Sporting artifacts are a booming market. It’s no surprise that collectors and enthusiasts will pay a significant amount for a part of the big moments on the court or playing field: they are buying a piece of personal and collective history, putting the ‘memories’ in memorabilia.
Read MoreOn Sunday afternoon, two of the best teams in the NBA’s Western Conference faced off on national television. When it was over, the Oklahoma City Thunder had routed the Denver Nuggets 127-103, pulling away in the fourth quarter thanks to a barrage from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who had 40 points on the day. But because it was the NBA, the game was less about the teams and more about the stars at the center of the action – who just so happen to be the league’s top two MVP candidates.
Read MoreIt was December 2012, and Heart was on the road when they got the unexpected call. The offer? To perform as a surprise guest at the Kennedy Center to honor their rock and roll heroes, Led Zeppelin. No pressure, right? It would be a quick stopover—with giant ripple effects. “We didn’t have more than one rehearsal before the actual day when the show happened,” Heart’s vibrant lead guitarist, Nancy Wilson, tells American Songwriter. During that practice, the chill had set into her bones. Nancy remembers that it was “snow cold” in winter and that their sole rehearsal “didn’t go well for me because my hands were frozen.” The song the band was set to play was “Stairway to Heaven,” perhaps the most iconic rock song of all time for perhaps the most iconic rock band in history. What could go wrong?
Read MoreHave you ever opened up a social media page with a clear intention of what you’re doing and then instantly become distracted? You end up fiddling around and then closing the page and realizing you didn’t even do what you’d originally logged on for? Yes, the internet is a place full of distractions. TikTok, Instagram, whatever Twitter (X) is? It’s hard to remember what you had for breakfast some days. The same, of course, goes for NBA history.
Read MoreIt’s funny—there are so many websites and devices and other efforts to bring people together these days. Yet, in some ways, it feels as if people are more divided than ever. It’s not connection to someone through a phone or email. Instead, it’s chance meetings. Face-to-face interaction. Spontaneous creative acts. Trust and empathy. You know, the tried-and-true things that have always bonded human beings. And an excellent example of that today is the collaboration between Reggie Watts and CAPYAC. Together, they are set to release a new EP, Songs From Celestial City, on February 28. And for the members of the collective, their bond feels like family.
Read MoreWhen news broke earlier this month that Bryce James had signed on to play basketball at the University of Arizona in the fall, many wondered: Who is Bryce James? For a family that seemed to promote their eldest son Bronny early and often, to find out that parents LeBron and Savannah James also have another son who is a talented athlete may have surprised some of even the most ardent NBA followers. Let’s explore the young career of the budding star, whose high school regular season career winds down this week.
Read MoreWhen four-time champion Robert Parish played in the NBA, there was no such thing as load management. While the idea, which was born in San Antonio as the Spurs managed the twilight years of stars like Tim Duncan, has since become widespread, Parish, who played the most regular season games in NBA history, says he doesn’t like it. Indeed, ridding the NBA of load management is one of the many tweaks a chorus of fans and former players have been suggesting lately. As conversations continue about why early season ratings have been down, fixes galore have been suggested. Below, we wanted to share some more ideas from five distinguished NBA vets.
Read MoreOur writers give their verdicts on the new season, which tips off Tuesday night. Can New York or Oklahoma City thwart a Boston repeat? And will Bronny James make it to the show?
Read MoreHubie Brown was the only coach I truly never got along with. Sure, throughout my career, other coaches and I had our spats. That’s normal. Professionals butt heads sometimes. But Hubie and I never got on the same page. I tried, but he was disrespectful to players and to me, especially. He talked to us like children. I remember reading something about him saying he was naïve at his past stop as the coach in Atlanta (from 1976–81). Prior to that, he was with the Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA (as an assistant) and the Kentucky Colonels in the ABA (where he’d won a championship). His team had been full of drug users, and he just hadn’t known what to look for. Now, as he came to New York, he was set to exert control.
