NBA Inside Stuff Review - Gary Payton Ungloved

Volume Five, Issue One - NBA Inside Stuff Magazine: Now with more attitude!

Oh my, this is all so sudden. 

It’s a new era for NBA Inside Stuff magazine. The NBA has changed publishers to Time Inc.’s Sports Illustrated for Kids, the same company that publishes, you guessed it,  Sports Illustrated for Kids. The magazine's look has changed dramatically, editors and writers have been overhauled, and the target demographic has also been changed.

I’m not in the publishing industry, nor do I claim to know how things in the publishing industry work (or, in this case, worked), but if you switch to a publisher that produces essentially the same magazine for kids (obviously, SI for Kids covers more than basketball), it doesn’t make a lot of sense to publish the same kind of magazine just for one sport. So, they leveled up the age demographic. Gone are the general “stay in school” messaging, the positive community aspect, and the overall silliness. Card sheets have been replaced with posters, and there are fewer ads (as far as I can tell), so some of the sections of this newsletter will need to be adjusted.

The vibe of the “new” Inside Stuff is one of tween extreme attitude. It’s a bit more in-your-face and trash-talky.

This isn’t a bad thing, but this is around the time I stopped reading Inside Stuff (SportsCenter and Sports Illustrated were becoming my main source for hoops news), so the shift is a new development for me.  

Also, this is the point in my hunt for issues of this magazine where things became erratic. I was able to track down most of the issues through 1999, but there are a handful that have become something of a holy grail—issues that I can’t even find listings for on eBay. 

But don’t worry—you and I will get through this together!

News & Notes 

• Newly appointed Editor Ron Berler going full-on heel with his first letter from the editor. Stories that matter, Ron? I’m sorry, but knowing the real first names of NBA players matters to me!

• We’re about to enter the Duncan Era of NBA history.

• Happy 50th, NBA! Call me crazy, but I think the league should bring back the belted shorts (not really).

• Here are the top ten moments in NBA history. Which one is your favorite?

• I love this chart(?) comparing the league from 1946 to 1996.

• Shaq to the Lakers is a hot topic, y’all!

• Let’s practice boxing out. 

• Test your knowledge! I love the MJ trivia question.

Say whaaaaat? 

• This new letters section has some real snark and is a perfect example of the tween attitude I was talking about earlier. Rainer Dean with the zinger on Doc Rivers and Kapil Kirpalani is not a fan of Shaq sporting the purple and gold. Wow ok.

• Cedric Ceballos isn’t holding anything back when asked about Barkley and the Rockets.

• Have you ever wondered how teams try to beat MJ’s Chicago Bulls? Wonder no more!

Posterized! 

It’s the first ever NBA Inside Stuff Magazine double-sided poster!

Best Ads

• Who wrote the text for this Jason Kidd Nike ad? What am I missing?

• Slowly going broke buying up NBA VHS on eBay. This MJ 3-pack is where it’s at, though.

• Yep, need these too!

• Space Jam is coming!

Not the JAM

MJ looks like a man possessed in this picture.

In the next newsletter

Depending on the expeditiousness of the Canadian Post, it will either be KG, or I’ll jump ahead to an issue that features Sprite and Fila Spokesperson Grant Hill! Or maybe I’ll throw a curveball and do something different in an effort to keep releasing these in chronological order! TBD!