SLAM #89

Originally published in SLAM 89 The 6th Man: I don’t like watching either one of these teams play. It might have something to do with me being a lifelong Laker fan (no pity, I know), but mostly it’s the Pistons’ brutishness and the Spurs’ soul-deadening efficiency that has me flipping right past their games on LeaguePass. Needless to say, I don’t like seeing these cats go deep in the playoffs, either, but thankfully for you, SLAM covers don’t get decided on my whimsy. If they did, Derek Fisher would’ve had, like, five by now… No, this time of year, we’re about winning (What up, Jim Calhoun! Congrats on the HOF invite!), and so two teams that have won three of the last six titles are rep’d on our covers. Most of our Stateside readers were greeted by the no-joke visage of Ben Wallace, while those of you in Rome, Paris, Buenos Aires and, we assume, San Antonio, peeped a trio of goofy-looking Spurs. Those covers send very different messages, but you know what they have in common: Come p...