SLAMTV

Video: Von Wafer’s Reverse Dunk

CHN — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 12:52:15 -0700

You have to love Wafer’s reaction, whether it’s after burying a trey, swatting a shot or just putting the good ‘ole fashioned hammer on your former team.

Video: Wizards Bring Back Freestyle

CHN — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 10:55:28 -0700

Waiting for June’s Draft can get wearisome, so the young cats (and Mike James) are doing what they can to keep occupied. Notice the homage to the team’s favorite decade, the 80s, with the goggles, afros and the alwasy funkadelic sprinkler dance. (H/T FanHouse)

Slamadaday: Durrell Summers on Stanley Robinson

CHN — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 09:13:35 -0700

UConn recruits defensive-minded frontcourt talent — from Okafor to Thabeet. But these guys have a strong tendancy to find themselves the poor victims of the sickest slams. Many times.

Links: SLAM 128 Cover Shoot Video

CHN — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 11:20:43 -0700

by Lang Whitaker
You might remember the day in December when, apropos of nothing, I popped up in Barcelona to file game notes from the match between Ricky Rubio and Brandon Jennings? Well, as is often the case with SLAM, there was a little more going on than meets the eye. I was actually in Barcelona because we did a cover shoot the evening before with the two best point guards in the world who aren’t in the NBA: Ricky Rubio and Brandon Jennings.
The most amazing thing — by far — to me about this cover was that SLAM was the only media outlet not only at the game, but also the only outlet that cared enough about basketball to even ask about doing a photo shoot with Ricky and Brandon. We asked Ricky and Brandon if they’d give us the time, and surprisingly, they both agreed to, rather graciously. We obviously don’t have the limitless resources of SI or ESPN, but when this came together I hopped on a flight to Barcelona to be in the casa for it.
We shot this in a studio in the shadow of La Sagrada Familia, the perpetually under construction cathedral in Barcelona. Brandon was in town with Roma, and he showed up in a taxi. Ricky’s parents brought him (Ricky didn’t have his driver’s license yet but was taking lessons). They’d never met before, and Ricky’s English is good enough that they were able to talk and hang out. We were at the studio ntil after 11:00 p.m., doing the photos and the interviews. And Ricky’s parents are so nice — when they heard we hadn’t bought tickets to see Ricky and Brandon play yet on for the following night, they demanded we go with them and sit with them.
The point I tried to make in the story was that as basketball fans, we’re living in a totally new world. Because for the first time ever, if you wanted to see the two best NBA point guard prospects in the world, you couldn’t do it on ESPN or CBS. You needed YouTube and a Euroleague subscription and Google alerts. Brandon changed the game for US players, and Ricky’s changing it for European players.
Obviously, the cover line says Ricky and Brandon are ready to rock the NBA. And they both are. I can promise you that. I know whenever we mentioned either of them in a post, a lot of you guys start saying there’s no way these kids will make it, they’re not that good, etc. To which I say, you are wrong. I respect your right to have an opinion, but you’re not correct if you think Ricky and Brandon won’t be NBA stars.
We’ll find out soon enough. Brandon is definitely in the Draft this year. (When I asked him if he was going to enter the Draft, he not only said yes immediately but he also mentioned the date of the Draft off the top of his head.)
But is Ricky going to be in the Draft this year? Well, I don’t have a concrete answer for you. When I asked Ricky if he was going to be in the Draft, he said this:
SLAM: Do you want to play in the NBA next year, or I mean what’s your…?
RR: At the moment I only thinking Euro[pe]—
SLAM: Next year, yeah.
RR: ACB. So I don’t thinking NBA. Yeah, I think—
SLAM: Eventually—
RR: I watch NBA. I think NBA. But no, at the moment, no.
Since then, I’ve heard many rumors. I’ve heard that Ricky’s contract buyout is so big (the number I heard was about $10 million) that he might not be able to buy it out and would have to wait until the contract expires next summer. I’ve heard a rumor that his team in Spain, DKV Joventut, could use the cash and would be willing to take less to let Ricky out of his deal. And I’ve heard most recently that negotiations are underway as I type this to get Ricky out of his contract.
I don’t know where the truth resides in this equation, but I will say this: I would not be surprised to see Ricky and Brandon both in the NBA next season. In the meantime, if you want to see them or hear from them, pick up the new SLAM, on newsstands everywhere next week. Copies are on the way to the Rubios as I type this, and Brandon got his copy yesterday and sent me an email that said, “Thanks for writing a great story, for the new SLAM on Me and Ricky. The COVER is HOT.”
Agreed. Here’s a little video I shot at the shoot, and it includes a few clips of each guy doing his thing. You can see it on YouTube here.
And we don’t stop…

