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> EDITORIAL

MVP247 Response Studios, 369B High Road, Leyton, London E10 5NA

DAVID COLES

David is the man behind msfbasketball.com, one of Australia’s most popular basketball websites. Over the last 10 years he’s run camps, events and community projects, as well as writing about the game - earning his name in the hoops community by giving it all to ball.

e: info@mvp247.com w: mvp247.com t: 020 8558 3501

Editor Greg Tanner greg@MVP247.com Assistant Editor Mark Woods mark@MVP247.com Creative Director Jake Green jake@MVP247.com

Contributing Writers Jimi H, Will Clapton, David Coles & Jacob Hiller

Contributing Design, Photographers/ Illustrators Mansoor Ahmed, Rinchen Lucy, Alex Caparros, Julio Gonzalez, Ivan Ruberto, Elizabeth Sims, Russell Martin, Duncan Hill & Ville Vuorinen

Special Thanks to Tom Rubashow at Pitch, Damon & Nick at ESPN, Ryan & Simon at Nike, Niels, Trojan and Christian @ K1X

Printers Printed by the Manson Group

Published by MVP247 LTD © Est: 2010.

ISSN: 2045-4546

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Subscriptions Swish Online Store www.swishbasketball.net We may occasionally use material we believe has been placed in the public domain. Sometimes it is not possible to identify and contact the copyright holder.

If you claim ownership of something published in MVP, we will be pleased to make a proper acknowledgement. All letters received are assumed to be for publication unless otherwise stated. MVP does not accept liability for any loss or damage of unsolicited materials.

Reproduction in whole or parts of any contents of MVP without prior permission of the Editor is strictly prohibited.

PHOTO: NBAE/GETTY

Art Director Harry Adams harry@MVP247.com Mr Stern

THE LAST STRAW

F

or years it’s been fashionable to hate David Stern. And, if I’m honest, I can kinda see why - he is, after all, ‘The Man’. The suit.

The establishment. And, let’s be honest, he’s pretty smug.

However, I’ve always stuck up for him.

It was under his leadership that the NBA grew exponentially into the global brand it is today (OK, he got a little help from a certain Michael Jordan and one or two others, but it was him at the helm). Stern was also an early adopter of technology - getting involved in the Internet game way before most other sports leagues, and for that I think him.

However, this summer / autumn, he really dropped the ball. The lockout revealed just how truly hated he is by the players and many fans. Some of his hardball tactics came across as very draconian and he really looked like the bad guy. Some foolish commentators even started making references to slavery / the farm owner.

Any level-headed person knew these were just stupid, inflammatory comments - but mud kinda sticks. To be fair, neither side handled the stoppage well - but the fact is, it all happened on Stern’s watch.

When the lockout finally got resolved, I thought much of the anti-Stern sentiment would die down and he would be able to get on with it.

But then he made what I think was his biggest mistake - blocking the Chris Paul to the Lakers trade. To me (and many, many others) this was a step too far. The Commissioner stepping in to kibosh a trade seemed like meddling of the highest order.

He claimed it was done for “basketball reasons”, but everyone smelt BS. The conspiracy theorists had a field day - Stern really was Illuminati!

So now what? Well, as I write this, Stern is still in his job. But it genuinely wouldn’t surprise me if he was gone by the end of the season. The sad thing is that his entire career will forever be tarnished with what happened this year - the lockout and the CP3 trade - and all the good he did for the league will be forgotten. But, such is life.

Anyway, with the lockout sorted (thank god!), we look ahead in this issue as Magic Johnson analyses the state of play, homegrown hero David ‘Tin Tin’ Watts tells Mark about the bad advice that kept him out of the BBL for years. We hear from Australia’s pint-sized point guard Patty Mills and his hopes for the London Olympics. And we have updates from three of the best Brits in the US college system - Andrew Lawrence, Renee Busch and Ashley Hamilton. It’s 2012 now people - the year we’ve been talking about since forever. Let’s go get it!

Keep ballin’ Greg Tanner

IVAN RUBERTO

Ivan works and lives in London… all he cares about is taking pictures.

Ivan shot the beautifully elegant trainer feature for this issue.

WILL CLAPTON

Will teaches Geography and Economics at Bartholomew School in Eynsham, Oxfordshire - where he also coaches the U14, U16 and U19 basketball teams.

His scholarly side is most definitely evident as he makes his case for the NBA’s ‘most significant’ players of all time later in this issue.

