goaltends, but there is no denying that the other team won’t think about Ibaka’s presence the next time they go to the rim. That bit of hesitation is oftentimes all the difference. Advantage: Ibaka

The Verdict It’s no easy task scoring against Ibaka and in this Head2Head, he proves that point. Ibaka has been a great specialist who’s been slowly adding to his game over his fve years (his 15.2 ppg is 13 points more than his frst-year output and his 8.7 rpg is another step closer to that vaunted 10 mark). Jones is a player to keep your eye on. As noted, if Jones can add in a jumpshot to his game, his value (and next contract) will skyrocket to a height that maybe even Ibaka can’t touch.

04 Leadership: Both Ibaka and Jones are low on their team’s depth chart when it comes to this area. In the case of Jones, he’s still a second-year player who’s still adjusting to a newfound starter role. Ibaka is one of the longest tenured Thunder players, but with so many veteran players on the roster (Derek Fisher, Caron Butler, Nick Collison, Kendrick Perkins, Thabo Sefolosha) and stars Durant and Westbrook, it doesn’t leave Ibaka many ears for his voice. Advantage: Ibaka

GARRETT ELLWOOD; LAYNE MURDOCH (2); BILL BAPTIST/NBAE/GETTY IMAGES

025

JUMP BALL BY BRIAN A. GIUFFRA #17

FIRST FIVE

Philadelphia 76ers guard Tony Wroten was destined for athletic greatness1 as soon as he was born. Sometimes the blood coursing through your veins dictates that path. Only Wroten’s ascension from NBA bench rider to sixth-man sensation wasn’t easy. He endured a dreadful rookie season2 in Memphis, multiple D-League assignments to the Reno Bighorns, an offseason trade to the rebuilding 76ers and an on-court shoe explosion that linked him to Michael Jordan.3 But if the M.J. connection did nothing else, at least it made Wroten a momentary Internet sensation. And if that did nothing else, at least it got Wroten’s name out there. Dude can ball and deserves recognition for revitalizing his career in one year. Playing primarily as the 76ers backup point guard, Wroten had a breakthrough second NBA season, recording a triple-double4 in his first career start and averaging more than 13 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal in about 25 minutes per game. It was the kind of steady performance many envisioned when Wroten, 21, was selected 25th overall in the 2012 NBA Draft out of Washington.5 It looks like he is back on his predestined path. BONUS POINTS 1. Athletic genes run in the family. Wroten’s father, Tony Sr., played football in the NFL. His mother, Shirley, ran track at Washington and Arizona State. His aunt, Joyce Walker, played for the Harlem Globetrotters. His cousin, three-time Slam Dunk champ Nate Robinson, plays for the Denver Nuggets. 2. Wroten appeared in just 35 NBA games as a rookie, averaging 2.6 points in 7.8 minutes. He was also sent to the D-League three different times during his first year. 3. After the sole of his Air Jordan X shoes ripped off while he was driving to the basket during a game this year, Wroten said Jordan called his agent to apologize. He later tweeted (@TWroten_LOE) that Jordan didn’t call and only said he did as a joke. 4. Subbing for injured starter Michael Carter-Williams, Wroten recorded 18 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds against the Rockets on 11/13/13. He was the first player in NBA history to record a triple-double in his first career start. Wroten said it was the first triple-double he ever had. “I never had a tripledouble at any level, not middle school, high school, anywhere.” 5. Wroten averaged 16.7 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.6 assists as a freshman at Washington. He was named Pac-12 Freshman of the Year and first-team All Pac-12.

8 TONY

WROTEN

GUARD - PHILADELPHIA 76ERS

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JESSE D. GARRABRANT/NBAE/GETTY IMAGES

Ainge and Doc arrived and later KG and Ray, we were rewarded big time. Our last championship team to me remains one of the most underrated and could be one of the greatest squads ever. Do you and your boyfriend ever ﬁght over sports? We are uniﬁed in our love for the Celtics. However, Kev is a hoops junkie, which means he’s a fan of all the teams and players. I’m a fan and have many NBA friends, but I bleed green. I go to Celtics games with Kev and I yell and scream. In LA at Celts/Lakers and Celts/Clippers games I wear all green. Everyone must know where I stand, and they’ll certainly hear me! I’m so obnoxious that Kev won’t go to games with me anymore unless we are up in one of the suites away from everyone. How often do you get to go to Lakers games? I’m good for one or two Celts/Lakers games at Staples each season. Kev gets mad because he loves LA Live at Staples and loves the NBA. He’d go to every Lakers and Clippers game if he could. I only want to see the men in green! You are such a beautiful woman and if someone just saw you and didn’t get to know you, they could mistakenly think you’re a total girlie girl. How much do you love sports? I grew up playing every sport. It’s a great social experience and calorie burning. It’s way more fun than working out. I write about it in my new book, The EveryGirl’s Guide to Diet and Fitness. Any sport you can do, guy or girl, helps keep weight off. I host barbecue basketball games where we’ll play all day long. It’s the best! Do you enjoy interviewing celebrities like Mark Wahlberg about sports, when they’re clearly passionate about sports? [Mark’s brother actor/singer] Donny Wahlberg is such a huge Celtics fan that he could literally be a journalist, GM or even a commentator. Ask Matt Damon who the greatest quarterback is and you’ll get the most compelling answer as to why Tom Brady is. I love when they get as passionate as I do.

CELEB ROW

MARIA MENOUNOS The general image guys have of Maria Menounos is that of a beautiful woman with killer curves rocking a sexy dress and sky high stilettos. Of course, she can effortlessly slip into that role when interviewing celebrities on red carpets or other assignments in her previous gig as co-host of Extra, but her natural state is geeking out at a sporting event that features a team from her hometown of Boston. Bring on the green gear and don’t even expect a second of respect for the Lakers or Clippers even though Los Angeles has been home for more than a decade. The actress, Dancing with the Stars alum and occasional wrestler, Menounos is now adding reality show star to her résumé—showcasing her home life with longtime boyfriend Keven Undergaro and parents Costas and Litsa on Chasing Maria Menounos. She also lets readers in on how sports help sustain that rocking body in her upcoming book, The EveryGirl’s Guide to Diet and Fitness. You grew up in Boston, how aware were you of the Celtics? I played basketball, but I was actually the biggest Bruins fan—loving Cam Neely and Ray Bourque. [Boyfriend of 16 years and fellow Boston native] Keven was the one who educated me on Larry Bird and the Celts—showing me videos and sharing inspirational stories. We began watching together around 2001 and I was instantly obsessed. We cheered on Paul Pierce, but also the likes of Gerald Green. The latter remains such an amazing story with multiple lessons. Then when NOAH GRAHAM/NBAE/GETTY IMAGES

What kinds of reactions have you received from Chasing Maria Menounos? Of course, everyone thinks what I already know—that my dad Costas is a star! You are in amazing shape. What workout tips do you share in your new book? That it’s less about engaging in ofﬁcial workouts and more about always moving all day and keeping busy. I do things like take stairs instead of elevators and walk briskly to and fro on tasks. I wear a FitBit bracelet to track my steps, trying to get in 10k a day. It all adds up, keeps you ﬁt and young. You also get more accomplished in your days. Besides always moving in your days and pushing yourself to not take easy options, I like working out at home with mats, balls and bands, which are cheap and easy to store. Plus you cut out travel time to the gym when you do. How cool would it be to do AfterBuzz TV (Undergaro and Menounos’ online network with post-show discussions/critiques) shows about basketball games? AfterBuzz TV does postgame wrap-up shows for all your favorite TV shows. Minutes after an episode from your favorite TV series airs, AfterBuzz hosts go into our studios to break down the plot points, take calls from fans and interview stars from the shows. The whole concept is something sports have been implementing since the 1940s. When the Celtics were in their playoff runs, we would use IHeartRadio app to listen to Celtics wrap-up shows from Boston. It’s the best to be able to have people to share your passions, questions and thoughts with. Seeing how post discussion has succeeded in sports, it was a no brainer that it would succeed in TV. LOIS ELFMAN #40

027

JUMP BALL BRACK-IT

EIGHT THINGS. ONE UNDISPUTED CHAMP.

BEST SECOND-ROUND PICK MONTA ELLIS VS. MARC GASOL RASHARD LEWIS VS. CARLOS BOOZER Who can forget Lewis sitting in the green room of the 1998 draft, a 18-year-old prep star with hopes of walking up the stage to shake hands with then-Commissioner David Stern. A teary eyed Lewis waited as the picks whittled by until Stern called it a night and gave way to Rod Thorn in the second round before Seattle tabbed Lewis. All the teams that bypassed Lewis looked prophetic as he barely saw playing time his ﬁrst year, but by his second year, he showed that he had the makings of a stretch four, and by year three, he began a stretch where he was an 18 ppg and 6 rpg guy with two All-Star appearances. Boozer didn’t let his draft status (34th pick in ’02) affect his paycheck. As a second round pick who burst onto the scene (Boozer put up 15.5 ppg and 11.4 rpg in his second year) Boozer wasn’t locked into the guaranteed rookie contract and was eligible for an early pay day in the form of a six-year, $70 million deal with Utah. He’s since been on a pair of All-Star teams, two U.S. Olympic teams and the next round of this Brack-It.

Ellis was one of the last high-school players taken in the NBA Draft (40th pick in 2005) before the League outlawed drafting high-school players. In Ellis’ first year he often looked overwhelmed in limited action, but by his second year, he turned a corner as fast as he does around a defender, averaging 10 more points than his 6.8 ppg his rookie year. Since then he’s become one of the highest scoring two guards in the NBA. Once just little brother to All-NBA player Pau Gasol, Marc has since come into his own. The 2013 DPOY, Gasol is in the top tier of NBA centers. Along with his defensive prowess, Gasol is able in the low post with a fine passing acumen. A quality center is more crucial than a guard, but Ellis is a special talent going to the final four.

MANU GINOBILI VS. ISAIAH THOMAS

PAUL MILLSAP VS. DEANDRE JORDAN

When it comes to mining for hidden gold, few do it better than the San Antonio Spurs. Their best stroke to date is still Ginobili, a shrewd stash-away-for-future-use selection with the 57th pick in 1999. Granted, Ginobili’s European commitment made most patience-adverse GMs avoid him, but the Spurs had the foresight to stow him away for three seasons before he made good with helping the team win three titles (2003, ’05 and ’07) as a bench catalyst. Very relevant despite his “Mr. Irrelevant” status of being the dubious last pick in the 2011 draft, Thomas played his way into the starting point guard role for the Kings and has played well enough to be considered in the same discussion as ﬁrst-round PGs Kyrie Irving and Kemba Walker. Still, he’s no match for Manu.

In the most intriguing opening round matchup, you see a face-off between two players who have quietly been mapping out solid careers that many ﬁrst-round picks never see. Millsap (47th pick in ’06) started out as one of the NBA’s best kept secrets as a Jazz reserve with almost double-double numbers. A starter the past four seasons, Millsap blossomed into an All-Star this season in Atlanta by showing off his offensive game, namely three-point shooting. Jordan entered the League as a tall, athletic big man project taken with the 35th pick by the Clippers. While his offense will likely consist of mop-up putbacks and alley-oops that he can pluck from almost anywhere south of the shot clock, Jordan is averaging a career-best 10-plus ppg, and leads the League in rebounds (13.8 rpg) while blocking 2.4. In what should be considered an upset, we went with Jordan. Rim-protecting bigs like Jordan are a much rarer ﬁnd.

028

BY MING WONG #2

GINOBILI VS. JORDAN

As important as Chris Paul and Blake Griffin are to the Clippers’ championship hopes, they’d be hopeless without Jordan, who is the trigger man to a Paul-Griffin fastbreak with a rebound or block, a role the Clippers envisioned for Jordan as a high value second-round pick. Jordan has since added some offensive arsenal (although not at the free-throw line, where he shoots a dreadful .430 for his career), but will likely stay as an athletic version of Dikembe Mutombo for his career. Ginobili is like the Ichiro of the NBA, a polished veteran who’s seen his share of international competition that primed him for the big leagues. As a 25-year-old rookie, he earned the confidence of Gregg Popovich, playing big reserve minutes in the playoffs with the ball in his hands, a role he has been known for throughout his 12-year career. He earned the distinction of Sixth Man of the Year in ’08 (and was a finalist for it a few other times) and is every bit as dangerous in crucial moments as contemporaries Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade. Ginobili euro-steps out of Jordan’s reach and into the finals.

ELLIS VS. BOOZER Ellis was, and still is, an overlooked player, having until this season toiled for bad teams. Still, shooting guards who can get to the basket and finish with frequency (46 percent from the field over his career), despite any shortcomings in three-point shooting and defense, are not easily found on NBA rosters. Being one of the last prep-to-pros entrants to the League means he’s only 28 with plenty of good basketball ahead of him. Boozer, for all his criticisms of being overpaid since being an underpaid second-rounder, has been solid throughout his dozen NBA seasons. A good shot from 18 feet in and a good turnaround J in the post have made Boozer a reliable scorer (16.7 ppg and .523 field-goal percentage) to go with his almost 10 boards a night despite being a tad undersized. Not bad for a second-round pick from Juneau, Alaska, who heads to the finals.

BEST SECONDROUND PICK IN THE NBA:

MANU GINOBILI

GINOBILI VS. BOOZER Boozer’s numbers have dipped a bit this season as his minutes have come down and teammate Joakim Noah has become the centerpiece to the Bulls, but his per36 minutes production still has him extrapolated as a 17.6 ppg and 10.6 rpg guy, right along his career 18.1/11 numbers. Few second-round picks have carved such a long and prosperous career as Boozer. Compared to his draft class of ’02, only three other players have played as many games as Boozer has (Mike Dunleavy, Tayshaun Prince and John Salmons). When he decides to call it a career, Ginobili will get the royal silver and black treatment by the Spurs. His #20 will eventually hang in the rafters, joining his fellow big three Tim Duncan and Tony Parker. So good and clutch throughout his career, even Kobe Bryant, after having battled the Spurs countless times in the playoffs, has gushed on Ginobili: “That’s a bad man.” To think, all that from a pick, watched only by NBA diehards sitting on draft night listening to names, some being said for the ﬁrst time on TV and most of whom would be lucky to play an NBA minute, that will go down as one of the greatest international stars to cross over to the NBA. D. CLARKE EVANS; JESSE D. GARRABRANT; NOAH GRAHAM; DAVID KYLE; BILL BAPTIST; GARRETT ELLWOOD; ROCKY WIDNER (2); ISSAC BALDIZON; LAYNE MURDOCH; ANDREW D. BERNSTEIN; SCOT CUNNINGHAM/NBAE/GETTY IMAGES; JEFF GROSS (2); JONATHAN DANIEL/GETTY IMAGES SPORT

029

JUMP BALL FIRST FIVE

BY MELODY HOFFMAN #34

Kyle Singler has built a reputation for himself as being a consistent and efﬁcient role player for the Detroit Pistons. In spite of the circumstances—he was in the starting lineup 74 times last season as a rookie before having to adjust to a reserve role this season as a backup small forward before starting again at shooting guard—Singler’s game has been on an upswing.1 “Skill-wise I think I’ve improved my shooting and one-to-two-dribble pull-up game,” says the 6-8 Oregon2 native. “My game has stayed consistent. I’m still a guy who cuts without the ball and moves without the ball. That’s always going to be the staple3 of my game.” Along with consistency, another staple of Singler’s game is his resiliency: If Singler is breathing, he’s going to be on the court. The Duke alum tied the career record for 148 games played during his fouryear college career.4 Rookie wall? Not for Singler. Last year he appeared in all 82 games. Ditto this season. “The main thing that I’ve learned is the importance of maintaining my body and staying healthy,” explains Singler, Detroit’s second round pick in the 2011 NBA Draft. “Towards the end of last year, I was pretty beat. And even this year you have your ups and downs, but you learn how to play through stuff and how to refresh your body. I try to eat as healthy5 as possible…I do realize diet is a very important part of this game and just the process of getting better as a basketball player.” BONUS POINTS 1. Singler averaged 8.8 points and 4 rebounds last season. This year he is averaging 9.5 points and 3.7 rebounds. His three-point ﬁeld goal percentage has improved from 35 percent to 38.7. 2. The 26-year-old Singler was raised in Medford, Ore., in an athletic family. His younger brother E.J. starred on the University of Oregon’s basketball team. Their father, Ed Singler, played quarterback at Oregon State, where their mother, Kris, played basketball. 3. Another regular part of Singler’s game is his penchant for trick shots. Since college, Singler has had a few trick shot videos go viral. Through these videos, he’s earned one of his favorite nicknames. “Our Detroit Pistons announcer saw my videos on YouTube…where after every shot I make I say ‘buckets,’ so he nicknamed me ‘The Bucket Man.’” 4. Singler led Duke to an NCAA title his junior year and was named NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player. He also set Duke career records for consecutive games played (148) and minutes played (4,887). 5. Singler says he is always experimenting with his diet. “Chipotle is one of my favorite restaurants to eat at. Instead of getting the steak, I get the chicken. I get the black beans, the veggies and all that. I’ve learned to like kale salad. I go to juice spots. I’ve tried raw foods and vegan restaurants.”

25 KYLE

SINGLER

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FORWARD - DETROIT PISTONS JESSE D. GARRABRANT/NBAE/GETTY IMAGES

KNOW YOUR NEWB

NICK CALATHES MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES

Grizzlies star Mike Conley went down with an ankle sprain before the All-Star break and in came Calathes to fill the starting role. It was just for a couple weeks, but in those starts, Calathes stepped up his production on offense and defense. With those increased minutes came a boost of confidence that has the guard playing with a newfound aggressiveness and fearlessness. What lessons have you learned so far in your first year in the NBA? There are going to be ups and downs, especially as a rookie. I didn’t know what to expect at first. Sometimes you’ll play 20 minutes a game and sometimes you’ll play three, so I just had to always be ready. What part of your game has improved the most since the beginning of the season? My defense and I think I’m starting to shoot the ball better. Coaches are going to keep me on the floor for more plays if I play good defense.

Nick Calathes says the best advice he’s gotten from an NBA player was when Jason “White Chocolate” Williams told him that if you get the opportunity to play in the NBA, take full advantage of it. Simple, but poignant, and that’s exactly what the 25-year-old Memphis Grizzlies rookie did. After playing overseas in Greece and Russia for four years, then landing on the Grizzlies’ roster as a backup point guard, the 6-6 Calathes was ready to show how much his game has improved since playing at the University of Florida.

What do you miss most about playing overseas? The food was great. In Greece the weather was unbelievable. They had beaches everywhere so when we had a couple of days off I would go to a different island. Are there any similarities between Greece and Memphis? The fans in Greece were diehard Panathinaikos fans. They supported you through it all and I think

in Memphis it’s the same. The city really lives for basketball. How did you get Greek citizenship? My heritage is actually Greek; my grandfather is full Greek. He came to the states when he was I think 17 or 18 and through that bloodline is how I got it. How did you become a point guard at your height? When I started high school I was about 5-10 and after my senior year of high school I was 6-5. Through that I always played the point position. So throughout my career I was growing and I could always handle the ball and I think it helped me out in the long run being tall and being able to handle the ball. Being able to play point guard at my height is unique. I’m able to seal the defense and make plays that a smaller guard wouldn’t be able to do. What is your social media go-to? I’m a Twitter person. I like reading all of the stuff that people write. It keeps me busy when I’m bored and keeps me involved in what goes on in the basketball world. I like to see what my friends are doing. I don’t really care about my Twitter following because I don’t tweet much. Who are the funniest people you follow on Twitter? There are a lot of good ones out there. Ochocinco [Chad Johnson] and Chandler Parsons are pretty fun. MELODY HOFFMAN #34

TRANSITION GAME

DAVID WEST

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

JOE MURPHY; JENNIFER POTTHEISER (2); GREGORY SHAMUS; LAYNE MURDOCH (4); DAVID SHERMAN; RON HOSKINS (3); ROCKY WIDNER/NBAE/GETTY IMAGES

031

JUMP BALL FIRST FIVE

BY JON COOPER #10

Alec Burks has no problem picking himself up off the floor. The Utah Jazz’s 6-6, 211-pound point guard just finished his third NBA season, one where he doubled his per-game scoring and assists, while getting hacked twice as many times.1 “I’m always in attack mode and not afraid of contact,” says the 22-year-old native of Grandview, Mo. “I’ll draw contact. That’s how I get to the freethrow line so much. My quick first step is what drives me to the rim a lot.” It’s what drives opponents crazy, leaving them little recourse but to foul. That, in turn, has resulted in Burks leading the Jazz in free throw attempts per game and putting him in some pretty cool company in NBA circles.2 It also turned 2013-14 into a breakout season.3 “I feel like the game slowed down a lot for me,” says Burks, the 12th overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft, who left the University of Colorado after two dynamic seasons.4 “Coming into the League, I was 19. I wasn’t a physical person. I feel like my physical body has improved a lot.” More than anything, Burks, who hadn’t started a game his first two pro seasons, considers himself an opportunist. “It’s being ready for the opportunity and trying to make the most of it,” he says. “I’m getting an opportunity and am making the most of it.” Burks feels he personifies the young Jazz5 as he looks ahead. “As hard as [2013-14]’s been, all the young guys are stepping up and appreciating the roles they have now and they’re making the most of them,” he says. “That’s great for the future.” BONUS POINTS 1. Burks went from 7 to 14 ppg, 1.4 to 2.8 apg and 129 free throws to more than 360. 2. Heading into the season’s final month, he was leading Utah in free throws made and attempted, and his 4.8 free throws attempted per game, tied for 31st in the League with Dallas’ Dirk Nowitzki and Miami’s Dwyane Wade. 3. Alec made his first career starts, set offensive bests in just about every category and had his first career 30-point game, a 31-point effort (12-for-17, 2-for-4 from 3, 5-for-8 from the line) at Miami on 12/16/13. He’d surpass that on 1/13/14 vs. Denver, when he started for injured Gordon Hayward and scored a game-high 34 (13-for-19, 8-for-8 from the line). 4. Colorado’s first Big 12 Freshman of the Year, Alec left CU third all-time in scoring average (19.0 ppg), having set freshman (512 points) and sophomore (779) season-scoring records. 5. Utah was the sixth-youngest team in the NBA, with an average age of 25.2.

