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SPORTS ILLUSTRATED 2013-14 NBA PREVIEW:
SI PREDICTS THUNDER OVER HEAT
INSIDE THIS WEEK’S SI: THE 2013 NBA PREVIEW: 34 PAGES OF SCOUTING REPORTS, ANALYSIS AND
TOP STORY LINES, INCLUDING
LEE JENKINS ON DWIGHT HOWARD AND HOUSTON’S NEW TOWER OF POWER; CHRIS BALLARD ON
STEPHEN CURRY, KLAY THOMPSON AND THE WEST’S NEW SHOWTIME;
CHRIS MANNIX ON THE NETS NEW NUCLEUS; JENNY VRENTAS ON DERRICK ROSE’S NEW KNEE
(NEW YORK – October 23, 2013) – SPORTS ILLUSTRATED’s 2013 NBA Preview—on
newsstands now—breaks down the 2013-14 season with 34 pages of scouting reports
chock full of analysis, top story lines and conference power rankings, as well as SI’s NBA
Finals prediction. Who will cut down the nets in June? SI predicts that Kevin Durant and
the Thunder will finally defeat the Heat’s Big Three in a rematch of the 2012 Finals.
SI’s NBA Regular Season Rankings For Each Conference
EasternConference
1. Heat
2. Bulls
3. Nets
4. Pacers
5. Knicks
6. Hawks
7. Wizards
8. Raptors
9. Pistons
10. Cavaliers
11. Bobcats
12. Bucks
13. Celtics
14. Magic
15. 76ers
Conference Finals – Heat over the Bulls
Western Conference
1. Clippers
2. Thunder
3. Spurs
4. Rockets
5. Warriors
6. Lakers
7. Mavericks
8. Timberwolves

2. 9. Grizzlies
10. Nuggets
11. Trail Blazers
12. Pelicans
13. Kings
14. Jazz
15. Suns
Conference Finals – Thunder over the Clippers
SI’s Ian Thomsen writes: “The Thunder chose this summer to reinvest for the long term around
Durant, and now Oklahoma City has a deeper and more energetic bench than any other team in the
league. Durant will be prying the championship trophy away from his close friend LeBron James and
the enervated Heat next June.” (PAGE 66)
New Rockets center Dwight Howard, along with coach Kevin McHale and Hakeem Olajuwon appear on the
national cover of this week’s SI. Three additional regional covers feature Stephen Curry and Klay
Thompson of the Golden St. Warriors; the Brooklyn Nets new starting five with new coach Jason Kidd;
and Derrick Rose of the Chicago Bulls.
***Click here for more information, including SI’s conference power rankings and playoff predictions |
Download a high res version of the Howard cover here; the Warriors here; The Nets cover here; and the Rose
cover here.
***@SInow Cover Tweet: ThisWeek’sNHLPREVIEW Cover:Repeatafterus... @NHLBlackhawks. Champs.
Again. http://on.si.com/19EHpLq
###
DWIGHT HOWARDBY LEE JENKINS (PAGE 52)
Class is in session for Dwight Howard in Houston. The topic? Offense. Despite being a seven-time NBA All-Star and
three-time Defensive Player of the Year, Howard’s inside game is built on power and little else. Thatcould change under the
tutelageof the mostballetic pair of old-school big men thegame has ever seen:Hakeem Olajuwon and Kevin McHale. Writes

3. Jenkins,“While Olajuwon methodicallyexpanded hisrepertoire through 17 seasons in Houston,showcasing his speed with
a balleticarrayofspinsand counters,Howard’sroutineremained fairlyconstant,forcingup thosebabyhooks.”
Olajuwon, who won two NBA titles with the Rockets,believes versatility is the one thing preventing Howard from
being great. “You can’t have one move,” Olajuwon says. “It’s like having one outfit. I’m not going to wear the same
thingto the partythat Ido to the gym.”
Howard worked with Olajuwon while he was with Orlando. Soon after Howard signed with the Rockets
last July, McHale invited The Dream to once again become part of the team to help coach Howard and several of
the team’s other big men, including 7-foot center Omer Asik. “How can we get Dwight better?” McHale asks.
“That’s what we talk about. If we did nothing, and he played the way he has his entire career, he’d still be the
best big guy in the NBA. But if Hakeem and I can give him a couple more tools, and he can m aster those, what a
complement that would be.”
Lee Jenkins
| Read more about this story here
DERRICK ROSE’S KNEE BY JENNY VRENTAS (PAGE62)
A year and a half after he tore his left ACL, 2011 MVP Derrick Rose is back. But will he be as good as new?
Rose is one of 12 top NBA players who are attempting to return from knee surgery. Vrentas writes, “According to a
2010 article in the Sports Health journal that tracked the league’s injuries through a 17-year period, no other
body part causes more missed games in the NBA than the knee. As players continue to get bigger with each
passing season, and as the game has become more acrobatic, their bigger and stronger bodies place a greater
strain on the knee as they twist and turn and jump. This applies to ACL injuries as well as tears to the meniscus,
the C-shaped piece of cartilage in the knee joint.”
Rose was criticized by fans and media for sitting out last season instead of making a speedy recovery as did
Vikings running back Adrian Peterson, who returned to play nine months after tearing his left ACL. “NBA players
recovering from knee surgeries face unique demands, including an 82-game season,” writes Vrentas. A sustained

