The Kings And I

The Washington Wizards ended their three game home-stand with a showdown against the 16-29 Sacramento Kings. The Wizards had looked impressive recently, winning 7 out of their last 10 games. Meanwhile, Sacramento was looking to end a 4 game losing streak coming into the nation's capital on Monday.

The Kings continued to play amidst speculation that the franchise would no longer be in Sacramento next season. After owners Joe and Gavin Maloof had decided to sell the team for a reported price tag of $525 million, Sacramento mayor, and former NBA star, Kevin Johnson made one last effort to keep the team in Sacramento by encouraging local investors to get in on the bidding. The buyers, hedge fund manager Chris Hansen and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, have reportedly finalized the deal that would move the Kings to Seattle next season, presumably to be renamed the Sonics, but all transactions are still pending league approval.

Sacramento fans hold up a sign encouraging their beloved Kings to stay  put

In fact, there are now reports that Los Angeles-based billionaire, and supermarket mogul, Ron Burkle has agreed to meet with David Stern, along with fellow investor Mark Mastrov, the Northern California-based owner of 24-Hour Fitness, during all-star weekend in Houston. The duo reportedly plan to make a competing offer to keep the team in Sacramento, and although many believe the team will still be on its way to Seattle at season's end, this is the most promising news mayor Kevin Johnson has had yet in the city's fight to keep the team in Sac-town.

Despite all the talk of relocation, the Kings had a game to play, their fans a game to watch, and I a game to photograph. I arrived at the administrative entrance of the building at about a quarter to 5, to find my main competitor for top fan photographer waiting patiently for me in the lobby. When I sat down, he began explaining to me his ideas for shooting a documentary. When I asked what the documentary was about, he responded by saying it would be of himself. Why, or how, anyone would be able to film a documentary of themselves, both intrigues and baffles me, but I took his word for it without further inquisition. The level of respect we have for each other as fellow photographers has grown tremendously. The more events we shoot, the more competitive we become, but it's all in good nature. The rivalry amuses my supervisor profoundly, and also lets him know that we care about we're getting paid for.

Before the game, my nemesis photographer and I decided we'd go down to court-side together, and have a photography shootout, in order to see who could get the coolest photos of players warming up. Not too long after I started bringing my camera along with me to games, he started doing the same thing. I have a feeling that he was intrigued by what I might have been doing with the camera on me at every Wizards game, so when he finally got a close-up look at what I was doing, he was immediately interested in doing the exact same thing. This is cool in some ways, but in other ways I enjoy being on my own when I make these pregame excursions to court-side, and it's irritating that I have to deal with the presence of some ushers who don't want me there, especially when the arena is completely empty, and I'm doing something as harmless as taking a photo. The two of us were asked for our press credentials almost immediately when we went down to court-side, but just when I thought I was out of luck, I saw my supervisor appear at the top of the lower level. Fortunately, he was nice enough to lend me his Washington Wizards event pass in order to appease the one usher who had chased us away from the court. He was almost like Gandalf from Lord of the Rings, waiting to rescue me from some evil goblins.

As I finally made my way down to the court to start photographing some of the Sacramento Kings, it occurred to me how absurd professional sports in America really are, and how much of a corporate entity basketball has become for it to be so off-limits to those who lack the credentials to cover it.

Kings forward Francisco Garcia takes some jumpers during pregame warm-ups

Garcia, a native of the Dominican Republic, represented his country internationally at the 2012 Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Venezuela

Still, I was able to achieve my goal of taking interesting photographs of players I had previously only seen on T.V. I took a special interest in photographing Jimmer Fredette, who had a large contingent of fans in attendance from his alma mater,  BYU. I was also delighted to get some pictures of Kings rookie forward Thomas Robinson, a D.C. native who played his college ball at Kansas.

Kings guard, and BYU alum, Jimmer Fredette 

BYU alumni on hand to support  Jimmer Fredette

Robinson is not the only one on the Kings with connections to this area. DeMarcus Cousins, originally from Mobile, Alabama, played AAU basketball for the D.C. Blue Devils, who were in attendance tonight to greet the 6'11" big man before the game.

