Basketball is an art. Showtime passes, high-flying dunks, clutch performances, stifling defense – all of the creativity that goes in to each and every element of the sport is not unlike the imaginative and inventiveness that is exhibited in an artistic masterpiece. When they step onto the court, the players become the artist – and the ball, the court, the hoop and their teammates are the only tools necessary to create something special.
Julius Erving, Michael Jordan, Dominique Wilkins and Vince Carter took the slam dunk – formerly a quick and efficient way of getting the ball in the basket – and transformed it into a display of ingenuity that spurs momentum and causes fans to jump out of their seats. Bob Cousy, Magic Johnson, Jason Kidd and Steve Nash revolutionized the pass, taking a crucial, yet drab aspect of the game, and made it cool; made it just as incredible of a sight as the shot which it leads to. 
While basketball has grown as an art form over its existence – transcending from a display of finesse and conventional style of play, into a game of unprecedented athleticism and superstardom – so has the manner in which the sport’s highlights and memories are conveyed and preserved through artistic means. Exhibiting the sports culture through artwork is truly unique because it has so many elements that are able to be captured. Whether it be an action play, a memorable celebration or a signature moment in history, there are so many opportunities in the game of basketball that can be displayed through art.
The Los Angeles Lakers franchise is a masterpiece within itself. From its 16 NBA championships, legendary players, hall-of-fame coaches and a never ending list of historic moments, the amount of possibilities to artistically convey them is endless. Although there is a large magnitude of fantastic Lakers art pieces, nothing quite compares to the recent creation of Michael Norice, a Los Angeles native and the founder/CEO of Break Your Neck (BYN) Urban Customs, which sells customized shoes, clothing, graphics, body art, and other fashion accessories.
Next: Unlike Any Piece of Lakers Artwork You Will Ever See
In September of 2010, Norice was contacted by Nabil Nathie, a marketing representative for Universal Records and a lifelong, diehard fan of the Lakers. The two had worked together previously on pieces for Nathie’s job at Universal, but this time – it was a personal order. Nathie wanted something that would capture the essence of being a supporter of the Los Angeles Lakers franchise. He decided on a painting; however, instead of the traditional canvas, he wanted the paintings to be spread across skateboard decks. Unusual, yet innovative and creative – just like the players he wanted to capture on the skateboard decks.
“Honestly I just wanted to show my love for the Lakers,” said Nathie in response to how he came up with the idea. “I was debating whether or not to have [Norice] come in and paint it on the wall, but my fear was that if I move, I can’ take it with me. I thought skateboards would be much cooler than just the plain canvas. I was trying to think of my favorite Lakers of all time and the game changers of the franchise. And of course, Chick Hearn- because to me, he’s just as much of a Laker as all of those other guys.”
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The project, which took approximately four months to complete, is comprised of 10 skateboard decks with life-like portraits of Laker greats- begininning with Jerry West, then moving on through Elgin Baylor, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, James Worthy, Shaquille O’Neal and ending with Kobe Bryant. Additionally, Norice also added in former Lakers’ head coach, Pat Riley (who won five rings with the team during Showtime in the 1980s), and current head coach, Phil Jackson. Situated above West, Baylor and Chamberlain is the image of the first championship trophy won by the Lakers in Los Angeles during their historic 1971-72 season. But even more notable is the face of the late great Chick Hearn, who was the Lakers play-by-play announcer for 3,338 consecutive games since beginning in November of 1965. Placed above Jabbar, Magic and Worthy, Hearn is considered to be one of the most influential figures in Lakers’ history.
“I knew I was doing it for one of the top Laker fans that I know,” said Norice. “I knew that I had to give my all with detail in each and every character. Especially when you get into the memory of Chick Hearn and all of the other players on there. Give him what he wants. He’s the fan and knows more about each one. It’s kind of like doing a family portrait or painting someone’s grandmother – because in the beginning I was going to give him a little bit of that and just give him a taste. But about mid way through doing Jerry West, I thought: let me give him a really good piece. From that point, that’s when I got into the research and finding out their greatest pose – like Magic, he’s about to make a no-look pass; or Jabbar, he’s doing his famous sky hook. I specifically put Kobe at the end, because it creates the sense of to be continued, and he’s the only one wearing a white jersey.”
