#Arthur Agee

[roseillith]

HOOP DREAMS  (1994) dir. STEVE JAMES

[moviemosaics]

Subject

directed by Camilla Hall and Jennifer Tiexiera, 2022

[koszmarnybudyn]

Its very funny to me that Arthur is canonicly a dilf

[sleepythug]

hey brian, I was wondering if you had any recommendations on film criticism/theory/reviews. are there any critics/thinkers you deeply admire that write well and have challenged your ways of seeing/thinking that you believe would help in better appreciating the medium?

i probably could have gone much longer on this five years ago but my brain did some sort of system reboot and lost all the memories ive had consuming film reviews, criticism, etc this ask makes me want to dust off that book i have of pauline kael capsules on my shelf lol anyways here's list of some fav critics/people to seek out if ur eager to dig deeper into cinephilia:

my most favs

ignatiy vishnevetsky (my fav)

jonathan rosenbaum

filipe furtado

dave kehr

david bordwell

j. hoberman

dennis lim

kim morgan

neil bahadur

nick pinkerton

xxx

james agee

miriam bale

richard brody

k. austin collins

fernando f. croce

manhola dargis

bilge ebri

manny farber

sean gilman

molly haskel

kent jones

pauline kael

peter labuza

matt lynch

adrian martin

calum marsh

adam nayman

nick newman

tony rayns

vadim rizov

jonathan romney

dan salitt

andrew sarris

scout tafoya

armond white

robin wood

ppl on letterboxd who's musings i enjoy

jake cole

max coombes

ryland walker knight

john lehtonen

willow maclay

luke mccarthy

matt mccracken

diogo serafim

arthur tuoto

ethan vestby

kurt walker

*also, i do like ebert but as i get older i realize i enjoy other lesser known critics a bit more+his taste in the latter years (21st century) is kinda wack tbh. 2007, one of the consensus last great years of american cinema, his best of the year was juno (i know, i know, it's an opinion but still lol) . cannot say he wasn't a formative figure, him being the most well known, most accessible film critic, and did the thing the best critics do in elevating, shedding light on artists they believe feel deserved of recognition/putting more eyes on their work.

**i think there's more people i could name-drop but i havent read enough, or been exposed to them as frequently, to go all-in on an endorsement of them/their work

[byneddiedingo]

Humphrey Bogart, Madeleine Lebeau, and Leonid Kinskey in Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 1943) 

Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, S.Z. Sakall, Madeleine Lebeau, Dooley Wilson, Marcel Dalio, Joy Page, John Qualen, Leonid Kinskey, Curt Bois. Screenplay: Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein, Howard Koch, based on a play by Murray Burnett and Joan Alison. Cinematography: Arthur Edeson. Art direction: Carl Jules Weyl. Film editing: Owen Marks. Music: Max Steiner. 

Even though she was never a major star, the death of Madeleine Lebeau in 2016, at the age of 92, was widely reported because she was the last surviving member of the cast of Casablanca. Lebeau played Yvonne, the Frenchwoman with whom Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) has been having an affair. When he breaks off their relationship coldly, she comes to his cafe on the arm of a German officer to spite him, but when the crowd starts singing the "Marseillaise" to drown out the Germans' singing of "Die Wacht am Rhein," Yvonne, tears streaming down her face, joins in. It's one of the many character vignettes that make Casablanca so entertaining. The film is filled with people who have nothing at all to do with the main plot: the choice Rick has to make whether to renew his old affair with Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman) or let her leave Casablanca with her husband, Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid). But if the movie simply focused on that love triangle, would it be the classic that it appears today to be? What makes Casablanca such an enduring film, I think, is the texture of its screenplay, which won Oscars for Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein, and Howard Koch. And that texture is provided by the character players to whom somehow the writers managed to give abundant time. The result is such memorable bits as the one in which the waiter, Carl (S.Z. Sakall), sits down at a table with an elderly couple, the Leuchtags (Ilka Grüning and Ludwig Stössel), who have just received the visas they need to immigrate to the United States. Carl speaks German to them at first, but the Leuchtags insist that they should speak English so they will fit in when they reach America. Then Herr Leuchtag turns to his wife and asks what time it is:

Liebchen -- sweetness -- what watch? Ten watch. Such much?