Kings forward , and Washington, D.C. native, Thomas Robinson

When I picked up my camera for work, I decided to do things a little differently. My level of intrigue for the Sacramento fans and players was very high, mostly because of their possible relocation to Seattle. Usually I set up camp in section 103 near the Wizards bench, but tonight I immersed myself in a small pool of Sacramento fans behind the King's bench on the other side of the court in section 117, and was able to get some photos of fans posing with their favorite players. I took at least 5 photos of one man, who would take pictures with every player who left the court for the locker room. I was even able to overhear Kings forward Travis Outlaw say, "Damn, we get this in D.C." Sacramento fans were surprisingly abundant on a night when the draw was so low. The arena was relatively empty, and the number of people who were there during pregame rituals tonight was pretty slim, but Kings fans made their presence known. Some brought signs, some wore jerseys, some just wore purple, but they were involved, I believe, in something bigger than just this one game. It was a movement to keep their beloved team in their city.

On the other hand, there were also slightly sarcastic Seattle fans who came to the game in Sonics jerseys to support a possible return of basketball to their city. I took one picture of a Seattle fan at court-side, sporting a Sonics shirt with a group of Sacramento fans holding up a sign behind him encouraging the Kings to stay in Northern California.

I started off the night at a torrid pace, and was able to take almost 200 pictures before the game even started, giving me a halftime advantage over my other photographers. But in the second half, I slowed down, partially because there weren't a whole lot of people there to photograph. There couldn't have been more than 8,000 people in attendance, and that number continued to drop as the night wore on. In the arena's emptiness, I was able to negotiate the concourses more freely, and was occasionally able to dart in and out of sections, checking out some of the game. Once I had reached my quota of 350 pictures, I decided that I'd stand in a corridor with an usher I've become cool with, and watch a few minutes of the game.

The ensuing conversation I had with this usher was extremely informative, and let me in on a world of professional sports I didn't really know too much about. According to the usher, there was a group of guys who were sitting in the upper deck, and wanted to sneak into a lower bowl section behind the Kings bench to watch the game. What started off as a group of three people, ended up being around six. Ushers aren't supposed to let people downstairs if they're ticket is upstairs. It's bad business for the team, and it's confusing if there's a big crowd at the arena to keep track of which seats are vacant, and which aren't. What I found out next was that, ushers do let people downstairs who have tickets upstairs, but often times they're bribed. Of course, he told me, it wouldn't matter on a night like tonight when the arena was only half full, but in a game against the Lakers, Knicks, or Heat, fans offer ushers some form of monetary incentive, usually around $10 or $20 for allowing them to find a vacant seat in their section. He continued by saying that at a game earlier this season against the Lakers, fans had offered him around $60 for an unofficial seat upgrade, and at some sold-out concerts, more than $100. Typically, he said, he didn't accept these tips as a way of buying seats, but something tells me if I were in his position I'd be tempted to take the tips and get a little extra cash, especially considering that a lot of season's ticket holders in the lower sections simply don't show up if the team is really struggling.

After returning my camera to the office, I conceded defeat to my competing fan photographer, who had managed to beat me out by around 70 pictures. It wasn't until I was about ready to leave that I realized the game was still going on, and it was close. I joined the action with 3:01 left in the 4th quarter to see John Wall tie the game at 86 on a driving layup. Isaiah Thomas responded on the other end, putting Sacramento back up by 2 on a floater with 2:14 remaining, but Emeka Okafor tied the game back up on a jumper with 2:25 left.

Wizards guard John Wall goes over the game plan with center Emeka Okafor

Wizards forward Nene posts up on Kings forward Chuck Hayes

John Wall drives to the basket 

Late in the game, Tyreke Evans was fouled, and made 1 of 2 free throws to put the Kings up 94-92 with 11.7 seconds remaining in the game. After a 20 second timeout by Washington, Jordan Crawford in-bounded the ball to Martell Webster, who pump-faked to get Evans off the ground, finishing at the basket with a driving floater off the glass over the arms of Francisco Garcia.