Video: Mr. Love Miracle Glass Cleaner

CHN — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 15:20:31 -0700

Rookie of the Year? Maybe not. Infomercial of the Year? Easily. Career double-double man? Unquestionably.

Video: Lil’ Wayne After Rasual Butler’s Game-Winner

CHN — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 10:34:28 -0700

Young Weezy is the truest of Hornets fans, traveling to Sacramento, watching his team play against the L’s worst competition, and celebrating like the Hornets just won Game 7 of the NBA Finals. Check the chest bump he gives CP around 0:30.

Slamadaday: Flip Murray on Lou Williams

CHN — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 12:41:57 -0700

I think it’s called baiting and switching in the economic, textbooky type world. You have to do it sometimes if you’re a player like Flip Murray. You’re not tall, you don’t pass. You just think you’re the best player in the d*mn League. So you use your average attributes to your advantage. So you fool people in order to do what the best players have done since peach baskets were still en vogue: score.
Take a look at this video again. It’s not in slow motion. It’s just Flip with his “C’mon now, catch up” face, looking over his shoulder at his next victim. No, it wasn’t something like this, but this is pure mastery of the bait. This is more mature, if you will. Think about this as Flip putting a fat worm in the water. Lou Williams saw the tasty morsel and went for the bite. he got hooked. Game Over. Flip! Flip! Flip!

Video: Behind the Scenes - Lakers at Pistons

CHN — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 15:40:45 -0700

PRODUCED, DIRECTED & EDITED BY: ERIC WOODYARD
Kobe Bryant may be the most loved/hated athlete of our generation. Trust me, I found this out with my coverage of him at the Palace of Auburn Hills when the Lakers stormed the Motor City. Instead of profiling him in a negative light, which it seems like everyone wants to read about, I profiled him as a living legend.
I paid homage to his greatness.
As a result, there were mixed feelings, which was expected. These are the same discussions that I have among my friends on Western Michigan University’s campus all of the time.
Despite my biases in the coverage (there were several), I also shot footage as well, intending to give viewers a visual account of my coverage. So if you’re not a Laker fan or an extreme Kobe buff, like myself, this video may offend you. Viewer discretion advised… — Eric Woodyard

Video: Marcus Jordan at Nike Extravaganza

CHN — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 08:37:13 -0700

Words by Justin Walsh
“I’m standing on a stage
Of fear and self-doubt
It’s a hollow play
But they’ll clap anyway”
That’s how it must feel, your blood like seeds from the tree of life. Your father, Michael Jeffrey Jordan. Your father, legend to the hardwood, coated in shine, laden with sweat, speckled with blood. Your father, the savior to our souls, our dreams have been wrought with the release over Ehlo. You play a bad game, possibly a dreadful one. You garner claps, you’re serenaded with the love of a father’s acts and therein lies the fork in the road — you can either ride the coattails of a father so mythical, act a shadow to his steps… Or you can forge a different path, shrug off the clichés and do work.
“With my lightnin’ bolts a glowin’
I can see where I am goin’
With my lightnin’ bolts a glowin’
I can see where I am”
“Who am I?” One might ask in his position. We start with the basics. His airness was a murderous righty. Right hand dominance? Sod that, let’s give the world a lefty. Coming out of high school Air Jordan was a tremendous athlete, raw in fundamentals, but his wrists were coated with callous upon callous from a long relationship with the rims he met each day, his calves were simply the base for his perverse way of treating opponents — Shock & Awe. We wont bother with what’s already been done — let’s go the Will Ferrell route a la Step Brothers: “…Here to f*ck sh*t up.” Marcus’ game is nuanced with a grinding curl from a simple pick, a quick hesitation dribble and he’s gone to the rim — a high leaner off the glass, two points. He adds to his repertoire with moves, jumpers and footwork like a family setting up a game of Jenga. Soon enough, a defender will make a wrong move, pull the wrong block, and the entire game will come crashing down on the defender like an avalanche to a snowboarder. It was bound to happen, it was inevitable. The analysts simply leaned back in their fold outs, seated directly behind the table with all the computers and the score man and waited for for all hell to break loose.