032

ALEC

BURKS GUARD - UTAH JAZZ

ROCKY WIDNER/NBAE/GETTY IMAGES

REIGN

IN STORES NOW © 2005-2013 Take-Two Interactive Software and its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. 2K, the 2K logo, and Take-Two Interactive Software are all trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. The NBA and individual NBA member team identifications used on or in this product are trademarks, copyrights designs and other forms of intellectual property of NBA Properties, Inc. and the respective NBA member teams and may not be used, in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of NBA Properties, Inc. © 2013 NBA Properties, Inc. All rights reserved. The “PS” Family logo and “PS3” are registered trademarks and the PlayStation Network logo is a trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. “PS4” is a trademark of the same company. The ratings icon is a trademark of the Entertainment Software Association. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

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10/1/13 2:57 PM

JUMP BALL FIRST FIVE

BY JIM EICHENHOFER #12

He’s an international player. An exceptional passer and shooter.1 An unselfish, team-first guy. What took the San Antonio Spurs so long to acquire Marco Belinelli? Make no mistake, when Belinelli became an unrestricted free agent after his sixth NBA season2 and he heard Gregg Popovich’s voice on the other end of his phone in July 2013, the Italian’s decision-making process ended right then and there. “When he called me, I didn’t think too long. I didn’t think much about the money,” says the 28-year-old. “I was so happy. I wanted to play with a great team3 and be with Hall of Famers.4 I have a great coach who is a great guy, a gentleman. I think it’s made me a better player.” They didn’t have a ton of room for improvement,5 but the Spurs have also become a better team. With their new 6-5 shooting guard putting up career-best6 numbers, the perennial contenders are again an elite Western Conference squad. “He’s been really steady for us and he plays a great all-around game,” Popovich says. “He’s not just a shooter—he’s a good passer. He really understands how to play unselfishly and how to play with the ball moving and people moving.” In other words, he’s the prototypical Spur.7 BONUS POINTS 1. Belinelli was lights out at All-Star 2014, taking home the Three-Point Contest trophy. 2. His first six years were spent with Golden State, Toronto, New Orleans and Chicago. 3. Sounding more like an awestruck fan than a teammate, Belinelli sits in a courtside seat at San Antonio’s AT&T Center, gestures toward a warming-up Manu Ginobili and says, “I even get to play with one of my idols!” As a bonus, Ginobili often speaks Italian with Belinelli. 4. Duncan and Popovich are shoo-ins for Springfield while Tony Parker and Ginobili are strong candidates. 5. If you recall, San Antonio came within a defensive rebound of dethroning the Heat in the 2013 Finals. 6. Belinelli notched two personal-highs this season: 44 percent from three and 49 percent overall from the field. 7. Belinelli on the Spurs’ style of play: “In this system we move the ball and play together. It’s easy. But it’s the secret to winning something really big.”

MARCO

BELINELLI GUARD - SAN ANTONIO SPURS

034

D. CLARKE EVANS/NBAE/GETTY IMAGES

ON THE COURT OR ON THE ROCKS, IT'S THE QUALITY OF YOUR GAME THAT MAKES YOU A CHAMPION.

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JUMP BALL 24 SECONDS

with KYLE LOWRY

HOOP: How has fatherhood changed you? LOWRY: It makes you grow up. You’re not living for yourself anymore. Everything you do, your child is watching. So you don’t want to be negative. You always want to be upbeat, and then you take that from home life out onto the court. HOOP: Speaking of your fam, tell us about FAMJUICE.4 LOWRY: It’s a great product, something me and my partner have done, wanting to make something homegrown in Philly. It’s done well. It’s a really good drink. Check it out if you’re in the tri-state area. HOOP: The FAMJUICE website asks, are you a gulper or a sipper? And what’s your favorite flavor when out on the golf course? LOWRY: Me, I take sips—gotta enjoy every little moment of it. Honestly, I usually take water out there, but if I had to choose a flavor it would be the Strawberry Kiwi Lemonade. That’s good! HOOP: When did you take up golfing and what is it you enjoy about it? LOWRY: About four years ago. It’s just the challenge that it gives you mentally. Physically, it’s just a different sport. It’s not about being explosive or the fastest. It’s about mind control and what you can do with your mind. I love it. HOOP: How often do you play? LOWRY: Every day in the summer. But once the season5 starts, I pretty much lock in and focus on that. HOOP: What’s your handicap? LOWRY: It’s about a 15 and a half right now. HOOP: Which teammate would you hire as your caddy? LOWRY: Not Amir [Johnson]. He’s too silly [laughs]. If I had to hire a teammate as a caddy, it would be my rookie, Dwight Buycks.

HOOP: How is married life treating you? LOWRY: Great. I enjoy it. It’s something that I always looked forward to doing. I have a beautiful wife1 and a beautiful family. It’s something I really appreciate. HOOP: High-school sweethearts, right? LOWRY: I met her in high school, but we didn’t get together until I got to college, because she thought I was too young still. HOOP: She played hoops, too? LOWRY: Yeah, she played at St. Joe’s.2 She was a scorer. She had long arms and could play the passing lanes, but she could put the ball in the hole. She was probably a better scorer3 than I was in high school. HOOP: Tell us about your son, Karter. LOWRY: He’s my heart. He’s the pride and joy of me, and my legacy. I want him to have a better life than I did. And I want to show him how to be a dad and how a dad is supposed to be. HOOP: What’s your favorite thing to do with him? LOWRY: Honestly, just hang out. We play on the iPad, we shoot ball. He always tells me to play defense. He passes me the ball on his little Nerf hoop and I’ll dunk it. 036

HOOP: If you could play a round of golf with any pro, who would it be? LOWRY: It would have to be my man Tiger Woods. I’ve watched him over the years, but I’m a big fan of all the guys... Rory [McIlroy], I love watching Phil [Mickelson]. Bubba [Watson] goes after it and makes you want to swing that hard. I’m a fan of all those guys. HOOP: Are there any skills that are similar between basketball and golf? LOWRY: Balance for sure. Understanding what you can do and what you can’t do. Competitiveness. The only difference is you’re competing against yourself. HOOP: Speaking of competing, what did it mean to you to help get the Raptors back into the postseason?6 LOWRY: It means a lot. I wanted to get this team and this city into the playoffs. They haven’t been there in a while. HOOP: Why was it important to get the city of Toronto into the playoffs? LOWRY: We have a great city. Our fan7 base is fantastic. They’re very passionate about sports and they’re hungry. They deserve it.

BY JERAMIE MCPEEK #4

HOOP: What are your expectations for the postseason? LOWRY: We want to do some damage. We don’t want to just get into the playoffs. I think we have a good team. We just have to go out and do our jobs. HOOP: Talk about the season you’re having, putting up career numbers.8 LOWRY: I think it’s just an opportunity that I’ve had, and the work that I’ve put in on my game, it’s had a chance to pay off. HOOP: How about your mindset—how is that different this year? LOWRY: Me just being older, being in a situation where I am the leader of the team, and just me growing up and maturing. HOOP: We’ve heard a lot about your maturity. LOWRY: It’s a part of life. The maturation takes a while sometimes. But I want to be something different. I don’t want to be what people assumed I was. HOOP: You said once that you don’t want to be a journeyman or a backup in this League and that drove you. LOWRY: I think I’m at that point now. I proved that I’m a starter in this League. HOOP: Was there a point where you were nervous you might not make it, though? LOWRY: Definitely. That was a thought when I was younger. It was always in the back of your mind. You have to understand that it can happen, so you have to work harder and get better every single summer. HOOP: Your GM called you a “bulldog” and your head coach called you the “grit and the grind” of your team. How do you describe your game? LOWRY: A guy who can do it all, and can do it on both ends of the floor. A guy who’s going to lead his team and have his team follow because he plays so hard. A guy who just wants to win. HOOP: Your agent introduced you to Chauncey Billups,9 who has been a mentor to you. What has he meant to you? LOWRY: He’s meant the world to me. Even growing up, I always wanted to be like him... his personality, his ability to control10 the game. He really took me under his wing. He’s always calling me his little bro, so I want to fulfill that.

BONUS POINTS 1. Lowry married Ayahna Cornish last offseason. 2. Cornish was a 5-9 guard at St. Joseph’s, where she averaged 11.4 ppg over her four-year career (2003-07). 3. Kyle says his wife often provides “constructive criticism” on his game. 4. The “new family of flavor,” FAMJUICE is a line of refrigerated juice drinks and iced teas with eight flavors. 5. Lowry says he’s only played once this season, scoring an 85 during some free time while the Raptors were in Phoenix. 6. The Raptors last reached the playoffs in 2008 and haven’t gotten out of the first round since 2001. Sorry, Toronto fans. 7. At the end of the New Year’s Eve game in Chicago, Lowry had eyed a Raptors fan in the stands and tossed his shoes to him, however they were intercepted by another person. After hearing of the incident, Lowry made good with the Toronto fan by meeting him pregame to personally deliver a pair of shoes as a make-good. 8. At press time, Lowry was averaging 17.6 points, 7.7 assists and 4.8 rebounds a game. 9. Billups played for four NBA teams in the first five seasons of his career before flourishing in Detroit, where he spent the next seven seasons and won an NBA Championship. 10. Lowry on being a leader: “You’ve got to bring it every day. Everything you do, everybody is watching. It’s a balance. You can’t be too up. You can’t be too down. You have to be even-keeled when leading a team.”

RON TURENNE (2)/NBAE/GETTY IMAGES

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G N I N N I W

BY MICHAEL BRADLEY #53

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FORM UL A

The recipe for an NBA Championship requires not just the best ingredients, but also the proper execution. I

t was a long summer for the Knicks in 1969. While the Mets were staging their miracle, and Woodstock was defining a generation a little over an hour away from The Garden, the team stewed over its Eastern Conference Finals loss1 to the Celtics. Once again, the Mystique2 had prevailed, even though New York had won six more games during the regular season than Boston had. The Knicks had been one of the final chapters in the Celtics story that had started more than a decade before. Its aging roster may not have looked like much, but Boston’s team-first ethos had prevailed again. When New York reconvened for training camp in the fall of ’69, its players realized they needed a new approach. Being good was no longer good enough. The Knicks had to develop a different perspective. They couldn’t hope for a championship. They couldn’t think they might win. They needed to be certain. “By losing to the Celtics, we realized we were the better team, and we should have beaten them,” says Hall of Famer Walt Frazier, a guard who played on Knicks champions in 1970 and ‘73. “The next year, we came back talking championship and saying, ‘It’s our time. This is it.’ We took confidence from that loss, and we were ready to take that quantum leap. The essence of our season was developed during training camp.” The Knicks won the 1970 NBA title, capturing an epic seven-game series over the Lakers and defining themselves as the ultimate team. It didn’t hurt that New York had four future Hall of Famers—Frazier, Willis Reed, Bill Bradley, Dave DeBusschere—on the roster, but talent doesn’t always win the big prize. After all, that quartet was on the roster the previous season, when the Knicks bowed to Boston. “You accept talent as being equal, especially at the championship level,” says Hall of Fame center Bill Walton, who won titles with Portland (1977)3 and Boston (1986).4

MATTHEW STOCKMAN/GETTY IMAGES SPORT

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The 1974-75 Golden State Warriors captured the franchise's lone title when the team rallied around its primary star, Rick Barry.

No team can win it all without great players. That has been proven throughout NBA history. From the Minneapolis juggernaut5 in the ’50s, the Celtics dynasty6 in the ’60s, to the Lakers’ ’80s Showtime7 bunch, the Michael Jordan Bulls teams of the ’90s,8 the Kobe Bryant/Shaquille O’Neal/Phil Jackson9 Lakers teams of the ’00s through today's Heat,10 you don’t hoist the shiny trophy without an abundance of skill and ability. The carcasses of supremely talented teams can be found along the League’s championship road, victims of injury, hubris and in-fghting. Successful teams have strong character, good chemistry, mutual respect among the players, an established hierarchy on the roster and a head coach who understands how to handle the different personalities that comprise a team. It’s a delicate blend that can disintegrate quickly. “It comes down to people willing to put their egos aside,” says Hall of Fame forward Rick Barry, a member of the ’75 Golden State title squad. “I’ve always said you have to put the egos in a closet for six months, and everybody has to work toward the team goal. It can’t be a bunch of individuals.” Before the 1974-75 season, Golden State center Clifford Ray, who had just joined the team after three years in Chicago, called a team meeting that included everyone but Barry. Some might consider that appropriate, because Barry wasn’t always the easiest teammate with whom to play. 040

Many times, he couldn’t understand why everybody else wasn’t able to do what he could, like score 25,000 career points11 and play in 12 AllStar Games. But Ray didn’t come to bury Barry. Instead, he told his new teammates that it would be silly to deny that Barry was the focal point of the team’s offense. Ray had a simple question for the Warriors: “Who on this team can go out and get us 35 points a night?” The answer was pretty obvious. Barry had scored 25.1 ppg the previous season and would average 30.6 in 1974-75.12 Ray told everyone to stop worrying about Barry’s occasional fts of frustration and understand that it was grounded in an unquenchable desire to win. “[Ray] said, ‘Rick’s got a lot of bark but no bite. He’s a little crazy, but he wants to win, and we’ve got to ride it,’” Barry says. “Once he said that, it was over and done with. It was a big catalyst for helping everyone get on the same page.” Chemistry is an overused word when describing successful teams, but even if the term is somewhat hackneyed, its infuence on success cannot be underestimated. Short of the talent necessary to make winning plays on the court, there may be no more important part of the championship equation. And it takes different forms. Barry reports that the 1974-75 Warriors “went to the movies together and ate together,” something that helped their bond. Frazier says the Knicks teams that won didn’t have the DICK RAPHAEL/NBAE/GETTY IMAGES

Gail Goodrich (#25) knew the 1971-72 Lakers were a special unit when he saw two all-time greats like Jerry West (#44) and Wilt Chamberlain sacrifce individual goals for team success. He was right as the eventual champion Lakers won a thenrecord 69 games with a record-33-game win streak that still stands to this day.

same social connection, but they were completely linked on the court. “If you watched us play, we moved the ball like it was a hot potato,” he says. “I didn’t see who I was passing to. I just saw a white uniform and knew it was a teammate.” The 1971-72 Lakers, who still hold the record for most wins in a row—33—and set the mark for most victories in a season (69) that has since been broken,13 were more like the Knicks in that they didn’t hang out together a lot off the court. Their connection came from the respect they had for each other’s various talents, and their willingness to make some compromises to help the team succeed. For instance, Jerry West surrendered some of his scoring primacy to Gail Goodrich and focused on distributing the ball. Both men scored 25 a game, but West led the League with 9.7 assists/game, the frst time in his career he ever did that. Wilt Chamberlain, the greatest volume scorer in NBA history, was only ffth on the team in shot attempts, but he led the League with 19.2 rebounds/game and played ferocious interior defense. The team was all about defning and fulflling roles and creating a unit that maximized everybody’s talents. That’s quite a tribute, considering that the two men that made the largest sacrifces are two of the top 10 players in NBA history. “The respect that people had for their teammates’ talent was extremely high,” Goodrich says. “We understood what each player brought to the table individually, so that we could come together as a team. That led to the players’ complementing each other on the court.” The Lakers were the frst team in NBA history to have a morning DICK RAPHAEL (2)/NBAE/GETTY IMAGES

shootaround, the idea of frst-year coach Bill Sharman, who had done a personal version of the early workout while he was with the Celtics. Convincing Chamberlain to interrupt his sleep to get loose and work on a few concepts was not an easy thing,14 but his participation helped the Lakers grow together even more. “Everybody bought in,” Goodrich says. “That was a key.” When Oscar Robertson joined the Bucks in 1970, he had done just about everything a player could do in professional basketball. He had won the MVP award in 1964, been named to 10 All-Star teams and had accomplished something that still hasn’t been duplicated—average a tripledouble for an entire season (30.8 ppg, 12.5 rpg, 11.4 apg) in 1961-62.15 But he had never won an NBA title. In fact, Robertson’s Cincinnati teams had never even reached the Finals. So, when the Royals made the ill-fated decision to trade him to Milwaukee for Charlie Paulk and Flynn Robinson, the Big O arrived motivated and ready to win. To do that, he had to recognize that he wasn’t going to lead the team in scoring, as he had in Cincinnati. That job belonged to Kareem AbdulJabbar.16 But when it came to being a leader, Robertson was the man, thanks to his experience and desire to win. He was also the one to make important plays late in the game. “He made it clear that he wanted a championship, and we did what we could to help him win that championship,” says Bob Dandridge, a forward on championship teams in Milwaukee (1971) and Washington (’78). “He knew that we were a group of guys who would follow his lead, but he also 041

WINNING ROLES Thanks in part to the Boston dynasty during the ’60s, there are a handful of players who have had more rings than fngers on a hand. Not to discount their titles, but the Celtics were also benefciaries of some talent. Eight of those players—Bill Russell, Sam Jones, Tom Heinsohn, K.C. Jones, Tom Sanders, John Havlicek, Frank Ramsey, Bob Cousy—who are adorned with more than fve rings have also played in multiple All-Star Games and found their way to the Hall of Fame. Supreme talent usually translates to winning in the NBA, but there have also been some great role players who have been key contributors to championships despite not having a Hall of Fame pedigree. They have not played in a single All-Star Game, yet they took part in many Finals—and more importantly, Finals celebrations.

Robert Horry

Ron Harper

Steve Kerr

Derek Fisher

As great as Michael Jordan, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan are, they all fall behind Horry when it comes to rings. Like Frodo or Bilbo, Horry might not have been the star of the team in terms of points and spotlight, but he’s every bit the lord of the rings with seven (the ’94 and ’95 Houston Rockets, the 2000-02 threepeat L.A. Lakers and the ’05 and ’07 San Antonio Spurs). Known for his clutch shots for three different championship runs, Horry might be seen as a player at the right place at the right time, but he’s been a valuable contributor for all seven titles. In his early days as a Rocket, Horry was the athletic forward who defended the tough assignment while scoring opportune points. As a Laker, Horry provided spacing in the triangle with his range and defense. His veteran savvy on and off the court made him a perfect ft in the Spurs system. Through it all, at every stop, Horry was deadly when the stakes were at the highest, hitting big shots in the playoffs, earning him the nickname “Big Shot Rob” and something he can brag about, even to guys with scoring totals that quadruple his 7,715 career points.

Some of you might have forgotten or even know that during Harper’s frst eight years in the NBA, he was a highfying do-it-all dynamo who often drew comparisons to Michael Jordan. Injuries (most notable being a torn ACL injury in 1990) prevented Harper from ever reaching his true potential and kept him off All-Star teams, but the story would take a good turn. As a 31-year-old signed to the Bulls to replace a certain player who famously quit basketball to hit a baseball, Harper was relegated to a backup role once Michael Jordan returned from his baseball sabbatical toward the end of the season. Rather than sulking, Harper embraced the new role, teaming with Jordan and Scottie Pippen for legendary morning workouts that would be known as the “Breakfast Club.” While Harper’s athletic days were behind him, his sharpened skills and knowledge turned him into an overlooked part of the team’s defensive sieve (Harper netted zero All-Defensive Team nods) in the Bulls’ second threepeat. Harper would reprise the same role when Phil Jackson left Chicago to coach the Lakers and wisely recruited Harp to show the young and budding Lakers the value of hard work and vast knowledge, earning him two more rings.

Kerr was an underdog through and through. A second-round pick in the 1988 NBA Draft, Kerr exceeded all expectations by playing in 15 NBA seasons. While he was never a frontline player (Kerr started just 30 times in his career), Kerr never shied away from hard work (and even more famously, Michael Jordan, during a practice scuffe) and proved how smarts—and a very accurate shot—went far. To be specifc, fve championships. After a nomadic fve seasons in the NBA (Kerr played for three teams: Phoenix, Cleveland and Orlando) Kerr found himself on the Bulls roster, where he would fll the sharpshooter role vacated by John Paxson. And like Pax before him, the ball would fnd itself in his hands in a pivotal moment where, like his predecessor, Kerr buried it to help secure a title. After the Bulls threepeat, Kerr would take his talents to the Alamo where he would win another two titles in ’99 and ’03 before taking his winning ways to the front offce.

