Dime #64: Kevin Durant & Russell Westbrook Are Generation Now

To be honest, we don’t know what the NBA will look like by the time the issue following this one hits newsstands. For all we know, the lockout will be in full effect and half the league will be headed overseas to join Allen Iverson, Stephon Marbury and Ricky Davis. But what we do know is that when play resumes – whether that’s October, November, December, or beyond – the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook will be leading the pack.

Combined, these two All-Stars are only 44 years old – a staggering fact considering Shaquille O’Neal is 39. And you’d be crazy to bet against them. In last year’s NBA Playoffs, KD and Russ gave the world a preview as the eighth-seeded Thunder pushed the Los Angeles Lakers to six games. Then later that summer, they took it to the next level leading Team USA to gold in Turkey. By the time this season rolled around, it was on.

In the previous 63 issues of Dime, we have never featured a duo on the cover. It never made sense. But when we started talking about who we wanted on the cover of Dime #64, the names Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook were inextricably linked. Sure you could make an argument for LeBron and D-Wade, Kobe and Pau, or STAT and ‘Melo as the NBA’s best one-two punch, but all three of these duos are at least 10 years older than KD and Russ. Aptly titled “Generation Now,” the cover story examines just that.

So as the playoffs lead us into the NBA Finals, and the Finals into the NBA Draft, we close another chapter on another amazing season in the 10-year history of Dime. And after spending time with Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook for our cover shoot, we know that the league is in good hands.

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Dime #64 is on sale now on newsstands nationwide. In addition to Durant and Westbrook, the issue includes features on Wesley Matthews, Kemba Walker, Austin Rivers, Anthony Davis and Mickey McConnell, our NBA Draft Preview and High School All-American Team, as well as interviews with supermodel Kate Upton, Tim Duncan, Dorell Wright, Candace Parker, and much more. Check it out.

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