Bringing his paintings to Philly felt like ‘serendipity’ for this former pro basketball player
One of Neil Anthony Edwards' piece featuring LeBron James explores the angst of leaving pro basketball. He also will exhibit art featuring Rocky Balboa at the Morton Contemporary Art Gallery.
Neil Anthony Edwards hadn’t picked up a pen or a paintbrush since he was 16 years old.
Edwards was a fan of comics growing up and loved trying emulate the art from those books in his drawings. He even attended the High School of Art and Design in Manhattan for a few years before his parents split.
But when he moved to Far Rockaway, Queens, and sprouted up to about 6-foot-6 as a teenager, Edwards put down the pencil and picked up a basketball.
Basketball took him to Stony Brook for college, followed by a professional career that included a stint with the Los Angeles Clippers and time overseas playing in China, Venezuela, Italy, and Lebanon.
But once his basketball career faded away, Edwards returned to his original love: art.
It’s a theme he explores in his upcoming exhibit, “Evanescence: We Are Still Fading,” opening Saturday at the Morton Contemporary Art Gallery. The exhibit will run through Dec. 6.
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He said the theme is not meant to be viewed as “doom and gloom,” but rather about the legacy someone leaves when they embark on something new.
“I’ve been involved in so many different things where I’ve reached the mountaintop in a lot of areas that people say ‘What can’t you do?’” Edwards said. “I faded in basketball, but now I’m increasing and becoming renowned in art.”
Edwards’ collection expands on the pieces in his sold-out 2025 show, “WE ARE ALL FADING,” which was also displayed at Morton last year.
Debbie Morton, the owner and founder of Morton Contemporary Art Gallery, said the response to Edwards’ work last year made it obvious that they had to follow up this year.
Last year’s show had 600 RSVPs, so many that Morton said people couldn’t see the work. As a result, they followed it up with an artist talk, which Morton said also was a success.
“It really did seem to touch a lot of people, the universality of the experience of fading that he represents in the show,” Morton said.
The inspiration for the oil paintings span from the 1910s to the present with two Philly-centric pieces depicting Rocky Balboa and LeBron James.
After confirming he would return to Philly for another exhibit, Edwards had to think of the pieces he would do for the show. Rocky made sense, especially since another Rocky-inspired painting he did was the first to sell at last year’s show. Then, James signed with the 76ers.
“I felt like it was all serendipity,” Edwards said. “The [I Play] Rocky movie coming out right at the same time as my show. LeBron going to Philadelphia right at the same time as my show, I think it was all working together.”
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Edwards, who considers James “arguably the best player of all time,” said his own career helps him understand how “borderline impossible” it is to sustain a run like James has for the past 24 seasons. He also is aware of the criticism James gets because of the pedestal he’s placed on as an “immortal being.”
Edwards’ experience with leaving the world of professional sports and the difficulty that comes with it contributed to his inspiration for the piece.
“That fading piece is about LeBron’s transition to the mortal side of life where there’s no applause anymore,” Edwards said. “Of course he’s always going to be celebrated, but everybody knows when you leave that game, it’s not the same.”
Along understanding the themes of the pieces and what they depict, Edwards said he wants people to appreciate the skill and the detail within them as well.
“My abilities have increased in such a short period of time, but then I say to myself, ‘It probably never went anywhere,’” Edwards said. “It was always there. It just was waiting for me to return and come back to my true gifts and my true talent.”
