Praise Jesus. And Spike.

In my guest-blogging efforts over at Alyssa’s spot, I recently reflected on the oddity of seeing Ray Allen and LeBron James on the court together and how it reminded me that Spike Lee saw it all coming a long time ago.

Twelve years ago, to be precise:

It’s probably the best hoops movie of my lifetime, even though I can’t deny that “He Got Game” is not without its flaws: the plot is implausible, the dialogue is forced, the acting is … something less than amateurish.

But if Lee got anything right, it was his clairvoyance in predicting the rise of a savior-like hoops figure: LeBron James.

I was reminded of this the other night, when Ray Allen was getting all chesty in his defense of James in their Eastern Conference semifinal game. It was weird. Almost as if Ray Allen went Eddie Kane Jr. on Flash: “How does it feel to be me?”

It should go without saying that LeBron is much better at basketball than Flash was at singing.

Joel

Joel Anderson —blackink —  writes about sports, politics, crime, courts, and other issues far beyond his competence at BuzzFeed. He has worked at media outlets in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Atlanta and contributed to a number of publications, including The Root and The American Prospect, among many others.
  • Scipio Africanus

    I just liked when Denzel gave that throat check to La-La’s side piece on the Coney Island boardwalk.

    • blackink12

      Fam, I have replayed that scene over and over with my boys in the past 12 years. “What’s that son, you got a Range Rover?…”

      Denzel’s prison-fighting tactics slay me every time.

  • Oddly enough Spike wanted Kobe to play the role, but he had other obligations. This is still one of my favorite sports film. Yes, I have a bit of a Spike bias, but the peculiar blend of Coney Island backdrops and the sweeping Aaron Copland score along with Spike’s unique aesthetic sensibility come together to create a fascinating film about the ‘hood’s top export which is athletic talent. A highly profitable “product” that doesn’t seem to benefit the neighborhoods where it is “manufactured.” The beneficiaries are the importers, the neighborhoods in essence just give this product away for free…let me stop, don’t want to pollute this blog with any more of my tirades…

    Oh, and yes, the way he “humbles” kid in that scene is priceless. Vintage Denzel swagger.

  • Scott Lange

    It’s probably the best hoops movie of my lifetime

    Hoop Dreams came out in ’94, so you’re… 15?

    • There’s a difference between scripted movies and documentaries. You know that, right?