Hooped Up

For me when somebody says the beautiful game, I think of basketball first. It’s a game of constant motion and unique characters from every part of the world, and ten different things are going on all at once for 24 seconds at a time until the final buzzer sounds. The people that capture these moments with a camera, paint brush or pencil to me are  just as important as the refs, coaches and fans that give a NBA game life.

For me their are five artist that capture the NBA game and players exceptionally well and are the best basketball artist in the business.

Find out who and see some of their amazing work after the jump.

5. Atiba Jefferson

Growing up skateboarding I was first introduced to Atiba Jefferson’s work in magazines like Transworld Skateboarding and he’s still my favorite skate photographer of all-time. So when I found out years back that he was a basketball fan that shot pictures for SLAM magazine too, the shutter bug in me was as happy as a kid in an empty mall with knee high flat rails everywhere.

See more of his work here: atibaphoto.com

4. Joel Kimmel

I really dig Joel Kimmel and the way he portrays his subjects in surroundings, that say something about either their character, personality or current situation. You can tell he’s a passionate fan of the game and he produces a masterpiece every single time. I’ve also been using his Baron Davis illustration as my avatar for everything, so buy some of his stuff so he won’t be mad at me (like I did) and your naked walls will thank you for it.

See more of his work here: joelkimmel.com

3. Jacob Weinstein

If you have a copy of FreeDarko’s book The Macrophenomenal Pro Basketball Almanac a lot of the images you want to tear out, blow up and frame as master pieces for your wall were created by Jacob Weinstein.  By the way don’t bother messing up your nice FreeDarko book, you can buy prints of his work from the FreeDarko store. Don’t you wish I told you this earlier before you bought the book twice. Oops.

See more of his work here: jacobmweinstein.com

2. Garbage Time All-Stars

On a weekly basis, Josh and Mark who put together Garbage Time All-Stars make me laugh with their bang on hilarious take of current NBA stories. If you didn’t know about this guys before, do yourself a favor and check out their illustrated band of comedy now and every week.

See more of their work here: garbagetimeallstars.blogspot.com

1. Walter Iooss Jr.

Hands down the best sports photographer on the planet! Waler Iooss Jr. has been taking pictures of NBA players and athletes from other sports since 1962. Iooss is a master of capturing iconic sports images and also some fantastic bikini images for the annual Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue.

See more of his work here: walteriooss.com