When Cory Johnson said, “ I wanted the magazine to be about the experience we all had playing the game of basketball. Sports Illustrated was only about Michael Jordan. I wanted us to be about the game of basketball”, – he had hit the nail on the head for a formula that would entice legions of basketball fans. And with this vision statement, SLAM magazine was launched in 1994. The idea was to have a magazine that spoke about basketball with a hip-hop voice.
Founder Dennis Page has a simple goal to that end: he wanted the magazine to look like the ‘Vibe’ and read like the ‘Source’. An intriguing idea right? But there were more than a few trials and tribulations to pass, till they found the perfect fix that allowed them to stand the test of time.
The first issue had a cover story on Larry Johnson of the Charlotte Hornets, which was written by future Fortune editor Andrew Serwer. A feature on University of California freshman Jason Kidd was also added. Many of the magazine’s enduring features, such as In Your Face, Slam-a-da-month, and Last Shot all began with that first issue. But in retrospect, one key moment stands out for its founder.
Thinking back to those days, Dennis Page appeared on a podcast hosted by BBALL RADIO on YouTube saying, “ But you know, the most important moment to me was the Allen Iverson Soul on Ice cover. We put that together with Iverson took out his cornrow blew out his hair solo nice… Clay Patrick McBride shot that. When we dropped that cover I think that signified that we were legit. Um, we were passionate, we were credible and I always like to say that’s when we went from covering the culture to becoming part of the culture.”
Page’s words showcased the transformation they had and how they began their upward trajectory in fame in the pre-internet era. Turns out, one iconic photoshoot set them up for success – starting with the league. With the SLAM Magazine reaching new heights, the NBA was forced to take notice. They slowly started to legitimize the magazine with the zeitgeist, and the magazine was pushed into critical acclaim and greater readership. So which doors opened for them after that iconic Iverson shoot?
The opportunities that graced SLAM after the Allen Iverson shoot
The 1996 “Soul on Ice” cover of Allen Iverson—chains draped over his shoulders, cornrows fresh, eyes locked in defiance—wasn’t just a magazine cover; it was a cultural lightning strike. For SLAM, a then-fledgling basketball publication, this moment catapulted them from niche to necessity, reshaping sports media and solidifying their place in basketball history.
Before the Allen Iverson Cover, SLAM was an upstart magazine with a modest but passionate following. After the shoot, everything changed. The issue started to sell out rapidly, owing to the unavailability of the Internet at that time,. The numbers are hard to find because of the lack of data, but an estimated 30-50% spike in single-issue sales was noted. Within two years, the sales doubled, signaling that the magazine was filling a much-festering void in sports media.
The newfound fame also brought in major collaborators such as Reebok, which was Allen Iverson’s sponsor, beginning their ‘Question and Answer” campaigns. Nike and AND1 also followed suit, buying advertisement spaces and sponsoring SLAM events such as the ‘SLAM Summer Classic.’ But as the times changes, they adapted too.
SLAM began expanding into the new digital and video mainstream as the opportunities arrived. They began their online site, SLAM Online in the late ‘90s/early 2000s . That spurred on multiple YouTube series, player blogs, and established social media dominance. SLAM was also involved in documentaries like “Doin’ It In The Park” which was a streetball documentary, and collaborated with giants like ESPN in 2023 for ’30 for 30′ where more than 30 hours of SlamBall games were broadcasted across ESPN. So its safe to say: the Iverson cover wasn’t just a moment, it was a blueprint for modern sports storytelling!
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