Soul Power: The Legend of the American Basketball Association

★★★★--Loved this well-done documentary about the American Basketball Association, an NBA rival with a different style of play that merged in the mid-1970s. There are many extremely engaging first‑hand accounts from figures like Julius Erving (aka Dr. J), George Gervin, Larry Brown, Artis Gilmore, St. Louis Spirits owner Daniel Silna, Dan Issel, Spencer Haywood, and Bob Costas, all of whom got their starts working for ABA franchises. Common, whose dad played in the league, narrates. Even if you know nothing about professional basketball, it's still a solid watch. 
 
Most interesting part is the business aspect, going through the successes and mistakes along the way that helped them survive and die out. A big win was that they acquired the second best player on the planet at the time, Julius Erving. He was the face of the league from 1971 to 1976. He is pretty universally considered one of the coolest people ever and was something of a proto-Michael Jordan, both on and off the court. They also nearly got the best, Kareem, but the league commissioner, George Mikan, a former pro and Republican politician, low-balled him, costing Mikan his job and probably ultimately killing the league. 
 

Erving was definitely the star of the doc, just as he was the star of the league. Dude is cool and charismatic as hell. A pretty safe choice as your marquee player, he was a black icon, but didn’t venture into racial politics, which I find disappointing but white dudes of that time were already well into that “shut up and dribble” mindset. 
 
It’s wild that the NBA still shits on this league that gave it the slam dunk contest and the three-pointer. The end talks about how the players from that league got screwed out their pensions until recently even though that was part of the agreement when the merger happened. Also, the NBA doesn’t count ABA stats, basically still arguing the league was inferior. It was not, and they even played about the same number of games each season, which makes things easy.
 
Just a couple little complaints. Something I hadn’t really noticed was the way some ABA teams made an effort to draft local college guys to boost ticket sales since people from the area were already fans of many of these guys since high school. I wish they had gone into this, but it isn’t even mentioned. It was something I noticed and then did some half-assed internet research to confirm it. There were several Indiana guys that played for the Pacers those years, guys from Notre Dame, IU, and Purdue, one from University of Evansville, and some regional players from various Michigan and Ohio schools. 
 

Another guy that stayed in the state where he was a college legend was Hall of Famer Dan Issel, who was one of the players that gets a lot of recognition in the documentary, and is still University of Kentucky’s all-time leading scorer. His three years on varsity (this was when freshmen weren’t eligible, which is stupid, this being 1967-70 were a pretty exciting time for college basketball even though those Kentucky teams always underperformed, losing in the round of 32 each of the three years he played at UK. This was during UCLA’s dominance with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Lew Alcindor at the time) winning national player of the year in 68 and 69. Regardless, the SEC was still the conference to be in with Issel and Pete Maravich of LSU as the top two players. Maravich in just three years is still the NCAA’s all-time leading scorer with at a more-or-less untouchable 3,667 points. He averaged and incredible 44.2 per game and his pickup style game was practically made for the ABA. He was another of the league’s prime targets (which isn’t mentioned) but stayed in the NBA. 
 

Interestingly, Kentucky didn’t integrate until the year after Issel graduated. It wasn’t until he played in the ABA that he ever played with a black person. The racial aspect of the film, while interesting, was maybe a little overplayed, calling it “the first integrated workplace in the United States.” It’s not like racism wasn’t rampant then or now. 
 
The only other thing that disappointed me besides trying to keep local college players with nearby teams wasn’t a fault of the documentary. It was that more footage hasn’t survived, especially from the early years.
 
Lastly, loved that my beloved Indiana Pacers were featured. There was a great local PBS documentary about those championship teams that came out in the early 90s. My uncle played ball with two of the guys in the doc, Billy Keller (my uncle was on JV when Keller was the man there) and George McGinnis, both Indiana Mr. Basketball winners. My uncle, Bob Jones, career was sandwiched between the 1965 Washington championship led by Keller and the 1969 championship led by McGinnis. They drafted a third Washington guy in 73, a guy named Steve Downing who played at IU, but he ended up going to the NBA. Again, wished they would have focused on the local guys aspect a little more.

