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This story appears in the Dec. 10, 2012, issue of Sports Illustrated. Buy the digital version of the magazine here.
Pat Riley stood in the mouth of the tunnel at Boston's TD Garden, between the court and the locker room, and waited for the Boat. That's what he calls LeBron James -- "You know," Riley explains, "best of all time" -- an acronym he conjured to remind the planet's preeminent basketball player of frontiers still to be conquered. "Hey, Boat," Riley will say. "How is the Boat doing today?" James will reflexively laugh and shake his head because he is not the Boat, at least not yet. But on that sweaty night at the Garden, in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals, facing yet another summer cast as the villain foiled, he delivered one of the Boat performances in NBA...
Thursday's game between the Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs was supposed to be a nationally televised showcase of two elite, star-studded teams. The promo practically wrote itself: "It's Lebron, Wade, Bosh and the Heat against... more »
Here was San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich, showing how dumb a smart person can be, saying he turned a big game against the Heat into a big mess to rest his players amid a busy schedule. "It's pretty easy to understand,'' he said.... more »
learly, the whole Miami-Cleveland beef doesn’t interest the Heat anymore. Just as clear, the Heat can win on a night it sleepwalks through a game and only begins playing in the final minutes. Such was the case Saturday... more »
Chris Bosh made sure to correctly answer the question. He recently was asked what it was like being a teenager the first time he watched Tim Duncan play in the NBA. Bosh, the Miami Heat center, remembered it differently. He had... more »
If there's any cosmic justice in basketball, any higher power on the lookout for cool stories blending perseverance and deep family ties, then Taylor Griffin will work his way back to the NBA in the next year or two. Better yet,... more »
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