Slam - June 2022 by peter

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11. Hype 22. SLAMadamonth 24. Memphis Grizzlies 30. Elena Delle Donne 36. Cade Cunningham 42. Jalen Brunson

46. Deja Kelly 50. Elizabeth and Mark Williams 54. 2022 SLAM HS All-American Teams 60. Montverde Academy 64. One ’N Done 66. Keyonte George

68. Lauren Betts 70. Team Melo 72. HS All-Star Games 74. LeagueFits 76. Kicks 80. Frozen Moment

SLAM (ISSN: 1072-625X, USPS: 18145) June/July 2022, Vol. 29, No. 3 is published bi-monthly, every two months plus one additional issue in September by SLAM Media Inc., 21 West 46th Street, Suite 502, NY NY 10036. Copyright @ 2022 by SLAM Media Inc. All rights reserved. Periodicals postage is paid at New York, NY, and additional mailing ofﬁces. Single copy price is $9.99. Subscriptions: Subscription rates for one year (6 issues) U.S., APO, FPO and U.S. Possessions is $19.94. Canadian orders add $10.00 per year, all other countries add $20.00 per year (for surface mail postage). Payment in advance, U.S. funds only. For subscription, address changes and adjustments, write to SLAM, P.O. Box 37033, Boone, IA, 50037-0033. SLAM is a registered trademark of SLAM Media Inc. Reproduction without permission is prohibited. Manuscripts, photos, and other materials submitted must be accompanied by a stamped, self-addressed envelope; SLAM assumes no responsibility for unsolicited material. Printed in U.S.A. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to SLAM, P.O. Box 37033, Boone, IA, 50037-0033.

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The Sixth Man

E PRIDE OURSELVES on covering basketball players at all moments in their careers, from grassroots to college to the pros to the retired greats, and while I’m a little biased, I think we do a good job of being a part of the elite hooper’s life every step of the way. But this month, I don’t need to bring any biases into it. I can prove it. On one cover we’ve got Cade Cunningham, the Pistons’ young stud who’s got the keys to Detroit’s franchise. Cade just came off a rookie year in which he started slow, found his footing and eventually finished third in the Rookie of the Year race, though he’s as likely (or more likely) as anyone in his class to become a true superstar in the League. Zooming out, the 20-year-old (!) is only at the very beginning of his journey, and since he plays for a team that didn’t have a great season and is located in a medium-sized NBA market, many casual fans don’t realize what’s coming. They will soon, though. On our second cover we’ve got the Memphis Grizzlies, more specifically Ja Morant, Jaren Jackson Jr, Dillon Brooks and Desmond Bane. These guys are here, now. As I write this, they’re 1-1 against the veteran Golden State Warriors, and whether they win this series (or more of them) during the 2022 playoffs or not, their window is officially open. They’ll be back in the mix next year, and most likely the year after that and the one after that. It’s all happening. And on our third cover we’ve got WNBA legend (is it too soon to say that?) Elena Delle Donne. EDD missed the 2020 season and only played a few games in

2021, but now she’s healthy and ready to roll for a Mystics team that I bet is going to make a lot of noise this season. It’s easy to look at some of the W’s younger superstars and assume the torch has been passed, but I have a feeling Delle Donne might hold them off for a bit longer with a big comeback season. We’ll see. The thing I love about these covers is they represent three separate-yet-connected examples of the game’s best athletes chasing their dreams. They all have different backgrounds, different histories and are at different points of their pro hoops life cycles. But they’re all chasing greatness. The Grizzlies might be a few weeks away from a championship, or a few years. But they’re close. Cade is going to be a superstar if he keeps working hard and doing everything he’s supposed to be doing—maybe soon, or maybe a little ways down the line. But the world is starting to learn. And EDD is already a champion, but she wants more. She’s still hunting greatness, and she’s going to keep doing so as long as reaching the top level is a possibility. What I’m getting at here is that no matter where you are in your own journey, it’s the chase for more that keeps us all going. It’s true of the world’s best basketball players, and it’s true of every one of us, including you holding this magazine. Hopefully these stories inspire you to get after it. Peace,

Adam Figman

Kristina Truong is a Senior Director of Brand Partnerships at SLAM. As a Houston native, her love for basketball and hip-hop culture stems from Rockets ’90s fandom and southern rap. With a career in fashion, sneakers and sports lifestyle, she’s made the transition here to grow our corporate partnerships and change the game for women’s equity. She now resides in Brooklyn and spends her time away from basketball in cartoon animation and voiceover.

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FO UN D E R / P U BL I SH E R Dennis S. Page E X EC U T IV E P U BLI SHE R David Schnur C H I E F CO N T EN T O F FI C E R Adam Figman E D I TO RI A L M A N AG I N G E D ITO R Susan Price Thomas VP, SO C I AL M E D IA Arvind Pitchai D IR EC TO R , CO N T E N T Franklyn Calle D IR EC TO R , WSL A M Camille Buxeda CO N T E N T P R O D U C E R Max Resetar S OC I AL AN D C R EAT IV E P R O D U C E R Ian Pierno AS SO C IAT E S OC IA L M E D I A E D I TOR Theus McBee AS SO C IAT E E D I TO R Deyscha Smith S OC I AL M E D IA AS SO C I AT E S Jianni Smith, Joe Williams N E WS E D ITO R Brooks Warren A R C H I V I ST Sammy Gunnell CO N T R I BU TI N G E D I TO R S Ryan Jones, Abe Schwadron, Tzvi Twersky BAS K E T BA L L E VA N GE LI ST Rick Telander CO N T R I BU TOR S Russ Bengtson, Nate Derosena, Charlie DeSadier, Branden Peters, Lang Whitaker, DeMarco Williams I NT E R N S Saheem Anthony, Norman Ayala, Jared Ebanks, Caleb Gagne, Jerry Humphrey III, Holden Velasco ART C R EAT I V E D I R ECTO R , P RI N T Lester Padilla D ES I G N E R Marcus Allen J U N I O R D E SI G N E R Erica Davis CO N T R I BU TOR S Oscar Castillo, Atiba Jefferson, Jon Lopez, Amanda Rudd V ID EO VP, P R O D U C T I ON Eli Selva S EN I O R V ID EO P RO DU C E R Christian Quezada S EN I O R V ID EO D I REC TOR , HS Bryan LaRussa R EG I O N AL V I D EO DI REC TOR , H S Daren Scarberry P RO D U C E R S/ E D I TO R S Sean Edwards, Ciara Ingram J U N I O R P RO D U C E R S Liam Callahan, Haley Salvador PEO PL E & C ULTU RE , B RA N D PART NE RS HI P S , MARKETING & COMMERCE VP, P EO P LE & C U LT UR E Karen Valentine Skyers VP, B RAN D PA RT NE R SH I P S Michael Davis, Andrew Pitagorsky VP, AT H LE T E & TA LE N T R E LAT I O N S Samir Hernandez S EN I O R D IR EC TO R , I N T EG RAT E D M AR K E T IN G Jeff Chen S EN I O R D IR EC TO R , B RA N D PART N E R SH I P S Kristina Truong ACCO UN T E X EC U TI VE , BRAN D PA RT N E R SH I P S Justice Allen S EN I O R M A N AGE R , I N TEGRAT E D M A RK E T I N G Josh Frohlinger P ROJEC T M A N AG E R , BRA N D PA RT N E R SH I P S Meghan Roxas CO N S UM E R A N D C A M PA I G N A N A LYST Mike Yusay MVP Spiro Maroulis H E A D OF M E R C HAN D I S E Calen Blessinger M A R K E T I N G M AN AG E R Delon George AS SO C IAT E C R E AT IV E P R O D U C E R Jonathan Lewis E- CO M M E R C E S P EC IAL I ST Ryne Nelson E- CO M M E R C E A N D MA R K E T IN G ASS OC IAT E Kevin Kim F I NA N C E M AN AGE R Alicia Tiozon CIRCULATION N P S M ED I A Russell Marth S LA M ME D I A I N C . C H A I R M AN Joe Samberg VI C E C H AI R M A N Peter Robert Casey C EO Les Green P RE S ID EN T David Schnur CO O Aron Phillips CCO Adam Figman C FO Miguel Batista FO R A DV E RT I S I N G I N Q UI R I E S advertising@slammediainc.com S UB SC R I B E R C U STO M E R S E RV I CE International: 386-246-0446 or write to SLAM, P.O. Box 37033, Boone, IA, 50037-0033. Please include name, address, and phone number on any inquiries. Canada Post: Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to IMEX Global Solutions, P.O. Box 25542, London, ON N6C 6B2. BAC K I S S UE S To order back issues, visit https://slamgoods.com/collections/magazines Occasionally our subscriber list is made available to reputable firms offering goods and services we believe would be of interest to our readers. If you prefer to be excluded, please email your current address and a note requesting to be excluded from these promotions to SLAM Media Inc. at info@ slammediainc.com.

G R I Z Z L I E S : AT I B A J E F F E R S O N ; C U N N I N G H A M : J O N AT H A N L E W I S ; D E L L E D O N N E : J O N L O P E Z

2022 VOL.29 NO.3

TYTY TAKES TRAINING SERIOUSLY. AND SO DO WE.

TyTy Washington Jr. D1 Point Guard & Dr. Dish Athlete

Dr. Dish CT COMPLETE TRAINING Dr. Dish supports NIL athletes and is excited to welcome D1 point guard and projected NBA Draft pick TyTy Washington Jr. to the Dr. Dish Family. We believe that the pursuit of getting better never ends, and that TyTy is just getting started.

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BE BETTER EVERY DAY.

Trash Talk Things we love to see? @dawnstaley gracing the cover of @WSLAM. @WNBA via Twitter

I’m sooooo hyped over this cover!!! I’m ordering it just to go on the wall! No shade to the players, but it’s Dawn Staley for me! I know they are a unit, but it take great skill to build the team that Staley has. I grew up watching her. I’m soooo proud of and happy for her and the team!!!!! Cooke, Boston, and Henny are better that James, Wade, and Bosh in Miami! LET’S GO CAROLINA!!!! #BelieveTheHype AroundTheWayGirl88 via YouTube Aliyah Boston’s play speaks for itself, she doesn’t need a nickname...just the mention of her name strikes fear and causes sleepless nights for both opposing coaches and players trying to ﬁgure out a way to defend her. She will not only go down in history as one of the Best Ever at SC but in NCAA women’s basketball. She will be in the same conversation and held in the highest respect as players like Silvia Fowles (whose SEC double-double record Boston broke and continues to add to the

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streak), Lisa Leslie, Chamique Holdsclaw, Candace Parker, Tamika Catchings, Rebecca Lobo and Courtney Paris, whose double-double record Boston has a shot to break. Sandra Spears via YouTube If Coach Dawn isn’t the highest paid Coach at the University of South Carolina, that problem must be immediately corrected. An outstanding leader of young people. She could coach the men’s team and turn the program around. Al Gernon via YouTube This [South Carolina cover] was nice. Really wish they could have featured all ﬁve starters. Brea and Victoria have been just as important (if not more) as the guards on this defensive minded team that usually dominates the boards. They deserved some spotlight as well. Talon Karrde via YouTube

[LaMelo] and the fam, but I knew since Chino Hills, he was special. Xxold_wepaxx via Instagram Just remember, his father told y’all ﬁrst. Put some respect on LaVar Ball’s name. Tonyrone1974 via Instagram Bro a sophomore All-Star and y’all hating in the comments. Go put that same energy into making some money. Young_ronan via Instagram

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T’ S NOT O FT EN YO U GE T A GIGAN TI C changeover in college hoops coaching the way we got one this spring. Maybe there’s never been a whistle-tooting earthquake this big. OK, let me answer myself after some thought. Absolutely, there has never been this huge a college churn. Think of it: in one swift farewell, Mike Krzyzewski, Roy Williams, Jay Wright and C. Vivian Stringer all waved goodbye to their coaching careers. Folks, that’s a combined 159 years of head coaching at the DI level, 3,802 wins, 10 NCAA championships, four members of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame and about a trillion players affected by the teachings and wisdom of these people. This is not the kind of churn that goes by without us noticing. Krzyzewski’s 1,202 wins at Army and Duke are the most ever in DI history, and you have to wonder if young replacement coach Jon Scheyer, a former Duke champion guard under Coach K, can handle the vacuum

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that will haunt Cameron Indoor Stadium. How strange it will be? No black-haired Coach K suffering quietly on the sideline? Indeed, you have to wonder how any of the young coaches taking over for these legends will fare. There have been so many Coach of the Year awards for the four retirees that all of a sudden the whole college game will feel the void—and the opening for new coaches might actually be, in the end, thrilling. But it’s a bittersweet moment. New always sweeps out old, yet we often

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rue what we lost, with the nostalgia building gradually as things we depended on disappear. Think how comfortable we got seeing these coaches when big time games were played. Imagine: Stringer coached at Cheyney State, Iowa and Rutgers for 51 years. That’s almost the history of women’s college basketball right there. You can’t blame anybody of a certain age for getting out of coaching now, what with the pressure to win, the transfer portals, the NIL deals, the conference

movements—all of these things chipping away at the essence of what got each one of them into their job. That is: simply to teach the game they loved as best they could. Oh, we’ll miss the telling little details: Stringer was a coal miner’s daughter, Williams coached high school boys golf for ﬁve years, Krzyzewski’s Polish immigrant dad was an elevator operator in Chicago, Wright once scored 69 points for Council Rock (PA) HS. But most of all, we wish the quartet well. What great times they gave us.

