KICKS 12: On Sale Now! Russ gives the Rookie of the Year front-page shine.

by Russ Bengtson

A few weeks ago, I landed at LAX, picked out my Hyundai rental at Alamo (one with Cali plates—I ain’t stupid), and was in the In N Out Burger drive-through on Sepulveda within a half-hour of deplaning. My priorities might be crooked in other areas, but I know exactly what to do when I find myself in Los Angeles.

But if this is about double-doubles, it’s not about the one I ate (Animal style, with fries and a Coke) on the grass directly under the LAX landing pattern. Rather it’s—warning, awkward transition ahead!—the 10 double-doubles the Chicago Bulls’ Derrick Rose stacked last year en route to winning the Rookie of the Year in a rout. Derrick was out in Cali for adidas’ annual Super Shoot, and we followed close behind to get our own shots for the cover you see here.

Why, you may ask, are we putting someone on the cover of KICKS who doesn’t even have a signature shoe? A fair question. Were this a different time—and were adidas a different company—D. Rose would undoubtedly have his own model. But somehow this seems more right. More fitting. Derrick readily admits to not even wanting to watch his own highlights dating back to his Memphis days, and apparently feels more comfortable discussing his failures than his successes.

For example, check out these two exchanges from our post-shoot Q&A:

KICKS: What was the switch like from the regular season to the Playoffs?
ROSE: A whole other level. Every possession counts. Turnovers, everything counts. In the Playoffs, you can’t mess up, really.

KICKS: And you were going against the defending champs.
ROSE: Yeah, it was fun. It was real fun.

Compare that with this:

KICKS: Who were the toughest guys you went against?
ROSE: Everybody. Oh, growing up? You’re talking like in high school? AAU? Something like that?

KICKS: Yeah, high school, AAU, even playground.
ROSE: Who was the toughest player? Man, the only person that really served me, like really really served me, I don’t even know this boy name. I just know he go to Montana. He probably a senior this year, he probably a senior, and I was young and playin’ up, that’s what you’re supposed to do. It was some boy, he was from Minnesota, he played for a Minnesota team, they came into Chicago, and I was playin’ up. And he served me, I can’t lie.

KICKS: He was another point guard?
ROSE: He had to be a two guard the way he was shootin’. I wanted to check the best player on the floor, so I was checkin’ him. It seemed he wasn’t missin’. He had to have 30-somethin’, 40 points or something like that. I don’t know his name, but I know he goes to Montana.

This was literally the most animated Rose got during our whole talk—speaking about some unnamed kid who busted him up a long time ago. Playing the defending champion Celtics in the playoffs? Meh. Getting lit up by some nameless kid from Minnesota? He’d talk about that all day if you let him.

Well, and if he didn’t have to go get ready for the ESPYs. (For the record, I looked up the current Montana AND Minnesota rosters when I got back to my hotel, and couldn’t find anyone who fit the description. So, if you’re a guy from Montana or Minnesota who lit up Derrick Rose a long time ago, let us know.)

The question of whether or not Rose would want a signature shoe went unasked, but still got answered. In every sense, Rose seems happier being part of a team. There’s probably a part of him that feels uncomfortable just being on this cover alone.

But we’re glad he’s there.

[For so much more from Derrick and Russ, not to mention great features on the likes of Brandon Jennings, Nate Robinson and the Jordan Brand's new retro plans, as well as hundreds of great shoes, pick up your copy as soon as you see it! Or, if you aren't already a SLAM subscriber, sign up now and we'll send you KICKS for free.—Ed.]

DRINK O THE WEEK: LAZY SUMMER DAY

Lazy Summer Day recipe
This drink was invented by me, because I love how the orange smells from and tastes from the Grey Goose. I was sick and tired of having just vodka on the rocks so I took equal measures of each and put them over ice.Something didn't fit though, the ice weakened the initial spark that the drink had over time. After shaking it and putting it in a highball glass with a thin slice of orange floating on top I knew I had it. The drink was diluted so it didn't burn but also not so weak that you couldn't respect it.

2 oz Grey Goose® L'Orange vodka
2 oz Barenjager® honey liqueur
thinly sliced oranges

Pour both ingredients into a shaker. Strain and pour into a highball glass and garnish with an orange slice.

STEPHON MARBURY CAUGHT SMOKING WEED ON CAMERA. WTF IS WRONG WITH HIM???

Runner’s father, grandmother dismiss gender uproar By RYAN LUCAS, Associated Press Writer 50 minutes ago

BERLIN (AP)—A day after winning her first 800-meter world title amid a gender-test controversy, the father of South African teenager Caster Semenya dismissed speculation his daughter is not a woman.

The 18-year-old runner’s father, Jacob, told the Sowetan newspaper: “She is my little girl. … I raised her and I have never doubted her gender. She is a woman and I can repeat that a million times.”

Semenya dominated her rivals to win the 800 on Wednesday despite revelations that surfaced earlier in the day that she was undergoing a gender test. Her dramatic improvement in the 800 and 1,5000, muscular build and deep voice sparked speculation about her gender.

“She said to me she doesn’t see what the big deal is all about,” South Africa team manager Phiwe Mlangeni-Tsholetsane said Thursday. “She believes it is God given talent and she will exercise it.”

Mlangeni-Tsholetsane said Semenya was thrilled about winning the race and picking up her first world title.

“She was over the moon,” Mlangeni-Tsholetsane said.

Semenya wasn’t the only one wondering what all the fuss was about.

Semenya’s paternal grandmother, Maputhi Sekgala, said the controversy “doesn’t bother me that much because I know she’s a woman.”

“What can I do when they call her a man, when she’s really not a man? It is God who made her look that way,” Sekgala told the South African daily The Times.

About three weeks ago, the IAAF asked the South African athletics federation to conduct the gender test after Semenya burst onto the scene by posting a world leading time of 1 minute, 56.72 seconds at the African junior championships in Bambous, Mauritius.

The test, which takes weeks to complete, requires a physical medical evaluation, and includes reports from a gynecologist, endocrinologist, psychologist, an internal medicine specialist and an expert on gender.

Gideon Sam, the president of South Africa’s Olympic governing body, congratulated Semenya on a “truly remarkable achievement.”

“We condemn the way she was linked with such media speculation and allegation, especially on a day she ran in the final of her first major world event,” Sam said. “It’s the biggest day of her life.”

The medal ceremony for the 800 is later Thursday.

Morris Gilbert, a media consultant for TuksSport, the University of Pretoria’s sports department, said the issue of Semenya’s gender has not been raised since the freshman began attending the school, where she studies sports science.

“We are all very proud of her and of what she’s achieved,” Gilbert said. “The university stands behind her all the way.”

He attributed her recent success to hard work and rigorous training.

“She trains a lot,” Gilbert said. “If you go to the athletics track, you’re sure to find her there. I don’t think she had really good training before she came to the university. She’s from a very poor area.”

While Semenya’s case has attracted a flurry of attention, it’s not the first gender controversy in track and field history.

In 2006, the Asian Games 800 champion, Santhi Soundarajan of India, was stripped of her medal after failing a gender test. Perhaps the most famous case is that of Stella Walsh, also known as Stanislawa Walasiewicz, a Polish athlete who won gold in the 100 at the 1932 Olympics, who had ambiguous genitalia.

The IOC conducted the gender tests at the Olympics, but the controversial screenings were dropped before the 2000 Sydney Games.

Among reasons for dropping the test, not all women have standard female chromosomes. In addition, there are cases of people who have ambiguous genitalia or other congenital conditions.

Associated Press Writer Anita Powell in Johannesburg contributed to this report.