![]() ![]() Not a great basketball player, but a tremendous athlete. Wesley Snipes was this tremendous athlete. He had this great jumper, going to his left. Woody, first of all, was a really good kind of gym rat basketball player. Other looks Marques Johnson's scouting reports These were the signature shoes of San Antonio Spurs star David Robinson. These shoes were also worn by Scottie Pippen during the Chicago Bulls' 1991 NBA title run and as part of the 1992 Olympic basketball team. Here are a few of the now-classic sneakers worn in the movie. And so what happens is that, whenever you got to the front of the line, and Wesley Snipes was your partner, one of the three guys to go with you, you know, you - you would invariably come up with an excuse not to go with him. 'Cause he just couldn't get pass and go beyond, pass and go beyond. So if you went with Wesley Snipes, you might wind up going five, six, seven times, up and down the court on these three-man weaves. ![]() And so one of the things that Dick Baker said - one of the edicts was that, if you mess up, you gotta go again. Marques Johnson (Raymond): Wesley had a hard time executing a three-man weave. And then when I would take a shot, there was no rotation on the ball. Snipes: That was a very ego-correcting experience for me. The actors went to a training camp run by former Loyola Marymount coach Dick Baker and Princeton player Rob Ryder. However, that alone wasn't going to cut it. The chemistry between Snipes and Harrelson, who at that point had been in another sports movie - "Wildcats" - made the difference. But everything I threw up was a brick during the audition. I had a good handle, had a good mouth, good talk. And so finally, when I got the call to come and play, I realized like, wow, it's been a minute. Wesley Snipes (Sidney Deane): In the black actors' community, the word is going around that all the actors are being called in to come and play. And I'm like, well, I'm going to play as good as I can play. Woody Harrelson (Billy Hoyle): I remember playing those games. And then, and then the agents would call and say, "He didn't get a fair chance." I said, "You do not want to embarrass your boy again." Shelton: Duane Martin kept stealing it and slamming, and these guys would go down the court and they'd disappear. Charlie Sheen had been the first choice to play Billy but turned down the role. Landing the lead parts was not going to be easy. He was an All-American at UCLA and was on coach John Wooden's last national-title team. The film also included former players Cylk Cozart and Marques Johnson. Martin, who played college basketball at NYU, signed as an undrafted free agent with the New York Knicks but never played an NBA game. I thought, "This guy could play." And, and I would say, "Duane, go embarrass that guy." I knew the guys that could play, like Duane Martin. ![]() Ron Shelton (director): So, it was open call, come out and throw out a basketball. The tryouts included former pro players to help see who could play. ![]() Shelton held basketball tryouts with actors auditioning for the roles of Billy Hoyle and Sidney Deane. He cast Kevin Costner in "Bull Durham" because of his athleticism and a background of playing baseball. Shelton wanted the actors to be able to play. Here's how this classic got made and a few things you might not know about "White Men Can't Jump." Only real hoopers making the movie In honor of the anniversary, SC Featured spoke to the makers of the move. So what happened was, I realized that they were the same story." Watch the full special on ESPN+ was my playground cause I played basketball and baseball in high school in college. story," Shelton, who grew up in Santa Barbara, California, told ESPN, "All of L.A. He also directed "Cobb," "Tin Cup," and the ESPN 30 for 30 documentary "Jordan Rides the Bus." Prior to "White Men Can't Jump," he wrote and directed "Bull Durham," a movie for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for best original screenplay. The late critic Roger Ebert said it was "not simply a basketball movie." It went on to become one of the most beloved sports movies ever.ĭirector Ron Shelton had sports-movie chops. It's about street basketball and hustling in Venice Beach and Crenshaw in Los Angeles. The 1992 movie starred Woody Harrelson, Wesley Snipes and Rosie Perez. The movie "White Men Can't Jump" was released 30 years ago. 'White Men Can't Jump' at 30: Sneakers, bets and stories from an all-time sports movieĮditor's note: This story was first published in 2022 to mark the 30th anniversary of the movie. You have reached a degraded version of because you're using an unsupported version of Internet Explorer.įor a complete experience, please upgrade or use a supported browser ![]()
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