Kobe Bryant and Nike are back at it again with yet another viral commercial promoting the new Nike Hyperdunks. And this time around they’ve enlisted the help of the Jackass crew to make things that much more interesting:

What do you think: Real or Fake?

I’m still convinced that Kobe’s first stunt, the Aston Martin jump, was real. However, this one, I don’t know. Somewhere around mid flight things start to look a little suspect. Either way, I’m entertained, and these videos are spreading across the net just as the advertising lords intended. Mission Accomplished!

[via BDL]

The magazine’s entire archives–complete with articles, covers, photos and video footage–will go live on the web later this week. And its all free!

On Thursday, the magazine will introduce the Vault, a free site within SI.com that contains all the words Sports Illustrated has ever published and many of the images, along with video and other material, in a searchable database.

The Vault’s search engine lets a reader search by athlete, coach, team, sport, decade and year. Want to see every Sports Illustrated cover with Magic Johnson, or all the articles that mentioned him in 1986? Easy.

The site also allows a reader to see high-resolution images of old issues of the magazine as it appeared in physical form, including ads, using a mouse to “turn” pages. Jeff Price, president of SI Digital, said, “We’re confident that there’s nothing else like this.”

This is a huge leap forward for SI, and a move that I certainly hope will inspire other mags and newspapers with an online presence (since most seem to be comfortable with their current lo-fi, text-only archives).

For the sake of wishful thinking, two publications that I’d love to see implement this sort of feature on their sites: Vibe and The Source. Imagine that!

In the meantime, have a look this massive archives of SI covers.

[via NY Times ]

It looks like I missed a really good one this year!

The story of Len Bias is perhaps one of the most tragic in all of college and professional basketball history. Described by many as one of the greatest players to ever hit the college basketball scene, and with skills on the court that rivaled (if not surpassed) those of his ACC Conference-mate Michael Jordan, he never quite got the chance to shine on a professional level. Sadly, less than 48 hours after he was chosen by the Boston Celtics in the 1986 NBA draft, Len died of an apparent drug overdose in his University of Maryland dorm room.

In the upcoming documentary, “Len Bias”, director Kirk Fraser explores the rise and untimely death of one of the greatest ballers that history has known. Check out the film’s site here. Peep some of Len’s hardwood hightlights after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

Rudy Gay, of the Memphis Grizzlies, is counting on a bit of crowd participation to win this year’s NBA Slam Dunk Competition. He’s asking fans to upload their “sickest” dunk ideas to YouTube, and on the night of the event (Feb. 16th), he plans to incorporate the winning submission into his dunk routine.

Sounds like a great idea, although there seems to be no mention of a prize for the winner (what’s good with that?). Hopefully this allows Rudy to bring some much needed excitement and originality back to the competition.

It’s a sad, sad day at Redskins Park.
My deepest condolences go out to his family, coaches and teammates.
Full story here.

Gil sits down with Mobolaji Dawodu, of Fader TV, to talk music, kicks, and hoops.

(via The Fader)