Another interview for the books! I spoke to NBA photographer Nat Butler while he was in hotel lockdown at the league’s playoff facility. Nat was generous enough to share some beautiful HD images and had so many good stories. It’s not often you get to have an hour long conversation with a guy who went to Shaq’s college graduation, knows Michael Jordan and has been to Lebron’s house. Nat’s been around so long that he shot the first basketball magazine I ever bought. Here’s part one for Complex…
Nathaniel S. Butler’s career is as biblical as his first-name. The phrase G.O.A.T gets flung around more than a street-court basketball but Nat’s earned his nomination. The forty-year pro has spent a lifetime surrounded by champions. He’s captured the NBA Playoffs every year since ‘84. Butler’s pictures convey every heart-clenching, buzzer-beating moment you can imagine.
“Gold mine” isn’t a vast enough metaphor to describe Butler’s archives. We’re talking 100,000 files of NBA prestige. The Dream Team tour bus. Rookie Carmelo in a suit baggier than an insomniac’s eye-lid. Jeremy Lin’s Time magazine cover. MJ dunking in monochrome. LeBron studying the 2012 finals like a uni exam. Prince and Dave Chappelle at MSG. Allen Iverson with enough stars and stripes to make Juelz Santana blush. A young Rodman, a fresh-faced KD, an even younger Ben Simmons. You get the gist. Nat has seen it all. And there’s a story behind every image.
Growing up, Butler was either playing, watching or reading about ball. As a student, he hooped at NY college St John’s. Unfortunately, his skills never matched his fascination. Nat was never a great athlete. But that didn’t defer his passion.
In the late ‘60s, Butler’s alumni played at Madison Square Garden. He was friendly with the squad and began documenting games for the school paper. Armed with a vintage camera and a pocketful of film, Nat found himself shooting the world’s most iconic venue.
At MSG sidelines, he’d encounter Sports Illustrated staff – icons of their era. Before the internet, S.I ruled sports. Butler spent his childhood reading the magazine obsessively. Shooting at The Garden gave him access to names he knew only as a fan. Nat ran into visionaries like Walter Iooss Jr, a maestro who shot Muhammed Ali.
Butler began interning with S.I and eventually went solo. His career launched during Magic and Bird’s ballistic rivalry. The sweat-soaked Celtics and Lakers clash was an era-defining event. Championship titles got traded more than pawn shop jewellery. This period was a career tipping-point. Nat learnt never to be distracted by a moment’s historical value. He’d be so focused on each second that the importance of snapping Kareem’s gracious skyhook wouldn’t sink in until it appeared in the next day’s paper.