P R E V I O U S : L O U C A P O Z Z O L A / S P O R T S I L L U S T R AT E D V I A G E T T Y I M A G E S ; T H I S PA G E , C L O C K W I S E F R O M T O P L E F T: T O M P E N N I N G T O N ; M I T C H E L L L E F F / B O T H G E T T Y I M A G E S ; J O H N B I E V E R ; J O H N W. M C D O N O U G H / B O T H S P O R T S I L L U S T R AT E D V I A G E T T Y I M A G E S

N O Y Z » Apologies to Melek and Michael Glasker from Always BIY for misspelling their last name in the last issue. But like Michael said, we took the L out because they’re only winning! Grab some of their dopeness at alwaysbiy.com…Big thanks to our friends at Excel Sports and the Memphis Grizzlies for helping us bring three amazing covers to life…

N B PA . C O M / S U M M E R C A M P

N O Y Z » Future’s “I NEVER LIKED YOU” album sounded craaaazy at the Cade cover shoot. Album of the summer?…The KOBE KICKS issue we just dropped is truly special. Go pick up yours at slamgoods.com and relive excellence…SLAM cover No. 2 for Johnny. Another heater…Get well soon, Aaliyah Gayles. We know we’ll see you back on the court soon…We miss you, Ben Collins…

DREAMT THIS After an illustrious career at Michigan, Atlanta Dream rookie Naz Hillmon enters the WNBA poised to bring the same swagger that made her a fan favorite in Ann Arbor.

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CBOEUERTT RE OS FY OORFT M E R L C O D E

H ERE IS R AR ELY a single path to success. Atlanta Dream rookie Naz Hillmon is a testament to that. Despite being a third generation college player and a second generation pro—Hillmon’s mom, NaSheema Anderson, played at Vanderbilt and in the American Basketball League, and her grandmother, Gail Williams, played at Bethune-Cookman and Cleveland State—the 6-2 power forward did not make her way into the WNBA on a red carpet; she had to grind for hers. “I always thought about playing at the professional level, but I didn’t necessarily see it as a reality for me until maybe sophomore year of college,” says Hillmon. “I think that it took that long because I was thinking about the politics of it. I wasn’t a Jordan or McDonald’s [All American] kid, and for a while I thought that all of that really mattered at the next level.” At Michigan, Hillmon’s game trumped all politics. She not only led the team to an Elite Eight appearance, but the two-way star also became the ﬁrst ever in program history to be named an AP All-American. Hillmon will face a similar situation in Atlanta as she did in Ann Arbor, with the Dream coming off an 8-24 season and in complete rebuild mode with a new coach and several new players. “Coach [Tanisha] Wright has told me that my role in helping this team be successful is being who I have been and doing what I’ve been doing,” she says. “That’s giving my energy and effort every day.” —Branden Peters

COME #LEARNWITHUS THIS SUMMER! camps focus on teaching the fundamentals of the game in a fun and competitive environment. these camps are designed to teach kids the skills they need to be a better basketball player by the use of drill and station work, along with full court games. along with nba stars, basketball city’s professional staff will make sure your child has a great time and improves their game. basketball city will be running a full schedule of summer basketball camps in 2022 at our 7-court facility located in downtown manhattan. this year’s camps include current and past nba players and a collaboration with the national basketball players association, as well as 5 star basketball, and our ever-popular basketball city fundamentals camp along with our nba draft/skills challenge camp with future nba talent. all summer camps include small group instruction, comprehensive instruction from professional staff, competitive full-court games and analysis of real game situations, reversible basketball city jersey, basketball city giveaways and prizes, and an awards ceremony on the last day of camp. we have a variety of camps to offer to both boys and girls ages 7-17.

S I G N U P A T W W W. B A S K E T B A L L C I T Y. C O M

BASKETBALL CITY BASKETBALLCITYNYC BASKETBALLCITY

N O Y Z » For all of y’all who counted the Celtics out early on in the season: Make sure those apologies are as loud as the disrespect was. Sincerely, a fellow Bostonian…Oh, and salute to Marcus Smart on the DPOY award. Love to see it…Jay Biegel FTW...Congrats to our friends up north on the launch of the first SLAM CANADA issue. It’s a banger. Much more to come!...

THE FIRST TIP-OFF Canada’s ties to the game run deep, so it’s only right that when the New Brunswick town of St. Stephen uncovered the oldest court in the world, the community banded together to transform the 1893 relic into a special space for hoops lovers.

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COURTESY OF MERL CODE

N THE EAST BANK of the St. Croix River sits a small milltown of around 4,500 people. In St. Stephen, New Brunswick, Canada, a portal to the 19th century lies dormant while a town rallies together to transform some old wooden panels into a basketball experience center. What’s so special about those old wooden panels? They belong to the oldest basketball court in the world. In 1893, one of James Naismith’s original 18 players, Lyman Archibald, introduced the game to St. Stephen after being hired to run the local YMCA in New Brunswick. Formerly a pharmacy, print shop and thrift store, the building became abandoned and was hidden away for decades before a ﬁre in 2010 forced the former owners to rip up the storage room carpet, revealing strips of faded wooden panels. Canada First Basketball Inc. was created with the hopes of reinvigorating the space and St. Stephen. Last January, a phase one goal of $1 million in funding was met and the team was one step closer to achieving their dream of building a replica of the 1893 court. “I was left with the strong impression that it’s not the building, it’s the story about the building and about the game

Otto

T O P R I G H T: D A L E P R E S T O N ( 2 ) ; G Y M P H O T O S : COURTESY OF CANADA FIRST BASKETBALL INC.

Fulton

that we need to develop and save,” Richard Fulton, president of Canada First Basketball Inc., tells SLAM. Featuring the original low-pressed tin ceilings, a 19th century hand crank that provides electricity and peach baskets hanging on opposing walls, stepping into the space brings you back to the era of nine-man teams that played with a leather-bound ball. With the building secured, the town and organization have set out to develop the story of the center, which includes augmented reality experiences and the original walk that players took to the court. “This is not meant to be yet another museum. This is supposed to be something that’s ever-evolving,” Robert Otto, chair of the board of directors of Canada First Basketball Inc., tells SLAM. “It’s supposed to be a space where people can come and be excited by the game of basketball. Front and center, a big part of this is meant to celebrate the Canadian contributions to a game that has immense popularity all around the world.” —Jared Ebanks

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N O Y Z » If we all stop posting videos of fans trolling players during games, maybe fans will do a little less trolling and players won’t constantly be baited into reacting. The relationship between players and fans is a little more complicated than that, but one obvious way to lower the temperature seems easy: stop posting the dumb videos and giving these fans the attention they so crave…

BACK TO THE BASICS New York native Jah Rawlings moved to Atlanta and brought with him the summer hoops culture the Empire State is known for. Today, his Atlanta Entertainment Basketball League is widely recognized as one of the top summer leagues in the world.

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McCullough, created the Rucker [Pro Tournament]. It’s already in my DNA.” Rawlings admits that the ﬁrst few seasons of his outdoor hoop dream were a challenge—light crowds, heavy rains—but he kept at it. A former member of the Atlanta Hawks organization, Rawlings knew the city had a thirst for streetball, he just needed more time for things to simmer. First step, take the game indoors. Second, ask another “uncle” for an assist. In 2017, Kyrie Irving was ﬁlming Uncle Drew in Atlanta. A friend of a friend invited Irving to come through and the point guard

said he would. Rawlings didn’t get his hopes up until he saw the future Hall of Famer walk into the gym. And once he did, a buzz shot through the rafters that still hasn’t cooled. Over the past few years, a who’s who of Hawks (John Collins, Trae Young), NBA ballers (Jaylen Brown, Montrezl Harrell) and future stars (Auburn’s Jabari Smith) have suited up. And they aren’t out there half-assin’ it. Once vets like Lou Williams and Isaiah Thomas get a taste of the competitiveness and massive crowds, they’re hooked.

COURTESY OF AEBL

HOUGH BROOKLYN Tea sits in downtown Atlanta, the quaint shop would easily be at home in Brooklyn’s Park Slope or Dumbo neighborhoods. It’s clean, quiet and keeps the cups of tropical green coming. You can see why Long Island native Jah Rawlings would want to meet there to talk basketball. “I was born in New York, but Atlanta raised me,” says Rawlings, who hooped for Georgia Perimeter College before founding the Atlanta Entertainment Basketball League (AEBL) in 2010. “[Atlanta] gave me the opportunity to get my dreams out and ﬂourish and do the things that I wanted to do. That’s why I rep so hard for the city.” On this day, Rawlings doesn’t order anything at the tea shop, but he does explain how he’s poured his heart and his wallet into the AEBL, a pro-am summer league he envisioned having the swagger of ATL with the soul of Harlem’s Rucker Park. “If anyone can do it, I can,” Rawlings, 39, says. “My mentor was Greg Marius, rest in peace. He started EBC [the Entertainer’s Basketball Classic tournament at Rucker Park—Ed.]. My uncle, Bob

Much like Rucker’s legendary summers, AEBL games are about more than just the action on the court. It’s the energy and the engagement everywhere else. At any given game, 2 Chainz or Tee Grizzley could be in the stands. Halftimes almost certainly turn into mini concerts. In-arena host Bria Janelle is magnetic on the mic. The “E” in AEBL really means something. Still, Rawlings is as proud of his league’s ability to prepare young staffers for careers at Nike and in the front ofﬁce with the Atlanta Dream as he is about seeing ’21 MVP Kevon “Cheat Code” Har-

ris ball out in the G League. Additionally, AEBL participates in community initiatives, donates to local athletic programs and volunteers at shelters over the holidays. “I want young kids to know that I made it pro as a CEO,” says Rawlings. “I’m still in the game. I’m actually a major player in basketball. I’ve never stepped foot on an NBA court, but look at what I’ve done. My mentors are like, Man, we see you being a GM. I’m like, I got my own NBA.” AEBL’s 2022 season kicks off with a bang on July 4th weekend. In addition to the men’s action (former Hawk Joe John-

son is debuting a squad), the calendar will include a dope women’s league and other events. With adidas as a sponsor, AEBL is also dropping a Trae Young 1 sneaker, draped in the league’s logo and stylings. “AEBL is bigger than basketball,” says Rawlings, who spearheads an HBCU-focused camp and a program aimed at elite high schoolers throughout the year, too. “We’re culture. We’re community. We’re entertainment. We’re mentorship. When people look at us now, they’re like, Oh, this is bigger than just some NBA guys playing on the court.” —DeMarco Williams

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N O Y Z » The WSLAM WNBA Draft event was a great time. Be on the lookout for another print mag coming soon…And WSLAM has a new podcast, too. Listen to “Get With It” anywhere you get pods…The 1-on-1 list we dropped online this month (it’ll be in print in our next issue) spawned some crazy debates in the virtual office. We’ll leave it at that…Our new office opens this [???]...

IN THE PAINT

A S K E T BA L L T E L L S stories. Some are of joy and triumph, others of struggle and pain. These anecdotes are written in books and magazines, they’re made into blockbuster movies, video games and bingeable documentary series. London-based artist Lakwena Maciver—whose compelling, distinct murals have been seen on the Wynwood Walls in Miami and The Bowery Wall in NYC— caught a glimpse of basketball’s narrative while working on a court in Arkansas back in 2020. Taking inspiration from poet Maya Angelou and a viral video from Arkansas state senator Stephanie Flowers speaking about social justice, Maciver’s designs echo emotion while capturing the powerful beauty of the game. The basic layout of a basketball court has provided the canvas for Maciver’s most recent hoops project, “The Jump Paintings.” Each court in her series is an abstract portrait of the player it rep-

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resents, cryptically alluding to their personalities, journey and character. Unlike her previous blacktop designs, these courts hang vertically on gallery walls and are the exact size of the player who inspired the creation, with “Tyrone” (top right, based on Muggsy Bogues) standing at 5 feet, 3 inches and “Manute” (top left), based on Manute Bol at 7 feet, 7 inches. Maciver sees the game and its history through new eyes. Her refreshing vantage point, combined with her extensive research of the players featured, provides a contemporary and unique interpretation. She embraces the cultural importance of the game with dignity and respect, and her enjoyment ﬂows throughout. “The Jump Paintings” series is unlike any other basketball/art crossover project seen before. It would be dope to see the NBA bring on Maciver to design their All-Star Game court one day. Until then, the fact that she’s building a bridge that brings the stories of the playgrounds to art galleries around the world is a big deal. Long may the stories continue.—Sammy Gunnell

COURTESY OF LAKWENA MACIVER

London native Lakwena Maciver is a renowned artist whose paintings have graced murals around the world. Her latest series reimagines what basketball courts would look like if they represented the individual journeys and personalities of some of the biggest names in the sport.

