NBA Inside Stuff Review - Kobe and the Lakers
Volume Seven, Issue Six - Urkel, South Park, and 10 predictions for the 1998-99 season!
We’re ticking down to the end of the ‘90s! It’s November 1998; The Bulls finished their second three-peat, Seinfeld ended its nine-season run, and Bill Clinton might not know it yet, but he’s about to be impeached. And on top of all of that, there were only about five issues left of NBA Inside Stuff magazine to be published in the ‘90s.
The future of Basketball Shorts will certainly look different after we get to the last issue, and I’ve played around with a lot of ideas on how to keep this newsletter interesting not only to me but to all of you wonderful followers and subscribers. I can’t say for certain what things will look like later this summer; it might be more ‘90s NBA magazine reviews, maybe VHS reviews, or maybe I’ll start reviewing the 2000s issues of Inside Stuff; who knows?? I keep the notes app easily accessible on my phone in case I come up with an idea in the middle of the night. Most of the time, these ideas are half-baked (quarter-baked, maybe?) and a lot of the time when I read them in the morning, I have no idea what I was even thinking. Case in point: a few weeks ago, I woke up in the middle of the night and quickly typed out an idea that was rattling around in my unconscious mind. When I woke up in the morning and took a look, my eyeballs squinted, pulled away, then got closer. My brain wasn’t ready for what my eyes were staring at what I typed out a few hours prior: Larry Bird fan fiction.
It might get weird. I don’t know.
To the inside stuff!
News & Notes
Quick side note: This issue completely ignored the fact that the NBA was in the middle of a lockout in 1998. Although, I guess they’ve done that every time.
Six degrees of Johnny Newman! South Park has infiltrated Inside Stuff.
Phil Jackson and Urkel aren’t so different, huh? Also, I’m glad we finally got an Urkel reference in this ‘90s magazine. TGIF was a quintessential part of my childhood.
This issue’s poll is interesting. On one hand, players should understand what is expected of them, but on the other (more millennial hand), a coach should understand his players and what they need to get the best out of them.
Interesting article on the history of team rivalries in the NBA, which got me thinking about how fleeting most rivalries are. Lakers/Celtics was a huge rivalry in the 80’s the same way Warriors/Cavs was a huge rivalry from 2015-2018. They don’t really have beef anymore, at least at the moment. Players have left teams, new players have come in, etc. etc. etc.
It’s the 1998-99 Season Preview! Here are the 10 bold predictions for the upcoming season:
Let’s rewind and take a look at MJ’s final shot from the ‘98 Finals.
Get on the court and start working on your passing into the post!
Test your knowledge!
Say whaaaaat?
Letters! Inside Stuff is again being called out on their egregious errors, and 55% of readers would pick Magic to take the last shot over Bird. Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…
Posterized!
Best Ads
Do you know who I would never mess with? Zo.
Another quick side note: The Patrick Ewing Milk ad has appeared in, like, the last five issues. Were no other players available to show off their milk mustache?
Pac-man for Powerade?
Chicago Bulls Greatest Hits Volume Three!!!! Really interested in listening to “Rodman Montage.”
There was once a world where I only wanted to wear shooting shirts.
The tagline “Wear it like you got some” would probably have worked on me in 1998.
The Feed
This tasty dish is courtesy of Jason Kidd.
The JAM
AI!
In the next newsletter
More Iverson, a Pistol Pete Rewind, and a hoops sneaker evolution!