Dime is the premier basketball magazine, covering the NBA, NCAA, High School, Playground and International basketball - as well as sneakers, fashion and music.
Issue link: http://dimemagazine.epubxp.com/i/130678
7 KOBE BRYANT The Lakers are a doomed ship — if they're not sinking there's no sign of wind hitting their sails. Ah, but Kobe isn't going down like this. He's playing with the mantra that even if this team is almost unbearable to watch at times, he's not going to be the player critics point at for its failures. Just ask Kris Humphries and Gerald Wallace, whom he split open with a dunk in early February that evoked memories of Kobe with his mini-fro. Or the Jazz, Thunder, Hornets and Suns, whom Bryant collectively rang up 48 assists against in a four-game streak. Seventeen seasons into his career, Bryant's game is still evolving. 6 BLAKE GRIFFIN He's stronger than you, he's bouncier than you and he knows you only bought the ticket or switched the channel to the Clippers game because you want to see him dunk. There's good reason to tune in often when he's playing alongside a healthy Chris Paul, because he's more capable than ever of dunking at any time before next to the "point God." 5 RUSSELL WESTBROOK Among this new breed of point guard that's more likely to score on you than fnd the open man, Russ is literally leaps and bounds ahead. But you already know about his dunking. What's been hilarious to see and harder to turn away from is his embrace of the villain role. Westbrook wears the black hat better than any other player in the league -- even Kobe. Watch as he glares into the road crowds after buckets, or revisit his scene stealing in Denver from January when he stole the midcourt shot — twice! — from the Nuggets mascot. No one gets between Denver's home crowd and the promise of free pizza. Except Russ, who busted Denver's chops and then hit a three-pointer to nearly steal a win. We couldn't turn away. JAMES HARDEN With LeBron giving every doubter the middle fnger with his NBA title, Olympic gold medal and NBA MVP last season, Harden entered this year as the player with the most to prove. And that was before he was dealt on the season's eve to Houston. As a result he plays angry — he recently dunked so hard on Utah it almost ripped the rim from its bolts. No one plays perfectly and Harden isn't the exception, with his goal of proving he's a league-leading scorer manifesting itself into a high usage rate and maybe too many one-on-one battles. The NBA, however, has always been maligned as a league where too many stars coast — an assertion you can never tag on Harden's relentless approach. MID-SEASON REPORT 3 LeBRON JAMES LeBron James has done everything he ever could have dreamt of achieving. Naturally, he's turning in possibly his best statistical season as his encore. Per game, James has the fewest turnovers, most rebounds, best feld goal shooting and best three-point shooting of his career. There have only been 14 other seasons in NBA history to include averages of at least 27.0 points, 6.9 assists and 7.2 rebounds per game (done by six players, four times by 'Bron). But none can match his 56 percent shooting so far this season. Maybe the guy who comes up with the solution of peace in the Middle East can fgure out afterward how to stop LeBron James in his prime. 62 NIKE 4 DIME