THE PLAYBOOK Michael Jordan defied physics, ended careers and transcended the hoops landscape en route to six rings. We can all learn a thing or two about greatness from The GOAT in Life Lessons From His Airness.

E AL L TOO K, and are still taking, aspects of Michael Jordan’s life and applying it to our very own individual journeys. His unrelenting competitive desire. His dissatisfaction with settling for anything less than what he was destined for. His continuous pursuit of greatness even after reaching what some considered the top. GOAT status. Starting as far back as the 1982 NCAA title shot that laid the roots for his ascension in the game and the rise of his billion-dollar kicks empire, Michael Jordan: Life Lessons From His Airness takes readers behind the scenes of Mike’s

meteoric rise in the League and dominance off the court. Written by former SLAM managing editor David H. Lewis, Life Lessons gives hoops fanatics 139 pages of insights, quotes, wisdom and knowledge to apply toward their own path to greatness. The original geometric style pop art by digital artist Gilang Bogy gives the reader the feeling of viewing His Airness’ life through a kaleidoscope— beautiful and breathtaking while incorporating the inspiration of Bogy’s native Indonesia. Ten chapters ﬁlled with 43 life lessons. The excellence has been cemented. How we use the blueprint is up to us. —Jared Ebanks

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J O E M U R P H Y/ N B A E V I A G E T T Y I M A G E S

a Morant does not do subtle. Maybe he got that from his dad Tee, whose scene-stealing approach to courtside fandom approaches the Shakespearean. But Tee would have to do a heck of a lot more to actually steal scenes from Ja. And the Bard, were he still around, could have learned something of how a play can be like, well, a play: Act 1: The setup. Ja gathers himself up top, solo spotlight, game on pause, testing his defender, waiting for the screen before embarking on the drive. Act 2: The commitment. Slicing into the paint, all other options crossed off, ball cocked as far back as humanly possible, Ian Eagle on the inhale. Act 3: The denouement. Beasley braced and Ja leapt past and over, rim wrecked, crowd delirious. And, scene. —RUSS BENGTSON

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JA MORANT ON MALIK BEASLEY

APRIL 26, 2022 FEDEXFORUM MEMPHIS, TN

SLAMADAMONTH

The Memphis Grizzlies secured the second-best record this season, leading the NBA in rebounds, blocks and steals while tying the franchise’s record for most regular season wins. They were the second youngest team in the League, too. You may think they’ve exceeded expectations, but you ain’t seen nothing yet, mane. W O R D S L A N G W H I TA K E R // P O R T R A I T S AT IBA JEFFERSON 24 SL AMONLINE.COM

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T ’ S A N E A R LY S AT U R D AY morning in April, and the Memphis Grizzlies have a rare day off. The players have come to the arena to participate in a celebratory event for season ticket holders, which includes a game of Simon Says that quickly escalates and becomes competitive—when head coach Taylor Jenkins gets eliminated, he brieﬂy looks as though he might get T’d up. In many ways, it’s indicative of the competitive culture this Grizzlies team has embraced. “Get better every single day,” Jenkins says, when asked to summarize his system. “Simple as that. We know our goal is to just ﬁnd our best version. I’m repetitive because I don’t want them to be thinking anything other than, Hey, there’s going to be this marker

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that people are going to talk about. We are really trying to find our best selves defensively, offensively, spirit-wise, all that just gets better every single day.” Even though the season isn’t quite over yet, the Grizzlies indulging in some fun feels appropriate. One season ago, Memphis was fighting to finish anywhere above .500 and make the play-in game. This season, as the second-youngest team in the NBA, the Grizzlies finished 56-26, the second-best record in the League and tied for the most wins in franchise history. The Grizzlies are the first team in the history of the NBA to lead the League in rebounds, blocks and steals, and have contributors firmly in the conversations for MVP, Coach of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year and Most Improved Player. A little over a year ago, Ja Morant

was on the cover of SLAM fronting a story about how the Grizzlies seemed poised to go from rebuilding to contending. Well, that future is right now. These Grizzlies have proven that a youth movement in modern sports can be a good thing, maybe even a great thing. The crazy part is how it almost didn’t even turn out this way. The Grizzlies began this season 9-10 and had the worst defense in the NBA. And then, just when you thought things looked dim, in the final game of that opening stretch, Morant went out with a non-contact knee injury. Things went from dim to dimmer. While Morant avoided serious injury, he did miss a few weeks, and the Grizzlies promptly won 10 of their next 11. Ever since then, they’ve pulled off a dazzling transformation, morphing into a top-five team on both defense and offense. How did this happen? If it was easy to figure out, everyone would be able to do it. But a franchise that won only 22 games five seasons ago has turned into a victory machine. Winning time? Right now, that’s in Memphis, mane. A few minutes after Grizzlies forward Brandon Clarke is crowned the Simon Says champ, Jaren Jackson Jr sprawls on a couch near the locker room. Jackson, in his fourth NBA season, is still just 22 years old, a few weeks younger than Morant. Jackson Jr or “Trip,” as he is known among his teammates, has embraced the nickname “Block Panther,” emerging as the interior defensive stopper who allows his teammates on the perimeter to swipe at loose balls and overplay passing lanes. Besides leading the NBA in blocked shots, he’s also second on the Grizz in three-point attempts, making him a prototypical modern big in today’s NBA. “The culture here is crazy,” Trip says. “We don’t know how important it is, because we just do it naturally. It’s just ironic that we all kind of hang out and do the same stuff, enjoy the same stuff. We just ride with it. But it obviously helps—it helps us win, it helps us communicate, it helps us understand each other better off the court. It’s just a big deal for us. We love it. “We just kick it with each other. We go out to eat, we hang out, we go to each other’s rooms on the road, we go play video games—we just chill.” Perhaps no Grizzlies player is more chill than Dillon Brooks, who always arrives for press conferences wearing sunglasses and speaks in a whisper. Yet on the floor, he plays with ferocity,

particularly on the defensive end, a clear throwback to the Grizzlies’ grit-andgrind heritage. (“I’m trying to smile more so I don’t get too upset out there and they start T-ing me up again,” Brooks recently joked.) In his ﬁfth season in Memphis, Brooks is the longest-tenured Grizzlies player, and also their second leading scorer this season, at 18.4 ppg. Still, his relentless defense-ﬁrst mindset seems to set the tone for much of what the Grizzlies do. Brooks cites improved team defense as a reason for the Grizzlies’ current success. “Play physical,” he says. “Make the refs call every single foul and see if they can do it. Slide our feet from one to 12. We are contesting at the rim, and we are doing it as a team. Playing team defense, communicating, talking. It is really good to see us get out and run and do what we are good at. That is what we have to bring to the playoffs.” Morant sees a major difference between this year’s team and last season’s squad: “Attention to detail,” he says. “I feel like we’re way more locked

in. No matter what goes on during the game, if we’re missing some shots, we move on. And I feel like last year we had times where we missed coverages, where we talked about it for two days, and teams made us pay for that. And I feel like now we’re very locked in and feel like everybody is just locked down on the defensive end and knowing we can score the basketball.” Morant began this season with a ﬂurry of ninja emojis on everything he tweeted, using the phrase, “Welcome to the dark.” Morant eventually provided some context, noting that the work done in the dark is eventually seen in the light. And then he welcomed the rest of the NBA into the darkness. Morant ﬁnished his third season averaging 27.4 points per game, and despite being listed at just 6-3, he led the NBA in points scored in the paint. There were literally dozens of highlights along the way, from Ja scoring 52 in a game (prompting an online MVP endorsement from Allen Iverson) to dunks over bigs and gravity-defying

blocked shots to hitting the griddy on the way back to the locker room after every win. Along the way, Ja turned his Twitter account into a personal bully pulpit, campaigning for Jackson Jr to win Defensive Player of the Year, for Desmond Bane to win Most Improved, for Jenkins to win Coach of the Year. While the Grizzlies have had explosive performances from a variety of players throughout the season—eight different players have been a game’s leading scorer this season—perhaps nobody has been more consistent than Bane, the second-year guard. Projected as a spot-up shooter when the Grizzlies drafted him out of TCU, Bane has developed into a dynamic all-around guard, able to score off the dribble, run the offense as a secondary ballhandler and still shoot the lights out. As Jackson Jr said after a recent game, “Des is, you know, all hail Des.” Over the Grizzlies’ last 17 games, Bane led the team in scoring eight times and along the way set a franchise record for

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made threes in a season. “Coach always talks about the energy and the ball,” Bane says. “Guys tend to shoot it better as long as you just keep moving the ball. We stay consistent with our work habits and our approach. Shots are going to find a way.” The roster that Grizzlies general manager Zach Kleiman and his basketball operations staff has assembled is filled with a “bunch of hoopers,” as the players like to say. Memphis finishing with the second-best record in the NBA wasn’t just because of the four guys you see on the cover of this magazine—it’s taken major contributions from guys like Steven Adams, who set a franchise record for offensive rebounds in a season. It’s been guys like Tyus Jones, who led the NBA in assist-to-turnover ratio. Some nights it’s been rookie Ziaire Williams, who started 30 games this season and developed into a crucial rotation player. It’s been Kyle Anderson, who gives Jenkins incredible versatility in the lineups. It’s

been Brandon Clarke, who is not only apparently great at Simon Says, but has been on the finishing end of many highlights this season. It’s been DeAnthony Melton, known as “Mr. Do-Something” for his uncanny ability to make impact plays on both ends of the court. It’s been John Konchar, Killian Tillie and Xavier Tillman Sr. Even two-way players like Santi Aldama have had memorable moments this season. “We have a squad,” Brooks says, “so you may not get to see those guys play a lot, but they exceed. It is special to see, and we are going to need that all year. You never know what is going to happen with injuries or Covid. Teams know when they play us, no matter who is on the floor, guys are ready to play.” “The phrase we keep talking about,” says Jenkins, “is Everybody Eats. When you’re playing with that rhythm, that just inherently creates confidence amongst all five guys out there. It becomes infectious. It doesn’t matter when we sub guys, they just kind of pick up where

that ﬁrst group left off.” For the Grizzlies, the strength of the wolf is the pack, and the strength of their pack is the wolf. Every player has embraced their role, and whenever their time comes, each player is ready to play. With so many young players destined to be in Memphis for a while, the future looks blindingly bright. But don’t overlook the present, either. “We expect to win every game we play,” Jackson Jr says. “We don’t go in thinking that we’re down, even if we don’t have players playing. Because the way we’re taught to play, everybody knows how we’re supposed to play— move the ball, make defenses work. We like to tire teams out, run them, make them work on defense. We work so hard on defense. Everybody can play defense. If you play defense, you’re going to end up hooping.” And somewhere on the journey, the Grizzlies ﬁgured out that playing with a little attitude was a good thing. Against the Lakers in January, Desmond Bane brushed against LeBron James, who pushed back and caused a momentary pile-up in the paint. As Bane stepped to the charity stripe, LeBron could be overheard on the broadcast telling the Grizzlies to stop talking ish. The Grizzlies would go on to beat the Lake Show, 127-119, for their ninth straight win. A few weeks later, after the Grizz drubbed the Knicks at Madison Square Garden on national television, Jaren Jackson Jr and Morant faced the media together. “We play with energy, we play with intensity,” Trip said. “We love that. That brings joy to us. That back and forth, that’s just what we like, so, if you want to play that game, we can play that game. It’s cool. It’s all in between the lines. It’s never personal. I don’t care who I’m talking to, it’s just a person, and I’m just going to say what I feel, and I’m going to do what I feel, too.” And then Morant sat up in his chair, and with a smile, summarized the Grizzlies way, for a team and a city that has been overlooked for far too long: “Ain’t no runnin’ in the M, man. We climb up the chimney.” “Yeah, for sure,” agreed Trip. “We gonna let everybody know that we’re here,” continued Morant. “We’re gonna play hard, trying to get a win. “And if you don’t like it?” Morant asked rhetorically. “Oh well.” S

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Time and time again, ELENA DELLE DONNE chooses to do things her way, making the best decisions for herself and her family. As the League welcomes her back after almost two full years, the two-time MVP’s perspective on what’s truly important has only sharpened. And so has her game. W O R D S CAMILLE BUXEDA // P O R T R A I T S JON LOPEZ // H A I R A N D M A K E U P PAO LI N A R I OS 30 SL AMONLINE.COM

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T ’ S A M O N D AY A F T E R noon in Washington DC and the Mystics’ practice has just wrapped up. Elena is joking around with her teammates as they clear the gym for our shoot. Just as we’re about to begin, she takes a deep breath and exhales with a smile before saying, “Whew, OK, let’s do this.” That long deep breath holds the weight of the last two years. Two years filled with surgery, pain and rehab. All from the toll Elena’s body took during the 2019 WNBA Finals, which culminated in her first, as well as the Mystics’ first, WNBA title. “That’s always been my number one thing, to win a WNBA championship, and we did,” Delle Donne says with a big smile on her face. But it came at a cost. A broken nose, a badly bruised knee and three herniated discs in her back. She played through it all, knowing that getting to the Finals alone is a feat. She’d been there before. First with the Chicago Sky in 2014, where they lost to Diana Taurasi and the Phoenix Mercury, and then later in 2018 with the Mystics, where they were swept by Breanna Stewart and the Seattle Storm. The Delaware native knew that these

