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Nobody knows eggs better than Bacon, Kevin and Michael Bacon. They know
one large egg is a nutritional powerhouse with 6 grams of high-quality protein
for 70 calories each. And they also know how to sneak into your house tosing you a catchy egg song. Just yolking.
Visit IncredibleEgg.org for recipe ideas.
i
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05 . 2 3 . 2 01 6 E S P N 3O V E R C O M P O S I TE S AN D T H I S P AG E , P H O TO G R A P H S B Y D Y L A N C O U L TE R
S T Y L I N G : JU L I A N JE S U S ; H A IR : R E B E C C A P L Y M A TE ; M A KE U P : O L G A P O S T O L A C H I ; P R O P S T Y L I N G : C H R I S T O P H E R S T O N E
05.23.16
FORWARD11 THE YEAR OF PL AYING NICE Yasiel Puig on his
new L A bod, improved attitu de and life after
D onnie Baseball. INTERVIEW BY MARLY RIVERA
17 “I GOOGLED IT, BABY” From the P ats to prison:
The crazy rise and fall of R eche C aldwell, the N FL’s
most in ept crook. BY DAVID FLEMING
24 THE NBA’S INDISPENSABLES S tats tell us
which N BA playo teams live and die by their stars.
28 RUNS AT HISTORY The good, the bad and the
way-too-fast at the 100th ru nn ing o f the Indy 5 00.
BY RYAN MCGEE
32 DREAMS MONEY CAN BUY An appreciation
of D rake, the über-ann oying sports fan.BY HANIF WILLIS-ABDURRAQIB
COLUMNS8 THE NUMBERSIn the NF L draft,
trading up is a bad
bet. BY PETER KEATING
80 THE TRUTH
Time to let wom en’s
sports stand alone.
BY HOWARD BRYANT
WN BA 20
37 THE WNBA 20 ISSUE
Forget “W e Got N ext,” 2016 is right here, right now.
38 AS GOOD AS IT GETS
As Breanna S tewart will soon fin d out, being the
W NB A’s N o. 1 ain’t easy. BY ELIZABETH MERRILL
48 MOVING THE BALL FORWARD
The story of how it all began. BY MECHELLE VOEPEL
54 LOST AND FOUND IN RUSSIA
Brittney G riner and D iana Taurasi savor friendsh ipand solitude 5 ,000 miles from h om e. BY KATE FAGAN
64 THE ART OF THE CROSSOVER
Fans love S kylar Diggin s. Even those who don’t
know whom she plays for. BY MINA KIMES
72 OPEN COURT
Mystics center S tefanie D olson reveals why life
as an out athlete is di erent in the W NB A.
74 WE GOT NEXT LEVEL
W NBA: W e Now Boast Analytics.
78 POWER RANKINGSThe Lynx? S ti l l o the chain . BY MECHELLE VOEPEL
Skylar Diggins has more than600,000 Twitter followers—and she can probably beateach one in H-O-R-S-E.
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4 E S P N 05 . 2 3 . 2 01 6 P H O TO G R AP H B Y D Y L AN C O U L TE R
F R O M L E F T : C H R I S B E A U C H A M P /E S P N I M A G E S (2 ); JO E F A R A O N I / E S P N I M A G E S
BEHINDTHEPAGES
Copyright © 2016 ES PN . Al l r ights reserved. R eproduction in whole or in part without the permission of ESP N The M agaz ine is prohibited. ESP N The M agaz ine does not accept and cannot be he ld responsible for any k ind of unsol ic ited materials . From t ime to t ime, we
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Senior w riter David Fleming onthe surprise of Reche Caldw ell
“On my way to talk to Caldwell, I
saw a road sign that set the tone
for my jailhouse interview. It read:
FEDERAL PRISON C A M P and below it GOLF COURSE, with both arrows pointingin the same direction. I was
expecting Leavenworth. Instead, I found a ratherlovely waterfront campus that was every bit as
nice as my hotel at Vikings training camp years
ago, the one that gave me a wicked case of fleas.
This story unfolded in a similar fashion. I went
looking for a sinister and dangerous criminal, but
the story I uncovered was very different and far
more interesting.”MOR E ON PAGE 17
Senior w riter Elizabeth M errill onCandace Parker’s view of the league
“In 2008, they partied into the wee
hours celebrating Tennessee’s
national championship, and then,
less than 12 hours later, Candace
Parker was at the WNBA draft.
Imagine that, starting your new
job the morning after your graduation party. Butthat was life in the league just eight years ago.
Perhaps that’s why Candace doesn’t get too bent
out of shape about sagging ratings. At 20 years, the
WNBA is still young, she says. ‘People forget that in
the ’80s the NBA was on tape delay, and that’s a
league that had been around for 40 years. I think
it’s a process.’”MOR E ON PAGE 3 8
Senior w riter K ate Fagan on tearingdow n the walls of two W NBA stars
“It’s late January on a freezing
night in eastern Russia. Diana
Taurasi and Brittney Griner are
here making big money playing
hoops. While at an Italian
restaurant a few blocks from their
apartment building, they talk about life and pastlegal troubles. ‘You go to school, but they don’t
teach you how to deal when stuffhappens,’says
Taurasi. ‘They give you math problems.’At first, i t’s
easy to sympathize with them: After all, they’re so
far from everything familiar. But the more I listen
to them, the more I think this exile has created
space for a really cool perspective.”MOR E ON PAGE 5 4
Photographer Dylan Coulter on this
issue’s cover shoot, which entailed
photographing 12 current and former
WNBA players over two days in Bristol,
Connecticut, and New York City:
“It was a pretty epic shoot. The main
cover image is a move to the hoop
over three pages, and so we had to
have every player do every motion
multiple times. We wanted it to feel
like one person could have executed
it, but we also wanted to reflect each
woman’s individuality. We shot each
player separately, then arranged themas though they were all here at the
same time. It was tricky because we
used two different studios and we had
to make sure the lighting was the
same in both locations. We knew it
was going to be ambitious from every
aspect. This was a total team effort.”
PicturePerfect
Tamika Catchings and Breanna Stewart in
one of the 9,026 shots taken by Coulter.
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W E H EA TE U P O U R
sw eet rolls for you.
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BR U SH ED
LEAN
FEELING
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8 E S P N 05 . 2 3 . 2 01 6 IL L U S TR ATIO N B Y JAS O N S C H N E ID E R
THENUMBERS
S u cker’s B etS o m e N F L tea m s w illp ay ju sta b ou ta n yp rice to tra d e u p in th e d ra ftfo r a p o ten tia lfra n ch ise Q B .
S o m e te am s d o n ’t k n o w w h a t th e y ’re d o in g .
f your cousin tells you he’s thinking of taking a vacation to Chechnya,
do you wai t to see whether h e gets back safely before weighi ng in ? I
hope n ot. Some p lans carry such obviou s costs and b enefits, they de-
serve to be evaluated before they’re executed. So i t is with trading N FL draft picks, and
specifically wi th the bl ockbuster deals in w hich th e top two selections in the 2016 draft
changed hand s. W hatever you hear to the contrary, we don’t need to see how the careers of
Jared G offand Carson W entz turn out to un derstand this: T he T itans fleeced the R ams,
and the B rowns ran circles around the E agles.
T he case against trading up i n the N FL draft has been publ ic knowledge since 2005,
when behavioral economists Cade M assey and R ichard H . T haler wrote “T he L oser’s Cu rse,”
a research paper whose title referred to the fate of choosing first in th e draft. T he argument
goes lik e this: Pi ck a way to rate players—gam es started, say, or Pro B owls. T hen look at
how well athletes taken at each spot in the draft pl ay over time. A s you might expect, you
will find that N o. 1pi cks do better, on average, than N o. 15 picks, who do better than second-
round picks, and so forth. I n other words, performance declines throughout the draft. Bu t
here’s the thing: I t doesn’t declin e anywhere near as qui ckly as most teams believe.
Consider, for instance, the trade-value chart developed by the Cowboys und er Jimmy
Johnson some 25 years ago, a form of which certain franchises still use to gauge draft
choices. I t sets the value of the N o. 1overall pi ck at 3,000 poin ts and the N o. 2 at 2,600;
subsequent selections fall offso rapi dly that the second pick i s supposedly equal to the
value of the N os. 12, 21and 31picks combined. H istorically, however, the players taken with
those later choices have generated a combined value that’s about 55 percent greater than
the N o. 2 pi cks, accordin g to Ch ase Stuart of Football Perspective, who’s built an alternative
chart based on actual perform ance. As long as teams keep using the D allas chart, they’ll
trade away far too much to get a “franchise”guy at or near the top.
Fur thermore, many clubs are generally will ing to give up a round to get a year: A team
will advance a draft pick by one round in order to defer trading it by one year. In other
words, that same team will deal away a second-rounder in 2018, say, instead of a third-
roun der i n 2017. Such a move carri es a very steep pri ce. A draft choice typicall y generates
59 percent more value for his team than the equivalent pick in the following round, accord-
ing to Stuart’s research. But over the long haul, why should a draft
pick this year be any more valuable than the same pick next year?
Put another way, if the Rams can borrow $200 million from the
N F L at 2 percent a year to finance a new stadiu m, why wou ld they
pay 59 percent to Tennessee to borrow a draft choice?
Because they’re desperate, that’s why. GM L es Snead and coach
JeffF isher weren’t thinki ng about the long haul. T hey saw their
team moving to L os Angeles. They saw their roster. T hey saw
their 27–36–1 record. A nd th ey paid loan-shark pr ices to grab
G offwith the top pick.
Q uarterbacks are so important in today’s NF L that landing a
good one migh t seem worth an y cost. Bu t here’s the list of Q Bs
acquired by teams trading into the top five picks of the N FL draft
since 1980, accordi ng to ESPN Stats & I nformati on: JeffG eorge,
K erry Collins, Ryan L eaf, M ichael V ick, M ark Sanchez, R obert
G rin I I I —and now G offand Wentz. Boost your confidence?
Truth is, winning organizations always give themselves the
chance to find an A ndy D alton or a R ussell W ilson later on.
T hey take intelli gent deep-draft gambles on interesting players,
like K eenan R eynolds. A nd they maintain their ability to build
depth. T hey accomplish all of this by hoardin g picks and trad-
ing down.
Teams that trade up remind me of an old Saturday N ight Liv e
sketch in which a group of guys advertise “Bad I dea Jeans” by
hanging around and showing incredibly poor judgment. O ne
says, “N ow that I have kids, I feel a lot better having a gun in the
house.” A nother chim es in, “I don’t know th e guy, but I ’ve got two
ki dneys and h e needs one, so I figure …”
I haven’t seen Eagles G M H owie Roseman recently, but I thin k
I know w hat he’s wearing.
BYPETERKEATING
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05 . 2 3 . 2 01 6 E S P N 1 1H O TO G R A P H S B Y F AB F E R N AN D E Z
T he Y ear ofP laying N iceNew m anager, new routine,new attitude:YasielPuigrevealsthem otivationbehindhistransformation.IN TERVIEW B Y MARLY RIVERA
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ORW AR
YasielPui g has been called many thi ngs dur ing his
four seasons w ith the D odgers: a star,absolutely,
but also a slacker,a reckless outfielder and even an
aw fulteammate.This year,he says,he just w ants
to be a good guy.H ere,he shares the 10 motiva-
tions that most define h is new ,tru e self.
1.H e’s eagerto shed that“bad team m ate” rep.
This year things are better.I think i t’s because my
teammates see the effort that I am putting in ever y
day,w hi ch I didn’t do before.Th ey see the change
in my behavior,and I thi nk i t has helped to have
better relationshi ps in the clubhouse.M y only goal
thi s year i s to w ork hard and give my all,and I
w ant to maybe w in the R oy Campanella Aw ard
[selected by D odgers players and personnelfor
team leadership].T hen people can see that maybe
it w asn’t allabout YasielPui g being w rong.
2.H e’d ratherfocus on D ave R oberts than on form erm anag erD on M attingly.
W ith M attingly,our personalities didn’t mesh.
D ave Roberts is a great person; he helps me every
day.If I do something w rong,he talks to me
straight up and addresses it.H e respects me,and
I respect hi m.H e encourages me and has confi-
dence in me,and I thi nk that has been the
difference.H e lets me be me,lets me enjoy playing
baseballand have fun.
I’m very thankfulto have him as a manager.H e
has helped me so much i n the little time that he
has been here.H e’s like that w ith allof us.H e
supports us w hen things get diffi cult.But we also
have a good time; w e laugh.That’s w hat w e need to
keep that confidence and continue performing on
the field: W e need a laugh every once in a w hi le.
3.In B ryce H arper, h e believes.
B ryce H arper i s my idolnow.I’m going to join him
in the “make baseballfun agai n” campai gn; I’m just
w aiting to get my shi rts and baseballcaps.H e’s
alw ays been a great friend and a great athlete,and
I admire h im.I like how he plays the game,and I
thi nk he gets it.It’s good to see an A merican player
saying that there needs to be a little more fun i n
baseball.Fans leave everything behi nd to come and
see us play.W e have to make baseballfun for the
fans and not take everything so personal.
It’s not about H arper or P uig making noi se about
it.In baseball,it is more common for a pitcher to
punch you out three times than for you to hit the
ballout ofthe park.So after you have struck out
three times against a pi tcher and you finally get a
home run,bat flips are just an emotionalexpres-
sion— not about taunting the pi tcher.Th at’s w hat
Jose Bautista did [in G ame 5 oflast year’s A LD S];
he changed the r esult ofthat game w ith that sw ing.
It w as a big thr illfor him,and he fl ipped the bat.
H e has alw ays been a respectfulplayer and only
fli pped hi s bat w hen he w as overcome by emotion.
A fterw ard,he w as criticized as ifw hat he did w as
w rong.But he had fun!
T he form erR O Y runner-upbatted just.25 5 in 2 01 5,bu tP uig started thisseason w ith an .835 O P S
through his first20 ga m es.
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05 . 2 3 . 2 01 6 E S P N 1 3
“I think the N o.1 thing isthat he has opened hisheart to me and histeammates.That w as thefirst thing I asked him todo this w inter.I think fromthat moment on,he hasdone that,and I very muchlook forw ard to seeing himevery day.”D A V E R O B E R T S , M A N A G E R
“H e’s been so coachable—I w as really pleasantlysurprised.It’s been great
w orking w ith him.A crossthe field,he reminds me ofB o Jackson.T hat kind ofphysique and allthe thingshe brings to the table: thepow erfulbat,the strongarm,the speed.”T U R N E R W A R D , H I T T I N G C O A C H
PUT HIM IN, COACH!P uig’s new coaches rave abo ut
his reform ed w ays.
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1 4 E S P N 05 . 2 3 . 2 01 6
FORWARD
4.T hat3 60 -footthrow againstthe R ockies on A pril
22 ? Y eah , itw on ’tbe the lasttim e h e’llairitou t.
M aking a spectacular throw is something I never
think about. I always believe I can make the throw,
so I think that’s why they come out that way. I really
can’t tell you how I do it. I actually look them up on
YouTub e afterward, and I wonder myself how I
was able to do that!
M aybe it’s because of all those years knocki ng
mangoes and mamoncillos down to eat them:
T hose trees are really high! T here may be playerswith better arms out there, but I am completely
fearless when I throw.
5.H is perfectd ay in L A is …
M y team wins, and I go 3-for-3. Or, on an off-day, I
have a nice breakfast in my house with my girlfriend.
T hen watch movies in bed. Play some pingpong
maybe. Just relax in the house. Then we can go out
at night to a restaurant, no matter which one. I like
them all, as long as there’s food and people dancing.
6.H e loves playing the R ays, b utn otb ecause h e’s
dying to hang w ith H ank C onger.
M y son, Di ego, lives in O rlando with his mom. I
brought him to D odger Stadium last year and wil l
hopefully bri ng him for Father’s Day. I try to see
him when we go to Florida. I told myself that when
I had a son, I would give him the name Diego
A lejandr o. I t probably came out of one of those
soap operas I watch.
7.H e’s notdow n w ith the dad bod anym ore.I never really liked to go to the gym before, but
because I’m trying to do things differently in 2016,
I am traini ng regularly to have the fitness I need to
last the entire season. I got inju red last year, but
I don’t think being overweight was the reason. But
I acknowledge that last year it l ooked lik e I was five
months pregnant.
T he team di d ask me to lose weight this offseason,
but that’s not why I di d it. I did i t for myself. I can
now go to the beach shirtless. I have my six-pack
back. Well, I have about a four-pack right now. Iam working on getting the other two back.
8.T he b eautifulgam e speaks to him .
(A nd so does R onaldo.)
In Cuba, you always heard about the most famous
baseball pl ayers, like D erek Jeter, Al bert Puj ols,
those kin ds of players. But I did n’t really follow
M L B because I didn’t like watching baseball. I love
to play it, but I don’t enjoy watching it. I watch and
follow soccer. I ’m mor e likely to watch soccer on T V
over baseball. I have Real M adrid in my blood. I
have all my M adrid jerseys, even with my last name
and everything. I ’m a M adridista. A nd I ’m going to
go to Santiago Bern abéu Stadiu m thi s year, G od
willing. I met Cristiano Ronaldo when he threw
out the first pitch at D odger Stadium. I feel pr etty
happy and lucky to be here with this team, which is
so famous that they brin g in m any famous people
to throw th e ceremonial first pitch. You h ave the
opportunity to meet everyone here!
9.A fterseeing the M L B exhibition in C ub a in M arch,he can ’tw aitto puto n a n ationa l-team un iform .
I t was nice to see people so joyful [at the exhibi-
tion], especiall y because President O bama was
there too. M aybe something can be done and
things can work between both countri es. You
never know. We have to wait. God and the people
behind this are the only ones who know what
might happen. It is not dependent on what I
hope or what I think about it.
T he Cubans who are there and the Cubans here
would be very happy to see that happen. I wouldlove to wear Cuba’s jersey again—we would
actually be a very good team! I t would b e a very
good World Baseball Classic if Cuba allowed us to
make the team.
10 .H is hea rtw illalw ays belon g to C ub a.
I went with M L B in D ecember [a trip for which he
was given special permission to enter the country
by the Cuban government—he had been barred
after defecting]and then went back another time
by myself. T he best thing that happened on the tripwas spending time at youth baseball clinics, in
addition to seeing some members of my family
once again. I was able to see my brother again. I
went back to the barrio where I was born because
I wanted to surprise the group of guys that helped
me when I was a little crazy kid there in Palmira.
I t was fun to go back to the old neighborhood
and visit all the places where I went around
misbehaving: stealing mangoes so I could have
something to eat. A guy went by selli ng croquetas,
and I bought like 100. People were making fun ofme, saying, “H ey, if you are a mi llion aire, how
come you are eating croquetas?”I told them th at
doesn’t matter. L et’s eat some croqu etas together.
I sat with them to drin k and eat for a whil e, and
we were telling stories, and there were some tears
because we had not seen each other for a while.
D id I cry? We cheerful types can also cry, you
know. I cry when I’m not hitting!
T his in terv iew was conducted i n Span ish, then
translated and edited for clari ty.
THEPOW ER A RM
KILLRATE SINCE 2014,BEST
AMONGRIGHT FIELDERS WITH
AT LEAST 100THROWS
StatsthroughMay5.
PERCENT OFRUNNERS PUIGHAS ALLOWED
TOTAKE AN EXTRABASE SINCE 2014,SECOND
BEST AMONGRIGHT FIELDERS
NUMBEROFRUNS SAVEDON THROWS
SINCE 2014,TIEDFORMOST AMONG
ALLRIGHT FIELDERS
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05 . 2 3 . 2 01 6 E S P N 1 7IL L U S T R A TIO N S B Y J O H N U E L AN D
R I C K S T E W A R T/ G E TT Y I M A G E S (C A L D W E L L H E AD )
FORWARD
B Y D A V I D F L E M I N G
“I G oogled I t, Baby !”SWAT raids, a gambling ring, coffee cans full of money, Molly by mail?