The Lakers run of fve titles in the ’00s will be forever linked to Kobe Bryant and Phil Jackson (and Shaquille O’Neal for the frst three), but the other common denominator was Fisher. In fact, the fve titles might not even have been possible without some of the big shots that came off the slinging left wrist of Fisher. During the Lakers’ frst trifecta to open up the decade, Fisher was primarily a reserve guard, but one who blossomed into a player that would be on the foor at the end of games. By the time he was a grizzled 34-yearold, Fisher had earned the trust of Jackson and Bryant to take end-ofgame shots, helping the Lakers cop championships 15 and 16. Despite being just a few months from 40, Oklahoma City is still hoping that Fisher’s championship pedigree will rub off on the team this year, as Fisher is still playing valuable minutes (more than 1,400 this season) for the title-hopeful Thunder who want nothing more than for Fisher to win his sixth ring.—Ming Wong #2

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ANDREW D. BERNSTEIN; NATHANIEL S. BUTLER; ROCKY WIDNER; LAYNE MURDOCH/NBAE/GETTY IMAGES

One of the most complete teams in NBA history, the Knicks teams of the early '70s were led by the swagger of Walt Frazier (#10) and the heart of captain Willis Reed (#19).

recognized what a big asset he had with Kareem. He made sure Kareem had what he wanted and had the ball often enough. But when it came to crunch time, Oscar took over.” Robertson’s presence on a relatively young Bucks team was crucial to its overall success. He had piled up statistics and made some early playoff exits, so he knew what it was like to watch others celebrate titles. By declaring that the season was to be about winning it all and not just a collection of individual accomplishments, Robertson established a standard. When he followed through by exchanging his own numbers (his scoring average dropped from 25.3 ppg to 19.4) for victories, Robertson showed that he was serious. West did the same thing in L.A. during the 1971-72 season. The Lakers had replaced Joe Mullaney with Sharman, and the new coach had plenty of ideas about how the team could thrive, beginning with the morning shootaround. West, who had played in the League for 11 seasons17 before Sharman’s arrival, could have easily adopted an antagonistic stance toward the reforming coach. Instead, he embraced everything, enticing his teammates to follow. “Jerry West was a real leader, along with Wilt,” Goodrich says. “He was a coach’s dream. He never gave [Sharman] any kind of problems.” The core of the 1970 Knicks championship was in place during the 1968-69 season, but there were members of the team who didn’t quite ft well. By making a couple of moves, New York created harmony on its roster. The team dished Walt Bellamy and Howie Komives to Detroit for Dave DeBusschere, a trade that accomplished several things. First, it brought DeBusschere, an excellent rebounder and defender, to the team. It also relieved the tension between Bellamy and Willis Reed, each of whom wanted to play center. Finally, by moving Komives, the team ended the tension between him and forward Cazzie Russell. The result was a team comprised completely of players for whom winning, not individual rivalries, was the ultimate goal. DICK RAPHAEL (2)/NBAE/GETTY IMAGES

For all of Oscar Robertson's (#1) individual greatness, it wasn't until he was paired with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar that he found championship success.

“Some of the veteran guys [on the 1968-69 team] didn’t have great work ethics,” says Frazier, who came to the NBA a year before that season. “That was tough for a rookie.” One of the keys to a championship team is the makeup of the roster. It’s not easy to collect pieces that are talented but also interested in more than money and fame. Having a front offce committed to that, even if it means moving fan favorites to other teams or acquiring complementary pieces in exchange for established stars, is vital. The 1975-76 Trail Blazers fnished last in the Pacifc Division and posted the ffth-worst record in the NBA. Coach Lenny Wilkens told management that the roster makeup wasn’t conducive to winning and that the team needed to be overhauled. The front offce wasn’t buying that, believing instead that injuries to Walton (he missed 31 games) were the true culprits. Portland fred Wilkens and replaced him with Jack Ramsay, who said the same thing as Wilkens had. This time, the team listened. The 197677 Blazers had seven new players on its 12-man roster and adopted an egalitarian approach that featured six double-fgure scorers and resulted in an NBA title. “We subtracted a lot,” Walton says. “And we added the greatest teammate I ever had, Maurice Lucas. The nicest thing anybody ever said about me was that I made my teammates play better ball. Nobody made me a better player than Maurice Lucas.” Portland’s ability to surround Walton and Lucas with excellent complementary pieces allowed Ramsay to create a style of play that put pressure on defenses all over the court. No one player dominated the ball,18 and the Blazers won the title with a classic team approach. They defeated the star-studded Sixers in the Finals, scoring a big victory for the idea of building a team that fts together well. “The critical thing about building a championship team is that the GM or the person in charge of acquiring free agents and the draft must recognize talent and do a superior job of fguring out the character of the players,” Barry says. 043

BONUS POINTS 1. Boston upstaged New York 4-2 in the series. 2. The Celtics would go on to win their 11th NBA Championship in 13 seasons. 3. Walton was named Finals MVP. 4. Walton was the Sixth Man of the Year. 5. Minneapolis won fve of the NBA’s frst eight championships. 6. Boston epitomized the word, winning nine times during the decade. 7. The Lakers took home the gold hardware half the time during the ’80s. 8. Jordan was named Finals MVP six times in the decade. 9. Shaquille O’Neal was a big part of three titles, but Kobe and Jackson were the constants through their fve championships. 10. Two and counting. 11. This includes Barry’s four seasons in the ABA, where he scored 6,884 points. 12. After Barry, the next highest average on the team was Butch Beard’s 12.8 ppg. 13. The 72-10 season turned in by the 1995-96 Bulls remains the standard. 14. Keep in mind these were the days before cushy chartered fights. 15. Robertson actually almost did it again in 1963-64 when he put up a season stat line of 31.4 ppg, 11 apg and 9.9 rpg. 16. The 23-year-old Abdul-Jabbar was just in his second season, but the Rookie of the Year had led the League in points scored, was named to the All-NBA Second Team and All-Defensive Second Team, and would take home League MVP and Finals MVP in 1971. 17. At that point, West had amassed 21,003 points, and 10 All-NBA and three All-Defensive team selections. 18. The Blazers had eight players average at least 8 points per game on the roster.

“When we won, the guys on the team were professionals and were all about what needed to be done to win within a team concept. It didn’t matter who got the job done, as long as the job got done. We prided ourselves on that.” Goodrich laughs when he thinks about how Sharman would solicit “input” from the 1971-72 Lakers before making a decision. He would always ask the players’ opinions about the situation. “What do you think?” The players would provide their points of view, and Sharman would then say, “Why don’t we try it this way?” even if that's what he had intended to do in the frst place. But by providing a forum, he gave the players a sense that they were involved. And he would always follow up by saying, “If it doesn’t work, we’ll change.” Since the Lakers were winning so much that year, Sharman didn’t have to change too much. “His communication skills were excellent, especially with Wilt,” Goodrich says. “[Wilt] said, ‘Okay I’ll try it.’ We started 6-3 but then won 33 straight.” Because it’s impossible to fnd homogeneity on any NBA roster, a coach must be a master psychologist to keep everyone happy. He can ride some players but must be gentler with others. He must understand when to throttle back and when to drive hard. And he can’t be afraid to say no. “The culture of yes is the culture of no,” Walton says. “The culture of no comes frst.” On the championship Knicks teams, Red Holzman was a master of keeping everyone motivated and feeling comfortable. “He could yell at me, because I was impervious to that,” Frazier says. “But he couldn’t yell at Bradley. He had to go talk to him. Dick Barnett was his pet, but he was [36] years old.”

Bill Walton (#32) credits complementary teammates like Maurice Lucas (#20) for Portland's championship in 1977. Even though by 1986, they were no longer teammates (#5), Walton saw similarities with Boston's championship roster.

By the time Walton arrived in Boston, in 1985, the Celtics culture of winning was about 30 years old. “Red Auerbach had set the standard,” Walton says. It began in 1956, when Auerbach traded future Hall of Famers Ed Macauley and Cliff Hagan for Bill Russell. Thirteen championships later, the same culture prevailed. Players were expected to be parts of the team, not individual athletic corporations interested in their own numbers and paychecks. Those who ft that mold stuck around. The others were sent away. “Bill Russell’s sacrifce was remarkable,” Walton says. “You talk about leadership. He embodied it. It was about pulling the team together, defning the terms of confict so that the other team had to play your way. Hit frst. And be willing to say no. That continued.” Walton sees the same traits now in San Antonio, where even the star players fll roles. He applauds what Pat Riley has done in Los Angeles and Miami and predicts big things for Doc Rivers and the Clippers. Larry Bird has built a successful structure in Indiana, and Oklahoma City is trying to take the San Antonio model and win big with it. “Building a winning culture is the ability to create a world that people want to be a part of and will do anything to be a part of,” Walton says. “It’s a culture of expectations, of winning, of championships and of the promised land.” And it takes a lot to get there.

044 DICK RAPHAEL (2)/NBAE/GETTY IMAGES

RAY PERPETUAL OF

LIGHT Like one of his three-pointers, Ray Allen has traveled a great distance and we know what the outcome will be.

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By Jim Eichenhofer #12

ISSAC BALDIZON/NBAE/GETTY IMAGES

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t’s 60-plus games into another long and exhausting regular season, and the Miami Heat are playing the second game of a back-to-back in New Orleans.1 In one corner of the Miami locker room, reporters gather around LeBron James,2 trying to fnd out if the 6-8, 250-pound all-time great is OK to play, after he’d missed a game days earlier with back spasms. Other media members lean in closely to talk to Dwyane Wade, who won’t be suiting up, part of the Heat’s plan to ensure that the ‘06 Finals MVP3 is rested and fully healthy when a fourth straight deep playoff run begins. Meanwhile, at a locker a few feet away, a 38-year-old shooting guard dresses quietly, getting ready to play in the 1,291st game of his career (not including 151 postseason appearances). Few notice as the 18-year veteran sits at his stall and preps his body for another night of running and jumping. Ray Allen has logged over 46,000 NBA minutes4 since entering the League in ’96, yet his remarkably ft, 6-5, 205-pound frame scarcely looks different from when he starred at the University of Connecticut, or when he capably played Jesus Shuttlesworth in the classic basketball movie He Got Game.5 It’s correctly assumed by everyone that Allen is playing against the Pelicans, partly because that’s the way it’s always been.6 It’s one underrated but signifcant piece of what makes the 10-time All-Star great, what has made him such a unique and special player. Perhaps as much as any man who’s worn an NBA uniform over the past two decades, you could always count on him. Reliability may not generate headlines or move product, but Allen has long been one of the most durable6 athletes of his generation. He’s one of the greatest shooters in basketball history, with more career three-pointers7 than anyone. He’s also a two-time champion who’s achieved the improbable feat of making an indelible impact in four different NBA cities.8 048

The frst thing you should know about how a 38-year-old9 can still keep up with opponents sometimes half his age:10 Allen has always viewed his body and career as a longterm investment. Like a stock that doesn’t yield the fashiest immediate dividends but pays off in spades down the road, Allen believes his approach to NBA life in his early 20s is greatly benefting him now. While other players may have chosen to squeeze the most possible enjoyment out of their initial seasons in the League, Allen always seemed to be wise beyond his years, even as a 21-year-old Milwaukee Bucks rookie.11 As a result, he’s still playing in the NBA at a time when many of his contemporaries have long since retired.12 If he continues into the ’15-16 season—and there’s little to suggest he’s not capable of doing so—he’ll become one of fewer than 25 men to ever play into their 40s.13 He has no plans to stop playing. “For me, I think this has come from really just taking care of my body when I was younger,” Allen says of his longevity. “[For some players], it’s like you realize you have all of this built-up money in the bank, and when you get it, you spend it, and you do all of these other things (off the court) because you can. You stay out late, you drink, you don’t get your rest when you need to. But most of my career, I’ve done the things I need to do in order to put myself in the best possible situation and put my body frst. The way I look at it, my career is paying me back now, to be able to stay around and continue to last. And last at the level that I want to be able to play.” That’s no easy task when a big part of your job is to chase around shooting guards who are more than a decade younger, players such as James Harden, DeMar DeRozan, Bradley Beal and Klay Thompson, to name a few. Though he was no slouch athletically in his early Milwaukee years, Allen’s game never relied heavily on overwhelming his opponents in that area. These days, his lithe frame means he’s sometimes at a disadvantage, either in bulk or height. But according to Allen, that’s what has made staying physically ft and maintaining his body strength even more important as he’s gotten deeper into his career. “Ultimately when you come out here, you’ve got to battle with a guy who’s taller than you and who can jump higher than you,” Allen says of his perspective on keeping up with the competition. “So you’ve got to win those battles with yourself, frst. If you can’t get yourself up every morning and eat right every morning, make sure you hold yourself to [your regular] workout, then you stand no chance against these guys when the ball gets tossed up in the air. First and foremost is to know that you can challenge yourself and beat yourself. I think it’s a formula of consistency.” That formula means Allen can still be relied upon heavily by the Heat, as the team’s fourth-leading scorer behind the Big Three of James, Wade and Chris Bosh. Incredibly, through three-fourths of the regular season, Allen had also played the team’s fourth-most total minutes, trailing only James, Bosh and 27-year-old Mario Chalmers. He was averaging about 10 points and two assists in 27 minutes per night. He even put together one March stretch in which he looked like vintage JOE MURPHY/NBAE/GETTY IMAGES

“I’ve been at a point in my life and my career where I’m able to have an effect on this game. It doesn’t last forever. Someone else after me will be as great or greater.”

Ray Allen, scoring 22 and 25 points in consecutive games against Denver and Houston, going a combined 9-for-13 from the three-point arc. Allen brought the entire AmericanAirlines Arena crowd to its feet in a narrow win over Memphis, rising to throw down a game-sealing breakaway dunk. It’s easy to forget now, but Allen was a participant in the 1997 Slam Dunk Contest14 at All-Star. “I don’t know where we’d be lately without Ray [Allen],” says James. “He’s getting in that rhythm. You can tell his legs are getting ready for the spring. Everything he’s given us has been a boost.” “Ray has been terrifc,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra appraised. “He senses this time of the year. He senses we need to put together our best basketball of the season. He’s leading by example by doing that.”

It was only witnessed by assorted NBA arena workers, teammates and a few opponents, but earlier in Allen’s career, his pregame routine—as mundane and non-newsworthy as that may sound—achieved legendary status around the League. While most players arrive at the arena two or three hours before tip-off to prepare for a game, Allen often worked up a full sweat in the early afternoon, while going through the paces of a unique-to-him regimen. He’s scaled back the pregame practice a bit in recent years, presumably in a nod to Father Time, but his preparation remains almost mythical. “Everyone in the League knew about it,” describes New Orleans guard Anthony Morrow, the NBA’s fourth-most accurate career threeNATHANIEL S. BUTLER; ISSAC BALDIZON/NBAE/GETTY IMAGES

point shooter among active players. “Everyone knew he would come in, work out by himself, hours before the game. One time [in Golden State] I got to the gym early and just watched his routine. It was amazing. It’s not necessarily anything extra crazy or strenuous, but you can tell it’s something he does over and over. It’s almost like a machine. When I came into the League, I didn’t really get enamored by many players, but he was defnitely one of them.” “It’s just touching every part of the foor,” Allen explains of how he tries to take shots from anywhere they might happen during the game later 049

that day. “I think everyone does something a little different. For me, it’s about preparation and doing what you’ve got to do to keep your body ready. Sometimes when I go through my routine, I have to stay out on the foor longer, sometimes it’s not as long. You have to listen to what your body is telling you.” Some players say they must make 500 shots or a specifc number before they can leave the court, but Allen doesn’t subscribe to that approach. “There’s no magic number,” he says. “It depends on how I feel.” With more than 3,000 three-point makes in his career,15 it’s no surprise that other players pick Allen’s brain for tips about preparation and how to establish a routine to be successful. Although NBA players can be a prideful bunch, Allen frequently discusses the game and shooting with other pros, who enjoy soaking up the information. “All the time,” Allen says of how often he is asked for shooting advice. “All the time. But I don’t think I do anything special—I’m just not afraid to put the work in. Anything I do, I will tell anybody, if they want to know. I think some people are intimidated, because they feel like I might not want to share, but I don’t think I’m doing anything great. I mean, I’m not doing anything anyone else can’t do. It’s being willing and able to sacrifce [throughout] a season—if you want to be great—and really even sacrifce [throughout] a career. You have to put the work in. If you’re willing to do that, then talk to me. Ask me. I have no problems helping people, because I’m not afraid of allowing someone to be greater than me. I’m at a point in my life and my career where I was able to have an effect on this game. It doesn’t last forever. Someone else after me will be as great or greater.” As for some of what he tells his colleagues, Allen’s philosophy is as often as old school as his work ethic. “One of the greatest ideas I’ve learned in my career and my life is that we fnd greatness in the simple things in life,” Allen told the Heat’s offcial website during training camp. “People being consistent over and 050

DRAFT BLUEPRINT By any measure, the NBA’s draft class of ’96 was wildly successful, one of the greatest in league history (most believe the ’84 group, featuring all-time greats Michael Jordan, Hakeem Olajuwon, Charles Barkley and John Stockton, tops the list). During the lottery portion of ‘96’s frst round, where NBA teams hope to land franchise-changing talent, three draftees went on to make 10 or more All-Star appearances, including No. 1 pick Allen Iverson, No. 5 selection Ray Allen and 13th choice Kobe Bryant, who has been an All-Star 16 times. Iverson and Bryant also won league MVP awards, in ’01 and ’08. Depth-wise, nine of the frst top 20 players selected in ’96 made at least one appearance in the NBA’s midseason All-Star showcase, a list that includes the aforementioned trio, as well as Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Stephon Marbury, Antoine Walker, Peja Stojakovic, Steve Nash (a two-time league MVP), Jermaine O’Neal and Zydrunas Ilgauskas. It was such a deep group that even at the 13th pick, when the Charlotte Hornets offcially selected Bryant, there were still four more multi-time All-Stars left on the board. All told, ’96 has delivered a total of 62 All-Star appearances.

In terms of longevity, there also may be no draft class in league annals with more staying power than ’96. Eighteen years have passed since that night in East Rutherford, N.J., when they shook David Stern’s hand on stage, but a handful of ‘96ers remain active in the NBA—Allen, Bryant, Nash, O’Neal and Derek Fisher. Just as impressively, all fve elder statesmen are still being counted upon by their teams for key contributions. Unfortunately, as the studio crew on TNT likes to remind us, Father Time is undefeated. Injuries have taken a toll on Nash and Bryant in particular this season, with both missing large chunks of ’13-14 during a forgettable Lakers campaign. O’Neal has had his share of physical ailments in recent years and has been limited to appearing in about half of Golden State’s games. Meanwhile, Derek Fisher is back for a second tour of duty with Oklahoma City and has been an every-game performer, with over 1,000 minutes under his belt. Without a doubt, Allen will have the most impact of any of the fve active graybeards on who wins the ’14 NBA crown. Already with two championships under his belt, one each with Boston and Miami, Allen just missed the 2,000-minute mark (he was short by 65)—something he’s done in every 82-game season of his long and decorated career.—#12

NED DISHMAN; ISSAC BALDIZON; NATHANIEL S. BUTLER (2)/NBAE/GETTY IMAGES

BONUS POINTS 1. The Pelicans would be victorious, 105-95. 2. The media throng surrounding LeBron at every arena is as routine as the opening tip. 3. Wade averaged 34.6 points during that six-game series. 4. Allen is 11th on the all-time minutes-played ledger. Among active players, Allen trails just former teammate Kevin Garnett, who entered the League a year before him. 5. Filming for the movie was done in the offseason following Allen’s rookie season in 1997. 6. Over his 18 seasons, Allen has missed less than 10 percent of his games. 7. Next season Allen will be the frst player to eclipse the 3K mark as he stands at 2,972. 8. Ray was drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks and after six and a half seasons, he was traded to Seattle where he played for four seasons. He signed with Boston and played in green for fve years before joining Miami two years ago. 9. On 7/20/14, Allen will be turning 39. 10. At the start of the season, Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo, Phoenix’s Archie Goodwin and Philadelphia’s Nerlens Noel were all 19-year-olds. 11. In his frst year, Allen averaged 13.4 ppg, 4 rpg and 2.6 apg, earning a spot on the All-Rookie Second Team. 12. Among the 1996 draft, only fve are still playing: Allen, Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash, Jermaine O’Neal and Derek Fisher. 13. Nat Hickey has the distinction of being the oldest player to log an NBA minute at 45 years and 363 days. 14. The video is on YouTube. A sample comment from someone who was likely young: “I didn’t even know Ray Allen could dunk.” 15. This total includes the 352 makes in the playoffs (not counting the 2014 postseason). 16. The Sonics left town for Oklahoma City in ’08, but essentially as a new team, as the history remains in Seattle.

over. Doing the smallest, littlest things, over and over again. “Someone pays a dollar or two to come watch me shoot a three, and they walk in the gym and say, ‘Wow, that’s awesome!’ But to me it’s like, ‘I just shot 200 or 300 in the day leading up to that.’ So it’s just simpleness. Over time, people say you’re great, [but] I’m looking at it like, ‘Hey, it’s just my job.’”