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chances don’t come around often, so if it meant sacriﬁcing her body to win what she’s been after ever since entering the League, then she was going to do it. “It was a week or two after [the championship], of just celebration, elation and like, This was all so worth it. It was so much fun,” she recalls. “It was everything and more than I ever could have imagined, and then there was that moment where it was time to end the celebration, get into rehab and see what I had done to my body.” The initial diagnosis required a surgery that would only put her out for three months, but that timeline quickly changed. She suffered severe nerve damage due to the herniated discs that caused extraordinary pain. Not just that, but her recuperation was further impacted by her lyme disease, which she was diagnosed with during her sophomore year of college, and ultimately affected the inﬂammation of her injury. “I’ve had other injuries and pretty much the timeline was right, but this

was something where I was like, Am I ever going to feel better? There were some days I wasn’t even thinking about basketball,” she remembers. “It was like, I am 31 years old, and I can’t [even] go have dinner and sit down with my wife to have a meal because of the pain I’m in.” While all she wanted to do was step onto the hardwood and dribble the leather ball up and down the floor like she’s done ever since she was 10 years old, she knew she had to take a step back and take care of herself and her body. And it’s not the first time she’s had to listen to her gut when it comes to deciding what’s best for her overall health. At just 16, she was already the top player in the country. All eyes were on the 6-5, blonde-haired girl who was setting the basketball world aflame. Even OG SLAM Ed. Russ Bengtson had dubbed her the “golden child” in a feature for SLAM 101. The sky was the limit and there was no stopping the post player who had the skills of a guard and was bodying any defender in her way. It would be only two years later, at

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N I C A N TAYA / G E T T Y I M A G E S

a time when she had the world at her ﬁngertips while playing for Geno Auriemma’s UConn Huskies, that everything came crashing down. She was mentally burned out from the game and missing her family. It just didn’t feel like it was for her anymore. She made the difﬁcult decision to step away and take care of herself. In a Jordan-esque move, she announced that she was renouncing her scholarship at Connecticut and would quit the game of basketball. She decided to move closer to home and attend the

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University of Delaware, switching sports to volleyball. It was a decision that shocked the basketball world. The top player in the country was not going to play basketball. Unimaginable to everyone looking in, but for Elena, it just felt like the right move. To be closer to her family, and most importantly, her sister. Lizzie Delle Donne was born with cerebral palsy and autism, and is also deaf and blind. But those things never altered the bond between her and her superstar sister.

“When I was young, certainly, I realized she was different,” Elena pauses before continuing. “Especially by the way friends even reacted to her at times. But then I was like, people have no idea the strength that she has.” Lizzie’s strength is what has gotten Elena to where she is. “Just the amount that she has had to persevere through in life is something that I’ve been able to look to and use her as my guiding light,” Elena says. “You know, I play the game of basketball for a living, that’s pretty cool and I know

N I C A N TAYA / G E T T Y I M A G E S

games can be tough, practices can be hard, but the fight with life that she has had to get through—and she continues to wake with a big smile. For her to be that way has always been a motivation for [me] to get up every day and attack each day.” Think about the perspective that teaches anyone at any point in their lives, let alone a 10-year-old girl. Elena learned the meaning of the bigger picture before basketball was anything more than a hobby. Basketball is a game. Elena’s family is her life. That’s what has guided her through all of her tough decisions. After making her way back to basketball, the Elena Delle Donne effect was apparent anywhere and everywhere she played. She led the Delaware Blue Hens to back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances, and then later as a rookie in the WNBA, she led the Chicago Sky to its first-ever playoff appearance and eventual Finals appearance. But the difficult decisions were far from over for the 2015 MVP. After a successful four seasons in the Windy City, she made the request to be traded so she could be closer to home. Closer to Lizzie. “I think the way that I’m OK with whatever decision I make is that I know that the decision is right with my people,” Delle Donne says. “I don’t just decide on my own. My wife will certainly be in the decision process, so I know maybe this might not be popular, maybe other people aren’t going to love this, but this is right for us.” Unafraid to be unconventional. Forget the noise, forget what the world thinks. Do what’s best for you. Be Elena. That’s always been her approach. She landed in Washington. Mike Thibault was quietly putting together one of the best rosters in the League, adding Kristi Toliver, Emma Meesseman and Tayler Hill. Elena flourished. When you thought Delle Donne couldn’t get any better, she did. After being swept in the 2018 WNBA Finals, she came into the next season with the sole idea of bringing home the trophy burned into her mind. Already being one of the best shooters in the history of the game, she took it to a whole other level in 2019. She joined the 50-40-90 club. The first woman to ever shoot 50 percent from the floor, 40 percent from behind the arc and 90 percent from the free-throw line in a single season.

That season may have been one of the hardest she’s ever had, as she powered through injuries and setbacks, but there’s nothing she would change about it. “It was worth every sacrifice,” are the words Delle Donne chooses to describe that illustrious season. With the Cinderella year behind her, the next two years became about finding a way to get healthy again. And that’s been anything but easy. “The biggest mental challenge has been the timeline being affected so many different times, where I just wasn’t feeling better or feeling right and just moments of feeling like, Maybe I can’t get back.” It’s been a process rooted in patience, but even more importantly, in evolution. Finding a way to evolve her on-court routines in order to find a way back to the floor. It’s a shift in mentality that she hopes to apply to her new role as co-chair of the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness & Nutrition.

And now with the new season here, Delle Donne’s Mystics’ teammates are ready to share the ﬂoor with the star power forward once again. “I noticed that she’s a lot stronger,” Tianna Hawkins tells SLAM. “She’s a lot more aggressive offensively.” “She’s starting to look like herself, which is kind of crazy because with a back injury, it’s connected to everything,” Shatori Walker-Kimbrough adds. “I know some people may be expecting her to be a step slower, but to me she looks great.” These last few years have been some of the most taxing times of her life, but come this summer, the kid from Delaware is ready to re-inject the Elena Delle Donne effect into the Mystics squad. With her family by her side and a perspective on life built from all the challenges she’s faced, when it comes time to take that same deep breath and step onto the hardwood for the ﬁrst time in a while, she only has one thought come to mind: “It’s been a long time coming.” S

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There have been some bumps in the road for Pistons guard Cade

Cunningham during his rookie season, but he’s not giving them a second thought. Instead, he’s using the doubters as fuel to lock in as he works to turn the franchise around. W O R D S D E YSCH A SM I T H // P O R T R A I T S J O N AT H A N L E W I S 36 SL AMONLINE.COM

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or appreciate the season I had, or anything, but I didn’t win a lot of games. So, I think that’s been the biggest thing that I’ve locked in on and I decided within. I have to win games if I want people to respect my name, and if not, then I can’t be mad at people not watching enough games and how I really play. That’s the challenge that I’ve tried to take on. I’ve talked to teammates [and] we’re all trying to take that challenge on. I think that’s the next step for us.” Just a week before our interview, it was announced that his Montverde teammate, Scottie Barnes, had won Rookie of the Year. Cunningham, who led all rookies in scoring (17.4 ppg) and was second in assists (5.6 apg), ﬁnished third in voting behind Barnes and Cleveland’s Evan Mobley. He isn’t sweating the outcome, though. “Scottie is my brother, I’m

happy that he got that award. I feel like it’s great that it’s him, [my] Montverde teammate. I’m super excited [for him]. I mean, it’s never really been about that award for me. I’ve had a ton of questions asked about it, you know—Rookie of the Year, what do you think about you winning? So, I’ma answer the question, you know? I feel like I should win it. That’s natural. But it was never a knock on those guys. I love their game and I’m happy that now we can quiet that question down. Congrats to Scottie, man, I love my dog.” Cunningham’s own emergence this season, one which catapulted him into the running for ROY after missing all of the preseason and the ﬁrst four regular season games due to an ankle injury he suffered in training camp, is a conversation worth having. The expectations were

S T Y L I N G A S S I S TA N T: J O N AT H A N D R O R

T ’ S A L AT E A P R I L A F T E R noon, and Cade Cunningham is sitting on a black leather couch inside a sunny, white-walled studio in Los Angeles for his SLAM cover shoot. He’s in the midst of explaining what “Detroit vs Everybody” really means to him. It was already a thing, he says, when he arrived last summer as the No. 1 pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, and at first, he didn’t really understand what it meant. But when he tweeted the Motor City’s rallying cry last month, having just finished his rookie season, he wanted to make it clear to everyone in Detroit that he fully understands it now. “I just wanted to let the city know [that] I’m fully behind the message. I think the team is [too], at the same time. We’re trying to bring Detroit back on top in the sports world because that’s what we control, but Detroit got a lot of things going on. I think the city’s gonna continue to grow.” Moments earlier, Cunningham was dripped out in a furry, fire-engine red Des Pierrot coat, his Pistons City Edition uniform and a blinged out gold chain while posing for his cover. He was hip to the Detroit scene long before his arrival: he started listening to Detroit rap in high school, from 42 Dugg to Sada Baby, Babyface Ray and Veeze. He messes with the movies heavy, too. “I don’t know if you know about Buffed Up. It’s a little movie. Tough! See, I can put y’all on, fam! Y’all gotta watch McGraw Ave.” It’s crazy to think that there was a time, especially in the beginning, when many doubted Cunningham’s potential in the League. The hype was real coming in. As a senior in high school, he averaged 13.9 points and led Montverde Academy to a 25-0 record. At Oklahoma State, he averaged 20.1 ppg and led the Cowboys to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Despite the Pistons’ struggles this season, the 20-year-old rookie didn’t shy away from the moment. Some might have questioned him at first, but make no mistake now: Cade Cunningham is a certified superstar in the making. He’s had conversations with Pistons Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas about leadership and what it takes to bring a team together. He’s well aware, too, of what it’ll take to earn respect. “I think the biggest thing I learned is that the League, the media, nobody will care until you’re winning,” he tells SLAM. “I could feel bad for myself all I want about [how] people didn’t respect

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very high for him coming in, and while his debut was underwhelming—just 2 points against Orlando, followed by 6 against Milwaukee three nights later—even Pistons head coach Dwane Casey had made it clear during media day that Cade would need some time to get adjusted. Still, the media, and social media, reacted immediately. Some called him a flop and a bust. There were memes and tweets that claimed he should get traded. “I wanted to take it slow, but at the same time I was so anxious to hurry up and get out there for my first NBA game,” he says in retrospect. “It was a balancing act, [and] I think it was something that was definitely a lesson learned as far as who I am and my body. It taught me a lot of patience, for sure. I dreamed of being in the NBA, and to have my first game be a bit of a tease from me, like, You can’t play yet. But when it did come, I felt like all of that stuff was behind me.” He was well aware of what people were saying about him. When he became

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the first Pistons rookie to put up a double-double (18 points, 10 rebounds) in just his third career game, joining the elite company of Grant Hill and Isiah Thomas as the only Pistons rooks to do so, everyone had something to say about how he was shooting 17.9 percent from the field at the time. The reality was that, in the beginning, he was just as hard on himself. “I think I was bothered with myself more than anything, just because I wasn’t playing the way that I had expected myself to play, where I dreamt of coming into the NBA and playing. Everybody comes in and dreams of dropping 35 in their first game and everybody’s shocked. You know, everybody dreams of that. Whenever I got into the League and I played and that didn’t happen—I scored one bucket my first game—you just kind of take it for what it is and then move on. Hope that things get better. Not even hope but make sure that they do.” His teammates, coaches and family

continued to reassure him that he was straight. Keep going, keep pushing, they’d tell him. Keep being aggressive. He put up 17 points against Brooklyn in November, showing off his court vision and shot-making ability, and earning props from Kevin Durant, who has known him since high school. The narrative was starting to shift. Headlines went from calling him on the “wrong side of history” and “struggling early” to suggesting that he could take over for Detroit. A week later, he had 25/8/8 and hit ﬁve threes against the Kings to become the youngest player (20 years, 51 days) in League history with that stat line. “I think anybody that says, I didn’t hear it, that’s cap,” Cunningham says. “But, I try not to put too much weight on [it] whenever I’m playing well, and everybody’s praising me—the same way as I try not to put too much weight around when people are hating, because at any time you have a good game, people are gonna love [you and] when you have a bad game, people are gonna hate you. You can’t put too much of your feelings into that, the Twitter game, Instagram, whatever it is, because it’s not gonna help me on the court. I just tried to lock into what the locker room needed, what they wanted. I think just keeping my mind in the right place allowed me to end up turning the corner.” Rather than get caught up in the outside noise, good or bad, he looked inward. Cunningham, who has been practicing yoga since last summer, is big on meditation. He does it daily, even multiple times a day, but it really started as something he did before games. “I think it’s really helped me. Anytime that I feel like I need to kind of reset, I can do it in the moment a little bit. “In some of these instances, it feels like there’s really nothing you can do to fully take it off—the anxiety of going into a big game,” he adds. “Sometimes it’s impossible to relieve that. But, I mean, that’s what we asked for. That’s what I asked for, to be in the NBA, to be in these moments. I try not to just completely shy away from those times, where I’m like, you know, my head is all over the place. And you know what happens whenever you go into games feeling like that, so, just trying to tune that stuff out. And then, like I said, just locking in to who I am and being unapologetic about what I look like out there.” Even during a 14-game losing stretch, the 6-7 guard continued to show ﬂashes of his potential. A triple-double, his ca-

