Award-winning author and artist Kadir Nelson continues to build on his already storied career with his latest book, Basket Ball: The Story of the All-American Game, a 112-page companion to 2008’s We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball. Nelson’s work spans paintings featured in the U.S. House of Representatives, album covers for legendary musicians such as Michael Jackson and Drake, and iconic images on New Yorker covers, including Nelson Mandela and George Floyd. Nelson’s portraits build on the influence of legendary Black artist Ernie Barnes, particularly with his elongated and stylized depictions of Black life. That distinctive look lends itself to his latest book, which highlights many of the revolutionary figures who have populated the world of basketball from its humble origins to the fast-paced, dynamic sport of today. PW spoke with Nelson about his deep love for sports, how the game of basketball progressed from its early days, and how basketball is a unifying force for different communities.

You previously created a book on the Negro Leagues (We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball), illustrated a book that highlighted historical African American sports figures (The Undefeated), and now this book on the history of the NBA. What inspiration do you pull from the world of sports in your work?

I’ve been an athlete since I was a kid. I played basketball recreationally and all the way through college. I also played baseball, volleyball, and ran track. Athletics has always been a part of my DNA. My father and brother were athletes, and my sister was a cheerleader.

This book is my love letter to basketball. It merges my love for athletics, art, and literature. It’s over 100 pages of text and artwork that I created over the last nine years. It’s a potent mixture of all the things that I really love.

How much former knowledge did you have about that history before writing this book? Did you find anything that was particularly revelatory?

I think like most athletes, you’re introduced to the game, pick it up, and love playing it. But we don't always know the history behind it. As artists, we draw and paint what we love, and I love sports. I love basketball, so I have been doing basketball for quite a long time, so much so that I got burnt out with it and was looking for something else. I learned about the Negro Baseball Leagues, became captivated with that history, and decided to write a book about it. After spending so long on that subject, I thought it was time for me to come back to my first love, basketball.

In learning that history, it really enriched my appreciation for the game and its evolution. I didn’t know much about its humble beginnings, so I had to start from ground zero. I had to find out who invented the game and who was playing these early games. How did it spread? How did it evolve from a very flat-footed, horizontal game to becoming the more vertical and diagonal games that we know today? All these elements came together.

In the book you describe the musicality of the game as it progresses. Can you talk about the importance of making that distinction?

The history of basketball mirrors what was going on culturally in America at that time, so I was surprised to learn that African Americans didn’t take up the game for quite some time after it was invented for several different reasons. One was access. I thought [music] was really a great metaphor for the different styles of basketball. You have this kind of rigid structure of classical music, for the early days of basketball. And then, as African Americans took up the sport, we brought our own athletic and cultural sensibilities to it, so it became more fluid, smooth, and improvisational, like jazz.

For people of a certain age, the Harlem Globetrotters may have been seen as more of a novelty act. You really give them their historical weight and due. Can you speak about their impact and contributions?

I think we all understand that basketball kind of has mixed beginnings. It started out as a segregated sport, and it mirrored what was going on in the country at the time. Early African American teams had to be very sensitive to the fact that for them to survive, they had to take their game on the road in what’s called barnstorming, where they’d play all comers across the country. Some communities were isolated and weren’t used to seeing African American people, and needed to be informed well in advance. Teams like the Harlem Globetrotters took on the name Harlem, even though they were from Chicago, to let people know that this was going to be an African American team visiting their small towns.

I found it fascinating and I didn’t know that through their play and the success of that team they ended up carrying the NBA when it was on its last legs. It was a brand-new league, and they weren’t doing very well. The Harlem Globetrotters would come to town, fill up the stadium, and then the NBA would play the second part of a doubleheader, and everyone would leave after the Globetrotters finished playing. They played an integral part in keeping the league alive. Also, they were an incredible basketball team, athletic, comedic, and entertaining.

Who is a single figure you see as seminal to basketball’s development, if that’s even quantifiable?

That’s a tough question, because there are different eras. There’s the question and ongoing debate about who’s the best player to ever play the game, and there are a lot of players to choose from.

The air starts to get a lot thinner as you get closer to the top with fewer players but that’s difficult, because you have so many. You have people like Naismith who invented the game. You have Luisetti and several guys who were integral to developing the jump shot. You have the ABA players who had a league full of this jazzy, fluid, improvisational style of playing basketball that later was incorporated into the NBA when they were absorbed by that league. You had Dr. J, who carried the ABA. He was, in my opinion, the savior of the league, which is why I depicted him in this Renaissance savior-like fashion with his arms spread out while he’s laying up the ball. There are so many players whose contributions to the game were important that I decided to create a special section for them in the book to honor their contributions as game changers and revolutionaries, because the game would not be the same without them.

Outside of the context of the history, do you have a personal favorite you appreciate as a fan?

I was a teenager in the ’90s, and who ruled the ’90s but Michael Jordan? He’s a seminal figure in the game of basketball and took it to levels of global popularity that had never happened before. It started with his supreme level of play, approach to the game, and his business sense. I wouldn’t be honest if I didn’t say that Jordan was... is... at the very top of the list. I think it’s pretty evident.

How does the WNBA fit into this rich history?

I thought it was important to share the story of women’s basketball. Unfortunately, I didn’t have enough room to expand further on that history, but women have been playing basketball since the very beginning. Say the game was invented on a Monday; women were playing the game on Tuesday. They had to really fight for their survival in the professional game, and it took an outstanding, undefeated season plus of college players to really gain attention.

They took their game all the way around the world in the 1996 Olympic women’s team and really showed the world that they can play this game at a high level and they can demand, or command, an audience. They have really exploded over the last few years based on just outstanding play. They’re playing the game at levels that are very, very impressive. So I’m really glad to see this story continue to evolve.

What is something that you would want readers to take away from this story?

I want readers to learn the story of basketball and see that it evolved in disparate parts, but it came together in a way that is very powerful. I think that we can work and live in isolation, but life is more fun when we play together. The NBA as we know it today, college basketball, and WNBA all coalesced into this really powerful mixture because all of these gifts from different communities coalesced into this beautiful powerhouse.

You’re in L.A. You have roots on the East Coast as well. Lakers or Knicks?

I honestly can’t say I have an allegiance to either. I’m a fan of really great basketball. I like to be surprised and see gameplay at its top. May the best team win.

Basket Ball: The Story of the All-American Game by Kadir Nelson. Little, Brown, $21.99 Jan. 13 ISBN 978-0-316-20940-3