Sports Illustrated’s 75 Most Iconic NBA Covers
We ranked our most memorable NBA cover photos throughout the years.
Author:
Mark Bechtel
Updated:
Original:
Sports Illustrated and the NBA have grown up together—the pro basketball league is celebrating its 76th anniversary, while SI has been around for 68 years. That’s not to say there weren’t growing pains: The first NBA cover didn’t come until 1956, and there were only a handful in the early days. But as time went on, we evolved and so did the league. Since the 1970s, pro hoops has become a bigger and bigger part of America’s sporting fabric, not to mention a mainstay on SI’s most coveted piece of real estate.
So we present our most iconic NBA covers—with an eye towards more years of memorable images.
Sports Illustrated’s Most Iconic NBA Covers
Countdown from No. 75 to the most memorable cover image in SI’s history.
75. March 6, 1976
Bob McAdoo
One of the game’s criminally underrated offensive threats, Mac posed for this just before finishing his third straight 30-ppg season.
74. Feb. 24, 1969
Billy Cunningham
Once every couple of months in the 1960s, SI was good for a strangely lit noirish cover. And they were all pretty cool.
73. May 7, 1984
Bernard King
Who knows what King could have done with healthier knees? In this series, he averaged 42.6 points per game against the nascent Bad Boys.
72. Oct. 29, 2012
Steve Nash and Dwight Howard
We didn’t say 75 best. We said 75 most memorable. And this one will live with us forever as the punch line when we’re struggling to come up with a cover line: How about, Now this is going to be fun?
71. Feb. 23, 2015
James Harden
In which we offered readers a chance to get up close and personal with the most famous facial hair in the game.
70. April 29, 1996
David Robinson
The NBA’s most pious superstar at peak piety.
69. Feb. 13, 1967
Rick Barry
Strangely that's the Golden Gate Bridge, which connects San Francisco with Marin County, not Oakland. But the cover works as a reminder that Rick Barry and Jimmy Chitwood were never seen in the same room together.
68. Dec. 12, 1988
Charles Barkley
It’s easy to imagine what’s running through Chuck’s head here: Come on, Gminski, that cut is turrble.
67. May 31, 1999
Tim Duncan
A perfect marriage of picture and words, as the Big Fundamental knocked off Showtime 2.0.
66. June 16, 1986
Kevin McHale
Few shots have ever encapsulated a player’s game better than this, as McHale makes an unorthodox low-post move (while screaming as if he’d been shivved in the hamstring with a makeshift blade).
65. Feb. 20, 2012
Jeremy Lin
Possibly the first—and hopefully the last—hashtag on an SI cover. Still, it was undoubtedly a moment. A week later Lin would become the rare athlete to appear on consecutive nonplayoff covers.
64. Nov. 6, 1989
Joe Dumars
Coming off an NBA title, Dumars proved us wrong in the 1989–90 season, as his Pistons again stopped the Bulls in the ’90 conference finals en route to a title. Things went downhill—for Joe, the Bad Boys and everyone else—from there.
63. Nov. 18, 1991
Magic Johnson
The second Johnson cover to simply say MAGIC, this one came out after his announcement that he was retiring after contracting HIV.
62. Oct. 28, 2002
Yao Ming
An easy pun, but an incredibly effective one. The 7' 6" center’s impact on the league was as hard to measure as his frame.
61. Dec. 15, 1980
Lloyd Free
The notorious gunner, perfectly caught mid-gun. A year later he changed his name to World B. Free. Also could have gone with Leeroy Jenkins, but World B. works, too.
60. Oct. 24, 2004
Shaquille O’Neal
The Big Aristotle (or more like the Big Archimedes, amirite?) took his talents to South Beach and celebrated with a dip in a hotel pool.
59. May 8, 1978
Elvin Hayes
If you’re wondering why there’s a Bullets player in a road jersey trailing the play behind Big E, it’s not a Bullets player. It’s San Antonio’s Mike Gale, and because some of the Spurs’ luggage got lost he had to play in an inside-out Washington jersey.
58. Oct. 31, 1983
Ralph Sampson
Not the most vauntedSampson cover (that would be the fife-and-drum photo with Mark Aguirre and Albert King when he was in college), but still a nice shot of one of the most anticipated rookies in league history.
57. May 24, 1982
Magic Johnson and Michael Cooper
Sometimes the cover lines write themselves.
56. Jan. 9, 1956
Bob Cousy
The first SI NBA cover. Notice how Cousy runs a Fort Wayne Piston defender perfectly off a ball screen—set by another Fort Wayne Piston defender.
55. May 6, 2013
Jason Collins
Then 34, the longtime center made history as the first openly gay athlete in a major men’s professional sport.