How many players can say that they were a part of an NBA city’s greatest achievement and moment of the past 15 years—in four different places? It’s mentioned to Allen that he was a young Milwaukee guard in 200001, when the Bucks went 52-30 and reached the Conference Finals for the frst time in 15 years. They’ve never even won a playoff series since then. He was the best player and leading scorer for a 2004-05 Seattle club that won its division for the frst time since ’98 and was the last SuperSonics team to win a playoff series.16 He was the pivotal addition in Boston being able to assemble its recent Big Three, which went on to capture the ’08 NBA Championship, the frst for the historic franchise in more than 20 years. After the Celtics landed Allen, Kevin Garnett was willing to leave Minnesota and start anew, knowing he was heading to a bona fde title contender with Allen and Paul Pierce. He proved to be a vital piece to Miami repeating as NBA champions in ’13, needing Allen to sink what was arguably the NBA’s most important shot of the past decade. Allen’s improbable stepback three-pointer from the right corner saved the Heat’s season and thwarted a Spurs team that was just seconds away from a title. Seemingly always focused, Allen says it’s never crossed his mind that he’s been part of ultra-successful time periods for all four of his NBA teams. “I’ve never really thought about it,” he says. “But I’m proud to say that I’ve helped put teams in winning ways. I’ve always said that it’s always about a culture of winning. When you get to a team, regardless of the shape the team is in, you come in and you bring a positive attitude, and you want to be there.” On a roll now, Allen shakes his head when he thinks of how often he hears about players who, instead of trying to make their present teams better, would rather throw their hands up and fnd another destination that is more agreeable, with fewer obstacles. “All of these players—guys who are on certain teams—they hate being

in the city they are in, they may dislike a coach, or whatever it may be. But that’s the wrong mentality to have,” says Allen. “We get put in situations that we have no control over—where we get drafted, who our teammates are, who our coach is, what our city ends up being—but what you have control over is how you play every night and how you come to work. “I think most of us players lose sight of that. You want everything about a situation to be ideal, but it’s meant to be set up so that there are obstacles in your way. You have to fnd a way to navigate through them and make everything around you perfect. But it will never be perfect, so you’re always striving for perfection. But even if you don’t get it, you’ll at least be in a good place [in terms of having improved yourself and the team].” As he begins to make his fnal preparations for a game in which he’ll play another 30-plus minutes for a title contender, Allen leaves with a piece of wisdom that could serve as a ftting motto for his career. It also could stand as a template for anyone’s success, in just about any industry. “I tell guys to just control what you can control and always try to fnd a way to make it better,” Allen says. “Don’t look to point fngers. Because there are other people who aren’t going to do things the right way, but you just go in and do your job and work as hard as you can. The people who want to be good, when they see your body of work and what you’ve accomplished, they’re going to want to work alongside you. At that point, you’ll have a culture created. When you are able to do that, other guys will start looking around, see it and say, ‘Hey, that’s someone who’s doing things the right way.’” 051

MIKE EHRMANN (2)/GETTY IMAGES SPORT

LI P N A E R LeBron James and Kevin Durant will go down as the greatest NBA rivalry.

BY ANDY JASNER #27

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CHRISTIAN PETERSEN/GETTY IMAGES SPORT; JOE MURPHY/NBAE/GETTY IMAGES

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N A ES RT Y

urant or

ames?

Which player is the greatest right now? King James has guided the Miami Heat to consecutive NBA championships. KD has turned the Thunder into perennial contenders for the title since the franchise's arrival to Oklahoma City. The past few seasons have seen the two jockeying for Most Valuable Player, with everyone else a distant third. Both are in their prime. Both are tremendous in every way. How do other players perceive them? Glad you asked. * This declaration was made before the award was ofﬁcially announced.

Joakim Noah, Chicago Bulls: “LeBron is so dangerous because of the things he can do for a player his size. He can score, rebound, pass, handle the ball, run the offense. At his size, it’s so rare to see someone do that. He’s so strong, too. I mean, he can hang in the air, take a hard foul and still score at ease. He’s so poised, too. He can run and he can play a hard-nosed, physical type of game. He’s gotten better every season, if that’s possible.” Brad Stevens, Boston Celtics head coach: “I don’t know that you can contain him. He’s that great. You have to pick your poison with guys that are that good. LeBron James, if he makes jump shots on that given night, it’s going to be a tough night. And you’ve got to try to make it so that he doesn’t get into a rhythm taking and making jump shots. But you can’t guard him everywhere. You’ve got to throw double teams at him and try to make him a little uncomfortable. When you’re that great, it’s tough. You partially hope he has an off shooting night.” Harvey Pollack, Philadelphia 76ers director of statistical information: “LeBron is one of the greatest players I’ve ever seen. I always say Wilt Chamberlain is the greatest. That won’t change. In this era, watching LeBron is a treat because of his talent. He can score in so many ways. He can step out and hit three-pointers or he can drive the ball to the basket and dunk. It’s a special sight to see. He’s a winner and the Miami Heat have really gotten all the beneﬁts since he chose to go there.” Danny Green, San Antonio Spurs: “You don’t ever stop a player of his caliber. Like Pop [head coach Gregg Popovich] always says, ‘You have to push him out a little further.’ You can’t let a great player like LeBron get into a rhythm. When 054

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LeBron James, to the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel: “I'm not really an attention guy. If it happens, it happens, so be it. I don't know. I just want to play basketball the right way and play at a high level and put ourselves in a position where we can compete for a championship.” Brian Windhorst, ESPN.com: “He has tremendous physical gifts. He was already an elite specimen and could have been very successful and wealthy just on those gifts. He made an early decision to take what he had and work very, very hard at it to never be satisfed. So he kept working on his skills and his body to take that immense talent and become the greatest at his craft. That's what sets him apart because he combines his skills and talent with his work ethic to become an elite player in every way.” Steve Nash, Los Angeles Lakers: “LeBron is a matchup nightmare. Look at his size and what he can do with the ball. He’s almost someone you can’t stop. You do your best. He’s big and strong and can step back and knock down a three-pointer from 30 feet. That’s crazy. You just don’t see players like this very often. From the minute he came into the League, he wanted to improve. That’s special. He’s never satisfed and you can see it by the way he plays. He’s got something to prove every year and he’s so motivated to be the greatest of all time. He’s going to go down as one of the greatest of all time. It’s been a pleasure and a thrill competing against him.”

a superstar gets hot, he gets confdence and it makes it that much tougher to stop him. So you just try and push him out further on the perimeter and hope that works. Great players will always score. You just don’t want them going off for 50.” Richard Jefferson, Utah Jazz: “LeBron James is one of the greatest players of all time, the best player in the game and he has been the best player for a while. If he happens to have an off night, it’s not because someone stopped him. You’re never going to be able to stop him. No one is. He can do what he wants. You want to play physical and double him and try to get him to give it up. But you’re never going to be able to fully shut him down.” LeBron James to NBA TV’s Steve Smith: “I want to be the greatest of all time. As my talent continued to grow, as I continued to know about the game, appreciate the game, continued to get better, I felt like I had the drive, frst of all, the passion, the commitment to the game to place myself as the greatest of all time, the best of all time, however you want to categorize it. I don’t do it to say I’m better than this guy or that guy. I do it for my own inspiration. I inspire myself. When I go out on the foor, I want to be the best of all time. That’s how I help myself each and every night.” ISSAC BALDIZON/NBAE/GETTY IMAGES

Pat Riley, Miami Heat president, to NBA.com: “Over these 46 years, I’ve had an opportunity to see some great players—and all the ones I’ve observed, watched and have seen, they’ve always gotten better. In my humble opinion, I believe the man right here [James] is the best of them all.” John Wall, Washington Wizards: “Personally, I think he’s the best player in the League. You want to look in the mirror and say, ‘How can I work to get to a level like that?’ You know the work he puts in. He makes you want to work harder. He makes you want to be a better player. It’s what makes the NBA so special. These are the greatest players in the world. LeBron has gotten better every year. The sky is still the limit. He’s still getting better, which is scary.” Earl Cureton, former Philadelphia 76ers player: “I played with some of the greatest players in the history of the League like Moses Malone and Julius Erving. I also played with Maurice Cheeks. I could go on and on. They were special, special players. When you saw Doc, he did something incredible every night, something you had never seen before. Watching LeBron, I kind of get the same feel. He’s so gifted. He can take two or three dribbles and throw down a dunk or he can pull up on a dime and hit a long jumper. He’s got everything—all the skills. He’s won championships now. He’s fun to watch because like Doc, he does something every night that you haven’t seen before.” 055

Erik Spoelstra, Miami Heat head coach, to the Miami Herald: “It took the ultimate failure in the Finals to view LeBron and our offense with a different lens. He is the most versatile player in the League. We had to fgure out a way to use him in the most versatile of ways, in unconventional ways. It seems like a ‘duh’ moment now, but we had to go through the experiences and failures together.” James, to the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel: “It’s a lot of work. It’s being in workouts, and not accomplishing your goal, and paying for it. So, if I get to a spot in a workout and want to make eight out of 10, if I don’t make eight of 10, then I run. I push myself to the point of exhaustion until I make that goal. So you build up that mentality that you got to make that shot and then use that in a game situation. It’s the ultimate feeling, when you’re able to work on something and implement it.” Andre Iguodala, Golden State Warriors: “I feel like I’m a very good defensive player. I don’t talk about it a lot. When you’re guarding a player like LeBron, it’s different because he can do what he wants. He can pretty much get up any shot he wants. I try to bump him back and make him take a shot that’s tougher. It’s not easy. Hall of Fame players can’t be stopped. You hope to bother him enough so he doesn’t go off for a huge night. And if he makes a few ridiculous shots in a row, you can’t get defated. You can play the greatest defense in the world, and

Nemesis Genesis Rivalries are so prevalent in sports because they give the games a narrative. A good rivalry drives the storyline and divides—in a good way—fans of each side in their support. Coke vs. Pepsi. Batman vs. Superman. iPhone vs. Android. They each serve as foils, fueling the other to get better while we’re treated to everescalating greatness. The NBA has seen its share of great rivalries. The rivalries themselves are no secret—even the most casual of fans can rattle off Wilt. vs. Russell, Magic vs. Bird, Celtics vs. Lakers, Shaq vs. Kobe as being the most memorable, but how exactly did each start, who ultimately came out on top, and how did each fnally play out? Wilt Chamberlain vs. Bill Russell

The Rivalry: With their careers overlapping nine seasons, the two centers were the titans of the NBA during the ’60s. Chamberlain was the juggernaut, an individual force that could not be stopped, while Russell was the unrelenting defensive anchor that refused to let his team lose. As individual rivalries go, it was epic to see the two battle in the paint. Chamberlain dominated in almost every way, grabbing more rebounds, dishing more assists and of course, scoring, 23.2 ppg to Russell’s 10.8, but it should be noted that it was seven points below Wilt’s career scoring average. While Russell is usually credited for being the greatest winner, in head-to-head matchups, it was a virtual standstill, Russell winning 26 games 056

a player like LeBron will still be able to hurt you.” Jack Scheuer, Associated Press: “I think he’s the best player in the world. I think he’s better than Kobe [Bryant]. He’s that good. He’s such an all-around player and he knows when to give up the ball. He’s a coach’s dream. He’s very, very unselfsh and does all the little things to win.” Elton Brand, Atlanta Hawks: “How do you stop him? You don’t. How do you slow him down? You don’t. All you can do is do your best to contain him. Give him all the credit in the world. He came into the League as a kid and was never star-struck. He just went to work. He has never stopped. By the time he’s done, he’ll be one of

to Wilt’s 25 wins in their 51 games. Of course, Russell never lost a series to Wilt in fve times they met in the playoffs, where he had a 21-15 game advantage. Signature Moment: In the 1961-62 season, Chamberlain had his greatest individual season. It was the year he averaged 50.4 ppg, notched his famous 100-point game and became the only NBA player to ever top 4,000 points in a season. In the playoffs Russell’s Celtics and Chamberlain’s Philadelphia Warriors met in the East Finals. Over the seven games, Russell kept Chamberlain at bay with “just” 33.6 points per contest, limiting Wilt to 22 points in the pivotal Game 7 as the Celtics went on to win the championship. End Result: Wilt never bested Russell when the stakes were high, but he did go on to win two rings. Friendly throughout their careers, according to the 2004 Chamberlain biography Larger Than Life, the two had a falling out after the 1969 Finals (the only Finals matchup in their careers) after Russell called Chamberlain a quitter. Russell apologized in 1997 for the statement and Chamberlain passed away in 1999. Magic Johnson vs. Larry Bird

The Rivalry: Possibly the greatest individual rivalry in sports, Bird and Magic are so intertwined that years removed from competition, the two are still viewed as rivals. It began with the 1979 NCAA National Championship that pitted Michigan State and Magic against Indiana State featuring Bird. Magic would win the frst battle, cutting down the net as Bird went on to be the sixth pick in the 1979 NBA Draft and reinvigorate the Celtics, taking home the Rookie of the Year. When Magic joined the NBA, he would one-up Bird’s rookie year: As the No. 1 overall pick in 1980, Magic would win the ROY, too, but also lead the Lakers to the championship, copping Finals MVP honors in the process. From there, the two battled for supremacy as they took turns winning MVP trophies and Larry O’Brien Trophies. Magic the orchestrator to Showtime, represented Hollywood; Bird embodied Celtic Pride and blue-collar Bah-stin. Head-to-head over 37 games Magic had the upper hand, winning 22 times, and most importantly, winning twice in the Finals. Signature Moment: The 1984 Finals was the frst time these two met with a championship at stake since their collegiate clash. Bird was just hitting his peak, capturing his frst MVP (Magic fnished third) with revenge on his mind. The DICK RAPHAEL; JESSE D. GARRABRANT/NBAE/GETTY IMAGES

the best of all time. I think he’s in the mix already and he has a long career ahead of him.” Mike Krzyzewski, USA Basketball/ Duke University head coach, to the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel: “The one thing about LeBron, there are so many things about LeBron that you love, and I love the fact that he loves the game so much. He loves the history of the game. He loves every aspect of the game. He's really put his face on USA Basketball for this last decade and how he's handled things has really helped in the development of younger players and how they approach the game. [Just] his love and commitment—he shows up every day. [We're] obviously really pleased that he wants to continue to be a part of [Team USA].”

two teams staged an epic seven-game series before Bird led the Celtics to victory, getting named Finals MVP. But really, their rivalry was symbiotic. They each raised the other person’s game, and in turn, the popularity of the NBA, ushering the NBA from the doldrums of tape delay broadcasts. While the media and fans pitted the two against one another, there was a great deal of respect for two players whose game was predicated on making their teammates better. End Result: After three much-watched Finals (really every Magic-Bird game was event television), the two would go on to forge a partnership that would result in commercials (Converse) together, being teammates on the legendary Dream Team, a book (When The Game Was Ours) and even a run on Broadway (Magic/Bird). Shaquille O’Neal vs. Kobe Bryant

The Rivalry: As strange as it may be to call teammates rivals, Shaq and Kobe were despite wearing the same colors. Two alpha dogs on three championship teams, the two brought a soap opera dynamic to sports in the most ﬁtting location, Los Angeles. Old yeller Shaq would bristle at Kobe, the overenthusiastic Jack Russell terrier who was eager to establish himself in the League. While Shaq was at his peak ANDREW D. BERNSTEIN; DAVID SHERMAN/NBAE/GETTY IMAGES

Willie Green, Los Angeles Clippers: “Guarding Kevin Durant … wow. I don’t know. He’s 6-10 and can splash home shots from distance. He can handle the ball and get to the basket anytime he wants. He’s a great freethrow shooter, so if you foul him, he’ll hurt you there. He’s a team leader. This is greatness in the making. There’s no stopping him. You don’t want him to score 50. You need to try and double him and avoid him scoring in those types of spurts.” Scott Brooks, Oklahoma City Thunder head coach, to ESPN.com: “Let's face it: If he wanted to score a bunch of points or more than he's scoring now, he really could do that. His assist level has gone up, he impacts the game. Defensively, he impacts the game. He can guard 1 through 5. So a lot of things that he does are all about the team.” Jack Scheuer, Associated Press: “He’s matured so much and offensively, there’s nothing he can’t do. I don’t think he’s the greatest defensive player, but he is improved. On the offensive end, he’s as a tough as anyone.” Moses Malone, Hall of Fame center: “He’s an incredible shooter. He can shoot from anywhere. He can score from anywhere. He’s dangerous anywhere on the court. He looks like he’s willing to put the work in.

in the early ’00s, Kobe was clearly a budding talent that was ready for the spotlight. But as Hollywood goes, there’s only one headliner in a movie. The two would feud— privately and publicly—over practice habits, conditioning, shots, dividing the locker room. Head coach Phil Jackson deserves some credit in keeping the precarious ship on course, getting the dysfunctional pair to a threepeat to kick off the new century. But soon after, the rift became too much as Shaq was eventually traded, making the Shaq-Kobe pairing into one of the NBA’s greatest “what-ifs.” Signature Moment: It’s tough to pinpoint an exact moment. It was a gradual burn that probably deteriorated since the two joined forces in 1996. They would each take turns calling the other out after losses, establishing top dog status, not acknowledging the other—all in front of the media. In between there were moments of fence-mending only to have it fall apart a short time later. The overthe-edge moment was when the Lakers parted ways with the three-time Finals MVP, shipping Shaq off to Miami and ending one of the greatest duos in history. End Result: Even after the two parted ways, the intrigue continued as even pregame daps between the two became studies in body language. Shaq was the ﬁrst to ﬁnd success post-divorce, winning a championship with the Heat in 2006. But Kobe would equal and then one-up Shaq with back-to-back titles and Finals MVPs in ’09 and ’10 . The two have been almost amiable toward each other as of late (they even shared All-Star MVP honors in 2009), but that can always change.—#Ming Wong #2

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And I know how I feel about myself. I know the confdence I have in myself, but also I want to compete against the best, and I want to go out there and prove myself against the best. But I don’t go into the gym every time I step onto the court and think about LeBron James and how I could outdo him. I’m just going out there and trying to get better and live with the results.” Steve Kerr, NBA TNT analyst, to the Oklahoman: “He comes across as pretty wholesome. He's never in the news for anything negative. And yet … he still has a little bit of an edge, which I think people love, too. Just the competitiveness. You can see what a great guy he is, but you can see also how badly he wants to win.” Brian Windhorst, ESPN.com: “I’ve noticed over the past two years how focused he has been. He’s worked hard to become better at every facet

He’s fun to watch. I enjoy it because you can tell how much he loves the game and respects the game.” Kevin Durant, to the Oklahoman: “I mean, I’m just going out there and trying to play hard, man. He’s [LeBron James] a tough guy to cover. But I’m going to go out there and play with extreme effort every play and just give it my all and rely on my teammates. I know I can’t do nothing on this court by myself. I just got to rely on my teammates.” Durant, to the Oklahoman: “We’ve been in the Finals one time. That’s it. I try not to get into that debate. Those two guys, [Larry] Bird and Magic [Johnson], they’re on another level, and I try not to get into that. It’s Kevin Durant versus LeBron James when we’re matched up on that court. But it’s Oklahoma City versus the Miami Heat. That’s how I try to look at it. And I try not to think about nothing else but who I’m guarding and how our team is going to try to come out there and get a ‘W.’” Durant, to the Oklahoman: “To be honest, I’m going to be totally real, like, I don’t go in every day, when I go into the gym and work on my game, I don’t have a LeBron picture, or I don’t have his name in my mind when I’m going in there and working. It’s all about trying to get better for myself. 058

of his game. He’s become a better passer and ballhandler. He’s become a better defensive player. I still don’t think he’s a particularly good defensive player, but he’s worked very, very hard at it and you can see the results. He’s improved so much. I think offensively, if he stays healthy, he could be one of the best scorers of all time along with LeBron. He’s put so much work into his game and it has translated on the court.” RICHARD ROWE; LAYNE MURDOCH/NBAE/GETTY IMAGES

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Leo Rautins, Toronto Raptors TV analyst: “Kevin Durant is a phenomenal scorer and he’s got the ability to beat you in a variety of ways. He can score from all angles. He’s a willing passer, which make him even tougher to stop. Being able to shoot threes and being 6-10, well, that says a ton. He’s just an amazing offensive player.” Randy Foye, Denver Nuggets: “I remember the frst time I faced him in person. You think you have an idea of how good a player is and then you see it live. Whew … he was amazing. He could just do everything. You don’t realize how tall he is until you’re on the court. And then he’s dropping three after three, getting to the foul line at will, doing everything well. It’s kind of jaw-dropping in a way. You just try to get the ball out of his hands, but it’s not that easy. He’s such a tough guy to guard with everything he can do.” Jerry Colangelo, USA Basketball managing director, to SI.com: “He’s [Durant] kind of the face of USA Basketball going forward. He committed a long time ago, and it’s part of who he is.”

Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas Mavericks: “I see a lot of myself in Kevin. Being tall and having the ability to inside or out, there’s a comparison between us. Kevin’s game has evolved so fast and the Thunder have a player who’s on his way to MVPs and all the greatness in the world. He’s improving all the time. When you face him, you have to keep him as contained as possible. It’s not easy. He keeps fguring out ways to improve.” Durant, to SLAM Magazine: “He’s [Kobe Bryant] the greatest of all time. His skill is second to none. Him and MJ [Michael Jordan] are neck and neck as far as skill. Kobe is the top two best ever in just having skill, footwork, shooting the three, shooting the pull-up, posting up, dunking on guys and ballhandling. Kobe and Jordan are 1 and 1A. When you look at me, Carmelo [Anthony], LeBron and Paul George, what we’ve done out there in this league is nothing compared to what Kobe did. We live in a world of what have you done for me lately. We don’t remember the day before sometimes. Think back fve, six, years ago what he was doing. It’s unheard of.”

