This weekend was Oscar Sunday, and some of the biggest names in all of Hollywood found out just how good their acting and directing are (at least according to “critics”). This year, names like Bradley Cooper (“Silver Linings Playbook”), Jennifer Lawrence (“Silver Linings Playbook”), Denzel Washington (“Flight”), Daniel Day-Lewis (“Lincoln”), Hugh Jackman (“Les Misérables”), and Jessica Chastain (“Zero Dark Thirty”) were the top names in the best actor and actress categories.
In the NBA, acting has a negative connotation. Most of the time it is connected to flopping — the league even set up a fine system in order to get players to stop “acting.”
We have seen players transition over to the silver screen before: to name a few, Ray Allen (“He Got Game”), Shaquille O’Neal (“Kazaam”), Penny Hardaway (“Blue Chips”), Michael Jordan (“Space Jam”), Dwight Howard and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (“Airplane”). However, none of these players starred in an autobiographical movie (even if “He Got Game” was based on Stephon Marbury). That got me thinking; whose career would make the best movie? What players have stories that need to be told?
Let’s take a look at 10 players in the NBA today that have the most storybook careers to date.
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10. RICKY RUBIO
The Minnesota Timberwolves point guard hasn’t exactly had the great start to his NBA career as once was predicted. For his career, Ricky Rubio is averaging 9.7 points, 7.6 dimes and 2.2 steals per game, which are solid numbers. But they aren’t yet at the star level production that many saw for young Rubio (last season’s knee injury must be mentioned).
Rubio, a Spanish native, first began playing professionally when he was just 14 years old. He wasn’t some sideshow act like Bow Wow in “Like Mike” either, this kid could ball. His talent and his youth lead to him eventually becoming one of the biggest names in Spain.
I don’t know about you, but a story about a 14-year-old dealing with the pressures of playing professionally at such a young age and than having to deal with the hype and constant media attention as well would make for amazing drama.
Eight years later, Rubio is now firmly planted on the biggest basketball stage with the brightest lights. Though he still has a lot of games left in his career, the first 22 years of his life are definitely worthy of a movie.
9. NICK YOUNG
Nick Young is one of the most charismatic players in the league. Swaggy P, as he likes to call himself, has shown that he can take over the camera at any time. The Californian started off playing for the Washington Wizards, but after five up-and-down seasons he was traded back home to the Los Angles Clippers. It would’ve made for an amazing end for Young’s story, yet the Clippers let him walk in free agency and now he fulfills the sixth man role for the Philadelphia 76ers.
It isn’t his path to finding the right team in the NBA that makes his life worth a movie, it’s the fact that Young dealt with loss, failure and redemption before finishing high school. His senior year of high school is well documented in a movie titled “Second Chance Season.”
Young had flunked out of two schools because members of a gang that killed his younger brother were his classmates. His grades were sub-par at best and some of his teachers worried if he could get a high enough SAT score to even be able to accept a scholarship.
For all his charm, Swaggy P has some haunting stories in his past and his ability to overcome all of the odds he faced previously has movie written all over it.
8. O.J. MAYO
O.J. Mayo will always be one of the most well known names in basketball circles. O.J. was supposed to be the next big thing. The next Kobe, the next LeBron, the next MJ. That wasn’t the case.
Mayo dominated the high school ranks and was one of the biggest AAU attractions in summer basketball history. Mayo didn’t play professionally at a young age like Rubio, but he was on his school’s varsity team when he was only a seventh grader in Kentucky. He next moved to Cincinnati, and became a star for North College Hill High School. Finally he spent his final season at Huntington High School in his hometown Huntington, West Virginia.
O.J. is averaging 15.6 points a night for his career. He is having arguably his best season in the NBA now that he has become more of a go-to scorer for the Dallas Mavericks, but after a tremendously hot start to begin the year, he has cooled off, shooting just 37 percent while scoring only 12 points a night in his last five games.
It would be an interesting story to look at Mayo’s life before the hype, during the hype and how he lives now that the hype has died down.
7. DAMIAN LILLARD
Damian Lillard took the NBA by storm. The rookie point guard out of Weber State is easily the frontrunner to win Rookie of the Year. Lillard was a relative unknown to most following his four years at Weber State. The Wildcats were never able to get to the NCAA Tournament during his tenure, leaving him out of the college limelight.
Now in Portland, Lillard is cementing himself as the league’s most exciting rookie since LeBron. He’s also the second player out of California to make this list, so maybe there is something to this whole Hollywood thing.
A web series — “License to Lillard” — chronicling Lillard’s preparation for the 2012 NBA Draft that started with pre-draft workouts and ended with the NBA Draft, is already one of the most popular basketbal videos on YouTube. It’s obvious that fans want to learn more about Lillard, and bringing his story to a bigger screen will only enhance his popularity.
