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**ESPN The Magazine: NBA Special Report: Perception is Not Reality - What the Fans Think, What the Commissioner Knows and How Michael Jordan Sees it Now**
NEW YORK-(Business Wire)-February 13, 2008 - SPECIAL REPORT: NBA PERCEPTION/REALITY:
WHAT'S A LEAGUE GOTTA DO TO GET A LITTLE LOVE? Five of your fifteen favorite athletes play in the NBA. The NBA store just had its best quarter ever. Attendance last season set a record - for the third straight year. So why do only 37% of fans think the NBA has a bright future? Chris Palmer reports.
"DON'T TRY TO DUPLICATE". Nearly 70% of sports fans say His Airness is still The Man. Who better to ask if the league is heading in the right direction? Rich Bucher catches up with Michael Jordan.
— Jordan on the league: David Stern hates when I say this, but in some ways he created his own problem. Look at the way the league markets its players. When I came in, they marketed the athletes themselves, how they performed, what they accomplished. To reinvent someone is very difficult. When you say a player is today's Michael Jordan or today's Magic Johnson, the first thing the public will do is compare him to the real Michael Jordan or Magic Johnson. When the public doesn't see the same degree of success, you've just dug yourself a deeper hole.
"WELCOME TO MY WORLD". Commissioner David Stern goes one-on-one with The Mag on race, how the Spurs get no love and why 3:30 a.m. is a very bad time of day. Chris Broussard reports.
— Stern's response to "do you feel the league has an image problem": No, I believe we are dealing with having the best-known, most recognizable players in the world. When they get in trouble, people can identify them and their faces. The troubles attached to other sports may be five times worse than ours, but we pay a price for being so recognizable. We have five of the 15 best-known athletes. The NFL has four. Major League Baseball has one. It's the downside of playing in a uniform that has no hat, no helmet.
A CLEAN LOOK. You know Stephen Jackson, right? Malice at the Palace and all that? People have lots of ideas but almost none of them are quite right. Ric Bucher reports.
2008 NASCAR PREVIEW:
5-STAR ATTRACTION. Four open-wheel studs follow Juan Pablo Montoya's lead and climb aboard for the rides of their lives in NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series. Ryan McGee reports.
DEAR ROOKIES. Stealing snacks, forging signatures, ticking off trailer parks—NASCAR vets offer up the do's and don'ts of infield life. Adam Winer reports.
FRONT TO BACK. Who says NASCAR isn't a team sport? The Magazine ranks the garages from 1 to 19.
BACK IN FRONT. Jeff Gordon has pole position in The Magazine's Chase for the Cup preview.
OTHER FEATURES:
BREAKING BIG. The scrutiny, the legacy, the pressure cooker of playing in Westwood: None of that bothers freshman center Kevin Love. Just don't try to bench him with the game on the line. Jon Pessah reports.
THIS WAY TO THE DRAFT. School's out for NFL draft wannabes like USC's John David Booty, but there's still plenty to learn before April. Morty Ain, Luke Cyphers and Carmen Renee Thompson report.
WHO IS MARTIN FUHRER AND WHY DOES HE MAKE THE TENNIS WORLD SO NERVOUS? Usually around this time of year, the tennis world is buzzing about the possibility of a Slam. This year it's buzzing about this 30-year-old gambler's game. Shaun Assael reports.
THE GOOD FIGHT. Forgotten and ignored in Philly, Coppin State point Tywain McKee was an unlikely primetime player. Then a basketball legend tapped him on the shoulder. Elena Bergeron reports.
***ESPN THE MAGAZINE COVERS ARE AVAILABLE VIA AP PHOTOEXPRESS and WWW.BUSINESSWIRE.COM***
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