Dime Magazine #66

Whew, where do I start?

Earlier in the summer of 2011 I started a project taking pictures at the Goodman League at Barry Farms in Washington DC. Some of that work can be seen here, here and here. I was even able to shoot some pretty cool portraits of some of the players. It was so much fun to be out there because you could watch some great basketball (no defense allowed) and you never knew just who might show up. Could be Kevin Durant, could be Michael Beasley, could be John Wall, you just never knew.

With the NBA lockout looming, the Goodman League along with a few other leagues around the country started to gain momentum in the mainstream basketball world. A little Facebook trash talk and the natural East Coast / West Coast rivalry bred a game between Washington DC's Goodman League and LA's Drew League that was to take place at Trinity University in Northeast Washington DC.

August 20, 2011 was crazy. Trinity's small gym was packed, standing room only. The buzz was enormous and folks with legit tickets were being turned away from the oversold event. The media credential person tried to force all of the photographers to shoot from a balcony, but I was able to traverse the adversity with my ninja like skills and rappel down the side of the basketball hoop to the baseline (just kidding). I was disappointed with the access that I wasn't able to get per my relationship with the Goodman League but I am very proud to have this spread in the current issue of Dime Magazine! Shout out to editor Aron Phillips and writer Rachel Marcus.