Chances are, if you were even remotely interested in basketball and video games in the ‘90s, there was a strong likelihood that you played NBA Jam. Starting out in the arcades in April 1993, the game was ported to the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis before kickstarting an entire sports game franchise in itself. Over 30 years later, NBA Jam still holds up, with its fast-paced and frenetic, two-on-two basketball match-ups featuring many of the biggest names of the era.
With plenty of in-game secrets, axed content, and behind-the-scenes tales from its development, there is plenty about NBA Jam that even its biggest fans might not be aware of. Here are all the biggest secrets and fun facts about the iconic basketball video game series.
The NBA Nearly Refused Licensing for the Game
By the early ‘90s, the arcade scene in America, particularly in many of its major cities, took on a...
With plenty of in-game secrets, axed content, and behind-the-scenes tales from its development, there is plenty about NBA Jam that even its biggest fans might not be aware of. Here are all the biggest secrets and fun facts about the iconic basketball video game series.
The NBA Nearly Refused Licensing for the Game
By the early ‘90s, the arcade scene in America, particularly in many of its major cities, took on a...
- 4/20/2024
- by Matthew Byrd
- Den of Geek
Exclusive: MindRiot Entertainment, the transatlantic indie behind Danielle Deadwyler’s Parallel, and the upcoming OceanGate pic Salvaged is moving into production on Trash Talk, a docuseries about NBA Hall-Of-Famer Gary Payton.
Filmmaker Scott Waugh will direct the series. Cameras are set to officially begin rolling Thursday in Nashville, Tennessee, where Payton will make an appearance at the Ama Supercross Championship.
Specific details on the series and its focus are currently under wraps, but MindRiot COO Randa Minkarah told Deadline that audiences “will get to see Payton aka “The Glove” — whose legendary athletic grit and tongue was showcased on Netflix’s The Last Dance – talk trash while on horseback with rodeo cowboys, fly fishing with producer John Dietsch (A River Runs Through It), and maybe even go head to head selling cookies with a bad-ass troupe of kids.”
MindRiot founder Jonathan Keasey and the company’s Head of Sports Content,...
Filmmaker Scott Waugh will direct the series. Cameras are set to officially begin rolling Thursday in Nashville, Tennessee, where Payton will make an appearance at the Ama Supercross Championship.
Specific details on the series and its focus are currently under wraps, but MindRiot COO Randa Minkarah told Deadline that audiences “will get to see Payton aka “The Glove” — whose legendary athletic grit and tongue was showcased on Netflix’s The Last Dance – talk trash while on horseback with rodeo cowboys, fly fishing with producer John Dietsch (A River Runs Through It), and maybe even go head to head selling cookies with a bad-ass troupe of kids.”
MindRiot founder Jonathan Keasey and the company’s Head of Sports Content,...
- 4/15/2024
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
Caitlin Clark has already broken barriers in college basketball, and now she’s broken one in pro sports, even before leaving the NCAA.
Ice Cube’s professional Big3 league has offered the Iowa Hawkeyes’ point guard $5 million to play in the 3-on-3 half-court basketball competition. She would be the first woman to compete in the league stacked with former NBA players.
After TMZ initially reported the news, Cube confirmed it on Twitter, writing, “BIG3 made a historic offer to Caitlin Clark. Why wouldn’t we? Caitlin is a generational athlete who can achieve tremendous success in the BIG3.”
The deal would reportedly allow Clark to still play in the WNBA after the 10-week Big3 season is over.
In January 2017, Ice Cube, along with entertainment executive Jeff Kwatinetz, announced the launch of the Big3, promising that it would feature some of the best players to ever play the game. Cube and...
Ice Cube’s professional Big3 league has offered the Iowa Hawkeyes’ point guard $5 million to play in the 3-on-3 half-court basketball competition. She would be the first woman to compete in the league stacked with former NBA players.
After TMZ initially reported the news, Cube confirmed it on Twitter, writing, “BIG3 made a historic offer to Caitlin Clark. Why wouldn’t we? Caitlin is a generational athlete who can achieve tremendous success in the BIG3.”