From Deep: A doc about basketball and hip-hop

★★★--A basketball documentary. I’m a sucker for a basketball doc. In three parts. The first two parts were better than the third, which sort of went off the tracks. First part was a history of basketball and it’s connection to the black community. Second was hip hop’s roots and how it has always been intwined with the game. 

The third had the most potential and still requires the most thought and scholarship going forward. But it was also the most confusing, getting lost in the point it was trying to make. I think it was arguing that professional basketball players deserve more rights and to choose their employers via free agency without getting a bunch of crap. It also talks specifically about how the economic chasm between player and fan has never been greater. Just of sort of throws that out. 
 
Also gives a little bit of an apology for the LeBron James’ “Decision” from 2011. That’s when he had a television special to say he was leaving Cleveland. People I know from Akron and Cleveland are very protective of him, which is cool as I think he is a truly good dude. Tis true of him ass a teammate, father, politically active famous person, and so on. So I like what the doc says there, that the NBA and the city were making Lebron into a savior, which was unfair. It also talks some shit about Michael Jordan for being a corporate man in never taking a stance on anything political so he sells more Nikes, McDonalds, Gatorade, so forth. Jordan, that prick, did famously say “Republicans buy sneakers, too.” 
 
Overall, good but flawed and not super clear. Plus he sort of gets into dangerous territory when talking about African American culture for a weird looking Canadian. 

Johnny Eight-ball had one thing on his mind during his time in the NFL... It wasn't winning football games

Untold: Johnny Football - Ryan Duffy - 2023

This Netflix documentary has really taken the world by storm. Presents a side of the life and career of Johnny Manziel, Heisman Trophy winner and NFL bust Johnny Football (later Johnny 8-ball) that's about as sensational as it gets. The documentary delves into the unraveling of Manziel's football career in astounding and jaw-dropping fashion. Like his time in the show, these revelations prove extremely captivating.

One of the personal favorites is the scheme devised by Manziel's agent, Erik Burkhardt. to get his client through the NFL Combine before the draft that included a drug test that Manziel had no chance at passing. The plan went thus: Manziel would arrive in Indianapolis, the location of the combine, demonstrating his commitment to the NFL process. Prior to interviews and drug tests, Manziel's father would simulate a heart attack, prompting Manziel to fly back home to be with his family. During his time at home, he would cleanse his system and then reschedule private interviews with NFL teams, creating the image of family man who gave a shit. 

Maybe the craziest revelation though was that Manziel never watched any game film throughout his career. I played Division III college football for a truly terrible team. We watched anywhere from one to three hours of film nearly every day. We watched practices, games, games of upcoming teams, so forth. It was part of the experience, like stretching. I can't really fathom how someone could get away with that. 

Some other bombshells include a casual admission of a fourth-string quarterback taking drug tests on Manziel's behalf during his college days at Texas A&M. He was also signing autographs for money and getting cash under the table from boosters, which cost Reggie Bush his Heisman Trophy. There is also a bit about arranging a private workout for Manziel, during which his receivers were out all night doing coke with the star QB and missed the workout. As such, Manziel's semi-athletic agent stepped in to catch passes, which also defies belief. 

I could only assume the fallout from the documentary is going to be substantial. On a related note, I loved this doc! Dude does seem like a fun hang. 

Untold: Operation Flagrant Foul

Nice, interesting 30 for 30 style Netflix doc on the Tim Donaghy scandal. Donaghy was the NBA referee illegally gambling and influencing the outcomes of games. Tells how through his connections to organized crime, Donaghy made calls to benefit the gamblers he was associated with to cover spreads and what not. 

At one point Donaghy talked about how they'd get told by the league, handed down by Commissioner David Stern, known Indiana Pacer/small market hater, that they need to start calling more of this or that. Carrying or traveling on a certain spin move Jordan was fond of, for example. But when he makes one of those violation on His Airness, unquestionably the greatest player to ever play the game of basketball, Bulls Coach Phil Jackson tells him how it is:

“I started to understand what's within the game in the NBA. I was in Philadelphia and I am refereeing Sixers-Bulls. They were cracking down on the spin move that they wanted the officials to call traveling. Michael Jordan makes the spin move, I make the call. Phil Jackson comes off the bench and he starts giving me shit. I say, 'wait a second, Phil. You know as well as I do that's the spin move they're telling us to call.' And he said, 'while they might want that play called, they certainly don't want it called on him', and he pointed at Jordan who just walked by and stared at me. I got in the locker room, the other referee said, 'they want that call but don't want to on him.”

