SLAM Hardwood Classics Youth Cover Tee - Allen Iverson (SLAM 32)

Participating in the game is for the masses. SLAM had enough of gen pop by 1999. Issue 32 was our official bridge from participating in the game to creating a new game to play. Our ferryman across the way from gen pop to somewhere that scared everyone else was Allen Iverson. 

He had already been on SLAM 9 and SLAM 18. But SLAM 9’s cover photo was an action shot and SLAM 18’s was relatively tame. 

SLAM 32… man, SLAM 32 was a societal battering ram that broke down every single locked door to individual expression whose keys had been lost decades ago. Jewelry, tattoos, an afro, an attitude and something called a “throwback jersey” all highlighted on the cover of a national magazine. 

Basketball wasn’t in Kansas anymore, Jack. We weren’t in the Land of Oz either. Actually, the Wizard of Oz got crossed all the way outta his little green suit by a 23-year-old with a ‘fro skipping along the Yellow Brick Road. 

Forget the rules and leave the status quo behind. SLAM 32 was a moment. On that cover Bubba Chuck, as Iverson is known to friends, confirmed a fact the nation seems to always bury under lies of conformity; it’s cool to be you. Iverson was just being him, decades before anyone would’ve rightly referred to Iverson as HIM. 

“I dress the way I want to dress, I look the way I want to look,” Iverson is quoted in that cover story. 

Facts. Straight like that. 

SLAM hit the gas after that one image. We agreed with Bubba Chuck and we wanted everyone to be true to themselves on our covers and within our pages. We found our voice because of #3. 

The new game was set and while everyone else eventually tried to be like SLAM, we continued to be different.