Reche Caldwell tells the story of howhe went fromthe Patriots to prison.
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1 8 E S P N 05 . 2 3 . 2 01 6
FORWARD
C ypress T ree par 5 that run s dow n the length ofthe
cam p’s w estside.F or visitors, th e o n ly d isconcertin g
m om entisatthe security entrance, checking in w hile
prisonersstrollpast un fettered an d head ed tow ard
the shim m ering w atersofG un I sland C hute, or per-
h ap s the equ estrian stables justacrossthe road.
C aldw ellarrived here atthe beginn in g of 20 15
after an epic crim e spree tha t w as eerily sim ilar tohis N F L career— short-lived, u nfocused and fullof
colossalblun ders.H is10 -m on th ragerinclud ed tw o
S W A T raids, fou r arrests, a h alf-eaten ho agie (w e’ll
explain)an d M axw ellH ouse coff ee tins stuff ed w ith
cash.H e also faced a litan y ofch argesfor runn in g a
m ultim illion -dollargam bling hou se in W estT am pa
an d then , after that op eration g ot bu sted, attem pt-
ing to im portand distribute w hat he though tw as
m o re th a n 5 ½ p o u n d s o fp u re M o lly (M D M A ).
S entenced to 27 m onthsin M ontgom ery, C aldw ell
w ent the firstyearw itho uta ny visitors.B uto n the eve
T he firstlesson R eche C aldw elllearn ed in prison is th atno one escapes on a T uesday.H ere in M ontgom ery,A labam a, T uesday is m ovie night, and anyone w ho w enton th e lam lastw eek, for in stance, w ou ld h ave m issedM organ F reem an’s tim eless tou r de force L ean on M e.C aldw ell, th e leadin g receiver on th e 20 0 6 P atriots, m igh tbe the m ostin ept crim inalthe N F L has ever produ ced,bu tgive h im creditfor this:H e w as clever enough to getlocked up atF P C M ontgom ery, a w aterfrontm inim umsecurity prison “fenced” in side th e M axw ellA ir F orceB ase by noth in g m ore th an a row ofm eticulou slym an icured crim son crepe m yrtles.F or in m ates, the on ly
realthreatofb od ily harm com es from th e tee box ofthe
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05 . 2 3 . 2 01 6 E S P N 1 9J O H N C A P E L L A /S P O R T S I M AG E R Y / G E T T Y I M AG E S (C A L D W E L L H E AD )
“Ever sincethen,w ehavebeen asports family.” W ith
rarespeedand the preternaturalchi llthat is shared
by the greats but often mistaken for aloofness,
R eche developed into the bestall-arou nd athlete
Jefferson H igh in W estTampaever produced.A nd
so in 1997,asap rep A ll-A mericaquarterback and a
soon-to-be draftpickofthe C incinnati R eds,he hadadecision to make.Stretching before a high school
show case game inside the stadium,he closed his
eyesand,asthe sun w armed hi s face,realized hi s
dreamw asto return to this field oneday as an N FL
player.The choicesetC aldw ellon an accidentalod-
ysseythr ough the hi ghestlevelsoffootball,tortur -
ously closebutalw ayson the peri phery of some of
the bi ggestnamesand greatestgames in the sport.
Caldw ellattended Flor ida,w her e,after convert-
ing to w ideout,he starred in the finalincarnation
ofSteveSpur ri er’sFun ’n’G un offense.T hat led tothe 2002 N FL draft,in w hich the C hargers selected
him in the second round using a pick from a 2001
trade thatsentthe N o.1choi cetothe Falcons,w ho
selected M ichaelV ick.A fter four seasons i n San
D iegoplagued by injur ies,undisciplined r outes and
w ildly inconsistenthands,C aldw ellsigned w ith
N ew England,w here atmidseason— and to hi s
greatsurp rise— he w aselevatedto Tom B rady’s p ri -
mary targetafter D eion B ranch w asdealt to Seattle.
T he plan w orked fine,at fir st.C aldw ellled the
team’s patchw ork receiving corps w ith 61 catches
ofSuper B ow l50,a game that featured his little broth-
er,then-B roncos w ideout A ndre C aldw ell,R eche
crosses the pr ison (court)yard unescorted and enters
the vi siting area r ight on time.H e looks w ell-fed and
relaxed,his eyes calm and bri ght.G one is the gaunt,
bug-eyed visage from h is mug shot and the disastrous
2006 A FC championship game w ith the Patriots.
H e’s dressed in standar d mi litary-issue forestgreen slacks and a matching short-sleeved shi rt over
a khaki brow n T-shi rt,sporting a shiny black w atch,
immaculate,untied T imberlands and just a hi nt of
a sup plicant’s smile.H e’s got the thi ck neck and
meaty forearms ofa con w ho pumps ir on tw ice a day,
every day.For the first time,Caldw ellhas agreed to
speak abou t hi s crimes and the Forrest G ump–like
footballlife that led up to them.B ut w hen h e sits
dow n and begins to nervously pick at the faux w ood
laminate on the desk in front of him,the physical
manifestations of hi s w ild ri de come into focus— the
pr ematur e specks of gray that dot the thinni ng hair
on the crow n of hi s head.
H is head stays bow ed like that for a long time,
untilhe’s asked to explain exactly how he w ent from
the P atri ots to p ri son,how he transitioned from be-
ing the best receiver in N ew England to the w orst
drug kingpi n i n Tampa.F inally,Caldw elllifts hi s
head and a w ry smile unfurls across his face.That’seasy,he roars.
“I G oogled it,baby!”
I T A L L S T A R T E D w ith C aldw ellflat on h is back in-
side the B uccaneers’stadium i n T ampa,stari ng
into the sun.
A t age 8,R eche (pronounced: R EE-shay) brought
home h is fi rst athletic permi ssion slip.“I asked my
husband,‘D o you think he can do it?’” recalls R eche’s
mother,D eborah C aldw ell,w ho h as w orked w ith the
Florida D epartment of Juveni le Justice for 26 years.
“Dam n, man, youblasted the door w itha tank ? W hy didn’t ya
just k nock ? I w ouldalet y ’all in .”RECHE CALDWELL
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ORW AR
20 ESPN 0 5.23.2016 CLIFF W ELCH/ICON SP ORTS W IRE (CALDW ELL HEAD )
for760 yards and four T D sin the regularseason.I n
th e division alplayoff s in S an D iego, he recovered a
fu m bled in terception late in th e fou rth qu artera n d ,
five p layslater, hau led in a T D passthatled to a 24 -
2 1 w in . “N o o n e r em e m b e rs th a t g a m e ,” h e sa ys.
“O n ly the n ext.”
T he nextw eek, in the third qu arterof the A F C
cham pion ship gam e in I n dian apo lis, a perfectly
placed go-ahead touchd ow n throw from B rady
bo un ced violen tly off C aldw ell’s ou tstretched h an ds
in the back corner of the end zon e.T hen , in thefou rth, on fi rst-and -15 atthe C olts’18, w ith th e score
tied at2 4, C aldw elltrotted aw ay from the h ud dle and
too k a w id e split, a lm ost to the P atriots’sid elin e,
w hen he realized there w asn’ta defend er w ithin 12
yards.A fterthe snap, C aldw ellslid dow nfi eld, w aving
hisarm sat B rady, w ho again d elivered the ballright
on target.B ut w hen C aldw ellpivoted up field w ith
nothing b ut grass betw een him selfan d the S up er
B ow l, hism om entum caused the ballto squirtoutof
his grasp and flu tterd ow n to the turf.
A s he w alked back to the hu ddle in a d aze, com -m entatorsroared in disbeliefw hile n etw ork cam -
eraszoo m ed in.C aldw ellapp eared to be chan nelin g
G ollum , repeatedly b ulgin g his eyeballs as iftrying
to violen tly po p h is pu pils— an d th e vision of th at
costly drop— out ofh is skulllike tw o cham pagn e
corks.T he im age stuck w ith the P atriots for m ore
than a year, bu tith ash aun ted C aldw ellforthe bet-
ter parto fa decade.“H e heard allthe jokes and
criticism s,”saysA nd re, w ho is no w w ith the L ion s.
“A n d itb roke h is h eart.”
N ew E ngland d um ped C aldw ellafterthe seasonand rebuiltaround R andy M oss.T eam m atesturned
on him as w ell, w hispering that he w as “allergic to
w ork.”T he nextseason, C aldw ellplayed in W ash-
in gton , w h ere he fulfilled h is dream ofreturn in g to
play the B ucs ath om e, bu t he accom plished little
else.H e lasted through training cam p w ith the 2 0 0 8
R am sb utin the end cou ldn ’tescape hisI nd y ind is-
cretion s.I tstained his rep as a free agen tan d erod-
ed hiscon fid ence and his love ofthe gam e.
H ardly a w eek goes by, still, w hen C aldw ellisn’t
rem ind ed ofa single dropped p assthathas com e todefine 2 0 years ofh is life.W hen h e m etw ith law
enforcem ent afterh is M olly arrest, C aldw ellrecog-
nized the F B I agent’sB oston accentand satback and
w aited.“Y ou’re thatguy w ho costT om m y anudda
S oupa B ow l,”he how led.C aldw ellbith is tongue.
