Directed by Adam Yauch,
better known for his day job in the Beastie Boys, the basketball documentary Gunnin'
For That #1 Spot
comes from a pure place. Or rather, it comes from a desire for a pure place in a
game poisoned by mercenary compromise. Yauch and his fellow Beastie Boys were
featured as an "unlockable" team in the videogame NBA Street 3, and his affection for
that brand of free-flowing, playground-style hoops makes the film come alive
whenever ball hits pavement. But in the space between that footage, which is
mostly limited to the final third, Yauch introduces just enough issues
surrounding the big business of high-school recruitment to get himself in
trouble. In a world where predatory shoe companies play kingmaker to fragile
young talents, much of the fun has been sucked out of the game. And Yauch's
movie isn't entirely immune.
Shot in 2006, Gunnin'
For That #1 Spot
follows eight of the country's finest high-school basketball
players—including two of this year's NBA lottery picks, Michael Beasley
and Kevin Love—as they gather in New York for the inaugural "Elite 24"
game. Unlike other corporate-sponsored cattle round-ups that parade the
nation's best players, like the McDonald's All-American Game or the Nike or
Adidas camps, the Elite 24 gathers a select group of high-school all-stars to
play at Harlem's Rucker court, the famed spot where Julius Erving and other
greats first made their name.
Bolstered by a soundtrack
that would financially cripple a filmmaker without Yauch's
connections—including tracks by old- and new-school greats like Jay-Z,
Nas, Grandmaster Flash, Public Enemy, and N.W.A., among others—the film
covers the game's highlights with great flair. The joy of street basketball is
that style matters more than points, and Gunnin' For That #1 Spot wants more than anything
to celebrate the sheer talent on display. Yet all the while, its ankles are being
held by a recruiting system that keeps imposing itself on the players and the
event, tarnishing everything it touches. Yauch's film only touches that
problem's surface, but it weighs heavily nonetheless.