Hoop Reality

Thirteen years after "Hoop Dreams" we get somewhat of a follow up in "Hoop Realities." "Hoop Dreams" followed Arthur Agee and William Gates, two high school basketball players from two different schools with aspirations of becoming basketball stars. "Hoop Realities" is narrated by Arthur Agee, so we get to see what became of him, while at the same time it charts the basketball life and aspirations of Patrick Beverly. If you're familiar with the NBA, then you know that Patrick Beverly has had a fruitful NBA career. Personally, I think he's one of the peskiest players in the NBA who borders on reckless with his "tenacious" defense, but nevermind that.

Knowing that Patrick Beverly made it to the NBA makes watching "Hoop Realities" a little more fun. Everyone likes to see the origins of a success story. It is sharply contrasted to "Hoop Dreams" which was largely depressing as we saw William Gates' basketball career end before it started, and Arthur Agee was a big unknown. "Realities" wasn't done as professionally as "Dreams," but it was done well enough for a documentary.

I think any aspiring Black high school basketball player should watch BOTH documentaries. They both inform you of how extremely rare it is for a high school basketball player to make it to the NBA (a fraction of a percent) and while "Dreams" shows two guys who never made it, "Realities" shows two guys who did (Patrick Beverly and Derrick Rose). I know that's ironic: "Dreams" is about guys who failed in a sense while "Reality" is about guys who succeeded.