This might be a perfect issue. I always love rereading these as I’m going through them and writing this newsletter, but this issue hit me different, and I can’t really put my finger on why. Maybe it’s all the love for Michael Finley, maybe it’s Tony’s write-up on Li’l Penny. Maybe it’s the piece on the Sonics? It’s probably all of it.
Enjoy what has quickly become my favorite issue of SLAM.
News & Notes
Scoop on the Sonics. Better times..
Tonya on Zo!
Li’l Penny
Ray Allen
Fin
How the Big Dog got his groove back
David Thompson!
The ‘96-’97 NBA Preview! It’s a bit too on-the-nose to zero in on the Bulls for a mid-90s preview, but I wanted to highlight how much Michael Bradley felt MJ was underpaid (and rightfully so).
Slam & Jam with a touch of Magic (and Kareem!)
Young Larry
Say whaaaaat?!?
Tony bringing the people together in this issue’s sixth man.
A displeased David Robinson fan in this issue’s letters.
Posterized!
Pippen & Penny! Can’t lose!
SneakadaMonth
The Adidas Equipment Top Ten 2000 Mids.
More kicks!
Best Ads
Grab ahold of the gold!
No Fear. Are these ads good? I can’t really tell.
Get your licensed Lithuanian national team gear here! I kinda like the muscle shirt, tbh.
Adidas Kobe strikes again
Jock Jams, hell yes.
Shaq for Reebok
NCAA Championship Basketball
A Sports Specialties triple threat
Anyone here go Solo?
Cape Athletic
Oh my god it’s the Jerky Boys!
Pretty solid year to pick up a few rookie cards, yeah?
And 1
The Adidas Post-up!
The SLAM
My dude Michael Finley over The Admiral. An all-time dunk.
The Last Shot
Nick Van Exel!
I grew up in Atlanta and those Lithuanian bball tie-dye shirts were EVERYWHERE in the summer of 96. I always wanted one, but they were sold out when we went down to the Olympic park (we watched handball and fencing, could not afford the basketball tickets, haha)