“W hatelse can I do? ”he says.“I t’sn otlike I w astry-
in g to d rop tho se passes.” B ut A nd re is convinced
thatw hath app ened in I nd y tortured and then trans-
form ed R eche.“T he w ay the gam e kicked h im to the
curb like an u nw an ted stepch ild h urth im m entally
an d h aun ted h im ,”A nd re says.“R eche gota little bit
boarded-up factory and an em pty, o vergrow n lot.A
barbersho p o ccupies the easten d of the bu ilding ,
an d a car-de tailin g b u sin ess, a b illiards room an d a
storefron ta rea, featurin g th ree ticket w in d ow s, fi ll
the other side.P olice say w ith C aldw ell’s ba n kroll
and the help ofseveralassociates, the cornertrans-form ed into a w ildly popu larh om egrow n gam bling
parlor.A nd C aldw elldidn ’tk eep a low profile— his
bright red J eep parked ou t front w as like a neon
O T B sign.H e saysh e liked to gam ble, especially on
foo tball.B ut w ha th e really loved w as feelin g as ifh is
experience and expertise abo ut the gam e w ere back
in high dem and .“H e w asjusta happ y-go-lucky guy
w ho liked to sm oke pot, gam ble, h ang ou tand talk
ab ou tsp orts,”M atassin isays, “an d th at’s it.”
S p e a k in g fro m p r iso n , th e m o st a n im a te d
C aldw ell gets is w hen talking abo ut gatheringaroun d hisp arlor’sm akeshiftban k ofT V sto w atch
the end of seem ingly m eaningless gam es, like
N orthern I llino is–B allS tate in 2 0 13.B allS tate had
the ballw ith 4 6 secon ds leftto play and N I U leading
4 1-27.C aldw ellw as silen tly celebratin g beca use h e
had failed to controljusth ow m uch m oney w as
placed on the 72 .5-point over.B ut then the H uskies’
J oe W indsor picked off a pass atm idfield and re-
tu rned itallth e w ay for six.T h e tin y spa ce explod ed
in celeb ration , billsfl u tterin g like ticker tap e, every-
bod y chest-bu m ping an d h igh -stepp ing ou tinto the
of a selfi sh attitud e ou to fit, like, ‘F orget everybo d y
else, I ’m gon na startw orryin g abou tm e.’”
USING HIS NFL m on ey, includ ing the $ 1m illion he re-
ceived for h is 15-catch con tribu tion to th e 20 0 7
W ashington team , R eche helped relocate his fam ilyto a gated com m un ity nearC ory L ake on the north-
eastside o fT am pa.J usta sem estershy ofa d egree in
leisure servicesm anagem ent, C aldw ellhad op ened a
short-lived eventp lann ing com pany, A dore and D e-
cor, in 2 0 0 5.H e trained a few athletes, w orked as a
volun teercoach and tho ugh tabou top ening a carlot.
B u tn othin g cam e close to fi llin g the footba ll-shap ed
hole in hislife.“R eche w as ill-equipped to han dle life
outside the N F L ,”sayshisattorney, N icholasM atas-
sini.“H e w asjobless, he w asbored, h e had a bu nch of
m oney, and he d idn’tkno w w hatto d o w ith h im self.”B y early 2013, his grand father w as sick, hism ar-
riage had begun to disintegrate and hiskid brother
had fin ally surpassed h im on the footballfi eld.A
restlessR eche, fam ily m em berssay, started m aking
a daily 45-m inu te com m ute from the subu rbs to his
old W estT am pa haunt, 10 blocksfrom dow ntow n
and 10 years back in tim e.H e m ight have been a
la u g h in g sto ck in th e N F L , b u t in W e st T a m p a ,
R eche w as stillroyalty.
M ostdays he h un g ou tin a tiny, d ilapidated brick
bu ilding tucked in the shad ow ofI -275 b etw een a
“G ood l or d th at boyw as a bad cr imi nal, andthan k Jesus for that.”D E B O R A H C A LD W ELL, R E C H E ’S M O M
8/17/2019 Espn - May 23, 2016 Usa
21/82
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ORW AR
22 ESPN 0 5.23.2016 FRO M TOP :GAR Y ROTHSTEIN/ICON SP OR TSW IRE;D AVID BUTLER II/USA TODAY SPORTS; RO BERT E.KLEIN/ICON SP OR TSW IRE
street, an d C aldw ellw as right there w ith them .H e
couldn ’th ave cared less abou tthe m on ey.“I tw as
abou tthe excitem ent and the con n ection to foot-
ball,”he says.“I s thatw hatI m issed? I sthatw hatI
w astrying to m ake up for? M aybe so.W e did w ell,
and itkeptm e bu sy.I enjoyed it.P robab ly too m uch.”
B e fo re lo n g , C a ld w e ll w a s d o in g a lm o st
$2 25,0 00 in w agers each m onth.H e didn’tlike
banks, so cash w ould be cram m ed into M axw ell
H ouse coffee tins and piled u p everyw here, in the
m icrow ave and in crooked , D r.S euss–like stackstha t stretched to the ceilin g. W ha t h ad b een a
sleepy little m om -an d-po p car-detailin g sho p w as
overrun by as m any as4 0 cars and nonstop foot
traffi cfrom F riday through M onday— changesthat
w ere hard to conceal, seeing as how there w as an
elem entary scho ol across the street.“I see n ow ,
yup, no t the greatest location for that kind of
thin g,” C aldw ellsays w ith a chu ckle.“T oo b ig, too
fast.I laugh atm y stuff too.W hatelse can you d o?
I have to laugh .I really thou ghtI w assom e kind of
a crim inal? A llI kn ow is, everyone kep ttelling m e,‘T h e po lice don ’tcare abo u tthis stuff , yo u ’lln ever
getcaught,’and the n extthing I know I ’m headed
to prison, saying go od bye to m y kids, w on derin g:
‘W hathap pened to m e?’”
T he N F L w ascuriousasw ell, according to M atas-
sini.O ff -bo ok gam blin g w as a low priority w ith the
T am pa p olice, he says, un tilN F L security asked
them to look into rum orsofform erp layersinvo lved
in illegalgam bling rings.T he N F L declined to com -
m ent, an d the T am pa p olice don ’trecallthe investi-
gation starting thatw ay, but by N ovem ber 20 13,C aldw ell’s custom er base includ ed severalu n der-
cover inform ants.T hen on w ild-card w eekend in
early 20 14, C aldw ellw as ata desk in the secured
ba ck o ffi ce of th e be ttin g p arlor, en joyin g a late-af-
terno on snack w hile w atching his old team , the
C hargers, dom inate the B engals.C aldw ellw as so
oblivious to any threatfrom law enforcem ent that
w hen the fi rstp olice flash grenad e sho ok the bu ild-
ing, he took an other few bites ofh is sand w ich and
turned up the volum e on the gam e.“T hen— boom—
anotheron e w entoff ,”he says, “so I getup and w alkout, an d there’s like 50 po lice and tank s ram m ing
the door and guysscream ing an d sw arm ing in from
everyw here, h elicoptersan d sirens and sm oke, total
ch ao s, a n d it’s stilln otregisterin g.”
U naw are and a bit ann oyed, he says, C aldw ell
w alked right into the h aze, coughing and w aving
the sm oke aw ay from hisface.S w arm ed by S W A T
m em bers, on hisw ay to the groun d, a stillexasper-
ated C aldw ellyelled, “D am n, m an, you blasted the
doorw ith a tank? W hy didn’tya justknock? I w oul-
d a let y’allin.”
From star
receiver at Florida
(17) to Tom Brady’s
primary target,
Caldwell was
always on the cusp
of football
greatness.
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05 . 2 3 . 2 01 6 E S P N 2 3
U .S.D istri ct Judge V ir ginia C ovington agreed.
A fter w aivi ng allfines,she deliver ed a sentence of
just 27 months to C aldw ell,w ho left the court in
shackles and a smile,overw helmed by the strangest
feeling: relief.In over h is head i n W est Tamp a,
things had spun so w ildly out of control that,
Caldw ellsays,he genuinely felt lucky to make a clean
br eak and restart his life after only 27 months.
“I’ve never seen a guy so happy to go to pr ison,”
M atassini says.“H e just w anted to get the hellout of
D odge and have thi s allbeh ind hi m.”
A T F P C M O N T G O M E R Y , the only tou gh stretch for
C aldw elli s experi encing hi s baby br other ’s Super
Bow ltri umph from afar.A s R eche recounts hi s crime
spree,A ndre fli es the entire family to San Fr ancisco
for the Super B ow l,and on fri ends and family day for
the players,he even gets Peyton M anning to pose for
a picture w ith R eche’s son,Cash,w ho h as dyed hi s
hai r orange.M onday morning after D enver’s victory,
A ndre’s phone ri ngs in the team hotel:T his is the
federal pri son camp i n M ontgomery, Alabam a, youhave a call from inmate … YOU G OT T H AT R IN G,
BU BBA! … press 1now to be conn ected. Spu rned by
the sport he loves,Reche tri es to feign i ndifference
w hen it comes to football.Bu t on the phone w ith h is
br other,he confesses that it has alw ays been h is
dream to w in a Super B ow l.“N ow I’m so proud to be
the one living through you,” he tells Andre.
This month,Caldw ellw illbe eligible for a transfer
to a Tamp a-based work-release facility,w here he’s
looking forw ard to taking Cash fishi ng and watching
hi s daughter graduate,w ith h onor s,from hi ghschoolbefore heading off to college.H is plan is to
manage a family property in W est Tampa,w ork as
an athletic trai ner or open that car lot.Facing three
years of court-ordered probation,C aldw ellunder-
stands that hi s future now rests in the most fri ghten-
ing place of all— his ow n h ands.“I’m not gonna
blame footballor concussions like everybody else for
my mistakes,” he says.“I don’t blame my education
or my hometow n or my family.I have a great family.
I had a great childhood.I grew up in a great place.
Thi s is about losing my w ay,being around bad peo-ple and maki ng bad choices,and that’s allon me.”
C aldw ellfalls silent and bow s his head,letting
hi s mea culpa hang in the air.W hen he looks up
again,there’s someone standi ng behi nd the glass
door.C aldw ellnods.A pr ison employee in a black
leather coat steps inside and taps on his w atch.A f-
ter exactly 120 minutes,Caldw ell’s time i s up.Per-
haps FP C M ontgomery i s a bit more stri ct than i t
fir st appeared.
N ah,says the guard.A t 3 p.m.they need this space
for aerobi cs class.
