The Aussies Have A Sick Handle.

Growing up in Canada in the 80's, if you wanted to get your basketball fix, your options were limited, and you were always forced to look to the American media whether it was radio, TV or print. A visit to the newsstand was like shopping at a record store, you had Hoop Magazine, who were the Young MC of the basketball mag world, and thankfully later came SLAM who were Public Enemy, "throwing it down your throat like Barkley." Other magazines followed, but of course we always looked down south as the home of hoops and our trusted source for basketball, (even though it was created by a Canadian).

Being North American-centric, it's unlikely that Australia would be one of the first places you would look for a solid hoops magazine, but you should, they've got handle. Fresh on the newsstands with their 20th issue, they're profiling the 30 most important players of the past 30 years, trust me as a contributor to this issue, there was MUCH debate over who should be considered. (I'm not going to tell you who is on the list, you can go pick it up and see for yourself). However, they don't take their title of "Australia's Premier Basketball Publication" very lightly, while they cover NBA, streetball, NCAA and international hoops, they also have their very own basketball league down under called the NBL, and do it all thoroughly.

handle has great editorial, solid content, fantastic design and a fresh perspective, the only drawback is that by the time it gets to newsstands on this side of the Atlantic, or Pacific, the mag is a little pricier than it's contemporaries. But times have changed now, it doesn't mean you should overlook them, it just means you should give them a look.