Yeah, indeed, it is a superstars league and they are treated accordingly. This of course brings into question the fairness of NBA games.

This is further evidence to the conspiracy theory that the NBA was more or less rigged under Stern in favor of the biggest markets and the players that sell the most jersey and if you are Michael Jordan, you get every call. You hear people talk about how when Jordan played the game was so much more physical. That's bullshit. Watch one of those games and you'll see Jordan get every goddamn call. “But the hand check rule!” You hand-check Jordan, you got a foul. Such is the case with all the super-stars. Look at the all time attempts list (Jordan is 11th, by the by). It's big guys who played forever (the Mailman, Wilt, Shaq Moses Malone, Dwight Howard, Kareem) like you'd expect and the guys that NBA protects (LeBron, Kobe, Jordan) with the exceptions of maybe the guys who played in the 60s/70s (Oscar Robertson, Jerry West), I can't say much with confidence about that era. In the playoffs, it is way worse. Jordan is tied for third with Tim Duncan. LeBron with over 100 more games than Jordan is first, he has also got nearly every call throughout his career, with Hack-a-Shaq at number two. The guys ahead of him all have way over 200 playoff games under their belts. Jordan had 179. As far as average per game, among players with 100 playoff games or more, Jordan is third in per game average, behind liabilities Shaq and Wilt.

All this is to say the Pacers should have won game seven of the Eastern Conference Finals in 1998! Small markets Utah vs. Indiana? Nah. Stern was never going to let that happen. This was how it was for most teams that were in cities that don't matter or didn't have one of the three best players in the league.

Anyway, so Donaghy was guilty as shit. Pled guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and transmitting betting information through interstate commerce. Okay. In the doc he admits to providing confidential information about games to the other two guys involved in the scheme, quasi mafia guys Jimmy Battista and Tommy Martino who he went to high school with in Pennsylvania. They all plead guilty, served at least a year in federal prison, and now hate each other. They all also participated in the documentary. 

Not the first of these Netflix Untold docs I've watched. They are worth watching if you like that type of story off the field type stuff, which I fucking love. One of particular interest is how Stern screwed over the Pacers after the Malice in the Palace when Ron Artest went into the stands and started swinging after fan John Green hit him in the face with a beer which caused a riot. Stern suspended the fuck out of my team including Artest for life which was later commuted to the rest of the season. This still makes me mad. Other NBA players that got suspended for a whole season include Latrell Sprewell for choking his coach and threatening him with death, Gilbert Arenas for pulling a gun on a teammate in the locker room. Even they didn't get a lifetime to start with though. 

Lenny Cooke is the greatest movie of all time

Lenny Cooke. "Like on Christmas Day, you think you’re getting this toy, and then Christmas comes, it’s not under the tree. It breaks you down emotionally. I broke down, realized I got bad advice. But you wonder, why not? Why didn’t my name get called?” Because you can't fucking play. 

Directed by Josh and Benny Safdie, the guys who did Uncut Gems. Liked that better but this is apples to oranges. The film follows this high school basketball player, Lenny Cooke, for about a decade of his sad life. In 2001, when the film starts, Cooke is one of the top ranked high school basketball players in the country. At that time he has ladies hanging on him, asking what team he plays for and shit like that, living it up with his boys. 

He thinks he is going to get picked in the 2002 NBA draft, but goes unselected. From there, we see him play in a series of minor leagues, getting fatter as times goes on, before finally he quits basketball. By the end he is living in some shit town in Virginia with his fiancée, who is getting tired of his shit while working two job, and his many children.

This guy. The takeaway is he thought he was going to the NBA out of high school with no fucking game. The little bit we see when he played LeBron when he was a senior and LeBron was a freshman shows that dude would never be able to hang. Meanwhile, the idiots he surrounds himself with tell him he is a shoe-in to go pro. None of these people know anything. The people that do are to polite to say he is garbage now. 

