The seventh annual ESPN The Magazine Body Issue is hitting newsstands this week, and the featured athletes aren't holding back this year. There are six covers for the magazine – three men, three women – plus a wide range of athletes from different sports all stripping down and jumping in front of the camera. The athletes this year include:
MLB star Bryce Harper; NBA stars Kevin Love of the Cleveland Cavaliers and DeAndre Jordan of the Dallas Mavericks, New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., two-time WNBA All-Star Brittney Griner, U.S. Women’s World Cup soccer champion Ali Krieger, Olympians Aly Raisman and Natalie Coughlin, and newly crowned French Open champion Stan Wawrinka, currently in pursuit of his third Grand Slam title at Wimbledon.
I love what some of the athletes have said about being in the issue:
"I'm proud of my body, I'm proud of my sport, I'm proud of being a professional athlete," said Krieger, whose team just yesterday defeated Japan 5-2 in the Women's World Cup Final. "Being naked is just another aspect of that."
"You're growing up and you say: "I want to be on the front of a Wheaties box; I want to be on the front of a Topps card; I want to be on the Body Issue," says Harper.
If only the Body Issue was around when Trent Green was throwing the pigskin. Sigh.
- Natalie Coughlin photographed by Williams + Hirakawa for ESPN The Magazine
Kevin Love photographed by Richard Phibbs for ESPN The Magazine
