Check out Animator's Montage of NBA Finals' Most Iconic Moments

In preparation of the upcoming NBA Finals, animator Richard Swarbrick has put together a beautiful montage of some of the greatest moments in Finals history.

This short animation commissioned by ESPN includes Julius Erving's sweeping up-and-under layup, Michael Jordan's hand-switching layup, Magic Johnson's baby sky hook and Isiah Thomas' jubilation.

Swarbrick's painterly animation style is a cool way to relive clips that we've seen over and over again, somehow giving them new life.

The London-based animator seems to be most famous for his soccer-related works an animations, often focusing on athletes from the UK.

He's done similar animations for Lionel Messi, Gareth Bale and Luol Deng, as well as a cool depiction of an England-India cricket match, among other things.

Perhaps the best part of the entire animation is the detail that goes into the focus of each scene. You can clearly tell who Jordan, Erving and Magic are, but the rest of the characters are faceless obstacles.

It points to an interesting dynamic in sports in which greatness and victory are remembered, while failure fades into the background to become little more than the answer to a trivia question.

After seeing numerous video compilations of the greatest moments in NBA Finals history,  Swarbrick's animation is easily the coolest way to put life back into the league's most historic moments. 

My only complaint is that it's not three hours long.