Carl assures them, "You will get along beautiful in America." Has there ever been a movie more quotable? It is, of course, a great movie, largely because everyone took the time to weave such moments into its fabric. I don't claim perfection for it: The subservience of Sam to Rick, whom he calls "Mr. Rick" or "Boss," smacks of the racial attitudes of the era, and I wince when Ilsa refers to Sam as "the boy." (Dooley Wilson was in his 50s when the film was made.) James Agee, who was not as impressed with Casablanca as many of his contemporaries were, derided some of the expository dialogue, such as Ilsa's plea, "Oh, Victor, please don't go to the underground meeting tonight." But it continues to cast a spell that few other films have ever equaled.

[brookstonalmanac]

Birthdays 11.27

Beer Birthdays

Felix Geiger (1834)

Michaele Fallon; Miss Rheingold 1947 (1920)

"Crazy" Dave Heist (1956)

Chris Flaskamp (1962)

Matt "Batman" Brynildson (1971)

Five Favorite Birthdays

Jimi Hendrix; rock guitarist (1942)

Bruce Lee; actor, martial artist (1940)

Thomas Malory; English writer (1405)

Johnny "Blood" McNally; Green Bay Packers HB (1903)

Alison Pill; actress (1985)

Famous Birthdays

Kirk Acevedo; actor (1971)

James Agee; writer, critic (1909)

James Avery; actor (1945)

William Bliss Baker; painter (1859)

Charles A. Beard; historian (1874)

Julius Benedict; composer (1804)

Kathryn Bigelow; director and screenwriter (1951)

Les Blank; film director (1935)

Samantha Bond; English actress (1961)

Mike Bordin; drummer (1962)

Randy Brecker; jazz trumpeter (1945)

Nicole Brossard; Canadian author and poet (1943)

Kelly Bundy; Christina Applegate's character on Married with Children (1972)

Anders Celsius; astronomer (1701)

Zoe Colletti; actress (2001)

Sharlto Copley; South African actor (1973)

Frederic Crowninshield; artist and author (1845)

L. Sprague de Camp; historian (1907)

Frank Dicksee; English painter and illustrator (1853)

Tsuguharu Foujita; Japanese–French painter (1886)

Robin Givens; actor (1964)

Jackie Greene; singer-songwriter (1980)

Kevin Henkes; writer & illustrator (1960)

Robert Livington; signer of the Declaration of Independence (1746)

Shy Love; adult actress (1978)

Joseph Mack; passenger bus inventor (1870)

John Maddox; Welsh chemist, physicist (1925)

Anatoly Maltsev; Russian mathematician (1909)

Konosuke Matsushita; Japanese businessman, Panasonic founder (1894)

David Merrick; Broadway show producer (1911)

Katherine Milhous; author & illustrator (1894)

Alec Newman; Scottish actor (1974)

Bill Nye; the science guy (1955)

Steve Oedekerk; comedian, actor, writer, film director (1961)

Lars Onsager; Norwegian-American chemist and physicist (1903)

Eddie Rabbitt; country singer, songwriter (1941)

Liviu Rebreanu; Romanian author & playwright (1885)

Michael Rispoli; actor (1960)

Connie Sawyer; actress (1912)

Charles Scott Sherrington; English physiologist, & pathologist (1857)

Gail Sheehy; writer (1937)

Jose Asuncion Silva; Argentine poet (1865)

Arthur Smith; English comedian, actor, and screenwriter (1954)

"Buffalo" Bob Smith; television show host (1917)

Michael A. Stackpole; game designer (1957)

Fisher Stevens; actor (1963)

Richard Stone; composer (1953)

Mika Tan; adult actress (1977)

Cornelius Vanderbilt II; businessman (1843)

Fredric Warburg; English author (1898)

J. Ernest Wilkins Jr.; nuclear scientist & mathematician (1923)

Cal Worthington; Automobile dealer & TV personality (1920)

[limotes786a]

Official Hoop Dreams Arthur Agee William Gates Graphic t shirt

The Official Hoop Dreams Arthur Agee William Gates Graphic t shirt to when Beethoven first realizes his deafness and he explains that Theresa would not love him were she to know. He is then shown Theresa’s reaction to his unexplained absence and he realizes that his deafness is the cause of all his problems. Fate explains that if she cures his deafness his music will suffer, as the Muses would not be heard as easily through the everyday sound. He thus withdraws his request. Beethoven is then shown that Theresa would have loved him forever and he becomes very sorrowful. But Fate then offers visions of the countless musicians of the future who would be influenced by Beethoven’s works. As one last, ultimate vision he is allowed to improvise with the musicians of the past and future who were inspired by him. Realizing that removing the hardships from his life would destroy his music, Beethoven informs Fate that he will not change any part of his life.