A R R E S T E D A N D C H A R G E D w ith bookmaking and run-
ning a gambling house,Caldw ellposted a $4,000
bond the next morning and w as back out partying
w ith h is crew .W hi le spending time in Tampa-area
club s,Caldw ellnoticed a demand for the energy-
and sensory-boosting party drug M D M A ,aka
M olly/Ecstasy.“People w ere constantly aski ng me
if I knew w her e to get it,” he says.
H ad he acted immediately on h is hunch,Caldw ell
w ould have remained on the r ight side of the law,at
least ini tially.In M arch 2014,a synthetic type ofM D M A ,ethylone,was stilllegalin F lorida.Bu t by
early M ay,when Caldw ellfinally got around to doing
some research on hi s gir lfri end’s computer,the D EA
had made the drug illegal,and M D M A confiscations
by U .S.Customs had r isen 1,335 percent since 2008.
C aldw ellsays that on M ay 8 he simply opened up
G oogle,typed in M D M A -M olly-C hina and w atched
as dozens of w ebsites popped up off eri ng to sellthe
drug and ship i t ri ght to h is front door.(C hallenged
on this,Caldw ellsays,“You got your phone on you?
Try it.It’s easy.” H e is,in fact,correct.) Caldw elldidthe math: A n i nvestment of less than $ 2,000 could
net as much as $180,000 on the street.Th ree taps
of the mouse,a tri p to W estern U ni on and “the stuff
w as on its w ay,” he says.“So easy and out in the open,
I kinda did it just to see i f it was a scam.”
A ccording to a police affi davit,five days later,a
Tampa postalinspector flagged the package,noting
it contained 4.8 pounds of a “w hi te rocky substance.”
W hen i t tested positive for M D M A ,a federalagent,
posing as a U PS employee,drove the drugs to the
home of Caldw ell’s girlfriend,located in an upscale,gated condomini um complex north of Tampa and
directly across from the entrance to B usch G ardens.
C aldw ellanswered the door and qui ckly scanned
the yard,street and air searching for trouble.Sens-
ing none,he drew an X on the signature pad and
reached for the box.Caldw ellremembers the agent
drew back,then impr ovised: “W ith international
deliver ies,I need a ver ifiable signature or I can’t
release the package.” Caldw ellglanced b ack over
hi s shoulder at hi s phone sitting on a hallw ay table,
realizing at that moment that using an app to ob-sessively track this package,along w ith another
ki lo he had for w arded to Atlanta,pr obably w asn’t
the smartest idea.If this is it,he thought,they al-
ready got me.Caldw ellshr ugged,w aved for the
clipb oard and gave w hat tur ned out to be hi s last
hi gh-profi le signatur e.
T he cour tyard exploded like a confetti cannon,
w ith dozens of agents and officers materializing
from behind every bush,door w ay and corner that
Caldw ell’s acute criminalinstincts had deemed clear
just 10 seconds before.Familiar by now w ith SW A T
team pr ocedures,Caldw elldutifully low ered himself
face-first onto the stone porch stoop as one thought
ran through h is head: “A w ,man,not again.”
T O T H I S D A Y , C aldw ellisn’t sure how authori ties took
dow n h is drug cartelso sw iftly.Perhaps i t w as the
poorly stuff ed shoebox-sized package w rapped in
elaborate C hi nese markings that sounded like a M ol-
ly-stuff ed maraca moving dow n the post offi ce’s con-
veyor belt.“G ood lord that boy w as a bad criminal,”
says his mom,“and thank Jesus for that.”Some of those hosannas should be directed at hi s
defense attorney.“H e had been caught red-handed,”
M atassini says,“and by that I mean the drugs w ere
literally found,by police,in the hands of my client,
w ho w as also tracking them on h is phone.” So M atas-
sini persuaded Caldw ellto take responsibi lity (w ith-
out cooperating w ith law enforcement) and score
po ints by saving the U .S.A ttorney the trouble of
having to prosecute the case.
A llhe had to do w as stay out of trouble untilsen-
tencing.(Except for a misdemeanor battery chargein 2009,Caldw ellhad never had run-ins w ith the
law.) B ut by this poi nt,staying out of trouble w as
pr oving diffi cult.Tw ice in A ugust 2014,C aldw ell
w as pulled over and charged w ith severaltraffi c vio-
lations and possession of cannabi s.H e w as con-
vinced hi s N FL pedigree made him an ir resistible
trophy for p olice.(O n the affi davit for h is drug ar-
rest,under B usiness Address,the offi cer seemed to
gleefully inscri be: “R etired.”) But maybe,as M atas-
sini suggested,Caldw elljust needed to stop driving
erratically late at nigh t in a b ri ght red Jeep thatreeked of pot.T he traffi c stops w ere more of a con-
cern to M atassini than the gambling charges,w hi ch
he considered “sort of a joke.” The discover y in that
case was so volumi nous— and the p enalties so in-
consequential— that w hen the prosecutor r ealized
the amount of w ork needed to b ri ng the case to a
speedy tri al,she let Caldw elloff w ith time served.
Caldw ell’s dumb luck continued that falli n fed-
eralcourt w hen M atassini w as able to,once again,
turn his client’s cri minalnaïveté into his best de-
fense.Testing of the drug packages revealed that,asa new bi e drug dealer,Caldw ellw as less Tony M on-
tana and more Saul Si lver.D istri bution of pur e
M olly carr ies a maximum 20-year sentence and up
to $ 1 million i n fines.Instead,C aldw ellorder ed
ethylone, w hat he thought w as low -grade “legal
M olly,” from the C hinese w ebsite.O f course,it w as
neither.M atassini w as then able to prove,w ith the
expert testimony of a chemist,that on a molecular
levelC aldw ell’s bargain-bi n dr ugs w ere a far less
potent form of M D M A and therefore should fall
under more lenient sentencing guidelines.
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2 4 E S P N 05 . 2 3 .2 01 6
FORWARD
IL L U S T R A TIO N B Y M A X H O P M A N S
F R O M L E F T : C AR L O S O S O R I O / AP I M AG E S ; E Z R A S H A W / G E TT Y I M AG E S ; D A R R E N A B AT E /A P I M AG E S
I njuries have sidelin ed m arqu ee players in th is year’s playoff s, in cludin g reign in g M V P S teph en C urry.R ealplus-m in us show s justh ow im po rtan tthe rem ain in g team s’sup erstars are to their success.— B E N A L A M A R
REAL PLUS-MINUSRPM estimates howmany points, onaverage, each playeradds to or subtracts
from his team’s netscoring margin foreach 100 offensiveand defensivepossessions. Themodel also yieldsseparate ratings forimpact on both endsof the court : offensiveRPM (OPM) anddefensive RPM (DPM).
T h e N B A ’s In d isp e n sa b le s
Changein quantified shotquality (qSQ)-3.5TheThundershot 2.7percent above quantifiedshotquality withDurantonthefloorand 0.8points
below averagewhen offit.
Players scoring morethana pointper shot on Leonard1OnlyGordonHaywardwas marked by Leonardatleast100timesandscoredmore than a point
per possession.
Valuecreatedthrough passing1,964The Thunderscored 1,964pointsas a resultofWestbrookpasses, whichled the league by168
points created.
DPM
OPM
Change in qu antified shotquality (qSQ)-3.8With Curry, the Warriors’qSQ is 53.5—best inthe league. Without him,their qSQ falls to 49.7.
STEPHEN CURRYWarriors
Change in quantified shotquality (qSQ)-2.2Cleveland’s average qSQ i s51.8 per cent (fifth in theleague) when James is onthe court and 49.6 (21st)
when he’s on the ben ch.
LEBRON JAMESCavaliers
KAWHI LEONARDSpurs
RUSSELL WESTBROOKThunder
KEVIN DURANTThunder
7.476.05 3.95 6.90 5.32
0.982.68 4.15 1.04 0.62
RPM RPM RPM RPM RPM
A COLLABORATION WITH ESPN STATS & INFORMATION
GRAPHICDETAILS
Quantified shot quality (qSQ)
estimat es effective field goal
percentage for an averageplayer given the location of
the shot, the location of a
defender and the type of shot.
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T H E Y E A R IS 9 6 9 .
R acing legend M ario A ndretti h as a problem:
H is pi t crew can’t remove hi s right rear w heelto change
the tire.A ndretti,a longtime F ir estone test driver,opts to
avoid w asting time w hile hi s pit crew attempts to remove the tir e,
and decides to ru n the entire 50 0 mi le race w ithout changing it.
I T’S T HAT K IN D O F C O N F I D E N C E T HAT F IR E S T ONE I N S T I L L S .
For decades,open-w heelr acing has served as the ultimate proving ground
for F ir estone,dri ving for new developments in performance,technology,
and dependab ility that have translated from the track to the open road.
T hi s year marks the 100th running™ of the Indianapolis 500®,w here
Firestone has carr ied more drivers to victory than allother tire
manufactur ers combined.To celebrate this achi evement,and
to honor each of the 66 times that Fi restone tires crossed
the Indy 500 fin ish line victor iously,F irestone w ill
pr oduce mor e than 5,00 0 race tires featur ing a
commemorative sidew alletched w ith
each w inning driver’s name.
T R A D E M A R K S O F B R I C K Y A R D T R A D E M A R K S IN C . A R E U S E D W I T H P E R M I S SI O N .
AN D H E W IN S .
CHAM PI ONS
ARE MADE ON F IR ES TO NE TIR ES
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ORW AR
28 ES P N 05.23.2016 P H O TO ILLU S TR ATIO N B Y M AX H O P M AN S
ICON SP ORTS W IRE/AP IM AGES (2)
1.H E L IO W I N S H I S F O U R T HH isTwitter handle@ H 3liocommemorateshis
three Indy wins, but H elioC astroneveswould
gladly change it (@ H 4lio?) if he finallyjoins
A .J. Foyt,A l Unser andR ick M earsasfour-time
champs.I t’sbeen seven yearssince Castroneves,
41, won hislast Borg-WarnerT rophy. (H e
wassecond in 2014.) M aybe hisretro“Yellow
Submarine”Pennzoil paintschemewill bring
him luck. N otonlyis it a tribute toM ears’iconic
cars, it also matchesthe zoot suit H eliowore
back when hewon DancingW ith theStars.