Kings guard Isaiah Thomas sets up a play

John Wall dribbles up the floor

Isaiah Thomas is guarded by John Wall

Nene  posts up on Chuck Hayes

Penetrate and kick: Nene tries to dish the ball to an open shooter

John Wall looks for an opening in the Sacramento defense

John Wall takes Chuck Hayes off the dribble

After a full timeout by Sacramento, Francisco Garcia in-bounded the ball to Isaiah Thomas with 7.9 seconds left in the game. The 5'9" Thomas drove on Garrett Temple, and sank a left-handed floater with 1.9 seconds remaining. Washington, out of timeouts, had one last chance to make a desperation heave, but Nene's in-bound pass in the direction of Trevor Ariza was picked off by Marcus Thornton, and Sacramento held on for a 96-94 victory over the Wizards.

Francisco Garcia, center, gives Chuck Hayes, right, some directions during a timeout. Thomas Robinson, left, listens attentively.

Wizards forward Martell Webster looks to drive on Kings guard Tyreke Evans. Webster converted a floater off the glass on this possession, tying the game up at 94.

Kings guard Isaiah Thomas drives on Wizards guard Garrett Temple...

and makes this left-handed floater to put Sacramento up 96-94 with 1.9 seconds left in the game.

Isaiah Thomas led the Kings with 22 points, including the game-winning bucket. Francisco Garcia chipped in 17 points off the bench.

The Wizards were led by Emeka Okafor with 23 points and 15 rebounds. John Wall contributed 19 points and 6 assists in the Wizards 32nd loss of the season.

Bullseye

One night after defeating the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Wizards were back home for the second half of their back-to-back, squaring off with the 26-16 Chicago Bulls. The Bulls had been without their star point guard Derrick Rose since April 28th of 2012. Rose suffered a torn ACL in the team's first playoff game last season against the Philadelphia 76ers, and is not expected to return until after the all-star break.

Nevertheless, Chicago has been holding their own thanks to the contributions of Luol Deng and Joakim Noah, who will both represent the Bulls as Eastern Conference all-star reserves in Houston. Kirk Hinrich, whom head coach Tom Thibodeau is very fond of, has done a solid job filling in for Rose as the team's starting point guard, averaging 7 points and 5 rebounds per game.

The Wizards had been on a tear recently, which sounds completely unbelievable given the way they started the season. Washington had won 6 out of their last 9 games coming into Saturday night, and were looking to capitalize on the opportunity to take down one of the better teams in the conference in front of a packed Verizon Center.

The Georgetown Hoyas had played earlier in the day in what was a tremendous 53-51 win over the No. 5 ranked Louisville Cardinals. Upon my arrival to the arena, it was clear that there was still some cleaning up and rearranging from that game in preparation for tonight's contest. As soon as the floor was done being mopped, and the press table was finished being set up, I noticed that a couple Chicago players began meandering onto the floor to get some pregame shooting practice. Kirk Hinrich, Carlos Boozer, and Marquis Teague were the first players to make their way onto the floor.

Employees set up court-side seats at the Verizon Center two hours before the game

Mopping the hardwood

Setting up a fixture behind the basket

I had just started taking pictures from my comfortable, inconspicuous perch at the top of the lower bowl, when I looked to the right and saw my supervisor. I went over and showed him the camera I was using to take these somewhat covert photos I've been taking of players. Immediately, he noticed I had a zoom lens, but insisted I move closer to the court to get some quality close-up shots of some of the players. It was a weird situation at first, because suddenly my job and this blog were colliding in away that I never anticipated they would. Somehow, I felt like my cover was blown as an undercover photo journalist, but my supervisor is a great guy, and was very inviting of me to move closer to the court, so I could snap whatever photos I wanted to take.

