Sick NBA prints from then and now

Hardly the first person inspired by Michael Jordan but possibly the first inspired by Marv Albert, Joel Kimmel's a Canuck whose obsession with the '90s Bulls led him to frequently doodling His Airness, which in turn put him on the path to a career in illustration that's included occasional work with SLAM!, because they let the boys be boys. And also exclusively cover basketball. Joel's latest series? "A Spectacular Move", so named in honor of Marv's iconic call of MJ's up-and-under against the Lakers.

Featuring color-splashed portraits of NBA players in trademark poses, current stars in the ASM series count a two-handed-dunking Derrick Rose and a crossover-poised J-Lin, but there's a heavy emphasis on'80s/'90s standouts, including soaring dunks from Scottie Pippen and Shawn Kemp, and a fadeaway from Patrick Ewing, which sums up most of his playoff career. Other hoops-related creativeness includes a portrait of Sheed laid over the official NBA guidelines for technical fouls; Paul Pierce, aka, "The Truth", surrounded by a polygraph test; and Tim Duncan rendered as a robot, either a commentary on his stoic demeanor, efficiency, and precision, or a horrifying glimpse into a future where humans are hunted to near-extinction by super-athletic robots with admirable efficiency and precision.

So where's MJ himself? The artist's high regard has made drawing him beyond high school sketches a stressful proposition, but he plans to tackle him down the road, which, considering his incredible athleticism, would be a spectacular move for a Canuck artist.