What Athlete Would You Like To See A Movie About??
Rockadelic
Out Digging 13,993 Posts
Mine would have to be a local guy.......Didn't play ball in High School and when he graduated he was shorter than his sister, who was one of the best players in the country.He grew 8 inches the year after High School and turned to a life of crime.Chose to play ball at a Junior College only when given the choice of that or certain jail time.Had so much raw talent that he became one of the Top 100(50 imo) players of all-time with virtually no experience, coaching or ambition. Was an intergal part of a World Champion Dynasty and became a celebrity way beyond sports. Not sure who I'd choose to play him in the movie but certainly someday, someone will make "The Dennis Rodman Story".The one thing that most folks don't realize about Dennis is that once in College his coach got on his ass about not shooting enough. Dennis was just happy rebounding and throwing an outlet pass. The game after the coach ripped him Rodman went out and scored 46 points. Even though he became one of the greatest rebounders in NBA history, he may have indeed been the biggest wastes of talent ever, or maybe the greatest talent never realized.Rich
Comments
The problem with his story is that he's become a media whore. During those Bulls championships he became transformed and came out of his public shell and decided to make money by doing outrageous things. Those are the kinds of stories that get on TV, but not on the big screen.
It's too bad too, because the truth is that he was NOTHING like the character he "played".....yet that persona may have taken over his life.
Broadway Joe's a good one.....
But Big Daddy Lipscomb would be a good candidate......NFL player in the 60's that would shoot heroin at half-time and was a Pro Wrestler in the off-season....and was just 100% bad ass.......died in his early 30's too!!
I was a huge Rodman fan as a child. I hassled my parents to get his autobiography (highly recommended. No ayo on the cover) It details his whole fascinating experience. Its a great story, started out a really harsh life its a ghetto to riches story and he shows all the backstage things that go around in the NBA (he saw the end of the golden era (pistons) and the beginning of the 'bling'(san antonio)) plus his book is full of on point commentary on nba players
I have huge respect for his game and have tried to model mine after his. Pesky defense and strong rebounding and his get in your head factor. (i loved his beefs with karl malone with the bulls..and secretely his mistreating of stockton earlier in his career) His dedication can be summed up in this
He has a million rebound records, countless defensive awards but was always blackballed from the league and never got paid his due (both recognition and $) I agree his last stints were bad and not a fan of his lifestyle or that motorcycle shit but I got nuthing but love for the WORM he needs to get his props.
nice to see others appreciate it would truly make a great film if told correctly, especially a few more years down the road he would appeal to rebel kids as an 'old school' player that got up in the game, dyed his hair threw elbows and won a championship in the end pure hollywood.
There needs to be a movie about JackJohnson and the legislative racism that took place down in the good ole US of A.
Would make a good art house film. Guy is totally nuts. I remember reading a Sports Illustrated article about him probalby 10 years ago. Talked about how he was living on a boat and thought the Chinese Communists were trying to brain wash him through radio waves or some crazy shit like that. Would only eat certain foods because he feared that the Chinese had tampered with it. There was more but those are the two things that I remember after all these years.
i remember a SI article way back in the pistons days. didnt he get adopted into a white family? or maybe it was the juco coaches famil that took him in? worm turned out kinda weird. cant forget the way he used to run-strut up court...
a monster on the boards though
There is a PBS documentary about it and it's great.
There is a movie about him, The Great White Hope staring James Earl Jones, losely based upon Johnson's life.
I thought about it because a new book is coming out on his story check local bookstores
this was on PBS this last year!!! it was amazing!!!!!!!!
that was the fuckin man right there
This couldn't make it to the big screen, but could be a spedcial on ESPN or something. Lyle Alzado. Died from steroid use.
always makes me feel stupid, like i'm biting someones rhymes or something
YES!!!
especially the part of his life when he was getting all the hype. and the baller lifestyle of street ball. There are a lt of those never made it , street court legends that would make great movies. The articles on them are a great read if anything
He went to Jr. College in Oklahoma and during one of the first practices they had an open house where the locals could come watch the team.......some young white kid like 14-15yrs old kinda hit it off with Dennis, invited him home for dinner and he lived there for 2 years.......quite a change from Oak Cliff/Dallas.
I've done some work with a company he owns here called Rodman Excavation that he started for/with one of his childhood friends......that guy swears that Rodman is as normal as it gets and that the "Hollywood" Rodman is an act.....never met him but I wouldn't bet against it.
Hearing other stories from locals, especially about how good he was offensively even though he had virtually no shot, no one could stop him if he decided to go to the hoop.
Thats a great pic
I would also like a russia/canada or russia/usa hockey movie not as blantantly horrible as
Pee Wee Kirkland.....supposedly once turned down a contract offer from the Lakers cause "I make more money than that on the street in one month" Pimp. Playa, Baller.....showed up to Rucker games in a Limo!!!
Not enough people know about him, but it would be a great story. Guy came from Sudan of all places. He ended up losing all of his money and was basically going around begging for money from his friends to take care of bills and a large extended family plus the problems in his homeland. Then he got in a bad car accident last year I think, and was in the hospital for a very long time. His old Warriors' teammates like Mullin, Richmond, Higgins did some fund raising for him.
He's been very active trying to educate people in the U.S. about what's happening in Sudan however.
Thats great..Darfur needs to be known to all. (ill skip a passionate rant about the UN handling of the situation)
How did Manute lose his $$$???
he also played hockey in a celebrity game
Rock:I read an article about that guy and his limo/rucker
jesus man cats had crazy ideas back in the day......coke....cough!!!
So we move back and all of a sudden it was like a big fake-titty magnet got placed inside those ropes, because all of the silicon in Vegas surrounded us waiting for whoever was coming there to show up. Me, three knuckleheads, and 50 or so porn-star looking women in this one little area. I thought I was tripping. Then we see this tall dude in a black cowboy hat and leather vest making his way through the crowd and realized it was Rodman making his way over to that spot.
It was the most surreal thing I've ever seen. Dude is just standing there leaning against the wall maybe 6 feet behind the rope, and all these women (and four lucky males) are just standing there smiling at him, waving, shaking their tits, and jockeying for position. Dude is surveying the throng in thongs, and then I realize he's looking over at us. He gives us an "I got it like that" look and looks away.
I look at the one woman next to me, lean over and say something incredibly stupid like "Hi". She looked right at me and made some sort of undiscernable noise and looked back at Rodman. My friends and I eventually got crowded out and went gambling.
One of the best Pee Wee stories is about the time he was going to play against Dr. J at Rucker......streets were abuzz with talk about how Kirkland was gonna school the suburban Julius......come game time Pee Wee's a no show.....Doc's team runs away with the game from the tip off......at halftime Pee Wee arrives in his limo with a woman on each arm and the place goes beserk.....he throws down something like 37 points in the second half and hits the winning shot....the stuff legends are made of....even though I'm sure they get blown a little bit out of proportion as time goes on.....best resource for coverage and history of playground players is Slam Magazine!!
Roosevelt, Long Island STAND UP!!!!!