TikTok art star Devon Rodriguez, who has more than 34 million followers on the platform, has been accused of copying two Knicks artworks by New York watercolour artist Gavin Snider after the team's NBA Finals win turned Madison Square Garden into the city's loudest visual obsession.
Snider made the allegation in a 16 June Instagram post, claiming Rodriguez had created and sold a Knicks-themed artwork that closely resembled the painting he made for the New York Knicks and their marketing agency ahead of Game 1 on 3 June. The row has struck a nerve because Snider said he accepted the urgent brief while on parental leave with a three-month-old baby at home, only to later see what he described as an 'uncanny, almost traced' version of his work posted by a world-famous artist.
Gavin Snider Says His Dream Knicks Job Turned Sour
Snider said the story began at the end of May, when the Knicks and their marketing agency contacted him with what sounded like a dream commission. They wanted him to paint the raucous crowd outside Madison Square Garden, and they needed it fast.
The timing was far from ideal. Snider said he was on parental leave with his wife and their three-month-old baby, and was not really taking on new projects.
Still, the opportunity felt too big to pass up. The project was confirmed on a Saturday, leaving him with a Monday deadline, and Snider said he worked through the weekend to get the piece finished.
'It felt like I was neglecting my family and bodily needs for this once in a lifetime project', Snider wrote. The Knicks approved the artwork and shared it before the NBA Finals began, then again after the team clinched the championship.
That should have been the happy ending. Instead, Snider said someone sent him a link to Rodriguez's Instagram, where he saw a Knicks piece that, in his view, looked nearly identical to his own.
The Details Snider Says Were Too Specific
Snider has acknowledged that Madison Square Garden is one of the most recognisable arenas in the world. Anyone can paint it, and figurative artists regularly use reference images.
His argument is that the overlap went beyond a shared subject. Snider said his exterior painting was built from 67 reference images, including Google Street View, Instagram Reel screenshots and photographs from watch parties across New York City.
That meant every tiny detail had a reason for being there. He pointed to a waving flag, a foam finger, a hot dog cart and a billboard as details he had deliberately placed in his scene.
Rodriguez's version, Snider claimed, arrived at many of the same choices. In his post, he described it as 'uncanny, almost traced, with a few small changes and an unearthly glow.'
Snider also said it was not the only time. Looking further back, he claimed Rodriguez had posted another Knicks print on 1 June that closely resembled Snider's interior view of Madison Square Garden, which he made for lifestyle brand New York or Nowhere last October.
Why Devon Rodriguez's Fame Changes the Story
Rodriguez is not just another sports art account. The Bronx-born artist became one of TikTok's most recognisable visual creators through his realistic subway portraits, celebrity paintings and emotional reveal videos.
That scale is why the backlash feels so loaded. Artnet reported that Snider has around 37,500 Instagram followers, compared with Rodriguez's 9.5 million on the platform.
Snider's frustration is not framed as jealousy. It is about power, visibility and whether a smaller artist gets swallowed when a bigger creator appears to move through the same visual territory.
'My goal isn't to have millions of followers', Snider wrote. 'But I would like credit, or at least mention of my artwork being the inspiration for the piece.'
Rodriguez has not publicly addressed the allegations in detail. Artnet reported that he did not immediately respond to a request for comment, while the outlet later updated its story to note that Rodriguez had removed the Instagram posts showing his Knicks artworks.
The row has also sparked wider debate among artists and fans. Some commenters accused Rodriguez of using AI or copying too heavily, though there is no confirmed proof that artificial intelligence was involved.
For fashion and art audiences, the story is bigger than basketball. The Knicks are now a full visual mood: orange and blue streetwear, courtside celebrity style, city pride, limited merch and the kind of sports imagery that can become instantly collectible online.
That is what makes Snider's accusation cut through. In the creator economy, an image can move faster than credit, and a massive platform can turn someone else's composition into someone else's payday before the original artist even knows what happened.
The internet loves a viral art reveal. This time, the reveal is messier: a local artist says his dream Knicks moment was copied by one of the biggest art stars online, and the real question is whether inspiration still counts as inspiration when the smaller name gets left out of the frame.
