This story appears in SLAM 250.
One of the greatest feelings in hoops is willing your team to a win almost single-handedly. An overwhelming confidence floods the veins. The pressure, the noise, the eyes of hungry defenders and their clapping hands all seem to slip away. There’s just one thought on repeat: the ball falling through the net. The night is March 8, 2024.
Inside the green-accented gym of Myers Park High School in Charlotte, NC, stands 6-7 senior Isaiah Evans. In front of him, a sea of white t-shirts screaming obscenities. But here’s the thing: Slim—one of his many monikers—was bred for this environment. Hell, he lives for it.
The nation’s No. 13 overall prospect in the Class of 2024 (via 247 Sports) is simply built different. Nights like these are filled with overwhelming expression and talking mad trash to the crowd—only after it’s been dished his way. With his tongue swaying from side to side as he begins to unfurl a contested side-step middie, it’d be a good business decision to just get out of the way. Though there are few—very few—who have been successful doing so.
Draped in his royal blue and red North Mecklenburg threads, the future Duke Blue Devil pulled his squad across the finish line against the defending 4A state champions in a tension-filled atmosphere that rivaled the Drake/Kendrick Lamar beef. And yet, Showtime Slim enacted a masterpiece: 48-piece no fries—21 of them in a row during the second half.
“I always had an energetic feel toward me, but I really started getting real active my sophomore year, right after that ninth-grade summer,” Evans says. “I was really taking it personal.”
Jared ebanks 