What is Prada’s Pictures?
This is a newsletter that breaks down NBA and WNBA game footage so normal basketball fans can better appreciate the athleticism and skill they watch on a nighty basis. Using words, annotated stills, GIFs, and other forms of media, Prada’s Pictures shines a light on the easy-to-miss elements that make the best players and teams thrive. This is Xs and Os for Average Joes.
Each week, I’ll dive deep into the film to analyze a specific on-court trend. I’ll show you the sequences you may have missed while watching the game and explain why they are essential in understanding a team or player’s success.
For $10 a month or $100 a year, I’ll help you become a smarter NBA fan without boring you with technical jargon.
Who are you?
I was the lead editor and senior writer for SB Nation’s NBA coverage until June of 2020. I started Bullets Forever as a college sophomore in 2006 and built it into the biggest and most respected independent Washington Wizards media outlet. For nearly a decade, I developed, maintained, and grew SBNation.com’s unique NBA coverage while recruiting and nurturing many of your favorite Internet-native hoops writers. Along with all that, I have written the Prada’s Pictures column since the start of the 2012-13 season. I also had a video series with the same name and a podcast that’s been revived.
Most of all, I’m a basketball junkie that watches a ton of basketball games. I take pride in making sure that I closely watch at least 20 percent of each team’s games during the season, start to finish. The DVR is my best friend.
You can follow me on Twitter here.
A lot of writers break down game film. Many of them used to do it for actual NBA teams! What makes this different?
The explosion of Internet-based NBA writing has been a boon for people who specialize in breaking down the game. But many of these pieces assume you have a PhD in basketball jargon and want to think like a coach. Because of that, “Xs and Os” coverage gets classified as a specific type of content for a narrow audience rather than a device for bringing the league and its players to life.
My goal is to change that. I want to weave this sort of analysis together to tell larger stories about the games you watch. I want to help you become a smarter fan, not show off my basketball vocabulary. I want to use film breakdowns to improve your viewing experience, not help my team’s chances of winning.
What do I get if I subscribe?
All non-paying subscribers will receive:
One free breakdown per week delivered to your inbox.
One free podcast episode a week with my old SB Nation co-host and fellow past-their-prime NBA obsessive Ben Epstein.
What about paid subscribers? In addition to gaining access to future community features, bonus podcast episodes, and any other blog posts I find time to put together during the week, you’ll be helping to support detailed coverage of the on-court product, not all the noise that surrounds it. As the NBA news cycle has sped up and expanded beyond the 94 x 50 parameters of the court, many media companies spend too much time chasing today’s trending topic and lose sight of the actual game that many fans fell in love with in the first place. If you love the game first and the sport second, then I hope you’ll support this endeavor.
