The Baller
- Open edition art print measuring 16 x 11 inches (41 x 28 cm), reproduced on premium paper for rich black-and-white contrast.
- Three ways to display: unframed print, black frame, or black frame with double mat (white top mat over black bottom mat).
- Painted in Justin Bua's signature Distorted Urban Realism style, with elongated limbs and gritty city detail.
- A tribute to old-school streetball and playground culture, when the game was built on grit, respect, and toughness.
- Bold statement piece for a home gym, den, office, or man cave, and a standout gift for basketball and urban art lovers.
Some legends never made the NBA. They made their names on cracked asphalt, under bent rims, in front of crowds packed three deep along the chain-link fence. The Baller by Justin Bua is a salute to that world. A lean, wiry playground giant stands tall over a jagged skyline of tenements and fire escapes, one impossibly long arm extended to palm the ball with total command. His afro crowns him like a halo, a nod to the golden era when style and swagger counted for as much as the final score.
Bua renders the scene in his signature black-and-white line work, all grit, grain, and elongated limbs. The distortion is the point; it stretches the figure into something mythic, the way playground reputations grow with every retelling. This is basketball before travel teams and national rankings, when the game belonged to the block, and respect was earned one possession at a time. Anyone who came up on park runs, who knows the names whispered around Harlem's Rucker or any court where local royalty held the concrete, will feel the truth in every stroke.
Printed at 16 by 11 inches on premium paper, The Baller anchors a den, home gym, office, or anywhere the culture lives. Choose the unframed print, a clean black frame, or the black frame with a double mat (a crisp white top mat over a black bottom mat) for gallery-ready depth straight out of the box.
Justin Bua came up on New York City's Upper West Side in the 1970s and 80s, growing alongside hip-hop, breakdancing, and graffiti. He tagged the streets as "Just-1" before earning his degree at the Art Center College of Design, then fused that classical training with the pulse of the block into a style he named Distorted Urban Realism. His elongated figures and street-born subjects turned prints like The DJ into some of the best-selling images of their kind, and his hand has shaped everything from EA Sports' NBA Street to museum walls. Bua paints the city's overlooked heroes with the reverence old masters once reserved for kings.
Bring home a tribute to the ballers who made the playground sacred. Add The Baller by Justin Bua to your collection today.
| Edition | Open Edition |
| Framed | Available framed or unframed |
| Height | 11 inches |
| Length | 16 Inches |
| Medium | Paper |
| Signed | Unsigned |
| SKU | jubu103 |
Justin Bua
For over a decade, artist BUA has been making a mark on popular culture with his unique style of Distorted Urban Realism, single-handedly spearheading a new genre of art. Born and raised by a single-mom in NYC’s untamed Upper West Side, BUA was fascinated by the raw, visceral Manhattan street life and found himself absorbing the essence of the burgeoning culture at places like Rock Steady Park and the Douglas Projects. BUA studied visual art at the High School of Music and Performing Arts (“Fame”) and complemented his education on the streets by writing graffiti and performing worldwide with breakdancing crews such as The New York Express and The Dynamic Breakers.Most in stock items ship in 0 to 5 business depending upon the shipping method selected during checkout. Large framed artwork requires an additional 1 to 5 days of processing time to allow for framing. All orders over $250 ship signature required. Pre-Orders, identified by a “Reserve Now” checkout button, can take 3 to 14 business days to process and ship. If there is an issue with your order we will notify you with 1 to 2 business days. For additional information please visit our: Shipping Policy
