Basketball player Landry Shamet takes his shots as a photographer working at the US Open

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NEW YORK (AP) — Like most basketball players, Landry Shamet has been busy taking shots.

This weekend, they were with a camera. He worked as a photographer at the U.S. Open.

The guard who spent last season with the New York Knicks had a job with the U.S. Tennis Association and was in Arthur Ashe Stadium snapping pictures during the women’s and men’s final matches.

An NBA player since 2018, Shamet said photography started out as a hobby about four years ago. Eventually he starting meeting professionals, gaining more experience and his passion grew from there.

“And somehow I’m here at the U.S. Open,” he said Sunday before taking his place in the photo pit before Carlos Alcaraz beat Jannik Sinner.

It was Shamet's second year with an unpaid position with the USTA. In 2024, he was on the grounds during the first week of the tournament. This time, he performed well enough that he was asked to come on the final weekend.

USTA photographer Jen Pottheiser watched Shamet position himself for shots of Aryna Sabalenka during the trophy presentation after the women's final and figured his 6-foot-4 height would help get him something others might not.

“But that aside, his action photos are really tremendous,” Pottheiser said. “He really is a student of photography here. He’s asking amazing questions. He’s frankly a great teammate. I’m sure any New Yorker knows that.”

Shamet uses his own camera equipment, which he at first never imagined owning. Even though he enjoyed taking photos, he just used his phone.

“My friend was like, ‘You should get a camera,’” Shamet said. “I’m like, ‘I’m not going to use a camera. Who has cameras anymore? You just use your phone. Who needs a camera?’”

But once he got one, he enjoyed taking it on road trips or just using it around the streets at home. Eventually, like fellow athletes such as baseball of Hall of Famers Ken Griffey Jr. and Randy Johnson, and football's Marshawn Lynch, he got good enough to get close to the action at sporting events.

He's now more of a tennis fan after being around the players and learning their stories. When he first came to the U.S. Open a few years ago as a fan, Shamet only knew the biggest names, such as Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.

It was also easier to walk around back then. Shamet said he's been recognized and stopped by quite a few fans this year after playing on the first Knicks team to reach the Eastern Conference finals since 2000.

He's been in New York and working out, hoping for a return to the Knicks. But wherever he ends up and whenever he finishes playing, he knows photography will be there.

“I think since I picked the camera up I don’t really foresee a day where I put it down,” Shamet said. “Even when we go on the road I always have a camera with me, just to have. So whether it’s just like as a hobby, walking around, shooting stuff that I like to maybe print out and put on the wall in my house or doing things like this, it’ll always be there.”

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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis