Ambition can provide fulfilling yet fragile windows of opportunity.
Few basketball odes embody that notion better than the critically acclaimed film “Hoop Dreams,” which celebrated the 30th anniversary of its release on Monday.
Though the documentary follows the path of then-aspiring hoopers and Chicago natives William Gates and Arthur Agee, who remain respected in the game’s culture despite not achieving their dreams of playing in the NBA, it remains an enduring encapsulation of life’s toughest breaks for underprivileged people with goals. “Hoop Dreams,” in addition to telling a basketball story, examines a variety of socioeconomic issues, including poverty, racism, drug addiction, domestic violence, teen pregnancy, education and family mental health.
In the summer of 1987, long before the advent of the internet and social media, Agee had no idea how his life was about to change during a routine hoops session on Chicago’s North Side. Scouts like Earl Smith, who recruited local talent for several schools, had made a living by trusting their eyes. With the blessing of St. Joseph High School coach Gene Pingatore, Smith brought several helpful sets of eyes along this time.
“They show up on the court with cameras and s–t, tripods and boom mics, all that,” Agee said. “We’re just shooting around before we start up a game … like, ‘Who in the hell (are) these White folks, man?’ Do they know where they at? They finna get robbed for this equipment if they stay over here too long.’”
Agee continued: “After a while, one game goes by, and I’m on the sideline when Earl asks my name. He asked, ‘How old are you?’ I said, ‘Fourteen.’ He was like, ‘You ever heard of St. Joe’s?’ I’m like, ‘Hell yeah, I heard of St. Joe’s. That’s where Isiah Thomas went.’
“Immediately, I was like, ‘What’s up with all this?’”
Initially, the filmmaking trio of director Steve James, producer Frederick Marx and cinematographer/producer Peter Gilbert planned for “Hoop Dreams” to be a 30-minute PBS special about two future NBA stars. The crew captured more than 250 hours of footage over five years after ultimately broadening its scope to study how inner cities impact aspiring basketball players and their support systems.
Since its 1994 premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah, “Hoop Dreams” has been a major influence on sports journalism, including ESPN’s “30 for 30” series and other platforms surveying the inevitable intersections of race and American life. In 2005, “Hoop Dreams” was recognized by the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry.
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While the movie had its highlights, it still offers harsh realities. “Hoop Dreams,” in many ways, was just that — a dream.
“If I’m being honest, ‘Hoop Dreams’ is a sad story for me,” Gates said. “It reminds me I didn’t make it. It reminds me, going into my junior year, I was on the rise, and then after that, it’s failure, failure, failure.
“We’ve been blessed because ‘Hoop Dreams’ has become about more than just basketball. But purely speaking from a basketball perspective, we didn’t make it.”
By the fall of 1987, Agee began attending St. Joseph, but his stay was brief due to unpaid tuition. Gates, who was compared to NBA Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas by Bill Gleason of the Chicago Sun-Times, started as a freshman for St. Joseph, but a knee injury in his junior year undermined his sky-high potential. He returned to the court but struggled to regain his peak form.
Indeed, neither Gates nor Agee logged an official minute in the NBA, but they’ve distinguished themselves in hoops lore by sharing critical junctures of their lives as James’ crew explored the divergence of their paths. The film chronicles the inevitability of pivots and the immeasurable value of support systems when life gets rough.
Two ordinary inner-city Chicago kids dare to reach for the impossible—professional basketball glory—in HOOP DREAMS, an epic chronicle of hope and faith.
The filmmakers followed young Arthur Agee and William Gates over a five-year period. pic.twitter.com/a6OCVxOvjG
— TCM (@tcm) February 4, 2024
With only a 0.03 percent chance for athletes to reach the league, there is no shame in never making it. In Gates’ case, going pro seemed inevitable until knee injuries limited his recruitment offers. He graduated in 1991 from St. Joseph as a four-year starter and accepted a scholarship to Marquette University, where he made 80 appearances (29 starts) from 1991-95.
