The Knicks, the Watercolor Painter, and the World’s Most-Popular Artist

There’s a pretty wild story unfolding about one of the world’s most-followed artists, the New York Knicks, and an up-and-coming painter. At the center of this controversy are two Knicks paintings that are far too similar to ignore, so I’m going to do my best to document what we know so far.

The Knicks Commission

Gavin Snider had only been a full-time artist for about 10 months when the New York Knicks hired him to create a painting ahead of the 2026 NBA Finals. After a tight turnaround, Gavin delivered and his painting was shared on the Knicks’ social media pages. Shortly afterwards, Devon Rodriguez shared an oil painting that depicted a nearly identical composition with many of the same characters and details in it… right down to the jersey numbers in the foreground.

A watercolor painting by Gavin Snider that shows a large crowd in Madison Square celebrating the Knicks. The art is stylish with a focus on red and blue colors. The characters are slightly cartoony, showing joy in their faces and wearing Knicks gear.
A, oil painting by Devon Rodriguez that shows a large crowd in Madison Square celebrating the Knicks. The composition of this painting is nearly identical to the one by Gavin Snyder. The buildings are the same, the signs on the buildings are the same, there are other similarities like a Knicks flag and a large foam finger glove that are in the same places. Even the numbers on the jerseys are the same.

According to Gavin, the overlap went far beyond the general idea of painting Knicks fans in New York, stating that his painting used 67 different reference photos, including screenshots from Instagram Reels and Google Street View.

A comparison of the two paintings, showing how the flag and background umbrellas in Gavin's painting look identical to the ones in Devon's painting.
Text from Devon that says "Also, all good figurative artists use reference images to paint. My painting in particular was composed from a folder of 67 of them, Google Street View, screenshots from IG reels, photographs from watch parties across NYC. I knew exactly when and where all the elements in my scene were placed - a waving flag, a foam finger, a hot dog cart, a billboard - and his version was uncanny, almost traced, with a few small changes and an unearthly glow."

More Similarities Surface

After the controversy began, Gavin noticed that another one of Rodriguez’s recent works appeared computationally similar to one of his paintings from 2025.

Two paintings side by side. The one of the left is by Gavin, the one on the right is by Devon. Both show the interior of a basketball stadium mid game. The perspective is nearly identical, the message on the billboard is the same, and the players are almost lined up in the same position on the court. Gavin's style is loser and more watercolory using only red and blue. Devon's piece has a little more detail and more realistic depiction of some characters in the foreground.

Questions About Process

Devon Rodriguez is one of the world’s most-followed visual artists, second only to Banksy, with roughly 44 million followers across Instagram and TikTok. He’s demonstrated serious artistic skill for years through videos documenting his process.

Based on the timeline of the posts, it appears that Devon’s paintings were shared after Gavin’s. Which raises the question of why Devon’s two most recent paintings so closely resemble Devon’s work.

two paintings side by side. The paintings have different styles, but identical composition. One is by Gavin Snider and the other is by Devon Rodriguez. The one by Gavin is marked as the "original" and the one by Devon is marked as "AI copy", though that allegation is made by the person who made this image.
An image from Threads accusing Devon of using generative AI

Some commenters have speculated that AI tools may have been involved, while others believe the similarities could be explained through heavy referencing, tracing, or other traditional techniques.

I can’t definitively say whose work came first or what process was used to create either piece. What strikes me is that both artists are unquestionably skilled painters. If one image was derived from the other, I wonder whether someone used AI tools to introduce small changes to the original composition before tracing and repainting it in their own style.

That’s only speculation on my part, but I don’t believe either of the images we see here are purely the result of generative AI output.

Statements and Responses

Gavin has since released a public statement addressing the situation here https://www.instagram.com/p/DZptTFdjZyC/

After the controversy began circulating online, Devon Rordriguez posted a behind-the-scenes video showing the creation of his painting on Instagram, but didn’t address the allegations directly.

Devon deleted that behind-the-scenes video shortly after posting it, but I’ve shared a copy on the Wayback Machine for reference.

I don’t know if we’ll ever get any definitive answer as to what happened here, but it looks to me like one of these artists copied the other.

What makes this story interesting is the popularity of the artists involved and the allegations of how generative AI may have been used, even if the final results were both hand painted.