RF2044
Living Legend
- Joined
- Aug 15, 2011
- Messages
- 30,912
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- 100,231
Have had it Tivo'd for awhile, and finally watched it tonight. What an amazing film.
First of all, it is incredible that they had all of that footage from when he was in high school [somebody must have been following him around filming him, anticipating that he was going to be the next NBA superstar prospect]. The part where he watched the 2001 NBA draft [while being rated the #1 prospect in the class of 2002] with his friends was unreal. Talk about poignant. Ditto the footage of Cooke attending summer basketball camps.
I remember hearing from MULTIPLE posters on this board who used to attend the Nike ABCD camp back in the day about the famed matchup between Cooke and Lebron James. Incredible to see that matchup in this film, and how it was literally the turning point in Cooke's life.
The best part was the end of the film, which depicted present day Lenny Cooke having a one-sided "conversation" overlayed onto footage from back in the day, with a disinterested Cooke of 2001 who is lazily watching other players work hard at a camp he's attending while he rests off to the side. And present day Cooke is lamenting all of the stuff he did wrong [or didn't do] to make it in the NBA. It sounds corny, but the effect is amazing.
Quite a bit of representation of Carmelo, as well, as an up-and-comer who caught Cooke's attention.
I would highly recommend this movie to college basketball fans, especially those who pay attention to recruiting and know the players from that timeframe. Very sad story--but a very interesting watch.
First of all, it is incredible that they had all of that footage from when he was in high school [somebody must have been following him around filming him, anticipating that he was going to be the next NBA superstar prospect]. The part where he watched the 2001 NBA draft [while being rated the #1 prospect in the class of 2002] with his friends was unreal. Talk about poignant. Ditto the footage of Cooke attending summer basketball camps.
I remember hearing from MULTIPLE posters on this board who used to attend the Nike ABCD camp back in the day about the famed matchup between Cooke and Lebron James. Incredible to see that matchup in this film, and how it was literally the turning point in Cooke's life.
The best part was the end of the film, which depicted present day Lenny Cooke having a one-sided "conversation" overlayed onto footage from back in the day, with a disinterested Cooke of 2001 who is lazily watching other players work hard at a camp he's attending while he rests off to the side. And present day Cooke is lamenting all of the stuff he did wrong [or didn't do] to make it in the NBA. It sounds corny, but the effect is amazing.
Quite a bit of representation of Carmelo, as well, as an up-and-comer who caught Cooke's attention.
I would highly recommend this movie to college basketball fans, especially those who pay attention to recruiting and know the players from that timeframe. Very sad story--but a very interesting watch.
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