54. Oct. 23, 1967
NBA Preview
How did the SI staff spend the Summer of Love? Apparently listening to a ton of Jefferson Airplane, “experimenting” with stuff in the break room and workshopping this cover concept.
53. May 16, 2011
Mavs-Lakers
If you ever meet photo editor Marguerite Schropp Lucarelli, be sure to ask her about her love of photos taken between legs.
52. Oct. 27, 1969
Lew Alcindor
Two years before he changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the 22-year-old was a Bucks rookie with a lot to say. And then, as now, it all commanded our attention.
51. April 6, 2015
Russell Westbrook
Heads up!
50. Feb. 19, 2001
Sacramento Kings
Yes, there was actually a time when the Kings were good and everyone loved rooting for them. Except, apparently, NBA referees.
49. June 8, 1998
Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen
Kinda looks like it could be a movie poster.
48. June 27, 1987
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
A rare gatefold cover—open up the stark image of Kareem and you see the ball falling to earth alongside the word SLAM!
47. Oct. 25, 1976
Dave Cowens and Julius Erving
Fun fact: The only player to be featured on the cover while playing in the ABA was Erving, who did it twice before this merger shot.
46. Jan. 20, 1958
All-Star Preview
One of the first times SI used strobes to light an indoor sporting event. NBA covers from SI’s early days, rare though they are, now serve as striking reminders of how different the game looked.
45. Oct. 15, 1973
Nate Archibald
Tiny indeed did it all in 1972–73, leading the league in scoring (34.0 ppg), assists (11.4 ppg) and knockouts of future Trail Blazers coaches (1). (That’s Rick Adelman collapsing in a heap.)
44. April 12, 1965
Wilt Chamberlain
First-person pieces were prevalent in the 1960s. In this one, Wilt begins his soul-baring diatribe against the game by writing, “Oh, man, this is going to be better than psychiatry.”
43. Nov. 12, 1973
Pete Maravich
Atlanta teammate Lou Hudson (23) recognized filthy moves when he saw them.
42. April 8, 2019
Giannis Antetokounmpo
Notice how many Spurs are cowering in fear. Can’t imagine Pop was pleased.
41. Feb. 18, 1991
The Original Dream Team
Take that, Isiah! Take that, Angola!
40. Dec. 23, 1968
Bill Russell
A portrait that perfectly captures the solemnity of one of the most thoughtful men to play the game, who had just led the Celtics to the title as a player-coach.
39. August 4, 1969
Bill Russell
After a second straight title as player-coach, Russell decided to leave the game and hit the links (possibly in the same yellow turtleneck he wore in his Sportsperson of the Year cover).
38. Nov. 11, 1996
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Shaquille O’Neal, George Mikan
Three generations of Lakers big men. Mikan, who looked like he could still dominate a game in the paint, deserves massive respect for offering free tickets to the gun show at age 72.
37. Oct. 20, 1980
Paul Westphal
Meteorological jokes rarely land (50% chance of apathy, with an indifferent front moving in from the West), but when they do, they’re great. Alas, Westphal lasted one ho-hum year in Seattle.
36. Oct. 25, 1971
Gus Johnson
His nickname was Honeycomb, but there wasn’t much sweet about Johnson’s game. The original backboard breaker, here he gets rough with his accountant. [Taps earpiece.] I’m sorry, here he gets rough with Hall of Famer DaveDeBusschere.
35. Nov. 1, 1999
Phil Jackson
Jackson-as-a-seer is nice, but check out the detail in the crystal ball: Shaq blissfully carrying Kobe.
34. May 26, 1986
Akeem Olajuwon
No truth to the rumor that the H Olajuwon added to his first name stood for, “Hey, did I ever tell you about the time I posterized a living legend?”
33. July 2, 2012
LeBron James
Of the many posed LeBron covers, the one that accompanied his first title with the Heat stands out for its great cover line (courtesy of former boss Chris Stone).
32. Oct. 15, 1979
Bill Walton
Sadly (?) for Bill—who, despite being seven feet tall and very rich, appears to be wearing a suit he bought off the rack—SI didn’t have its Fashionable 50 list in 1979.
31. May 27, 1996
Phil Jackson
It’s a powerful image, with Jackson appearing to tell the best player ever what to do and MJ appearing to comply. Is that what’s actually happening? Maybe. If not, it’s still a fine representation of how the Bulls rode Big Chief Triangle’s system to six titles.
30. June 23, 2014
Kawhi Leonard
Has there ever been a better coming-out party than the Claw’s at the 2014 Finals?
29. June 12, 2000
Kobe Bryant
He’s been on several covers smiling warmly, but nothing captured the essence of the Mamba like this feral scream.
