Stories
Rick Pitino is early. About four minutes early, to be exact. I am waiting for him outside the Equinox in Mamaroneck, New York. The sky is dark. The streets are empty. A light rain is falling.
We shake hands and say hello, and then he swiftly enters the gym, moving as if he is running late. I get stopped at the front desk to sign a guest waiver, and by the time I am checked in — no more than two minutes later — Pitino is already on the elliptical machine. And he is pushing it.
NEW YORK – John Fanta has swapped microphones. He is standing in the hallway outside the press conference room at Madison Square Garden next to St. John’s head coach Rick Pitino. It is 10:24 p.m. Fanta has just finished calling the St. John’s-Georgetown game for NBC Peacock. Now he has grabbed Pitino for a quick hit for the Big East Digital Network. The two take a moment to get situated and then, click, the camera is rolling. And Fanta is on. “St. John’s comes back from 15 down to beat Georgetown 63-58…”
Truth is, Fanta is never really off.
As the ball sailed through the air toward the basket, somewhere in the crowd of 19,502 people Josh Mullins murmured two words to his wife Katie: “It’s good.”
Their son, Braylon, a 6-foot-6 freshman guard at UConn, had just launched a 35-footer in the waning seconds of the Huskies’ Elite Eight game against Duke at Capital One Arena. Duke led 72-70. A spot in the Final Four hung on Mullins’ heave, which seemed to move in slow motion on its path to the rim. It rose and rose and rose, carrying the hopes and dreams of two legendary programs.
It is 4:30 p.m. on day three of the Nike EYBL Peach Jam, and a highly anticipated matchup between Vegas Elite and Jet Academy is about to tip off on Court 2 at the Riverview Park Activities Center. College coaches are still squeezing into the packed gym, only to find that all of the reserved NCAA seats are already taken.
Alabama’s Nate Oats, Providence’s Bryan Hodgson and South Carolina’s Lamont Paris are forced to stand by the entrance. Utah State’s Ben Jacobson, Ohio State’s Jake Diebler and assistants for Arkansas and Michigan State find space under one of the baskets.
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.
The 2-0 Squadron were in Frisco for a back-to-back against the 2-0 Texas Legends, the affiliate of the Dallas Mavericks. After morning shootaround at the Comerica Center, Birmingham got a visit from veteran NBA forward Anthony Tolliver. Squadron associate head coach T.J. Saint had coached Tolliver, a six-foot-eight sharpshooter out of Creighton, on the Detroit Pistons. Tolliver was also a former minor leaguer—he appeared in three G League seasons from 2007 to 2010 before sticking in the NBA for over a decade, earning $35 million in contracts.
As he walked out of the tunnel and onto the Madison Square Garden floor, Michigan senior Yaxel Lendeborg felt the goosebumps rise. Who would have thought I’d be here right now? he pondered.
It was late October and the Wolverines were in New York for a preseason exhibition against St. John’s. This was Lendeborg’s first time at The World’s Most Famous Arena, although he had played there many times in NBA 2K. Back in high school, when he wasn’t even on the basketball team, Lendeborg would play video games for 12 to 14 hours a day.
INDIANAPOLIS — When Braylon Mullins gave up the ball, he didn’t expect to get it back.
The UConn freshman guard had dished it to 6-foot-8 senior forward Alex Karaban. There were four seconds remaining and the Huskies trailed Duke 72-70 with a spot in the Final Four hanging in the balance. Most players in Karaban’s position — and of Karaban’s caliber — would have hunted for a shot. Not the Huskies’ captain.
Karaban took a quick glance at the clock, then calmly fed it back to Mullins, who had sprung free beside him.
INDIANAPOLIS — Elliot Cadeau paraded around the confetti-covered court at Lucas Oil Stadium, cradling the national championship trophy in his arms. A swarm of reporters followed close behind but couldn’t ever catch up.
An hour before, Michigan had secured the second NCAA title in school history with a 69-63 win over UConn. Thirty minutes before, Cadeau, who put up a game-high 19 points, had been named the Final Four Most Outstanding Player.
As the final buzzer sounded, Emanuel Sharp dropped to a crouch and buried his head in his hands. Chaos unfolded around him. The once-tense Alamodome had erupted into a celebration. The Florida marching band played a triumphant tune. Orange and blue confetti rained down on the court. Overwhelmed with emotion, the 6-foot-3 guard stayed frozen in the same position, right by where he had turned over the ball in the waning moments of the national championship game.
NEW BRUNSWICK – Jason Benetti is having breakfast in the lobby restaurant of the Heldrich Hotel in New Brunswick, N.J., a short walk from Rutgers University, where he will be calling a basketball game for Fox later this evening. It is a Tuesday in early December and he is cheerfully, but somewhat reluctantly, answering questions about his life and career. The sight of a familiar face stops him mid-sentence.
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.
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.
“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.
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.
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.
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.
He was just a kid in his second season in the NBA then, beginning to make his name and eager to write his legacy. Now that kid is on his farewell tour. He’s getting to smell his own flowers and trying to savor every moment.
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.
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.”