When I started down my career path as a sportswriter, never did I imagine that I’d one day be part of an exhibit at the Smithsonian — as a photographer.

Nikki Lewis, mother and coach Fayth Goodrich Lewis and MVP Angel Goodrich celebrate.

I’ve taken better photos, but a big part of journalism (and history) is being at the right place, doing the right thing at the right time. And this is how the above image of Fayth Goodrich and her daughters, Nikki Lewis and Angel Goodrich, came to be in the exhibit, “Indivisible,” at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian (the exhibit will tour the country; see Web site for details).

Back in the summer of 2008, I’d decided that Mindi Rice and I would cover the Native American Basketball Invitational (NABI) in Phoenix as part of our mission at ESPN HoopGurlz to show high-school girls’ basketball players throughout the nation, of every culture. It was a rich, unforgettable experience, made ever more special by the Smithsonian surprise.
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