Basketball Art NCAA Tournament

March Madness

When you read this and see my painting of the basketball player holding the ball, the NCAA’s March Madness may have already passed.  Is there or was there a  fairy tale story in this March Madness?  Who goes down, or went down the crazy rabbit hole with the March Hare, runs with the mad hatter and comes out winning in wonderland.  The covid pandemic may have come and gone the way of other viruses or college teams.  A great college team comes along, stays together and sweeps everything.  And then goes into the doldrums.   

NCAA Basketball History Best Team UCLA

An NCAA team we have not heard from much in these last few years is UCLA.   Of course my all time favorite team (because I am from LA) is the Bruins under the great coaching leadership of John Wooden.  And, of course their run through the NCAA’s March Madness is legendary.  From 1963-75 the UCLA Bruins had an overall record of 335-22 (93.8 winning percentage); 10 national championships and four undefeated seasons. That’s as good as it gets.  How good were they? They had an 88-game winning streak, but what a lot of people don’t know is that the  Bruins went 205-5 (97.6 percent) during one seven year run.

Personal Meaning

On a personal level  putting those numbers into perspective is daunting.  I’m an artist and I paint a lot.  I used to say, “A painting a day keeps the creditors away”  Comparing those percentage points, let’s say that I paint 200 paintings - then only 5 of them would be bad.  If I was a baseball player I’d be batting .970.  That is outrageous.  When I am on a streak, as a painter I can paint three good ones out of ten.  I would be three for ten - batting .300.  That’s if I am really lucky.  Like a lot college basketball teams I just go along and have some good seasons and some great seasons.  Occasionally, not so good.  

The March Madness tournament is always like entering “ Through the Looking Glass”  because you never know what you are going to see.  Are the players going to play as if they trained with a skillful coach or are they going to act as if trained by a Hookah-Smoking Caterpillar.  That is what makes watching a college basketball tournament so exciting. They beat the pros for enthusiasm every time. 

A  highly ranked team pulls a “humpty-dumpty” and gets knocked off.  With every turn on the scoreboard the college basketball world gets stunned when a favorite loses and we watch the merriment of the underdog.  There is nothing more exciting than a true buzzer-beater.  That’s what great about watching the NCAA March Madness tournament – anything can happen an this year is no different than any other in that respect.

The March Madness basketball painting by sports artist John Robertson is 54" x 72" acrylic on unstretched canvas

Basketball Art Measure of a Man Painting

Measure of a Man 

It really makes no difference what you do, there is always a place for you to play sports - not just watch it.  In this case the basketball painting is a guy that just wants to play the game.   

He goes out on the weekends or maybe a night pickup game at the gym and blazes away with all cylinders firing, the engine cranking up the revs.  There is a guaranteed warranty on this guy that he is good for the whole game. He doesn’t come into the gym cleverly disguised as a poser in a NBA outfit.  He comes dressed to play.   He is going to run and block and try his best to to clock up the shots.  

Nobody comes to the gym to see him play.  It’s about playing the game as best he can with no apologies for when he loses.  And when he wins there is no fist bump or some fancy dance - but you can bet he has respect for the game. He has pride in his work ethic. He’s an original - with a player infused with dignity. 

This sports art basketball painting is approximately 4 feet by 8 feet, acrylic on unstretched canvas.

Basketball Magic Johnson Point Guard Why We Play Sports

WHY PLAY SPORTS

Magic Johnson Point Guard

Magic Johnson was the  “quarterback” on the Lakers basketball court -  the point guard - and the most important player on the team - and what most consider the best point guard ever,Some people have referred to Magic Johnson as the indisputable "Point God."   He was an absolutely great, all around player who probably sacrificed individual statistics for the greater good of the team - and in doing so, brought other teammates up to play at a higher level.  And, of course, won more games.  He is the one who led the team by trying to make the good decisions for the plays.  He generally handled the ball more than any other player on the court and passed the ball off to other players to lead them towards a goal. To have a great team is to have a leader who will work to have all contribute to it's success.  And without that great leadership in the "point guard" position few teams have had a high level of successful seasons.

Why Play Sports

 All of this leads me to the good reason of why it is important for people to play sports.  I did as a child and as an adult participated in sports into my sixties and still exercise regularly.  One of the things sports taught me was developing teamwork.  This is a way to learn how to help others, and thereby themselves, to work together towards a specific goal, (winning).  We see this problem of teamwork all the time in the major professional sports.  I think the best example of that is in the NBA where there are "star" players and "winning" teams.  I won’t point out the great players who played on losing teams but one of the downfalls of those teams was the fact that it really wasn’t a “team” but a bunch of individual players just “doing their thing.”   Most sports are a team effort.  And the same goes for life.  We are all in it together and participating in life as a joint venture with others makes for a more successful and fulfilling life.

