Chansky's Notebook: Cover Comparisons

Forty-one years later, how close are the two SI covers?

The one thing about the preseason college basketball edition of Sports Illustrated produced by the official UNC Twitter site compared to the true 1982 cover is that the price is the same — $1.50. Do they both really have the same value?

Is this clever reenactment in the same ballpark as the ’82 team that was coming off a loss to Indiana in the 1981 national championship game and picked to finish first before going on to beat Houston and Georgetown in New Orleans for Dean Smith’s first NCAA title?

Let’s look at the returning starters featured from each team then and now.

Junior James Worthy was an All-American and All-ACC first-teamer who finished second (33 votes) to Virginia’s Ralph Sampson (with 69) for the 1982 ACC Player of the Year. Sophomore Sam Perkins, a runaway winner for Rookie of the Year in 1981, finished third behind Sampson and Worthy in the All-ACC voting. Big Game James and Silent Sam made up the best postman combo in college hoops.

Senior Jimmy Black was a highly underrated point guard who had a 6.3-2.6 assist-turnover ratio. As they say, he was the straw that stirred the drink. Sophomore Matt Doherty was the consummate role player, averaging 9.3 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists and was the best free-throw shooter among the starters.

They were also very much the Iron Five, with only Jimmy Braddock averaging more than 10 minutes off the bench. The ’82 team was one of the best shooting squads in UNC history, hitting 54 percent from the floor.

The 2022-23 Tar Heels are also coming off a Final Four run, but spent most of the season unranked before beating Duke twice in the last month, then leading Kansas early and losing in the second half, due to injuries and foul trouble, just as their SI predecessors led the Hoosiers for most of the first half before falling in the second with Worthy saddled by four fouls.

On the recreated SI cover, Armando Bacot returns as a better rebounder than either Worthy or Perkins and preseason pick for ACC Player of the Year. Leaky Black is, like Doherty was, an underrated role player entering his fifth year. Leaky is superior defensively (among the best in the country) but not quite the scorer.

These Tar Heels have combo point guards in primary ball handler R.J. Davis and lethal scorer Caleb Love, both of whom have also become aggressive, excellent defenders, hoping to settle in as mistake-free leaders like J-Black.

The only connection at this point between the head coaches on the covers was that Hubert Davis played for Smith. The Dean took the photo with eight ACC championships and six Final Fours. As a rookie head coach, Hubert took most of the season to congeal his first team before a dramatic run to New Orleans.

Of course, there is a story behind the fifth starter in 1982, freshman Michael Jordan who was kept out of the photo by Smith because, well, he was a freshman who had not proven anything on the college level. The fifth starter this season is likely to be grad transfer Pete Nance, who also has much to prove as a Carolina and ACC player.

Classic covers and, hopefully, both classic teams.

Featured image via Carolina Basketball on Twitter

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Chansky’s Notebook: Cover Comparisons

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