Words. dimemag

Check out this quick highlight mix of the 1996 McDonald’s All-American Game, featuring Kobe Bryant, Mike Bibby and a handful of monster dunks from Jermaine O’Neal and Tim Thomas (the first one at the start of the video is particularly vicious): MORE >

Words. Austin Burton

Jermaine O’Neal has been a forgotten pioneer.

When people talk about the NBA’s preps-to-pros success stories, they usually lead with Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, Tracy McGrady, LeBron James and Dwight Howard. Despite being one of the first to make the leap successfully — reaching six NBA All-Star Games in his career — O’Neal is often overlooked. The year after KG set the trend in motion, Jermaine and Kobe were picked in the first round of the ’96 Draft. MORE >