The deal would reportedly allow Clark to still play in the WNBA after the 10-week Big3 season is over.
In January 2017, Ice Cube, along with entertainment executive Jeff Kwatinetz, announced the launch of the Big3, promising that it would feature some of the best players to ever play the game. Cube and...
- 3/27/2024
- by Tom Tapp
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Jonathan Keasey, the scribe behind Danielle Deadwyler’s Parallel and Demi Lovato’s Tow, has signed on to adapt The Barracks Thief, a novella from award-winning author Tobias Wolff.
Keasey joins playwright Tyler Rivenbark on the project. The pair will collaborate on the screenplay based on Wolff’s novella.
Wolff, an Emeritus professor at Stanford, is best known as a memoirist. Most notably, his 1989 book This Boy’s Life: A Memoir was adapted for the screen by Michael Caton-Jones, with Leonardo DiCaprio starring as the teenage Wolff in his breakout big-screen performance and Robert De Niro as his abusive step-father Dwight.
The Barracks Thief is the story of three young paratroopers waiting to be shipped out to Vietnam. Brought together one sweltering afternoon to stand guard over an ammunition dump threatened by a forest fire, they discover in each other an unexpected capacity for recklessness and violence. Far from being alarmed by this discovery,...
Keasey joins playwright Tyler Rivenbark on the project. The pair will collaborate on the screenplay based on Wolff’s novella.
Wolff, an Emeritus professor at Stanford, is best known as a memoirist. Most notably, his 1989 book This Boy’s Life: A Memoir was adapted for the screen by Michael Caton-Jones, with Leonardo DiCaprio starring as the teenage Wolff in his breakout big-screen performance and Robert De Niro as his abusive step-father Dwight.
The Barracks Thief is the story of three young paratroopers waiting to be shipped out to Vietnam. Brought together one sweltering afternoon to stand guard over an ammunition dump threatened by a forest fire, they discover in each other an unexpected capacity for recklessness and violence. Far from being alarmed by this discovery,...
- 3/19/2024
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
Messi Meets America, a splashy new docuseries for Apple TV+ about Argentinian soccer god Lionel Messi’s move to Mls club Inter Miami after leading his home country to a dramatic World Cup win, opens with Messi ruminating on his shock decision to leave Paris Saint-Germain and, to quote another all-time great before him, take his talents to South Beach.
“Soccer became difficult,” offers Messi. “Which was one of the reasons why I made the decision to enjoy again what I had lost.”
It’s about as deep as Messi...
“Soccer became difficult,” offers Messi. “Which was one of the reasons why I made the decision to enjoy again what I had lost.”
It’s about as deep as Messi...
- 10/11/2023
- by Marlow Stern
- Rollingstone.com
Exclusive: Ice Cube is teaming with Jesse Collins Entertainment on a sports docuseries revolving around his successful Big3 sports league. Ice Cube will star in and produce via his Cube Vision with Jesse Collins Entertainment.
The as-yet untitled series will take an unprecedented look at the making of one of the fastest growing new leagues in the United States, the Big3, as Ice Cube defies the NBA on its quest to become one of the biggest sports leagues in the world.
Described as Welcome to Wrexham and Cheer meets basketball, the series will be dual-narrative following Cube and the challenges of building a new basketball league from the ground up, as well as the journey of one of the Big3 teams, as they navigate the ups and downs of a grueling season in pursuit of a national championship. Big3’s widely covered $1.2 billion lawsuit against Qatari investors will also be covered in the series.
The as-yet untitled series will take an unprecedented look at the making of one of the fastest growing new leagues in the United States, the Big3, as Ice Cube defies the NBA on its quest to become one of the biggest sports leagues in the world.
Described as Welcome to Wrexham and Cheer meets basketball, the series will be dual-narrative following Cube and the challenges of building a new basketball league from the ground up, as well as the journey of one of the Big3 teams, as they navigate the ups and downs of a grueling season in pursuit of a national championship. Big3’s widely covered $1.2 billion lawsuit against Qatari investors will also be covered in the series.
