Kate Upton Sports Illustrated Cover 2013: SI Features Kate Upton Alongside Brothers BJ, Justin Upton [VIDEO]
All three of the people on the cover of Sports Illustrated ahead of the baseball playoffs share the same last name, but only two are related.
Brothers BJ and Justin Upton of the Atlanta Braves joined two-time SI swimsuit model Kate Upton for a photo shoot at CitiField last month when the team was in New York to face the Mets.
The three apparently joked together about being long-lost cousins, according to SI, even though Kate is not related to either of the brothers. To watch behind-the-scenes footage from the photo shoot, scroll down and see for yourself.
Not surprisingly, there were people who were critical of the cover and saw it as Sports Illustrated's way of targeting a male audience by putting Kate on a cover that otherwise just talks about baseball and football.
"I think it's pretty clear from the magazine and this website that they believe Kate sells more magazines than the vast majority of athletes," one commenter said on the article posted by SI. "I don't know if that's a knock on SI or their target audience."
Other commenters said the only reason the Upton brothers were featured on the cover was because SI was looking for a reason to put Kate on the cover. Despite the fact that the brothers did not seem to have a spectacular enough season to make the cover, they still share the same last name so it helped to justify SI's decision to have Kate on the cover.
"Let's face it, Justin Upton had an ok-but-not-great season and his brother was just God-awful," another commenter said. "They have been used solely as an excuse to have Kate Upton on the cover of another issue of the magazine."