The best NBA photographs can turn a fraction of a second into an eternal memory. They manage to summarize players, personalities, careers and eras.
There is so much motion in the game and in the way our minds work that it might come as a surprise how many classic NBA moments lacked a great original photograph to go with it. Screen grabs don't count. There's no true still photo of Dr. J rocking the cradle and dunking on Michael Cooper or Willis Reed limping through the tunnel in Madison Square Garden.
And yet there's no shortage of timeless pictures, thanks to the photographers who had the right combination of composition, angle and timing as they hit the shutter button.