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White Men Can\u2019t Jump<\/i> is about as grace\u00adful as pop film\u00admak\u00ading can be. On the sur\u00adface it\u2019s a\u00a0touch for\u00admu\u00adla\u00adic \u2013 the bas\u00adket\u00adball movie as bud\u00addy com\u00ade\u00addy, with Woody Har\u00adrel\u00adson and Wes\u00adley Snipes bick\u00ader\u00ading in pur\u00adsuit of street\u00adball great\u00adness. But there\u2019s a\u00a0unique grace to the game\u2019s form that makes it per\u00adfect when trans\u00adplant\u00aded to the cin\u00ade\u00adma, and despite its intend\u00aded stand\u00ading as com\u00ade\u00addy box office fare, the film is the purest dis\u00adtil\u00adla\u00adtion of the flu\u00adid beau\u00adty of basketball\u2019s move\u00adment that I\u00a0can name. The con\u00adfig\u00adu\u00adra\u00adtion of a\u00a0clas\u00adsic jump\u00adshot; pirou\u00adet\u00adting cir\u00adcus pass\u00ades; lay-ups that kiss the back\u00adboard and fall through the net, bare\u00adly both\u00ader\u00ading it: bas\u00adket\u00adball just looks right when it\u2019s pro\u00adject\u00aded big in a\u00a0way that oth\u00ader sports don\u2019t. You only need to look at any instance of foot\u00adball on screen to under\u00adstand that sim\u00adply repli\u00adcat\u00ading the action in film form won\u2019t cut it; there is yet to be an accu\u00adrate depic\u00adtion of the game in over a\u00a0cen\u00adtu\u00adry of cin\u00ade\u00adma. But basketball\u2019s action can be iso\u00adlat\u00aded, as in\u00a0<\/span>White Men Can\u2019t Jump<\/i>, where Snipes and Har\u00adrel\u00adson trade sim\u00adple, per\u00adfect-form jumpers for five min\u00adutes, the cam\u00adera God\u2019s\u2011eye as it watch\u00ades the ball arc through emp\u00adty air and into the clank\u00ading met\u00adal of a\u00a0chain\u00admail\u00a0net.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Else\u00adwhere, you only need to read the title to under\u00adstand that\u00a0<\/span>White Men Can\u2019t Jump<\/i> is a\u00a0provo\u00adca\u00adtion act\u00ading as a\u00a0joke, and while the film does cli\u00admax with Har\u00adrel\u00adson even\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adly dunk\u00ading the ball to win the game, it remains that woven with\u00adin the cliched archi\u00adtec\u00adture of the film is a\u00a0loaded back-and-forth \u2013 deployed as rapid repar\u00adtee between the leads \u2013 about the race rela\u00adtions that dom\u00adi\u00adnate any seri\u00adous off-court dis\u00adcus\u00adsion about bas\u00adket\u00adball. The remake is of course risible.<\/span><\/p>\n Not all of the 90<\/span>s out\u00adput was as vital and sav\u00adage, how\u00adev\u00ader; if it seemed harm\u00adless at the time \u2013 and was a\u00a0child\u2019s gate\u00adway to the game in the man\u00adner of\u00a0<\/span>Air Bud<\/i> and\u00a0<\/span>Like Mike<\/i> after it \u2013\u00a0<\/span>Space Jam<\/i> pre\u00adsaged so much about where both bas\u00adket\u00adball and cin\u00ade\u00adma were going, a\u00a0puerile endeav\u00adour more con\u00adcerned with mon\u00adey and merch, that even\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adly reached its nadir with\u00a0<\/span>Air<\/i>, which knows how con\u00adtemptible its fawn\u00ading over naked avarice is because it feels the need to add a\u00a0note at the end stat\u00ading that Phil Knight has donat\u00aded $2<\/span> bil\u00adlion of his sneak\u00ader mon\u00adey to char\u00adi\u00adty. (What it leaves out is that this is most\u00adly to his own char\u00adi\u00adta\u00adble foun\u00adda\u00adtions and that it comes in the form of appre\u00adci\u00adat\u00aded Nike\u00a0stock.)