Read MoreBorn in Lubbock, Texas, on April 11, 1955, Michael Ray Richardson grew up to be a star college basketball player at the University of Montana. From there, drafted by the New York Knicks’ Willis Reed in 1978 with the 4th overall pick, Richardson, known by many as “Sugar,” became a four-time NBA All-Star and one of the first players to lead the league in both steals and assists in a single season. Indeed, before Magic Johnson, Richardson was one of the first big point guards in the NBA.
Later in his life, he became a star in Europe, dominating Italian leagues and ushering in the era known as “Sugarmania.” But it was in between those times when things went south for the stalwart player. Famously, Richardson became the first player ever banned for life by the NBA and then-commissioner David Stern. But he is also the first player ever to be reinstated after such a punishment. For years, Richardson jeopardized his career due to a severe drug addiction. And all of that can be read in his new memoir, BANNED, which is out November 26.
Here below, check out an excerpt from that book.
When Paul Mokeski traveled to China several years ago to teach a month-long basketball clinic, he says he couldn’t help but feel like Godzilla. For the 7ft former NBA center, who played 12 years in the league, many of them on a Milwaukee Bucks team that battled Larry Bird’s Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals, it was a familiar feeling. People would come out of stores and point as if they were seeing a giant from a storybook. “That’s all part of the gig when you’re as tall as I am,” says Mokeski.
Read MoreOn August 20, wife and husband duo KEXP DJ Eva Walker and local journalist Jake Uitti released their new book, The Sound of Seattle. Published by Sasquatch Books it dives into the city’s music history from Bing Crosby to Ayron Jones (with grunge, rap, and jazz mixed in between), and includes decade-specific essays with local luminaries, from Nancy Wilson to Sir Mix-a-Lot. Below, Sir Mix-a-Lot talks about living in the city in the 1990s as the music landscape was exploding.
Read MoreOne of the most wonderful things about being a musician is that it’s a lifelong journey. There is no endpoint or destination when learning an instrument. As writer James P. Carse says, some ambitions we encounter are “finite games,” and some are “infinite games.” The former includes sports or solitaire, while the latter comprises art and music.
Yet even decades of pursuing music can include significant ups and downs—challenges that can be difficult or dissuasive. Thank goodness others can help us through these pitfalls. These accomplished performers share insights about what it means to follow their love of music. From rock and roll frontwomen to Grammy-nominated artists to songwriters to the stars, these are the musicians putting time and effort into achieving their sonic dreams. Find out what they have to say about starting out and beyond.
Read MoreThink of the quintessential Seattle band and you might, understandably, reach for the grunge icon of your choice, but from Hendrix to Heart, the city is steeped in guitar playing history.
Now KEXP DJ and frontwoman of the Black Tones, Eva Walker, alongside her music journalist husband, Jake Uitti, have penned a love letter to the music history of the Seattle-area, The Sound of Seattle.
From Thunderpussy to Ayron Jones, Kurt Cobain to Ben Gibbard and The Sonics to Sleater-Kinney, the book, which is out on August 20, chronicles some 80 years of songs and innovations in the Emerald City.
Included are also a number of interviews with Seattle luminaries, from Jack Endino to Sir Mix a Lot, alongside a healthy chunk of guitarist talent.
Below the authors have shared an excerpt from one of the city’s most iconic players – and a Rock & Roll Hall of Famer – Nancy Wilson, of Heart.
For the guitarist who co-wrote songs like Barracuda and Magic Man, her hometown of Seattle – and its place as one of rock ’n’ roll’s foundational cities – is reflected in another bastion of music, the UK...
Read MoreWhen playing for Team USA in the Olympics, it can feel like a no-win situation for a professional basketball player. Though it was invented by Canadian James Naismith, the sport has become the quintessential American global game. The United States men’s team has won the dominant share of gold medals in the competition, taking home the top prize 16 times, silver once in 1972 and bronze twice in 1988 and 2004. But ever since America brought the pros in to play in 1992, beginning with star-studded Dream Team, it has been more pressurized. If Team USA wins, it’s expected. If they lose, it’s a failure. That is the same for the women’s side, too, though they’ve been even more dominant than the men through the decades.
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