COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Pearl, In the Lane, With the Kiss

March 18, 2013

As the Big East does its last dance at the Garden, a look at the players and moments that contributed to its glorious rise—and the tumultuous events that led to its downfall

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Is This the End for Penn State?

July 30, 2012

The worst scandal in the history of college sports led the NCAA to impose harsh and unprecedented penalties on the Nittany Lions. What’s left is a legacy in ashes, a program in shambles and a community in disbelief

SPORTSWOMAN & SPORTSMAN OF THE YEAR

Pat Summitt and Mike Krzyzewski

December 12, 2011

The two winningest coaches in Division I college basketball history have more in common than extraordinary success. For reaching beyond their campuses and refusing to be defined by their genders, SI honors them jointly

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

John Wooden
1910-2010
Remembering the Wizard

June 14, 2010

A personal reminiscence of the greatest coach that college basketball has known, and the values and character that made him an equally accomplished man

GRASSROOTS BASKETBALL /
SPORTS BUSINESS

The Other Basketball

June 13, 2005

While purists shudder, the And1 touring troupe and its best-selling videos have spread hip-hop hoops far and wide—and made the dribble the bomb

SPORTS MEDIA

The Cover No One Would Pose For

[with Albert Chen & Tim Smith]
January 21, 2002

Millions of superstitious readers—and many athletes—believe that an appearance on Sports Illustrated’s cover is the kiss of death. But is there really such a thing as the SI Jinx?

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Knight Fall

September 18, 2000

Bob Knight’s controversial 29-year reign at Indiana came to an ironic end when he gave a student an unmannerly lesson in manners

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

General Amnesty

May 22, 2000

After an investigation that uncovered evidence of repeated serious transgressions, the Indiana hierarchy let Bob Knight off with a slap on the wrist

COLLEGE BASKETBALL /
FINAL FOUR

Wildcat Strike

April 6, 1998

Digging itself out of one last hole, Kentucky brought a resounding end to the first year of the Tubby Smith era with its seventh NCAA title

SPORTSMAN OF THE YEAR

Dean Smith: Fanfare for an Uncommon Man

December 22, 1997

He became the winningest college basketball coach of all time and capped an exemplary career with a graceful retirement

COLLEGE BASKETBALL /
FINAL FOUR

Scratchin’ and Clawin’

April 7, 1997

In a Cat fight that went into overtime, youthful Arizona upset Kentucky to win the NCAA title

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Broken Beyond Repair

June 12, 1995

An open letter to the president of Miami urges him to dismantle his vaunted football program to salvage his school’s reputation

COLLEGE BASKETBALL /
FINAL FOUR

Arkansas 1994
Hog Wild

April 11, 1994

A clutch three-pointer gave Arkansas the NCAA title and, at last, the respect it deserved

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

The First Fan

March 21, 1994

President Clinton is hog-wild about the Arkansas Razorbacks and their chances of going all the way

COLLEGE BASKETBALL /
FINAL FOUR

Duke 1991
Wish Granted

April 8, 1991

Duke did it. The Blue Devils slammed Kansas, after shocking UNLV, to win the NCAA title

TENNIS

Upset Time

September 17, 1990

Teen ace Pete Sampras and a new Gabriela Sabatini were unlikely champions in one of the most surprising U.S. Opens ever

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Florida: Home of the Best Talent and the Best Teams

September 5, 1988

From Pahokee to West Palm, they’re raising talent in the Sunshine State—to star in Miami, Gainesville, Tallahassee and points beyond

BASEBALL

The Boys of Spring

March 7, 1988

After two disastrous seasons, L.A. is enjoying pennant fever in Vero Beach

PRO BASKETBALL

In the Driver’s Seat

December 10, 1984

Rookie Michael Jordan has quickly become Chicago’s big wheel and the NBA’s big deal at the box office

OBITUARY / SPORTS MEDIA

Frank Deford, 1938-2017

June 5, 2017

For more than five decades, Frank Deford was the peerless bard of sports journalism, responsible for some of Sports Illustrated’s most indelible stories

SPORTS MEDIA

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

December 12, 2016

As the old media model that created sports’ bull market crumbles, the way games are broadcast and consumed is changing radically—à la carte! microbets! virtual reality!—while rights-holders brace for the ultimate reckoning

OLYMPICS / RIO 2016

Everyone in the Struggle

July 25-August 1, 2016

Like their city, Rio’s Olympians—and many other Cariocas tied to these Games—have overcame seemingly insurmountable obstacles

