Leading Off

Departments

13 Letters
14 Catching Up With...
116 The Life of Reilly

Scorecard

27 Punditry overload
Reggie retires
Rutgers rebels
Harkes gels the heave-ho
The buzz in Salt Lake
Faces in the Crowd
SI View

Inside...

92 Baseball
98 The NBA
105 The NHL
108 Motor Sports
112 The NFL

Playoff Previews

Pro Basketball

40 Showtime
Is Kobe Bryant the second coming of Magic or Michael? The NBA playoffs are the place to find out if he's a prodigy or merely a creature of hype
by Ian Thomsen

52 Sixth Sense
In the end, Michael Jordan should add to his five championship rings, but for starters the NBA postseason promises an entrancing mix of hot streaks, mind games and other unpredictable forces
by Phil Taylor