Kelly Slater: surfing with a door | Photo: Sports Illustrated

The article "Ready for the Next Wave", by award-winning SI senior writer Gary Smith, has been published in this week's issue of Sports Illustrated and features 9-time ASP World Champion Kelly Slater surfing with... a door.

Smith followed legendary surfer Kelly Slater from coast to coast - from a photoshoot in New York to his home in Santa Barbara - and discovered a man who was candid and thoughtful, one who was intent on figuring himself out in addition to harboring aspirations of "carrying surfing from a niche sport, seen mostly on the Internet, toward the mainstream.

Kelly could be the Michael Jordan and David Stern of his sport - the iconic athlete doing aerials and 360s and the power broker trying to change the structure and marketing of his sport."

Kelly Slaters surfed with a door for Sports Illustrated

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