McGeeeeeeee!!! I like your photo. I think it is well timed and of solid composition/crop and I could see it on an NBA Player's bio page. You did not crop at the waist as you say, but more a tasteful 3/4 composition. The photo you linked cannot be compared, poor crop (ankles of defender), frame doesn't feel filled, cannot see the main subjects face! In the linked one I think the player in the foreground is a distraction. In the posted image the other players are not distracting because of how it is composed.
But I am a Wizards fan so maybe my opinion is biased.
I would use the one alpha posted as an example of another poor crop. (right at the ankles? right through the defender's face? too much headroom...).