PRO FOOTBALL / WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

Gino Marchetti

July 4-11, 2016

He had the meat to compete with the giants of any era. . . . Oh, and this oft-overlooked Baltimore Colts legend was also one of the most dominant defensive ends ever to put on the pads and helmet

SPORTS & GLOBAL POLITICS

The Powers That Be

May 30, 2016

After decades of exporting athletic prowess, the U.S. is using its legal might to make friends and influence people around the globe

REVIEW / TELEVISION

John Oliver’s British Invasion

December 28, 2015

It takes the perspective of an irreverent, hilarious outsider to most effectively send up and send off the most odious people and policies in sports

PRO BASKETBALL

Ponytail Express

December 14, 2015

Before her pioneering role as an NBA assistant, Becky Hammon was an overlooked recruit in South Dakota and an underestimated point guard in the WNBA. Nothing has come easy for her, and she wouldn’t have it any other way

COLLEGE BASKETBALL / SPORTS & SOCIETY

Game Changer

November 30, 2015

Basketball-loving education secretary Arne Duncan ensured that an emphasis on NCAA student-athletes will be an Obama administration legacy

YOUTH SPORTS / SPORTS & SOCIETY

The Last Days of the Abusive Coach

[with Lauren Shute]
September 28, 2015

Why do college coaches continue to yell, demean and demoralize? That’s yesterday’s tactic. Today’s athletes can’t—and won’t—take it. What’s more, it doesn’t work: Study after study shows the benefits of a more positive approach

OLYMPICS / RIO 2016

The World Is Waiting

August 17, 2015

One year from the start of the 2016 Olympics, host Rio de Janeiro is pleased with its progress, but even as its scenic splendor and irrepressible spirit command attention, the city has obstacles to overcome

PRO BASKETBALL / WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

Kareem-Abdul Jabbar

July 6-13, 2015

The Hall of Fame center who played with his back to the world was immersing himself in Malcolm X and Sherlock Holmes stories before tip-offs. Now he has grown comfortable sharing his insights on race, religion, sports and history as a public intellectual

SPORTS & SOCIETY

A Whole New Ball Game

June 29, 2015

The Millennial generation, with its unprecedented digital savvy and ethnic, cultural and social diversity, is changing the face of sports in America. Just look at the fan next to you—and the sport on the field or on your phone

SOCCER / SPORTS & GLOBAL POLITICS

Hard Habits to Kick

June 15, 2015

An international investigation is threatening to blow up an outfit that has long promised to save the world with soccer but instead has allegedly leaned on member nations, rich and poor, to line the pockets of a select few. The first sign of positive change: president Sepp Blatter’s pending resignation

PRO BASKETBALL

Patty Mills, Balla

March 23, 2015

There is no more diverse roster in the NBA than that of the Spurs, populated by balas, or brothers, from eight countries, each with a story to share, none richer than the one their Indigenous Australian point guard tells, with feeling

OBITUARY / COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Dean Smith
1931-2015
Hail and Farewell

February 23, 2015

Five years ago, amid his sad decline, the coach’s former players and assistants found a way to say to him what he had always told them: Thank you

SPORTS MEDIA

United We Sit

October 20, 2014

With its abiding desire for a broad cross section of American viewers, televised sports remain a last staging ground for national conversation about concussions, domestic violence, child abuse, gay rights and racial sensitivity

OLYMPICS / SOCHI 2014

Good as Gold

February 17, 2014

The opening days of the Sochi Games were filled with overblown tales of organizational glitches. But there was a way to celebrate Olympian achievements and revel in Russia’s winter spirit: Head for the hills

OLYMPICS / SOCHI 2014

Host-ilities

February 3, 2014

Instead of a “new Russia,” the politically charged, terror-threatened Sochi Games are reviving memories of the country’s past

OBITUARY / SPORTS & GLOBAL POLITICS

Nelson Mandela
1918-2013

December 16, 2013

During an extraordinary life of suffering and reconciliation, the South African leader never stopped believing his own mantra that “sport has the power to change the world”

YOUTH SPORTS / HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL

The Shot

December 2, 2013

Video of Khalil Edney’s last-second shot went viral because it won a high school playoff game. But it also showed that good things come to those who persevere

OLYMPICS / SOCHI 2014

The Putin Olympics

February 18, 2013

In less than a year, the Winter Games will open in the subtropical resort of Sochi. Every venue was built from scratch. Will it all work? Will there be snow? Russian president Vladimir Putin guarantees it—and he’s used to getting his way