Bulls guard Kirk Hinrich

Hinrich has performed well as Chicago's starting point guard in the absence of Derrick Rose

Bulls forward Carlos Boozer

Bulls rookie guard Marquis Teague, younger brother of Atlanta Hawks guard Jeff Teague

It wasn't until I was on my way upstairs, that I noticed Derrick Rose had made his way onto the court. I rushed back down to the court to get a couple pictures of the injured superstar. Somehow, this gave me a great deal of satisfaction, and made my efforts feel ten times more worth while. It's not often that I get chance to take closeup photos of the big name players, so it was a cool experience being able to photograph someone as high profile as Rose.

Bulls point guard Derrick Rose is expected to return from a torn ACL after the all-star break.

The Bulls are hoping Rose's imminent return will make them title contenders.  

Once I had checked in for work, and picked up the Nikon I use for the job, I was informed that my main competition for the evening in terms of number of pictures taken would be absent, so I jumped at the idea of possibly setting a new Printroom record of 500 fan photos for one night. Between the time that hockey started back up, and the Wizards returned home from the West coast swing, the competition between this one fellow photographer and myself had become a little more intense. In the game against Minnesota, we even found each other chasing one another out of our respective designated zones, which become increasingly ambiguous as the night goes on. Of course, it's all in good nature, but the friendly competition has even forced my amused supervisor to look into placing bets with the photographers designated to upper level concourse shooting as to which one us on the lower level will finish with the most shots.

Later in the night, I was pleasantly surprised that my nemesis was not absent, and had only arrived late to the game, but I was able to jump out to an insurmountable advantage before he was even in the building. I had taken around 200 photos before the game even started, so I was well ahead of my fellow roving photographers throughout the night, and had the satisfaction of handily beating out my main source of competition. By the time the game had concluded, I had taken around 460 fan photos, coming up just short of a company record for one night.

The arena was pretty full. There were a ton of Bulls fans in the building, some from Chicago, and others simply Derrick Rose, or even Michael Jordan enthusiasts. Seeing all the Jordan and Scottie Pippen jerseys reminded me of my childhood days as a Knicks fan, in a bad away. Number 23 had broken our hearts, and dashed our championship hopes on numerous occasions. Still, Bulls fans were photogenic and amicable. I've finally moved on from my resentment of that franchise, partially because I like Derrick Rose, but also because I got the feeling from tonight that Bulls fans have pretty laid back dispositions, and are extremely knowledgeable basketball fans.

Bulls guard Nate Robinson dribbles up the floor

Nate Robinson looks for an open man

Wizards guard A.J. Price (12) checks into the game, replacing guard Bradley Beal (3)

At just 5'9", Nate Robinson has still managed to be a three-time NBA slam dunk champion

Wizards guard John Wall goes one-on-one with Bulls guard Marquis Teague

Bulls guard Daequan Cook, 2009  NBA three-point shootout champion 

Because, I had already taken so many pictures, I was able to watch the last 5 minutes of the game from a lower level corner to the left of the Bulls bench. The Wizards were up by a  considerable margine when I picked up the action, and went on to win 86-73 behind 16 points from Nene. Emeka Okafor added 15 points and 16 rebounds, while John Wall contributed 15 points and 7 assists, helping the Wizards to their 7th win in 10 games.

Nate Robinson was the only Bull to crack double digits, scoring 19 points off the bench in defeat.

Heart of the Wolves

After going 2-3 on their 5 game West coast swing, the Wizards were back in snowy D.C. to take on the 17-22 Minnesota Timberwolves. The Wolves' recent history as a franchise has been defined by injuries to key players. Among others, star point guard Ricky Rubio had just returned from a torn ACL on Dec 15th, after being out since March of last year. Meanwhile, star power forward Kevin Love had injured his third and fourth metacarpals in his shooting hand at a morning workout during training camp. Following a brief November return, Love again injured his shooting hand, suffering a fractured wrist. Though Rubio is fortunately back in the lineup, Love is expected to be out for another 10 weeks, putting a major dent in Minnesota's playoff hopes.

