JuJu Watkins hit me with this pretty little crossover of an analogy a couple months ago and I still haven’t recovered: “I try to be an artist, I try to be,” USC’s breakout star said. “Because I honestly think basketball’s a form of art.”
I’ve been looking at basketball differently since, enjoying my own private trip through the world’s b-ball museum – which is not to say I wasn’t admiring players’ on-court artistry before. Paul George’s liquid fluidity and Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Greek godlike strength. Steph Curry’s pregame shooting circus routines and the sequels upon sequels of LeBron James’ scary movie chase-downs, horrifying to somebody each time – cinema!
Nikola Jokic’s prescient genius: The basketball savant here to haunt the New Orleans Pelicans / Passing it over his head, rocking the defenders to bed / Just a dream of a dime, settin’ up A-aron, who’s too strong.
Those aren’t lyrics to a song, not lines of a poem. Not technically, at least. Though, to me, they are part of an ever-evolving exhibition reflecting how the artistry of basketball inspires the artistry of basketball.
Beau Estes
“NBA’s Top 10 Plays Of The Night,” Jan. 12, 2024
Freestyle verse (NBA.com)
That dreamy Jokic call of Estes’ accompanied the chart-topping play on a Friday edition of the NBA’s highlight countdown, a segment he calls a “big scoop of basketball ice cream at the end of the night.” You can find the veteran sports broadcaster – nicknamed the “Goatmentator” by his fans – and his popular NBA.com segment online or during in-game breaks the next day on NBA League Pass.
Personally, I could listen to Estes’ free verse – “at 6, Jalen (Williams) settin’ sailin’, and straight impalin’ the Denver Nuggets” – all day. And we’ll come back to a performance of his soon, I promise, but I also have to show you this other exhibit I love.
Dave Severns
Photography (Twitter … or X or…
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