Hoop Dreams and Reality

by Alhaji Kargbo, junior reporter

                                                                          

The new original movie on Netflix, Amateur, tells the story 

of an eighth-grade basketball prodigy, Terron, (Michael Rainey Jr) who quickly learns about the dark aspect of the sports industry. As he is confronted with the corruption and greed of amateur sports he realizes how players are taken advantage of, and how this exploitation can have negative effects on both the individual and family.

This movie takes the viewer on an unbelievable journey of a young man with an NBA dream. This sports drama tackles the benefits and drawbacks of NCAA amateur basketball and is a must see for all fanatics.

The movie starts with Terron stuck on a below average middle school team going nowhere. Due to his below average teammates and the lack of competition his dad (Brian J. White) decides to send footage of Terron playing to Coach Gaines (Josh Charles), who coaches at a prestigious basketball academy.

Automatically, Gaines is impressed with Terron’s high skill level at such at such a young age and offers Terron a full ride scholarship to attend the academy. With this life changing opportunity hanging in the balance, Gaines woos Terron and his mom (Sharon Leal) with promises of a yellow brick road full of scholarships, elite college programs, and a trip to the NBA at the end of it all.

Everything was going well until Terron notices differences in the way players approached academics. Terron came from an impoverished background and his parents at times struggled to make end meets. His mother's main concern was for him to focus on his studies while doing what he loves: however, she emphasized the significance of education and its way of leading one to success. Most of his teammates would cut classes regularly just to practice at the gym, and all of them devalued the importance of studying. As a result, Terron gets sucked into the peer pressure and starts to forget what it means to be a student-athlete.  

His encounter with corruption in amateur sports hits him when he overhears a conversation between his father and his coach. He comes to realize that the academy was making thousands of dollars off of him without his parents being aware of it. Terron angry, confused, and naive about the possible consequences, decides to record the conversation secretly on a live stream. This decision ultimately gets him kicked out of the program, his coach fired, and his chances of reaching the NBA at that point seemed impossible to accomplish.

In the end, you have a story about a kid trying to make it into basketball regardless of the outside events surrounding his goal. Netflix original Amateur is worth the shot but there is no memorable moment, no slam dunk.