On Saturday, I was lucky enough to cover one of the most fun and thrilling basketball games I have ever seen in my life! It was game three between the Dallas Mavericks and San Antonio Spurs and the game went back and forth all day with the emotions high on both sides.
My assigned spot was near the Maverick bench and since it is the playoffs, the baselines get really crowded with tv cameras, etc.. So much so, that only 2 photographer spots were allowed on my side. It also put me smack dab in the position where the referee stands.(Not the most desirable for sure.) But, you have to make do and make the best of it as much as possible.
Well, as the game wore on, I was getting decent shots and also a great share of the referee’s behind and was thinking that if it was a close game and came down to a last second shot, I might not have the best angle since the tv crews would most likely storm the court as well as the players on the bench thus blocking me from getting any good celebration of dejection photos to tell the story.
With a few minutes left in the 4th quarter and a VERY close game, I looked over and saw a free spot on the other side of the basket across from the team bench. I waited for a timeout and then proceeded to grab the spot for the rest of the game. Boy, am I glad I did!!
Before I knew it, Manu Ginobli would make a layup putting the Spurs up with a little over a second left to play. The Mavericks inbounded the ball to Vince Carter right in front of me and he made on of the greatest shots of his career. The crowd went crazy and Dirk Nowitzki and Vince celebrated right in front of me. In fact, the whole mob of players were literally on top of me during the celebration. I looked over to my colleagues Ron Jenkins and Tom Fox and we all had huge smiles on our faces as we all had the action right in front of us!
It just goes to show that you never know where the action will happen, but if/when it does, you have to take advantage of it. 🙂
Here are some highlights from the game as well as a link to the For The Win writeup and websites using a few more of my photos…
For the Win Post with more photos and video…