- 4/26/2023
- by Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
Former Seattle Sonics NBA All-Star Shawn Kemp was arrested Wednesday evening by the Tacoma police in Pierce County, Washington in connection to a drive-by shooting.
According to Pierce County Corrections, the 53-year-old former basketball player was booked just before 6 p.m. Shortly before 2 p.m that day, the Tacoma Police Department reported “an altercation between the occupants of 2 cars” that “led to shots being fired at a parking lot.” In the report, police stated that a gun was found and a 53-year-old male was booked for a drive-by shooting.
According to Pierce County Corrections, the 53-year-old former basketball player was booked just before 6 p.m. Shortly before 2 p.m that day, the Tacoma Police Department reported “an altercation between the occupants of 2 cars” that “led to shots being fired at a parking lot.” In the report, police stated that a gun was found and a 53-year-old male was booked for a drive-by shooting.
- 3/9/2023
- by Charisma Madarang
- Rollingstone.com
Iconic basketball-themed game “NBA Jam” will be the focus of a new documentary.
Initially released more than 25 years ago as an arcade game, it shattered records by earning more than $1 billion in quarters, becoming a memorable piece of pop culture.
BestCrosses Studios, the production arm of the basketball-themed social media platform BestCrosses created by Jack Sussman, has optioned Reyan Ali’s book “NBA Jam” to produce a feature documentary about the history and success of the game.
Emmy-nominated Sean Menard, who has several sports documentaries to his credit, including the acclaimed “The Carter Effect” about now-retired NBA superstar Vince Carter, will develop and direct.
The book, released by Boss Fight Books in October 2019, is built on extensive research and dozens of original interviews with developers, journalists, fans and NBA players. When programmer Mark Turmell and his team at Midway Games released the original “NBA Jam” in 1993, it had an immediate...
Initially released more than 25 years ago as an arcade game, it shattered records by earning more than $1 billion in quarters, becoming a memorable piece of pop culture.
BestCrosses Studios, the production arm of the basketball-themed social media platform BestCrosses created by Jack Sussman, has optioned Reyan Ali’s book “NBA Jam” to produce a feature documentary about the history and success of the game.
Emmy-nominated Sean Menard, who has several sports documentaries to his credit, including the acclaimed “The Carter Effect” about now-retired NBA superstar Vince Carter, will develop and direct.
The book, released by Boss Fight Books in October 2019, is built on extensive research and dozens of original interviews with developers, journalists, fans and NBA players. When programmer Mark Turmell and his team at Midway Games released the original “NBA Jam” in 1993, it had an immediate...
- 1/15/2021
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
If you’re a sports fan, you love this time of year. The football season is coming down to the wire, with teams angling for playoff spots. Talk around the NHL’s new season is starting to heat up. And though LeBron James and his Los Angeles Lakers cohorts seemingly just hoisted the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy, another NBA campaign tips off on December 22.
What all of this means is that it’s probably time to freshen up your closet with some new shirts for your favorite collegiate and pro teams.
What all of this means is that it’s probably time to freshen up your closet with some new shirts for your favorite collegiate and pro teams.
- 12/10/2020
- by DeMarco Williams
- Rollingstone.com
In Episodes Seven and Eight of The Last Dance, there are tears. Michael Jordan cries over the shocking loss of his father in 1993. His friend Ahmad Rashad wells up at the memory of tying a trembling Jordan’s tie for him on the day of the funeral. Members of the ’94 Bulls (a team that was Jordan-free as His Airness dabbled in professional baseball) recall a tearful postgame speech by Bill Cartwright. Heck, Jordan’s personal trainer cries while speaking about his number-one client’s intense dedication to his job.
Perhaps most surprising,...
Perhaps most surprising,...
- 5/11/2020
- by Maria Fontoura
- Rollingstone.com
CBS Sports and Big3, the professional 3-on-3 basketball league founded by Ice Cube and Jeff Kwatinetz, have agreed to an exclusive deal for live broadcasts of Big3’s 2019 season.
Games will be shown on CBS and CBS Sports Network, with more than 20 hours throughout the season on the former and more than 25 hours on the latter.