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

The Art of Aaron Craft

January 28, 2013

The nation’s most creative defender knows his opponents’ moves better than they do, which makes playing against him part fascinating and part infuriating

OBITUARY / COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Rick Majerus
1948-2012
The Saddest Happy Coach

December 10, 2012

For all of a dazzling successful career on the sideline, the outsized Saint Louis coach waged an internal battle between transience and permanence

SPORTS & SOCIETY

Athletes Who Care:
The Power of Ten

[with Dan Greene]
December 10, 2012

In 1987, SI bestowed its highest honor on a group of sports figures dedicated to helping others. A quarter century later, athletes are channeling the same passion and commitment to ever broader issues, on an ever widening scale

CYCLING / SPORTS & DRUGS

‘A Massive Fraud Now More Fully Exposed’

[with David Epstein]
October 22, 2012

For years, as he became the most dominant cyclist in history, Lance Armstrong vehemently denied doping. Here  are some of his most strident assertions, annotated with the now undeniable evidence that Armstrong took performance-enhancing drugs, pressured his teammates to do so and bullied anyone who opposed him

OLYMPICS / LONDON 2012

Run the World, Girls

August 13, 2012

History has been lit large across the London fortnight—the likely last stands of Phelps and the Dream Team, the kinetic brilliance of Bolt—but the electricity of these Games has come from another growing, if not new, source: towering women

OLYMPICS / LONDON 2012

One City, One World

August 6, 2012

The soul of these Olympics lies in a uniquely British paradox: The hosts desperately want medals, yet greet failures with a stiff upper lip, a smile even. What matters most is that their guests feel included and simply have a go

OLYMPICS / LONDON 2012

The Host City

July 23, 2012

The grand old city rescued the Games as a last-minute host in 1908 and ’48, and its record third Olympics, planned through seven years of triumph and tragedy, should be a vibrant (if possibly soggy) model for the future

OLYMPICS / MELBOURNE 1956

Revolution Games

June 18, 2012

The 1956 Melbourne Olympics were plunged into Cold War intrigue as dozens of Hungarian athletes, unwilling to return home after Soviet tanks crushed a popular uprising against Communist rule, defected to freedom—with help from a young sports magazine

REVIEW / ART

The Art of Boxing

June 4, 2012

The savagery and spectacle of prizefighting a century ago are at the heart of an exhibit of works by American realist master George Bellows

OLYMPICS / LONDON 2012

Ready, Set, Coe!

May 21, 2012

A lord and a legend, an Olympic hero who once tusseled with a clown, Sebastian Coe is the upbeat face and driving force of this summer’s Games

PRO BASKETBALL

How I Spent My Lockout

November 21, 2011

J. J. Barea, the breakout star of the NBA Finals, wants to get back to work. Until he does, he’ll be hanging out with his girlfriend—a former Miss Universe—on the tropical island where he’s a hero

SPORTS & SCIENCE

The New Training Table

[with Amanda Doyle]
November 7, 2011

From college dining halls to professional clubhouses, a new food consciousness is revolutionizing sports. It’s not just about gaining or losing weight. It’s about performance targets, wellness and recovery. Easting to win has become a lot more complicated—and athletes are healthier for it

GRASSROOTS BASKETBALL

Courtin’ in the Park

September 12, 2011

What lockout? The playground pyrotechnics of NBA stars are keeping it real, and keeping the game alive

SPORTS & SCIENCE

Prosthetics:
Between Man and Machine

August 6, 2011

Inspired by young wounded veterans, federally funded labs are creating artificial limbs that may soon blur the distinction between disabled and able-bodied athletes

American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons MORE Award

YOUTH SPORTS / SPORTS & SOCIETY

The Barrio Boys

June 27, 2011

In 1949 El Paso’s Bowie Bears, a team of poor Hispanic players too unworldly to be intimidated by more affluent Anglo opponents, came from nowhere to win Texas’ first high school baseball title

SPORTS & GLOBAL POLITICS

Party Like It’s 1579

July 19, 2010

Spain has built a new empire, in sports, a triumph of planning, cash, freedom—and great hair

COLLEGE BASKETBALL / SPORTS & SOCIETY

Utah: The First Cinderella

[with Michael Atchison]
March 22, 2010

Led by Arnie Ferrin Jr. and Wat Misaka, the 1943-44 Utes peaked at just the right time and became the unlikeliest of champions

