June 25, 2018
SANTA MONICA — Long before the Houston RocketsJames Harden became a six-time All-Star, back when he was an eighth-grader growing up in Los Angeles and Kobe and Shaq ran the NBA for those hometown Lakers, he wrote a letter to his mother that has now become part of his hoops legend.

“Imma be a star,” it read.
Harden is even more than that as it turns out.
"Sixth man of the year to the MVP," Harden said at his MVP acceptance speech. "Shout out to all the young ones, they got a dream. It's a vision out there. Go take it, go chase that dream."
The 28-year-old was announced as such at the league’s awards show on Monday night, and it was apropos that the event took place inside an airplane hangar just 10 miles from the Audubon middle school where his rise began. Harden has always found a way to soar to new heights, his nonstop route taking him from nearby Artesia High School to Arizona State to Oklahoma City and then to the Rockets in 2012. But it’s these past few years that put Harden in rarefied air.
Not only was Harden the best player in the 2017-18 regular season, averaging 30.4 points, 8.8 assists and 5.4 rebounds for a Rockets team that had the league’s best record, but he’s been on the precipice of this territory for nearly four years now.
  • During that 2014-15 campaign in which Golden State’s Steph Curry was named MVP, Harden (27.4 points per game) trailed only the Thunder’s Russell Westbrook in scoring while also averaging seven assists and nearly six rebounds for a Rockets team that finished 56-26 and fell to the Warriors in the Western Conference finals.
  • In 2015-16, there was an uptick in his personal production (29 points, 7.5 assists, 6.1 rebounds per) but Houston (41-41) took a significant step backward before falling to the Warriors in the first round.
  • In 2016-17, when new coach Mike D’Antoni paired so wonderfully with Harden as he was moved to the point guard position, he averaged 29.1 points (second behind Westbrook), 11.2 assists (first), and 8.1 rebounds for a Rockets team that had the league’s third-best record (55-27) and fell in the second round to San Antonio.
This isn’t a cumulative award, of course, but anyone who paid attention these past few years could tell that it was only a matter of time before Harden got his hands on the Maurice Podoloff trophy.
He won by the kind of comfortable margin that was widely expected, receiving 86 of the 101 first-place votes (Cleveland's LeBron James had 15) and totaling 965 points in all (James had 738, while New Orleans' Anthony Davis had 445).
"The last four years I've been knocking on the door, knocking on the door, and now the moment is finally here," Harden said afterward. "Just every single, year you try to come back and be better than you were the year before, and just to be holding that trophy finally, it means a lot. But it doesn't stop here. We've got a long way to go. But it feels good to have it though."
Harden admitted during the telecast that he didn't have a speech prepared. But his play, even long before this season, had spoken for itself.
"You know, I felt like last year I should have won as well, so I didn't see a difference between last year and this year," he said when asked why he didn't have a speech. "If I won it, then I was going to go off the top (of his head) and try to, you know, show my appreciation to everybody helping me along the way. Give respect and pay my dues."
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SkyPixel 9th Annual Photo & Video Contest Winners Announced
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Competition Receives a Record Number of Submissions that Highlight the Power of Innovation SHENZHEN, China, March 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- SkyPixel, one of the world's most popular online communities for aerial photography and videography, today announces the winners of the SkyPixel 9th Annual Photo & Video Contest. Co-organized with DJI, this year's competition attracted over 130,000 submissions – a 100% increase from the previous year. The contest welcomed submissions from across the creator community, which includes professionals, aerial enthusiasts, and creative newcomers, showcasing their personal histories through the art of visual innovation. A Contest Shaped by You The SkyPixel Annual Photo & Video Contest is a testament to the power of innovation led imagery, honoring stories that shape the art of image capture both on solid ground and amidst the clouds. SkyPixel has cultivated a community-driven platform that reflects the dreams and aspirations of creators worldwide, and the annual competition has been a conduit for people who love image creation to express themselves as it authentically reflects the desires and aspirations of creators worldwide. Industry-Leading Judges The 9th Annual Photo & Video Contest was assessed by a Judging Panel of incredible professionals in the industry. In photography, seasoned experts include Wen Huang, a World Press Photo judge and Senior Editor, and Anne Farrar, Assistant Photography Chief Editor at National Geographic, Nan Li, the Photo Director of Southern Weekly, and Daniel Kordan, a renowned landscape photographer. In the video category, the judges include Michael Fitzmaurice, the Aerial Director of Photography of "Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle," and Xiaoshi Zhao, known for his award-winning work on "Forever Enthralled." Bing Xi, a prominent figure in the Chinese TVC industry, and celebrated filmmaker Brandon Li round out the panel. After careful deliberation, the panel proudly presents the final winners for the year. 9th Annual Best Work Prize – Video: "Haines Alaska Through the Eyes of Luke Bredar" by Luke Bredar This year's video judging panel, which includes award-winning Cinematographers and Directors of Photography, chose Luke Bredar's video, "Haines Alaska Through the Eyes of Luke Bredar." This short film mixes heart-pounding action shots of a skier racing down a snowy mountaintop landscapes with breathtaking shots of Alaska's mountainous, winter terrain. Luke Bredar details the thought process behind the short film, "The motivation behind creating this video was to evoke themes of otherworldliness, objective risk, the interplay between risk and the essence of human spirit, solitude, impermanence, self-sufficiency, and the journey of incomplete wandering intertwined with heartbreak." This short film is an epic story made in collaboration with Matchstick Productions. Bredar explains how he pursues a better visual presentation through his creative process "I think to myself. How would my child self want to see this filmed? And I almost always get a clear vision in response. There are a myriad of challenges shooting aerial cinematography in mountain environments, but they are all ...Full story available on Benzinga.com
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