The 2019 season, the league’s third, is set to open on CBS in primetime on Saturday, June 22. During the 11-week season, games will air live on CBS Television Network and CBS Sports Network on both Saturday and Sunday, with the championship game on September 1.
CBS Sports Network will also air the Big3 Draft live on May 1, when 120 professional players will vie for only 31 open roster spots on 12 teams, expanded from eight the first two seasons.
In 2018, according to today’s announcement, average arena attendance for the emerging league exceeded 14,000, up from 11,000 in its debut year.
Games will be shown on CBS and CBS Sports Network, with more than 20 hours throughout the season on the former and more than 25 hours on the latter.
The 2019 season, the league’s third, is set to open on CBS in primetime on Saturday, June 22. During the 11-week season, games will air live on CBS Television Network and CBS Sports Network on both Saturday and Sunday, with the championship game on September 1.
CBS Sports Network will also air the Big3 Draft live on May 1, when 120 professional players will vie for only 31 open roster spots on 12 teams, expanded from eight the first two seasons.
In 2018, according to today’s announcement, average arena attendance for the emerging league exceeded 14,000, up from 11,000 in its debut year.
- 4/4/2019
- by Dade Hayes
- Deadline Film + TV
A boutique watchmaker is gearing up to take on luxury giant Lvmh for trademark infringement, over the former’s longtime clever marketing strategy to sell men’s “rose gold” timepieces — by calling it “red gold.”
Justin Timberlake, 50 Cent, Will Smith, LeBron James and Jamie Foxx have all worn the wares of Chris Aire, the watchmaker in question whose brand Solid 21 has been selling high-end timepieces since the late 1980s.
“Men were not interested in pink gold or rose gold watches, they were too feminine,” Aire told TheWrap. “But we had a lot of male clients. We figured that red denotes masculinity.”
Also Read: Sony Faces 'Slender Man' Lawsuit After Sending Cease-and-Desist Letters
The concept also occurred to watchmaker Hublot, a subdivision of Lvmh (which owns brands like Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior), who began using “red gold” in advertisements in 2005 — two years after Aire trademarked the phrase — Aire said in his lawsuit.
Justin Timberlake, 50 Cent, Will Smith, LeBron James and Jamie Foxx have all worn the wares of Chris Aire, the watchmaker in question whose brand Solid 21 has been selling high-end timepieces since the late 1980s.
“Men were not interested in pink gold or rose gold watches, they were too feminine,” Aire told TheWrap. “But we had a lot of male clients. We figured that red denotes masculinity.”
Also Read: Sony Faces 'Slender Man' Lawsuit After Sending Cease-and-Desist Letters
The concept also occurred to watchmaker Hublot, a subdivision of Lvmh (which owns brands like Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior), who began using “red gold” in advertisements in 2005 — two years after Aire trademarked the phrase — Aire said in his lawsuit.
- 8/20/2018
- by Itay Hod
- The Wrap
Gary Payton spent his 50th birthday smackin' a whole lotta butt -- and TMZ Sports has the video. The NBA Hall of Famer celebrated his half-centennial at a raging nightclub in Vegas -- surrounded by a bunch of hot chicks in thongs and pasties. They grinded on Gary. He danced and threw money. At one point, he handed out some spankings. Good times had by all. Oh, yeah ... there was cake too, along with the cakes.
- 7/24/2018
- by TMZ Staff
- TMZ
Another good sign for Lakers fans -- LeBron James' 13-year-old superstar son is very "likely" to enroll at Sierra Canyon School in L.A. ... but our sources say "it's not a done deal." Sierra Canyon's basketball team is loaded with the DNA of NBA legends -- with the spawn of Scottie Pippen and Kenyon Martin playing side by side with Derek Fisher's nephew. Earlier this month, ex-nba star Gary Payton told Bso...
- 6/27/2018
- by TMZ Staff
- TMZ
The three-on-three hoops action of Big3 — the basketball league co-founded by Ice Cube that features former NBA stars in fast-paced, half-court games — will be coming to Facebook later this month.
