A pleasant aftermath of the success of The Last Dance is that it seems there are a lot more NBA documentaries coming out these days. In a perfect basketball world every player, even the benchwarmers, would get their own documentary. But in the meantime we're treated to the life stories of some of the association's biggest stars, like Vince Carter, Russell Westbrook and Kevin Garnett.
Vince's documentary is called Vince Carter: Legacy. I don't feel it did him proper justice, considering for instance that Vince was once, even if only for a moment, the most-popular player in the NBA. I mean that's an accomplishment that 99.99% of all those who ever played, no matter how many accolades they may have achieved, can never boast of - not to mention that Carter also holds the record for most seasons played. So I'm hoping that maybe sometime in the future, a more proper Vinsanity documentary is forthcoming.
By contrast we have Russell Westbrook: Passion Play, which is an excellent viewing experience. One of the best things about his life story is that it prominently features his dad, an OG who is actually Russell Westbrook Jr. And in a way, this film is a true testament of what a young man can achieve if a loving father has his back. But my favorite thing about Westbrook's tale, I guess spoiler alert if you don't know already, is that no one, including Westbrook himself, even expected this dude to make it to the NBA until like his sophomore year in college. So in that way he's actually different from virtually every other NBA superstar.
Then there is Kevin Garnett: Anything Is Possible which, like Passion Play, is a product of Showtime. In fact one day I hope to watch Passion Play and Anything Is Possible back-to-back, as in a way Westbrook and Garnett are opposites, i.e. one being a later basketball bloomer and the other the player who heralded in the era of cats coming straight into the NBA from high school. But as for Garnett, even he, as a high school senior, didn't know his potential until Zeke inspired him. And it's like if you take Kevin Garnett and squoosh him like a Looney Tunes, then you'd get Russell Westbrook, as in their styles being very similar.
I would say that Anything Is Possible is the more educative of the two though, because from a business perspective KG he was perhaps the most-influential player on the modern NBA, besides for His Airness. And whereas Passion Play is quite artistically 'hood, there's a scene in Anything Is Possible whereas - spoiler alert - KG is deadass smoking a spliff with the Doggfather himself. Well, they don't show Kevin actually blazing on screen. But given the way he was speaking during the scene it's either that, or he's like extremely susceptible to contact.
CONCLUSION
One things I always say is that the one who blazes trails in professional sports, especially if said individual is also a star player, has had more of an impact the game than the ones who come after him, no matter how great they may be statistically. And with that in mind, Anything Is Possible is more of a must-watch between the two since it is also more historically significant.
No comments:
Post a Comment