RINCHEN LUCY

Rinchen graduated in Photographic Arts at the University of Westminster in 2007 and now works as a Photographers’ Agent in London. Brought up in England she’s been travelling to East Asia since she was two years old.

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> INSIDE > REGULARS 10 | OVERTIME

Player Of The Year - and a fined Fox.

12 | MARK’S VIEW POINT

34

Why Britain’s female ballers need a league of their own.

42 | GALLERY Basketball reaches new heights at the top of the world.

50 | FASHION The latest creps and clothes - including K1X’s homage to the Fab 5.

64 | WORK OUT How technology can get you future fit.

> FEATURES 18 | 2012 REVEALED 1

MVP’s crystal ball looks ahead.

M

22 | FAMILY FEUDS 2 S Shaq reveals just how close his beef with Kobe ccame to violence.

24 | THE ADVENTURES OF TIN TIN 2 W it was ‘better late than never’ for the Why Worcester Wolves forward.

W

30 | SIGNIFICANT OTHERS 3 Who really rules the NBA’s All Time Team.

W

34 | NBA PREVIEW 3

60

M Magic Johnson gives us his view on the new season. n

60 | WRETCH 32 6 The urban star tells us about his meteoric rise.

T

62 | KIDZ IN THE HALL 6 Are these guys hip-hop’s biggest hoop-heads?

A

> BALLER

50 TOP TO BOTTOM: NBA/GETTY, IVAN RUBERTO & JULIO GONZALES N

MVP MAGAZINE ISSUE 7 OUT APRIL 21 2012

Follow us on twitter (@MVP_247) and Facebook (@MVPMag) for daily news, exclusive features and competitions.

14 | RENEE BUSCH Coping with unexpected visitors in the dorm.

16 | ASHLEY HAMILTON How playing with the big boys helped elevate the LMU forward’s game.

20 | PATTY MILLS The Aussie Boomers’ floor general is thinking of London.

28 | CHUCK EIDSON Barcelona’s swingman lets his game do the talking.

MVP247.COM WINTER 2012 07

WHO IS THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME?

OUT NOW WWW.2KSPORTS.COM

© 2005-2011 Take-Two Interactive Software and its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. 2K Sports, the 2K Sports logo, and Take-Two Interactive Software are all trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. The NBA and individual NBA member team identifications used on or in this product are trademarks, copyrights designs and other forms of intellectual property of NBA Properties, Inc. and the respective NBA member teams and may not be used, in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of NBA Properties, Inc. © 2011 NBA Properties, Inc. All rights reserved. KINECT, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox LIVE, and the Xbox logos are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies and are used under license from Microsoft. “2”, “PlayStation”, “PS3” , “Ô and “À” are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Trademarks are property of their respective owners. Wii is a trademark of Nintendo.

> SHAQ UNCUT

22 MVP ISSUE 06

We knew Shaq and Kobe were the best of enemies. We never knew how close they were to spilling blood.

E

very family has its internal feuds, the close bonds so easily broken when love turns to hate in the blink of an eye. Once that line is crossed, repairing the damage becomes almost impossible. The only sensible option is to part and go separate ways, laying the ghosts of the past to rest.

Basketball is populated by tight groups of brothers and sisters, living in each other’s pockets, day in, day out. No wonder that when the ruptures occur, they can cause chaos and destruction as egos and emotions run wild. Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant were never tight, never as inseparable off the court as they were on it. But the extent of the battle of wills, that only ended with the Big Argumentative was traded away from Los Angeles, has finally been laid bare.

It was the summer of 2003. Bryant was caught up in a rape trial, Shaq in a stand-off with the Lakers over a new contract.

Kobe comes out in an interview and calls his running mate fat and out of shape. It was a new low. O’Neal made his intentions clear. “I’m going to kill him,” he declared. Angered at the slight, it was a chilling boast.

In his new autobiography, Shaq Uncut, O’Neal reveals that it took the intervention of one-time team-mate Brian Shaw to stop the drama from escalating into a crisis. By then a Lakers scout, Shaw got a call from Devean George to warn him that he would be required to act as peacemaker.

“Sure enough, a couple of hours later, Brian gets a call from Phil (Jackson) and (Lakers GM) Mitch Kupchak,” O’Neal recalled. “They ask BShaw to fly down and intercept me at the practice facility the next morning. My bodyguard, Jerome, got wind of what was going on, so the next morning he went by my house early to pick me up but I was already gone.

