After the Team USA tryouts wrap up in Las Vegas this week, the national squad’s next big trip won’t be to Turkey for the FIBA World Championship — it will be to New York City for the World Basketball Festival.

From August 12-15, NYC will (again) be the center of the hoops universe when it hosts the World Basketball Festival, a four-day celebration of the game and its culture conceived by Nike and USA Basketball. Consider it a pre-funk to the world tourney, with national teams from the U.S., France, Puerto Rico, Brazil and China gathering to hold scrimmages and exhibition games at Madison Square Garden, Rucker Park and right in the middle of Times Square. Along with games featuring elite high school talent and top playground squads, community events featuring live music and art, plus galleries and retail spaces featuring old-school and brand-new sneakers and apparel, basically every day is a party revolving around our favorite sport.

The Dime family is involved deep in every aspect of the World Basketball Festival in ways you wouldn’t begin to believe, and as part of that, we have produced this special WBF issue of Bounce, our sister publication that is regularly dedicated to the playground and grassroots basketball; essentially the roots and core of the game.

Kevin Durant is the headliner for Team USA this summer, so KD (well, a very artistic version of KD) naturally graces the cover of the magazine. Sean Sweeney got up with Durant while he was in New York for the official announcement of the WBF, and pens the cover story about the 21-year-old’s meteoric rise toward the top of the NBA and the top of Team USA. We also preview the upcoming World Championship tournament, take a look at the future of Team USA, have exclusive interviews with Coach K and Tony Parker, reminisce on the ’92 Dream Team, and give you an in-depth look at the hottest Nike, Jordan Brand and Converse kicks to hit the streets this summer, plus much more. Go cop that.