SOCCER

The Hero Who Vanished

[with Joshua Robinson]
March 8, 2010

Sixty years ago the U.S. upset mighty England in the World Cup on a single goal by Joe Gaetjens. In most countries Gaetjens would have been idolized. But in the U.S. he was ignored, and in his native Haiti he was marked for death

OLYMPICS / VANCOUVER 2010

Alone at the Top

February 8, 2010

Four years after triumph and turbulence in Turin, Shani Davis still stands—and skates—apart from the U.S. team. But that hasn’t kept him from becoming America’s best male skater since Eric Heiden

PRO FOOTBALL / SPORTS & SOCIETY

The NFL’s Jackie Robinson

October 12, 2009

He broke professional football’s color barrier in 1946, yet even though he played alongside Robinson in college, few people remember the great running back Kenny Washington or the shameful history of segregation in the NFL

Best American Sports Writing

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Pressure Points

March 23, 2009

A free throw’s very freedom can seem like psychological imprisonment—especially during the NCAA Tournament, when laying it all on the line takes on outsize importance, and the charity stripe can be anything but charitable

SPORTS & GLOBAL POLITICS

To Russia with Love

December 15, 2008

Imagine Mark Cuban with three times as many teams and five times as much money. He’d still be a piker compared to the Russian zillionaires who offer a life of luxury to lure world-class athletes and are bankrolling a new national sports machine

OLYMPICS / BEIJING 2008

On the Rebound

August 18, 2008

Having learned from its mistakes of attitude and etiquette in Athens, a pressuring U.S. Redeem Team proved it can win with class, putting on a show against the host country and impressing adoring fans

OLYMPICS / BEIJING 2008

The Redeem Team

July 28, 2008

After failing to win a major basketball competition in eight years, the U.S. has taken a new (and distinctly foreign) approach

OLYMPICS / BEIJING 2008

Let the Show Begin

July 28, 2008

Hoping to stage a dazzling, dissent-free spectacle, China has carefully planned—and tried to control—every aspect of the Beijing Games. Anyone looking to spoil the event will have to reckon with 1.3 billion proud Chinese

SPORTS & GLOBAL POLITICS

Opening Volley

[with David Davis and Jaime FlorCruz]
June 16, 2008

Ping-Pong Diplomacy made the Beijing Games possible—but without two unlikely heroes, the great table tennis summit might never have occurred

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Cut From the Same Cloth

March 24, 2008

Nine years after his father threw in the towel as Georgetown’s coach, John Thompson III has assumed his mantle and made the Hoyas once again a threat to win the national championship

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

The Greatest Upset Never Seen

December 31, 2007

On December 23, 1982, with no TV cameras and very few press on hand, tiny Chaminade of Honolulu shocked Ralph Sampson and No. 1 Virginia. College basketball hasn’t been the same since.

RUNNING

No Finish Line

November 5, 2007

His heart once powered him to a world’s best in the marathon. On June 30 it stopped for 14 minutes. Now Alberto Salazar knows that life is the only long run that really matters

Best American Sports Writing

SPORTS & SOCIETY

Two Years After Katrina

[with Caitlin Moscatello]
August 27, 2007

Sports played a special role in the early stages of the New Orleans recovery, but beyond the Superdome, in battered, depopulated areas such as the Lower Ninth Ward, there is a great need to get the city’s at-risk youth back in play

BASEBALL / WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

What’s In a Name?

July 2, 2007

The shortstop synonymous with big league futility—Mendoza Line, anyone?—maintains a reputation well north of respectability in his native country

PRO BASKETBALL / WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

Hakeem Olajuwon

July 2, 2007

Infused with a passion for architecture and guided by his Islamic faith, the Hall of Fame center has scored bi as Houston’s most distinctive real estate magnate

AUTO RACING

“Better Than Sex”

June 18, 2007

That’s how Formula 1 phenom Lewis Hamilton described winning his first pole. Imagine how F / 1’s first black driver felt about his historic win in Montreal last weekend

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Birth of a Dynasty

March 19, 2007

Only after John Wooden challenged his own coaching methods—and applied new tactics to a headstrong mix of players in 1963-64—did he make his mark at UCLA

SPORTS & SCIENCE

Going, Going Green

[with David Epstein]
March 12, 2007

As global warming changes the planet, it is changing the sports world. To counter the looming environmental crisis, surprising and innovative ideas are already helping sports adapt

COLLEGE FOOTBALL / SPORTS & SOCIETY

Ground Breakers

November 7, 2005

Long after Jackie Robinson smashed the color barrier in baseball, these Southern college football pioneers desegregated a more violent sport, in a more violent place, at a more violent time

LACROSSE / YOUTH SPORTS

Get on the Stick

[with Julia Morrill]
April 25, 2005

A longtime niche sport, lacrosse is the fastest-growing game in the U.S. at every level. The appeal? It’s a neat composite of other sports, it’s fast, it’s easy to learn. And it’s cool

PRO BASKETBALL

The Man Has Seen ’Em All

March 14, 2005

After half a century of discovering stars from Zelmo Beaty to Ben Wallace, master scout and storyteller Marty Blake is still sizing up every NBA prospect out there

SPORTS & HISTORY

The Road Not Taken

December 27, 2004

Lombardi’s invincible Eagles? Gordie Howe of the Rangers? Jack Nicklaus, filler of prescriptions? These things almost came to pass, as we found in exploring sports’ most intriguing might have beens

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Hoops Played Here?

November 29, 2004

On the shores of Lake Champlain, led by an odd pairing of coach and player, the Vermont Catamounts have ignited an unlikely case of basketball fever

TENNIS

Jimbo, 1974

August 30, 2004

In 1974 Jimmy Connors ignited a tennis boom with his wicked metal racket, his storybook romance, his vulgar antics and his renegade behavior. Thirty years later he still thumbs his nose at the game’s establishment

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

The Conn Game

April 12, 2004

Behind a full-throttle performance from Emeka Okafor, Connecticut cruised past Georgia Tech to win the NCAA title

SPORTS & SOCIETY

Hard Truth

March 29, 2004

In Vermont, a state of ‘From Heres’ and ‘Come Heres,’ natives know the state is grittier than its image suggests

SPORTS BUSINESS / SPORTS & SOCIETY

Rockin’ the Retros

December 22, 2003

A streetwise Philly marketer, with some juice from hip-hop stars, has turned the throwback jersey into a big-bucks fashion frenzy

SAILING

Mast Appeal

July 14, 2003

Sports have gone populist in ritzy Newport, where events will be in full sail this week

John Southam Award for Excellence in Sailing Communications

YOUTH SPORTS / SPORTS & SOCIETY

The American Athlete, Age 10

[with Gene Menez]
October 6, 2003

Time of their lives, or too much too soon? It’s the age many kids give up sports altogether or arrive at a crossroads, forced to choose among sports in order to excel at one

GRASSROOTS BASKETBALL

They Got Next

August 18, 2003

For high schoolers pursuing NBA dreams, summer is the time to shine, and none shone more brightly than three stars on the mighty Atlanta Celtics

PRO BASKETBALL / WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

Jerry Lucas

June 30, 2003

The Hall of Fame forward has been reborn as an educational evangelist, preaching his radical gospel of memorizing through visualization

COLLEGE BASKETBALL / SPORTS & SOCIETY

Ghosts of Mississippi

March 10, 2003

Forty years ago a courageous college president defied a court order barring Mississippi State from integrated competition and sent his team to face black players in the NCAA tournament

Powerade / NSMA Story of the Year

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

A Madness to the Method?

March 3, 2003

A top-secret computer formula, the RPI, is often the difference between a team’s receiving an NCAA at-large berth or going to the NIT. Its critics think there are better yardsticks—and they may be right

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Tonelli’s Run

January 27, 2003

Trapped in a hell where the bravest thing a man could was just stay alive, Motts Tonelli clung to hope—and his Notre Dame class ring

YOUTH SPORTS / HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL

Class Struggle

December 2, 2002

Five years after Indiana carved up its basketball tournament into four tiers—ending any chance of another Hoosiers-style miracle—declining interest has led to sparse crowds and plummeting revenues

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Just Do It Right

November 25, 2002

College hoops has a fundamental problem: lousy fundamentals. Everybody can jam, nobody can hit a jump shot. How to fix it? Go back to basics

BASKETBALL

The Olden Rules

November 25, 2002

When James Naismith first committed to paper his 13 precepts of basketball in 1891, he could not have foreseen how well those commandments would hold up—or how fiercely the document itself would be coveted

YOUTH SPORTS

The Vanishing Three-Sport Star

November 18, 2002

Bucking a powerful trend toward specialization, two athletes in Louisville are excelling in multiple sports—and savoring the challenge

HOCKEY

The Cup to the Rescue

August 26, 2002

With floods ravaging the Czech Republic, four Red Wings players turned a visit by the Stanley Cup into a relief mission

OLYMPICS / MUNICH 1972

When the Terror Began

[with Don Yaeger]
August 26, 2002

Thirty years afterward, the hostage drama that left eleven Israeli Olympians dead seems even more chilling and offers grim reminders to today’s security experts

Best American Sports Writing
Powerade / NSMA Story of the Year

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Duty, Honor, Country

December 10, 2001

With a more consequential conflict in everyone’s thoughts, Army trampled Navy

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

The Road Not Taken

November 19, 2001

Duke guard Jason Williams might have been the first player chosen in the NBA Draft, but he decided to stay in school because he figured he still has a lot to learn

COLLEGE SPORTS

Look for the Union Label?

August 13, 2001

Ramogi Huma’s Collegiate Athletes Association is organizing Division I players

PRO BASKETBALL

Your Lyin’ Eyes

June 25, 2001

You think you can spot an NBA prospect? A pro scout sees things you’re not even looking for

YOUTH SPORTS / GRASSROOTS BASKETBALL

A School for Scandal

February 26, 2001

Take a championship high school team, an NBA-ready 7-footer, a coach accused of molestation, a secretive summer-league operator and a community desperate for a winner, and you’ve got all the ingredients

OLYMPICS / SYDNEY 2000

Aiming Higher

September 18, 2000

The number of female Olympians is growing—even a pistol-packing Iranian is in Sydney—but for many the Games are unattainable because of oppression, prejudice and disease

INTERNATIONAL BASKETBALL

The Great Wall

September 11, 2000

China has three towering NBA prospects in its frontcourt—and 100 more 7-footers in reserve, if you believe the rumors

INTERNATIONAL BASKETBALL

The Son Also Rises

July 12, 1999

A second-generation star keys Italy’s win in the European Championships

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

The Bear in Winter

March 1, 1999

His UTEP Miners are only a shadow of the team that wrought a basketball revolution by winning the 1966 NCAA title, yet coach Don Haskins has no recourse but to sit tight through these rocky times

PRO BASKETBALL

Mr. Manners

May 25, 1998

Notorious Dennis Rodman is on his best behavior, and the Bulls’ chances for a three-peat get better the longer he continues to turn the other cheek

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Back Door Men

January 12, 1998

Princeton outfoxes foes with the oldest of plays. Here’s how the surprising 11-1 Tigers pull it off

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

The Best Little Player in America

November 17, 1997

If you believe the official listings, Eastern Michigan’s senior point guard Earl Boykins keeps getting smaller as his scoring grows

INTERNATIONAL BASKETBALL

No Longer the Dolce Vita

May 19, 1997

U.S. players are finding Europe a much tougher place to earn a living

YOUTH SPORTS / HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL

The End of the Road

March 17, 1997

With Indiana bidding farewell to its all-comers high school basketball tournament, boys from small towns like Batesville took a last shot at a dream

COLLEGE BASKETBALL / SPORTS & SOCIETY

School’s Out

February 24, 1997

Budding basketball star Marcus LoVett says he has been abused by the college system. Oklahoma City University says he refused help it offered him. Now his venue is the courtroom, not the court

SPORTS & GLOBAL POLITICS

Money Co.

February 21, 1997

From the ruling family to the resident jockocracy, sports are a defining element in the bikini mecca of Monaco

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

A Survival Guide

December 23, 1996

To avoid a stomping by David Stern, the new women’s ABL should heed this advice

Women’s Sports Foundation Media Award

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

A Field Guide to Zebras

November 15, 1996

In the land of college hoops, where players and coaches come and go, the referee has become the most familiar—and powerful—creature in the game

OLYMPICS / ATLANTA 1996

Playgirl

August 2, 1996

After a brief retirement, Brazil guard Hortencia resume her role as flamboyant queen of the court

OLYMPICS / ATLANTA 1996

Modern Greek Tragedy

July 22, 1996

Athens is still furious that the IOC didn’t select it for the Centennial Games

OLYMPICS / ATLANTA 1996

Road Show

July 22, 1996

The U.S. women’s basketball team bonded during 14 months of global barnstorming

OLYMPICS / SPORTS & GLOBAL POLITICS

On the Move

July 22, 1996

From Shanghai to Tianjin, China’s greatest Olympic resource is clearly its female athletes

INTERNATIONAL BASKETBALL /
SPORTS & GLOBAL POLITICS

Prisoners of War

June 3, 1996

Nine years ago, as Yugoslavs and friends, they beat the U.S. to win the World Junior basketball title. Now, as Bosnians, Croats and Serbs, they’re still stars—but politics has driven them apart

COLLEGE SPORTS

Abandoned in Cyberspace

March 4, 1996

It doesn’t compute: College coaches can talk for dough, but players may not speak freely

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

A Ton of Bricks

February 12, 1996

That’s what you’ll find on college courts now that shooting has become a lost art

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Caught in the Middle

January 22, 1996

Stephon Marbury of Georgia Tech carries a heavy burden as the last, best hope of a Coney Island hoops dynasty

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Chemistry 101

November 27, 1995

If you’ve ever wondered why the most talented teams don’t always win the NCAAs, here’s the reason

INTERNATIONAL BASKETBALL

International Intrigue

October 23, 1995

From Lithuania to Slovenia, from China to Greece, NBA spies—er, scouts—are in hot pursuit of tall men with long names

SPORTS & GLOBAL POLITICS

The China Syndrome

[with David Fleming and Jeff Lilley]
October 16, 1995

Chinese athletes and coaches are increasingly subject to the ills and temptations that afflict sports in the West

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

An Unrivaled Rivalry

March 6, 1995

When North Carolina and Duke tip off on Saturday night, they will try to take the finest feud in all of sports to even greater heights

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Down Memory Lane

November 28, 1994

After a decade on the beat, the author bids college basketball a fond farewell

INTERNATIONAL BASKETBALL

Amateur Hour

August 8, 1994

As the Goodwill Games proved anew, not every U.S. basketball squad is a dream team

SOCCER

It Should Be a Kick

June 20, 1994

Ready or not, Americans, here comes soccer’s—some would say sport’s—greatest spectacle

SOCCER

True Grit

June 20, 1994

Germany’s Jürgen Klinsmann is a down-to-earth superstar

SOCCER

Here Come the Lads

June 13, 1994

The Irish soccer team will soon arrive for the World Cup with thousands of peaceful fans who love a glass and a singsong

OLYMPICS / LILLEHAMMER 1994

Whoosh!

February 28, 1994

To the delight of their families and fans, Dan Jansen won at last, and Bonnie Blair won again

OLYMPICS / LILLEHAMMER 1994

Flight of the Finns

February 7, 1994

A sobering rule pertains to Finland’s prodigious ski jumpers: the higher they soar, the harder they fall

COLLEGE BASKETBALL / SPORTS & SOCIETY

In Whose Best Interest?

January 17, 1994

Coaches would gain more from a college basketball boycott than players would

COLLEGE SPORTS

Trickle-Down Economics

October 25, 1993

Cuts in college football would help fund women’s and other nonrevenue programs

INTERNATIONAL BASKETBALL / SPORTS & GLOBAL POLITICS

Shooting for Peace

July 12, 1993

A brave team from Bosnia escaped war at home to make a plea for brotherhood at the European Basketball Championships in Munich

TENNIS

Spanish-American War

June 14, 1993

In a surprise, Spain’s Sergi Bruguera sank the U.S.’s main man in Paris, Jim Courier, to win a French Open notable for its no-shows

SPORTS & SOCIETY

The Slow Track

September 28, 1992

Two decades have elapsed since Title IX banned gender discrimination in federally funded schools, yet equity for women in high school and college sports remains elusive

Women’s Sports Foundation Media Award

OLYMPICS / BARCELONA 1992

Blades and Wheels

July 22, 1992

Olympians find that speed skating backgrounds often convert into pedal power

OLYMPICS / BARCELONA 1992

Call of the Wild

July 22, 1992

Squirrels, bears and rival kayakers are all wary of Mike Herbert

OLYMPICS / BARCELONA 1992

Showing Their Stripes

July 22, 1992

In the aftermath of an armistice in the Cold War, stars representing a constellation of new and old nations promise a banner Olympics

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Blue Angel

March 16, 1992

Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski’s divine spirit and working-class ethic have forged an exemplary college basketball program

REVIEW / BOOKS

Read the Book, Michael

January 13, 1992

Despite what you’ve heard, you come off pretty well in ‘The Jordan Rules’

SPORTS & GLOBAL POLITICS

Katrin the Great

[with Anita Verschoth]
October 21, 1991

World sprint champion Katrin Krabbe and many other athletes from the former East Germany are undergoing culture shock

