Pretty Pictures: Jordan Tabije’s illustrations of huge in-game dunks

Pretty Pictures spotlights cool pieces of art created by basketball fans for basketball fans that'd look great in your living room. Seen something worth sharing? Let us know.

As a New York Knicks fan, I should be outraged at artist Jordan Tabije's slick, stylized rendering of Scottie Pippen's infamous detonation on Patrick Ewing from Game 6 of the 1994 Eastern Conference semifinals. It's an ugly, disconcerting memory, and I'd greatly prefer not to think about it, thank you very much.

But man, is that a cool-lookin' piece.

Tabije's remix of Nathaniel Butler's legendary photograph strips away all the extraneous elements — the court, the crowd, the other players on the floor (including, mercifully, Devine favorite John Starks, who had to just stand idly by and watch as Pippen elevated), everything — to render the moment of truth in simple black-and-white. That small swatch of red in the lower-left corner below Patrick's legs evokes the evil Pip's doing and the violence of his off-the-wing motion ... and, ultimately, gives Ewing's defeated body a resting place. (God, an 11-year-old me hated watching this.)

Pippen-on-Ewing is one of three in-game dunks that Tabije has worked up to date — he's also highlighted Vince Carter's epic 2000 Olympic high jump over French Knicks draftee Frederic Weis and a young Kobe Bryant's phenomenal 1997 preseason cram over an also young, not-year-fro'ed-and-feared Ben Wallace. All three share that same stark black-and-white illustrative approach, dropping out the rest of the world to focus on the instant of impact, and can be copped in a variety of sizes for a variety of prices, starting at $20.

Maybe if we buy up enough of these for the Pip, VC and Kobe fans in our lives, Tabije will throw me a freakin' bone and get a similarly styled Starks print up for sale. (By the way: Happy anniversary.)

But then, I'm being selfish. What in-game throwdowns would you like to see get the Tabije treatment? Let us know in the comments, on Twitter or at the BDL Facebook page.

Hat-tip to Design You Trust.