6. JAMAL CRAWFORD
Jamal Crawford has been in the NBA for 12 years and doesn’t look like he’s lost a step at all. At 32 years old, Crawford could be on his way to claiming his second Sixth Man of the Year award, while leading one of the best bench units in all of basketball as a member of the Clippers. However, not many people know the full story behind Crawford. He has played for the Chicago Bulls, New York Knicks, Golden State Warriors, Atlanta Hawks and Portland Trailblazers but he didn’t become a household name until the last few seasons.
A Seattle product, Crawford wasn’t as hyped as other players in his class and after playing only one season at the University of Michigan, there were still questions about him. Most of those questions were eventually answered and we now know what to expect from Crawford game in and game out. With the ball in his hands, he is one of the most exciting players in the NBA. A YouTube search of his name will reveal highlight after highlight of moves worthy of the big screen.
5. DeMARCUS COUSINS
DeMarcus Cousins is one of the most talked about players in the NBA, but for all the wrong reasons. Cousins’ attitude has been a major red flag for him dating back to his days as a high school stud. During his one-year stint with the University of Kentucky, it seemed as if John Calipari reined him in. But, now that he is in the NBA, problems are rising again. He didn’t get along with his first head coach in Sacramento, Paul Westphal, which led to Westphal’s dismissal. Then in late December of this season, Cousins and current head coach Keith Smart got into an argument, which resulted in a two-game suspension.
Cousins is one of the most talented players in the world and can do nearly everything with a basketball. It’s his attitude that keeps him from reaching his full potential. While this may sound like a plot from an episode of the old-school NBC show “Hang Time,” Deering High School never had a player with Cousins’ ability.
4. BLAKE GRIFFIN
Blake Griffin made a name for himself because he turned himself into a one-man SportsCenter show. Timofey Mozgov‘s last name is now a verb due to what Griffin did to him in a game against the Denver Nuggets. But what Griffin has over just about anyone else on this list is that he can actually act. If you haven’t watched him in any of his Kia commercials or his commercial for GameFly you are missing out on some true comedic genius,
Griffin ended up in the right place with the Clippers. His personality is perfect for Los Angeles, giving people a look inside of his life and how a kid from Oklahoma City was able to become the person that he is today. The Kia commercials give us a slight look at a younger Griffin (even if it is all made up), but enough with the thirty second teasers. How about a full-length film already?
3. KOBE BRYANT
Kobe “Bean” Bryant is one of the five best players to ever set foot on a basketball court. He has carved out one of the most storied and remarkable careers of any Los Angles Laker ever. He didn’t take a traditional path to the league, either. Bryant grew up in Italy and was recently quoted saying that he was glad he wasn’t around when AAU first got popular because kids weren’t learning fundamentals anymore.
Bryant came into the league at just 17 years old. His parents had to sign his first contract. He also had a decent amount of drama during his career: feuds with Shaq, feuds with Phil Jackson, the sexual assault case, demanding a trade in 2007. Through it all though, Kobe remained Kobe. He never missed a beat and kept putting on offensive displays that reminded everyone of Michael Jordan.
Bryant is one of the most famous players on one of the most famous franchises in all of sports history. With Bryant admitting that he probably only has two years left in the NBA, what better time to get his story on film than now?
2. SERGE IBAKA
Serge Ibaka is one of the best shotblockers in the NBA. Currently, he is second in the league in blocks per game, averaging barely less than three a night. Ibaka’s athleticism is one of his best assets and when the rest of his game develops to reach the same level, the sky is the limit for him as a player.
Ibaka hails from the Democratic Republic of Congo, and has 18 siblings. Following his mother’s passing in 1997, Ibaka set his mind on becoming a professional basketball player in order to support his family. He ended up in Spain in 2007 and spent two years over there before coming to the Oklahoma City Thunder for the 2009 season.
Ibaka came to America not knowing any English at all. Now he is a key component in the Thunder’s championship aspirations. He came a long way from his struggles in Africa, but his story isn’t completely written yet.
1. LeBRON JAMES
Everyone knows the story of LeBron James. Much like Rubio and Mayo, James had to deal with hype when he wasn’t even old enough to legally drink. However, he faced hoopla that was much higher and more consistent than either of those two. Just about everything James did ended up on ESPN.
James is a player unlike any the NBA has ever seen before. He has Karl Malone‘s body, Isiah Thomas‘ ballhandling, Kevin Johnson‘s speed and Magic Johnson‘s the passing ability. The documentary “More Than A Game” gave a brief look into what LeBron’s life was like when he was in high school, but I think we deserve to see something based on his whole life.
LeBron James is the best player on the planet — there’s no debating that — and everyone wants to know more about the best.
Which player would you want to see a movie based on?
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