[lignes2frappe]

POURQUOI 30 ANS APRÈS « HOOP DREAMS » RESTE LE MEILLEUR DOCUMENTAIRE SUR LE BASKET ?

Voire le meilleur documentaire sur le sport tout court...

Aussi surprenant cela puisse paraître, Hoop Dreams ne devait au départ durer que 30 minutes.

Quand, en 1987, le réalisateur Steve James et du producteur Frederick Marx se mettent en tête d’aller filmer les playgrounds de Chicago, ils ne souhaitent alors consacrer que trois petites semaines à leur sujet.

Sur place, ils tombent cependant très vite sur un « recruteur local », un certain Earl Smith, qui leur présente deux adolescents de 14 ans bourrés de talent, Arthur Agee et William Gates. Le courant passe, et, une chose amenant une autre, James et Marx commencent à fréquenter leurs familles en dehors des courts.

De là, le projet prend une toute autre envergure. Persuadés d’avoir déniché tous les ingrédients un storytelling d’exception, James et Marx s’adjoignent les services du producteur Peter Gilbert afin d’augmenter sensiblement leur budget et le temps de leur séjour.

Et c’est ainsi que le 14 octobre 1994, cinq ans de tournage et 250 heures de rush plus tard (!), Hoop Dreams sort dans les salles de cinéma, changeant à jamais la vie des intéressés, la place accordée aux documentaires sportifs, mais, aussi et surtout, bouleversant de fond en comble la perception que se fait le grand public du processus de recrutement des athlètes professionnels.

De la sueur et des larmes

Long de presque 3 heures, Hoop Dreams suit les parcours croisés d’Arthur et William, deux surdoués de la balle orange qui rêvent les yeux grands ouverts de NBA. Sauf que bon, entre enquiller les paniers après l’école et décrocher un contrat pro, il y a un fossé – fossé dont chacun va prendre conscience à ses dépens de leur première saison au lycée à leur début à l’université.

[Sur 10 000 lycéens, seuls 3 seront un jour drafté par une franchise...]

Recrutés par le prestigieux Saint Joseph’s High School (célèbre pour avoir été l’alma mater du Bad Boy Isiah Thomas), Arthur et William tombent sur sous la coupe du coach Gene Pingatore. Dès lors, le basketball cesse d’être un jeu.

Vieux briscard, mi-père de substitution mi-chef de plantation, pour lui seule la victoire compte. Du genre « possédé » pour reprendre les mots de William, il s’emploie du mieux qu’il peut à tirer parti de ses jeunes recrues, qu’importe s’il lui faut les humilier ou les faire chanter.

Lorsqu’en junior William se blesse salement au genou, avant même qu’il ne soit rétabli à 100%, Pingatore le pousse à revenir au plus vite, contre l’avis des médecins. Plus craintif balle en main, William se blesse 48 heures plus tard et retourne derechef au bloc opératoire, la confiance dans les chaussettes.

Plus cruel encore, Arthur, qui chaque jour se lève à 5h30 du matin pour aller en cours, est tout bonnement exclu de Saint Joseph sitôt sa famille dans l'incapacité de payer ses frais de scolarité.

Intraitable, Pingatore, qui déjà ne croit plus en lui autant qu’avant (la faute à une croissance qui se fait attendre), laisse faire. Direction le lycée public, et déjà ses rêves « d’acheter une maison pour sa mère, une Cadillac pour son père et de mettre ses frères et ses sœurs bien » s’éloignent.

S’il est un peu facile de faire de Pingatore le grand méchant du film (amoureux sincère du basketball, il ne fait que se jouer d’un système autant que ce système se joue de lui), il est de ceux qui participent à traiter la jeunesse des ghettos comme de la chair à canon.

Ou comme il le résume à la toute fin, après que William et lui se soient faits des adieux aussi ternes que convenus : « Quand un joueur passe la porte dans un sens, un autre joueur passe la porte dans l’autre sens. Ce n’est pas plus compliqué que ça. »

Quelque chose de pourri au pays de l’Oncle Sam

La dure réalité des parquets n’est toutefois pas la seule à laquelle Arthur et William sont confrontés. Loin de là.

Purs produits de leur environnement, ils font face à tout ce qui ne va pas dans un ghetto noir américain moyen, à commencer par une précarité qui ne leur laisse aucun répit.

Drogues, criminalité, chômage, infrastructures délabrées, coupures d’électricité... l’un des passages les plus crève-cœur de Hoop Dreams est certainement celui où Sheila, la mère d’Arthur, lance désespérée : « Vous demandez-vous parfois comment je fais pour vivre ? ».

Sans emploi, séparée d’un mari qui à trop fumer la pipe à crack la battait, elle ne dispose à cet instant T que de 268 dollars par mois pour nourrir ses enfants...

Guère mieux loti, William sent la pression se faire de moins en moins saine, entre un grand frère Curtis, ancien espoir déchu qui ne vit plus qu’à travers lui, et une paternité qui arrive sans prévenir.

Sorte de film dans le film, cette plongée dans le quotidien des deux ados est d’autant plus pénible à regarder qu’Arthur et William voient leurs illusions s’envoler les unes après les autres.

À la merci de cadres blancs replets qui les traitent tels des numéros de série (voir cette scène lunaire où, sur un plateau télé, des reporters qui ont quatre fois leur âge discutent cigares à la main de leur avenir), ils sabordent leur seule autre porte de sortie, l’école. Menacés à tout instant de suspension pour cause de résultats scolaires à la ramasse, incapables de comprendre les enjeux, à chaque fois que le sujet est abordé, ils se murent dans le silence.

Fort heureusement, Hoop Dreams est entrecoupé çà et là de lueurs d’espoir, comme lorsque Sheila, la mère courage d’Arthur, qui, sans rien dire à personne, prend des cours du soir et décroche à la surprise générale un diplôme d’infirmière.

Petit bémol : là où la foule se presse chaque semaine pour applaudir son fils sur un terrain, lorsqu’elle reçoit son diplôme, la salle de réception est quasiment déserte, quand bien même c’est elle qui mérite le plus une standing ovation.

Hoop Dreams, plus que du basket

Filmé avec brio, les scènes de basketball illustrent à merveille cette ambivalence, avec d’une part, une caméra qui capture au plus près l’action sur le terrain, et de l’autre, une caméra qui se concentre sur les réactions des proches en tribune.

Aller-retour permanent entre le spectaculaire et l’intime, Hoop Dreams se sert du sport comme d’un cadre pour raconter une histoire beaucoup plus universelle : celle de deux adolescents au seuil de leur vie, qui, à la manière du jeune berger Santiago dans L’alchimiste de Paulo Coello, vont accomplir leur légende personnelle, réalisant chemin faisant que « c'qui compte c'est pas l'arrivée, c'est la quête ».

Plusieurs années après sa sortie, William déclarera d’ailleurs que « si Hoop Dream émeut tant, c’est que le script tient la route avec ou sans le basket. Se battre pour ses rêves, cela parle à tout le monde. ».

Et tant pis, si ni lui, ni Arthur n’ont un jour porté un uniforme NBA...

William et Arthur en 2014

30 ans après, que sont-ils devenus ?

Pourtant construit selon la très hollywoodienne trame « de zéro-à-héros », Hoop Dreams ne se termine en effet absolument pas sur une note triomphante.

Un simple texte blanc sur fond noir renseigne le spectateur qu’une blessure au pied a lourdement handicapé la carrière universitaire de William tandis qu’Arthur y croit encore.

La saison 1994/1995 marquera le chant du cygne pour nos deux aspirants pro, chacun affichant des stats largement insuffisantes pour un futur drafté (8,3 points de moyenne à 37,8% de réussite pour Arthur, 2,6 points de moyenne pour William).