He knew if I was up that early that I was a dangerous man.”

With Bryant yet to arrive, Shaw was on the scene. “I’m going to kick his goddamn ass,” Shaq told him. He went inside. Bryant pulled up. “Shaq is going to kill you,” Shaw stated. “Am I supposed to be scared?” Bryant grinned.

This, Shaw underlined, was no laughing matter. With Lakers team-mates, including Gary Payton and Karl Malone, looking on, the pair ended up in a room together, trading verbals with Shaw acting as the man in the middle. O’Neal had invited Bryant to his wedding but he was a no-show. When Bryant got hitched, his colleagues weren’t on the list. The bickering escalated. “This has got to stop,” said Malone. “It’s petty and stupid and we’re tired of it.” A truce was declared but peace never broke out. What had been one of the most successful combos in NBA history was destined to splinter.

With Bryant threatening to sign elsewhere, the Lakers lined up behind the younger man. O’Neal was sent to Miami.

Feud contained.

When Shaq arrived in South Beach, there was another rising star awaiting. He took Dwyane Wade out to lunch.

O’Neal admits that he was driven by the mistakes he made in trying to reach out to Bryant. “I was probably too hard on Kobe when he was younger,” he concedes. But would he do things differently? “My answer is no.” “Sometimes I do sit back and say: ‘Did I lose a friend by the way I treated Kobe?’ Maybe, maybe not. We were never really that close. Kobe was always an introverted kid. Anyway, friendships don’t matter much in professional basketball because it’s all about winning.”

Many would disagree. O’Neal would win another title with the Heat, Bryant two more – so far – with the Lakers.

Who knows what would have happened if the clash of personalities had not left blood spilt on the floor. When the Lakers beat the Celtics for the NBA championship in 2010, Kobe was asked what it meant to him. “Just one more than Shaq – and you can take that to the bank,” he smiled.

“I couldn’t blame the guy,” O’Neal conceded. You sense, in truth, some regret on his part that the bonds were broken.

Theirs could so easily have been a long-lasting partnership instead of the NBA’s messiest divorce. MVP

WordS: KAREN PATON Photo: NBAE/GETTY

“ I was already gone.

He knew if I was up that early that I was a dangerous man ”

SHAQ UNCUT, by Shaquille O’Neal with Jackie MacMullan, published by Little Brown, is now on sale.

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> DAVID ‘TIN TIN’ WATTS

He may be universally known as Tin Tin, but David Watts is making a name for himself while writing his own script on the floor.

I

t seems oddly inappropriate when David Watts, student of English Literature at the University of Worcester, reveals that his favourite book is Frankenstein rather than the quiff-haired Belgian adventurer whose nickname he retains. Sure, if you’ll pardon the dreadful pun, the man known to all – his grandparents included – as Tin Tin is a monster on the court in his (other) day job as a do-everything forward with the Worcester Wolves. But in Mary Shelley’s classic novel, the central character is ultimately horrified by his own creation.

Having turned professional at the advanced age of 27, there is little to dislike about Watts’ own transformation into an efficient basketballing machine.

For years, many had talked in reverential tones about the potential of a swingman from Sherwood Forest who had quietly established himself in 24

MVP ISSUE 06

the English Basketball League, as well as on playgrounds up and down the land. In truth, few were certain of Watts’ true capabilities while they remained untested outside the paid ranks.

Then working on various youth projects, he had often pondered whether to pursue an opportunity to earn a living in the BBL. Guildford Heat came calling. Paul James held open the door. Watts held back. “One of my former coaches had told me all these horror stories about the league, about how it was only for Americans,” he recounts.

“ I was a tall

awkward skinny kid who was crap at football ”

Words: MARK WOODS Photos: Ville VuORinen

“I was a bit naïve and I believed him. So I didn’t really give it a chance. It was only when I spent some time with PJ on an England tour and spoke to him about it, as well as some of my team-mates, that I thought I better give it a try.” He joined the Wolves, with James now in charge there, in 2010.

He has yet to look back. Better to have tried and failed than to have never given a proper shot - but he regrets that so many years passed by before he rolled the dice. Watts came late to the sport (“I was a tall awkward skinny kid who was crap at football”) but, turning out for South London College, he was encouraged to look to America.

He received bad advice, he states.

A lack of self-belief didn’t help. “I was dreadful. I couldn’t run in a straight line,” he smiles. “I didn’t think I was big enough, strong enough, fast enough for the States.