2.P E N S K E C E L E B R A T E S A T 5 0
Team Penske is the Yankeesof Speedway, In diana,
sporting 16 wins, just oneshyof thenextfour
closest teams combined. Roger Penske’s50 years
asan owner includeseveryC astronevesand M ears
victory, plus Juan PabloM ontoya’sm asterpiece
last year. Penske himselfnever raced in the500
butwasasked totest asa rookie in 1965.A business
interest intervened,and theshot wentto somekid
from N azareth,Pennsylvania, named M ario.
3.N E X T -G E N R A C E R S
M ario Andretti won the500 in 1969,theonly
victory for a family that hasproduced fiveI ndy
starters,all of whom who havesuffered some form
ofB rickyard heartbreak.H isgrandson,M arco,
runner-up asarookie in 2006,will againlookto
breakthe curse.Joininghim willbe Graham
Rahal (son of1986 winnerB obby),who finished
fifth last year and issecond in the2016 IndyCar
standings. A win for eithergenepool would sendtheexpected crowd of400,000 intoa frenzy.
4.A V IC T O R Y L A P F O R A .J .
Foyt, now 81, isa bonafide Brickyard royal.H e’s
been to nearly every500 sincehe satin thegrand-
standsin 1956; his firstwin came in ’61, his fourth
in ’77; headded another asanowner in ’99. Foyt
Racingis a modestlyfunded team in theVerizon
IndyCar Series, so a checkered from TakumaSato
or Jack H awksworth would be the equivalent of,
well, the Royals winning the World Series.
R unsatH istory 91
F A M I L YC R E S T (F A L L E N )
Despiteonlyonewineach,
theAndretti(70starts)
andRahal(21starts)
familiesareconsidered
amongthebiggestnames
inIndy500history.
O n M ay 29, drivers will start their engines at the 100 th editionof the Indianapolis 500. H ere are four ways it can finish inan even more historic fashion than it begins. —R YA N M cG E E
Graham
Rahal
Marco
Andretti
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P R E SENTS
FORWARD
T a k in gth e A irO u tIndy practice speeds wentsky-high in 2015, and cars wentaloft. W hen is fast too fast? O ur
N icole Briscoe and Ryan M cG eehave their radar guns pointed.
first time they come by. L ook at th e races
we’ve had the l ast five years. I t’s been
some of the greatest racing we’ve seen in
such a long time, maybe the best stretch
of finishes in I ndy 500 history.
RM: O f 99 races, only 13 have been won
with a p ass durin g the final four l aps. Th at
situation has unfolded i n each of the last
five years.NB: T hat’s what we remember, right? We
remember the race. We remember the
finish. Can you tell me the average speed
of any of those races?
RM: N ot a chance. I also can’t tell you the
speed of the pole w inn ers during those
years, even though winning the pole is
still a huge deal. So why the push toward
those speeds?
NB: Because it’s sexy. T he num ber sounds
great. But you have to balance pursuingthat number with safety. O n the eve of the
100th r unni ng this year, I hate to bring up
last year, but they tri ed to go bi g and cars
flipped. T hey slowed them down, and
guess what: I t was a great race.
RM: I think the number 100 sounds
plenty sexy.
RM: In 1996, Ari e Lu yendyk ran a lap
of nearly 240 mph at Indi anapolis. Then
the cars changed dramatically, and
qualifying speeds dropped. N ow they’ve
inched back over 230 mp h again, and last
year the IndyCar Series had to whoa ’em
back after cars got airbor ne. A s a race fan,
I wond er if chasing top speed is even
necessary anym ore.NB: I ’m going to respond to this not ju st
as a race fan but also as someone whose
husband sits in one of those cars [R yan
Br iscoe, 10 I ndy 500 starts]: I don’t think
so. From the stands, can you honestly tell
the di fference between a 99 m ph fastball
and a 97 mph fastball? Can you honestly
tell m e you can tell the di fference between
cars going relatively the same speed at
more than 220 mph?
RM: N ope. But i t’s hard to explain to peoplewho might watch only two races of any kind
each year, D aytona and I ndy, that going as
fast as the laws of physics allow doesn’t
necessarily translate in to great racing.
NB: You have 33 cars running in a pack at
224 mph. A s many times as I have been
there, it still takes my breath away the
Ed Carpenterwas unhurtafter this flip,one of threeairbornecrashes during2015 Indy 500practices.
IN D Y 5 0 0 C A U TIO N S A N D LA P S U N D ER C A U TIO N
2 0059 9 6 2 000
2 0
4 0
60
8 0
2015010
2 0059 9 6 2 000 2 01 5010
IN D Y 5 0 0 T O P LA P S P EE D S , IN M P H
2 1 0
2 2 0
2 3 0
2 4 0
G R E G H U E Y / AP I M AG E S
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LI E IS A SP O R T. W E AR E TH E U TILITY.BE U NSTO P PABLE.
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3 2 E S P N 05 . 2 3 . 2 01 6
“I can relate to kids going strai ght to the league /
W hen they recogni ze that you got w hat it takes to
succeed / And that’s around the time that your idolsbecome your ri vals / You make fri ends w ith M ike
but got to A.I.him for your survi val/ D amn,I sw ear
spor ts and music are so synonymous / Cau se we
w ant to be them,and they w ant to be us” — D rake,
“Thank M e N ow ”
V I E W I N G F R O M A F A R , D rake can look li ke the worst
type of sports fan.
T here he is warming up with the K entucky
W ildcats. T here he is at a Seahawks practice. T here
he is cheering on M anchester U nited … then
D r eams M oney
Can BuyD rake might just be the most annoying sports fan in theuniverse, but the rapper and R aptors ambassador is living hisbest life—one that any of us would follow if given the chance.
B Y H A N IF W IL LIS -A B D U R R A Q IB
we get the same attention.”T he biggest rapper alive
sees himself in the same club as the athl etes he
admires and seems to understand their quest to
define a legacy. H e moved from C anadian teen
television actor to crossover hip-hop star but wascalled “too soft”after all. H e’s spent seven years in
the spotlight trying not to become a joke while
having to embrace the joke he’s sometimes been. A t
some point, K obe Bryant reali zed that his legacy, no
matter what he did, would be as a relentless gunner,
so he put up 50 shots in his last game. Four albums
in, the intern et still sees D rake as a walkin g, talking
meme, so he slips into a turtleneck and turns on the
grandfatherly dance moves in “H otline Bling.”
Takes his 50 shots and shru gs it off.
Bu t if D rake is a man successful beyond hiswildest dreams, he is also, it seems, a man unful-
filled. H e collects relationships, both romantic and
platoni c. H e collects endorsements, awards and
even allegiances with cities other than his own. In
his bold est musical work, D rake’s boastfulness
revolves around loneli ness. H e wants love but trusts
no one. H e works too hard to have “real”friends. H e
has the world but is afraid to stay in a single place or
with a single person for too long. I n “Girl s Love
Beyonce,”the love of fame is coupled with its costs.
“I ’ve been avoiding commitment / T hat’s why I ’m i n
M anchester Ci ty … then Chelsea. T here he is with
L eBron’s H eat and wooing Stephen C urry l ike he’s
got a high school crush, laughing too loudly at jokesand pushing through the crowd to get next to them.
T hose of us who commi t fiercely to one team,
through the good and the bad, and the bad and the
worse, can’t abide hi m. H e hops bandwagons. H e
grabs glory. H e arrives just in time for the victory
parade and leaves as the last drop of champagne
runs out of the bottle.
I t’s absurd, but maybe worthy of empathy too.
O n “Weston R oad Flows”from View s, D rake
explains that “a lot of people just hit me up when my
name is mentioned / shout out to K D / we relate /
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05 . 2 3 . 2 01 6 E S P N 3 3R O M L E F T : VA U G H N R I D L E Y / G E TT Y I M AG E S (3 ); R E N E J O H N S T O N / T O R O N T O S T AR / G E T T Y I M AG E S ; V AU G H N R I D L E Y / G E T TY I M A G E S
FORWARD
th is po sition / I ’m scared to letsom ebo dy in on th is.”
A sa b asketballfan, thathun gercan m ake him
com e off like the kid w ho w asalw aystoo bu sy w ith
actin g an d rapp in g to give everything h e h ad to
sports, the on e w ho stilldream so frunn ing o ut ofatun nelw hile sm oke billow sb ehind h im .H e grew
up to have enou gh m oney and p ow erto live out
every sportsfantasy he dream su p, and w hen h e
jum ps outo fhisseatand claps nearthe earsofan
op po sin g player, it’s as ifh e th in ks h e’s pa rtofthe
team ’sb ench.W hen he shootsan airb all— no dou bt
w recked by nerves— during w arm -ups w ith an
actua lcollege b asketballteam , he calls for an other
shotb ecause he’ssure h e’llgeton e.H e h ash is
friend sfi lm him hitting a shot in a p ickup gam e and
tagsC urry on the I nstagram clip asifa jum p shotm ade over a loose defense isthe sam e asp ulling up
from 37 feetin O klaho m a C ity w ith virtually no
tim e lefto n th e clock .
S nickerallyou w ant, bu tthere’ssom ething
hu m an and fam iliarabou tthisim pu lse.T hrough-
ou th iscatalog, D rake sing s ofa d esire to belon g— at
the top ofthe rap gam e, in circlesw here he on ce
w asdenied access, w ith w om en h e once w astold
w ere outofh isleague.I n “K now Y ourself,”he
describesthe all-consum ing m om entum ofthe
chase, saying he’sturning in to som eon e w ho “think s
aboutm oney and w om en like 24/7, that’sw here m y
life took m e.”F ront-row seats to an y gam e are a
kin d oftestim on y to h is arrival, revenge taken ou t
on h isd oub ters.M aybe he m ovesfrom scene to
scene an d team to team because being accepted in
places th atad ju stth em selvesto your presence is
in toxicatin g.I tm ustfeelvery cool.
