Fansided

Re-casting classic basketball movies for the modern day

By Brandon Jefferson

NEW YORK, NY - OCTOBER 06: A Comic Con cosplayer dressed as Teen Wolf poses during the 2017 New York Comic Con - Day 2 on October 6, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Daniel Zuchnik/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - OCTOBER 06: A Comic Con cosplayer dressed as Teen Wolf poses during the 2017 New York Comic Con - Day 2 on October 6, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Daniel Zuchnik/Getty Images) /
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Denzel Washington and another man in a scene from the film ‘He Got Game’, 1998. (Photo by 20th Century-Fox/Getty Images)
Denzel Washington and another man in a scene from the film ‘He Got Game’, 1998. (Photo by 20th Century-Fox/Getty Images) /

CAST

JAKE SHUTTLESWORTH – DENZEL WASHINGTON

JESUS SHUTTLESWORTH – DION WAITERS

LALA BONILLA – LALA ANTHONY

COLEMAN “BOOGER” SYKES – UNNAMED FRIEND OF WAITERS

BIG TIME WILLIE – WORLDWIDE WES

SYNOPSIS (VIA IMDB): Jake Shuttlesworth is in prison serving time for killing his wife in a violent family feud. He is released on parole, but with one condition- – he must persuade his son, genius basketball player Jesus to sign with the governor’s alma mater university, Big State. And Jake only has a week to do it.

Let’s clear the air on something before getting too deep into this new cast of characters for this Spike Lee Joint, NO ONE can play a role after Denzel Washington has already played it. With that said, there will be no more discussion on the casting of Jake Shuttlesworth.

Rumor has it that Spike Lee originally coveted Kobe Bryant for the role of Jesus Shuttlesworth, but scheduling conflicts caused the director to go with Ray Allen instead. In this re-telling of the Shuttlesworth saga, we find a new Philadelphia-bred NBA player to take on the head role, Dion Waiters. Waiters would deliver lines like, “My name is Jesus (Yeah!), I am the man (Yeah!), what’s up with these questions, about my plans!” with so much gusto, bravado, and arrogance that he would be an instant hit.

As for the remaining ancillary characters in the film there are simple reasons as to why the specified people were chosen for the given roles. Unnamed friend of Waiters gets the shot as “Booger”, Jesus’ well-wishing vertically challenged cousin, because I can’t honestly think of another NBA player that would voluntarily let Dion talk down to them for an entire film. The role of agent Big Time Willie goes to the most notorious (and maybe nefarious to some) man in sports today, Worldwide Wes. Finally, Jesus’ girlfriend Lala Bonilla is played by Lala Anthony because they have the same name, which makes for a smooth transition.

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