Finding Darko
The NBA’s greatest draft bust, Darko Milicic is now an enthusiastic farmer of cherries in his native Serbia.
Great articles, every Saturday.
The NBA’s greatest draft bust, Darko Milicic is now an enthusiastic farmer of cherries in his native Serbia.
Sam Borden ESPN Aug 2017 25min Permalink
In 1993, his rookie season, more than 1,700 boys were named after Shaquille O’Neal. Now they’ve grown up.
Alex Prewitt Sports Illustrated Jul 2017 20min Permalink
On being—and playing for—Lady Vols basketball coach Pat Summitt.
Gary Smith Sports Illustrated Mar 1998 30min Permalink
The NBA’s most “irrationally confident” player tells his story.
Dion Waiters The Players' Tribune Apr 2017 10min Permalink
He has been in the NBA for 50 years. He’s won nine championships. And he can’t walk away.
Wright Thompson ESPN Apr 2017 30min Permalink
He’s got 50,000 Instagram followers. He’s been offered several college scholarships. He just played his first high school basketball game.
Chris Ballard Sports Illustrated Feb 2017 30min Permalink
A profile of the Oklahoma City point guard, who is averaging a triple-double in his first season without Kevin Durant.
Sam Anderson New York Times Magazine Feb 2017 30min Permalink
How the 1983 assassination of his father, the president of American University of Beirut, shaped the Golden State Warriors basketball coach.
John Branch New York Times Dec 2016 Permalink
Mykal Riley’s last-second three-pointer kept thousands of fans out of the path of a tornado. Just as remarkable? That Riley was there to take the shot in the first place.
Thomas Lake Sports Illustrated Mar 2009 15min Permalink
An NBA lottery pick and drug addict tries to rebuild his life.
Chris Ballard Sports Illustrated Sep 2016 35min Permalink
On the mysterious death of a high school basketball star in Dallas.
T.J. Quinn, Simon Baumgart ESPN Jul 2016 25min Permalink
A former Ohio National Guardsman recalls being dunked on by LeBron James as a teenager — and how the James helped get him through the Iraq War.
Hugh Martin Grantland Jun 2014 15min Permalink
Mini-Currys and the future of basketball.
Danny Chau The Ringer Jun 2016 15min Permalink
“The pitch meeting kicked off with one Nike official accidentally addressing Stephen as 'Steph-on.' ... It got worse from there. A PowerPoint slide featured Kevin Durant's name, presumably left on by accident, presumably residue from repurposed materials.”
Ethan Sherwood Strauss ESPN Mar 2016 20min Permalink
How the Caltech basketball team, losers of 310 straight conference games, figured out a formula for winning.
Chris Ballard Sports Illustrated Nov 2015 30min Permalink
What happened after the first openly gay player in Division I men’s basketball came out.
Pablo S. Torre ESPN Oct 2015 15min Permalink
Investigating the unsolved murder of a former NBA player.
L. Jon Wertheim Sports Illustrated Oct 2015 20min Permalink
A profile of James Harden, the Houston Rockets shooting guard that just signed a $200 million endorsement deal with Adidas.
Pablo S. Torre ESPN the Magazine Oct 2015 Permalink
The story of a sudden death amid a high school recruiting scandal in Texas.
David Gardner Sports Illustrated Sep 2015 25min Permalink
‘‘Just imagine what it was like to be him,’’ Walton added. ‘‘It was 50 years of him being 18 inches taller than everyone and having the brain that he had. Imagine being this jazz head coming up during black power. This is just a dude who has a different head.’’
Jay Caspian Kang New York Times Magazine Sep 2015 15min Permalink
A 42-year-old man with small hands and a dream.
Michael McKnight Sports Illustrated Jun 2015 Permalink
A story of growth, regression, and divergent paths.
"But mostly, Joan sat for hours in her favorite spot of their old living room couch where she breastfed Phil. It felt sometimes like he was resting in the crook of her arm. And other times, her breasts would drip milk and she’d sit with a throbbing ache in her chest. Her husband returned twice a week, a different person each time as if trying on new identities: laughing, angry, sedate, stoic. Sometimes he brought the rocks with him. Sometimes Joan would have to go out on her own looking for them."
Rion Amilcar Scott Literary Orphans May 2015 25min Permalink
The mysterious death of one of college basketball’s most promising coaches.
Wright Thompson ESPN Apr 2015 25min Permalink
Bill Bradley was a Rhodes scholar, a three-term U.S. Senator and a presidential candidate. But before all that, he was the best college basketball player in the country.
John McPhee New Yorker Jan 1965 1h5min Permalink
The death of Bobby Phills, an NBA player who made one terrible mistake.
Jonathan Abrams Grantland Mar 2015 25min Permalink