Bonnes nouvelles toutefois, ils quitteront ensuite l’université diplôme en poche, puis, grâce au chèque de 200 000$ reçu pour leur participation à Hoop Dreams, quitteront le ghetto – sorti en salle, le documentaire a rencontré un vrai succès public, chose inédite pour ce format à l’époque.

Aujourd’hui respectivement pasteur et conférencier, tous deux grands-pères, William et Arthur se retrouvent régulièrement devant les caméras pour évoquer tout sourire leur passé commun, eux qui ne craignaient rien tant de sombrer dans l’oubli trente ans auparavant.

[« Quand les gens me disent ‘Ne m’oublie pas quand tu joueras en NBA’, j’ai envie de leur répondre ‘Ne m’oubliez pas non plus si je ne joue pas en NBA’ » aimait à répéter William.]

Le destin n’a cependant pas été aussi clément pour leurs entourages. Curtis, le frère de William, est mort par balles en 2001 pour une histoire de triangle amoureux. Bo, le père d’Arthur, a été tué en 2004 lors d’une rixe.

Hoop Dreams, ou le rêve américain sans filtre.

Publié initialement sur Basket Reverse le 10 octobre 2024.

[kenfitzpatrick]

Arthur Agee Jr. (Hoop Dreams)

[qweenofurheart]

so true!

also adding some pieces of media for anyone who wants to watch/learn more about stories in sports (there’s obviously more but these are ones i’ve seen)

Hoop Dreams (1994) Documentary about William Gates and Arthur Agee, two African-American teenagers both trying to make the NBA. Great cinematography.

The Fall that Changed Everything (2024) Video essay about snowboard cross Winter Olympian Lindsey Jacobellis. Gave me chills.

The Redeem Team (2022) (there is probably a free version online somewhere but it’s also on Netflix) Documentary about the U.S. Olympics Mens Basketball Team at the 2008 Beijing Olympics in order to win the gold medal after failure four years ago. This is a pretty legendary documentary with some legendary players.

1: Life on the Limit (2013) Pretty comprehensive documentary about the history of F1. I like it because it highlights the history of the safety regulations improving over time.

feel free to add more :)

i love professional athletes bro they're like celebrities with fear

[ruleof3bobby]

WIN IT ALL (2017) Grade: C

The solid acting, a few funny scenes make it bearable. Very thin plot with a weak ending.

[90smovies]

Hoop Dreams

[moviemosaics]

Hoop Dreams

directed by Steve James, 1994

[deertiger]

In the Street

by Helen Levitt, Janice Loeb and James Agee

Collection of the Museum of Modern Art

[therunwayarchive]

Elise Agee at Arthur Arbesser, Spring 2019

[nothingnothingaaa]

‘We all have Hoop Dreams’: Bittersweet tale of first 'reality TV show'

By Motez Bishara, May 4 2019 (CNN)

When Dwyane Wade was a 12-year-old shooting jumpers on the playgrounds of Chicago, a movie came out that would help navigate him through his future Hall of Fame career.

Released in 1994, "Hoop Dreams" shadowed the bumpy fortunes of Arthur Agee and William Gates, two inner-city Chicago youths dreaming of NBA stardom.

Wade's path to the Final Four with Marquette and championships with the Miami Heat would be lined with the same challenges faced by Agee and Gates, including the pressures of injury and young parenting, and the avoidance of drugs and gun violence.

Twenty-five years since its premier, "Hoop Dreams" still impacts Wade. "I watched it many times, and it resonated with me because we all have hoop dreams," the recently retired three-time NBA champion tells CNN.

"Growing up in Chicago you struggle," he adds, "I look at "Hoop Dreams" and I can see myself in those individuals at the time."

Film critics like the late Roger Ebert lauded the three-hour documentary for exposing a side of America rarely depicted at the time: A class system stacked against the poor, coinciding with rising corruption in youth basketball.

Filmmakers Steve James (left), Peter Gilbert (centre) and Fred Marx worked on a very thin budget until three years into "Hoop Dreams," when they were able to secure enough funding for the project.

So what has changed since then?

College basketball is coming off a thrilling season, but faces intense scrutiny as a second corruption trial involving shady figures and illicit payments around the sport unravels in court. Meanwhile, Agee and Gates remain close -- bonded not just by their fame from "Hoop Dreams," but two devastating murders in their families.

"You can't script this stuff," says Gates, 47, a youth basketball coach in San Antonio, Texas, to CNN. "Our stories continue to (overlap) like that, because he lost Bo and we lost Curtis."

Gates' brother Curtis, a former high school star who flamed out, and Agee's father Bo were both featured on screen. Curtis was shot in 2001, reportedly in a dispute over a woman, while Bo - whose redemption from crack addiction and jail time was a seminal part of the film - was killed in a robbery three years later.

"It was very heartbreaking," adds Agee, who still lives in the West Side of Chicago, not far from where he grew up. "It's so eerie that me and William always say "Hoop Dreams" was a gift and a curse, and we both lost people that played a big part of our lives.

"And then for both of us not to make the NBA, you know, that eeriness, that gift and a curse is there."

Though neither athlete played in the NBA, both received college scholarships -- no small feat coming from the dire housing projects they grew up in.

Agee, 46, who attended Arkansas State, went on to play professionally in the now-defunct USBL and had a stint with the Harlem Globetrotters. He then turned to acting, with small parts in a film and commercials.

Agee remains tied to "Hoop Dreams," which provides his motivational speaking platform in schools, and still inspires viewers to send warm messages from places as far off as Australia and China. He also sells apparel inspired by the film, including a throwback jersey from his school days.

Gates was the more heralded of the two, receiving interest from top college basketball programs and a grant to attend the prestigious St. Joseph's high school -- the same school that is shown releasing Agee, seemingly for not playing well enough as a freshman.

But Gates blew out his knee at 16, then rushed back to the court after surgery and re-injured it. Though he played at Marquette University, the injury crippled his pro potential.

"For me, it's bittersweet on many levels," says Gates about the film which he has not watched in over 16 years. "It was a constant reminder of what could have been and what didn't happen, and also a reminder that Curtis is no longer here to hear his voice."

Nevertheless, he looks back on "Hoop Dreams" as a "life turning situation," one that led to an allegiance with Michael Jordan, who invited him to pickup games before his comeback with the Washington Wizards. (An injury derailed Gates' own tryout with the Wizards, however.)

"It has opened doors," he says. "It has done things that I never thought would happen in my life."

Dwyane Wade is pictured dunking the ball.

THE FIRST REALITY SHOW

What began as a short film idea from director Steve James and producer Frederick Marx to shoot Chicago playground basketball in 1987 with a budget of $2,000 quickly took on greater ambitions.

The pair hired Peter Gilbert as a cinematographer (later added as a producer), and the trio followed Gates and Agee on and off for nearly five years. With 250 hours of footage to edit, the production took seven years in total, eventually raising the $750,000 necessary for completion.

When it was finally released in 1994, "Hoop Dreams" went viral, though the term had not yet been coined. It was nominated for best film editing at the Oscars, but snubbed for best documentary and picture, which had critics like Ebert up in arms.

"I've actually gotten way more mileage personally as a filmmaker out of not being nominated than I ever would have by getting nominated," says James, who stays in contact with Agee and Gates. "Over the years a lot more people seem to be upset on our behalf than I was personally."

By the time it ended its theatrical run, "Hoop Dreams" became the then-highest grossing documentary of all time, paving the way for hundreds of sports documentaries and streaming series currently on air.

"I call it the first reality show," says Gates. "I think it was groundbreaking."

Gates' enrollment in Marquette was mirrored exactly 10 years later by Wade, who also struggled to qualify academically for an NCAA scholarship and sat out his first year for academic reasons, the university confirmed.

Wade shared other similarities with both Agee and Gates, including feeling the pressure to rush back to action after knee injury which required surgery at Marquette. Though the operation was successful, Wade later said it led to complications as a pro.

"I watched it when I was at Marquette from a different (angle), knowing that (Gates) was staying in the same dorm that I was standing in," says Wade, who -- also like Gates -- was caring for a child (son Zaire) while in college.

Wade was separated from his mother Jolinda at a young age when she succumbed to drugs, leading to spells in jail. Like Agee's father Bo, she turned to religion after getting clean, now serving as a church minister.