Magic Johnson Highlights

Magic Johnson played in 12 All-Star games, won five NBA rings, three years the MVP awards and won most valuable player in three Finals.  His career Stats 19.5 points per game, 11.2 assists per game, 5.5 re-bounds per game and 1.9 steels per game.  Those 11.2 assists per game shows how much Magic was a team player.  At 6 feet 9 inches he dominated the point guard position.John Robertson Sports Artist image of a “Point Guard”  is 24” x 36” ink and acrylic on newsprint (Old Sporting News, magazines, books, etc) about the NBA and point guards.  Newsprint attached to ¾” stretched canvas.  To view sports paintings for sale please visit: John Robertson sports Paintings for sale and the sports prints available

Basketball lay-up player shooting

Basketball Lay-up Painting

I photographed this basketball lay-up move being done by a Venice beach, California player.  My wife used to have her art studio close to the Venicebeach basketball courts.  You may remember seeing these basketball courts in the movie, “White Men Can’t

Jump”.   As you can see the basketball lay-up is just what it sounds like: a shot where a player lays the ball up on the backboard or over the rim and into the basket. It can be done forwards, backwards, or sideways. It is a lay-up just the same.  And I can’t do any of the moves except for the one facing the basketball hoop – no twists or turns for me.

Amway Center

The basketball art was originally created for a commission for the Amway Center sports and entertainment venue in Orlando, Florida.  This is the home sports arena for the NBA Orlando Magic basketball team.  I was commissioned to create five pieces for the Amway arena a few years back, when it first opened.  I have never been to the arena or have photographs of the paintings hung on display – so if you are in that area and go to the stadium I would love to have someone take photos with their phone and send them to me.  I could probably send you a nice print of one of my sports paintings as a thank you for your efforts.

About the Lay-up Painting

Sports Painting by artist John Robertson
60" x 40" (5 feet by 3 ½ feet)
acrylic on unstretched canvas

Basketball Painting LA Lakers Dribbling Basketball

John Robertson Sports Art Basketball Painting LA Lakers  Dribbling Basketball  is 10 inches by 10 inches ink and acrylic on old  news clippings of LA Lakers.

I am one of those typical Los Angeles fans who like the Lakers when they are winning and do not pay much attention top them when they are losing.  I try and only root for teams that are winning.  I'm a fair weather friend.  You're not feeling well?  Sorry to hear that.  Please pass the salt. 

As far as the Lakers are concerned, at least they have somewhere to go and that is up.  Maybe.  Here is the "no brainer" comment.  "They have to re-build."  What does that mean?  I don't know what that means.  I don't know much about basketball.  I can't even build my own life properly much less tell someone how to rebuild their lousy basketball team.  But I know there are plenty of people out there quite willing to tell anyone how to do anything.

I know. How about picking in the draft or getting a couple top-level free agents to "elevate" the team.  I think they know that too.  All I know is how to "elevate" on the escalator to the third floor level of the Century Mall to find Fatburgers  for a Kobe Bryant XXL Cheeseburger with fries. I find I need to put on more weight with the remote possibility that I can float better in the "Y" pool.

But what I do know is this:  Please, Lakers, no more wins this season.  Don't do anything that may jeopardize your critical draft position.  We want to win - so you need to lose.

Basketball paintings Shooting Guards NBA Sports art

WHY I PAINT SPORTS FIGURES

“Shooting Guard”  24” x 36” ink and acrylic on newsprint (Old Sporting News, magazines, books, etc) about the NBA and Shooting Guards.  Newsprint attached to ¾” stretched canvas.  To view paintings for sale please visit: John Robertson sports Paintings for sale.

There are these perfect little moments in any sport where, for the player, time stops.  And there nothing is their mind except the feeling of making that perfect play.  What I tried to do is capture that moment in this painting of a shooting guard.  His concentration is focused on the hoop.  There is nothing in his mind except for that feeling of making the shot.  He is not thinking, … “Did I jump high enough?  Are my hands extended high enough?  Am I holding the ball correctly?”  Those thoughts are all gone.  He left them on the practice court with the thousands and thousands of shots he has taken before.  There is no thought – only letting his instincts take over.

Something is very lyrical about a basketball player going up for a jump shot and the release and the follow-through, that is quite beautiful in it’s action.  It is like watching a baseball batter taking a swing at the perfect pitch and making a connection and watching a home-run hit ball, fly off the bat and see the follow-through of the batter’s swing. 

Any athlete has had those moments.  Even the most inept person playing a sport has those moments, when, for some odd reason one make the perfect shot or hit the perfect ball or makes the perfect catch.   It can be anything. 

For me it was in volleyball.  I played at a competitive level – well enough to have been asked to “try-outs” for the Olympics.  But I was not good enough to make it any farther than the try-outs.  I like to think that I lasted the whole day.  But, unfortunately after a few hours I was kindly asked to leave.  As the Paul Simon songs says about leaving your lover (In this case me leaving my serious love for the game of volleyball), “Slip out the back Jack.  Make a new Plan Stan.”   So I went back to playing on the beach and even without great success as a volleyball player I had a lot of those moments where an athlete is  “lost in action” – the perfect “dig”, the perfect “spike”,  etc. 

When the weekend athlete makes a really good play I don’t believe his feeling of success is any less greater than a professional making a great play.  I know it is nice to make the play in front of thousands of people and be paid highly for it but the real reason any athlete plays a sport (professional or amateur) is for those moments of success. That feeling you get when you make the perfect move.  It is like a drug that you want to take over and over – repeat that great action. 

Actually it is exactly why I paint.  I love the feeling I get when I make a mark on the canvas that I feel is just the right mark, just the right brush stroke.  And when I do, like an athlete making a good play,  I am lost in time.