Compound, NBPA Celebrate Artwork for LeBron James and 2019 PVA Winners

Lakers star LeBron James has an extensive resume, and he has just added unique artwork to it. The king of basketball was one of the several basketball players who received artwork as a recognition for their achievements at the fourth annual Players’ Voice Awards with the Players’ Tribune in Los Angeles on July 9. It was a joint celebration of the NBPA and Compound. Being part of the 2019 PVA Winners? Why not?

The artwork will be put on display at the Compound Gallery in the South Bronx in New York on Wednesday. There will be a private reception before the public exhibit that’s set to last for a couple of weeks.

Set Free Richardson accompanied by Yasiin Bey, also known as rapper Mos Def, opened the Compound Gallery. It’s the first black-owned art gallery in the South Bronx. The grand opening was last July.

“That’s what Compound stands for is bringing great things together,” Richardson told Bleacher Report.

He has already created the AND1 mixtapes. Kevin Durant, Kevin Garnett, Carmelo Anthony, Iman Shumpert and Kenneth Faried have visited the gallery.

“Basketball is my first childhood love,” Richardson said. “Growing up between New York and Philly, watching the Knicks and the Sixers, I just always fell in love with the game.”

The game will displayed at the Compound Gallery thanks to the work of Ron English, Naturel, BK The Artist, Freehand Profit, King Saladeen, Dragon76, Bahar Bambi, Andre Trenier, Christophe Roberts, Devon Rodriguez and the Vera Twins.

“I really just called on my Rolodex of artists and friends to curate all the awards with me,” Richardson said.

“Each artist created a unique illustration using various mediums to represent the winning player and their achievement,” the Players’ Voice Awards’ website read. “More than just beautiful and impactful representations of the awards and their winners, each work of art speaks to the NBPA’s mission and core purpose to embody and celebrate the Players’ collective voice.”

James Harden (Toughest to Guard), Kevin Durant (Mr. Clutch), Giannis Antetokounmpo (MVP), Russell Westbrook (Freshest), Dwyane Wade (Most Respected), Dirk Nowitzki (Most Respected), Rudy Gobert (Locksmith), Gordon Hayward (Comeback Player), Lou Williams (X-Factor), PJ Tucker (Sneaker Champ) and Luka Doncic (Leader of the New School) were honored in the process.

According to Richardson, working with AND1 was “a real blessing in a lot of different areas because I got to work in basketball on a street ball level and a professional level. We had the street ballers and created the AND1 mixtapes, but at the same time we had players signed to the company—Latrell Sprewell, Ben Wallace, Chauncey Billups, Kevin Garnett—so I got to learn the best of both worlds on the street ball side and the NBA side. That’s when a lot of my relationships started happening when I started first working with AND1 with the NBA side.”