In our free weekly newsletter covering sports magazine collecting, I share some thoughts on last night’s record-breaking PSA 9.6 MJ SI sale and what it could mean for the niche moving forward.

https://www.sportsmagcollector.com/p/michael-jordan-sports-illustrated-psa-graded-magazine-record-sale

Would you ever consider adding magazines to your player PCs?

Vince Carter on the cover of Sports Illustrated 26 years ago today.

Swipe to see:

• Action shots of Vince, who was a sneaker free agent at the time.

• High school junior DaJuan Wagner in “Faces in the Crowd”

• A piece on the burgeoning acting career of Malik Sealy. Sealy was tragically killed by a drunk driver just three months after this issue was published.

Hey Mantel! I recently launched a free weekly newsletter covering sports magazine collecting. My goal is to provide regular updates that are useful to both new and veteran mag collectors.

If you're interested, you can subscribe for free at sportsmagcollector.com!

It's hard to believe now, but the Kings were once one of the most marketable franchises in the NBA — a paragon of uptempo, team-first basketball. Now led by the guy on the left (head coach Doug Christie), they're in the home stretch of one of the most embarrassing tank seasons in recent memory, the seeds of which were planted by the guy leaning on his shoulder (former GM Vlade Divac). It might be a while before "The Greatest Show on Court" returns to Sacramento.

This issue is the first SI cover for Christie, Jason Williams, and Peja Stojaković, and the second cover for Vlade Divac and Chris Webber.

Swipe for bonus image of an article about the collapse of Rick Ankiel's pitching career, years before he made a successful return to the big leagues as a power-hitting outfielder.

In honor of the Slam Dunk Contest tonight, a reminder that VC's performance 26 years ago will never, ever be topped.