
WHO'S Hot WHO'S Not
WHO'S Hot
Monta Ellis
A Warrior returns. Five months after a) tearing up his left ankle in a moped accident; b) falsely reporting he'd been hurt playing hoops; c) having surgery; and d) getting docked 30 games' pay, the guard is suiting up for Golden State. He had 20 points in his return, helped beat the Clippers the next game and looks ready to earn that $66 million he signed for last summer.
Shaun White
Fun in Aspen for the 2006 gold medal winner. With a few new twists in a spectacular final run, White (right) won his second straight Superpipe gold medal at the X Games. Thirteen months till Vancouver.
Craig Robinson
The Obama bounce. After attending his brother-in-law's inauguration, Oregon State's first-year coach guided his hoopsters to audacious upsets of Cal and Stanford. An 8--10 record may not sound like much, but the Beavers were winless in the Pac-10 a year ago.
David Donohue
Following in his father's tread, he won the Rolex 24 at Daytona Grand-Am by .167 of a second in his Brumos Porsche. His dad, Motorsports Hall of Famer Mark, won the 24-hour test 40 years ago. "It's a good story line," said David (his car, right), who was eight when Mark died in a crash in 1975.
WHO'S Not
Michael Redd
A fallen Buck. Just when he was a) leading the team in scoring, at 21.6 points a game; b) shooting with a sweet touch, at 51.8% in January; and c) generally having what coach Scott Skiles called "his best season," the guard tore his ACL and will be out for the rest of the year. "I'm disappointed," Redd said. So's Milwaukee, which went 5--9 when he was sidelined earlier this season.
Ted Ligety
No fun in Kitzbühel for the 2006 Olympic gold medal winner. He placed 29th in last Friday's Super G then didn't complete Sunday's slalom, skiing off after straddling two gates on his second run. Time to shape up: The world championships start on Monday.
Steve Stricker
Plop, plop, fizzle, fizzle. His windblown shots into the water led to a triple bogey at the 7th hole and a quadruple at 10, turning a three-stroke, final-round lead into a fade to third place in the Bob Hope Classic. Said tournament winner Pat Perez of Stricker's wet day, "It was tough to watch."
Jonathan Dekker
Bad timing for the former Steelers tight end. Injured in the preseason and then waived, the lightly used backup missed Pittsburgh's AFC title run. Last Saturday he was arrested in Virginia for obstructing justice. His hearing date? The day after the Super Bowl.
SI PLAYERS NBA POLL
Who is the best all-around athlete in the NBA?
LeBron James, Cavaliers F 66%
Josh Smith, Hawks F 7%
Kobe Bryant, Lakers G 6%
Dwight Howard, Magic C 4%
Amar'e Stoudemire, Suns F-C 3%
FAST FACTS
James (page 34) was especially dominant among Western Conference voters, 74% of whom chose him.... As a sophomore at St. Vincent--St. Mary High in Akron, James was an all-state wide receiver on the football team.... All of these players except Smith were picked to start in next month's All-Star Game; Smith won the NBA's slam dunk contest as a rookie in 2005.
[Based on a survey of 190 NBA players] • For more on the poll, and to comment on it, go to SI.com/players.
PHOTO
ROCKY WIDNER/NBAE/GETTY IMAGES (ELLIS)
PHOTO
JIM PRISCHING/AP (REDD)
PHOTO
ROBERT BECK (WHITE)
PHOTO
BILL FRAKES (CAR)
PHOTO
BOB ROSATO (SMITH)
PHOTO
LOU CAPOZZOLA (JAMES)