“Fill up the gates but block the flow
Tilt back the head before they blow
Sit back again enjoy the show
My life’s a movie now”
His life is fodder for celluloid, calories for the bottomless pit of hunger so aptly named keyboards. He’s the son of Michael Jordan for god’s sake. It must be like a tedious cake walk in circles for him, marching to the beat of a record he’s probably heard ten too many times, hoping to win himself something, longing not to have to go back to his pops to do it for him with his wallet. It’s known that it used to bother him, probably similar to a kid poking you with a stick over and over again, waiting for confirmation that you’re still alive. But long ago he went through the five stages of being the son of the G.O.A.T. and accepted that it’s probably not realistic to think he would make it to the level that his father got to in this beautiful, ironic game. Hellbent on making it on his own accord, he went to work. He has faced many bumps along the way, similar to his older brother Jeffrey’s — Jeff had problems getting recruited, later became a walk on freshman on the team at Illinois. Marcus has had more offers (Toledo, Arizona State, Oklahoma, Stanford, Butler, Davidson, Marquette and a few others), but recruiting analysts for the major names (Rivals, Scout, ESPN) are hesitant to bring praise to the young lefty. Their rationale is admirable, albeit unfair: nobody wants to over-hype the G.O.A.T’s offspring and set him up for failure.

“I don’t believe that anything is wrong
Close my eyes and I will be strong
By tomorrow I will have moved on
I don’t believe that anything is wrong”
Marcus isn’t the outcome of nepotism, he isn’t the product of a mass marketed hype machine, clothed in the rags and riches of outside interests. He wears the shoe of his surname, the shirt of his surname, and so on and so forth. Must be like two people tugging at opposite limbs, slowly tearing ligaments and dislocating joints — on one hand he’s embraced that he’s the son of the Omega of hoops. On the other hand, he strives to make a name for himself, if at all possible. Marcus or bust, if you will.
“Tick tock the clock is getting faster
Can’t sit back
And watch the world move backwards
He’s got to be moving forwards
He’s got to be moving faster”
At Whitney Young, Marcus made his name. He led his team to the state final this year. He did him, and by the end of the game, Waukegan was defeated, 69-66. Marcus Jordan fashioned himself some points, 19 in all, ending his HS basketball career with a title; somewhat reminiscent of another Jordan’s career ending title for the Bulls (Those Wizards’ years were a bad dream, we’ve since been awakened to find ourselves in the 90’s still), as a clutch performer. Marcus didn’t sink a jumper to end it. He sunk four shots from 15 feet, all worth 1 point apiece, in the final 0:26 of the game. Just like everything else in his life, the same, but different. And when the buzzer was sound, the title a lock… Among the fans clapping, screaming and chanting, was a 6-6 statuesque figure with rings clamped on his fingers, tears rolling down his face with pride for his son. The reporters asked Michael about it afterward — “Crying?” Jordan said, “I’m not crying. Not for me, anyway.”

“A rendezvous for the new revolutionist
This new revolution is
Whatever it is”
Just like the lyrics said, a rendezvous for the revolutionist. This revolution is whatever it is. Marcus is his own destiny, whatever it is.
Note: all lyrics from various songs by The Arcade Fire.

Video: Alonzo Mourning’s Moment

CHN — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 06:01:00 -0700

Here’s an emotional Alonzo Mourning getting his jersey retired by the Heat last night: