SLAM #52

Originally published in SLAM 52 The 6th Man: With apologies to Lauryn Hill, it’s funny how Mourning changed a situation. Up until, I don’t know, two weeks before this issue’s deadline, the Philadelphia 76ers were supposed to be on the cover and my incredibly prescient NCAA bracket was supposed to be on this page. But then Duke beat Arizona in the final, trashing all of my previous predictions (I did pick the Final Four and the final game—really) and the Sixers—well, let’s just say they upped their practice schedule. So, what to do? Shaq woulda been the Big Easy, but we’d done that. Dajuan decided to go to college, and besides, it was gonna be playoff time. And Bison Dele wasn’t returning our calls. Things were starting to get tight. We were late like J.R. Rider, getting ready to check into rehab with Shawn Kemp. And then it happened. “What about Alonzo Mourning?” A quick look at the wall—no Zo on the cover since October. Of ‘96. ...