More Than a Game

Watched this last night Loved it. Fits this Holiday season. So many things: Hope, Adversity, Work, Love, Giving, Pain, Recommitment, Caring, Sharing, Learning, Joy Memories of being a single mom. Life is Good💫 Happy Holidays

It's 2003. LeBron James, Dru Joyce III, Romeo Travis, Sian Cotton, and Willie McGee are preparing to play the National Championship Game. The documentary takes a look at these five teenagers in Akron, Ohio growing up and rising up to be one of the best high school teams. They were a shoe-string unknown team playing in the AAU tournaments with teams from across the country. In 1999, they lost the championship game by two points on a final miss by LeBron. LeBron is the future NBA star dubbed the Chosen One. Dru is the undersized kid with a chip on his shoulder. Romeo is the angry addition in the sophomore year. Dru Joyce II takes over after their coach abandons them for a college job.

This is more or less for fans of LeBron. It has his cooperation. It's mostly basketball with some personal revelations. The most important aspect seems to be their close-knit friendship and loyalty of belonging to the group. It has some insights and drama even for non-fans of LeBron. It doesn't really have anything too dramatic with the exception of LeBron's suspension. More than anything, this is about LeBron's nature and his connection to his home town.

What a stroke of luck to undertake a basketball documentary about a grade school team that includes the undiscovered future NBA star LeBron James!

Using film and game video footage interspersed with computer effect enhanced photographs, excellent editing and well-mixed music we get a compelling revealed story about four boys turning into men under increasingly intense public scrutiny.

I particularly liked the way the director "animated' photographs by extracting layers and changing the focus. This was probably a necessary technique to extend limited early footage, but it brought in a dimension that many documentaries are lacking

This is story telling at its best. Not only is it a highly entertaining basketball movie, there are so many life lessons that you can learn from watching it. So many topics come to the fore. Father and son relationships, manhood, aspirations, discipline, submission, spirit de corps, unity, fairness, justice, overcoming adversity, respect, obedience, friendship, greed, dealing with fame, community spirit, achievements, single parents, loving mothers, father figures, faith, God, religion, destiny, purpose in life and success. You also se selfishness, pride, disunity, arguments, rebellion. It's all here.

I highly recommend this movie to all teachers, coaches, fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, Pastors, youth workers. Today is Mother's Day 2014. If it weren't for King James' mother, her faith, fortitude, grit, love and determination, he wouldn't be where he is today. Father's Day is on the horizon! Coach Drey and his relationship with his son is one of the pillars of this movie. All fathers, spiritual fathers and fathers-to-be should watch this DVD or movie. Pastors and youth leaders, watch this movie and you can extract many life lessons.

To me, the best part of the movie was watching Coach Drey in action. His prayer on basketball being in God's small scheme of things put the perspective on the entire movie. How many men could pray a prayer like that? in the society that we live in today, winning is everything. Do we use basketball as a tool to achieve what God wants us to do in the lives of others, or does basketball use us? This movie is more than just sports, it is about a journey of character building and creating men out of boys.

To me, Coach Drey is a humble man. How do I know this? I know because humble man prays to a God whom he knows is in charge of the whole situation and is bigger than he is, Only a humble man admits that he has a lot to learn and is still learning about basketball by reading books of basketball greats and watches videos. Only humble man listens to his wife's advice on a life-changing decision of taking over as head coach when he is paralyzed by the thought of destroying the dream. Only a humble man talks to his son and asks his son if he was too hard on him. The humble man speaks of his own fears and frailties as a father, and a whole dependence on Jesus as his Lord and Saviour.

I am amazed at the locker room scene where Coach Drey pep-talks the team in a firm, soft-spoken and controlled manner. I expected a hung-ho speech and a morale-boosting talk by Coach Drey but what emerged was words of wisdom, soft, yet hard hitting to the core of the players psyche. I believe that loud and harsh words from Coach Drey were not necessary because of the relationship between coach and players. He had already threatened, yelled, screamed, admonished and discipline the players over the years in the training sessions and on the battlefield of tournaments. He was their father figure. Coach Drey was the 6th player of the Fab5. Even when the team was behind on points at the start of the 4th quarter of the Championship Final game, he did not yell, scream or give his boys the hair dryer treatment. He knew what to say to them and they knew what he meant.

Here's another thing I observed. There is a scene where the boys are sitting on the basketball court and Coach Drey is talking to them. The janitor is sweeping the floor with a broad brush broom. The boys are in his path. He does not stop and does not deviate from his path. Boys lift their legs to let the broom and handler pass them by. Then they lower their legs and resume their previous posture. In that situation, despite being basketball stars of their college and their State, they submitted to the lowly floor cleaner who was just doing his duty.

In the movie, I also got a glimpse of the emphasis of Christianity and on Jesus Christ among the black community of Akron, specifically of the family members and relatives of the players. My faith is lifted up. Through this movie, I am inspired to be a better husband and a better father.

This is a high-quality documentary. The graphics and image special effects are amazing and highly entertaining. Watching a diminutive sub 5-footer sink 3-pointer shots with ease will inspire you. Watching archive footage of the Fab-5 dismembering other teams because of their intuition and close team-work is awe-inspiring. it is a story worth watching and I believe that as you watch it, you will be challenged in your spirit, soul and body. Frankie "Moodurian" Kam, Malaysia.

Many people probably watched "More Than a Game" for LeBron James. I admit that that was A reason for me, but not THE reason. Fourteen years prior to this movie I watched "Hoop Dreams" about a couple of high school basketball players. "Hoop Dreams" was a better documentary and it didn't have the benefit of of a LeBron James. So, I still would've watched "More Than a Game" regardless of the name of the athlete featured.

"More Than a Game" was an interesting contrast to two other basketball documentaries I watched: "Hoop Dreams" and "Hoop Reality." "Hoop Dreams" had two players who never realized their dreams. "Hoop Reality" featured Patrick Beverly who made it to the NBA even if he's not a household name. "More Than a Game" featured a person who not only realized his hoop dream, but also became a mega-star.

I remember when I first heard all the LeBron James talk in early 2003. I didn't pay a lot of attention to it, but it's significant because I live in California. To be hearing about a high school basketball player all the way here in California means that he was a big deal. "More Than a Game" chronicles that as well as less headline making news from his younger years.

I like documentaries in general, so I'd recommend it anyway. And for you basketball fans, and especially for you LeBron fans, this is a must.