28. April 24, 1967
Rick Barry
People forget how explosive Barry was. After averaging 35.6 points per game in the regular season—the most ever at the time by anyone but Wilt Chamberlain—Barry put up 40.8 in the 1967 Finals.
27. Nov. 1, 1982
Moses Malone
Philly fans flocked behind the recently-acquired Moses like he was Rocky Balboa. He rewarded their faith with a title in his first season, KO’ing the Lakers in four.
26. Oct. 16, 1972
Wilt Chamberlain
Something about the way the Big Dipper is crouching suggests that he’s futilely doing his best to contort himself in such a way that he’ll fit his entire body in the frame. But he still looks graceful.
25. May 2, 2016
Craig Sager
Shown seven months before he died of cancer, the colorful courtside legend wore a surprisingly conservative outfit for his shoot.
24. May 31, 1982
Julius Erving
For a guy who took a lot of highlight-bait shots, the Doctor was brutally efficient. The season this photo was taken, 1981–82, Erving shot 54.6% from the floor. His when in doubt, just dunk it mantra surely helped.
23. April 16, 1973
Earl Monroe
Earl was some pearl, indeed. The smile on his face conveys the sense of effortlessness that oozed from his game.
22. April 28, 1980
Larry Bird
But that release point.
21. June 25, 2001
Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant
That they would dominate was not in doubt. The only question was, for how long?
20. July 26, 2004
Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal
Answer: three years.
19. Oct. 31, 1977
Maurice Lucas
Some pictures are worth 1,000 words. For this one, four suffice: Maurice Lucas was baaaaad.
18. April 29, 1968
Elgin Baylor and Jerry West
Fridays at 8 on ABC, It’s Mr. Inside and Mr. Outside! Yes, before Lethal Weapon and before Miami Vice, the original mismatched buddy duo ran rampant in L.A.
17. May 20, 1985
Patrick Ewing
Pictured: some of the best shorts in NBA history. Not pictured: the frozen envelope.
16. Jan. 30, 1995
Derrick Coleman
Sorry, D.C., but this perfectly captures a lot of what was wrong with the NBA during an era that didn’t always feature aesthetically pleasing ball.
15. June 13, 2011
Dirk Nowitzki
Dirk’s one-legged fadeaway is on any short list of the most iconic shots the game has ever seen.
14. June 26, 1995
Kevin Garnett
O.K., so he technically wasn’t in the league yet. It’s amazing how there’s the tiniest hint of that imposing scowl in this babyfaced kid’s visage.
13. May 3, 1999
Kevin Garnett
Did someone say imposing?
12. Dec. 10, 1984
Michael Jordan
Any number of Jordan covers could have made the list (he’s been on 50, including an unprecedented three in a row in 1998). But this one truly resonates—and not just with us. MJ used it as the basis of a colorway for an Air Jordan release in 2018.
11. June 1, 2015
LeBron James
This beautifully lit dunk (when you see lighting like that, you’re probably looking at a Greg Nelson picture) made for a great cover. The full frame is even more spectacular as all five Hawks are in the frame, equally defenseless.
10. Jan. 28, 2002
Jason Kidd
How do you get an authentic-looking New York City skyline in the background? Take your subject to a rooftop in Jersey and shoot him there.
9. Feb. 28, 2000
Vince Carter
Last seen as a 43-year-old Hawks reserve two years ago, VC could throw it down at the turn of the century.
8. June 8, 1987
Larry Bird
Bird had a couple of aw shucks, I’m just a Hick from French Lick covers, but don’t let them fool you. He was lethal when he needed to be.
7. June 25, 2012
LeBron James
Purportedly James’s favorite SI cover of himself—ironic, given that Serge Ibaka blocked the shot.
6. Nov. 5, 1990
Bill Laimbeer
Props to the big Bad Boy for leaning into his image as the game’s preeminent whiner.
5. April 23, 2001
Allen Iverson
Roses? We’re in here talking about roses? One of Gary Smith’s best stories (which is saying something), framed as a love story, illustrated by a bouquet-bearing Answer. Brilliant.
4. Dec. 28, 1987
Michael Jordan
One of the coolest overhead photos you’ll see. It was posed, by the way. You can tell by the fact that MJ is holding the ball so you can see the signature on it. His.
3. May 29, 1995
Dennis Rodman
Before he cozied up the North Korean government, Dennis Rodman was just a nice man who liked birds.
2. Nov. 10, 1997
Grant Hill
The best posed cover we’ve ever done. The only way it could have been better would have been to shoot it on an actual Detroit street instead of in a studio.
1. May 11, 1998
Bulls
What do you get when the best team on the planet gives almost-unfettered access to one of the finest photographers who’s ever uncapped a lens? Our best NBA cover. In the words of the shooter, Walter Iooss Jr., “There’s no other like it.” He would know.