While Norice admitted to not being a Lakers fan, his basketball allegiance did not prevent him from creating one of the most unique and outstanding pieces of art. Originally, the piece was only suppose to be spread across five boards; but Norice’s creative mind felt that such a project should not be limited to such a small area, and it ended up spanning over 10 skateboards.
“If you’re going to do it, you might as well knock out ten,” said Norice on why five boards was not enough representation for such a great franchise. “I could have done the same timeline in five, but everyone would have been kind of small. To me it wouldn’t have gotten the proper representation that it deserves. You’re covering one of the greatest, if not the greatest franchise in the NBA. So, you can’t just give Magic a little section – you gotta put everything in there. A lot of guys on this board have definitely changed the game of basketball. People have grown up watching these players and it’s their dream to be like Magic or be like Kobe. To me, Kobe deserves 10 boards by himself, of just highlighting his career. Same with Magic and Shaq.”
Next: The Process
Just like any artist, Norice has his own style of painting, and while it sounds tedious and difficult to most, it sounds about as easy for Norice as it is for Kobe to hit a fadeaway jumper.
“My personal art style, I will get a silhouette and first see the picture, then capture the overall skin tone of whoever I’m painting,” said Norice of the process he went about when painting the skateboards. “So with Jerry West I painted him as a silhouette – even with the jersey and everything. I build up a layer of tone after that and keep on building layer and layer, and getting darker and darker until I get to the darkest point. Then I went back to the highlights of everything and started to shape and mold it until it get’s more dimensional and starts to come to life. Then in the end, I hit it with the highlights and then go back to the jerseys and all of the other fine details. That’s pretty much what I did with every single character. Some people do it a little bit differently, but that’s the way I like to go – in layers and building up little by little. In art, if there’s black in whatever you’re painting, you can’t just paint black. You can capture it, it just won’t look realistic. And that’s what you want to do – is give the illusion that it looks like a photograph. My art style is to be as realistic as possible.” 
While Norice makes the process sound easy, not every aspect of it was as easy as a Magic Johnson no-look pass.
My easel couldn’t hold all of the boards, it could only hold three at a time,” Norice said of some of the difficulties he encountered while working on this project. “I envisioned it really not like this, I think after the fourth board that’s when I started to put them together and see how am I doint it. Everything is kind of eye-level. That’s why I intentionally had Jerry West facing one way and Kobe facing the other way – creating a sense of “to be continued.” It’s all about eye movement and flow. Everything is flowing.”
Despite doing most of his artwork on shoes, Norice wasn’t troubled by a more unusual painting surface.
“Other than painting on wood versus leather, I definitely incorporated the same amount of skill into this. Painted more on this because I have a bigger space to fill as opposed to a little shoe. The wood was a little difficult at first, and I had to get used to it, because I’ve never painted on a skateboard before, but I definitely incorporated it and it worked out well.”
“I had a really great time painting it,” Norice said. “To me, this is probably one of the best pieces that I have ever done since I’ve been painting, and I have been painting all of my life.”
Continuing his display of uniqueness and originality, Norice actually did all of his research on his iPhone; saying that, “I did everything on my iPhone; like I googled Wilt Chamberlain, and looked at the picture, then paint for the picture from my iPhone.”
A few aspects, such as the Staples Center and the Great Western Forum were left off of the painting due to space constraints; however, Norice was able to personalize the creation for Naithe. Near the bottom of the piece, there is a painted picture of Naithe and his girlfriend following the Lakers’ game seven victory over the Celtics in the NBA Finals last season.
Next: The Creations of Michael Norice and Other Lakers Artwork
It would be almost impossible for a single piece of artwork capture every aspect of what makes the Lakers franchise so great. However, Norice’s piece does so in an extremely unique fashion. While the Lakers and skateboards don’t necessarily go together hand-in-hand, Norice fuses them together and makes it appear that they go perfectly together.
If you are interested in seeing more of Norice’s work you can find his store’s website here. He also recorded his entire process of painting the skateboards, and the video is expected to be posted on YouTube sometime in the future.
Also, if you or know someone who owns Lakers artwork, let us know and send us pictures! Whether it’s paintings, collections, tattoos – anything, we want to see it.