4. pace with dozens of sharp, abrupt movements; up to 12 minutes per quarter; and little margin for error in the
essential skill of shooting. Returning to the court after knee surgery may take longer in the NBA than in other
professionalsports,like the NFL.”
Jenny Vrentas
***Read more on this story here.
THE NETS NEW NUCLEUS BY CHRIS MANNIX (PAGE 72)
When Paul Pierce persuaded Kevin Garnett to play for the Nets—and for rookie coach Jason Kidd—it clinched
the deal of the summer. Now the clock is already ticking on a group of highly paid but aging stars as they strive to
lead the franchise to its first NBA championship and give new meaning to the Beastie Boys’ addage, “No Sleep Till
Brooklyn.” Writes Chris Mannix, “Perhaps the most persistent concern is what Garnett, 37, and Pierce, 36,
have left, a question that was raised after the Celtics lost in the first round last spring. “Don’t read too
much into that,” says then Celtics coach Doc Rivers. “When [Rajon] Rondo went down, we asked them to
do too much. They went from trying to mesh into the team to having to carry it again. But Paul can play
forever; he never uses his athleticism. And Kevin—as long as you watch his minutes—can still be Kevin
Garnett.”
Kidd is as attuned to the modern game and player as any, even though he is lacking in procedural aspects and
experience at the helm. Last season he was a veteran player. This season he will be the boss, but not so far
removed from his fraternity of brothers in the locker room. “Unlike most first-year coaches, Kidd isn’t expected
to develop talent, but rather to make full use of a surplus of it,” writes Mann ix. “Kidd understands that on
a team loaded with stars, he is potentially its biggest liability. Still, his philosophy will blend the
approaches of the men he played for.”
Chris Mannix
***Read more about this story here
STEPHEN CURRYAND KLAY THOMPSON BY CHRIS BALLARD(PAGE 96)

5. How’s this for the next great NBA tag team? One is 6’7” and 207 pounds and the prototypical NBA wing. The
other lacks strength, can’t jump and is freakishly skilled. There has never been a backcourt like the Warriors’ Klay
Thompson and Stephen Curry, two young gunners whose shootingrange astounds even themselves.
Writes Chris Ballard, “If Thompson is a classic NBA type, Curry is an outlier. While many stars are
considered blueprints for the next generation—seven-footers who shoot threes, linebacker-sized point
forwards—Curry is a throwback. No GM would scour the college ranks for slight, 6' 3" guards who fit the
“Curry model,” because there are none. You could call him a small, scoring, hybrid point guard, but that’s
not accurate. What he really is the best long-range shooter in NBA history.”
Both Curry and Thompson are NBA legacies. Dale Curry, father of Stephen, played 16 seasons in the NBA
and is the franchise leader in points (9,839) and three-point field goals made (929) for the New Orleans Pelicans'
(formerly the Charlotte Hornets). Mychal Thompson played 12 seasons in the league and won two titles with the
Lakers. Writes Jenkins, “Ask the fathers how much of their sons’ success is genetic and how much is due to
everything else, and they struggle to answer. Mychal thinks for a while, then settles on 50% genes, 50%
other factors. Dell puts it at 25/75: “You can have a great skill set, but if you don’t work to develop it, it
won’t get you that far.” Genetics aside, there has never been a pair of teammates like Thompson and
Curry.
Chris Ballard
*** Read more about this story here
-SI-
Contact: Scott Novak – (212) 522-2687, Scott_Novak@timeinc.com
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