Immerse yourself in moves labeled "NBA Signatures"

Published in October 2022 by Vincent Reculeau and Adrien Pommepui « NBA All-Star Names » published by Amphora. These two enthusiasts, who met through the site Basket Retro, first by writing papers, the second by illustrating, quickly got along and their joint work led to this first publication focused on the most famous nicknames in the NBA world.

Then, very quickly, “from January 2023, carried by the wave, the excitement” good feedback on their work, “I wrote the first lyrics and gave the ideas to Adrian”explains Vincent Reculeau, who he joined Basketball USA. This second book, “it’s a continuation of the All-Stars name”continues the author.

“The common denominator is the signature”

“My starting point was actions and matches with a nickname. This was the first layer. That was the basis, but it was not enough. Then we took the concept of the signature. It is the second stage of the rocket: I think of Tony Parker’s tear, of Manu Ginobili’s Eurostep. This allows new entries for celebrations, we also added a reference to the number. I organized everything by team and, because some franchises lacked material, I added mascots.

“The common denominator is the signature”summarizes Vincent Reculeau to the face « 175-180 starters » these beautiful 1.5 kg babies. Since then, it has been a matter of illustrating these gestures, these moments. It is the work of Adrien Pomepuy, who he recognizes, also contacted Basketball USAwhich “Vincent often goes faster than me in writing lyrics”. Which is no problem for him since he “he prefers to start the illustration if the text is finished.”

“It happens that the text is retouched based on my graphic reference, what I highlighted “, he says, which his colleague also confirms. “First the text is written. Adrien draws the drawing and talks to me about the details. Then, secondly, I correct the text. It’s always going back and forth.”

As a big NBA fan, since 1999, he explains, Adrien Pomeppe has been trying to find “A compromise between efficiency and fantasy”. You had to keep the images that everyone knew, but also have fun and let your imagination do the talking. “I didn’t want to take a picture of Chamberlain’s 100 points, but at the same time make it a reference”he points out, simply leaving a sheet of paper with “100” on it, without copying a very famous photo associated with the record for points scored by a player in the NBA. The wish of the illustrator is to “respect the reality of movement. I try to add my touch, so we can feel the player in action.”

“What could be more legendary than a mascot to bring excitement to the basketball court”

One of the originals “NBA Signatures”this is a place offered to mascots of different franchises. “What could be more legendary than a mascot to bring excitement to the basketball court”asks Vinceau Reculeau. “I was blown away. This is one of the longest texts. I found two people who wore the costumes. The creator of Hugo from the Hornets and Sam Dank from the Clippers, the short-lived mascots of the 1980s.” Adrien Pommepui shares the pleasure : “I had fun with the mascots. I had freedom with the image processing. For some we only have one or two photos, so we had to imagine.”

However, the “favorites” Vincent Reculeau during the writing of this work, which required two years of work, was “find, through Facebook, a teammate of Bill Russell from the University of San Francisco, who died in January. A man full of energy, with clear ideas, with whom I solved the mystery of Bill Russell’s number 6”. So we know more about this number, which is now retired league-wide, since the death of the former Celtics center. “My goal is for NBA experts to learn things. This is my reward »the author escapes.

After « NBA All-Star Names » and « NBA Signatures » Is a third job already in the works? “It sounds pompous to say it, but many works are in the form of a trilogy”answers Vincent Reculeau. “We would like to come full circle with the third opus. We have ideas, we are starting to work on them. There is material. We are not done telling what we want to tell. We want to continue the adventure. »

fin 2022, « NBA All-Star Names » was part of our Christmas gift ideas and three years later “NBA signings”, with a foreword by Jacques Montclair, can easily be found under the Christmas tree of NBA fans in ten days, whether they are curious to learn and/or more sensitive to the beautiful aesthetics of the illustrations.