Phoenix Sun Art Chris Paul Point Guard CP3

Chris Paul Still Going Strong

Chris Paul is still doing it.  You would think he’d be slowing down just a little bit.  But at thirty-six he is staying ahead of other players the other night by having 23 points  and 16 assists with the Phoenix Suns.  We have to remember as one of the highest-paid athletes in the world, he holds endorsement deals with major companies worldwide.

 Chris Paul’s Nick name Cp3

Nicknamed CP3, he has won the NBA Rookie of the Year Award, an NBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Award, two Olympic gold medals, and led the NBA in assists four times and steals a record six times. He has also been selected to eleven NBA All-Star teams, nine All-NBA teams, and nine NBA All-Defensive teams.  I’d say he is holding up, just fine.  You may be wondering how got his nickname CP3 Chris Paul's family gave him the nickname CP3 because he, his father, and his older brother all share the same initials.

About Basketball Art Chris Paul

The Basketball Art above is a painting of basketball player Chris Paul point guard for the.  Phoenix Suns.   Painting is 12” x 15” on 14” x 17” drafting film.  Watercolor, acrylic and ink.

Basketball Art Sports LA Lakers

Elgin Baylor Lakers Basketball

Before there was a three point line there was Elgin Baylor.   Before there was Michael Jordan there was Elgin Baylor. Elgin was named after the Elgin Marbles because his parents knew he would be a classic.  He was a mythic player rising above talents that played with him so you went to the basketball games to see him play.

LA Lakers Small Forward

Baylor’s hang time on a jump shot was like watching a guy shoot from a balloon.  And the basketball’s flight was so smooth it floated to the hoop.  His running bank shot was another classic launching other balloons that would float over bigger defenders.  Because of his height (6 feet 5 inches) he was considered an undersized rebounder.  Undersized?  That is like saying Magic Johnson is undersized, maybe standing next to "Shaq" O'Neal. As a “small forward” Baylor averaged 13.5 rebounds per game during his career, including 19.8 rebounds per game.   during the 1960–61 season — a season average exceeded by only five other players in NBA history, all of whom were 6 ft 8 in or taller.  (Thank you Wikipedia)  Those are “giant”  numbers. 

As a boy the NBA was still just starting to get attention to the general sports fan.  My dad took me to a lot of baseball games (Minor league as the Dodgers had not arrived in LA yet) and football. The Rams was the major sporting event to watch.  It wasn’t until the 1960-61 season that the Lakers  showed up in LA   When Baylor set a new NBA scoring record when he scored 71 points in the 1960–61season it was time for my dad and me to start paying attention to the NBA.

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

Boxing Art Painting Marvin Hagler’s Death

Marvelous Marvin Hagler passed away over the weekend.  He was one of my favorite boxers of all time - although this is not a painting of him in the ring. But his death reminded me of my enjoyment of watching boxing on tv  as a kid with my dad.  That continued through the 80’s when I watched Hagler’ major fights that were shown on tv.  They were classic all out brawls - my favorite being his battles with Thomas “Hitman” Hearns.  

This interest in boxing continued to a point where I did a series of boxing paintings and drawing and had a show with a number of the works.  The painting shown here was one of those paintings and one I had decided to keep around for a while.

The boxing painting is in storage but, as I remember, it is 36” x 36” acrylic on stretched canvas

Baseball Pop Art Left- Handed Catcher Sports Painting

The Left-Handed Catcher 

What baseball play do you think this left-handed catcher would like to be involved with?  A batter in the right side of the batter’s box and a runner trying to go from second to third base.  That’s this left-handed catcher's wheel-house.  That’s the pocket to be sitting in. He doesn’t even have to come out of his squatting stance behind the plate to throw the guy out - a bazooka shot straight down the left foul line  And after this catcher throws out that base runner at third he is going to scowl at the runner, looking through his catcher's mask as if that guy had some nerve just to take a big lead off of second. base. 

Just think, when that catcher was a kid trying out the position as a left hander the coach probably looked over at him behind home plate and yelled out a string of four letter words that meant,  “Get out of there.  You want to play, get on first.”  Because in those days left-handers did not play catcher. You get the eerie feeling that if Thomas Wolfe was the coach he would have told him, “You can never play home.”  The only way a left-hander can get there on his own is by hitting a home run - unless he steals i - which means,. left-handed catchers are as rare as uncooked meat.

The baseball painting of the catcher created in a pop art style is 54” by 71” acrylic on unstretched canvas.  There is no stretcher bars or frame.  It hangs like a banner or tapestry.