The end is pretty brutal. Dude got fat and just lived off his glory days. No job and no prospects at 30. Goes to an NBA game and meets with Joakim Noah and Carmelo Anthony after. Basically to say, "remember how good I was, lets go out to get fucked up." Noah is like, "nah, man." Then he talks shit to his friends for not visiting him enough. Looks like a tight hang. 

Finally, there is a scene where they superimpose Cooke talking to his younger self at the Five Star Camp. Basically an old man rant. Dude is a horrible public speaker, but that is apparently what he is doing for a living now. 

Pretty hard watch. Like Hoop Dreams mixed with a documentary about meth or something. It is solid though. 

Sports Documentary: The Games of the V Olympiad Stockholm, 1912

Criterion Channel has all the official Olympic Game documentaries going back over 100 years. This is my new thing. I have seen exactly one of these prior. Leni Riefenstahl's Olympia. You know her. She did Triumph of the Will. Considered the great Nazi prapagandist. Technically that was the first official Olympic documentary. But giving this a viddy since it's available and seemed interesting. But it's kind of boring. Just watching people do the same thing, over and over, one after another, with a boring ass opening and closing ceremony.

Not exactly confident I could have won a gold medal if I were transported back in time to 1912, but compared to today's standards, these guys were like high school sectional athletes. The hurdlers were especially trash. Stuff happened like tripping and completely wiping out and still getting up to win the race to qualify for the finals. A guy sets the world record at 15.5 seconds for the 110m after knocking down like half the hurdles. I ran a 16 second in 10th grade and wasn't even the best on my team. I didn't even qualify for the finals in my sectional. The kid who won the sectional would have shattered this world record by over a full second. Men's gymnastics was a complete fucking joke as well. It has to be seen to be believed. It's more what I'd call a warmup than like a competition. 

Speaking of, there were a lot of sports that I know but had a hard time figuring out what the point of them were back then. Diving, for example, appears to be more like the long jump with a dive at the end. No flips or turns. Just swanning 30ft. That shit was done into a lake by the way. 

Picture is restored and looks amazing. I've read like 10 or so times why old timey, silent era film looks so good. Has to do with the size of the film. Can't really explain or understand it though. Just know it looks great. 

Some things of note. A dude dies from exhaustion during the marathon, which is fucked. Researching this race, found that another guy disappeared which is just insane. One Shizo Kanakuri, weak from the long journey from Japan, and having problems with the local food, lost consciousness midway through the race. He was found and cared for by a farming family. Being embarrassed from his "`failure" he silently returned to Japan without notifying race officials. Swedish authorities considered him missing for 50 years before discovering that he was living in Japan and had competed in subsequent Olympic marathons.

Also get to see Jim Thorpe after winning a pair of gold medals. He wins the pentathlon and the decathlon. Looked him up. That dude looks like a contemporary athlete. It's like a bunch of average dudes off the street and then this dude who looks like a damn super hero. Looks amazingly like John Cena. Dude is a stud. Wish there was more video of him in the film. 

One more guy of note that I'd never heard of that was super bad ass. One Duke Kahanamoku, born in 1890 under the Kingdom of Hawaii, just before the overthrow. A native Hawaii swimmer, he wins gold in the 100-meter freestyle. Won a total of five medals over three Olympics. The other two were in 1920 and 1924. Incredibly, was an alternate for the U.S. waterpolo team for the 1932 games. 

Dude's life was incredible. Was part of a landmark Supreme Court case resulting from an arrest he made where a civilian was tried for shoplifting in military court. It's complicated and he just made the arrest. Was an actor, the Sherriff of Honolulu, a Freemason, and a professional beach volleyball player. He basically single handedly popularized surfing in the early part of the century when he saved eight fishermen after a boat had capsized, killing most of the people onboard. He was able to drag the men to safety and get back to wreckage quickly with the use of his board. After that, lifeguards used surfboards as part of their standard rescue equipment. 

Legacy lives on too. Has statues all over the place in Hawaii, is in both the surfing and swimming hall of fames, had a comemorative stamp with his likeness on it issued in the 2000s, and was the subject of a Google Doodle a few years ago. You can read a little about him in the New York Times here. Dude is a total MVP. He knew how to party.