Fox Sports signed a deal with the social-media platform to stream one Big3 game per week live during the 2018 season exclusively on Facebook, free to anyone in the world to watch. The games on Facebook will lead in to three additional games, which will air exclusively on Fox or FS1 (and simulcast live in the Fox Sports app) during the regular season and playoffs.
The pact tips off with the Big3 season opener in Houston on June 22, available on the Big3 on Fox page (facebook.com/big3onfox) for the first nine weeks of the season. In addition to getting exclusive live access to nine games this summer, Facebook will host highlight packages and game recaps for all 37 games, including...
Fox Sports signed a deal with the social-media platform to stream one Big3 game per week live during the 2018 season exclusively on Facebook, free to anyone in the world to watch. The games on Facebook will lead in to three additional games, which will air exclusively on Fox or FS1 (and simulcast live in the Fox Sports app) during the regular season and playoffs.
The pact tips off with the Big3 season opener in Houston on June 22, available on the Big3 on Fox page (facebook.com/big3onfox) for the first nine weeks of the season. In addition to getting exclusive live access to nine games this summer, Facebook will host highlight packages and game recaps for all 37 games, including...
- 6/12/2018
- by Todd Spangler
- Variety Film + TV
Gary Payton is stompin' out all the LiAngelo Ball-to-l.A. buzz -- saying what the Lakers need is a damn superstar, not Lonzo's little bro!! Gp's son, Gary II, is on a 2-way deal with the Lake Show this season ... so he's been keeping a close eye on the squad and, of course, the Ball fam. Gary only had nice things to say about 'Zo and Lavar ... but when it came to L.A.
- 3/29/2018
- by TMZ Staff
- TMZ
While Nicole Murphy may have just announced her split from her fiancé of five years, Michael Strahan, the Hollywood Exes star seems to be doing just fine without her former flame. Murphy was all smiles as she stepped out on Thursday at The Pump Group VIP Cocktail Reception at W Hollywood, where photographers snapped pics of her with former NBA star Gary Payton. The reality star's rep isn't commenting on whether the duo are more than friends, but this most recent pairing shouldn't come as a surprise, since a source told People both have already moved on from one another.
- 8/8/2014
- by Emily Strohm, @EmaBlonde
- PEOPLE.com
It wasn't "Titanic." It wasn't even "The Notebook" ... but NBA Hall-of-Famer Gary Payton admits there was One movie that made him cry once ... and it's all Taye Diggs' fault. The Glove and his son (Glove Jr.?) were leaving Dba nightclub in L.A. last night -- when we asked if he got misty eyed during Kevin Durant's Mvp speech ... you know, the one where he thanked his mom (yeah, we cried. Don't judge). For the record,...
- 5/20/2014
- by TMZ Staff
- TMZ
It's been more than a decade since the 1990s ended, yet the Internet can't seem to go a day without a reminder of the neon slap bracelets that may have been banned from your school.
Yes, we get it. Times are tough and there's comfort in reflection, but enough is enough.
Below, a final goodbye to the 90s to end the nostalgia once and for all. (We're not kidding. There are 1990 items below.)
1. Scrunchies
2. "The Wild Thornberries"
3. Dawson and Joey
4. "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys"
5. Mr. Feeny
7. MTV playing music videos
8. Snick
9. The premiere of "Freaks and Geeks"
10. Levar Burton
11. "Daria"
12. "Arthur"
13. "The Powerpuff Girls"
14. "Smart Guy"
15. Comedy Central globe logo with buildings
16. "The X-Files"
17. Rosie O'Donnell
18. Bill Nye
19. "Dawson's Creek"
20. The Mighty Ducks"
21. "Are You Afraid of the Dark"
22. Cornholio
23. Rachel Green
24. Tim Allen
25. "All That"
26. "Beverly Hills 90210"
27. "Step by Step"
28. "The Ren & Stimpy Show"
29. "The Famous Jett Jackson"
30. "Buffy the Vampire Slayer...
Yes, we get it. Times are tough and there's comfort in reflection, but enough is enough.
Below, a final goodbye to the 90s to end the nostalgia once and for all. (We're not kidding. There are 1990 items below.)
