Jay-Z reveals the secret to taking a candid celebrity photo at the NBA Finals

This video from Game 1 of the NBA Finals, more than any magazine profile or tabloid intrusion, feels like a genuine look behind the curtain of how celebrities operate:

“Take the picture while we’re talking,” requests Jay-Z, because Jay-Z knows as well as anyone that celebrities don’t pose. You know when you and your friends line up and put your arms around each other’s waists and look at the camera, smile, and shout “CHEESE!” in unison? Real superstars don’t do that shit. They do not deign to acknowledge cameras. Not in the wild.

They wish to be documented candidly in their natural habitats, having a fancy, excellent time with other fancy, excellent people, even if that means grabbing each other and faking laughter at a funny joke Kevin Hart did not tell — he didn’t say a word — but we will pretend he did because that is a good authentic-seeming snapshot of this esteemed summit.

Jay-Z has this down to a science, by the way:

SO WHAT IF THERE’S A CAMERA 18 INCHES FROM MY FACE. I’M TOO BUSY LAUGHING AT SOME HILARIOUS THINGS MY DEAR FRIEND KIM CATTRALL SAID.

Of course, there was a time before Jay mastered this technique:

... but he’s got it down now:

And he’s right, by the way. Look at these two photos from Game 1:

If you’d somehow never heard of Jay-Z or Kevin Hart, I could convince you the people in the top photo had to buy tickets to attend this game and had to ask a security guard to please snap one photo of them on the court for Instagram. Even if you’d never before in your life seen the subjects of the bottom photo, you’d recognize immediately that they are legends. Legends don’t look at the camera. Just take the photo while they’re talking.