"Obviously, I was able to make it," but there are challenges, he adds. "What I learned at the time is you learn a lot about other people sharing their story."

William Gates was a 17-year-old high school junior when his daughter Alicia was born.

CONTROLLED CORRUPTION

Rewatching "Hoop Dreams" 25 years later lends perspective to how fast top college recruits are forced to grow up, and how much is at stake early on.

Gates' daughter was born when he was 17, during his junior year of high school. Trying to be a father and student while rehabilitating from two knee surgeries to make it as the next Isiah Thomas -- the former St Joe's and NBA star who makes a cameo in the movie -- became too much to bear.

By the movie's final scene, with his passion for the game already waning, Gates remarks, "When somebody says, 'When you get to the NBA, don't forget about me,' I should say to them, 'Well if I don't make it, you don't forget about me."

It's no wonder he needed a break from the sport by his third year at Marquette.

"I didn't feel like a 19 or 20 year-old-kid, I felt like a kid who had been working 10 to 12 years at a job," Gates says, estimating that basketball practice and travel would take up to 60 hours a week in college. "I had a lot on my plate."

Agee had his own growing up to do, with his academics thrown into disarray after his brief spell at St Joe's, followed by Bo walking out and his mother Sheila losing her job.

In one scene, Sheila cannot pay her electricity bill and the family is left without power, while a clearly humiliated Agee broods at the camera.

(The filmmakers pitched in to get the power back on, leaving that detail out of the film. "We didn't want to look self-serving, but we felt an obligation to do that much for them," says James.)

Agee transferred to Marshall High, leading the team on an improbable city championship and state semifinal run.

In recent years the public high school has been rocked by gun violence, leaving seven former basketball players dead and two paralysed, including Agee's ex-teammate Shawn Harrington.

"I didn't let St. Joe's defeat me; I didn't let my neighbourhood and my environment pull me in to gain drugs, carrying the guns -- that whole lifestyle," Agee reflects.

It helped that the teenagers had the right people on their sides. Gates and Agee admit they were given cash during their basketball ascent by the likes of so-called street agents, drug dealers and university affiliates who often helped promising players.

In "Hoop Dreams" Agee pays for Air Jordan gear at a store with money received from drug pushers. While at Arkansas State, he says a "big street pharmacist" whose team he played for in a high school summer league bought him a car.

"That was part of the deal," says Gates of being offered gifts from universities as a highly touted recruit, before committing to Marquette. "It was like, 'Hey, you need anything let us know.' And you let them know and they took care of stuff.

"Hey I need transportation, hey I need clothes, I need shoes. They figured out how to get it to you," he says. "They did it through a friend of the program that you didn't even know was a friend of the program. That's the way it was."

In response, Marquette said it "is committed to the highest ethical standards for the recruitment and retention of our student-athletes," while Arkansas State said it had no knowledge of Agee's car purchase and that "there are too many unknown variables to comment further about a relationship from approximately 25 years ago."

Arthur Agee was recruited to play at St Joseph Arthur Agee was recruited to play at St Joseph's prep school as an eighth grader. A year later he was asked to leave, and his parents were billed for tuition they struggled to pay for.

Arthur Agee was recruited to play at St Joseph's prep school as an eighth grader. A year later he was asked to leave, and his parents were billed for tuition they struggled to pay for.

Somewhat fittingly, Gates is now a full-time coach in the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), the collection of summer leagues that insiders say has replaced high school basketball as the launching pad for college prospects.

Among the players that have passed through Team Hoop Dreams are all three of Gates' sons, William Jr., a recent graduate of Houston Baptist University, Jalon, a junior guard at Houston Baptist, and Marques, currently in high school.

AAU has come under fire by an ongoing FBI investigation involving sneaker companies funnelling money towards recruits to land at big university programs. The AAU told CNN it does not fund its teams, calling the situation an "apparel company scandal, not an AAU scandal."

"People are buying and selling players; it's a human trafficking market." says Michael Sokolove, author of "The Last Temptation of Rick Pitino," which sheds light on college basketball corruption.

Multiple federal investigations have led to guilty pleas from four college assistants on bribery charges, the conviction of an Adidas executive, and the firing of Pitino from Louisville.

