Wow. Hoop Dreams is one of the greatest documentaries of all time. I absolutely love these guys and their families and everything about this. Much Love
Exactly. Arthur didn't have a proper Male Role Model growing up. Pingatore, His Father and even that Scout who took him to St. Joseph's when he was a Little Boy didn't have his back. As for William, he had the problem that a lot of Musicians had in the sense that their Families wanted to live his dream vicariously through them. So unfair. Also, nobody sat with William and Arthur and told them how important it was to stay on top of their Grades. A lot of NBA Players don't even have proper educations, many of them are functionally illiterate and don't even know how to manage their finances. Is it me or does Chicago, Ill have a bad Academic Background.
Gates almost became an NBA player for the Wizards, but his knee held him back, as usual. I feel bad for him. Fortunately, he's coaching an ABA team, as well as an AAU one. As for Arthur, I'm glad he's doing fine, as well. Whatever happened to Shannon, though? Coach Pingatore is still alive, Coach Bedford passed away along with Curtis (William's brother) and Arthur's father, so whatever became of Shannon after serving time for drug distribution?
I actually got to meet William Gates at my job, after I made this comment, 2 years ago. And now coach Pingatore has passed away. I feel bad, because both guys would’ve done well in the league.
They didn't have the right people around them they were used only get immediate goals not long-term's success. If they both could have been academically successful, have no doubt they could have doubled their talents on the basketball court. Could have lease gone to the Euro league.
Shaun Mcallister One of them went on to play d1 ball at Marquette He didn't make it because of his knee injury in highschool. The other one wasn't driven or disciplined enough.
Thankful for these two for putting 5 years of their lives on film. A vulnerable time of growth and hardship. Immense pressure. A time capsule that I’m positive they are grateful to have. First time seeing this film today because of Roger Ebert including it in his book Great Movies.
These guys are good men despite their family situation …. Dreams are good and what all kids should do. Unfortunately some can’t find a path wide enough. Some forge their path as William and Arthur did. The sad part of the story is 80 percent of young men don’t have fathers in the home for minorities. Their paths are similar and most have their talent to make it let alone through some days. Bless these young men and the producer for their stories.
The 90s were different, both of these young men in this era of NIL and social media would have created so much money for their families, would not have even needed to make the NBA, and could have played overseas too. I hope they are doing well and know how much they are loved and respected by kids from that era.
Ivan Bonet Yeah. Right. That was real deep. Nothing like a tautology to impress the lazy minded. A bumble bee don't get to be anything else but a bumble bee. That one's free.
What? No, it's a logical tautology to say, essentially, "I am what I am". And it is certainly not a profound statement. I'll go so far as to say it's without value.
Shaun Pearson I see yourself very confident, like having the truth without considering more aspects of the question. Like a fast reasoning (but maybe I'm not understanding perfectly because of my english and I'm not saying what I really want to say). Better to stop talking. Sorry.
I watched this movie throughout highschool and even wore there numbers because I admired them. I was completely crushed not because I wasn't good enough. But because of the coaches. It didn't matter how I made there starters look foolish. They had in there mind. WE DO NOT WANT TO SEE YOU MAKE IT. I WAS A STATER MY JUNIOR YEAR AND AVERAGED 20 A GAME ON JV. BUT COACHES KEPT ME ON 3RD STRING IN PRACTICE TO KEEP THERE SO CALLED STATERS FROM LOOKING BAD AND ME MOVING TO VARSITY TO AT LEAST PLAY FOR A JUCO.
I loved watching this growing up. I saw every bball movie and doc and this was my fav. Still remember me and my brothers watching this together during our basketball seasons. Love the game and these guys impacted people.
I’ve been trying to find a clip from around the time Jordan came to the Wizards where he had some workouts with William Gates. I haven’t been able to find it. I swear I saw it back in the day.
I guess someone else will need to take advantage of minority inner-city kids and then withhold their transcripts when they don't pay the tuition ransom.
I knew some of the basketball players in college, and some have made a decent living doing that. But they have had to move around from country to country, and different leagues. That is tough, especially when you put a language barrier on top of it.
@@texaswunderkind and, payment is never guaranteed. Won't say the name out of respect to his privacy, but in college one of our coaches was telling me about playing overseas (Turkey and Greece) after a stellar career at University of Maryland. When he was in Greece he had to hunt them down to be paid and then he tore his Achilles. The owner didn't pay him for the three months leading up to the injury nor cover the expenses from the injury. Playing outside of the major leagues can be a coin-flip regarding payment.
Vumilia i think Arthur didnt make it cause no one took a chance on him! He went to Arkansas State afte 2 years in junior college. I’ll say this though, if Pingatore would’ve believed in Arthur and kept him at St. Joe, theres no doubt him and William win state at least twice! Not only that, but William probably doesn’t get injured and never becomea disillusioned by basketball
Vumilia Umm around 1% of college players make it to the NBA. Dude just was in the other 99%. People never really sit down and study the incredibly low odds of playing in any professional sports league...and then being good enough to be in the top tier and not a bust.
V because he wasn’t good enough to play in the NBA, just like 99% of college basketball players. The chances are minuscule because the talent and skill level required to make the NBA is so high.
At the end of the day he wasn’t good enough. There was a guy at Gage Park that averaged 43 a game and couldn’t play Divison 1. Think he graduated 1985 ahead of these guys. He did go to Europe and had a long career.