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reer’s ﬁrst, against the Lakers, 26 points against Portland, 28 against OKC. The losing not only tested him and the team, but looking back, he says it will only prepare them moving forward. “What we [were] going through in that time, mentally, emotionally, having to get through that and overcome that, as a team, I feel like that’ll set us up for [dealing with] the adversity that we’ll run into in the future. I had never went through anything like that, losing. I feel like it taught me a lot about myself and how I can lock back in and get back on the right track.” The wins, few as they were, did start to come. He was clutch in an upset against the Celtics, dropping 20 points and helping deliver a crucial block on Jaylen Brown in the ﬁnal seconds to end Boston’s nine-game winning streak. He pulled up to All-Star Weekend and won MVP of the Rising Stars Game. In March, the Pistons went on a three-

game winning streak, their ﬁrst in three years. Even after a loss to the Nets, Cade matched his own career-high of 34 points. When a reporter pointed out the Pistons’ struggles to KD, he clapped back. “What do you mean, a team like Detroit?” Durant asked. “I know their record isn’t good, but they’ve still got pros over there.” He had some more words about Cade, too. “When you got a 6-7 point guard, it’s a good start…Somebody that can wreck a whole defensive game plan with his size, his talent, his skill…I could see this team being a force to be reckoned with in the future.” Legends have shown him love. The whole city is rockin’ with him. The excitement is building around not only the team, but Cunningham as the face of the franchise. He has a few things planned this offseason as he trains for year 2: taking care of his body, getting stronger in the weight room and packing on some protein (he’s vegan). He recently took a

trip up to Joshua Tree in Cali and plans on taking his daughter Riley to Disney World for the ﬁrst time. (Riley, who was born during his senior year of HS, loves princesses.) Fatherhood, he goes on to say, has taught him that he’s not just doing this for himself, but for her, too. “I had her in high school and [she] changed my whole lens on life, really,” he says, adding, “I know that I’m doing everything for a greater purpose now.” And even when he’s felt like it’s Cade versus everyone, he knows that this is just the beginning. The Pistons put up more wins this season than they have in the past three years, and their young core of Saddiq Bey, Isaiah Stewart and Killian Hayes all averaged career-highs in their second seasons. Jerami Grant averaged almost 20 ppg. The come-up is real. “Within, I think it’s me versus everybody, but I got a squad behind me, too. It’s us versus everybody.” S

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Once a slept-on second-round draft pick despite having accumulated a couple of national titles and claiming POY at Villanova, JALEN

BRUNSON is now the second-leading scorer for the Dallas Mavericks and about to be a highly sought-after name in the free agency market this summer. That’s what staying true to the grind will do for you.

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T’S THE NIGHT BEFORE the Mavs play the Nets, and Jalen Brunson is sitting in a dimly lit room in Manhattan. It’s mid-March, and the 6-1 guard is having the best season of his life, averaging career highs in every major category. Yet, when asked about it, he says that he doesn’t think about it. He’s too focused on the next goal. “I don’t think about [how] I’m averaging career-highs. I know people always say it. How’s it feel? I’m just trying to be me. Obviously, what I’m doing is good, but the best thing is I know I could be doing better. That’s the part that keeps me hungry.” What exactly does better look like for the Mavericks’ second-leading scorer? “I’ll know when I get there,” he says. Until then, it’s all about staying prepared. There’s nothing flashy about the grind, or about Jalen. At his SLAM photo shoot, he keeps it simple, rocking a few Nike sweatsuits. In between takes, he chops it up about how he’s a big movie guy and dishes a few takes about The Batman. When the question about where his confidence comes from is asked, there’s no ego to his answer. “My work ethic,” he says. Simple. His father Rick pushed and demanded it out of him. Jalen watched his dad constantly work during his own 12-year pro career. He trained relentlessly, too. Jalen says Rick would run in the summer heat wearing a sweat jacket, and at 7 years old, he’d be there, riding his bike alongside him. “I didn’t really understand it, I thought it was just what he did,” he says. “Seeing what people do now in their free time, versus what my dad did, I’m like, Damn. He did all that and he was in the League for nine years, overseas, CBA and never had a guaranteed contract.” Jalen’s become committed to his routine, which has pretty much stayed the same, whether he’s starting or playing fewer minutes: shooting the night before games, getting in his conditioning, eating at certain times, taking a nap (if time permits) and dialing in on the task ahead. Brunson has always been routine-oriented. He grew up watching how Rick would get ready for games, and at 2 years old, would mimic him. According to his mother Sandra, there’d be a “full-court” set up in his grandparents kitchen and living room with Knicks stickers taped on their hardwood floors [Rick played for the Knicks for a couple of years at that time— Ed.]. A young Jalen would pack all his gear into a duffel bag, put on a blazer or vest and say, Mom, I’m going to my game.

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He would then walk through the house, put on his sneakers and do exactly what he does now in the L—go to work. He’d copy moves he saw players do, including Rick’s then-Knicks teammate Allan Houston. “I just like knowing what I’m getting myself into. I’m one of those guys that if you ﬁnd a good restaurant, I could eat at that restaurant every time we go out,” Brunson says of being routine-oriented. “I think that gets your mind right. Once you’re in that zone of doing what you got to do to be ready for the game, it takes the thought process out of worrying about other things. If I’m in that routine, I’m not thinking about anything. My mind is just free.” It was Sandra who taught him the art

of goal-setting. While Rick was working in Charlotte as an assistant with the Bobcats, the family lived in Illinois. Sandra wanted Jalen and his sister to have a way to focus on themselves and their own goals, rather than on why their father wasn’t there or how long he’d be gone. School began and Sandra would ask, What are your goals this year? What do you want to do? Jalen started getting creative and would draft them on the computer and hang them around his room. “I told him, It’s great to have goals and dreams but let’s stick with realistic goals. Let’s not think about down the road, like, Oh, I want to be in the NBA. That’s great. But let’s think about 10th grade. What do you want to do?”

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That year, Brunson led Stevenson HS to a state championship, and by his junior year, the ﬁve-star recruit was averaging 26.1 ppg and was named Illinois Gatorade Player of the Year. When Villanova coach Jay Wright came for a visit, Sandra recalls him noticing the goals taped up. In Brunson’s junior year at Villanova, he typed up his academic and athletic goals. He added on-court images of himself and then wrote his goals in an all-caps, bold white font. On the left were his academic goals: graduating in the summer of 2018 and making the All-American, Big East and Big Five Academic teams. On the right were his athletic goals, speciﬁc and performance-based: First-Team All American,

All-Big East, All-Big Five, as well as conference regular season and tournament champions, and winning a Championship. He then sent Sandra the picture of those goals on the wall to prove to her that he actually did them. She still has the picture on her phone, which she shared with SLAM via text mid-interview. “That’s how I measure myself. I see these goals, and [how] I’m going to get there,” Brunson explains. “They’re mostly short term. I have long term goals of course, but that’s how I measure myself.” Preparedness, consistency and staying true to himself and the work have become the foundational fabrics to his approach. It’s how he solidiﬁed himself as one of

the best guards ever to suit up for the Wildcats, but even then, Brunson wanted more. “I was a version of myself, I guess I technically didn’t know I had. I always knew I was good, playing the post, but we really used it as a weapon. I would say that where I was then was a perfect place, because I knew that I had accomplished a lot, I did a lot [and] was successful, but I knew I had so much more room to grow.” When he came into the L as a rookie, Brunson found himself having to work his way up. He averaged just 9.3 points in 21.8 minutes of action. “That’s something I’ve done at every stage in my career, high school, college and the pros. I have no problem with it, and honestly, it makes me better. It makes me hungry. I’m always trying to find ways to improve. I just knew that whenever I got my opportunity, I was gonna make the most of it.” Now in his fourth year, Brunson’s pursuit of consistency has put him in the starting lineup, averaging 16.3 ppg in 61 regular season starts. When the team needed him the most, Brunson more than delivered. During a 10-game stretch in December, when many teammates, including Luka Doncic, were out due to injuries and Covid protocols, he averaged 21 ppg while shooting 51.3 percent from the field. “That’s when it really clicked. I had some good games in the beginning of the year, but I think that stretch kind of solidified how people view me. My coaches know, my teammates know, and that’s all I really care about, [but] I guess people started to see and take notice.” Rather than ride the wave of a good game, or in his case, the best season of his career so far, Brunson says that for him, it’s the standard. “Staying consistent with work, and obviously a little more opportunity helps, [but] I think being able to have [Jason] Kidd as a coach really helped me understand things that I thought I knew. He’s pushed me, he expects the best out of me. I appreciate that, because it doesn’t keep me satisfied. That’s how my dad was, just always wanting more, more, more.” As we go to press, Brunson is putting in work in the playoffs. In the first round against the Jazz, he went off for 41 points in Game 2 and then dropped 31 in Game 3. He’s focusing on what he can control, and his family’s saying, The magic is in the work, often runs through his head. He even wears it on two bracelets. “You’ve got to be consistent with what you’re putting out there on the court, but most importantly, keep your routine, keep having the same mentality [and] doing the things that have gotten you here.” S

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UNC guard DEJA KELLY has taken full advantage of NIL opportunities, doing deals with national brands like Dunkin’ and Outback Steakhouse. But it’s on the court where Kelly’s real business is conducted. After leading her Tar Heels to the Sweet 16 for the first time in seven years in March, she’s ready to run it back this fall.

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needed to be made, which she was ready to take on at a young age with the wise counsel of her mother, Theresa Dunn, who offered a blueprint that would later make most of her wildest aspirations come to life. “I started elevating my training [in] like fourth, fifth grade, so about that time was when I kind of started having to make a lot of sacrifices, you know, as a younger kid, just because I knew the goals that I had for myself,” Kelly recalls. “I knew that I really had love for the game because I was willing to sacrifice fun stuff. I knew that I wanted to be great one day and that was gonna take a lot of sacrifices, so I told my mom like this, These are my goals—McDonald’s All American, Jordan Brand All

DAV ID J EN S EN / I C O N S P O R T S W IR E V I A G E T T Y IM AG E S

you’ve got a bigger person on me, whether you put a smaller person on me, whether you’re chopping me, whether you’re double-teaming, face guarding, anything like that. I think my IQ is so high that I figure out how to get around that and I still figure out how to score, still figure out how to get my team involved, or still figure out how to win. I think I use my IQ to my advantage. It’s hard to beat. It’s hard to guard.” It’s not cockiness. It’s just pure swagger. The type of swagger she’s had since her early days holding a basketball. College recruitment had been on Kelly’s mind ever since fifth grade, when she began seriously pursuing hoops and started elevating her game to prepare for the next levels. Plenty of sacrifices

American, get my first college offer by eighth grade, be top 20 in my class in the country. Like, those are all my goals at such a young age and she sat me down and was like, OK, if you want to achieve all of these, you’re gonna have to sacrifice a lot, You’re gonna have to work harder than anybody else.” Although Kelly was granted the opportunity to be mentored by influential people around the world of basketball (such as John Lucas and Jason Terry, whom she played for during her junior year of club basketball), her mom has always been the biggest of them all. She credits her mom for her work ethic, versatility, IQ and film study sessions, and for assisting in growing Kelly’s brand beyond the court.

“My relationship with my mom is different,” Kelly says. “I think a lot of kids have their parents as coaches, trainers and things like that, but sometimes that messes with their off-the-court relationship. Like, she’s literally like my best friend. She’s my ride or die, my biggest supporter, my biggest critic, she’s everything in one. And to have that in a mom is so special, and that’s something you can’t take for granted. There’s not enough thank yous in the world that I can give her, but it’s amazing how much she cares [and] how much she just wants me to be great. And she will do anything that she can to help me do so. She’ll do anything she can to help me reach my goals. She’ll go make 100 phone calls if she has to.”

