It's The Mag's Ursula Liang, and she wants the fleece! Well, not really. But she did sit in on the taping of the latest ESPN The Magazine commercial.

The red light blares a warning as I open the heavy door of Studio 3: Danger! Hot studio lights and NBA studs wait inside. Some three-dozen bodies bob and weave through cameras, fans, snaking cords, stray props, sheets of plywood. And yet somehow the scene is comfortably cool.

Ray Allen and Chris Webber lounge on a smooth leather couch, flipping though a coupla editions of The Mag before filming our new commercial. Ray unfurls the pages of one issue, ogling what looks suspiciously like a centerfold. It turns out to be a story I wrote on the U. of Florida's hoops arena. I have to smile. I pan the huge loft space and realize I'm not the only one. Everyone is cheesing as the two lanky superstars start to ham up their lines.

"Take nine!" Chris and Ray finish ad-libbing the first segment. The director grins and presents the props for the next scene: a paddle ball and yo-yo. Chris grabs the yo-yo. Ray is stuck trying to figure out how to work the paddle -- with advice from the makeup lady ("It's all in the wrist!"). He bobbles a few times, then whacks the tiny rubber ball across the room. "I think I was too aggressive," Ray apologizes, as the prop man frantically tries to surgically reattach ball to paddle. Minutes later, Ray's back at it, paddling through the director's order to "Cut!"

Finally, they break. In the cool of the off-stage, CWebb hits me up for a free subscription to The Mag. Tells me he likes the photos. Promises to buy the Yao Ming issue on the stands to support the cause of a basketball minority on the cover. "He's no joke. He can really play. We've been talking about him. He'll be a starter when he gets here." What is it? The height? "It's hard to stop a guy that tall. Remember, I used to play with Gheorghe." I hold back my smart-ass comments. Just the other day I came across a photo of CWebb dunking over the big guy -- an off-hand jam into Muresan's forehead.

But Chris keeps it nice today. As he and Ray roll through 20 more takes, CWebb roams off-camera to greet two small visitors, decked out from head to toe in a safe combo of Bucks, Kings and Knicks (!) gear. "You must be Chris," he says to the kid in the No. 4 jersey. Giggle giggle, says the kid, who's name is really Joey. They love the friendly baller, but maybe CWebb shouldn't get so close -- the kid's laugh is contagious, and he can't stop smiling. Webber bumbles and chuckles his way through the next few takes.

After around 10 more takes, it's a wrap. Makeup comes off, ESPN The Mag fleeces are shed, pick is inserted into baby fro. Worn and weary, Chris and Ray stroll out the door of Studio 3. The red light stops flashing.

Ursula Liang is a writer/reporter for ESPN Magazine. E-mail her at ursula.liang@espnmag.com.