LeagueFits Awards season is really back in business. Vote on the most important All-Anything Teams in sports below (and do it ASAP, because it’ll be closed by the time next week’s newsletter rolls around).  VOTE HERE BRANDSEEN HAT worn by CHRIS PAUL COP HERE HONOR THE GIFT QUARTER-ZIP worn by RUSSELL WESTBROOK COP HERE MONFRÈRE JEANS worn by JAREN JACKSON JR. COP HERE ESSENTIALS HOODIE, PANTS + UGG SHOES worn by DEMAR DEROZAN COP HOODIE COP PANTS  COP SHOES  RICK OWENS SHORTS worn by DARIUS BAZLEY COP HERE DICKIES SET worn by JAVALE MCGEE COP THE TOP COP PANTS  R ..read more

This story appears in SLAM 242. Get your copy now. The basketball bond between Josh Giddey and Dyson Daniels had a bumpy beginning. On the flight to an Australian national under-12 tournament, Daniels—who had made the team at age 11—started feeling queasy. Before long, he was heaving and hurling. Giddey and his parents comforted the young Daniels, and the foundation of a friendship were formed in the midst of so much turbulence. Not long after that plane descended, the Australian duo of Giddey and Daniels began their ascent in international basketball. Less than a week later, their team had fi ..read more

Before the school year begins, freshmen on the Duke Men’s Basketball team take an unofficial summer course together. It’s called “The Brotherhood Class.”  Daily subjects vary—some lessons center on basketball, others are focused more broadly on the transition from high school to college. Professors vary as well—the recently retired Coach K spoke to the 2022 freshmen, as well as current coaches, general manager Rachel Baker and others. The overall mission of the class is clear: welcome new members to The Brotherhood. Teach them what The Brotherhood is all about. “It’s great because you le ..read more

Meet the Black women’s college basketball head coaches who are changing the game. This month SLAM and the BCA are celebrating the Black head coaches in women’s college basketball making major impacts at their respective schools. You can read part 1 of this series here. Katrina Merriweather, Memphis Katrina Merriweather has been a culture changer at Memphis. In her first year, she led the Tigers to their second 15-plus win season in team history and their first since 2015-2016. The following season also saw the Tigers’ find success and get off to an elite start, going 6-1. Merriweather was ind ..read more

WNBA champions. Olympians. Former alumni making waves at their alma mater and successful women and men who understand the game unlike any other. Black head coaches at every level, from high school to the pros, have continued to transcend the sport, and this month, SLAM and the Black Coaches Association are spotlighting the many women’s college basketball head coaches who are bringing success to their respective programs.  Meet the Black women’s basketball head coaches who are changing the game: Dawn Staley, South Carolina Let’s bring it back to SLAM 237: For years, there has been a set o ..read more

NBA G League Player to Watch (February Edition): Carlik Jones It was hard not to go with Mac McClung.  In the span of a few days, the Delaware Blue Coats guard earned a call-up from the Philadelphia 76ers, signed a sneaker deal with Puma, and, oh yeah, brought back the NBA Slam Dunk Contest with an unforgettable performance in Salt Lake City (also, I have to call out this 360 layup from Monday night). But… Carlik Jones has been that good. Really, pretty much unstoppable. The Windy City Bulls star has been one of the best players in the G League all season, and just wrapped up perhaps the ..read more

After playing in her last college game ever against Mississippi State in the 2017 NCAA Sweet 16, Kelsey Plum didn’t have much time to get ready for the WNBA. She was selected as the No. 1 pick in the WNBA Draft on April 13, and had exactly six days before she had to be in San Antonio. Training camp was scheduled to start on the 23rd, but she still had a lot to do, like flying back to Seattle so she could pack her bags and finish taking classes. “In reality, looking back now [and] having hindsight, I wasn’t prepared,” Plum tells SLAM over Zoom when asked about her transition from college to th ..read more

More and more, the lines between digital and physical are blurring. Our lives are now tied together by invisible strands of data. As this trend continues, the physical is being informed by the digital with greater frequency. This new way of living has shown up in how people dress and speak, in how they spend their money and spend their time, and in how they process and share information. It all feels faster, like the punches have to hit harder and with tons more immediacy. There are a whole lot of digital doors to walk through and most of the time, the internet at large will only take a quick ..read more

Isaiah Collier might soon get used to having rappers and Heisman Trophy winners sitting courtside at his games, in college at USC next season or in the NBA after that. But when he took the court in his soon-to-be home gym in L.A. back in January, the star-studded crowd was a bit of a novelty. And a memorable one.  “We didn’t get the outcome we wanted, but it was a great experience,” Collier says after his Wheeler (GA) High squad fell to SoCal power Sierra Canyon at USC’s Galen Center while 2 Chainz, Lil Dicky, Caleb Williams and other luminaries looked on. “Seeing all those celebrities co ..read more

This story appears in SLAM Presents DUKE, an entire special issue dedicated to the Blue Devils Men’s Basketball Team. Shop now. THIS EMAIL IS CONFIDENTIAL. PLEASE DO NOT SHARE ITS CONTENTS WITH ANYONE. So it began. Was the Duke student who received this email—from a university email address—in trouble? Not exactly.  You have been identified as a potential candidate for the position of Blue Devil Mascot. If this is something you would be interested in pursuing, simply reply “yes” by noon (12:00 p.m.) on Thursday and you will receive additional information and instructions. If, on the other ..read more