With her mother’s wisdom and extra push, Kelly is poised to lead UNC to a Final Four appearance and beyond. Not so out-of-reach for someone who has already spoken almost every one of her accomplishments into existence. She earned First-Team All-ACC after ranking fourth in the conference in scoring this past season, averaging a team-best 16.5 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.6 assists, while also leading the ACC in free-throw percentage (85.8 percent). Showing that she’s able to tap into a new level when the lights are the brightest, Kelly averaged 22 points during her three NCAA Tournament games. As she continues to elevate on the court and in front of the camera as a sports broadcaster for Sports Xtra, UNC’s weekly student-led sports show via its Hussman School of Journalism and Media, she hopes to build a legacy that cements her name among the many other greats who have stepped onto the hardwood at UNC. “Where I want to see myself in this game is just someone who was an inspiration. I think even now, getting little messages from these little girls that are playing, telling me that they watch every single one of my games and they want my jersey and [that] I’m an inspiration to them, like, that is what I’m doing it for, because I’m building for the next generation,” Kelly says. “I want them to just think of Deja Kelly as an inspiration and seeing [that] what I’m doing they can do, too. I want to make that known to everyone that’s watching me, that follows me, that likes watching me play. By the time I’m done playing, I think that’s truly special, just as a player, as a person, to know that you did your job, you left the next generation excited about what’s to come about their future because they see that you could do it and that you are going about it in a certain way that not a lot of people do. “And the legacy I want to leave, I mean, it’s pretty much that people know me as Deja Kelly. I want to be tied with these banners. I want my number out there. I want people, when they hear Carolina Basketball, to tie me on with the Ivory Lattas, the Charlotte Smiths, Michael Jordans—I mean, like, that is Carolina Basketball. And I want people to know that I did everything I could. “I think that I’m on the right path to do so. So, that’s exciting, but I got to win a national championship. We’re so close.” S

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SCOT TIE BARNES Toronto Raptors

J E S S E D. GA R R A B R A N T/ N B A E V I A G E T T Y I M AG E S

JOEL EMBIID Philadelphia 76ers

VAU G H N R I D L E Y/ N B A E V I A G E T T Y I M A G E S

ELIZABETH AND MARK WILLIAMS have been speaking this moment into existence for a while. As Mark prepares for the NBA Draft and Elizabeth gets ready for her debut with the Washington Mystics, the siblings are finally living out their dreams, together. WORDS JARED EBANKS time she was 11, she’d fallen for the rhythm and beauty of the game while sending the ball out of bounds left and right at AAU tourneys. She started working with current Rutgers assistant Nadine Domond around that same time and by 13, she was putting down dunks with ease. Years spent in the gym honing her bag with Domond culminated in a life-changing letter from one of the best programs in the country—a scholarship offer to join the Tennessee Lady Vols. “It was like, Whoa, like, this is legit. Like, this is for real. And everything that we had talked about was kind of coming into fruition,” Elizabeth tells SLAM on a late-April call from Turkey, where she’s playing for Fenerbahce Saﬁport. When it came time for her college commitment, Elizabeth wanted

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9-year-old Mark to be a part of the process. She knew that she didn’t want to take the traditional route of announcing her pick by selecting a hat, so she instructed her younger brother to wear a Duke shirt underneath his hoodie. After she said those six magic words, “The school I’m going to is…” Mark would unzip his jacket to reveal the school of her choosing printed across his chest. Both of them ﬂ ash that signature grin as soon as the memory is refreshed in their minds. “He was so excited to do it. He was like, Yes, this is perfect! He was so hype,” Elizabeth recalls. “And so, as soon as he stood up, his face lit up. And I was like, Yes. Because I just wanted that moment for him.” When it was Mark’s time to choose

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his next destination after ﬁnishing up at IMG, where he was ranked as the nation’s sixth-best center, the outside pressure for him to follow his older sister was persistent, but E stayed neutral, pushing her brother to make the decision for him, for his game and his legacy. This was his journey. “She didn’t do too much persuading,”

Mark says. “She really let me try to ﬁgure it out on my own.” The likelihood of playing on the same court that your sister once dominated is slim to none. But Mark earned that reality as ESPN’s No. 32 overall ranked recruit in the Class of 2020 and a McDonald’s All American after years of seeing his older sis display the best ways

to contribute to a team’s success. “Whether it’s scoring, whether it’s blocking shots, whether it’s rebounding, whatever it was,” Mark adds. Hooping under his sister’s retired jersey at Cameron for the past two years (Elizabeth played at Duke from 2011-15 and had her jersey raised in 2016), Mark brought the same defensive ﬂair and

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dominance to Durham that Elizabeth did. Behind a conference-best 110 swats, Mark enacted one of the most dominant displays of interior mastery in recent memory, averaging 11.2 points, 7.4 rebounds and a fifth-best in the nation 2.8 blocks per game, while shooting 72 percent from the floor. Things weren’t always peaches and cream as a Blue Devil, however, as Elizabeth remembers Mark embracing the struggles of fighting for playing time on a stacked roster as a freshman. She was tactical in her advice, trusting the teachings of legendary coach Mike Krzyzewski and his staff, but also providing insight into how his vulnerability with the program could yield the

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results he was looking for. “Sometimes it takes a little bit of time and a little bit of getting through the dirt. And I think even having conversations with him, seeing his mindset change his sophomore year, and being more consistent and trusting that his work was paying off, I think that’s what was cool to see,” Elizabeth says. At 28 (Elizabeth) and 20 (Mark), the eight-year age gap that once separated their interests has since fostered more mature, impactful conversations about the situations the two now ﬁnd themselves in. “I can ask her about a bunch of stuff that applies to her now that I haven’t really experienced yet,” says Mark.

One constant, however, has never faded: the siblings’ love for snatching the ball out of the air in the blink of an eye. Considered one of the best post players to ever play in the Bull City, Elizabeth—the 2015 National Defensive Player of the Year—was drafted fourth overall in the WNBA Draft that same year. While the siblings struggled to find their footing in the first year within their respective spaces, the Williams family isn’t one to lull around in any predicament they find themselves in. Months before her sophomore season, Elizabeth was dealt to the Atlanta Dream, where she began her resurgence—ranking sixth in the W with 41 blocks, averaging a career-best 11.9

points and 8.1 rebounds per game and ultimately being named the 2016 Most Improved Player. Four years later, she’d ﬁnally be named to her ﬁrst All-Defensive team despite ranking sixth in the W’s history and third among current players with a career average of 1.7 blocks per game. “Whenever my brother gets a block, too, I get so excited because I’m like, Yes, this is you! This is your pride! It’s such a big part of the game. A block can change the game just as much as a big three, so I love that,” says Elizabeth.

has yielded undeniable growth, as the bond between the siblings has never been stronger. “Just seeing how much we’ve grown and connected these past couple years has been just really fun, honestly, and I’m grateful for it,” Elizabeth says. “He knows he could text me whenever, I’ll answer.” As two siblings who fell in love with the smooth pebble grain of the ball at an early age, Mark says the conversations as of late have been ﬁlled with hoops. With Mark’s dream of becoming an NBA player just weeks away, E can’t help but prod her baby bro about how he sees himself indulging in the lifestyle of a professional athlete. From

the first whip he’s gonna buy to the fit he’s gonna be wearing on draft night—expect a suave look with some flair from the 7-footer—the fun part of the siblings’ next chapter is starting to be realized. “Like, how cool is it that my brother is about to be drafted to the NBA? Like, that’s freaking dope,” says Elizabeth. “I watch the NBA, [and] he’s about to be in there. And I’m in the W [and] he’s watching me. Like, what is this? It’s kind of mindblowing.” “I don’t think it’s gonna hit me ’til draft night but, yeah, it’s crazy,” Mark adds. “Now that I’m a part of that, it’s special. It’s pretty cool to be able to say, Yeah, my sister’s a pro, too.” S

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2022 SLAM ALL-AMERICANS

Clockwise from top left: Amari, Dereck, Kyle, Nick, Keyonte and Dariq

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After a two-year hiatus (due to Covid), we were ﬁnally able to do a proper All-American shoot this year. And trust us, this group’s talent on the court and swagger off it more than makes up for the break.

Clockwise from top left: Flau’jae, Maya, Lauren, Janiah, Paris and Kiki

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His time is now. Moving from Chicago to the bright lights of Sierra Canyon in Los Angeles, Amari Bailey has been a staple for the Trailblazers in his four years with the program. A state champion, gold medalist, McDonald’s All American—there’s not much else for Bailey to achieve. That is, until he goes across town to UCLA’s campus, where he will look to elevate the excellence of Mick Cronin’s program in the hills.

Modern day basketball loves Kyle Filipowski. Whether you need a bucket, a dime from the top of the key or a defensive stop, the big man can do all of the above and more. Son of former Parade All American and Long Beach State center Rebecca (Hagerdon) Filipowski, Kyle was born into basketball, like his brother Matt, who will play for Harvard in the fall. Kyle will head to Durham to form a frightening frontcourt duo with Dereck Lively.

He’s one of one. Keyonte George is a crafty guard who can score on all three levels at will. Just ask those who he gave buckets to at the 2021 FIBA 3x3 U18 World Cup tournament en route to a gold medal. He’ll be heading to Baylor this fall to join Scott Drew’s squad with the hopes of raising a different type of gold next spring.

Seven-footers shouldn’t move like this. Then again, basketball runs through Dereck Lively’s blood. His mother, Kathy Drysdale, was a 1,000-point scorer at Penn State University. His hooper genes helped him go from a 7-year-old hesitant to play basketball to one of the top prospects in his class. After an outstanding high school career, he’ll be the anchor down low for a new era of Duke basketball post-Coach K. Housing a winner’s heart, Lively is sure to make some noise with the Blue Devils.

Hometown legends live forever. Nick Smith Jr will be no exception to this rule, as the Arkansas born-and-raised hooper will join Eric Musselman’s squad at the University of Arkansas in the fall. Smith Jr has had a proliﬁc senior year, capturing the 6A Arkansas State Championship, being named a McDonald’s All American and winning the 2022 Jordan Brand Classic MVP, along with many others. Simply put, this kid will give opposing teams nightmares for years to come.

Watch your head. Newark’s Dariq Whitehead is an uber-athletic wing destined to break his family’s football traditions. All of his older siblings played football, and his brother Tahir has played 10 years in the NFL. However, at 13 years old, Dariq made the difﬁcult decision to attend Montverde Academy and commit to basketball full-time. Since then, he’s won two national championships and was named the 2022 Naismith HS Player of the Year and the 2022 McDonald’s All American Game MVP. Whitehead will look to continue his winning ways at Duke this fall.

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A unique talent. Just because Janiah Barker’s one of the biggest people on the court, don’t expect her to stay in the post. The dynamic two-time FIBA gold medalist can do it all between the lines. Her elite game was on full display when she led Montverde Academy to the GEICO Nationals championship this past April. Barker is heading down to Texas A&M to join Joni Taylor’s ﬁrst year in the Lone Star State.

Towering over the competition, Lauren Betts, the near-consensus No. 1 overall prospect of her class, has a list of accomplishments that far outgrew her frame. Two-time FIBA gold medalist, state champion, two-time Gatorade Colorado Player of the Year—the list goes on. She’ll join a loaded Stanford roster in the fall, teaming up with fellow Colorado hoopers Francesca Belibi and Ashten Prechtel.

Never doubt New York basketball. Bronx-born Paris Clark has been balling for the Lady Crusaders at Long Island Lutheran, earning herself national recognition. McDonald’s All American, an invite to the Jordan Brand Classic, New York’s Gatorade Player of the Year—you name it, Clark’s done it. But don’t let her reserved personality fool you, she’s one hell of a player. Clark’s taking that New York swag to Arizona, joined by fellow SLAM All-American Maya Nnaji.

Poetry in both arenas. Not only is Flau’jae Johnson a rapper who’s accumulated over 3.7 million views on YouTube and signed a distribution deal with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation, she’s also a poetic hooper. Earning MVP at the Jordan Brand Classic, she proved to those who know her for her music that she’s more than just a rapper. Johnson is now headed to LSU to join Kim Mulkey’s ascending squad.

A dual-threat on and off the court, Maya Nnaji is an aspiring doctor currently enrolled in Arizona’s Accelerated Pathway to Medical Education and a trustee in the Nnaji Family Foundation, which builds basketball courts and educational hubs across Nigeria. However, don’t let Nnaji’s off-the-court kindness fool you—she’ll cross you over eight different ways and leave you in the wind. A three-time state champion in high school, Nnaji will be headed to Arizona to continue adding to her otherworldly résumé.

A natural-born phenom. Kiki Rice has brought winning wherever she goes. She’s a two-time state champion in soccer, a two-time FIBA gold medalist and has racked up countless individual awards in basketball, including both the Gatorade and Naismith National Player of the Year awards. Looking to compete for a national championship all four years of college, she chose to attend UCLA this fall. Can the California-born bucket do just that? It wouldn’t be wise to bet against her.

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Led by Kevin Boyle and boasting an alumni list that includes NBA All-Stars and the latest Rookie of the Year, Montverde Academy has proven time and time again that they are one of the elite programs in the nation. WORDS RYAN JONES

standard. Somebody to bring in—and develop—that talent. Oh, and one more thing: When it comes to the people within such programs, particularly the head coach, there’s a very strong tendency toward obsessiveness. You can ﬁnd a prime example just outside of Orlando, FL, where a certain private school has become arguably the most successful program—and the most productive pipeline of NBA talent—in the world. Joel Embiid. D’Angelo Russell. RJ Barrett. Ben Simmons. 2022 Rookie of the Year Scottie Barnes. All-Rookie First Team member Cade Cunningham. The list goes on. If you know Montverde Academy, it’s probably because of those players. But the program isn’t the

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program, and the players don’t come, if not for the intensity and focus of head coach Kevin Boyle. Ask Cunningham, the young Detroit Pistons star and former Montverde standout, what he remembers most about his coach, and you’ll get a succinct answer that speaks volumes. “Off the court,” Cunningham says, “Coach Boyle is 100 percent about what’s going on on the court.” He laughs, but the point stands. You don’t get to this level, and then stay on this level, by only going hard most of the time. Montverde is one of those programs, and the standard Boyle has set has everything to do with its endless inﬂux of NBA-caliber talent and the culture those players thrive in.