> NBA DEBATE Oscar rObertsOn

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S

Greatness can defined in so many different ways. Talent, achievement, legend.

But when the word ‘star’ has become the most over-used in sport, how can you break down the NBA’s All Time Finest? Will Clapton does the math.

omeone recently asked me to name the NBA players that I would want to see on a fictitious NBA version of Mount Rushmore. It led to much debate. Should the four players be the ‘best’ in league history? The Greatest Of All Time? Or the Most Significant’? And what exactly do those terms mean?

My understanding is as follows: ‘Best’’ is the easiest to define. If you took two players from history and put them up against each other, perhaps in a game of 1-on-1 (although that might be unfair when comparing guards with centres, for example), who would win? Using this criterion, Shaq is better than Bill Russell. For all of his defensive abilities, it’s hard to imagine a 6’9” Russell stopping a 7’1” Shaq, especially since The Diesel would have a 100lb (45kg) weight advantage (although Russell fans will protest that he did a good job defending the similarly-sized Wilt Chamberlain). Another way to look at it is as follows: if all the players were in the same Draft, who would get drafted above who? I’m taking the O’Neal over the Celtics legend.

‘Greatest’ refers to who had the greater career. There’s really no need for debate here: With 11 championship rings, Bill Russell had a far greater career than Shaq (who won 4). Russell is the greater player of the two. (For those keeping up, you might have already considered that LeBron James is certainly one of the very best players in NBA history, but definitely not the greatest) Meanwhile, ‘Significance’ is by far the hardest to define and, therefore, the most difficult way of ranking players. In history teaching, Cambridge University’s Christine Counsell proposed that we should use the ‘5Rs’ to determine the historical significance of past events. I have adapted these below: f Remarkable - It was remarked upon by people at the time f Remembered - It was important at some stage in history f Resulted in change - It had consequences for the future f Resonant - People like to make analogies with it f Representative - ...of some other aspect of historical significance.

WORDS: WILL CLAPTON PHOTOS: NBAE/GETTY

Therefore, using Counsell’s criteria, which players are the most significant in NBA history? Let’s start with players who ticked some - but not all - of the five Rs criteria. There are a variety of permutations we could consider, and here are some of them:

Group 1: Remarkable, Resulted in change... but not necessar-

ily Remembered, Resonant or Representative of any other aspect of historical significance Joe Fulks was one of the first proponents of the jump shot (which helped changed the way basketball is played) and he once scored 63 points in a game (certainly remarkable at the time). But ask your Dad (or his Dad, for that matter) if he’s heard of Joe Fulks.

He’s not remembered by enough people to be resonant.

Same goes for Maurice Stokes. He was the first black star of the NBA and made the All-League 2nd Team in all three seasons of his short-lived career. Certainly remarkable. Meanwhile, he helped change the way the public viewed black players. But his career was cut shorty by a tragic head injury and, therefore, failed to live long in the memory.

Group 2: Remarkable,

Remembered, Resonant... but didn’t Result in change and wasn’t Representative of any other aspect of historical significance: These are the players that we still make comparisons to today.

They were remarkable for a variety of reasons and we certainly remember them with fondness. Tiny Archibald, Dennis Rodman and Reggie Miller are three such players. Fan favourites, certainly, but did they change the game? I don’t think so. Plenty of other All Star calibre players could be included in this category.

Group 3:

Remarkable, Remembered, Resulted in change... but not Resonant or Representative of any other aspect of historical significance: George Mikan fits this category. He is certainly more memorable than Fulks or Stokes (most basketball fans have heard of Big George) and he helped change the game (the lane was widened to make life more difficult for him - but he still dominated).

But do fans still resonate with him? When did you last hear someone make a player comparison to George Mikan? (“You know who that Tyler Zeller reminds me of? George Mikan” - just no).

“ It’s rare to hear people make analogies to Elgin Baylor ” MVp247.coM winter 2012 3 1

> MAGIC’S NBA SEASON PREVIEW

It was looking shaky for a minute there, but yes - a (shortened) season is under way! But with off-season moves galore, the NBA landscape looks quite different going into this campaign. And ESPN analyst and Los Angeles Lakers legend Magic Johnson is even excited about the Clippers as he gives MVP his eight keys to the new campaign.

WordS: Magic Johnson PhotoS: nBaE/gEtty

34 MVP ISSUE 06

“ The Clippers are relevant!