The Wizards, though also hit hard by injuries this season, are on the mend. Both John Wall and Trevor Ariza had returned from their respective injuries, and had made positive impacts over the last several games. A.J. Price has made a nice comeback from his injury, as well, making considerable contributions during his brief tenure as the team's starting point guard. Tonight, however, Wall had regained his starting role for the first time since making his return, but had the unenviable task of matching up with Ricky Rubio.

While the Wizards were away from home, I was still hard at work as a fan photographer, only for a different sport. I had booked 2 games for the other major professional sports occupant of the arena, the Washington Capitals. I'm not really much of a hockey fan, but I must say the atmosphere is captivating. Not only are the players themselves impressive, but the fans are eccentric, and the arena is energized in a way that I have never seen at a Wizards game.

Verizon Center before the Washington Capitals game against the Montreal Canadiens

Nevertheless, I was happy to see the basketball configuration back in place, and be able to photograph the players and fans of a sport I am much more familiar with. Before the game, I was able to catch two 10-day contracted players from the Timberwolves warming up. Both players, Chris Johnson and Mickael Gelabale, had already made immediate impacts, combining for 26 points in Minnesota's win over the Houston Rockets on Saturday.

Timberwolves forward Chris Johnson practices free throws during pregame warm-ups.  In three games since being signed to a 10-day contract by Minnesota, Johnson has averaged 12 points and 5 rebounds.

Tonight was, without question, my most auspicious performance as a fan photographer. I was able to shoot nearly 200 photos before the game started, and cruised to well over 400 shots for the night. With the recent snow, the arena was a little bare, but it was an enthusiastic bunch. I was able to get a great picture of some kids posing with Wizards forward Trevor Booker on his way back to the locker room. There was also a sizable contingent of fans in Timberwolves' apparel from Spain, undoubtedly in attendance to see their countryman Ricky Rubio.

Wizards forward Chris Singleton goes up for the jam and is fouled by Timberwolves forward Louis Amundson

Chris Singleton takes his free throws

I was able to watch the last 2 minutes of what turned out to be a blowout win in favor of the home team. Jordan Crawford scored 19 points off the bench, leading the Wizards to a 114-101 victory, still just their 10th of the season. Derrick Williams led the Wolves with 18 points and 11 rebounds in a losing effort.

D.C. native and Louisiana State grad Chris Johnson has played for 9  professional basketball teams in his 4 year career

Wizards guard Garrett Temple looks for a screen from forward Trevor Booker. Timberwolves forward Derrick Williams, 7, and guard Luke Ridnour, 13, defend

The Wizards will stay in D.C. to take on the Bulls tomorrow at the Verizon Center.

Jazz Too Much For Wizards

After winning in Portland on Jordan Crawford's heroic buzzer-beating three-pointer, the Wizards traveled to Salt Lake City to finish off their 5 game road trip with a showdown against the 22-19 Utah Jazz. The Jazz were on a three game winning game streak coming into Wednesday, and were looking to stay hot with a win against Washington, who had won 5 of their last 7 games.

Washington, though revitalized by the return of John Wall, has had an especially tough time winning in Salt Lake City. The Wizards had lost 20 of 24 previous meetings with the Jazz in Utah by an average of 15.8 points.

After leading by 6 at the end of the 1st quarter, Utah established a 22 point advantage, leading 47-25 with 5:58 left in the 2nd, but Washington was able to trim the lead back down to as low as 12, trailing 52-38 at the half.

The Jazz led 73-58 at the end of the 3rd quarter, but the Wizards stormed back on a 20-2 4th quarter run, cutting the deficit to 75-72 on a Trevor Ariza three-pointer with 8:49 left to play. Utah responded following a Tyrone Corbin timeout, and recaptured control of the game, going back up by as many as 8.

Wizards forward Nene is defended by Jazz forward Paul Millsap (Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports)

Despite a Martell Webster three-pointer to cut the lead back to 3 with 15 seconds remaining, Utah held on for a 92-88 victory.

Paul Millsap led the Jazz with a double-double, recording 16 points and 15 rebounds, and Gordon Hayward contributed 15 points off the bench. The Wizards were led by Martell Webster with 15, and John Wall, who contributed 14 points off the bench in a losing effort.