1. Scrunchies
2. "The Wild Thornberries"
3. Dawson and Joey
4. "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys"
5. Mr. Feeny
7. MTV playing music videos
8. Snick
9. The premiere of "Freaks and Geeks"
10. Levar Burton
11. "Daria"
12. "Arthur"
13. "The Powerpuff Girls"
14. "Smart Guy"
15. Comedy Central globe logo with buildings
16. "The X-Files"
17. Rosie O'Donnell
18. Bill Nye
19. "Dawson's Creek"
20. The Mighty Ducks"
21. "Are You Afraid of the Dark"
22. Cornholio
23. Rachel Green
24. Tim Allen
25. "All That"
26. "Beverly Hills 90210"
27. "Step by Step"
28. "The Ren & Stimpy Show"
29. "The Famous Jett Jackson"
30. "Buffy the Vampire Slayer...
- 7/29/2013
- by The Huffington Post
- Huffington Post
While its arrival would seem a bit after the fact, "Like Mike", a Cinderella story of a kid's basketball fantasy, should nevertheless score major points with young and not-so-young audiences.
It's got a winning personality and a solid lineup of actual NBA players, but most of all it's got young hip-hop star Lil' Bow Wow in his motion picture debut, and the kid happens to be a natural.
Add in a touching story line that travels shrewdly in and out of the basketball court, and you've got a vehicle that will handily extend its reach beyond the hoop-dreaming male demo.
Bow Wow, as he prefers to be known these days (the "Lil'" part kind of loses its charm when you've got hair on your upper lip), brings a nicely rooted conviction to his portrayal of Calvin Cambridge, a 4-foot-8-inch 14-year-old orphan who resides at the Chesterfield Group Home.
He's been there long enough to see his share of prospective parent days ending with the adoption of one of the younger, cuter "puppies," stranding Calvin and his buddies Murph (Jonathan Lipnicki) and Reg (Brenda Song) with the home's operator, the calculating Bittleman (Crispin Glover).
But things change dramatically one day when Sister Theresa (Anne Meara) brings over a box of donated clothes, including an old pair of Nikes, which she seems to recall had originally belonged to some tall, bald basketball player. The sneakers, which bear the fading initials "M.J.", fit Calvin like the proverbial glass slipper.
Before you can say "Michael Jordan", Calvin soon finds himself as the star attraction of the Los Angeles Knights basketball team, and his newly discovered way with a 30-foot jump shot is helping to give the once-struggling team a real shot at postseason play.
Off the court, meanwhile, Calvin and his reluctant mentor, teammate Tracey Reynolds (Morris Chestnut), manage to teach each other some valuable life lessons.
We're talking formula all the way, but it's a formula that works reasonably well, with director John Schultz ("Drive Me Crazy") hitting all the requisite posts of the Michael Elliot and Jordan Moffet screenplay.
While it doesn't stint on the heart moments, that script could have easily stood some stronger comedy, not to mention a little more inventiveness when it came to Calvin's wire-assisted b-ball gymnastics.
But the artist formerly known as Shad Gregory Moss pulls off both the necessary charm and the dramatic weight to make it tough to quibble. Chestnut is also immensely likable, while Glover, Eugene Levy as the team's nervous general manager and Robert Forster as the evenhanded coach all play their parts to order.
Of course, it doesn't hurt to get the NBA officially involved in your production if you're looking for the kind of street cred that only the presence of Allen Iverson, Gary Payton, Vince Carter and Chris Webber (among others) could provide.
Tech credits deliver the cost-effective goods, with Master Wow dusting off the vintage Kurtis Blow rap anthem "Basketball" for the energetic soundtrack produced by Jermaine Dupri and Michael Mauldin.
