For a couple of years, I shot on set for NBA on TNT. The thing is, I didn’t know anything about basketball, except that I was convinced that Michael Jordan, the hero of my generation, was the greatest basketball player to have ever lived. I have since found that is a popular topic that many people, with a lot more knowledge than me, enjoy debating.
Steph Curry and Chris Webber on the NBA on TNT’s Social Media Awards show. (photo by David Scott Holloway)
I had a lot of situations with this where it was obvious that I didn’t understand much, or i definitely didn’t know much. For example at an NBA All-Star game or maybe it was the college finals one year, I don’t really recall. We were trying to get from the hotel to the venue. A producer told me to hop in the car and ride with Kenny (Kenny Smith, one of the hosts of NBA on TNT, the show that I was working on). As Im getting in the SUV, Kenny says “Hey, no photos in the car, ok?” and I said “Sure no problem. I’m crawling in back and sleeping until we get there.” He smiles and gives me a thumbs up and I climb in back.
I wake up as we are pulling up. There is a huge crowd and as we get out tons of people are yelling to Kenny “Yo Jet!” or “Kenny Smith is in the house!.” They are so excited to see him. I then say “Oh weird. Were you a ball player?” and he says “What? Yeah man, I’m going to be in the hall of fame.”
Honestly, I had no idea. Ask me about fighters, or skateboarders. That’s what I know. I was used to seeing him next to Shaq and Barkley and he doesn’t look like them. I thought even Ernie is taller than him. All that is to explain that I really didn’t know anything about basketball.
Now years later, thanks to my partner, basketball is on every night in our house. I’ve watched hundreds of games, I have players I like, and I have players I don’t. I’ve got opinions. I developed them. What I really like are guys who can pass in interesting ways and I love guys who can shoot. I don’t want to see a guy miss a free throw and if he is making 3-pointers from well behind the line I will jump to my feet. Those are the guys I cheer for. You know, guys like Steph Curry.
The other night I was adding images to my archive and I came across this photo I made of Curry and Chris Webber, 10 years ago while they were filming the 2013 NBA Social Media Awards. I looked through the metadata and I had left Steph Curry’s name blank because at the time I had NO IDEA who he was. He was already a fan favorite and a definite talent, but I just didn’t know.
It’s funny how much can change over time. A decade sounds like a long time, but really those days blend into these days. They seem recent. Looking at this much younger-looking face of the best shooter in basketball reminds me that there is always something I don’t know and that is a nice incentive to keep learning.