The same year Gates graduated from St. Joseph, Agee led John Marshall High School to a public league championship. He accepted a JUCO scholarship to Mineral Area College in Park Hills, Mo., but eventually transferred to Division I Arkansas State, where he averaged 8.1 points, 3.8 assists and 1.5 steals in 55 games from 1993-95. Agee graduated from Arkansas State with a degree in radio and television, and he also reached the pro basketball ranks during the 1995-96 season with the Winnipeg Cyclone of the International Basketball Association, helping the team advance to the league semifinals. Agee later worked with the Harlem Globetrotters’ public relations department in 1998.
In 2001, a 29-year-old Gates gave his pro career another chance by way of a tryout with the Washington Wizards to help Michael Jordan train for his final NBA comeback. Several players from the Chicago Bulls’ 1991 championship team were at the facility to provide bodies as Gates sought to gauge what he — and a surgically repaired knee — had left in the tank.
“As the NBA season was winding down, the teams that didn’t make the playoffs started showing up to the gym,” Gates said. “Mike only cared about one thing: wins and losses. I was never on Mike’s team, but my team kept beating Mike’s team. So, one day, I go in, and it’s switched. I’m now on Mike’s team; so now we’re winning all the games.”
As the pickup games grew more intense, four-time All-Star Penny Hardaway entered the gym with a then-16-year-old phenom — you might have heard of him.
“This LeBron James dude shows up, going to work on everybody,” Gates recollected. “All of a sudden, our games went from (playing against the) ’91, ’92, old-school Bulls to high-caliber, NBA summer-league hoops.”
The following summer, Gates got one last opportunity to actualize his dream via another team tryout. He fell short of making the team and ultimately accepted the closing of a critical life chapter with some refreshing reassurance.
“My prayer was just to know if I was good enough to make it,” Gates said. “God sure enough showed me I was good enough to make it. I should’ve said, ‘Lord let me make it!’”
In the years since, Agee has started a “Hoop Dreams”-themed clothing line, founded community programs for inner-city youth and served as a motivational speaker and mentor to student-athletes. In 2017, he was arrested and charged with battery, but the charges were subsequently dropped. Gates earned a degree in biblical studies from Moody Bible Institute in Chicago and became a pastor. He now is a public speaker and a content creator. The duo hosts “Agee & Gates Hoop Dreams Podcast,” which focuses on sports, entertainment and fashion among other topics.
Because “Hoop Dreams” had a $11.8 million gross at the box office, Gates and Agee received almost $200,000 in royalties. Last month, a new community basketball court at Garfield Park on Chicago’s West Side was unveiled to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the film.
Chicago West Garfield Park HOOP DREAMS Basketball Court🏀🔥☝🏾 pic.twitter.com/arTZzzoex6
— arthur g agee jr (@tusshoopdreams) September 30, 2024
The impact of “Hoop Dreams” routinely grows because those who enjoyed the film in the 1990s are now suggesting it to younger generations motivated to chase their own passions. The movie occurred long before the normalization of the one-and-done prospect pipelines and NIL valuations. Now there are various paths to the pro level, and student-athletes are compensated for their time while enrolled in college.
Does that leave the movie subjects bitter?
“Somebody had to go first,” Agee said. “That was a time where we couldn’t make money on our image outside of college basketball. It was crazy to where there was a gag order. We couldn’t talk about the movie, do promotions, none of that.”
With the film’s place in history well established, Agee and Gates are enjoying today’s basketball with inner peace about their paths and influence. Agee’s favorite active NBA players include James, Jalen Brunson and James Harden. He has no favorite teams. Gates’ current favorite player is Jayson Tatum, but he maintains fandom for his hometown Bulls.
“I ride and die with Chicago,” Gates said.
While Agee and Gates didn’t reach their NBA goals, their accomplishments and inner drive matured enough to craft a fragile window of opportunity into a stable life for their families. Still, “Hoop Dreams” remains an influence in today’s basketball culture, and the love for the game remains just as strong as it was when they were high school athletes.
“I don’t know if it ever leaves you,” Gates said about the love. “If you’ve had great success at it, it’s more of a disappointment (not to make the NBA). It’s more of a what-if question. People try to say you’ll get over that stuff, but I never got over the fact people never got to see the best of William Gates and that I never got the ultimate hoops dream.”
(Top photo of Arthur Agee and William Gates courtesy of “Agee & Gates The Podcast”)
