They got game.
‘The Last Dance’ of Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls may have taken its last steps for ESPN and Netflix this weekend, but there’s more cinematic hoop dreams coming soon to a home theatre near your couch.
Unbelievably, there are more basketball movies than there our teams in the NBA right now and this year we’ve already seen Batman, Ben Affleck coach his way to one of the and his best in ‘The Way Back’.
This weekend also saw the announcement that fresh off what should have been an, ‘Uncut Gems’ Oscar nomination, funny people Adam Sandler will also star in a forthcoming basketball movie about a scout who sees the potential of a young stud in making it to the big dance of the NBA.
Sound familiar?
In this Hollywood world of sequels and remakes no idea is original, like nothing new under the sun. That’s is in contrast to a league were no two players are alike. For every Michael Jordan there is a LeBron James and for every King, a Zion.
Number 23 like the one G.O.A.T. before him will Voltron form with Bugs Bunny and the rest of Warner Bros. for next years ‘Space Jam 2’ sequel. So if ‘Bron can have a movie, the monster talent of the most hyped rookie since the witnessed King can have his Hollywood moment as well.
Zion Williamson got game too.
That’s what it’s all about right there. When Spike Lee reunited with the ‘Mo Better Blues’ of Mount Rushmore actor Denzel Washington before ‘Inside Man’ he brought us one of the best basketball movies and Public Enemy soundtracks in ‘He Got Game’.
Making young Milwaukee Bucks high-flyer Ray Allen not only a star but the one and only Jesus Shuttlesworth too. Now, years after rumors Spike and Denzel were going to do another bank job for ‘Inside Man 2’, it looks like he’s still got game instead.
Washington won’t return from his characters correctional facility, but Jesus is back like Easter for this sequel. Although we don’t know if this is back in the form of Ray Allen’s executive producing or in a supporting role like downtown with the Miami Heat. One things for sure this new movie needs a star and a young one too.
There’s no younger or bigger star in the L right now with Hollywood heavyweight court credentials than the first name terms of Zion.
The road to Hollywood for Zion looks as sure as his lane down the NBA hardwood to the Hall as the New Orleans Pelican looks to fly. On the Encore of the Jumpman show that Spike and Ray guested on recently, they discussed reaching out to Williamson before the coronavirus pandemic which is DNP-COVID decision cancelling more court appointments than cinema dates.
“We were trying to get a meeting with him before”, the ‘BlackKklansman’ (a film that feature Denzel’s son, John David Washington) director whose ‘Black Panther’ Chadwick Boseman starring ‘Da 5 Bloods’ comes to Netflix next month in this quarantined time of chill. “Ray Allen and I were trying to get a meeting with him in New Orleans. I’m still for it.”
Sounds like the kid is too. As Zion tolled Esquire magazine last year, “I would wanna be in the sequel to ‘He Got Game,’ I would definitely want to be like, in the Part 2 of that movie.”
‘Daredevil’ actress Rosario Dawson who has just copped one of the biggest roles in Season 2 of the Star Wars spin-off ‘The Mandalorian’ is set to return as Shuttlesworth’s significant other in the sequel to the film that also saw appearances from NBA stars like singer Walter McCarty and seasoned actor Rick Fox. ‘Game’ recently celebrated its 20th anniversary and in 2018 Ray Allen told press like B.I.G. his notorious movie-making alter-ego has still got a story to tell.
“We’d love to do a part two, for sure, going forward. Because there’s so much content, so much happening in the world today, so much happening in sports that we need to talk about.”
Do you want to hear it?
With the advent of social media and live streaming this sequel could be as timely as Netflix’s ‘High Flying Bird’ filmed on an iPhone, no ‘Amateur’. Either way with rookie Zion returning to the tune of 23.6 points and 6.8 rebounds per this locked down season, it’s clear to see like the big screen, this man’s already a bright lights star.
Here’s looking at you kid.
