A Nikola Jokić-Jamal Murray mural to see: A Denver artist and his timely creation

DENVER — The empty wall first caught Thomas Evans’ eye in 2020. Located just off the intersection of Colfax Avenue and Race Street, the wall faces a 7-Eleven parking lot, and Evans noticed the space often went neglected. As a muralist, it fit his needs.

“It’s not the best place to hang out, and it’s in the alleyway,” said the 38-year-old artist who goes by the name Detour.

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The building’s owners gave Evans permission to use the wall for a mural of George Floyd, which he created with spray paint. Outdoor art isn’t permanent, though, and Evans eventually repainted the wall, creating a portrait of his friend Trina Fernandes, a nurse at Denver Health. But as time went on, the paint started to chip away.

“It was annoying trying to repaint those different areas,” Evans said. “Sometimes it’s just easier to redo the entire mural rather than patching everything together every month.”

So last week, with the NBA Finals set to come to Denver, he embarked on a new project: a Denver Nuggets mural. He painted over the portrait of Fernandes, then sketched outlines of Nikola Jokić and Jamal Murray. After that, his work with the spray paint began:

The Nuggets mural process👌📸

— I am Detour (@IamDetour303) June 1, 2023

After 3 1/2 days, portraits of the two Denver stars had overtaken the wall, detailed down to the stubble under Jokić’s chin. The mural is set on a colorful orange, yellow, pink and blue backdrop — in line with the style Evans has developed. The display jumps out to those driving down Colfax, one of the busiest streets in Denver, and it showcases the excitement the Nuggets have injected into the city.

“It’s cool,” Murray said of the vibe around Denver. “Everybody stays behind us, and that means a lot.”

Evans was born in Dayton, Ohio, but his dad was in the military, so his family moved around frequently growing up. He spent a good chunk of his upbringing in the St. Louis area and lived in Germany before attending the University of Colorado Denver. He’s been in the city since — aside from a year in Tanzania, where he did volunteer work in 2014.

Since returning to Denver, Evans has worked on his art full-time. He wrote a book, “Be The Artist,” that offers tips about entering the art world. He also has generated an Instagram following of nearly 100,000 people.

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With the basketball world tuned in to Denver, Evans spoke with The Athletic about his journey and the process of creating his new Nuggets mural.

(Editor’s note: The following has been lightly edited for clarity and brevity.)

How did you choose the name Detour?

That came from a dancing VHS tape, which dates me. One of the dance crews I really liked put out a dance tape of highlight clips and a documentary. It had the word “detour” in there. I liked the word. When I started doing a ton of airbrushing in high school, I was like, “Let me use something different than what my actual name is.” It’s a little corny just to put your actual name on the work. I started using “Detour,” and it stuck.

Were you always a basketball fan, or has that been a recent thing being in Denver as the Nuggets have gotten good?

I’ve always been a basketball fan. Everyone wanted to be Michael Jordan. When I was living in Charlotte, I got to meet Larry Johnson and Muggsy Bogues. I loved being in some of these places where the team was active and they had players that had personality. I also got to be in the same room as Allen Iverson (at a college event) when I first moved to Colorado.

Did the Nuggets become your team when you moved to Denver?

You just start to get indoctrinated because you’re around the team and all the players. This is actually the place I’ve lived the longest. It really got embedded into me, Nuggets culture and stuff like that. I do a lot of work in the arts community, (and) sometimes that overlaps with sports.

When did you develop spray paint as your type of art?

That was around 2015 when I got involved with a mural festival called Colorado Crush. Denver is one of, for me, the premier mural scenes and graffiti scenes when it comes to art. It’s different than a lot of other places. We have a lot of street art, a lot of murals around here. Getting involved with that was really fun.

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A lot of my friends were graffiti artists and muralists, and they were teaching me how to work with spray paint and doing different techniques. I (did) a little bit before but never for an entire mural piece that was for the public.

What was your first mural piece?

My first mural piece I did with spray paint was on a temporary shed for Sustainability Park. My official almost-permanent piece on an actual building was actually in Tanzania. I was using oil paints, and I did almost a paint-by-number with some of the students at the school I was volunteering at. Then I came back to Denver, and that’s when I did my first sort of mural piece in my style. I did it on an alleyway on a garage door. It was of my friend. The piece was super, super colorful. That was the style I was developing.

How do you make something so intricate with spray paint?

It’s really a lot of practice and learning how to layer everything. Spray paint isn’t the most refined medium or tool. It takes a lot of technique and understanding how the can works. Lots of practice and practice and practice.

The wall I did the Nuggets mural on, I don’t get paid for that at all. That’s just a wall I like to paint up all the time because I’m able to go out there and practice a new technique or new style. It just takes an artist doing a piece over and over and over or using a spray can over and over and over to get better at it. If you don’t use it, you lose it. I always have to keep practicing as much as possible.

Was this your first sports mural?

No. I did a Jokić mural outside my studio just to practice a little bit. I flew out to Baltimore to do a baseball-themed mural. I’ve worked with the Nuggets on some of the more traditional paintings for their alumni players and some stuff here and there for other teams.

What’s the reception been of your new Nuggets mural?

It’s been really, really good. There’s not a lot of sports murals out here. In Los Angeles or Chicago, you’ll have a ton. It was really fun just to see people gravitate to a sports mural and get excited about our first time in the finals. Everyone’s been super, super receptive. Even some of the haters from other teams, they’re like, “Even though I’m going for the Heat, I definitely respect the art.”

Is the mural complete, or will you add more?

I’m hopefully adding more to it. I want to add a dunk by Aaron Gordon in there, as well. I want to try to add something with (Michael) Malone in there. When we win, I want to add a trophy and some lettering — things that will tell the story of this playoff season.

Related reading

Vardon: Nuggets cruise to win over Heat in Game 1 of NBA Finals
Kosmider: Nikola Jokić, Jamal Murray and the growth of the NBA’s most lethal two-man dance
Jones: Denver Nuggets’ NBA Finals journey includes ups and downs — and memorable jerseys

(Top photo by Julia Donaldson, courtesy of Thomas Evans)