I nd eed, D rake the m usician saysw e shou ld cut
D rake the sports fan a break.I n histun es, he’s
ow n in g h is bad rap, lean in g in to the jok e before
anyon e else m akes it, follow ing any team or playerhe lovesan d w here he m ight be loved in return
w ith a kind ofp layfulself-aw areness.“M an , this
s---so illthat w e had to restartit/ H -T ow n m y
second h om e like I’m J am esH arden,”he saysin “N o
N ew F riends.”I n “S um m erS ixteen,”it’s“G olden
S tate isrun nin g practicesatm y hou se.”T hen he
run sto hu g K yle L ow ry aftera R aptorsplayoff w in.
I t’s allparto fth e sho w , allparto fb ein g in the clu b,
pullin g on a n ew team ’s jersey like thato versized
turtlen eck, sittin g in the fron trow an d ch eerin g as
ifh e cou ldn ’tb e an yw h ere else.
Fall ’11 Drake and Texas A&M’sJohnny Manziel strike up a friendship
on social media.
March ’12 Drake brags on Twitterabout meeting Didier Drogba.
April ’12 Drake and Mario Balotelligo out for a curry after a Manchester
City game.
July ’12 Drake posts an Instagram
photo of a Kentucky championshipring he received from John Calipari.
June ’13 Drake is denied access tothe Heat locker room after the team
beats the Spurs to win the NBA title.
Sept. ’13 Raptors announce Drakewill be their new global ambassador.
April ’14 Drake releases an NFLdraft–themed track for Manziel
called “Draft Day.”
Oct. ’14 Drake suits up withKentucky for Big Blue Madness and
shoots an air ball in warm-ups.
Dec. ’15 Drake and Stephen Curry goto In-N-Out after a Warriors game.
March ’16 Drake’s courtside trash-talking helps induce a five-second
violation for Chicago’s Justin Holiday.
April ’16 Drake claps close to theface of Indiana’s Rodney Stuckey
during a Toronto playoffvictory.
Twitter haters clap back.
DRA KE’S GREA TESTSUPERFA N M OM EN TSHighlightsinclude courting college
stars,dining with globaliconsand
causing courtside distractions.
Usuallycourtside,
alwaysanimated,Drake
makeshispresence
feltatRaptorsgames.
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*M igue l ’s vacat ion p rov ided by W alt D isney W orld® R eso r t.
M igue l C abrera and h is fami ly a t M agic Kingdom® Pa rk
N O P U R C H A SE N E C E S SA R Y . Vo id whe r e p r oh i b i ted . O p en t o l eg a l r e si d en t s of t he 50 U . S . & D C , 1 8 + o r the ag e of ma jo r i ty i n the i r st a te a t t ime of en t r y. S t a rt s 3 / 1 8 / 16 a t 1 2 :00 PM ET .
E nd s 5 /27 /16 a t 1 1 :4 4 :5 9 AM ET . V is it E S P N . c om/ U nfo r g e t tab l e fo r r u l e s, wh i c h g ove r n , & comp l e te d e ta il s. S P O N S O R : E S PN In t e r ne t Ven tu r es.
A s t o D i sney p r ope r t i e s/a r two r k : © D i sney
Y o u co u ld w in yo u r o w n A ll-S tar Walt Disney World va catio n
E S P N .com /U nforg ettable
M agic happ ens when fami l ies p lay tog ether
at the W alt D isney W orld ® R esort. Just ask
M igue l C abrera and h i s fami l y They had the
tim e o f the ir lives as the fam ily hit all fo ur
W alt D isney W orld ® Them e P arks for somem agical rest and relaxation this past offseason .*
“Co ming w ith my w hole family, I think
w e’re 19 peop le. So it’s a spe cial
moment because w e come all together
and we have fun all together,”
M iguel said.
Are you ready to p lay i n the D i sney m agic
l ike an Al l -S tar? E nter no w for you r chan ce
to score a 5 -day/4 -night W alt D isney W orld®
vacat ion for si x from E S P N S hare hugs wi th
favor ite D i sney characters. Zo om throug h
enchan ted wor lds . En joy amaz ing sho ws.
And m ake unforget tab le m em or ies .
Fo r pho tos,a beh ind-the-scenes look at
M iguel’s trip and more,b e sure to visit
E SP N .co m /U nforgettab le.
MiguelCabreraandhisfamilyplayedlike all-stars
on aWaltDisneyWorldVacation
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E I M A I N E
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05 . 2 3 . 2 01 6 E S P N 3 7N O A H G R A H A M /N B A E /G E T TY I M AG E S ; I C O N S B Y E I G H T H O U R D A Y
For morecoverage ofthe W NB A’s 20th
season,visitespnw.com/W NB A20
T H E W H O L E T H I N G started 20 yearsago witha ball that lookedlike breakfast (orange and oatmeal)and a slogan that made
grammarianslose theirs: “We G ot N ext.”But asthis issue, created in collaboration with espnW, makesclear, thelegacy of
the WN BA liesnot in what it “got”but in what it “gave.”A chance for women toplay prohoopsin the U.S.,for fansto see
a game growbigger, faster,stronger.A procession ofrole modelswho’vebeen paid,and accepted. Yes, theleaguehasfacedharsh financial realities brought on by irregular attendance, indifferent coverage, international competition for talent
and inevitablecomparisonswith themen.B ut theW N BA hassurvived and evolved,dragging therest ofus along withit.
Women’s basketball once was confined to half court. N ow it’s played end to end—and meridian to meridian—and the
W N BA , which opensits20thseason on M ay14,hasplayeda huge role. By openingtheeyesof fansa littlewider witheach
passing season, theleague hasbrightened thefuturefor all femaleathletes. In other words, it got the“next”part right.
W Ith D iana
Taurasi’s return,Ph oenix is a legit
title contender.
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3 8 E S P N 05 . 2 3 . 2 01 6
FOUR OF A KIND W hen itcom es to playoff
M VP aw ards only His
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05 . 2 3 . 2 01 6 E S P N 3 9H O TO G R A P H S B Y D Y L AN C O U L TE R
ASGOODAS ITGETSO N D R A F T N I G H T , B R E A N N A S T E W A R T W A S T H E T O A S TO F T H E S P O R T S W O R L D .B U T I N A L E A G U E T H A T
S T R U G G L E S F O R R E L E V A N C E , W I L L S H E E V E R R E A C H
T H O S E H E I G H T S A G A I N ? BY ELIZABETHMERRILL
M VP aw ards, only His A irnessh as Stew artbeat.
B utonly sheand Cooperhave w on fourin a row .
MICHAELJORDAN
6 NBA FINALS MVPS
CYNTHIACOOPER
4 WNBA FINALS MVPS
BREANNASTEWART
4 FINAL FOUR MOPS
TOM BRADY
3 SUPER BOWL MVPS
TIM
DUNCAN3 NBA FINALS MVPS
SHAQUILLE O’NEAL
3 NBA FINALS MVPS
PATRICKROY
3 CONN SMYTHE TROPHIES
JOE MONTANA
3 SUPER BOWL MVPS
MAGICJOHNSON
3 NBA FINALS MVPS
LEWALCINDOR3 FINAL FOUR MOPS
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H A I R : R E B E C C A P L Y M AT E ; M A KE U P : O L G A P O S T O L A C H I ; P R O P S T Y L I N G : C H R I S T O P H E R S T O N E ; S T Y L IS T : J U L I AN J E S U S
1997TinaThompsonH ou ston Comets
1 9 97 - 20 1 3
1998M argo DydekU tah S ta rz z
1 9 9 8 - 200 8
1999ChamiqueHoldsclawW ash i ng ton Mysti cs
19 99 -2007, 2009-1 0
2000AnnW auters
C leveland R ockers
2 000-12
2001Lauren Jackson S eatt le Storm
2001-12
2002Sue Bird
Seatt le Storm
2 002- present
2003LaToya Thomas
C leveland R ockers
2003-08
2004Diana Taurasi
P hoenix Mercury
2004-present
2005JanelM cCarvilleCh ar lotte St ing
2005-14
2006Seimone A ugustus
Minnesota Lynx
2 006-present
4 0 E S P N 05 . 2 3 . 2 0 1 6
B R E A N N A S T E W A R T H A S spent the past several hours in
stiletto heels, and her hair has been teased so many times
that it must be self-conscious. So it’s a relief when her
day ends, finally, at an after-hours dinner at B obby F lay’s
Bar A mericain, just outside the melodic jangle of the
M ohegan Sun casino floor. Stewart’s parents have spent
much of this Ap ril night waitin g for the photo shoots to
end. T hey woke early this morning and drove 300 mil es
from upstate N ew York to Un casvill e, Connecticut, to
see her get drafted into the W N BA , and somewhere
around 10 p.m., after scanning the steak tartare and
duck confit on the m enu, they settle in to exhale.
For a family that temporarily kept her awards on the
floor of the b asement th is sprin g so the dog wou ldn’t
W e’r e N o. 1!THE LIST O F THE W N BA’S TOP PICKS IS A W HO ’SW HO OF SO M E OF THE GAM E’S BEST PLAYERS.
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05 . 2 3 . 2 01 6 E S P N 4 1E T TY I M A G E S (1 4 ); AP I M AG E S (6 )
2007Lindsey Harding P hoenix Mercury
2007-14 , 2016
2008Candace P arker
LA Sparks
2008-present
2009AngelMcCoughtry
Atlanta D ream
2009-present
2010Tina Charles
Con necticut S un
2 010-present
2011M aya M oore
Minnesota Lynx
2011-present
2012Nneka Ogwumike
LA Sparks
2012-present
2013Brittney Griner
P hoenix Mercury
2013-present
2014Chiney Ogwumike Con necticut S un
2014-present
2015Jew ellLoyd
Seatt le Storm
2015-present
2016Breanna Stew art
Seatt le Storm
2016-present
gn aw on them , allthis rock-star attention
has taken them aback.S tew ie, w ho u sed to
p u t h er h e ad d o w n a n d sa y “U m m m ” d u r-
ing interview s, h ad a h and lerw hisking her
around earlier in the evening.M eanw hile,
a crow d lin ed u p o utside the arena ho urs
before th e d raft, allto w atch the inevitab le:
S tew arth olding u p a jersey from th e S eattle
S torm , the team thatdrew the N o.1pick in
th e d raftlottery seven m on th s earlier.
