Every kid who dreams of pro sports should see this

A lot of movies tried to cover how much school sports mean to the kids playing them but I don’t think any of them touch on the level of “Hoop Dreams”. Here’s a documentary they should still be showing in schools- one that is as much about society as it is about hope and dreaming big. It’s about sports being the difference between everything and nothing, but also how that should be more than a tad disconcerting.

It spans six years in the lives of two teenagers from the Cabrini Green projects and the Southside in Chicago. There’s William Gates, a strongly built, humble kid possibly has the greater basketball IQ while Arthur Agee is a shrimpier, more inconsistent, but a charismatic speedster point guard with fancier moves just looking for a chance.

Agee is spotted by Earl Smith, a talent scout for St Joseph’s High School, the place where his hero Isiah Thomas started his ascent to NBA stardom. Right away he’s shown to have talent but also a great amount of immaturity. For the kid it’s very much a fish out of water scenario, least of the reasons why is he’s surprised by all the white people.

For both Agee and Gates it’s all so completely new, braving a 90 minute commute just to get there only to be behind many of the other kids. Both are said to only be at a 5th grade reading level. Academically both will struggle but getting on the sports team seems the even greater need as that’s where their scholarship is really coming from.

And what giveth can also be taken away. Arthur and his family learn the hard way of how expensive private school can be and he winds up kicked out and into public. Meanwhile William is given financial help from a sponsor in Encyclopedia Britannica- a sure sign that if you’re good enough, people will invest. Just what do they want in return?

The road that Arthur and his family take becomes beset by setbacks. His father fights demons of his own, his mother is not only holding the family together as she gets laid off and the electricity turned off but she even allows an abused friend of Arthur’s to come stay with them. Here, Arthur’s wavering focus on the court becomes as much a drawback to his success as it is a psychological study based on his home life.

So much hope is pinned on success here, not just for these kids but their families as well, that the basketball action hits completely different. Their play is exciting but so much hinges on keeping scholarship money, impressing the right people, staying healthy, and compartmentalizing that you wonder if these kids are even having fun.

The movie interviews not just the two kids but their coaches, who call them out for every lag in play, doctors, teachers and so on. The ones who come across the best are the mothers though. William’s mom with her insistence he get a High School education but particularly Arthur’s, who goes to great pains to stretch a dollar and support this family. This woman’s strength is inspiring all on its own- particularly where she ends up.

But there is much hanging over their heads. A knee injury nearly derails William, being behind so far academically creates issues, as does finding the money to continue. Without the basketball, that dries up. No basketball dream and apathy begins to set in. It’s a vicious spiral- one that could also lead to getting swallowed up by drugs or gangs.

Staying on the path is crucial. We see what could happen if they stray in William’s brother Curtis, a one time Basketball player of the decade who lost it all. He now hopes to live his dream through William- an added unfairness to William who nonetheless may have his most motivating reason in what his own brother has become.

Another eye opening scene is college scouting camp. Cameos are made by Dick Vitale and Rick Pitino but the surprise is that Spike Lee is invited to talk to the kids as well, where he lays out the Meat Market approach to the whole thing in such blatantly honest detail that I was shocked he was allowed to talk at all.

It’s one of those things where everyone involved with the school knows the real reason for why they’re there and it ain’t education. The film brings Earl Smith back in around this time where he admits even he does an imperfect job, even as he promises these kids a whole new world of opportunity. He just downplays the costs.