They’re going to be amazing. Chris Paul makes everybody better ”

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> HIMALAYAN HOOPS

PHOTOS: RINCHEN LUCY

TWO YEARS AGO, photographer Rinchen Lucy discovered the world of Himalayan hoops when she stumbled upon Tibet’s basketball scene (as documented in the pages of this magazine).

She recently returned to the playgrounds in the sky -- where she witnessed a significant increase in the sport’s popularity in the rugged region...

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> FASHION

50

MVP ISSUE 06

Many of yoU wIll bE too yoUng to know aboUt thEM - but those old enough will certainly not have forgotten Michigan’s “fab 5”. Crazy as it seems, it’s now been 20 years since five freshmen (namely Jalen Rose, Juwan Howard, Chris Webber, Jimmy King and Ray Jackson) took the college basketball scene by storm - trash-talking and dunking their way to within one game of the nCaa title. now k1x are paying homage to the team (and their ground-breaking style) with their “freshmen Swagger” pack.

Check it out at k1x.com.

Words: GreG Tanner PHoTos: auGusT CasTellCasTell

MVp247.coM winter 2012 51

WRETCH FOR > WRETCH 32

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THE STARS

2011 brought a string of Top 5 hits and award nominations for Jermaine Scott (AKA Wretch 32). He tells MVP about a wild 12 months – and an even crazier year to come...

MVP: 2011 was quite a year for you!

W: It’s been interesting man! I feel like I came out the block at a good running place. ‘Traktor’ went to number 5, ‘Unorthodox’ number 2, ‘Don’t Go’ number 1. It’s kinda just been cool. Then the headline tour. So many festivals. It’s been a fun time man. It’s been a fun year.

MVP: Go back in time, say, a year or two – did you see yourself being in this position?

W: To be honest, no. I kinda hoped I would get here, but I could see it. I was like: ‘How are we going to get from here, to here?’ I always wanted to push the boundaries of writing – and that means I care a lot about my verses. Probably, in the beginning, I cared more about my verses than I did about the hook. Hence why now, things are still kinda working – because I still care as much about the verse. But you get a songwriter who cares about the hook to write the hook, you know what I mean?

And that strengthens the whole song.

MVP: Just five years ago, you’d only see or hear British urban music on things like Channel U or a handful of underground radio stations.

Now it’s front and centre – mainstream even.

What do you think has changed?

W: I think something’s been embedded in the culture, where kids all over the country listen to rap and it’s not a strange genre. They’re used to hearing people rapping. And now the culture’s evolved, I think the artists have got better as well – and are trying to do new things and create new sounds. I think we spend so long underground – in what I like to call our ‘artist development stages’ - where you’re testing what works, you’re clashing MCs, you’re making a song and performing it in a club to see people’s reactions. When you’re doing so much work and so many songs, you realise what works and what doesn’t. Then you come across a song that can work on the underground and the overground. A lot of artists have been able to find a way to make music that fits a wider audience, but without losing integrity in anything that they do.

Words: Jimi H Photo: Julio Gonzalez

MVP: What can we expect from Wretch 32 in 2012?

W: More music. Better music. To be honest, I really just focus on making music. I’ve been in the studio – the album is already started, the new one. I’m happy about that. We’ve just gotta get everything right. But there will definitely be more music, more music, and more smiling!

MVP: 2012 is Olympics year. How do you feel about the Games taking place in your hometown?

W: That’s a strong thing, man. I think it’s good to see stuff like that in your lifetime. It’s things like that you’re only going to see once in your life. We’ll embrace it. I think everyone’s got to get whatever they can from it – and enjoy it at the same time.

MVP: A lot of people are very negative about the Olympics though – moaning that London will be choc-a-bloc and that it’s costing loads of money. You clearly don’t feel that way?

W: It’s always choc-a-bloc, you know what I’m saying? You’ve just gotta look at it like when a football team’s playing it’s choc-a-bloc as well.

This is something that’s only going to happen once – so we shouldn’t really moan about it. We should embrace it, and get on.

MVP: Will you be watching any of the basketball?

W: I’m gonna try and catch all of it, man! I’m going to try and find some sort of gadget – laptop or whatever – where I can just watch it on the go.

I’m nosy like that, man! MVP

“ Probably, in the beginning, I cared

more about my verses than I did about the hook. Hence why now, things are still kinda working – because I still care as much about the verse ” MVp247.coM winter 2202 61