Fan art is nothing new. Long before there were Tumblrs full of Game of Thrones fan art and Reddit threads where things get truly strange, people simply doodled on their classroom assignments and in the margins of notebooks at meetings.
But sometimes the weirdest kind of fan art is also the best. That’s certainly the case of Instagram user hhhhytian, who has a number of NBA-themed artwork posted there. The illustrations featuring the Golden State Warriors as characters from SpongeBob SquarePants are, to borrow a phrase from the show, the best thing since canned bread.
Sam Esfandiari “stumbled across” the Instagram account and tweeted about it on Wednesday night, getting a bit of attention. But these deserve a full exploration, a service of which I am happy to provide. Seriously, look at Patrick, Squidward and Spongebob here.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BXK-GtKgYtv/?taken-by=hhhhytian
Many of the illustrations seem to show the players essentially wearing very good costumes of SpongeBob characters. But it’s fun to play the game of who is who here. SpongeBob, of course, is Stephen Curry. Who else could be, really? Kevin Durant is a high-waisted Squidward Tentacles in Warriors blue and white.
Just look again at Klay Thompson as Patrick Star. There’s something beautiful about the likeness, the weird uncanny valley feeling you get when a robot isn’t quite human. Patrick doesn’t look like Klay at all, really, but there’s something perfect about this.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BXK9-5Ig_Wz/?taken-by=hhhhytian
There’s even a mixed media piece using KlayPartrick StarThompson and a Kevin Durant picture he took while touring India.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BXW25w4gYhF/
The rest of the characters are great, too. JaVale McGee as Mr. Krabs’ whale daughter, Pearl, is a favorite of mine. But there are some other choices that are a bit more interesting. Patrick McCaw is Gary, SpongeBob’s pet snail. He was even tagged in the post on Instagram, though it does not appear he liked the photo.
The account only has 146 followers as of this writing, which seems downright criminal given the talent on display here. The artist appears to be a huge Warriors fan, and one of his earlier works was an illustration of the team that doubles as a championship photo. It’s some really expressive, creative work. But the SpongeBob illustrations are truly something else. They even posted a goodbye illustration of Ian Clark as a jellyfish.
Clark, of course, signed with the New Orleans Pelicans this summer.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BXSqN5ug2ps/?taken-by=hhhhytian
Notice Clark waiving goodbye as a pelican’s feet appear to be snatching him out of the ocean. This alternate universe where the Warriors live and play in Bikini Bottom is really something else. It’s way better than that whole super villains thing they were trying to do last season, anyway.