Pitino maintains he had "no knowledge" of infractions during his tenure as Louisville's head coach. James Gatto, Adidas' former head of global sports marketing, is appealing his nine-month prison sentence for wire fraud and conspiracy charges in connection with a $100,000 offer to the father of a Louisville recruit.

With athletic wear companies paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to support top AAU programs, the potential to use them as a means to distribute money to the families of top players or an influential coach is high, says Sokolove.

"Some of this is laundered money. These teams can be used as pass through," he says, adding that the ultimate goal is to breed loyalty with players who become walking advertisements for the shoe companies on the court.

The stakes have become much higher to land top recruits like Gates was in the days of "Hoop Dreams," notes Sokolove. "There are more people with their hands in the cookie jar and the kids are largely pawns in this whole endeavour."

In 2017 the NCAA surpassed $1 billion in revenue, mostly through TV rights, while top players like Zion Williamson of Duke are limited to a compensation of tuition, room and board with a modest stipend.

Like many around the sport, Gates thinks college players need to get paid. He suggests universities contribute $100,000 towards a "graduation fund" for the player if he stays in school four years "to get prepared to live life."

Gates sees the current NBA age requirement of 19 as an obstacle towards paying black athletes, calling it a "controlled corruption" not seen in mostly white sports like baseball, tennis, golf or soccer.

"The two sports that are heavily dominated by African-Americans, it seems like there is always an issue when it comes to money," he says. (The NFL enforces a three-year rule before most college football players can turn pro.)

NCAA president Mark Emmert told the Associated Press this month that the organisation has "serious issues which require serious change," but paying players will remain unlikely.

William Gates (centre) is now an AAU coach in Texas. His sons William Jr. (left) and Jalon played together at Houston Baptist University.

PART OF A BIGGER STORY

Coinciding with the movie's anniversary, Gates and his wife Catherine just celebrated their 25th year of marriage. The eldest of their four children Alicia, who was born during filming, is 30 and works as a dental hygienist.

For years Gates would not allow his sons to watch all of "Hoop Dreams," fearing the scenes of his injuries would spook them. He finally relented, though Will Jr underwent four knee procedures of his own in college.

Agee has fathered five children, with his youngest Devin a budding youth basketball player in his own right. Devin's mother Jennifer Genovesi stood by Agee in the wake of a 2017 arrest after a woman accused him of battery.

Agee was quick to call James -- who he refers to as an uncle -- to assure him of his innocence. The charges were dropped shortly afterward.

"I'm part of a bigger story in this film. I never want to bring any despair or negativity into the story," Agee says. "He was like, 'We'll get through it together,' and that was good as that."

"I feel like they know that I'm here for them," says James, the film's director.

The special bond between the parties involved in the film was reflected once "Hoop Dreams," which was never expected to be a commercial success, caught fire. In a highly unusual step, Agee and Gates were made equal partners by the producers.

"They weren't just filmmakers," says Agee. "They came in over a period of time and got to know me and my family, and then stayed in touch."

Arthur Agee bought his mother Sheila a house with royalties earned from "Hoop Dreams." He now uses the film as material for his job in motivational speaking.

Gates and Agee first received nearly $200,000 each, and Agee promptly brought his parents a four-bedroom house in a suburb.

His mother, Sheila Agee, who was seen at the end of the movie graduating tops in her nursing class, relocated to Alabama in the wake of Bo's death.

After Curtis' murder, Gates was given an unlikely last shot at the NBA at age 29 with a tryout with the Chicago Bulls. But bad luck struck again when he caught the flu on the day of the workout.

"I said maybe God doesn't want me to play basketball," he reflects. "That's when my ministry life began to open up."

Gates received his master's in biblical studies and worked as a pastor at the Cabrini Green housing project he grew up in before settling in Texas.

He is thankful that Curtis got to meet Jordan before he was killed -- another imprint tied to his fame from the film.

"What came along with that was the responsibility to teach, educate, be a friend, have some compassion and show some understanding," Gates says.

"I've been very honoured, privileged and grateful to be part of "Hoop Dreams," he reflects. "It's been super amazing to be a part of something that has withstood the test of time."