T he night is big, and the S tew arts know
it.H er dad, B rian, w ho norm ally w ears
shorts regardlesso fthe tem perature, h as
throw n on a pair of slacks.J ustb efore the
show started, U C onn coach G eno A uriem -
m a took a seatnextto B reanna ata roun d
orange table.A uriem m a insisted on being
here, even though he h ad b een so illthath e
had to skip the nation alcham pion ship pa-
rade a few days earlier in H artford.(B y the
end of th e w eek, he’llb e h ospitalized for
three days w ith flu like sym ptom s.) W hen
S tew art’sn am e w ascalled, he em braced her,
germ sbe dam ned, and w hispered, “D oesit
feelgood? D o you deserve it? ”
“Y es,”she an sw ered.
A uriem m a islong gon e by the tim e S tew -
artarrivesat B obb y F lay’s, an d she takesa
seatn ear her soon-to-be agent.B efore she
can catch u p w ith h erfam ily, S tew artlearn s
that G ood M orning America w ants herin
N ew Y ork by 6 a.m .I t’sa 2½ -hour drive, and
she’s got to go.S he asks her dad fora credit
card so she can geta h otelroom and dashes
out the doo r.
F or one night, B reann a S tew art is the
toastofth e spo rtsw orld.A n d ifhistory isan y
in dicator, itis alld ow n h illfrom h ere.
8/17/2019 Espn - May 23, 2016 Usa
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of a wom en’s pro league— she’d seen so m any
oth ers coll apse faster th an the d efenses that
tr ied to cover h er. Th e C om ets thr ew out a
salary o er som ewhere near $3 5 ,000, and
Th ompson sai d n o t h a n k s . H o u s to n was
surpr i sed: D idn ’t every you ng col lege star
dream of playin g professional basketball?
After som e negotiatin g, Th om pson says,
she was ab le to get her contract— inc lu d ing
salary, endor sem ents and bonu ses— up to six
fi gu res. (Th e W N BA now h as a rook ie sa lary
cap.) Sh e took a red-eye from C aliforn ia to
S ecaucu s, N ew Jersey, to m ake it to the dr aft.
T hom pson says she was en couraged to act
su rp r i sed wh en she was cal l ed N o . 1 . Sh e
opened her m outh and pu t her hands over her
face when she was pick ed. “It w as totall y fake,”
she says of h er reaction . Th at nigh t, her cel-
ebration consisted of orderin g room service.
S h e d id n ot becom e the face of the
W N BA . Th ere were p lenty of veterans there
to hand le that ro le , such as C ynth ia C ooper,
R ebecca L obo and S hery l S woopes. Bu t she
did p lay 17 years before ret i r in g in 2 013 .
An d she says that in the ear ly days, every
player felt a respon sibil ity to con n ect wi th
the fans. Th ey wanted to do everyth in g in
the i r power to keep the W N BA go ing .
“ I m ean , w e were touchab le , we were
reachable,” she says. “Y ou talk to people. Y ou
thank them for the i r support . You ta l k to
their daughters and g ive them advice. You
just be a hu m an bein g.”
T hom pson , wh o becam e an ass istan t
coach at the U n iversity of Texas last year,
won ders if the league’s next stars are wil li n g
to mak e the sam e e ort. “I thi nk a lot of the
youn ger players are thin ki ng about what the
league is going to do for th em , versus what
they can do for the league. In the W N BA , for
its lon gevity, the players have to do the wor k .
T hey h ave to connec t w i t h the fans and
m ake th em selves accessible. B ecause we’re
n ot so far ou t of the red th at we can act th e
way an N B A p layer does.”
W ith the first pick of the 1999 W NB A draft …
P erhaps no w om en’s p layer came in to the
W N BA wi th m ore hype than Tennessee star
C hami que H o ldsc law. She was dubbed the
fem ale M ichael Jordan and w as the first
IN TH E W NB A’S perfect wor ld, thi s dizzyi n g
n igh t wou l d go on , and S tewart wou ld be-
com e the face of th e league, carry i t to new
he igh ts and tap dem ograph ics tha t h ave
gone u ntou ched for two d ecades.
B u t that’s no t ho w i t’s gone for an y of the
N o. 1 picks wh o have come before her, from
T ina T hom pson to C andace Pa rker to D iana
Taurasi . O n the court , they have l ived up to
t h e h ype, w i n n i n g M VP s a n d champ i o n -
sh ips. Bu t non e of it has provided enou gh
traction to give the league a signi fi cant boost
in attendance, revenu e or TV ratin gs.
“In th e N B A, th e draft is about h ope for a
fran chi se,” says L on B abby, a seni or advi ser
for t he Ph oen i x S uns . “I n t he W N BA , i t ’s not
just about whether the pick i s goin g to mak e
the M ercu r y o r S eat tle o r t he S i l ve r S ta rs
better. It’s also abou t wh ether th is player is
goin g to mak e the league better. Because the
league is con stan tly figh tin g thi s challen ge
to succeed an d end ur e. Th ey’re always figh t-
in g the perception that the qu ality of play is
not w orthy, and in the early days, maybe that
was valid. B ut it sur e isn’t valid n ow. Th e play
is extraordin ary now.”
In terest, how ever, is not. Th e 2015 season
saw a record low for attendance— the league
averaged 7,3 18 fans per game— and T V view-
ersh ip d ipped. In S eptember, N BA com m is-
sioner Adam S i lver adm itted that the W N BA
isn’t as popu lar as he thou ght i t w ou l d be.
F rom afar, Va l Ackerman , who was W N BA
president from 199 6 to 2 005, sti l l hopefu l l y
watches the league sh e hel ped start. S h e’s
“befud dled” by a land scape that fi xated on
wom en’s soccer dur ing a W or ld C up ru n last
sum m er bu t bare ly not ices tha t the U . S .
wom en’s basketball team is goin g for its sixth
straight gold in this year’s O lym pics.
Th ese are issues that new W N BA president
L isa Borders wi l l tack l e in 2 016, and she’l l
look for opportun it ies alm ost anywh ere. Bu t
she held o on pu ttin g S tewie on a pedestal.
B orders sco s at the notion that an y 21-year-
old coul d b e the l eagu e’s greatest hop e.
“W e feel that we h ave brigh t, shi n in g stars,”
B ord ers says. “B ut th at doesn’t m ean th ey’re
the si lver bu l l et to correct anyth in g or en -
han ce or amp lify what we have happen in g.
T hat’s just n ot ration al. T hat’s lik e sayin g on e
person wh o comes in as the CE O w i l l com -
pletely turn a com pany aroun d. N obody says
that outside of sports. W e kn ow better.”
W ith the fi rst pick of the 1997 W NBA draft …
Th e first W N BA draft took p lace on a spr ing
day in 19 9 7, devoid of han dlers and em otion.
Th e H ouston C omets kn ew whom they want-
ed w i th the N o . 1 p ic k: U SC forward T ina
Th om pson . T here was on l y one p rob lem.
T ho m pson w asn’t sur e she was interested.
T hom pson h ad just graduated, was prep-
p ing for the L S AT and was h igh ly skept ica l
N o.1 picksT inaT h o m p so nand C hineyO g w u m ik esay players
m u st b e m o reproa ctive togain fans.
42 ESPN 05.23.2016
8/17/2019 Espn - May 23, 2016 Usa
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8/17/2019 Espn - May 23, 2016 Usa
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4 4 E S P N 05 . 2 3 . 2 01 6
Tau rasi w as goin g to b e the m egastar
everyone talked abou t.T he guar d from
U C onn,the N o.1 pick of the Phoenix M er-
cury the year before,w ould selltickets and
lift the league to new levels.“She came out
of the best pr ogram w ith the bi ggest name,”
A ckerman says.“Sh e’s transformative i n
many w ays.”
Taur asi h as pr oceeded to w in three
W N BA championships,three O lympic gold
medals and six Eu roleague titles.N one of
this helped move the needle,and she ski pped
the 2015 W N B A season to rest for the R us-
sian team she plays for in the off season.
Just fou r years after Tau rasi ’s draft day,
Candace Parker w as supposed to shake up
the league.She w as smart and personable
and had modelesque looks.B est of all,she
could dunk.In her fi rst season w ith the L os
(and stillthe only) female athlete to appear
on the cover of Slam magazine.W hen she
w as drafted N o.1 by the W ashington M ys-
tics in 1999,h undreds gather ed for a rally
for her in W ashi ngton’s U nion Station.
H oldsclaw brought her grandmother to
the draft.A fter C hami que w alked off the
stage,June H oldsclaw handed her a crum-
pled piece of paper.W hen she w as a kid,
Chami que used to w ri te herself letters,but
she never knew her grandmother kept them.
The letter read,“W hen I grow up,I’m going
to be the fir st girlto play in the N B A .It’s O K
ifthe boys don’t let me play w ith them allthe
time.I’m going to p rove to them I’m better.”
B abby,a former agent w hose client list
once included T im D uncan and H oldsclaw,
says he’s never w itnessed a r ook ie player—
male or female— saddled w ith the p ressures
of a league like H oldsclaw w as.
Sh e never really got the chance to carr y
anythi ng.H oldsclaw had no p roblem w ith
pressure; she’d been surrounded by it since
she w as 11 playing basketballagainst the boys
in N ew York C ity.But she struggled for di rec-
tion.She w as used to having someone protect
her— her grandma,her high schoolcoach,
Pat Summitt at Tennessee.In the pros,w ith-
out that structure,she crumbled.H er grand-
mother di ed,contri buting to mentalhealth
issues that eventually led to a diagnosis of
clinicaldepression and a bi polar di sorder.
