Brandon Jackson

First of all, I hope all of you are well. Second, I’m bored as hell. The third thing, well that’s why I’m writing right now. This drawing.

There is no basketball. There hasn’t been any basketball for what feels like months now. At this point I’d settle to watch the dudes at LA fitness play full court, but a full court game plus me watching is 11 people and that’s too many people in one space now.

So here we are. I’m analyzing illustrations of basketball instead.

Before I get started, if you’ve been watching basketball your whole life like me, you may know the play that this drawing was inspired by. But because the people in the drawing are different than the ones in real life, this play goes a lot different in my head. And that’s what I’ll be talking about.

So let’s get the obvious out of the way first. MALCOLM AND MARTIN????

Seeing Malcom X and Martin Luther King Jr. in a basketball setting, WITH FULL SUITS ON, was jarring to see. But there’s a reason for that.

The artist of this photo, @thewrightar on Twitter, tweeted that this was supposed to be done during black history month last month, but only finished it up recently. Once you get past the shock of seeing them here, the reason for it is nice and makes some sense.

The antagonists in this drawing are for somewhat obvious reasons, police officers. Now, how Malcom and Martin became engaged in a full court game of basketball with cops is beyond me. I need some backstory for that reason, just for curiosity’s sake.

Alright, so let’s get into the actual basketball play happening here. Malcom and Martin look to be running what probably started off as a textbook fastbreak two-on-one. Malcolm has the ball, knows he has the cop on his back ready to block his layup, but also knows he has Martin trailing him (seemingly) open.

Take a look at the drawing closely. At first glance, it looks like Malcolm has 4 legs for some reason. But look above his head, and you’ll see an arm that was reaching to block that shot on the glass.

The cop attempting to block the shot has to have a 40-inch vertical leap. He’s taller than Malcom, but he looks to be on the way down. And even on the way down, his hand is at least at rim level on the glass, if not a little higher.

Malcolm’s pass is a dime. It’ll hit Martin right in the hands. Malcolm looks like a real hooper. Martin on the other hand, looks a little shaky. The whole “non-violent” thing is truly a lifestyle. He’s not ready for primetime in Staples Center against the LAPD. Look at his face. He is dropping that pass. Or at the very least, fumbling around with it. Which brings me to the next point.

Martin is almost at a stand still when the pass is thrown. I don’t believe he could dunk without a running start, and he sure does not have one here. He doesn’t want the ball here, but he’s getting it. You know who wants the ball more?

Him.

He is ready. This is his moment. He already hears Mike Breen yelling, “BLOCKED BY JAMES!” in his head right now. His gather and timing are spot on here. If Martin catches the ball and goes up cleanly, generic officer #2 is sending that shit into the third row.

If Martin fumbles and goes up late, he’s getting fouled like Jordan against the Bad Boy Pistons. Either way, there’s no highlight.

This is the photo that inspired the drawing.

In real life, the Lakers are a half court set, and Kobe beats his man off the dribble. He draws the attention of the defense and drops this beautiful pass off to Shaq for an easy dunk.

Even in the wacky universe this drawing exists in, an easy dunk ain’t happening.

And in the wacky universe we’re currently living in, we’re gonna need sports to come back as soon as possible and cure us of this boredom. So I can talk about actual basketball and not pictures of it.