Belsky stood by his decision to run it, saying that "it was our writer and Candace, two women, talking about it [C cup boobs] and they felt comfortable", " hetold the website. "It's not the worst thing in the world in a men's magazine to talk about things like that [C cup boobs]. Plus, I understand that some young men are interested in things like that[C cup boobs]."

That's true. Young men are also interested in fast cars, setting things on fire, and videos of Latino teenagers in school girl uniforms fighting in a classroom. But I guess squeezing all of those things into the opening paragraph would make it a little busy. Next time!

Belsky also stands by the decision to put Parker on the cover, even though she's very, very pregnant — a first for a men's sports magazine.

"We don't have any problem when a young man becomes a dad so we shouldn't have any problem when a young woman becomes a mom even if it derails her athletic career for a few months. We are talking about women who are serious athletes so it wouldn't derail their career for too long...I have a couple of nieces who are very good athletes and this cover tells them and every other girl out there that there is nothing that can keep you off the cover of ESPN The Magazine if you are a woman and a good athlete. That's the ultimate message. "

That is the ultimate message — and a good one — but hopefully it won't be misinterpreted by Belsky's nieces as "Uncle Gary encourages us to have lots of unprotected sex."

Discussing The Candace Parker Cover With ESPN Magazine Editor-In-Chief Gary Belsky [WNBA.com]

Here's the offending graph:

"Candace Parker is beautiful. Breathtaking, really, with flawless skin, endless legs and a C cup she is proud of but never flaunts. She is also the best at what she does, a record-setter, a rule-breaker, a redefiner. She is a woman who plays like a man, one of the boys, if the boys had C cups and flawless skin. She's nice, too. Sweet, even. Kind to animals and children, she is the sort of woman who worries about others more than about herself, a saint in high-tops."

Okay. A couple of mentions. The SJ crew loves getting self-righteous about stuff like this and this time it took a nine-page discussion on the forum to figure out the significance and appropriateness of Candace Parker's breast size.

•" How did her cup size even come up? Did the writer ask or did Parker just volunteer it? Either way, that's weird.
I covered women at in a BCS conference for years. I'd have never even considered ask about their physical attributes like that — and they certainly didn't bring it up."

• "Talking about size her bra is reduces a great women's basketball player to nothing but a sex object. It's ridiculous."

• "This is why I don't get this magazine at all, and every issue reinforces my confusion. They put this beautiful woman on the cover, elegant and pregnant and cool.....but they can't resist the gratuitous boob reference. If Parker 'never flaunts'' her breasts, why did Glock have to flaunt them for her?"

• "If she's such a great athlete, there's no need to talk about her cup size. This isn't Maxim or FHM. Talking about her flawless skin is fine - and spot-on. You can describe how beautiful she is without going into the discussion of bras."

• "It's a double-standard that a female writer can write about such personal attributes and get a pass for the most part. If a male writer made such a reference, he'd be called sexist and drilled by every feminist organization out there."

You get the idea. It seems most of the SJ people are either anti-boob reference or incensed that if a man wrote this opener, he'd be shredded for it (duh).

For a follow-up, maybe someone should figure out if Parker was a C-cup before or after the pregnancy. Because if she's a D-cup now, that's definitely probably worth three mentions in a lede paragraph.

How do you feel about Candace Parker's C-cup being referenced in the lede? [SportsJournalists.com]

"You know, Coach (Michael) Cooper set this goal for me early on, and I looked at him like he was crazy,'' Parker said. "He's like, 'We're going to win the rookie of the year, and you're going to win a championship and you're going to win the MVP.' I just looked at him like, 'That's what you expect of me already?'''

Unfortunately the trifecta never materialized, as Parker's team, the Los Angeles Sparks were bumped out of the conference finals by the San Antonio Silver Stars. The WNBA Finals are underway with the Detroit Shock up 2 games to nothing on San Antonio. Game 3 will be held tomorrow in Michigan.

Mahorn's pimp shove of Leslie will be scrutinized the most, as the league tries to determine if he was protecting his players and acting as a peacekeeper (as he and many others involved claim) or if he became so caught up in the scrum that he actually purposely pushed the 36-year-old mother to the floor. It's doubtful those were Mahorn's intentions, but Leslie, immediately after the fight, seemed to think otherwise. In a statement after the fight, Mahorn said he was "trying to protect the integrity of the game" and insisted he "would never push a woman." Not on purpose, I guess.

Sparks' Parker at a center of late scuffle [LA Times]
Out of Bounds: Rick Mahorn: Will The Fight Between Candace Parker And Plenette Pierson Change The Scope Of The WNBA? [The Starting Five]

Parker's effort set all sorts of records, including most points in a season opener, and most points by a player in a debut. The previous high for a rookie in her first game was set 11 years ago by Cynthia Cooper when she scored 25.

Holy shit, did I just write a WNBA post? Uhh...dick joke?

Sparks defeat Mercury behind Candace Parker