SPORTS & SOCIETY

Hello Muddah

July 8, 1991

I went back to Keewaydin, the camp where I spent three summers as a boy, and found it’s still a great place for a kid to come into his own

SPORTS & SOCIETY

Prima Donna

December 17, 1990

Women’s athletic director Donna Lopiano has taken the bull by the horns at Texas

PRO BASKETBALL

Oh, Those Cheeky Knicks

May 14, 1990

With a stunning playoff victory over the Celtics in Boston Garden directed by floor leader Maurice Cheeks, the Knicks exposed Larry Bird’s mortality

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

The Lost Generation

November 20, 1989

From 1971 to 1984, no major college scoring champ made the grade in the NBA. Here are the stories of their arrested development

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

The Coach and His Champion

April 3, 1989

John Wooden had 53 loving years with his wife, Nell. Now she’s gone and he struggles alone Best Sports Stories

Sports Illustrated’s 50 Years of Great Writing

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Great Escape

March 27, 1989

As Georgetown narrowly avoided a shocking NCAA tournament loss to Princeton, one spectator in the Providence Civic Center rode the whipsaw like no one else

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Tempest at Mizzou

February 20, 1989

Coach Norm Stewart’s strange antics have brought winning but stormy times to Missouri

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

A Shoot-Out in Tucson

December 19, 1988

When UNLV faced Arizona in a battle of the West’s best, the two coaches had another score to settle

OLYMPICS / SEOUL 1988

A Teutonic Juggernaut

September 14, 1988

By excelling in sports, East Germans can enjoy many privileges, including the right to travel beyond the Wall. And excel they do

TENNIS

Mats Mania It Wasn’t

June 13, 1988

Mats Wilander won another French Open title, but—strange development—John McEnroe won the crowds

ROWING

Oars and Old Ivy

June 6, 1988

Every year, Harvard and Yale athletes bivouac at riverside to prepare for America’s longest-running collegiate event

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Vin, Vinny and Vindication

January 18, 1988

Where Vin Del Negro, talented but unguided, once failed, his son, well loved, has persevered and triumphed

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

The Hot Way to Turn Up the Heat

November 18, 1987

The undermanned Providence Friars used pressure defense in last season’s NCAA tournament to burn some better teams and reach the Final Four. Don’t think that other coaches didn’t notice

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

The Juco Express

November 18, 1987

Junior college players are on the fast track to the big time, with St. John’s Michael Porter and Boo Harvey leading the way

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

The Fall Roundup

August 31, 1987

When it comes to wooing schoolboy talent, it takes a recruiting hostess to provide that gentle incentive

BASEBALL

Playing By Her Own Rules

July 6, 1987

Maryanne Simmons, spouse of Braves catcher Ted Simmons, works hard to keep herself—and other baseball wives—out of the pigeonhole the game so often reserves for them

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Tiger of Another Stripe

January 12, 1987

Missouri’s Derrick Chievous is a rollicking story—and he’ll write it for you too

PRO BASKETBALL

“To Find Out Why I’m Here”

September 22, 1986

In his placid life as a Virginia gentleman and his stormy life in the NBA, Ralph Sampson is searching for a new way to play the game

BASEBALL

Mets Autographs

September 15, 1986

A quest the author embarked on as a 12-year-old kid—to collect the autograph of every member of the 1969 Miracle Mets—gets renewed as the team’s latest edition seeks to duplicate the Amazins’ feat

GRASSROOTS BASKETBALL

The Only Game in Town

July 8, 1985

On one spirited weekend each summer, tiny Lowell, Mich., turns into Mackerville, its streets, sidewalks and front lawns given over to a three-on-three basketball bacchanal

PRO BASKETBALL

Charles in Charge

May 13, 1985

As the Philadelphia 76ers swept away Milwaukee, a not-so-little child, Charles Barkley, led them

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Bo on the Go

September 5, 1984

The star that stirs the drink at Auburn, Bo Jackson is a legend in Alabama and this season’s hottest Heisman candidate

OLYMPICS / LOS ANGELES 1984

It Can Happen

July 18, 1984

The U.S. men’s basketball team may be highly favored, but it’s vulnerable to attack, and Spain, Italy and Yugoslavia are the assailants most likely to do the deadly deed

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

The Leaning Tower of Pizza

March 12, 1984

When omnivorous Auburn center Charles Barkley uses body language, people listen

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Getting Right to the Point

January 23, 1984

Though only a freshman, part-time D.J. Kenny Smith has a finger on Carolina’s pulse