Check out the Tony.psd giveaway posters designed for the Warriors game

We joke about this a little bit with Nate Parham, but in a world where writers and creative content creators can struggle to find purchase in the marketplace, it sure is noticeable how many of our ex-contributors find their way into success.

From Adam Lauridsen (Mercury News Fast Break) to Patrick Murray (Forbes) to podcast and Twitter presence Andy Liu and even Ethan Sherwood Strauss (The Athletic) as a commenter, a lot of talent has come through Golden State of Mind over the years.

For all the negative press that the Vox media empire’s structure gets from Deadspin we haven’t done nearly enough to talk about the value of this platform for emerging talent to find their voice.

In case you missed it last night, Tony Robles (aka Tony.psd) has finally been recognized on a large scale. His designs weren’t just featured on the in-game flyers - they were it. His artwork, just printed up and slapped with a NBCSAuthentic were distributed in game for all attendees to Friday’s game against the Denver Nuggets.

Tony has been the author of some of our most iconic images around here:

Back when I was even more of a nobody than I am now, Tony was the guy who posted a picture of me from a GSOM night with a caption that was something along the lines of “I don’t know who this guy is, but he’s always there and having fun.” I can’t find it now, but only because Tony was so prodigious with his GSOM Night coverage.

It was that interaction that really started drawing me into the community, and led to my current role here. Tony’s moved on, but I still think of him as being somewhat central to my involvement here. Who knows who’s next? Brady Khopfler, Eric Apricot, Daniel Hardee, and Joe Viray have all found success, and seemed destined for greater things.

So let’s take a moment to recognize and celebrate Tony Robles. The man has a unique talent, and the drive to succeed has taken him to new heights. Like climbing a ladder, he had to let go of GSOM to climb higher, and we couldn’t be happier to see him go.

If you want to support him, you can find his web store here.