Spoelstra, to the New York Daily News: “He feels a sense of desperation and urgency to keep his team at the top of the West, and he’s done that through adversity. What you respect about that is that many people would fnd excuses why you can’t.” Kawhi Leonard, San Antonio Spurs: “One of the toughest guys to guard. Just look at his build. If you get up close on him, he’ll dribble by you. If you give him space, he’ll keep hitting threes. Not many guys like that. He’s a versatile and special player. You’ve got to keep your spacing on defense and make him give up the ball if possible.” 060

Kyle Korver, Atlanta Hawks: “Incredible. Just incredible. I’m a shooter. Kevin is a shooter and a scorer. He can get 50 on any given night. Any night. He gets 30 by accident. It’s something to see. When you’re guarding him or facing him, it’s not funny because he can make you look bad. What a great player.” LeBron James, to the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel: “Individually, he [Durant] can't be stopped by any one-on-one player. There's nobody that can guard him one-on-one.” NATHANIEL S. BUTLER/NBAE/GETTY IMAGES; CHRISTIAN PETERSEN (2)/GETTY IMAGES SPORT

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ADJUSTM The old adage is that players win games. But itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the 062

NING

BY BRIAN A. GIUFFRA #17

TMENTS head coaches that put them in that position to succeed. GLENN JAMES; ROCKY WIDNER/NBAE/GETTY IMAGES

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Two of the most successful coaches in history, Gregg Popovich started out as an assistant under Larry Brown.

After Detroit took home the NBA Championship in 2004, Brown became the only man to ever coach a team to an NBA title and NCAA championship (Kansas, 1988).

regg Popovich can pooh-pooh the importance of coaching adjustments all he wants. I don’t believe for a second that he tells his San Antonio Spurs players, “I’ve got nothing for you,” without some ulterior coaching motive behind it, and neither does the guy who asked Pop to be the best man at his wedding. But we’ll get back to that in a second. The NBA is a players’ league, no doubt, and the men on the court ultimately decide who wins or loses a game. There is a reason, after all, why the Miami Heat have won two straight NBA championships and been in the Finals three years running. They have one of the greatest players of all time leading their squad, LeBron James, and two guys who, when healthy and on their games, are as good as anyone at their positions, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. Oh, and they also have a guy named Ray Allen, who hit one of the most clutch three-point shots in Finals history,1 teaching a valuable lesson to the presumptuous fans2 who think a few minutes will help them avoid exit traffc. But at least they have a story to tell. (“I was at Game 6 and got home in record time from the American Airlines Arena.”) Anyway, those types of improvisational plays,3 where a coach has nothing to do with the outcome and it’s on the players to execute and adjust in a critical moment, are what I believe Popovich was referring to when he made the following statement to the San Antonio Express-News earlier this year. “Sometimes in timeouts I'll say [to the team], ‘I’ve got nothing for you. What do you want me to do? We just turned it over six times. Everybody’s holding the ball. What else do you want me to do here? Figure it out.’ And I'll get up and walk away. Because it’s true. There’s nothing else I can do for them. I can give them some bulls---, and act like I'm a coach or something, but it’s on them.” This, in many ways, is true for the reason given above. But coaches do play a critical role in the outcome of games, especially in a sevengame playoff series where both teams know virtually everything about each other. In those situations, a coach’s ability to spot and create mismatches, imagine and draw up set plays, make pregame and in-game adjustments, and even call timeouts at the appropriate moments can ultimately decide who wins and loses a game, which can ultimately decide who wins and 064

loses a series, which can ultimately decide who wins and loses a championship. Popovich proved that himself by making the bold choice to insert Manu Ginobili into the starting lineup before Game 5 of the 2013 Finals with the series tied, 2-2. Ginobili hadn’t started a game all year at that point and had been in a shooting slump.4 But the move proved crucial as Ginobili scored 24 points and dished out 10 assists in the Spurs’ Game 5 win. Unfortunately for them, we all know what happened in the following game. But that doesn’t diminish the importance of Pop’s move. It came a game after Heat coach Erik Spoelstra replaced Udonis Haslem with Mike Miller in his starting lineup,5 and it nearly made the difference in the series. Getting back to the best man thing, I asked Hall of Fame coach Larry Brown what he thought about Popovich’s midseason statement. Brown and Popovich are longtime friends6 and, what people sometimes forget is, Brown was the head coach who brought Popovich to San Antonio as an assistant in the late ’80s. Brown had just fnished telling a story about a pick-and-roll defensive strategy that he and Popovich share7 when I asked if he really thinks Popovich tells his team, “I’ve got nothing for you,” in timeouts. “Well, sometimes he does it for effect because he’s pissed off,” Brown says. Well that right there is a coaching adjustment. Popovich knows his team. He knows his players. He knows how to push their buttons. By saying, “I’ve got nothing for you,” then rattling off all the things they’re doing wrong on the court, he’s imploring and empowering his players to fx the problem. And it’s that symbiotic coach-player relationship that makes the Spurs so great, especially in the playoffs.8 Coaching tip No. 1: Know how to motivate your team. BRIAN BAHR/GETTY IMAGES SPORT

The Detroit Pistons had no chance at beating the Lakers in the 2004 Finals. Zero chance. At least that’s what all the experts and talking heads told us. The Lakers boasted a lineup with four future Hall of Famers (Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant, Karl Malone and Gary Payton) and were led by the legendary zen master, Phil Jackson. Shaq and Kobe had won three titles in a row from 2000-02 and Malone and Payton were itching for their frst title with their careers nearing an end.9 There would be no way a Pistons squad featuring players like Rip Hamilton, Chauncey Billups, Tayshaun Prince, Rasheed Wallace10 and Ben Wallace could beat those guys, right? No way a nomadic coach like

Brown11 could get the best of Jackson, right? “My team was so grossly underrated,” Brown says. “I talked to my team about that and it helped.” Coaching tip No. 2: Get team to believe in itself, create us against the world mentality. Brown had coached against the Lakers in the 2001 Finals with the Philadelphia 76ers, winning Game 1, which no one expected,12 before losing the next four. Talking about that series now, Brown says, “I felt we would have beaten them if Matt Geiger had been healthy. I don’t doubt that for a minute. People don’t realize how great Allen [Iverson] was and how great that team was. We were just banged up.” Shaq dominated throughout that series, averaging 33 points and 16 rebounds per game in being named Finals MVP. But Brown never deviated from his coaching strategy to not double-team Shaq, sticking with his plan ANDREW D. BERNSTEIN/NBAE/GETTY IMAGES

to have Dikembe Mutombo guard him straight up.13 Heading into the 2004 Finals, Brown went with the same plan. “Shaq would probably kiss me on the lips after every game if he could because we never doubled him and we never fouled him,” Brown says. “We realized he was too good to completely stop so we tried to do a good job on everybody else.” Coaching tip No. 3: Implement defensive strategy (and say something funny). In Game 1 of the 2004 Finals, the strategy worked. Shaq scored 34 points, Kobe had 25, but the rest of the Lakers scored only 16 combined. The Pistons won, 87-75, and every pundit hailed Brown for his defensive game plan. Of course those same pundits ripped Brown after Game 2 when his players didn’t foul Shaq when he got an inbounds pass with the Lakers down three in the fnal seconds. Kobe wound up getting the ball, drained a game-tying three-pointer with two seconds left and the Lakers won in overtime. Only thing was, Brown did tell his players to foul if Shaq got the ball.14 “I would get in a timeout and I would tell the guys something that I would see and they would get on the court and say, ‘Screw what he said, this is what I’m going to do,’” Brown says. “And I'm convinced players do that a lot.” Coaching tip No. 4: Spot adjustment, tell players about it, hope they listen. Over the fnal three games of the series, Brown’s defensive strategy wore on the Lakers and they were held to 68, 80 and 87 points. Shaq put up big numbers throughout, averaging 26.6 points on 63 percent shooting with 10.8 rebounds per game.15 Kobe, in his 25-year-old prime, averaged 22 points but was held to 38 percent shooting. Malone and Payton were held to 33 and 32 percent shooting, respectively. As a team outside of Shaq, the Lakers made an abysmal 35 percent of their shots from the feld. They made only 24 percent of their three-pointers. The result? Detroit in fve. One of the greatest stunners in Finals history. A championship parade down Jefferson Ave.16 Brown becomes the frst—and only—coach to win an NCAA Championship (1988, Kansas) and an NBA Championship. “Shaq was such an unstoppable force,” says Brown, now the coach at Southern Methodist. “I didn’t think any one player could guard him. I knew if we spent our time worrying about stopping him we had no chance of winning.” Coaching lesson No. 5: Know what it takes to win. Lenny Wilkens’ role model when he got into coaching was Celtics legend Red Auerbach. Wilkens played against Auerbach’s powerhouse Celtic teams of the ’60s17 and he always admired Auerbach’s coaching ability. “He utilized his personnel better than everybody,” Wilkens says of Auerbach. “I thought he was terrifc at getting more out of a player who other people thought was over the hill by putting them in a spot where they could be effective.” Coaching tip No. 6: Know personnel, put them in position to succeed. In the 1978 Finals, with his team trailing 3-2 and his guards struggling, Washington Bullets coach Dick Motta got the upper hand on Wilkens’ Seattle SuperSonics by moving Bob Dandridge, normally a small forward, to guard and inserting Greg Ballard at forward. The move paid dividends as Dandridge scored 19 points in both Game 6 and Game 7 and the Bullets 065

ZEN + GUTS Phil Jackson is a Hall of Fame coach, due in no small part to the 11 titles he guided his teams to. Some have made the argument that he was the benefciary of having two of the greatest players in history in Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant during each victory, but there was no doubt Jackson knew which buttons to press—even at the most critical junctures—to ensure a win in the playoffs.

HOT POTATO TO PAXSON The Chicago Bulls were on a mission to become the frst team since the Boston dynasty of the ’60s to capitalize on a threepeat. After two wins to open the series, the Suns were slowly gaining some momentum as they were on the verge of knotting the series at three apiece; Phoenix was up 98-96 with 14.1 seconds remaining. With Michael Jordan at his disposal, it would have been easy—and downright logical—to give the ball to Michael and clear out the foor for him to work his heroics. Having preached the concept of the triangle offense and its greater philosophy of sharing the ball, Jackson ran a set called “Blind Pig” that emphasized ball movement. True to the plan, every player touched the ball. B.J. Armstrong received the inbounds pass from Jordan who got it back and took it up the court before passing to Scottie Pippen at the top of the key, who gave it to Horace Grant inside, who then swung the ball back out, into the waiting hands of John Paxson—not all-world Michael Jordan—at the three-point line for the game- and Finals-clinching basket.

came back to win the championship. “Dick was a smart coach,” Wilkens says. “He was always watching and looking for an adjustment.” In the 1979 Finals, with basically the same teams returning from the previous year’s epic for an increasingly rare Finals rematch,18 Wilkens recognized his team’s biggest advantage on the Bullets was its speed. The Bullets had a strong halfcourt defense and were dominant in the paint, led by Elvin Hayes, Wes Unseld and Dandridge. But the three bigs were older (33, 32 and 31 respectively) and on the back end of their athletic heyday. None of them could run with 24-year-old Dennis Johnson or 25-year-old Gus Williams, the SuperSonics guards. “John Johnson, he could handle the ball well,” Wilkens says of his 6-7 small forward on that team. “He was the point forward before anybody knew what that was. When he got a rebound, I would tell Gus and Dennis, ‘You have to take off.’ I felt we could out-break them.” Even after losing Game 1, seemingly giving the returning champion Bullets all the momentum, Wilkens remained certain his strategy would work over the course of a seven-game series. His faith paid off as the SuperSonics won the next four straight to claim their only NBA title. “When we lost the frst game in Washington, I didn’t want our players to get down,” Wilkens says. “I think it’s important that you keep your players frame of mind in a good place. Guys have got to believe and feel upbeat. They react to you.” Coaching tip No. 7: Stay even keeled, keep players positive. Wilkens went on to coach for 25 more years, leading the Cleveland Cavaliers, Atlanta Hawks, Toronto Raptors and New York Knicks to the playoffs.19 He always relished the opportunity to coach in the postseason because it brought out the best in him. It heightened his senses, sharpened his focus and churned up all the excitement and passion only April, May and June in the NBA can create. 066

Finals MVP Dirk Nowitzki (#41) supplied most of the frepower for the Mavericks' Finals win in 2011, but it was Rick Carlisle's move to utilize J.J. Barea (#11) that turned the series around.

Essentially it woke up the competitive Brooklyn19 streetballer that lay dormant inside him; the Hall of Fame point guard never gave an inch in Chuck Taylors and wasn’t going to in wingtips either. No way I’m letting that coach on the other bench get an edge on my team. “To me that’s exciting,” Wilkens says of coaching strategy in the playoffs. “Each coach is watching what the other team is doing. Everyone is trying to get the upper hand.” Coaching tip No. 8: Try to anticipate what your opponent is going to do and use it to your advantage. One of the great and still underappreciated coaching moves of any recent ANDREW D. BERNSTEIN; GLENN JAMES/NBAE/GETTY IMAGES; CHRIS GRAYTHEN/GETTY IMAGES SPORT

TONI TIME

It was May 13, 1994. Instead of playing with the Bulls for what would be a chance at a fourpeat, Michael Jordan was playing minor league baseball. Still, Jackson rallied the Bulls to a 55-27 season with plenty of help from Scottie Pippen, who ﬁnally got a chance to show the world that he could lead a team with an MVP-worthy season that was statistically his best. So when the Bulls found themselves against the rival Knicks in Game 3 of the East Semiﬁnals, tied at 102 with 1.8 seconds left, it would be a no-brainer that Jackson’s All-NBA forward would get the last shot. Except Jackson pulled the wool over everyone’s eyes by drawing up a play for the rookie Toni Kukoc (who had hit three buzzer beaters that season). An incredulous Pippen was seething on the bench as he chose to sit out the last play, getting a great view of Kukoc’s buzzer-beating 20-footer. Guts and glory.

KERR-AGE UNDER FIRE

Much like in 1993, the Bulls were close to being pushed to a Finals Game 7 (they’ve never played a Game 7 in the Finals). The score was tied at 86 and everyone in the world expected Jordan to take the last shot, except Jordan dished his biggest assist in his career, drawing the double-team as the decoy before ﬁnding Kerr for a 15-foot game-winner. History has it that it was entirely Jordan’s decision to kick the ball out to Steve Kerr after the Jazz had previously victimized Jordan during a similar situation in an earlier game in the 1997 Finals, but it can’t be downplayed that it was Jackson who had planted the seed in Jordan to turn to his teammates that would bloom into the Bulls’ ﬁfth title. Taking the greatest player in NBA history and encouraging him to pass it to a journeyman teammate for the open shot might be the greatest trick Jackson has ever pulled off. As a bonus, in the subsequent Finals rematch in ’98, the Jazz found themselves in a similar situation to force a Game 7, but after getting burned in ’97 with the doubleteam, the Jazz elected not to double, leaving Bryon Russell alone against Jordan. Well, you know what happened.

defense as he saw fit. Finals was Rick Carlisle inserting J.J. Barea into the Dallas Mavericks In the Finals against Oklahoma City, when the Thunder guarded James starting lineup before Game 4 in 2011. with Serge Ibaka, their normal power forward, James pulled him out to It was a gutsy call considering Barea, listed generously at 5-10, had the perimeter and broke him down with his speed. When the Thunder started20 just two games in the regular season that year, none in the sent James Harden or Kevin Durant after James, he went to the low postseason and was considered a defensive liability and streaky shooter. post and bodied his way to the basket. It was a smart move that gave The Heat were leading the series 2-1 at the time and Barea, after a big James22 the power to assess the defense and make the proper decision series against the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Semis,21 had become on how to attack. an afterthought. “When you get to the playoffs, my experience has been that the better But the move to the starting lineup created the matchup the Mavericks players are the ones who make their own adjustments out on the floor,” wanted and by the time the Heat adjusted, it was too late. Minnesota Timberwolves coach Rick Adelman says. Facing off against an aging and slowing Mike Bibby to start the game “Better coaches empower their players,” Brown adds. “Where I’ve been as opposed to the younger, faster, stronger Mario Chalmers off the bench, part of a successful team, the guys were the ones I hoped would make the Barea used his speed to blow by Bibby and attack the rim. The adjustment added a playmaking element the Mavericks were lacking on offense before and caught the Heat off guard. Miami tried to counter by inserting Chalmers into the starting lineup in Game 6. But Barea was already in a groove and the Mavericks offense was feeding off his fiery playing style. The Mavs won the final three games of the series with Barea averaging 13.3 points and 4.6 rebounds. “When coach made the adjustment by putting me in the starting lineup he told me to attack, attack, attack the paint as much as I could,” Barea says. “But we also adjusted from that every time out, every halftime, every practice. Before every game there was an adjustment. I think that was it. That was why we won those Finals.” In the 2012 playoffs, Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra made the adjustment of moving LeBron James to power forward. In a Finals rematch against Washington in 1979, Seattle head coach Lenny Wilkens adjusted from the The decision dictated every matchup on the floor throughout previous year to outrun—and eventually outwit—the Bullets. the playoffs and allowed James to pick apart the opposing ROCKY WIDNER; NBA PHOTO LIBRARY/NBAE/GETTY IMAGES; DOUG PENSINGER/GETTY IMAGES SPORT

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BONUS POINTS

adjustments on the court.” 1. Allen hit a stepback 3-pointer in the corner with 5.2 seconds remaining to tie Game 6. The Heat won in overtime. Coaching tip No. 9: Empower 2. With the Heat trailing big and their season seemingly over, many Miami Heat fans left Game 6 early. When players to make own adjustments. they tried to get back into the arena after the Heat rallied to force overtime they were not allowed back inside. Of course not all coaching 3. LeBron James missed a potential game-tying 3 but Chris Bosh grabbed the offensive rebound and kicked the pass out to Allen as he stepped back to the right corner. adjustments are as noticeable as 4. Ginobili was averaging 7.5 points per game and shooting 34.5 percent in the Finals before Game 5. Barea in the starting lineup or as 5. Miller had gone 5-for-5 from 3-point range in the Heat’s Game 3 blowout loss so Spoelstra went with the hot hand. dramatic as LeBron moving to the 6. Brown met Popovich when Popovich was a player at Air Force. Popovich wound up being the best man at four. Most, in fact, are subtle, take Brown’s wedding. 7. Brown says neither he nor Popovich like to start the game with their best pick-and-roll defenders because, “if place throughout a game and go they’re beating your best pick-and-roll defenders at the start of the game, then what are you going to turn to?” overlooked by most NBA fans. 8. The Spurs have won four championships under Popovich, in 1999, ’03, ’05 and ’07. Unlike the regular season, when 9. Malone retired after the 2004 season. Payton played until 2007 with Boston and Miami, finally winning the championship in 2006 with the Heat. teams have to prepare for different 10. Wallace was traded from the Hawks to the Pistons in the middle of the 2004 season. He started the year opponents every night or every with the Trail Blazers before being traded to the Hawks in February. He played only one game with the Hawks before being shipped to Detroit. other night and travel requirements 11. Brown has been the head coach of 13 different teams in his 49-year coaching career, alternating between limit practice time, the playoffs the pros and college throughout. He is the only coach in NBA history to coach two teams in the same year, the Clippers and Spurs in the 1991-92 season. afford coaching staffs the advantage 12. The 76ers were major underdogs to the returning champion Lakers but won Game 1, 107-101 in overtime of focusing all their attention on Brown and Allen Iverson formed an behind 48 points from Iverson. unlikely bond that took the Sixers to the game planning for one opponent 13. Mutombo won his fourth Defensive Player of the Year award in 2001 so it was a good plan. He also won the 2001 Finals. honor in 1995, 97 and 98. and implementing that game plan 14. Brown recalled wanting to foul a Lakers player so they could get only two points rather than three to tie. during practice. 15. The 2004 season was Shaq’s last with the Lakers as friction between him and Bryant mounted. 16. The Pistons' championship parade went up Jefferson Ave. in Detroit to Hart Plaza. With ample time to break down film and review scouting reports, there 17. In Wilkens’ rookie year with the St. Louis Hawks, 1961, they lost to the Celtics in the Finals in five games. are no mysteries between teams facing off in the playoffs. Each one knows 18. Finals rematches have taken place 10 times in NBA history, but the last occurrence was in 1998 when Utah matched up against Chicago after their '97 clash. the other's fundamental offensive and defensive plays, player strengths 18. Wilkens won more than 1,400 games as a coach, including the playoffs, and was inducted as a coach into and weaknesses, in-game tendencies and situational setups. the Hall of Fame. Or as Cleveland Cavaliers coach Mike Brown puts it, “They probably 19. Wilkens grew up in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn. 20. Up until that point, Barea had only started 45 games in his five-year career. know what you do better than you know what you do.” 21. Barea scored 20 points against the Lakers in the closeout game and was famously elbowed by frustrated Because of this familiarity, and because player focus and intensity is at Lakers center Andrew Bynum, leading to his ejection. 22. The Heat beat the Thunder in six and James was named Finals MVP. its peak, adding wrinkles to the basic defensive and offensive sets and 23. Every coach interviewed for this piece says defense is where teams make the most adjustments. changing rotations to get the best matchups takes on greater importance. Coaches rely on years of experience to make these adjustments throughout a game based on how their players are performing and what the opponent is doing. “It’s a cat and mouse game,” says Brown, who led the Cavs to the 2007 Finals. “You may go into a game and tweak something and you might have to tweak it again during the game or tweak it after the game.” work as hard as we could.” Changing where your defense Coaching tip No. 10: Make star work for points. doubles from, for instance, or how Offensively there aren’t as many changes to what a team players rotate out of the double is ran during the regular season. During timeouts, coaches one way to try to throw off your draw up set plays that look similar to plays their opponent opponent. Alternating the way you has seen before, then change something about it. But no defend a post player (front them one makes wholesale offensive changes23 in the playoffs. one time, double them the next) is “I played for a coach who tried that once,” Wilkens says. another. Changing from a man to a “Half of the guys didn’t know what was going on.” zone defense or applying token fullWho was that coach? court pressure is another. The key is “I’m not saying,” replies Wilkens. not letting teams get comfortable in their offense, especially superstars. “The big thing is I want to make Do you want to know why Gregg Popovich hates doing him work hard for everything he TV sideline reports during games and why he gives such gets,” Wilkens says of his game plan short, curt answers? It’s because the time he’s spending against offensive stars. “I wasn’t with the reporter he could be spending with his team and out to stop him. We weren’t going coaching staff making adjustments, telling them what he to sacrifice our basic defensive sees, helping them win a game. philosophies and leave someone else He might say, “I’ve got nothing for you.” But there’s a Erik Spoelstra's move of LeBron James to the power forward position forced Oklahoma City's Serge Ibaka further out, opening open just to keep him [the star] from coaching motive behind it. up opportunities for the Heat offense in the 2012 Finals. scoring. The idea was to make him 068

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PASSION

CHANGES THE WORLD

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TAKING A CHANCE BY HOLLY MACKENZIE #32

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Underachieving second-round picks don’t usually last long on an NBA team, let alone become its longest tenured starter. It’s certainly good to be Chandler Parsons.

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handler Parsons is a walking billboard for dream living. He almost seems too good to be true. Standing 6-9 with sun-lightened brown hair and piercing blue eyes, he’s as comfortable in front of the camera modeling for a recent Buffalo Jeans campaign1 as he is staring down his defender after throwing down a dunk all over him. Hailing from Casselberry, Fla.,2 despite a towering physical presence that makes it impossible to blend in with the crowd, the Houston Rocket maintains as low a profle as possible when he isn’t working. Away from the court and cameras, he’s hanging out with his girlfriend, his best friend and pet dog.3 Patient and genuine, he shatters the stereotypes attached to the slim percentage of the population genetically gifted to excel in their profession. While Parsons’ popularity has skyrocketed over the past year thanks to a fantastic sophomore season with the Rockets, childhood friend and Memphis Grizzlies reserve guard Nick Calathes4 was there when the two were awkward, lanky teenagers. Despite the modeling contracts and adoring fans, Calathes’ former high school and college teammate hasn’t changed. “He’s a goofball,” says Calathes. “In a good way, though. He makes people laugh. When it’s time to get serious, he’ll get serious, but overall he’s a great guy. He’s been one of my best friends since middle school. Just an all-around guy that wants to have fun, down to earth.” A four-year telecommunications graduate out of Florida, Parsons’ maturity and experience was a selling point for the Rockets, who selected him 38th overall in the 2011 draft. Teams wondered5 how his intriguing blend of height, athleticism and skill would translate after playing for Billy Donovan.6 They questioned if he had the edge necessary at the next level.7 Less than three years later, those worries are laughable. Parsons has developed into the dream third option; talented enough to be your second option, more than willing to embrace his role and contend for a title. He’s possibly the NBA’s most underrated player and absolutely its most underpaid one. Houston is all too aware of its good fortune. “Chandler is unique as since the start of his college career, every year he has improved in a signifcant way,” says Rockets general manager Daryl Morey. “He works diligently on his game and has not hit his ceiling yet. He can do it all— shoot, pass, attack the basket, rebound, defend. He has been critical to our success this year.” Parsons went to Los Angeles last July for the ESPYs, and spent his days at a private gym. Trainer Rob McClanaghan spends his summers working out countless NBA players, including Kevin Durant, Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook and Kevin Love. With a clientele and reputation growing ever since working with Westbrook, Rose and Love prior to the 2006 draft, that gym in Los Angeles has become the go-to destination for premier players looking to get better. The plan was a 10-day stay, but that wasn’t enough for Parsons. He wound up spending all of August in L.A., alongside that trio and several other All-Stars. “To be the best you have to play against the best,” says Parsons. “You have to learn from them. When you’re in a 072

gym with Derrick Rose, John Wall, Kevin Love and Kevin Durant, you pick up things. You see things that they do. It brings the level of competition up so high. It’s defnitely been benefcial to play against those guys and take things from them. You’re able to see things you don’t really get to see during the season.” Sessions started with Parsons cracking jokes, but his focus and drive kicked in the moment the ball dropped. Unlike some stars, a few consecutive misses didn’t cause curse words. He always stayed composed. He always stuck with it. Like Parsons’ stay in L.A., individual workouts often extended well beyond their allotted times. His frame and varied game meant he was all over McClanaghan’s court. From spot-ups to pull-ups to drives, Parsons did everything. He knew he wanted to stay consistent on his open jumpers and he wanted to get stronger and better at fnishing through contact. Parsons got shots up on the perimeter, then took poundings from McClanaghan’s pads on the inside. “There’s nothing you can’t do with him,” says McClanaghan. “It kind of reminds me of a Kevin Durant in that there’s not a drill you can’t do with him. You can go to the post, to the short corner, to both wings, to the top, one-dribble stepbacks, full-court dribbling drills, three-pointers, hook shots. There wasn’t a drill, nothing you couldn’t work on SCOTT HALLERAN/GETTY IMAGES SPORT

with him. I knew he could do a lot of things,8 but I didn't know he could do so many things that well. He really showed me how much potential he really has.” The commitment he showed with his sweat in the summer traveled with him to Houston. To ensure he is maintaining the improvements made over the offseason, Parsons moved his strength coach and nutritionist into his building. With his support system literally just down the hall from him, he can keep his focus on basketball while the rest is taken care of for him. “Every summer I’d be training so hard, I’d be feeling so good during training camp,” says Parsons. “As the season would go on I wouldn’t have that constant push every day, but now that he’s here in my building, every meal is prepared, he’s on me about taking supplements. Just having someone there is benefcial.” Parsons put in the effort and the time because he knew the opportunity in front of him. Heading into his third year, he’d already seen his team transform. In 2011-12 he unexpectedly stepped into a starting role seven games into his career and averaged 9.5 points in 28 minutes per game as NATHANIEL S. BUTLER/NBAE/GETTY IMAGES; SCOTT HALLERAN/GETTY IMAGES SPORT

a rookie.9 Houston fnished 34-32 in that lockout-shortened season, and, with Parsons locked up to a four-year ($3.63 million per) deal, it knew it had a steal. That campaign proved he was worthy of a bigger role as the Rockets went about rapidly reloading. A preseason trade in 2012-2013 sent veteran Kevin Martin, rookie Jeremy Lamb and a combination of draft picks to Oklahoma City in exchange for highly-coveted Thunder sixth man James Harden, who reached superstar status almost immediately after slipping on a Rockets jersey. Parsons saw his playing time increase to 36 minutes a game in his sophomore season and established himself as a key part of Houston’s future. He upped his scoring average to better than 15 points a night while shooting 56 percent from the foor and nearly 39 percent from beyond the arc. The Rockets won 45 games, but lost in the frst round to Harden’s ex-teammates.10 They were on the right track, though, and had hopes of speeding up their ascension. Texts and calls fooded Dwight Howard’s phone last June. Before the big man made his free agency decision, Parsons put on his recruiting 073

hat. Daily messages reminded Howard how well Parsons and Harden could complement him and how much potential there was with him in the paint. Parsons happily answered any and all of Howard’s questions about the city.11 “Chandler is probably the guy you should really thank,” Howard said at his introductory press conference. “He’s been blowing my phone up every day.” In those days of traded texts, Parsons envisioned being open on the outside. He knew defenses would dread covering Harden and Howard on pick-and-rolls, especially with him spacing the foor. He believed Howard partnering with the Rockets could lead to something special and he wanted to help his team win. Through Howard’s frst season in Houston, Parsons is proud of the Rockets’ selfess style. He is also confdent things will continue to improve

with time. Kicking off 2014 with a 23-6 stretch, his confdence is being proven correct. “They make me better,” says Parsons. “I think I make them better. Playing off those guys, I think my game is perfect because I can do a little bit of everything. I don't necessarily need the ball in my hands, I don't need plays.” Partially because of Houston head coach Kevin McHale’s system and partially because of Parsons’ natural feel for the game, the transition hasn’t been diffcult. His averages of 16.2 points, 5.6 rebounds and 4.0 assists are all career highs. “When James [Harden] came, people were like, ‘Your numbers are going to go down,’” recalls Parsons. “Same with Dwight, but my numbers keep going up being able to play off those guys. When Dwight gets the ball in the post, [it’s] understanding spacing and cutting off him. When [Harden] is on the opposite wing, knowing his tendencies. The more familiar I get with those guys, the more we play together, the better it is.” The comfort level was most evident in a January 24 contest against the Memphis Grizzlies. With zero makes from deep in the frst half, Parsons caught fre early in the third quarter. Pulling up from three, four, fve feet beyond the arc, Parsons had eyes only for the basket. Everything else melted away as he was focused on one thing: watching his shot sail cleanly through the hoop. It happened again and again. “There’s no words to really describe that feeling,” says Parsons. “I’ve never felt something like that on the basketball court. I really felt unstoppable, like everything I threw up towards the rim was going to go in.” Parsons set an NBA record, making 10 threes in the second half. He did so on 11 attempts.12 “You watch the tape and I'm off balance, fading away,” he says.

Started From the Bottom

First round picks in the NBA get afforded much fanfare and job security. Their names get called out by the NBA Commissioner and come with a handshake, but most importantly, they are bestowed a guaranteed three-year deal that gives them ample time to make an impression with an NBA team, increasing their odds of a long NBA career (average is a little under fve years). As the eighth pick—in the second round—the then-deputy commissioner was the one who read his name on the draft podium, but it also meant that nothing was guaranteed for Parsons. Three years later, a look at the 2011 NBA Draft only serves to indicate just how much a bargain Houston got when it tabbed the Gator with the 38th pick. Among second-rounders, Parsons is the top talent (although a strong argument can certainly be made for the last pick in the draft, Sacramento’s Isaiah Thomas), but scroll up the draft boards and you’ll see how many GMs would want a do-over. No other player from the 2011 draft has started in as many games as Parsons’ 209. Not No. 1 pick Kyrie Irving, not budding stars Kemba Walker (No. 9), Klay Thompson (No. 11), Kawhi Leonard (No. 15) or Kenneth Faried (No. 22). When it comes to the playoffs, Leonard (35 games) and Thompson (12) have logged more games, but neither has produced like Parsons in the postseason: 18.2 ppg, 6.5 rpg and 3.7 apg. Leonard deservedly gets praise for his terrifc job defending LeBron James in the 2013 Finals, but Parsons had an equally tough assignment against Kevin Durant. If teams had an option of hitting the reset button on drafts with hindsight, Parsons would’ve undoubtedly gotten that handshake with the Commissioner. 074

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“Everything just felt like it was going in. I just had such a good rhythm and was in the zone. It was probably the craziest experience I've ever had.” The Rockets value Parsons not only for his threes and his dunks but for his defense. In a recent game against the Los Angeles Clippers, they tasked him with guarding the best point guard on the planet who also happens to stand 6-feet on a good day, a full nine inches shorter than Parsons. While Chris Paul might be Parsons’ challenge one night, less than 24 hours later, it could be a power forward he is responsible for slowing down. That adaptability is partly is why Morey kept him around while he performed the sports equivalent of an extreme makeover. By last year’s trade deadline, Parsons was the single remaining member of the squad that had been assembled at the time he had been drafted. Through all the upheaval, he has rolled with the changes and continued to elevate his game. As the lone holdover, his relationships with the

BONUS POINTS 1. In Abercrombie & Fitch manner, Chandler was rolling around beachside topless with model Ashley Sky. 2. In Seminole Country, Casselberry is in close proximity to Orlando. 3. According to Parson’s Twitter account, Blake Griffn’s dog Channy was named after him. 4. Rookie Calathes is our Know Your Newb in this issue. 5. Many pundits saw the talent and skills in Parsons, but questioned whether he’d be able to translate it to the NBA. Said Jay Bilas after Parsons was drafted: “He’s a skill player—he can handle the ball, he can pass it, he can shoot it—the thing about Chandler is that for years, he’s kind of left you wanting a bit more.” 6. Parsons has actually averaged more points as a pro than in college. In four years as a Gator, Parsons had a 10.2 ppg average. In his three years as a Rocket, he’s put up 14 ppg. 7. As a senior for Donovan, Parsons was the SEC Player of the Year, the frst Florida player to achieve the honor. 8. Parsons is a reliable three-point shooter (.370 over career) and one of the League’s better fnishers at the rim. 9. Good enough to place Parsons on the All-Rookie Second Team. 10. The Rockets fell to the Thunder in six games in a series that saw Parsons put up 18.2 ppg, 6.5 rpg and 3.7 apg. 11. Before the season began, the two even took in a local high school football game. 12. Parsons had missed three attempts in the frst half, going 10 for 14 from deep overall. 13. Patrick Hobbes-DeClaire is a 10-year-old battling neuroblastoma, a type of cancer that attacks the autonomic nervous system. 14. On Twitter, many of Parsons’ followers are the female variety and he’s been #MCM fodder. For the uninitiated that stands for Man Crush Monday.

coaching staff allowed him to take on a leadership role and help initiate the new players. “I've been here the longest, which is crazy,” says Parsons. “I’ve been here two and a half years, three years. I’m familiar with the staff; they’ve been here with me since day one. I know the offense, I think I lead by example every single day. I come early, I work extremely hard. I think that stuff adds up and knowing I’ve been here so long I’m a comfortable source to go to with questions. On the court I'm vocal, I talk to people and try leading by example.” Parsons has done an admirable job leading by example off the court as well. In late December, Parsons was spotted sporting a buzz cut. It wasn’t a fashion statement by the occasional-model, but a human one. After befriending a young cancer patient13 he met during a hospital visit, Parsons surprised him with a haircut similar to his own after getting his own blond locks shorn off as a show of solidarity. Thankful for each of his own opportunities, Parsons is aware he is living a life most will only dream about. Through the whirlwind of newfound celebrity, he makes it a point to connect with those who support him and lend a helping hand or lift spirits in need wherever he can. As you might expect for someone who endorses surf apparel company Ocean Pacifc, Parsons likes to soak up the sun. When not in the gym over the offseason, he’s golfng, playing tennis or admiring the ocean view at the beach, in L.A. or his native Florida. With everything running according to plan on the basketball side, he has been able to indulge in extracurricular interests. In addition to hitting up concerts and festivals

whenever possible, the 25-year-old was spotted at New York Fashion Week prior to Rockets training camp. “A lot of fans don’t really get to see that side of you,” says Parsons. “They only see you in a basketball jersey and don’t get to know you, so they don't see us. You want to put out a good image and you want to look good. I’ve always been interested in that kind of stuff. I did this thing with Buffalo and I've always been into that. Basketball is No. 1 on my priority list but it’s fun to do this stuff as my career goes on.” Most players aren’t in the position to get these perks, but Parsons’ versatility isn’t confned to the court. While second-round picks generally use their frst contracts to prove they belong in the League, Parsons established that long ago. There’s still plenty of room for his game to grow, but he’s already proven his toughness, talent and skill are worthy of a hefty pay raise while attracting league-wide attention—for his game, and not just looks.14 Luckily for Houston, Parsons has already fgured out the key to maintaining success in the NBA. At the end of the season, he’ll be back in that same Los Angeles gym. He’ll be surrounded by All-Stars, working to become one himself. “You’re always going to have to do more,” says Parsons. “As a competitor you’re going to want more. No matter how good of a year you have you always want to be better the next year. That’s my mindset. Had a good rookie year, want to get better. Had a great second year, want to get better. You always want more. The better you get, the harder it’s going to be and the bullseye is on your back and people are going to come after you.”

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TIM AFTER TIME

BY DARRYL HOWERTON #21

Tim Duncan almost never sits down for exclusive interviews. He made an exception for us.

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t’s not every day a living legend gets to sit back and refect on the past, present and future. But today we’re lucky. Tim Duncan is not playing tonight in Oakland against the Golden State Warriors. San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich is giving his veteran center the night off, resting him for the ffth time this season in a three-games-in-four-nights scenario. Still, Duncan does his customary pregame shooting workout with assistant coach Sean Marks1 and then comes backstage in Oracle Arena after working up a good sweat to grace us with a rare one-onone interview. Spurs longtime publicist Tom James sets up two chairs outside the visitors’ locker room and away we go. It is ironic that this is the exact location in the very same arena where I frst met the 38-year-old Duncan 20 years ago. It was in July 1994 when Duncan was a skinny 18-year-old Wake Forest freshman center on the USA Basketball junior team that scrimmaged the NBA’s USA Basketball National Team,2 featuring Shaquille O’Neal and Alonzo Mourning, among others. I’ll never forget a specifc fve-play sequence that day when a teenaged Duncan got the best of 22-year-old Shaq on all fve plays (bank shot, blocked shot, fake jumper for a layup, defensive stop and rebound, then hard foul by Larry Johnson on Timmy when the tall teen was en route to scoring on Shaq yet again; two free throws). “Who is this kid?” was my only thought. Twenty years later, we all know.

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Today, Duncan is universally considered the greatest power forward ever, with most of that groundwork put in during the frst nine winning seasons of his 17-year NBA career, when the Spurs won NBA championships in 1999, 2003 and 2005. You could also make the case that Duncan soon thereafter became one of the greatest centers ever as well, when the Spurs moved him to the 5 spot during their 2007 NBA Championship season and played him at center for the most part in eight more winning seasons thereafter. In this day and age of fans creating their own basketball Rushmore, there is little doubt—when you consider the depth of this Spur’s career—that Duncan’s head should be the fourth sculpture on that mount. If you are factoring in NBA-awarded accolades (four championship rings, three Finals MVPs, two regular-season MVPs, with 14 All-NBA and 14 All-Defensive honors going into this season), only Bill Russell, Michael Jordan and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar have as much hardware as Timeless Tim. When you add it all up, Duncan is also the greatest player of his generation, whether you go by old standard measuring sticks3 (17-year career 20-point, 11-rebound averages) or modern metrics (all-time leader in plus-minus) or even just scoreboard (Spurs have won the equivalent of 50 games—adjusted for lockouts—in every one of his 080

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17 NBA seasons). Defensively, Duncan has quarterbacked 10 of the 50 best defenses in the three-point shot era4 and he ranks second only to Bill Russell in career defensive win shares.5 Offensively, Duncan’s 24.6 career Player Effciency Rating ranks 11th alltime and he is one of only four 37-plus-year-olds to post a 21-or-greater PER6 at this stage of life (Karl Malone, Abdul-Jabbar and John Stockton are the others). Contrary to what Charles Barkley has said—that no man has ever beaten Father Time—Duncan, Kareem,7 Mailman8 and Stockton9 have each defed the odds of players excelling in their late 30s. One last major milestone lies just ahead. In these 2014 NBA Playoffs, Duncan is on the verge of passing Abdul-Jabbar as the all-time leader in postseason minutes played10 should the Spurs play 20-something games and reach the Finals once again. It’s quite possible. No team was hotter in March than the frst-place Spurs, who went streaking in the month, to the tune of 14 straight wins once everyone on the team returned healthy to the lineup after the hard-luck months of January and February. During that banged-up time, while other starters (Tony Parker, Danny Green, Kawhi Leonard and Tiago Splitter) and sixth-man extraordinaire (Manu Ginobili) all missed 8 to 16 games to start the new year, Duncan was the glue that kept the team together. With the 6-11, 250-pound anchor supporting supersubs Patty Mills, Marco Belinelli and Boris Diaw, the Spurs still somehow sported a 40-16 record despite the rash of injuries. Consequently, Duncan would go on to lead the team in minutes played— unbeknownst to him—through 2013-14, despite the fact that he was to celebrate his 38th birthday on April 25. Such is the understated life of Duncan. Duncan grew up in St. Croix of the Virgin Islands, raised by loving mom and dad. He was an excellent student, skipping the third grade in elementary school. Athletically, he was frst known as a swimmer before baller; Duncan was a world-class youth swimmer11 following in the footsteps of older sisters.12 On the day before his 14th birthday, Duncan lost his mom to cancer.13 He never swam competitively again after her death,14 instead taking up basketball as he was coached up a by brother-in-law15 who played college ball. Wake Forest basketball head coach Dave Odom discovered Duncan after a former player said he saw a local 16-year-old from the Virgin Islands hold his own against 22-year-old Alonzo Mourning during an NBA rookie summer tour. The rest, as they say, is history: Duncan played four years at Wake DAVID SHERMAN; LAYNE MURDOCH JR./NBAE/GETTY IMAGES

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Forest, becoming one of college basketball’s greatest players ever in the process. At his next stop, Duncan played and stayed all 17 years in San Antonio, mastered the NBA and also became one of the league’s greatest players ever in the process. Twenty-one years of greatness on basketball’s biggest stages, and yet the 38 year old remains his own man on his own island to this day, clocking time at his own pace. Timeless Tim, indeed. Forever 21.

championships and everything else. No small part of it goes to the Spurs and to Coach Pop. Obviously, credit goes to Coach Odom for giving me a chance when he did. Everything along the way kind of fell in line and I took my opportunities and ran with them.