Barnes, Class of 2020

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There are lots of ways to measure success, and—in Montverde’s case—a slew of numbers that set the program apart. You can start with the record. Since Boyle’s arrival in 2011, Montverde has posted a 288-24 mark. Rings? They’re running out of fingers. Officially, Montverde has claimed six GEICO Nationals championships, including the 2022 tournament title back in April. And the 2020 squad was 25-0 and the consensus No. 1 team in the nation before Covid brought a premature end to what likely would’ve been another title run. And then there are the players. Four of the past eight Naismith national high school players of the year have come through Boyle’s program, and since his arrival, the program has placed dozens of players in Division I college programs. Montverde has also produced a gang of NBA Draft picks, including more first-round picks than all but a handful of college programs. And the résumé is only getting more impressive. Looking back at his 2020 team, which staked an undeniable claim to the mythical national championship and produced a pair of future first-round picks, Boyle is matter of fact in his assessment that it was “perhaps the greatest high school team ever.” They’ve got a hell of a case. The secrets to that success are anything but; the ingredients are easy enough to identify. It’s just that few have put them together as successfully as Boyle and his staff at Montverde. “I think number one, we have a really good culture at the school in general,” Boyle says of the 130-acre campus. “It’s a really good academic school, and all the kids at the school have a plan for

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what they’re trying to achieve, whether it’s basketball, soccer, swimming, the arts, robotics, you name it. There’s a maturity on campus—when we instill our culture as a program, it helps that the school also has a good culture.” That program culture comes with benefits—first-class facilities, a schedule that includes virtually every other elite prep school program in the country, regular appearances on ESPN—and of course, every alumni NBA success story is a draw for the next class of future pros. But at the end of the day, all of that is more about the payoff than the work. The grind is where the culture is instilled and reinforced, and where all that talent is sharpened. That’s where you find the heart of the program. “The structure is the selling point,” Boyle says. “That’s why so many of our guys immediately excel in college, and so many of them excel in the NBA.” Montverde is a program with lots of rules and at least as many expectations. “If you miss a homework assignment, we know about it within an hour,” Boyle says. Needless to say, that level of accountability is matched in the gym. Reaching for a recent example, Boyle cites Dariq Whitehead, the Duke-bound star of this past season’s national title squad, who lost his starting spot for a couple of games last season because, in the coach’s words, “He was getting lackadaisical. He was distracted by college stuff, NIL, all that. We have those conversations all the time with the guys—you gotta be where you are if you want to get where you’re going. There’s not going to be any corners cut.”

Boyle

P R E V I O U S S P R E A D : M I C H A E L R E AV E S / G E T T Y I M A G E S ; T H I S S P R E A D F R O M L E F T: S T E V E N R YA N ( 2 ) / G E T T Y IM AG E S ; J O HN J O NE S / I C O N S P O R T S W IR E V I A G E T T Y IM AG E S ; M I CH A EL R E AV E S /G E T T Y IM AG E S

Achiuwa, Class of 2019

The coaches know that motivation comes in different forms. Boyle and his staff—including assistants Rae Miller, who’s been with Boyle for 30 years, and his son, Kevin Boyle Jr, whom he credits with playing a huge role in the development of Barrett, the New York Knicks star and 2018 Montverde alum—put heavy emphasis on ﬁlm work, especially when there’s a chance to compare their players to pros with similar skill sets. “They see the guys they look up to doing it correctly,” Boyle says, “then they’re hearing it from us in practice, and then seeing it again on video.” Of course, there’s a ﬂipside to that approach: The examples of players with just as much natural talent who failed to realize their potential. “We’re constantly going through guys who were ranked high but didn’t make it, who didn’t have successful careers,” Boyle adds. The message doesn’t need much elaboration. The corners can’t be cut. Buy-in is essential at all levels. It’s a given that future pros are supposed to put up gaudy numbers at the prep level, but that often doesn’t play out at a program as stacked as Montverde. Boyle references that 2020 squad, on which none of the team’s four soon-to-be

Whitehead, Class of 2022

ﬁrst-round draft picks averaged more than 14 ppg. “I think Scottie [Barnes] averaged 11 a game,” the coach says. “They all bought into the daily competition that makes you better.” His peers—by which we mostly don’t mean other high school coaches, basically none of whom can come close to matching his résumé—appreciate what makes Boyle’s program so dominant. It’s the same mix of standards and culture they prioritize themselves. “Kevin runs his high school program like an elite college program,” says Jay Wright, the recently retired two-time national champ at Villanova and Basketball Hall of Famer. “His skill development for guys on and off the court is phenomenal. That’s why he always has one of the top teams in the country.” Added Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, when asked about Boyle at a press conference last season, “I think Kevin’s one of the outstanding coaches in the country—forget about high school, prep school, college or pro. They produced

Cunningham, Class of 2020

more lottery picks last year than any college. He knows what the heck he’s doing.” It had to start somewhere, and for Boyle, it started in New Jersey. That’s where he turned St. Patrick (NJ) High into a national power and helped develop the likes of Al Harrington, Shaheen Holloway, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Kyrie Irving in his more than two decades in charge. Boyle cites Michael Frazier II as the guy who made the strongest impression when he ﬁrst made the move to Montverde—a player whose dedication and work ethic helped establish his culture. Frazier’s name might not be one you remember, but his impact speaks to the qualities that matter most to Boyle. “Michael Kidd-Gilchrist had an NBA career because he played so hard; I think he overachieved because he was such a competitor. He set a great tone for us as a program,” Boyle says. “Al Harrington was another guy, just an incredible competitor—lived in the gym, wanted to get better.” Boyle has no shortage of big names

to drop, particularly from his decadeplus at Montverde. But that’s not really the point. “One of the most rewarding teams of my career was coaching St. Joe’s grammar school in Roselle, New Jersey,” he says. The names matter because he wants to win, and NBA talent makes it a lot easier to win at any level. But, ultimately, it’s about helping guys maximize their talent, whatever their ceiling might be. It’s that mindset that makes it easier to hold his players accountable, whether they’re future pros or simply the very good high school players who ﬁll out his rosters each season. “We’ve been here 11 years, I was at St. Pat’s for 24 years, so I’m not worried about coaching somebody honestly and pushing them hard,” Boyle says. “You tell me you want to be a pro, you understand you’ve got to do A, B and C to get there, and then we hold you accountable. Usually, if you communicate that, they understand. They trust it. They look at all these guys making 20, 30 million a year, and they wouldn’t go anywhere else.” S

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ONE DONE PRESENTS

King Saladeen ‘N

Philly native KING

SALADEEN is combining his passion for hoops and artistry in his latest piece, a collaboration with SLAM that pays homage to his hometown hero with an elite collectible

WORDS ALEX SQUADRON PORTRAITS JONATHAN LEWIS 64 SL AMONLINE.COM

E STI LL RE MEMB ER S the moment. Raheem Saladeen Johnson, aka King Saladeen, still remembers where he was sitting. He remembers the energy of the crowd. He remembers the actual move, of course. He remembers being at school the next day, when he got to proudly tell his friends that he was there when Allen Iverson crossed Michael Jordan. Recounting that moment today, Sala-

deen gets chills. It has stuck with him for 25 years. And now, with the SLAM x King Saladeen “Bear Season Basketball Card” collaboration, it’s come full circle. As a hooper growing up in Philly, Saladeen naturally looked up to Iverson. He went on to play college basketball himself before turning his attention to another lifelong passion: art. Even in that world, AI served as inspiration—to be unique and fearless, to strive for the best, to refuse to be boxed in. King Saladeen was also inspired by his

P R O D U C T: B Y R O N R I G G S

basketball card.

late friend John JP Thompson, who was the ﬁrst person to encourage him to pursue a career as an artist. Thompson tragically passed away in 2013 after a battle with brain cancer, but Saladeen continues to honor him through his work. His signature creative, which has been included in numerous collaborations and exhibited all around the world, is the well-known “JP the Money Bear.” Since launching his art group in 2011, Saladeen has partnered with brands such as Jordan, Topps, eBay and the NFL,

designing ﬁne art, toys and collectibles, clothing and more. Having worked on baseball cards and football apparel, Saladeen was waiting for the right opportunity to spotlight basketball— his favorite sport—in a piece. Then SLAM called. The “Bear Season Basketball Card” celebrates that iconic moment when rookie AI crossed Mike, incorporating JP the Money Bear and paying homage to the city of Philadelphia. The court beneath AI’s feet is split in two to reﬂect

how the Sixers legend “broke the mold on what a basketball player is supposed to look like—what success is supposed to look like,” as Saladeen explains. “I haven’t really had too many projects other than just me doing my paintings and my work [where] I can really express myself fully and it’s 100 percent something that I love,” he continues. “Basketball, and AI, and Philadelphia, and SLAM, and JP the Money Bear—that’s a championship right there. That’s crazy. That’s like my life in a card.” S

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After a season at IMG Academy in Florida, top-10 recruit KEYONTE GEORGE is heading home to Texas to play for Scott Drew and the Baylor Bears.

W O R D S RYA N J O N ES // P O R T R A I T S JON LOPEZ

T T O O K B A S I C A L LY N O time for the SLAM Summer Classic to establish itself as an essential stop on the summer hoop circuit. That’s mostly due to the on-court skills displayed by the nation’s best high school hoopers in the mecca of streetball. But for the players themselves, it’s also the chance to connect with other elite prospects in a unique environment that provides a rare opportunity to build. For 6-4, 190-pound guard Keyonte George, it was a connection made with Jarace Walker, his Summer Classic roommate, that helped solidify the next step in his basketball progression. “Going into my senior year, I didn’t expect to leave home at all,” the Lewisville, TX, native says. “But me and Walk were roommates at the SLAM event in New York, and then our parents got connected and started talking. Then, me and Eric Dailey were talking to each other at NBPA Top 100 Camp. And then we got to USA Basketball, and we ﬁnalized it.” “It” being George’s move to Florida’s IMG Academy, where he teamed up with Walker, Dailey and the rest of what might have been the nation’s most stacked prep lineup. There’s no question the move worked out: IMG went 23-5 this

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season and ﬁnished with a top-ﬁve national ranking, while George joined Walker and teammate Jaden Bradley to

give the Ascenders a trio of McDonald’s All American selections. George also earned a Jordan Brand Classic invite, wrapping up a stellar season that more than justified his senior year relocation. “Of course I’m gonna miss my mom’s cooking at the crib,” he says, “but coming here just prepared me more for college. Everybody here, they’re the best of the best at their sport, don’t matter if it’s tennis, baseball, basketball, whatever. So, you’re around like-minded people. I just knew coming here, I was going to get better every day.” George hardly needed the IMG exposure. A consensus top-10 prospect in the 2022 class, he had already committed to Baylor last August, and he earned MVP honors last summer at the 2021 FIBA 3x3 U18 World Cup. But the chance to run with fellow top-100 prospects like Walker, Bradley, Dailey, Jett Howard and AJ Storr at the prep level all but guaranteed he’d be challenged on a daily basis. That proved very true. “We’re going at each other no matter what,” he says of the intense practice sessions at IMG. “When we see somebody not going hard, we tell ’em.” But beyond the competition on his own squad, George knows his time in Bradenton also helped him maximize some of the intangible skills that he’ll need at the next level. “It’s really getting a head start on college,” he says. “I know I gotta work on the little things to stay sharp and keep me at the top—being able to lead, and also being able to listen, because I know listening is a skill. I want to be able to lead when I get to Baylor, even as a freshman, but I also want to be able to learn from those guys who’ve been there. This experience has really prepared me.” Those intangibles will pair nicely with the skill set George brings to the court. A complete scorer, his game justifies comparisons to Bradley Beal. He also borrows from Jrue Holiday’s defense and Russell Westbrook’s intensity and downhill game. He’ll bring all of it to a Baylor program that has established itself as one of the best in the country in recent years, and also gets him back home to Texas—closer to the crib, where the chance to take care of his mom remains a primary motivation. “My mother, she’s done everything for me that I’ve ever needed,” he says. “I’ve had times where she cooked dinner for me, but she didn’t eat. Seeing her making different sacrifices, it drives me each and every day.” S

