DENVER — Bart Young has taken thousands of photos in his decades-long career, but he’s never taken one like he did Monday night, when Denver Nuggets star Jamal Murray sent Ball Arena into a frenzy with a game-winning jump shot.
Murray's shot in Game 2 of the NBA playoff-opening series completed an improbable comeback from a 20-point deficit against the Los Angeles Lakers. The 101-99 victory gave the Nuggets a 2-0 lead in the series.
“You’re just trying to make a picture that can kind of tell the story of the night,” Young said. “I had no idea it would end like that.”
Young is one of two photographers for the NBA at every Nuggets home game. He was sitting across the court as the clock ticked down.
“So you’re trying to watch the clock, and watch the player at the same time, but you’re anticipating a picture, and that’s kind of how it happened,” he said.
Young’s photo shows a perfectly framed Murray shooting over Anthony Davis as fans watched in amazement. What made the photo even more amazing was that Young had just one chance to get it.
NBA photographers shoot on strobes, meaning their cameras are attached to lights that flash with each image. Those lights take some time to recharge, so there’s no opportunity to snap multiple images and pick the best one.
“We’re confined to one picture because we have one pop of light,” Young said. “It’s kind of fun to see that picture, knowing it was just one picture.”
Young is also a photographer for the Colorado Rapids and said different sports require different shots. For example, he decided to keep his shot of Murray wide, to show the full moment.
“That’s kind of what we do with the NBA," he said. "We want to tell the story, and having that shot clock in there is mandatory. Otherwise it’s just a picture. It could be anywhere.”
He said it’s been fun to see his photo all over the internet and said he hopes the Nuggets appreciate it as much as the fans do.
“This is definitely one of the top, top moments of my career, for sure,” Young said. “It’s just a fun picture, and I really hope the team goes really big with this because I think it’s an image that needs to be on a wall.”
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