Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
I wanted to make a film that wouldn't just appeal to Formula One fans. That's what the great sports documentaries do - 'Hoop Dreams,' 'When We Were Kings' - they're human dramas first, sport second, if at all.
Coach Lue always amazed me. I'm like, 'How do you have this much joy coming out of life? You have money, but you don't drink; you don't smoke. All you do is hoop, and you live on a natural high.' But now I know.
My grandma used to have a backyard and we put a hoop, a shaky hoop, up there. We used to just shoot at it. We shot at it so many times, we broke it. We had to get a better one, because that one wasn't good at all.
I first started playing when we moved from my first house to a house that had a hoop out in front. Every day, I was in front of the basket shooting balls. The basket was regular height, and I was about 5 years old.
Wearing one hoop earring and playing with the androgyny - that's who I am. That's what I like to do. And I feel the world should see that. I'm not going to put a shield up or be more feminine to make people feel comfortable.
I loved the city of Chicago, and I love the Reinsdorfs. I'm forever grateful for them in taking a chance on me, allowing me to become the player that I am today. It's still incredible to me that I got to hoop in a Bulls jersey.
And I say the sacred hoop of my people was one of the many hoops that made one circle, wide as daylight and as starlight, and in the center grew one mighty flowering tree to shelter all the children of one mother and one father.
You have to get through the Hamlet hoop as a young actor. Your classical qualifications are based on the quality of your Hamlet. And then, as an older actor, you have to get through the Lear hoop. And I'm approaching the Lear hoop.
Basketball is basketball. And whether it's male, or female, or has any other label attached to it... that really doesn't matter to me. It really doesn't matter who's playing. Hoop is hoop. Game is game. If you have it, I'll recognize it. Period.
If you played basketball growing up, you learn the importance of follow-through when you shoot: forming the gooseneck, waving good-bye to the ball, reaching into the far off hoop like it's a cookie jar - think Michael Jordan's last shot as a Bull.
I was part of a writers' collective with 21 writers and filmmakers called the San Francisco Writers' Grotto. We had our own office space in this old converted dog and cat hospital, and we had a basketball hoop outside. I'd bring my dog to work every day and write.
My biggest thing I've learned is just putting time into getting ready. When we're young, you just go on the court and just hoop. But I think as you get older, it's more about, making sure everything is firing and making sure everything is ready to go and warmed up.
Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel first championed my film, 'Hoop Dreams,' which was essential to its success. Roger remained a great supporter of my work throughout my career, and I'll never forget him tweeting about 'The Interrupters' right before its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in 2011.
It was no accident that I made 'Hoop Dreams' because it concerned a sport that I loved and hoped would be my dream, however far-fetched that turned out to be. Because of the success of that film, Hollywood pigeonholed me as a sports biopic guy, which led to 'Prefontaine' and two cable sports films.
Writing 'Hoop Roots' was a substitute or a surrogate activity. I can't play anymore - my body won't cooperate - so in the writing of the book, I was looking to tell a good story about my life and about basketball, but I was also looking to entertain myself the way that I entertain myself when I play.
I'm not that flashy in private; I'm usually pretty reserved. But on stage, it's about not being afraid of anything - of anyone judging you. It's one place you can be free. So why not sing as loud as you can, hoop and holler and jump around? A show is a moment. When it's done, it's over. I find that extremely liberating.
For most of my films, I've had to go out and start shooting before I could get the rest of the funding. That was the case with 'Hoop Dreams,' 'Stevie' and 'The Interrupters:' We started them quietly out of Kartemquin Films, only really going to funders once we had something to show and a firm idea of what the film might be.
My daughter, she loves gymnastics. I take her to gymnastics and watch her compete. It's fun to see something you have rub off on your kids. My son, as much as I love to get away from the game, he really does love basketball. He just wants to shoot on this little hoop I got him. It's just awesome to see them smile all the time.
My parents were kind of over protective people. Me and my sister had to play in the backyard all the time. They bought us bikes for Christmas but wouldn't let us ride in the street, we had to ride in the backyard. Another Christmas, my dad got me a basketball hoop and put it in the middle of the lawn! You can't dribble on grass.
I just feel like there's a lot of things more important than just basketball, and I love basketball. It's what I want to do for the longest time possible. It's what I eat, it's what I sleep about, it's what I breathe, it's in my lifestyle. I just really feel like there's more important things than just putting the ball in the hoop.
I have a septum ring that I always keep pushed up in my nose, but if I put on a dress and think it's just a little girly for me, - boom! - I pop out my septum ring. Or I might throw on a big pair of hoop earrings - or a diamond choker. That's fancy, but not too proper or elegant because it's still a choker! It's all about making it your own.
