Why Phoenix's Josh Okogie is back on NBA summer league courts

Fresh off a two-year, $16 million extension with the Phoenix Suns, Josh Okogie went back to work at the Las Vegas Summer League — as a photographer.

The 25-year-old guard picked up the hobby this summer after purchasing a Sony Alpha 7 III camera while on vacation in Milan, Italy, during Fashion Week and was urged by a friend to test his skills capturing live basketball.

“I’m still not good,” Okogie admitted to ESPN. “I’ll say 90-95% of my pictures are B.S., but I feel like I’ve gotten better — slightly — each day I’ve taken pictures. I’ve kind of figured out how the camera works, how to do the settings, how to do the white balance and all that. So it’s been pretty cool.”

Okogie tried his hand behind the lens at the NBA Creator Cup celebrity game and followed with the Los Angeles Lakers–Houston Rockets summer league game before shooting his team, the Suns, as they took on the Golden State Warriors in Vegas.

Throughout his six seasons with the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Suns, Okogie has grown to appreciate the work of Wolves team photographer David Sherman and Phoenix’s Barry Gossage.

“That’s my guy,” Okogie said of Sherman. “He films the Wolves, and he also films a lot of other NBA-sanctioned events. So I’ve always paid close attention to David.”

Okogie said he hopes to follow in the footsteps of former MLB pitcher Randy Johnson and former NFL wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald by continuing to work sporting events as a pro athlete turned photographer — starting with some WNBA games during the NBA offseason.

The goal, as with most athletes, is to be the best in his field. That means delivering some of the NBA’s most iconic images.

“When you talk about NBA photos, you gotta bring out the Dwayne Wade-LeBron alley-oop,” Okogie said. “You also gotta bring out the LeBron-Kobe All-Star photo that Drake photobombed.”

For now, Okogie is still adjusting to taking photos of live action rather than scenic shots during his trip to Europe.

“It’s very fast,” Okogie said. “Every time somebody dunks, by the time I take a picture, he’s already done finished the dunk and he’s already playing defense. It was just going so fast for me. … I feel like the biggest improvement I have to make is adjusting to the speed of the game and not only anticipating but also about being at the right angle to get the best picture.

“Because you want the picture to replicate the feeling of the play for those who weren’t there.”

And for the next time he hits an NBA court as a player, Okogie is already thinking about how he can best complement Phoenix’s stars after the Suns were swept out of the first round last season.

“My mentality is just to go out there and just try to try to give this team the energy that they need on both sides of the floor,” Okogie said. “We have a lot of talent on this team, but I want to be the battery of this team, if that makes sense. The motor of this team, to get people going, get people excited to play, get people moving. … Just, when JO steps on this court, everybody’s intensity level just rises.”

It’s a goal that he’s already raised with new Suns coach Mike Budenholzer.

“The West is going to be really competitive next year,” Okogie said. “I feel like we can be as good as we want to be. I feel like our ceiling is as high as we make it. I’m excited. I feel like if we get a good training camp and we start to jell, the sky’s the limit for us.”