ESPN The Magazine and Marvel Comics teamed up to illustrate story lines for all 30 NBA teams in their upcoming hoops preview issue, which hits newsstands on Friday.
“We’ve always wanted to do something with comics and we’re huge fans of Marvel, said Gary Belsky, ESPN The Magazine Editor-in-Chief. “We started thinking [this] would be a good way to do the previews and had a sense that now that [Marvel and ESPN are both] within the same corporate family [as part of Disney], it might make it easier. Once we reached out, we realized they do stuff like this all the time, so we didn’t have to wait, but the benefit of the [acquisition] was that it made us start thinking.”
Despite a pretty cool concept, there’s already one city unhappy with their panels.
Cleveland Cavaliers fans (surprise, surprise) are upset over a scene titled “The Unamazing Cavaliers,” which features LeBron James walking away in a Miami Heat jersey as he leaves his #23 Cavs uniform in a trash can.
Just another kick in the gut for the folks in the state of Ohio.
Below are the expert picks from the ESPN The Magazine staff:
| Chris Broussard | Ric Bucher | John Hollinger | Jalen Rose | |
| NBA Champ: | Heat | Lakers | Heat | Lakers |
| Runner-Up: | Lakers | Celtics | Lakers | Celtics |
| Right Track: | Bucks | Thunder | Bucks | Bucks |
| Wrong Track: | Raptors | Trail Blazers | Suns | Timberwolves |
| MVP: | Kevin Durant, Thunder | Kevin Durant, Thunder | LeBron James, Heat | Dwight Howard, Magic |
| MIP: | Michael Beasley, Timberwolves | Anthony Randolph, Knicks | Anthony Randolph, Knicks | Ramon Sessions, Cavaliers |
| Rookie of the Year: | John Wall, Wizards | Blake Griffin, Clippers | Blake Griffin, Clippers | John Wall, Wizards |
| Bust: | Evan Turner, 76ers | Evan Turner, 76ers | Ekpe Udoh, Warriors | Evan Turner, 76ers |