HOOP: Your frst opportunity was with David Robinson. Could you talk about the relationship? How it was back then? What—from 17 years ago—remains with you to this day?”

DUNCAN: The grace with which Dave accepted me. I think that HOOP: I was just refecting on 20 years ago, July 1994, when I frst met you after your Wake Forest freshman year. You were 18 and on the USA Basketball junior squad scrimmaging the NBA’s USA Basketball World Cup team. You would go on to play four years with Wake Forest, then 17 more years with the Spurs and eventually go on to become one of the greatest players of all time in both college and the NBA. Did you ever think it would all go down like this?

TIM DUNCAN: [laughs] No, you can’t script this. You can’t script this, nor can you ever dream this up. It’s been a wonderful journey. It’s been a wonderful experience all the way along. I’m awed as I look back and see how far I’ve come, and from where I’ve come from to where I am now. Honestly, there’s no better word to me than unbelievable.

was the part that sticks with me the most. He could have been offended. Or defensive. He could have been: “Hey, this is my team. You need to wait your turn,” or whatever else. But he accepted me into it and all he wanted to do was win. However it came, he just wanted to win. He accepted me in and we did it together. And then it was my turn to take over and I took over as he kind of came to the end of his career. And as I come to the end of mine, I’m happy to see Tony and a lot of young guys step up and I tell them every day I’m trying to ride their coattails as long as possible.

HOOP: And you’ve been like a big brother to them. I love all the little interactions you have with them during a game: palming their heads when offering encouragement, waiting in the free-throw lane after every game to greet every teammate as they walk off the court. The ultimate leader and consummate teammate, all in one. When did you start doing that? I recall you doing these types of things as long as I can remember.

HOOP: Some basketball people saw your potential, though. I mean, Jerry West gave you the highest praise16 for a big man during your sophomore season. People saw that potential in you back then. Did the praise just kind of wash off you?

DUNCAN: Yeah, I don’t know that it was a conscious decision. I think it was kind of something simple, like, it’s a team sport and you’re a team guy and it’s what you do. I don’t think it was anything conscious done on my part. It was just natural more than anything.

DUNCAN: No, there are a lot of cards that need to fall in place to get where I am—to have the experiences and the wins and the

HOOP: When you hug the ball and grip it before games, is that

The Tim & Pop Show It could be pitched in Hollywood as the greatest sitcom that never got made: Tim & Pop. This TV show takes place in 1997 and is about a the most unlikeliest of couples: A 21-year-old laid-back aquaman from the Virgin Islands who strikes it big in basketball and a head coach who graduated from Air Force Academy in 1970, earned a degree in Soviet studies and later worked as an intelligence offcer in eastern Turkey, on the borders near Iran and Syria. The two will elevate to the top of their profession over 17 years together and the unlikely comedic pairing will then go beyond anything dreamed up by the writers of The Odd Couple, Seinfeld, or Breaking Bad. Indeed, Tim & Pop would be about winning the game of life—and basketball too—with the duo displaying their wiles, wisdom and wacky sense of humor on each other and on the team around them. In the process, you will laugh, you will cry and you will change, just as our protagonists do, with Timmy becoming more like Pop over the years and Pop 082

likewise becoming like Timmy. If you really want to see what this TV sitcom might’ve looked like, just go to YouTube and type in “Duncan” and “Popovich.” There, you’ll see Pop and Timmy slapstick scuffing one minute, and in another video, you’ll see papa Pop really going after Kevin McHale when the Rockets coach tried messing with Duncan on an inbounds pass on the sidelines. Then in another video, you’ll see Duncan mimic Pop behind his back, lip-synching him word for word. Yet in another video, you’ll see Pop describe the relationship as such: “We’ve been married so long, half the things I say he doesn’t even hear. The other half he tunes out if he did hear it.” That’s only a sampling of what you’ll see on this ready-for-pilot program. Guarantee you that we haven’t seen an NBA story

this successful and long-running since Russ & Red, the late ‘50s and ‘60s story of the Boston Celtics’ NBA championship player-and-coach duo Bill Russell and the late Red Auerbach, who won 11 NBA titles together from 1957 through 1969. Granted, those were the black-and-white TV days of basketball, but it’s the closest comparison to Tim

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can’t play tonight?

DUNCAN: No. POPOVICH: Is that the deal? You’re not playing again? DUNCAN: [staring at Popovich] No, I’m playing. POPOVICH: [just staring back at Duncan] ... DUNCAN: [pointing to the sweat on his T-shirt] I’m good. I just warmed up. I’m good.

POPOVICH: [to me] Every. Day. Get that in there. Put that in the story: hardest guy I’ve ever had to coach. Listens to nobody, but always wants a new three-year contract. No matter how old he is. something you do in memory of your mom? We’re laughing the whole time.

DUNCAN: No, no. It’s a superstitious thing that I started, probably my frst year in the League. For nothing else, it is just something I say before the games. Get ready to go.

DUNCAN: [to Popovich] Did you just agree to a

HOOP: When you talk about Coach Pop, and the personal

three-year contract? [Popovich leaves shaking his head, then laughs, too.]

interactions you had with him when you frst met him, it reminds me of something Coach Odom told me when I frst interviewed you…

HOOP: We have it all on tape.

POPOVICH: [interrupts interview as he walks up to Duncan

DUNCAN: [screaming to Popovich as he exits] That’s what I heard!

and mockingly chews him out] Are you sitting again? As usual?

HOOP: Speaking of, Popovich and I were just talking about how DUNCAN: [answering deadpan] No, sir. I’m playing tonight.

ironic it was that you lead the team in minutes played.

POPOVICH: You played last night, so now you say you

DUNCAN: What?

& Pop that we have in an era where you just don’t see ballers and bosses last this long in one city, much less succeed every single year while competing in the NBA. Proof is in the numbers. Tim and Pop, who won four NBA titles as a player-coach combo, now have 950 victories and a .706 winning percentage in their 17 seasons

FERNANDO MEDINA; ANDREW D. BERNSTEIN; NEIL LEIFER/NBAE/GETTY IMAGES

together (950-395). Coincidentally, Russ and Red have an equally impressive .705 winning percentage in their 13 seasons together (716-299), if you count the 1968-69 season when GM Auerbach asked Russell to serve as player-coach in his swan-song season. To show how absurd those numbers are, the L.A. Lakers now rank second to the Spurs over the past 17 seasons and currently have only a .630 winning percentage, despite winning fve titles in that span. In fact, the only star-coach combo that has won more games than Russ and Red are former Utah Jazz coach Jerry Sloan with players John Stockton and Karl Malone, who amassed a 792-406 record in 15 seasons together. But even they do not compare to Tim and Pop. Indeed, Pat Riley had a great nine-season run with Magic Johnson (540-198) and Phil Jackson too with Kobe Bryant for 11 years (610-292, with a one-year interruption) and Scottie Pippen for nine years (545-193, remember Michael Jordan had that one-year baseball sabbatical), but none of these legendary combos have come close to approaching

950 wins together. Much less 1,000. Yes. Probably within a year, Tim & Pop will spin off and likely create The 1K Club next season. I guarantee you when this happens, you’ve never seen anything like it, and you probably never will again.—#21 083

HOOP: You lead the team in minutes.

DUNCAN: [laughs] You should take a picture of it.

DUNCAN: Do I? HOOP: I would love a picture of this. HOOP: Even though you get rested sometimes on three-games-in-four-nights, even though you don’t play in fourth-quarter blowouts. Isn’t it ironic …

DUNCAN: And those are my

DUNCAN: No, I didn’t know that. [laughs]

HOOP: But I hear you give it

teammates. I get [expletive] at every turn.

out just as much.

HOOP: I spend my days just looking at stats. That is news to you?

DUNCAN: Oh, no. But I give as much as I can.

DUNCAN: Yeah, it is. I didn’t know that. Like you said, I sit out some games.

HOOP: You’ve rested six times. DUNCAN: I rest. Honestly, it’s been a blessing. It really has. I fght it as much as possible. I’m a competitor. I want to be out there every night. I don’t want to let these guys go out there by themselves and all of that. But in the long run, over a haul of a season, then going through playoffs, you can see it pay dividends and that’s just another nod to Pop and his vision of what we need to be and how we need to feel and how much of a player’s coach he is. It’s been great.

HOOP: What have you learned in all your 17 years of playoff basketball? I’m talking about the playoffs specifcally. Because everything you’re doing now is a marathon to get to that point. The rest is for a reason.

HOOP: You’ve been giving it out— practical jokes and the like—for 17 years now. Old teammates tell these stories about you that are hilarious. In fact, my goal in life is to talk to every single teammate and get one story from each.

DUNCAN: They’re all lies, they’re all lies. It’s a long year. We just have fun. I get blamed for a lot more than I should get credit for [laughs].

HOOP: When you talk about the team, and the playoff chemistry. At playoff time, you guys go to another level. Is it because of the rest Popovich gives all his players? Is it because of the chemistry on this team? Is it because of—what I think is most important— the continuity?

DUNCAN: Yeah. DUNCAN: It’s the continuity. I think HOOP: You don’t need the 20-point,

to all] A one-on-one! Sitting down with Tim Duncan! How special he is to get a Timmy interview. Special!

the one thing that is a factor more than anything else is the health—the health that we need to be in. We need to be as fresh as we can, being as healthy as we can. We’re an older team. We’ve got older parts to us, to our machine. It’s about having all those guys as close to 100 percent as possible, not wearing us out. Because we know the most important part is not where we stand at the end of the season, but how we fnish the playoffs. And how we’re feeling during the playoffs, with our experience and with everything else. We are good enough, in any given year, to beat people, if we are in the right state of mind, if we’re healthy enough, and obviously, if we’re not just totally outmatched.

HOOP: [laughs, while shaking Parker’s hand] We go

HOOP: What’s it like to see Manu

back. Twenty years we’ve known each other.

Ginobili where he is at this part in his basketball life? Tony at this part? And also Kawhi and the younger guys, too?

10-rebound averages…

DUNCAN: Yeah, yeah. HOOP: So what have you learned about playoff basketball?

DUNCAN: It’s a different level. It’s a different level of the game. Your mistakes are magnifed. So we use these 82 games to fne-tune and get through teaching points. We go through ups and downs…

TONY PARKER: [interrupts and shouts out

PARKER: Wow. Wow. One-on-one with Timmy, with Timmy sitting down. I should take a picture of this.

DUNCAN: It’s wonderful to see the young guys come along. To see Kawhi and Danny [Green] really step up and fll those roles that we didn’t realize they were going

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BONUS POINTS 1. Marks, an 11-year NBA journeyman who played for six teams, was a teammate of Duncan’s when he played for the Spurs from 2004-06. 2. It’s sometimes referred to as Dream Team II, but not here. 3. Duncan is part of a select club of 20 forwards and centers who averaged 20 points and 10 rebounds for their careers (only other active member: Blake Griffn); through March 25, Duncan leads all NBA players in career plus-minus stats kept by Basketball-Reference since 2000-01 season, with +6867 in regular season (Dirk Nowitzki is second at +6046) and +731 in playoffs (Manu Ginobili is second at +726). 4. The NBA adopted the shot beginning the 1979-80 season. 5. In the three-point shot era, San Antonio had the two greatest defenses in NBA history, according to defensive effciency ratings. The 2003-04 Duncan-, Bruce Bowen-led Spurs have the all-time best score of 94.1 points allowed per 100 possessions; the 1999 NBA champion Duncan-, Robinson-led Spurs have the second-best score of 95.0 points allowed per 100 possessions. When it comes to career defensive win shares, Russell ranks frst with 133.64; Duncan, second with 97.48; Abdul-Jabbar, third with 94.49. 6. In 2013-14 (through March 25), Duncan was averaging 15 points and 10 rebounds in 29 minutes per game, while missing only six contests this season, with a 21.3 Player Effciency Rating. 7. Abdul-Jabbar was a Finals MVP in 1985 at the age of 37 and an All-NBA First Team player at 38. 8. At 39 and in his 18th NBA season, Malone played 81 games with averages of 20.6 points and 7.8 rebounds. 9. In his fnal NBA season at 40, Stockton started in all 82 contests, putting up nightly numbers of 10.8 points, 7.7 assists and 1.7 steals. 10. Abdul-Jabbar has 8851 playoffs minutes; Duncan, 8150. 11. By some accounts, Duncan was so good a swimmer that he might have challenged for Olympic gold in swimming. 12. Duncan’s older sisters Cheryl and Tricia were accomplished swimmers (Tricia swam for the Virgin Islands national team at the 1988 Olympics). 13. Duncan’s mother Ione passed away on 8/24/90 and his father William passed away 4/29/02 (Duncan missed a playoff game to attend his dad’s funeral). 14. Before her death, Duncan promised his mother that he’d fnish college, which he made good on. 15. Duncan’s brother-in-law Ricky Lowery (married to Cheryl) was a walk-on basketball player at Capital University in Columbus, Ohio. 16. Hall of Famer Jerry West, who was the Lakers GM at the time, said early into Duncan’s sophomore year at Wake Forest that he would be the No. 1 pick in any future NBA Draft, calling Duncan the most fundamentally sound big man he had seen in a long time. 17. In San Antonio’s last two playoff runs to the 2013 Finals and 2012 West Finals, Duncan at ages 37 and 36 ranked sixth in the League (500-minute minimum) and frst on the Spurs in postseason PER (21.9), while averaging 18 points and 10 rebounds in 34 minutes per game.

to fll. Or I didn’t realize they were going to fll. To see Manu healthy, after a very frustrating last two years. To have a year like he’s having this year, where he’s back to looking and feeling the way he should. The way he’s been playing over the frst part of his career. I think, to me, it’s obviously going to be a huge boost for us, going into the playoffs. Tony’s being as steady as usual. He’s being a monster as usual. And we’re riding his coattails. But just the little pieces that Pop has put together and how it all seems to work out. Again, I keep going back to it, but that’s credit to Pop and the front offce for getting all of us together and to see the potential and the pieces able to ft together.

than anything else. And then it just turned into something else, where I just felt really good, and felt really good at a certain weight and just trying to kind of keep it there.

HOOP: Let’s talk the fountain of youth.

DUNCAN: Absolutely not.

You’ve kept yourself and your body in this type of shape. What exactly have you done?

HOOP: [laughing while pausing for clarifcation]

DUNCAN: I just changed my diet

DUNCAN: [laughs hard] Absolutely not.

a bit. For a long time, my metabolism was real high and I could eat whatever I wanted to. I just got to the point where I knew I couldn’t do that.

HOOP: Last set of questions. Forward thinking. Let’s say Tim Duncan and the Spurs win a ffth championship. My gut tells me you want to win a sixth.

DUNCAN: I’d love to. I would love to. I’m on contract for another year. If we’re blessed enough to go through this year and through these playoffs and win a championship, as I said, I’m a competitor. I’d love to take another swing at it. It’s the one thing we haven’t done is win back-to-back.

HOOP: And you feel like you’re at the top of the game, just as you were at age 21?

HOOP: Well, I thought you were getting back to the top of your game.

DUNCAN: No. Absolutely not. No. I’m not the same HOOP: But what specifcally?

player I was. I’m just not the same player I was.

DUNCAN: I cut back on my sugars

HOOP: You look like it in June. April-

and my sodas and my bread and just little things that change your diet.

May-June17 you do.

DUNCAN: Yeah, well, hopefully it turns into that. HOOP: Paleo diet? DUNCAN: Huh? No, not Paleo because I didn’t cut it out. I don’t got to cut anything out. I’m not that disciplined to cut everything out. But there are certain things I can do—not eating late at night, eating the right things for breakfast—just little changes like that. I just wanted to get my weight down, so it’ll take a lot of load off my knees, more

I’ve had an up-and-down year thus far this year. I’m not feeling the best playing-wise, but I’m doing what I can for the team and being effective in the role that I need to be for the team. I hope to feel better in the playoffs. Being a little more effective, going into the playoffs. And seeing how it rolls from there. 085

MELISSA MAJCHRZAK; D. CLARKE EVANS (2); ANDREW D. BERNSTEIN/NBAE/GETTY IMAGES

WITH GR

KRIST T HILL &

OW EN LEDL

2 1 S Y A D R U T A S

PM /ET

Inside Stuff.indd 1

4/29/14 5:20 PM

CHECKIT 88 SPIN MOVES 89 GOOD READ 90 GOODS 94 GEAR 96 WEAR

GO CRAZY

Part go-kart. A dash of skateboard. A little Initial D. What you end up with is the Razor Crazy Cart, an electric-powered mini-thrill machine that will entertain anyone that can ft into it (sorry, this excludes everyone in the NBA north of Nate Robinson). Follow the arrow to page 90 to learn more about it.

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CHECK IT SPIN MOVES

Gerald Green

Gerald Green still has the same ridiculous bounce he had when he was 18 years old. Despite this, one of the most viciously athletic in-game and competitive (2007 Slam Dunk champ) dunkers the game has ever seen (on his toughest dunk: “The dunk without shoes. I think it’s a lot harder than people think it is”) is starting to feel each of the nine years that have passed since he was drafted straight out of high school in 2005. If that’s the extent of what you know about Green, you’re not alone. It’s not like you could glean into his life via social media. “I came before all of that,” explains Green. So don’t expect Green to put out a tweet of why he’d be an even more spectacular dunker if he could palm a ball. (He only has half a ring fnger on his right hand after a childhood accident. Says Green: ”I’ve got four and a half fngers on my [right] hand. I was little [when it happened]. Never bothered me.”) You won’t get a selfe of him and his second cousin who also plays in the NBA (San Antonio’s Danny Green), either. It’s hard to blame Green for feeling as though his 28 years have been a journey. His path has been anything but typical. Green spent four years in the NBA, then ended up playing overseas in Russia and China before returning to the U.S. to play in the D-League. He tacked on stops with the Nets and Pacers before a trade to the Phoenix Suns in the past offseason. He says, “It’s 2014. I feel old. I’ve been all over the world. Played in two different countries, played in four or fve different leagues. Played on eight different teams. I feel old.” One of the Suns’ most valuable reserves, Green is having the best year of his career. Most importantly, he’s doing it for a team that exceeded everyone’s expectations.

BY HOLLY MACKENZIE #32

MUSIC I love down-south rap, hip-hop. Right now, I’m listening to the new Rick Ross album, Mastermind. I like that. It’s nice.

TV SHOWS

I love TV. I love The Wire. By far, Snoop [is my favorite character]. I like Snoop or Marlo. I like Mike, too. Little Mike is great. I love Mike. Marlo was cool. They’ve got a lot of great characters. Avon was cool. You know one TV show I like, Breaking Bad. You’ve gotta watch that. I think Breaking Bad, Sopranos, The Wire [might be my top three]. Breaking Bad might be No. 1. [On whether he bingewatches episodes during fights] Nope, I sleep on fights because I’m scared to fy. I’m still pretty scared. I get nervous at times.

MOVIES

Above the Rim with Tupac and, it’s kind of weird, but Face/Off with John Travolta and Nicholas Cage. That’s a great movie, man. You’ve got to watch that. [On which actor would play him in a movie] I don’t think there’s a lot of actors that are light-skinned like me. I don’t know on that one, but leading lady? Oooh… that’s a tough one. There’s a lot of choices there. I’d probably pick Angelina Jolie.

088

SOCIAL MEDIA I don’t have none. No Twitter, no Facebook…what’s the video one? No Vine, no MySpace, none of that. To me, I think Twitter and all of that can get messy and I’m not really messy. [Going on social media to talk about] how I got that technical [foul]? I don’t need that. I can’t have that. I like my money. I don’t want to be fned.

ILLUSTRATION: MATT CANDELA;

GOOD READ

MICHAEL JORDAN: THE LIFE By Roland Lazenby Michael Jordan books are like Internet cat videos—there’s plenty of them out there, the basic premise is the same, yet we all can’t help but watch, or in this case, read. The long list of much-repeated narratives that make up the lore of Michael Jordan—getting cut from his high school varsity team, hitting the big shot as a UNC freshman, the tongue-wagging scoring sensation that enthralled the League, the global marketing icon that turned Nike into a multibillion dollar corporation and spawned the modern sneaker landscape, the three-time Finals MVP that led the Chicago Bulls to its frst threepeat, the man who retired at the height of his greatness to pursue baseball only to un-retire and return to win another three rings, just to name a few—serve as the familiar pillars in Michael Jordan: The Life, but interspersed throughout is plenty of new insight. Unlike a lot of the other previous Jordan accounts that focus on a particular time period—Michael Leahy’s When Nothing Else Matters was about Jordan’s two seasons as a Washington Wizard and The Jordan Rules chronicles MJ’s frst championship run— Lazenby frames Jordan with a wide lens, beginning with the genealogy of Jordan, tracing back to his great-grandfather. Dawson Jordan, a 5-5 man who would pass down his work ethic and penchant for tongue-wagging to his great-grandson, endured a hard life that was exacerbated by a physical handicap that would serve as the backbone to future generations of Jordans. There is also much detail and attention given to James and Deloris Jordan, the parents who would most directly shape the future G.O.A.T. Diehard basketball fans will enjoy poring through the stories and personal accounts behind Jordan’s memorable games, championships and failures. While many have painted Jordan as a selfsh, egomaniacal bully, Lazenby also provides much evidence from those around him that Jordan, faws and all, was a byproduct of great success and the public and media’s insatiable thirst for more. Strangely enough, for all the hype surrounding Jordan, it can be said that he actually surpassed it. Biography buffs will relish the story and ascent of an ordinary kid growing up in North Carolina who would go on to become arguably the most famous athlete and one of the most recognizable faces in the history of mankind. The end result is a fascinating new wrinkle to the familiar Michael Jordan story for those well versed in Mike, and a good place to start for someone who has just returned from life on a deserted island for the past 30 years. —Ming Wong #2

FOR THE LATEST: LOG ON TO HOOPMAG.COM FOLLOW US ON Facebook (HOOP Magazine) Twitter (@hoopmag) Instagram (@hoopmag) 089

CHECK IT 01

GOODS

Logitech Harmony Smart Keyboard

With smart TVs and the plethora of streaming boxes we connect to it, the remote control—no matter how multibuttoned—has become antiquated. The Harmony Keyboard makes searching names of shows and movies easier (there’s a touchpad for navigation) and the included Harmony Hub ties your devices together and ensures they all work together.

