NBA players are people too. Some might have fine tastes in fine cognacs while others go to clubs so nice that their bouncers wouldn’t let me in if Diddy told them to. But at the same time, they like the same songs that I like and watch the same movies that I do. Sometimes, said movies teach us important lessons, whether they are the generic, over-done type clichés or the deep, intellectual themes.
So these NBA guys must take a few of life’s lessons and view them as applicable to their game, right? Taking into account a few recent flicks, here’s what six popular movies could potentially teach some certain NBA stars.
Friends With Benefits – Kobe Bryant
Let me say this bluntly so you don’t take it the wrong way. In this analogy of movie-to-basketball, sex equals winning and love equals championships. By now, you’ve heard barely anything (just the weird “button-up” quote) about whether Kobe Bryant likes, dislikes or is indifferent to the hiring of Lakers head coach Mike Brown. Together, Bryant and Brown will win, there’s no doubt about it. But if they truly put their heads together and are willing to admit their flaws to make their philosophies mesh, then Los Angeles could be back to challenging for league titles. The same thing happened in Friends With Benefits, when Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis fell in love after they learned to admit their personal problems following a relationship of satisfying selfish desires. Not like I saw it or anything.
Everything Must Go – Gilbert Arenas
This movie, one of Will Ferrell‘s darker gems, went under the radar. Quick summary: middle-aged man loses job and wife, then gets kicked out of the house all in a day. Man flounders in front yard for a few days as he finds himself, eventually settling on ridding himself of old possessions by selling them in a couple-day-long yard sale. That’s what Gilbert Arenas must do – wash away the past, the expectations and the baggage in order to move into a new chapter of his basketball career. And just as the movie ends without a whole lot of clarity to whether Ferrell finds true happiness, we just don’t know what will happen to Arenas, either.
The Hangover: Part II – The Boston Celtics
Remember that time you got really drunk, everyone blacked out and a bunch of bad stuff happened? Great memories were made in the aftermath but it’s not like it’ll ever happen again, even if you get the crew back together again, right? Wrong, as the sequel to The Hangover proved. The Celtics, with Rajon Rondo, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, won the NBA Championship in 2008. Since then, it’s been rough sailing, but as The Hangover: Part II shows, there’s always a chance the same group of tight-knit guys could stumble back into a winning situation, just like the good ol’ times.
The Change-Up – Joe Johnson
During the 2011 NBA Playoffs, Charles Barkley said something astoundingly simple, yet absolutely perfect. Place Jamal Crawford‘s mind into Joe Johnson’s talented and skillful basketball body and you’d get perhaps a top-3 NBA player. Of course, things like that don’t happen, but after hearing that statement, perhaps Joe could take that concept seriously, play with a little more aggressiveness in Atlanta and get all the critics off his back for being overpaid.
Captain America: The First Avenger – Ricky Rubio
I haven’t gotten around to seeing this summer action flick, but you don’t have to dig too deep into either the Captain America plot nor Ricky Rubio‘s game to realize the similarities. Whereas Captain America begins as a scrawny youngster who repeatedly gets rejected by the draft during wartime, Rubio is a similarly thinly-built character about to embark on his NBA career. He could use the lesson that putting on muscle would be a good idea if he wants to be a bit useful, albeit he should probably not do it via a top-secret supplement program provided by the government.
Cowboys & Aliens – Stephen Jackson
The storyline is basically like this: townspeople, thugs and a Native American tribe come together in the old west despite their differences in order to conquer an ultimate evil in the form of green aliens that can’t see and really like to bite the crap out of humans. The most important character is played by Daniel Craig, a rogue cowboy who ends up being the man to lean on in the whole ordeal. That’s Stephen Jackson, who’s had his share of doubters in the last few years. But maybe the eclectic mix of Milwaukee Bucks hoopsters can rally around Jackson to turn the Bucks into a relevant Eastern Conference team.
Which movies should certain players be watching?
Follow Kevin on Twitter at @offensivelyfoul.
Follow Dime on Twitter at @DimeMag.
Become a fan of Dime Magazine on Facebook HERE.