<\/span><\/p>\n If this train\u00ader-talk seems beside the point, then know that the mod\u00adern game is reliant on its appar\u00adel endorse\u00adments, and that wrong deci\u00adsions of this sort can be bad for your career, as shown in\u00a0<\/span>Lenny Cooke<\/i> \u2013 the bas\u00adket\u00adball film the Safdie broth\u00aders made before\u00a0<\/span>Uncut Gems<\/i> \u2013 where we see Lenny show up at an Adi\u00addas train\u00ading camp in a\u00a0pair of Jor\u00addans. This is one of a\u00a0num\u00adber of neg\u00adli\u00adgent moves on Lenny and his mon\u00adey-hun\u00adgry entourage of wish-promis\u00ading agents\u2019 part, and the play\u00ader (who was rat\u00aded the best young star in the coun\u00adtry) ends the film a\u00a0decade lat\u00ader watch\u00ading his rival LeBron James on TV<\/span>. Lebron \u2013 the star of\u00a0<\/span>Space Jam 2<\/span><\/i> in the way Jor\u00addan was for the orig\u00adi\u00adnal \u2013 is still play\u00ading today, undoubt\u00aded\u00adly one of the great\u00adest play\u00aders of all time. But Lenny Cooke was said to be as good as him, per\u00adhaps even bet\u00adter. The tapes of a\u00a0young Lenny which make up the first half of the film were shot in 2001<\/span> by Adam Shop\u00adko\u00adrn, designed to be a\u00a0text on the ascen\u00adsion of a\u00a0great young tal\u00adent. Instead, the Safdies picked up the footage a\u00a0decade lat\u00ader, and com\u00adplet\u00aded the film\u00ading of a\u00a0very dif\u00adfer\u00adent doc\u00adu\u00admen\u00adtary. As crit\u00adic John Sem\u00adley\u00a0<\/span>writes<\/span><\/a>: \u200b\u201c<\/span><\/span>Hoop Dreams<\/i> was meant to be a\u00a0warn\u00ading against all of this: the exploita\u00adtion of young black ath\u00adletes, the false promis\u00ades of boot\u00adstrap\u00adping upward mobil\u00adi\u00adty through sports, the lies that dan\u00adgle on the stick of Amer\u00adi\u00adcan nationhood.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n No dis\u00adcus\u00adsion about the cin\u00ade\u00adma of bas\u00adket\u00adball would be com\u00adplete with\u00adout some\u00adthing on Spike Lee, the sport\u2019s most ardent film-world fan since Jack Nichol\u00adson stopped being seen court\u00adside at every Lak\u00aders home game (Nichol\u00adson made his own bas\u00adket\u00adball film in 1970<\/span>, his rau\u00adcous direc\u00adto\u00adr\u00adi\u00adal debut\u00a0<\/span>Dri\u00adve, He Said<\/i>).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The recent NBA<\/span> play\u00adoffs again saw Spike cheer\u00ading on his beloved Knicks at Madi\u00adson Square Gar\u00adden, still alter\u00adnate\u00adly rag\u00ading and rejoic\u00ading like he was seen doing in\u00a0<\/span>Reg\u00adgie Miller vs The New York Knicks<\/i>, a\u00a030<\/span>-for-30<\/span> doc\u00adu\u00admen\u00adtary depict\u00ading the Knicks\/\u200bIndiana Pac\u00aders rival\u00adry that has at times seen Lee cast in a\u00a0more promi\u00adnent role than some of the play\u00aders. His is a\u00a0true devo\u00adtion, though, meld\u00ading sport and art at mul\u00adti\u00adple times through\u00adout his career, includ\u00ading direct\u00ading the com\u00admer\u00adcials for those first Nike-backed Jor\u00addan sneak\u00aders and a\u00a0vital doc\u00adu\u00admen\u00adtary for ESPN<\/span> called\u00a0<\/span>Kobe Doin\u2019 Work<\/i>, a\u00a0day-in-the-life type thing that has become espe\u00adcial\u00adly poignant in the years since Kobe Bryant\u2019s death in\u00a02020<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n Most impor\u00adtant\u00adly, Lee direct\u00aded\u00a0<\/span>He Got Game<\/i>, in which he cast NBA<\/span> play\u00ader Ray Allen in the lead role oppo\u00adsite Den\u00adzel Wash\u00ading\u00adton. Real life play\u00aders had often shown-up in bas\u00adket\u00adball movies \u2013\u00a0<\/span>Blue Chips<\/i> had Shaquille O\u2019Neal\u2019s name on the poster the same size as Nick Nolte\u2019s \u2013 but in truth these were as sup\u00adport\u00ading roles in small\u00ader films, or stunts. If\u00a0<\/span>He Got Game<\/i>\u00a0<\/span>did<\/i> have a\u00a0prece\u00addent, it was in<\/span> Corn\u00adbread, Earl and Me<\/i>, an under\u00adseen but influ\u00aden\u00adtial film that starred NBA<\/span> rook\u00adie-of-the-year Jamaal Wilkes as the tit\u00adu\u00adlar Corn\u00adbread, gunned down by white police\u00adman in a\u00a0case of mis\u00adtak\u00aden iden\u00adti\u00adty. But Lee\u2019s film puts an ama\u00adteur on screen for about as much time as its star, and much of it hinges on Allen\u2019s abil\u00adi\u00adty to go one-on-one with Wash\u00ading\u00adton, the estranged father of a\u00a0fam\u00adi\u00adly freight\u00aded with the tragedy that land\u00aded him in prison.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n