LIKE MIKE
20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox presents in association with NBA Entertainment
A Heller Highwater/Josephson Entertainment production
Credits:
Director: John Schultz
Screenwriters: Michael Elliot, Jordan Moffet
Story: Michael Elliot
Producers: Barry Josephson, Peter Heller
Executive producers: Adam Silver, Gregg Winik
Director of photography: Shawn Maurer
Production designer: Arlan Jay Vetter
Editor: Peter Berger
Costume designer: Mary Jane Fort
Music: Richard Gibbs
Casting: Risa Bramon Garcia, Brennan du Fresne
Cast:
Calvin Cambridge: Lil' Bow Wow
Tracey Reynolds: Morris Chestnut
Frank Bernard: Eugene Levy
Murph: Jonathan Lipnicki
Stan Bittleman: Crispin Glover
Coach Wagner: Robert Forster
Sister Theresa: Anne Meara
Reg Stevens: Brenda Song
Running time: 100 minutes
MPAA rating -- PG...
It's got a winning personality and a solid lineup of actual NBA players, but most of all it's got young hip-hop star Lil' Bow Wow in his motion picture debut, and the kid happens to be a natural.
Add in a touching story line that travels shrewdly in and out of the basketball court, and you've got a vehicle that will handily extend its reach beyond the hoop-dreaming male demo.
Bow Wow, as he prefers to be known these days (the "Lil'" part kind of loses its charm when you've got hair on your upper lip), brings a nicely rooted conviction to his portrayal of Calvin Cambridge, a 4-foot-8-inch 14-year-old orphan who resides at the Chesterfield Group Home.
He's been there long enough to see his share of prospective parent days ending with the adoption of one of the younger, cuter "puppies," stranding Calvin and his buddies Murph (Jonathan Lipnicki) and Reg (Brenda Song) with the home's operator, the calculating Bittleman (Crispin Glover).
But things change dramatically one day when Sister Theresa (Anne Meara) brings over a box of donated clothes, including an old pair of Nikes, which she seems to recall had originally belonged to some tall, bald basketball player. The sneakers, which bear the fading initials "M.J.", fit Calvin like the proverbial glass slipper.
Before you can say "Michael Jordan", Calvin soon finds himself as the star attraction of the Los Angeles Knights basketball team, and his newly discovered way with a 30-foot jump shot is helping to give the once-struggling team a real shot at postseason play.
Off the court, meanwhile, Calvin and his reluctant mentor, teammate Tracey Reynolds (Morris Chestnut), manage to teach each other some valuable life lessons.
We're talking formula all the way, but it's a formula that works reasonably well, with director John Schultz ("Drive Me Crazy") hitting all the requisite posts of the Michael Elliot and Jordan Moffet screenplay.
While it doesn't stint on the heart moments, that script could have easily stood some stronger comedy, not to mention a little more inventiveness when it came to Calvin's wire-assisted b-ball gymnastics.
But the artist formerly known as Shad Gregory Moss pulls off both the necessary charm and the dramatic weight to make it tough to quibble. Chestnut is also immensely likable, while Glover, Eugene Levy as the team's nervous general manager and Robert Forster as the evenhanded coach all play their parts to order.
Of course, it doesn't hurt to get the NBA officially involved in your production if you're looking for the kind of street cred that only the presence of Allen Iverson, Gary Payton, Vince Carter and Chris Webber (among others) could provide.
Tech credits deliver the cost-effective goods, with Master Wow dusting off the vintage Kurtis Blow rap anthem "Basketball" for the energetic soundtrack produced by Jermaine Dupri and Michael Mauldin.
LIKE MIKE
20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox presents in association with NBA Entertainment
A Heller Highwater/Josephson Entertainment production
Credits:
Director: John Schultz
Screenwriters: Michael Elliot, Jordan Moffet
Story: Michael Elliot
Producers: Barry Josephson, Peter Heller
Executive producers: Adam Silver, Gregg Winik
Director of photography: Shawn Maurer
Production designer: Arlan Jay Vetter
Editor: Peter Berger
Costume designer: Mary Jane Fort
Music: Richard Gibbs
Casting: Risa Bramon Garcia, Brennan du Fresne
Cast:
Calvin Cambridge: Lil' Bow Wow
Tracey Reynolds: Morris Chestnut
Frank Bernard: Eugene Levy
Murph: Jonathan Lipnicki
Stan Bittleman: Crispin Glover
Coach Wagner: Robert Forster
Sister Theresa: Anne Meara
Reg Stevens: Brenda Song
Running time: 100 minutes
MPAA rating -- PG...
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