$149.99

Sol Republic RELAYS

Made for the active and outdoor enthusiasts, the RELAYS won’t fall out of your ears thanks to the FreeFlex technology that surrounds each ear bud, giving you a secure ft no matter what you’re doing.

$79.99

HTC One (M8)

In hand, the polished metal exterior feels exquisite, with the right amount of heft to feel precious, without giving you wrist cramps on extended sessions. The rear Duo Camera is more luxury than necessity, but it does allow for more post-editing effects, most notably UFocus, which changes the depth of feld. The optional Dot View case ($50), while pricey, is a very slick protective fap that activates a retro dot matrix display that appears almost magically when a call comes through or when double-tapped to show time and weather.

prices vary by carrier; $699 (with no contract)

090

Biolite Campstove System

The Biolite CampStove takes low-tech foraged materials (sticks and small branches) and converts them into an effcient compact stove that can cook or boil water but also charge your portable USB devices. The system also includes a grill top and KettlePot for high-tech camping cookouts. 04

Razor Crazy Cart

The makers of the ubiquitous scooter have come up with this stunt racer that combines the DNA of a skateboard and go-kart. The electric motor is controlled via the variable speed pedal (up to 12 mph) and steering wheel. The piĂŠce de rĂŠsistance is the drift bar that will engage a mode that lets you get your Initial D on.

$399.99

$224.85 06

Nikon CoolPix AW120

The AW120 is at the ready fast and its deeper modes and settings allow for greater user control, while the 5x optical zoom outpaces most smartphone cameras. Other features include GPS-photo tagging and WiFi for easy photo transfers. Throw in the ability to withstand water (18 meters), shock (2 meter drops) and frost (up to -10C degrees) and you have an excellent vacation camera.

LifeStraw by Vestergaard

Safe and clean drinking water on the go is just a sip away with the LifeStraw, a personal water flter that removes 99.9 percent of waterborne nasties. Good for 1,000 liters of water, the LifeStraw uses no batteries or moving parts, making it a durable necessity on any outdoor jaunt. The LifeStraw Go works the same, but with a bottle for portable hydration. With each LifeStraw sold, one school child in the developing world receives clean water for a year.

LifeStraw: $24.95 LifeStraw Go: $34.95

$349.95

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CHECK IT

WHERE TO BUY: BioLite CampStove System: biolitestove.com; Hardcore Hardware Australia Rhino: hardcorehardware.com.au; HTC One M8: htc.com; LifeStraw: buylifestraw.com; Logitech Harmony Smart Keyboard: logitech.com; Nikon CoolPix AW120: nikonusa.com; Northern Brewer Small Batch Homebrew Kit: northernbrewer.com; Razor Crazy Cart: razor.com; Samsung Galaxy S5 + Gear Fit: samsung. com; Sol Republic RELAYS: solrepublic.com; Sosu Srirachup: sosusauces.com

03 01

Samsung’s Galaxy line of smartphones is like the Tim Duncan of the NBA. Its long-running greatness is almost taken for granted, making other upstart devices seem sexier even as they play catch-up. The S5 is the same great device—the 5.1inch Super AMOLED display is still one of the standards, and as always, it’s feature-packed—including the new on-board heart-rate monitor, fngerprint scanner and IP 67 standard, making it both dustproof and waterproof (1 meter of water for up to 30 minutes). An optional sidekick to the S5 is the Gear Fit, a wearable ftness-based accessory that can track your activity with built-in heart-rate monitor (a better version of the one on the S5) and keep you connected with notifcations to calls, email and text messages. The 1.84-inch curved display is stunning, (although not the best size for reading long emails) and the rubber bracelet was comfortable even after an entire day.

Galaxy S5 prices vary by carrier; $599.99 (with no contract) Gear Fit: $200 092

Hardcore Hardware Australia Rhino

Samsung Galaxy S5 + Gear Fit

As tough as its name suggests, the Rhino is a compact all-around tool perfect for your next camping excursion or in your outdoor toolbox. Constructed from D2 tool steel, the combination cutting head and claw can be used for all your cutting, chopping, digging, climbing and prying tasks (not to mention its handiness in the event of a zombie apocalypse). As practical as it is, the black Tefon coating and G10 handle with all steel fttings give it beauty to match its brawn.

$299 (AU dollars; about $277 US) 02

Forget microbrew, nanobrew might describe the private reserve of beer you can make with this starter kit. It includes all the requisite supplies—1-gallon fermantation jug, siphons, bottle capper, sanitizer—to make your own brew (you choose among the various grains and hops) for your summer drinking pleasure.

If you try this hybrid ketchup/sriracha at your next cookout, we guarantee you’ll never go back to that ubiquitous, overly sweet, red condiment in a squeeze bottle ever again. The taste of actual tomatoes shine through (instead of the highfructose corn syrup found in most ketchup) with just enough sriracha favor at the end to bring out whatever it is you’re pairing it with (it’s a condiment, after all).

$49.99

$30 (4-pack)

Northern Brewer Small Batch Homebrew Kit

Sosu Srirachup

Join us

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10/10/12 10:04 AM

CHECK IT GEAR

Postseason Run For the playoffs, NBA players get kitted with upgrades to their footwear. Most emphasize lighter and stronger for the rigors of the postseason. We look at a handful of offerings to see if they’re improvements to the originals, and whether they’re championship-worthy or a ﬁrst-round exit.

Jordan

CP3.VII AE

Nike

$125

LeBron 11 Elite $275

WHAT’S NEW? Compared to previous Elite editions of the LeBron, this year’s version (this is the third year Nike has dropped an Elite version for its signature athletes) didn’t see much by way of modiﬁcations. On the exterior, the cut of the shoe was lowered a bit (barely enough to be noticeable), the Foamposite on the upper was thinned out and the outsole integrated a hexagonal pattern (the actual traction pattern stays the same from the original 11). The most important performance change was a new articulated external cage for foot containment (along with rubber grip dots on the inside of the ankle collar). The tongue on the Elite incorporates more mesh and the height is reduced, along with a cut-out of material at the tip. WORTH THE UPGRADE? The LeBron 11 might go down as a seminal shoe in the series, but we think the Elite version can be skipped. At $275, the Elite version doesn’t offer up enough upgrades to justify the $75 price jump. The new external cage does offer up better lockdown, but not dramatically from the original, and the added ventilation from the mesh tongue is an improvement, but neither is worth the premium. We’d rather recommend the iD version of the LeBron 11 for $25 less than the Elite model.

094

WHAT’S NEW? The most striking upgrade to the CP3.VII AE from the stock version is the upper—specifically the use of Hyperfuse and the exposed dynamic Flywire. Where in the CP3.VII the upper was a more traditional synthetic-leather combination, the playoff edition AE is a modern—from a construction point of view—shoe from Nike. We thought this would mean a lighter shoe, but in our measurements, the AE actually weighed .25 ounces more than the stock VII (12.5 vs. 12.25). It didn’t affect the shoe at all. As expected, from a performance standpoint, the AE was on par with the original. The only notable difference was the break-in time. The AE, with its synthetic upper and Hyperfused construction, was good to go out of the box and felt slightly more conformed to the foot. The VII had dynamic Flywire, but the AE lets it loose, giving the shoe a “cats in the cradle” look that does nothing performance-wise, but gives the shoe some added flavor. The combination of Podulite and Zoom (in forefoot) remain unchanged from the VII—a good thing, as it made for a very responsive shoe that will satisfy lateral players. WORTH THE UPGRADE? Yes. We liked how the AE version improves on the fit from the CP3.VII. The exposed Flywire is boss but it won’t improve your game. The one downgrade from the stock model is the lack of ventilation as the perforated upper is gone.

Nike

Kobe 9 Elite $225

Nike

KD VI Elite

$200

WHAT’S NEW? Despite not playing in the Kobe 9 at all this season, Nike still rolled out a trove of colorways for the ninth Kobe shoe. Technically, this Kobe 9 is not an “Elite” edition in the sense of a modified postseason version and therefore has no differences between the regular version of the Kobe 9 (which all have the “Elite” designation). Still the Kobe 9 is pretty ahead of the curve with its FlyKnit upper (a first in Nike Basketball). Ironically, carbon fiber has been a staple in Elite editions in the two years past, but the material was not to be found in any of them except for the not-technically Elite Kobe 9’s midfoot and heel cup. WORTH THE UPGRADE? Since there’s no added price premium, nor are there any mods to the Kobe 9, it’s not an upgrade. The shown “Team” colorway is great for Lakers fans, though they’ll have to wear it to watch other teams vie for the title.

WHAT’S NEW? Nike knew that when you take a jump into super-super stardom like Kevin Durant did this season, you deserve the same quantum leap in footwear. For the KD VI Elite, Nike rolled out an equally dramatic full-length visible Zoom unit that spans the entire midsole, a first in the KD line. The synthetic Hyperfuse upper is gone, replaced by open mesh that—according to designer Leo Chang’s vision—opens up the shoe’s craftsmanship and details (and the dynamic Flywire underneath) like a high-end wristwatch. The outsole gets tweaked, as the sunburst/triangle pattern gets enlarged. WORTH THE UPGRADE? While it’s a big jump in price (from $130 for the stock KD VI to $200 for the Elite), you get a lot. The full-length Zoom unit gives the shoe an entirely different feel. While the 180-degree Max Air on the VI was plenty, the full-on Zoom on the Elite takes it another step further while keeping the low profile of the shoe. Added flex grooves on the midsole also give more freedom on toe-offs. But the Zoom unit does come at a price, adding about 2.5 ounces to the shoe. The mesh upper increases the ventilation while exposing the inner workings of the shoe, two things we liked very much. Lastly, we found the modified outsole pattern improved traction from the stock VI. Of all the Elite editions and certainly postseason updates, the KD VI Elite felt like an entirely new shoe and not just a tweaked version, making it our favorite among those we tested.

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CHECK IT WEAR 01

New Era NBA Hardwood Classics Caps

The NBA Hardwood Classics caps (Lakers and Spurs pictured) hook well with your favorite sneaker colorways while the Raptors Snapback sports a reversed mesh panel that gives the dino graphic a new twist.

NBA Hardwood Classics Grada Hook (Spurs): $35.99 NBA Hardwood Classics Sneak Peak Hook (Lakers): $35.99 Hardwood Classics 9Fifty Jumbo Front A-Frame (Raptors): $27.99

Flint and Tinder The 10-Year Hoodie

Even if you’re not Mark Zuckerberg, the hoodie is one of the most versatile pieces in your wardrobe. It can take you from a frisbee game to the boardroom (provided you’re the majority shareholder of a tech company), so it only makes sense to invest in a quality one. We endorse the F + T one. As the name suggests, it should last you a decade and beyond, thanks to the American cotton and craftsmanship (it was even funded locally through Kickstarter). And if it does fail you within the 10-year period, F + T will mend it for you, no questions asked.

$99.50

Under Armour Ruckus Storm Backpack

Summertime is actually when a good backpack is indispensible. Since you’re without jacket pockets and shorts offer up lower stowing capacity, it’s key to have a good backpack. We recommend the Ruckus Storm Backpack because of its water repellant fnish for the errant summer downpour, the comfortable padded HeatGear shoulder straps and its generous and versatile storage (pockets for headphones, bottles and laptop).

$94.99

Jordan S. Flight Knit Short

While taking fight on the court, the S. Flight Short will keep you cool with its Dri-FIT fabric, which wicks away sweat, keeping you dry during those lengthy runs. The stretchable side panels give you added range of motion and the adjustable drawcord offers a snug ft.

$55

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Jordan Dominate Hoody

This hybrid warm-up/sleeveless shooting shirt makes a perfect summertime piece to don in between pick-up games. Hopefully it is spends more on the bench while you’re dominating the action and not worn while you’re waiting for next.

$75 05

Converse Chuck Taylor All Star ’70

After perhaps barbecues, beaches and Popsicles, nothing epitomizes summer more than a good pair of Chucks to get you through the various adventures the season brings. This one sports an always-dope camoufage print (just make sure not to overdo it).

$90

Flint and Tinder Soft Washed Selvedge Jeans

Denim purists might turn their noses at a pre-washed denim, but let them pooh-pooh as they bake inside their raw denim soapbox in the summer heat. These quality American-made selvedge (the self-edge created through the weaving process) jeans by F + T have a soft hand, making them an ideal summer jean.

$109.50

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Jordan Dominate Short Sleeve Crew

Forget fancy moisture-wicking, lightweight materials for a change. Sometimes you just need a low-tech cut-off sweatshirt to get a sweat in during workouts.

$60

Under Armour EZ Mon-Knee Basketball Short

The name of these shorts might be on the gimmicky side, but rest assured that they mean business on the court. The exposed adjustable elastic waistband won’t bite into your waist and the mesh side panels provide ventilation. The textured dazzle fabric offers some sheen and the 12-inch inseam and loose ft gives you plenty of room to operate.

$34.99

adidas Originals Mutombo 2

The original Mutombo gets all the love and pub (only because the design and details pay homage to Dikembe Mutombo’s African roots), but when it comes to performance—No, no, no,no—the sequel (original release was 1995; retro drops on May 10) is actually better.

$110

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Jordan Varsity Woven 2.0

The DWR (durable, water repellent) nylon fabric keeps you dry, while the ribbed collor, cuffs and hem provide comfort and a snug ft in the key areas, all wrapped in a timeless varsity style jacket.

$90

Under Armour SpeedForm Apollo

Under Armour’s roots are still clothing, so it makes sense that UA’s premier running shoe is crafted in a clothing factory, giving it a “tailored for the foot” feel. UA does this with a frst-of-its-kind molded seamless heel cup, ultrasonic seams and foot-conforming material that make up the upper. Cushioning is in the form of its Micro G foam.

$99.99

Converse King of Hearts Tee

No hearts here, just All Stars, on this screen-printed lightweight tee.

$25

WHERE TO BUY: adidas Originals Mutombo 2: adidasoriginals.com; Converse Chuck Taylor All Star ’70, King of Hearts Tee: converse.com; Flint and Tinder The 10-Year Hoodie, Soft Washed Selvedge Jeans: fintandtinder.com; Jordan Dominate Hoody, S. Flight Knit Short, Varsity Woven 2.0, Dominate Short SLeeve Crew: jumpman23.com; New Era NBA Hardwood Classics Caps: neweracap.com; Under Armour EZ Mon-Knee Basketball Short, Ruckus Storm Backpack, SpeedForm Apollo: underarmour.com

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The place to BE and BE SEEN.

Rates From $129* Per Night. Rates From $219** Per Night.

Plan your ultimate getaway to El San Juan Resort & Casino, A Hilton Hotel, located in the fashionable Isla Verde district along the beautiful beaches of San Juan. Enjoy electrifying nightlife, on-site casino, scintillating pool complex, indulgent spa treatments and a wide variety of enticing restaurants and chic bars at our oceanfront resort.

To book your next vacation, please call 888 579 2635 or visit elsanjuanresort.com.

*Rates valid until December 22, 2013. **Rates valid from January 1, 2014 through April 30, 2014. Subject to availability and do not include taxes and resort charges. ÂŠ2014 Hilton Worldwide.

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STEP BACK

June 13, 2004: Finals 2004, Game 4, The Palace of Auburn Hills Los Angeles Lakers vs. Detroit Pistons Detroit’s P.A. announcer, John Mason, would let out his trademark “B-B-B-Billups” during introductions and whenever Billups scored. A ﬁerce rebounder, Wallace never averaged more points than rebounds in any of his 16 NBA seasons.

Known for his hair, Wallace would oftentimes wear cornrows but occasionally wore it out as an afro, spawning the “Fear the Fro” movement around the League.

Wallace is tied with Dikembe Mutombo for Defensive Player of the Year honors, each winning it four times.

Payton was traded by Seattle (as a future 1990 draft pick) to Golden State for a 1989 draft pick and then subsequently traded back to Seattle two months later for Alton Lister.

One of the best undrafted players of all time, Ben Wallace played college basketball at Virginia Union, the same school that produced NBA players Mike Davis, Terry Davis, A.J. English, Charles Oakley, Bruce Spraggins and Jamie Waller.

Over his 17 seasons, Payton topped the 3,000-minute mark in eight seasons. He ranks ninth all time with 47,117 minutes played.

Payton was named to the All-Defensive First Team an NBA-record nine consecutive times from 1993 to 2002.

Payton is the last guard to have won the Defensive Player of the Year Award, in 1996.

Even at age 35, Payton played in all 82 games in 2003-04, including all 22 postseason contests. Payton played the full 82 games (in the lockout-shortened 1998-99 season he played the complete 50-game schedule) in nine seasons. His 1,335 games are 10th place all time.

Known for his defense, Gary Payton was bestowed the nickname “The Glove” by his cousin after he described Payton’s lockdown defense on Phoenix’s Kevin Johnson in the 1993 Western Conference Finals as “holding Johnson like a baseball in a glove.” 102

After 10 seasons with Seattle after they picked him with the No. 2 overall pick in the 1990 NBA Draft, the SuperSonics traded Payton to Milwaukee in exchange for Ray Allen, Ronald Murray, Kevin Ollie and a 2003 ﬁrst round pick. ANDREW D. BERNSTEIN/NBAE/GETTY IMAGES

Detroit took a chance on Chauncey Billups, the No. 3 pick in ’97, who had a mostly disappointing ﬁrst ﬁve years in the NBA, with a midlevel freeagent deal that paid off handsomely as he went on to be named Finals MVP in the series.

The other “Wallace” on the Pistons, Rasheed arrived as a midseason trade. He was traded from Portland to Atlanta, where he played a total of 42 minutes, before being routed to Detroit in time for its championship run. Wallace is currently an assistant coach on the Detroit Pistons bench.

“Ball Don’t Lie” was not invented by Wallace, but he sure put it on the map. The phrase, spawned from streetball, suggests that when a bad call is made, the team awarded with ball or free throws will invariably miss or turn the ball over: Ball don’t lie. Basketball karma, if you will. As a collegian at UConn, Hamilton was named the NCAA Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player in 1989. He is one of just a 19 NCAA MOPs who have also won an NBA Championship. Among active players, only Shane Battier and Mario Chalmers can lay claim to that.

Rip Hamilton was known for his trademark facemask which he started wearing during the 2003-04 season after he broke his nose twice that year (and once the previous season).

Like fellow North Carolina Tarheel Michael Jordan, Wallace retired from the NBA for two seasons (from 2010-12) before un-retiring to play a season for the New York Knicks.

After 18 seasons, two MVPs and two fruitless Finals appearances with the Utah Jazz, Malone decided to take his talents to Southern California for his ﬁnal season in hopes of capturing the elusive ring.

One of the most durable players of all time, before his ﬁnal season as a Laker, Karl Malone played in 1,434 games of a possible 1,444 games. Malone is second all time in minutes played (54,852) and points (36,928), trailing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in both categories.

Although injuries limited him to just 42 regular season games, Malone still put up 13.2 ppg, 8.7 rpg, 3.9 apg and 1.2 spg as a 40-year-old. In 21 playoff contests, Malone averaged 41 minutes per game.

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CALL OUT

Memphis’ Beno Udrih gives an assist to local kids repairing bikes at Revolutions Community Bike Shop during NBA Green Week. JOE MURPHY/NBAE/GETTY IMAGES

Golden State’s Harrison Barnes is known for dunking in the paint, but here he shows a different kind of skill involving paint, namely refurbishing a bench at Golden Gate Park. JACK ARENT/NBAE/GETTY IMAGES

Apparently, the same way Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook attacks the basketball lane is the exact way he does the bowling lane as he shows with a young girl during the Russell Westbrook Why Not Foundation Bowling Fundraiser. RICHARD ROWE/NBAE/GETTY IMAGES

Washington’s John Wall trades his Wizards uni for offcial stripes as he prepares to toss up the opening tip-off during an NBA Cares charity basketball game with Special Olympic participants and staff at the St. Coletta of Greater Washington. NED DISHMAN/NBAE/GETTY IMAGES

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As part of NBA Green Week, James Johnson (left) and Jon Leuer of the Grizzlies do the heavy lifting of removing dead trees during cleanup of the Ed Rice Community Center in Memphis. JOE MURPHY/NBAE/GETTY IMAGES

ABOVE THE COMPETITION SINCE 1996

Allen Iverson played the game with fearlessness. His electrifying play deďŹ ed both gravity and opponents. Each time he stepped on the court, he combined his legendary playmaking with unparalleled style, Inspiring a sneaker as iconic as the player who wore them: The Question Mid. Allen Iverson and The Question Mid, Above the Competition, Since 1996.

adidasbasketball.com

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