NBYAY!

winstonchan:

JOAKIM NOAH - KEEP BATTLING

The first of a series of illustrations inspired by the NBA basketball team, the Chicago Bulls, and their 2012-2013 season - their struggles, their adversity; their growth and their triumphs. Though the season may have ended on the 15th May, the Bulls have shown great toughness, resilience and willpower to bring the fight to the other teams. 

Noah is one of my favourite NBA players - his passion, his strength and his tenacity are all qualities I respect. For me, though he may not be the star of the team, he is the core and vital to this young Chicago Bulls team. That’s why he is the first to feature in this series of illustrations. 

This piece was so long in the making but I’m really pleased with the final result. I love how Noah came out and the general feel of the image. Of course there are areas that could be improved, I need more practice with hands and I need to learn more about muscle structure… oh and clothing. But the biggest thing is still backgrounds. Again I’m happy with the overall outcome but the background is a it… blah. Haa.

So yeah, this is my first piece in tribute to my team, the Chicago Bulls. I’ve got ideas for the next couple of illustrations in the series but I’m going to have to put it on hold for a bit; have some other things and projects I need to work on.

Right, it’s going on 4:00am here… I best be getting some kip.

nba:

Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder leads his teammates in a huddle before playing the Memphis Grizzlies in Game Four of the Western Conference Semifinals during the 2013 NBA Playoffs on May 13, 2013 at FedExForum in Memphis, Tennessee.

(Photo by Layne Murdoch/NBAE via Getty Images)

Goodbye, OKC.

(via teensniper)

Steph Curry is Iron Man

“…you have to have some sort of eyewear, and I’m going with the monocle, I would be the first one to rock a monocle, like Mr. Peanut or the ‘Monopoly’ guy.” - Roy Hibbert, scholar and gentleman

[via BDL and @PacersArea55]

gotemcoach:

KOBE BRYANT and the 40-MILE BIKE RIDE

Interesting tidbit from an article on the Clippers’ Blake Griffin, by ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne:

Blake Griffin needs to know if the story is true. Ever since he first heard it last July, he’s been obsessed with it.

“The first night we all got into Las Vegas last summer for the USA Basketball camp, I heard Kobe went on some 40-mile bike ride at night through the desert,” Griffin says. “Forty miles? At night?  You think it’s true?”

Before I can answer, Griffin continues:

“When I found out about that bike ride, I was so tempted to ask him if I could go next time.”

This is my favorite part about Kobe: you assume this story is true.  Forty miles in the desert?  You don’t even question it.

…in this moment, all Griffin wants to talk about is whether or not Kobe Bryant really got on a bike and rode 40 miles through the desert last July.

“I love that stuff,” Griffin says. “I love all those stories.”

The story Griffin heard turns out to be true. And it goes something like this: Bryant told his longtime trainer, Tim Grover, that he wanted to add in bike training to his summer conditioning. Grover researched a trail in Las Vegas, rented three bikes — one for Bryant, one for himself and one for Bryant’s security guard — and on the night before the first day of practice, they each put on headlamps and headed out to the trail and rode.

“We finished up around 2 a.m.” Grover said. “And we were back in the gym working out by 7:30 in the morning.”

And that’s just it.  To Blake Griffin, and most of the NBA, these are just stories.

To Kobe Bryant, that’s a Tuesday night.

#GotEmCoach

Rafael Nadal plays basketball with Spanish NBA basketball player Jose Manuel Calderon of the Detroit Pistons (via)

bouncex3:

I love ShumpShump, Can’t wait to watch him develop. 

Amazing art by Pierick Smith at Paintin’ Manning. Read a Q&A with Smith at Hardwood Paroxysm.

thefader:

FROM THE ARCHIVES: KEVIN GARNETT INTERVIEW

THE FADER MAG, 2000