Stories
April 26, 2024
Ulrich Chomche had never left Bafang, the remote village in the West region of Cameroon that he called home. He was 13 years old and had just recently picked up basketball. By his own admission, he wasn’t any good. Not yet. But he was 6-7 and suddenly faced with the opportunity to take his game to another level—to untap his full potential. Only he would have to leave Bafang and move thousands of miles away to do it.
April 15, 2024
Shot on location at ZZ’s Club, Miami
Jimmy Butler is everywhere these days.
There he is at the US Open, serving as an honorary ball boy for an exhibition match between Carlos Alcaraz and Frances Tiafoe. There he is in the new music video for Fall Out Boy’s “So Much (For) Stardust,” sporting his now-legendary “Emo Jimmy” look. There he is in ads for Hulu, Alo, State Farm and Hotels.com.
December 29, 2023
In Kawempe, Uganda, where Khaman Madit Maluach grew up as a refugee from South Sudan, it’s a challenge just to play basketball.
The closest public court to Maluach was a 45-minute walk away and shared by multiple areas. “It was always packed,” he says. “If you had to go work on your skill set or work by yourself, you had to come maybe at 2:00 pm, when nobody’s there because it’s hot.”
“Are we smiling?” Zion Williamson asks.
Our photographer is snapping away, and Williamson needs to get on the same page as his fellow KICKS cover stars—Luka Doncic and Jayson Tatum. Smiles or straight faces?
August 28, 2023
Squadron head coach Ryan Pannone recognized that an integral part of his job was teaching his players how to be professionals. Those who came from top college programs were used to a comfortable lifestyle. Big staffs catered to their every need. Facilities were top notch. Teams flew private, stayed in five-star hotels, ate gourmet food, had police escorts. Any young adult entering the real world has a lot to learn, but the transition from a powerhouse university like Kentucky or Duke to the G League can be especially jarring.
September 12, 2023
Zeroing in on the G League’s Birmingham Squadron and four of its players—Jared Harper, Joe Young, Zylan Cheatham, and Malcolm Hill—during the historic 2021-22 season, Life in the G details the relentless pursuit of the NBA dream. This excerpt focuses on an early road trip to Frisco, Texas, when the team was visited by NBA veteran and former G-Leaguer Anthony Tolliver.
November 24, 2023
“I can remember when he was a little boy—this is how obsessed he was,” recalls Brandy Cole, the mother of Celtics All-Star Jayson Tatum. “I asked him, ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ His first answer in life was, ‘Kobe.’”
Brandy tried to explain to her son: You can’t be Kobe. You can be an NBA player, like Kobe. But you can’t be Kobe.
May 31, 2022
“What keeps you going?”
Ra’Shad James is seated at the podium inside Protective Stadium’s press conference room, fielding questions from a handful of local reporters. It is November 1, 2021 — media day for the Birmingham Squadron, a new NBA G League organization affiliated with the New Orleans Pelicans. The event marks the official start of the season. For James, a journeyman guard originally from New York, it is Year 9 of his extraordinary professional career.
So, what keeps him going?
March 1, 2022
The United States will enter the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup in August as the second- ranked country in the world.
Yes, the second-ranked country.
For the first time in more than a decade, US men’s basketball slipped to No. 2 in the FIBA world rankings back in November. The top spot currently belongs to Spain, winners of the 2022 FIBA EuroBasket—the championship of Europe for men’s national teams—and the 2019 FIBA World Cup (a tournament in which the Americans finished seventh).
May 31, 2023
“If I had a dollar for every time somebody made a Michael Jordan joke, I’d have as much money as Michael Jordan.”
That’s a quote from Michael Jordan. No, obviously not that Michael Jordan. The other one—the 40-year-old Regional Senior Vice President for iHeartMedia based in Lexington, KY, with the social media bio that reads: “An ordinary man with a legendary name.”
June 18, 2020
Sitting at the podium in Duke’s Scharf Hall, the legendary coach Mike Krzyzewski makes clear that, in what will be his final season before retiring, there will be no talk of “lasts.” In fact, the word has been all but banned from his team’s vocabulary for the foreseeable future. Coach wants to “live, not savor,” focus on the present and remain in the moment.
November 10, 2021
Adlai E. Stevenson High School had just lost in the 2014 Illinois Class 4A semifinals despite a state-tournament-record 56 points from their star player, Jalen Brunson.
The junior guard was devastated. He draped a towel over his head. Tears welled up in his eyes. Feeling the weight of defeat, he bent over and rested his hands on his knees.
July 8, 2022
It hovers around 90 degrees on a Sunday afternoon in the French Quarter of New Orleans, but the heat is not a deterrent. Not on game day.
The Saints are set to host the Cowboys on primetime. Black and gold jerseys flood Bourbon Street as early as 11:00 am. Cigar smoke and the smell of Willie’s Chicken Shack fill the air.
October 21, 2019
“Nobody was really talking about us, you know?”
Kemba Walker is seated in the Optum Lounge of the Auerbach Center, where the Boston Celtics practice, thinking back on this summer. When he was in China for the 2019 FIBA World Cup, along with Marcus Smart, Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, the four of them discussed the doubt placed on their team at home.
January 30, 2020
During the summer of 1995, some of the best pickup basketball games ever played were organized under an inflatable dome in the VIP parking lot of Warner Bros. studio. They called it the Jordan Dome.
While filming Space Jam, it was mandatory that Michael Jordan have the ability to work out in preparation for the upcoming season. He had just returned to the NBA after a brief stint in Minor League Baseball and the Bulls had been knocked out of the 1995 playoffs in the second round by the Magic.
May 11, 2020
On most nights, long after practice has ended, you’ll find Kemba Walker back in the Hornets’ training facility. He’ll return when it’s dark outside to get additional shots up, and refuses to let members of the team staff rebound for him.
Go help someone else, he’ll say. I got a routine.
January 28, 2019
Dwyane Wade eyes his first ever SLAM cover and smiles softly at the sight of a 23-year-old version of himself.
“Man, I look way different,” he says.
March 22, 2019
Lou Williams is somehow both underappreciated and respected. He’s arrogant and humble. He’s young and old. He’s super laid-back and he’s an assassin.
He lives in a quiet town and throws parties so big they inspire hit rap songs. He makes his own music and doesn’t care to promote it much.
July 17, 2019
November 26, 2018
Stephen Curry stands on the court at Oracle Arena with a ring on his right pinky and a microphone in his left hand.
“Y’all ready?” he asks the riled-up crowd.
Then he starts the countdown.
Walking through the tunnels of the storied TD Garden with his son, photos snapping and media swarming, it suddenly hits.
This is real. This is actually happening.
“This shit is crazy.”
October 11, 2018