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Being ranked No. 1 can mess with a player’s head, but for Stanford freshman-to-be Lauren Betts, it’s no big thing. She’s just playing her game and humbly focused on living in the moment. W O R D S C H A R L I E D E S A D I E R // P O R T R A I T OSCA R CASTILLO

be, but we’ll see what happens. Once I get there, just know that each season is gonna get better and better, and I think that I chose the best school for that.” The Grandview High (CO) standout’s story begins all the way across the Atlantic Ocean in Spain, when she was introduced to the game at an early age thanks to her dad, Andrew, a former NBA draft pick who spent most of his playing career overseas. “I think that made me fall in love with the sport,” Betts recalls. “I got to watch my dad, you know, how hard he worked every day, and I got to see him come back and just grind—coming home and having to take a quick nap and then leave again. Just traveling all around the world is something that when I was younger, I obviously wasn’t really excited about because I didn’t get to see him [as often], but as I got older, I thought, honestly, that’s something that I want to do.” Early on, tuning into her athleticism was tricky as she struggled with adjusting to her lengthy, thin frame. Betts recalls not having much control of her body during her ﬁrst phase of playing basketball. But with her parents’ athletic genes (her mom was a volleyball standout at Long Beach State), it started to become

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second nature. Any worries she had are obviously in the past. She’s gone on to receive back-to-back Gatorade State Player of the Year awards after leading her high school team to a 17-9 record, ultimately winning the Class 5A state title and finishing the season on a 13-game winning streak. In March, she starred in the prestigious McDonald’s All American Game and followed that up at the Jordan Brand Classic in April. With the move to California looming, she’s focused on enjoying her loved ones before she heads west. But, in the midst of the stardom that comes with being ranked the best in the nation, Betts remains thankful for the moment. “It’s definitely a dream, and it still hasn’t hit me yet,” she says. “When I started playing basketball, my first goal was just to make varsity, and once I started getting in the gym more and more in training, all these things just kept coming. My family has always taught me to just stay humble and just keep working, so I don’t do that much talking. I kind of just grind, that’s pretty much just what I’ve done. All these things just kept coming, and I just think it’s really cool. Really, I still can’t believe it all.” S

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Carmelo Anthony’s youth non-profit organization,

TEAM MELO, has been going strong for 17 years. And while a new generation of student-athletes has cycled through, the mission remains the same. WORDS HOLDEN VELASCO

ganization based out of Baltimore that’s dedicated to helping student-athletes on and off the court. “Not only do we do basketball, but we also mentor, [have] after-school programming—it’s another component to [Anthony’s] charitable work,” Team Melo president and cofounder Robert “Bay” Frazier explains. “We do back-toschool drives, Thanksgiving drives, it’s everything—it’s all inclusive, just giving

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H U G O R O D A S ; N E A R R I G H T: L I A M C A L L A H A N

back to the youth in Baltimore.” This individualized helping hand is what truly separates Team Melo from other AAU programs. A prime example is Cam Whitmore, a Villanova commit and Team Melo member of ﬁve years who attests to the huge impact Carmelo has had on his life. “He invited me over to his house to work out with him, just giving me some teaching points about the speciﬁcs. Like the midpost game, stuff like that. And in the outside world, [he told me], Just remain humble, everything else will come toward you, just keep moving,” says Whitmore. Don’t let their off-court kindness fool you, though: Team Melo has some serious hoopers on their roster. The 17U team is a member of the prestigious Nike EYBL circuit, with eight of its 10 players currently holding college offers, according to Frazier. A notable alumni you may hear about come draft time in June is All-Big East First Team forward Justin Lewis from Marquette. With travel and gear all paid for, players only have to worry about one thing: showing up and balling out. For Frazier, the end result is about much more than just the scoreboard. “It’s the glory of seeing the guys become successful. They don’t all have to make it to the NBA, it’s about going to college, enjoying college and coming back to me, like, Man, Bay, you’ve been a blessing to me, and their parents saying that. I love that, I love that part. That’s what I get out of it.” S

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Brooklyn’s South Shore HS is the top hoops program in NYC, and this year’s PSAL

victory over the Susan Wagner Falcons. In the second quarter, the Lady Vikings went on an offensive attack led by Ariel Little, Yahmani Mckayle and Natalia Williams—outscoring the Falcons 21-4. A strong defensive performance from freshman Isabela Grant (10 boards) also made it difﬁcult for Wagner to get back in the game. “It was hard, you know?” says head coach Anwar Gladden. “Like I tell people, our next game was the championship when the pandemic hit. To be able to pick up and have a full season this year

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and conclude at the Barclays [Center] was amazing. It was great for the kids.” South Shore’s Natalia Williams was named MVP, ﬁnishing with 13 points on 6-8 shooting to go with 8 rebounds. The boys’ squad wasn’t too bad either, as they defeated Eagle Academy Brooklyn to win their third consecutive title. South Shore started the game strong, kicking things off with a 12-0 run led by Max Ragusa, who ultimately scored 18 of his 26 points in the second half, including 10 in the fourth quarter, to help seal the victory and grab the MVP hardware. Nivek Borden also provided a strong performance for the Vikings, ﬁnishing the game with 11 points and 8 rebounds. “It feels great to win because it’s a different group of kids,” says head coach Shawn Mark. “The feeling was actually different the third time—a lot of the city said we couldn’t do it without the guys we [previously] won two times with. They actually pulled it out. I’m very proud of this group.”—Nate Derosena

COURTESY OF PSAL

Championships only cemented it.

The 21st JORDAN BRAND CLASSIC was a showcase for the next superstars.

ultimately led her team to a 93-85 victory. Oregon State-commit Timea Gardiner won MVP for Team Flight after chipping in 12 points. Other standouts for the girls game included Team Air’s Janiah Barker (17 points, 7 rebounds) and Ashlyn Watkins (8 points, 13 rebounds), and Team Flight’s Lauren Betts (8 points, 14 rebounds), Raegan Beers (7 points, 10 rebounds) and Kiki Rice (11 points, 5 assists). On the boys’ side, Team Air won

after Michigan signee Jett Howard dished it out to Duke commit Dereck Lively on the break for the game-winning dunk. Texas signee Dillon Mitchell (18 points) took MVP honors back to Florida while Arkansas signee Nick Smith Jr (27 points) brought home the MVP hardware for Team Flight. Team Flight’s Chris Livingston (21 points) and Team Air’s Cam Whitmore (16 points, 9 rebounds) rounded out the competition. —Brooks Warren

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Springtime Swagger is in the Air

In a world full of designer, Jordan Clarkson is true to the thrift.

Kyrie Irving popped out at Madison Square Garden paying respects to Kobe.

Devin Booker’s outﬁts are the embodiment of less is more.

Russell Westbrook is forever true to himself. Why not?

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Kelly Oubre Jr: full-time basketball player, full-time rock star.

B O O K E R : B A R R Y G O S S A G E ; C L A R K S O N : M E L I S S A M A J C H R Z A K ; I R V I N G : N AT H A N I E L S . B U T L E R ; W E S T B R O O K : T Y L E R ROSS; OUBRE JR: KENT SMITH; GREEN: JOE MURPHY; KUZMA: SAM FORENCICH; GILGEOUS-ALEXANDER: ZACH B E E K E R ; R U S S E L L : D AV I D S H E R M A N ; TAY T U M : B R I A N B A B I N E A U / A L L N B A E V I A G E T T Y I M A G E S

That chain around Jalen Green’s neck is almost as bright as his future in the League.

The pants rotation in Shai GilgeousAlexander’s closet is endless.

When all else fails, an all-black ﬁt won’t— especially if you’re on Kyle Kuzma’s level.

D’Angelo Russell’s fashion is the deﬁnition of one-of-one.

Jayson Tatum is fresh off a LeagueFits MVP run and isn’t slowing down.

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NIKE AIR MORE UPTEMPO ’96 Out now, $160

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CURRY FLOW 9

Out now, $120

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AIR JORDAN XI LOW Out now, $190

ADIDAS HARDEN VOL. 6 Out now, $180

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LISTEN UP WE’VE GOT PODCASTS NE W!

TH E H OT TEST TA K ES O N T H E L AT EST I N THE NBA, PLUS INTERVIEWS, GAME BR E AK DOW NS A ND MOR E

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AVAILABLE ON SPOTIFY, APPLE MUSIC AND YOUTUBE

KICKS Purposeful

HERE ARE TWO THINGS that should stick in the memory banks about Kevin Durant. The ﬁrst is that he legitimately loves hoop. The second is that he’s always trying to learn more. The ﬁrst sounds like a given—he’s been in the NBA for almost half of his life. Duh, of course he loves hoop. Right? But not every ballplayer loves hoop. Passion’s been the special ingredient in the mixture of his seven-foot frame, his intellect, his desire and his skills. That’s where the separation has been from the rest of the pack. Because he loves it all so much, he’s

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acutely aware of how his sneakers inform his game. That’s where his appetite for learning comes in. The KD15’s production process was about studying the past, learning from it and weaving that knowledge into a new silhouette. When the two-time champ requested a lower cut for his 15th pair, he and lead designer Ben Nethongkome hit up the archives and found inspiration in 2001’s Nike Air Jet Flight, a low model that was worn by Steve Nash, among others. He used that pair and the KD4 and KD6 as examples of how much closer he wants to be to the court now that he’s 15 looks in. Plan in place, Nethongkome and his squad got to work and answered Durant’s

question about how they could vary materials even while losing height. The heel’s 3D-molded counter leads right into the midfoot’s TPU cage, giving way to an upper whose layers have been reduced from the 14. The 15’s foundation is a fulllength Cushlon midsole that’s combined with a Zoom Air Strobel footbed. It’s a technological diversion from the 12, 13 and 14, which is exactly what Durant wanted. He debuted the 15 in the Nets’ unexpected sweep at the hands of the Celtics. But what’s left to be expected is that No. 7 will learn from his mistakes and get straight back to hooping next season with the 15 on his feet.—Max Resetar

J O N AT H A N L E W I S

KEVIN DURANT made it clear that his 15th signature silhouette has a singular responsibility—help him hoop at the highest level in the world.

Good Looks

Cameron Look’s story is so amazing that it might not seem true. But the facts is the facts and the fact is that the famous basketball photographer now has his own AIR JORDAN 36 LOW colorway.

H E WORD I S RA R E. Getting a credential to photograph an NBA game from the sideline. Rare. Pulling up on Jayson Tatum. Rare. Knowing beforehand which pair of sneakers Tatum’s gonna be rocking. Rare. Knowing that those sneakers are the colorway that you personally designed in collaboration with Jordan Brand. Rare. Fantasy? Nah. Reality. Cameron Look’s reality. Look, part of the SLAM Fam for years now, has worked to become one of modern day basketball’s preeminent photographers. He’s shot for us at NBA games, he chronicles high school hoops

and he’s forged relationships with both the O’Neal and James families, where he’s documented their past few trips around the sun, both on and off the court. His Air Jordan 36 Low colorway is just the latest realization of his work, joining his archives of ﬂicks and the stable of basketballs he’s designed. The greenbased 36s are inspired by boba tea. Its inﬂuence is seen on the outsole, the tongue and the upper of Look’s design. He included a premium quilted collar and his personal logo peeks out on the lateral side’s tag. Look is proudly sharing his moment with all the other Asian-Americans out there who didn’t think it’d be possible to live a reality like this. He wants them to know that it’s not just a fantasy, that some day soon the rarity will become normalcy. —MR

@SLAMARCHIVE

CAMERON LOOK

ip-hop references have permeated the pages of SLAM since our premier issue hit newsstands back in ’94, from cover lines, spine lines and story titles to Drake being the first rapper on the cover (SLAM 198). But Issue 214 was something different. Back when old guys like me used to go to physical stores to buy music, album covers meant everything. We would flip through CD racks and search for the joints that weren’t just what the billboard charts told us were hot. Where the opportunity to listen before you buy was often scarce, a project would be judged by its artwork instead of its content. Records that consistently stood out more than the rest were usually the work of Shawn Brauch, founder and head designer of Pen & Pixel. His distinctive style characterized the style of hip-hop coming out of the south. The designs were bold and flamboyant and captured the themes being communi-

cated through the music, namely: women, cars and bling. When DeMarcus Cousins joined Anthony Davis in New Orleans in early 2018, something of that southern exuberance felt like it was being recaptured. The South had something to say and pulling Pen & Pixel out of retirement was the perfect way to express it. The cover of SLAM 214 stood out on newsstands (like they usually do!) in the same way Cash Money and No Limit Records did in the year 2000. It was the perfect way to celebrate this collaboration of premier big men. As fate would have it, Cousins tore his Achilles the day after this cover came out and the duo never quite brought what the city was hoping for. Even so, this remains one of our most iconic covers. Kevin Durant even crowned it his favorite in a recent interview. The Boogie and AD link-up may not have created historic basketball

SLAM 214 March/April 2018

memories on the court, but it did produce what is arguably one of our greatest covers of all time. I’m still waiting on the mixtape...—Sammy Gunnell

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M I C H A E L H I C K E Y/ G E T T Y I M A G E S

BRING BG HOME.

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D.O.N. ISSUE #3

STEPHEN CURRY 3X NBA CHAMPION

CHANGE THE GAME FOR GOOD CURRYBRAND.COM

Slam - June 2022

Articles inside

Frozen Moment

Kicks

Team Melo

LeagueFits

One ’N Done

HS All-Star Games

Lauren Betts

Montverde Academy

2022 SLAM HS All-American Teams

Memphis Grizzlies

Cade Cunningham

Jalen Brunson

Elena Delle Donne

Elizabeth and Mark Williams

Deja Kelly

Hype