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2001'S 'NEXT' BEST

By Various Magazine Staffers

Monday, October 13, 2008

The infighting, the threats, the graft. It was almost too much to handle. But we persevered, and when all was said and done, we tabbed our NEXT Athlete of 2001-the Shanghai Sharks' Yao Ming-with very little blood and only a modicum of tears. Still, the choice was closer than a Palm Beach County school board election, which is why we offer these three NEXT runners-up: jocks who were just 7'6'' away from making our year-end cover. Cynics will no doubt say that we're hedging our bets. We say to t ...

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