Compound, NBPA Celebrate Artwork for LeBron James and 2019 PVA Winners
Three championships, three NBA Finals MVPs, four league MVPs, 15 All-NBA selections, six All-Defensive selections and 15 All-Star Game nods.
If unique artwork was the only thing missing from LeBron James' extensive resume, that is no longer the case.
James was among the NBA players who received artwork to celebrate their achievements at the fourth annual Players' Voice Awards with the Players' Tribune in Los Angeles on July 9. The NBPA and the creative marketing agency, Compound, celebrated the awards together.
The artwork the players received will be on display at the Compound Gallery in the South Bronx in New York on Wednesday during a private reception before a public exhibit that lasts for two weeks. Set Free Richardson joined with Yasiin Bey, formerly known as rapper Mos Def, to open the Compound Gallery as the first black-owned art gallery in the South Bronx last July.
"That's what Compound stands for is bringing great things together," Richardson, who is curating the collection, told Bleacher Report when discussing merging the art and basketball worlds.
Richardson is no stranger to the basketball world. He is known for creating the AND1 mixtapes and counts Kevin Durant, Kevin Garnett, Carmelo Anthony, Iman Shumpert and Kenneth Faried among those who have visited the Compound Gallery. Anthony and Shumpert are on the guest list for Wednesday's reception.
"Basketball is my first childhood love," Richardson said. "Growing up between New York and Philly, watching the Knicks and the Sixers, I just always fell in love with the game."
The game will be on full display at the Compound Gallery thanks to the work of Ron English, Naturel, BK The Artist, Freehand Profit, King Saladeen, Dragon76, Bahar Bambi, Andre Trenier, Christophe Roberts, Devon Rodriguez and the Vera Twins.
"I really just called on my Rolodex of artists and friends to curate all the awards with me," Richardson said when discussing the process of choosing the 11 artists to design something to represent the player and the specific award he received.
"Each artist created a unique illustration using various mediums to represent the winning player and their achievement," the Players' Voice Awards' website read. "More than just beautiful and impactful representations of the awards and their winners, each work of art speaks to the NBPA's mission and core purpose to embody and celebrate the Players' collective voice."
James, who won the Best Side Hustle and the People's Champ awards, was far from the only headliner to receive the notable artwork.
James Harden (Toughest to Guard), Kevin Durant (Mr. Clutch), Giannis Antetokounmpo (MVP), Russell Westbrook (Freshest), Dwyane Wade (Most Respected), Dirk Nowitzki (Most Respected), Rudy Gobert (Locksmith), Gordon Hayward (Comeback Player), Lou Williams (X-Factor), PJ Tucker (Sneaker Champ) and Luka Doncic (Leader of the New School) were recognized.
Richardson specifically mentioned Durant, Harden and the Backbone Award when asked which artwork stood out to him but clarified, "I feel like they're all great in their own different way."
Dragon76 designed Durant's artwork that featured him hitting a clutch shot over James in the NBA Finals, while the Vera twins created an anime version of Harden with a number of defenders around him for the shooting guard's award.
English created 30 gold statues for each of the 30 winners of the Backbone Award, which went to the one player who was the backbone and glue of their respective team throughout the season.
Relationships helped Richardson choose the artists for this collection much like they paved the way for his venture into basketball.
He called working with AND1 "a real blessing in a lot of different areas because I got to work in basketball on a street ball level and a professional level. We had the street ballers and created the AND1 mixtapes, but at the same time we had players signed to the company—Latrell Sprewell, Ben Wallace, Chauncey Billups, Kevin Garnett—so I got to learn the best of both worlds on the street ball side and the NBA side. That's when a lot of my relationships started happening when I started first working with AND1 with the NBA side."
Basketball will again take center stage for Richardson and Compound in unique fashion thanks to the Players' Voice Awards.
