All language subtitles for Amateur.2018.720p.NF.WEBRip.DD5.1.x264-NTG

Come this way, Terron.

Come on, T. Quick, quick.

Oh!

Let's go, T.

Splash!

Whoo!

Give it back.
You're gonna drop it.

Why are you watching my video anyway?
Watch this.

Oh, yeah, layup.

Right? Stoned.

- Is that game?
- No. Ten to two.

- One more and we beat them.
- Come on. I wanna keep playing.

Win already.

All right, whatever.

Let me see that back.

Whoop.

Come on, Terron.

End the game, already. Oh, my God.

Oh, come on.

Damn.

So, picking up from last class,
we're still dealing with probabilities.

But today we're gonna apply them
to your lives.

The chances of doing something.

The odds, the likelihood.
Who's got something?

- Anyone?
- What draft pick

- will Terron be in the NBA?
- That's a good one.

Let's look it up.

We can do that as probabilities
and express them as percentages.

Odds of getting into the NBA.

We have 500,000 high school players.

A hundred and fifty thousand are seniors.
We have 18,000 college players.

Four thousand of whom are on scholarship.

Sixty NBA draft picks.

Thirty in the first round.

Fourteen lottery picks.

See how I stepped back?
I was like...

Looks like a reverse layup
on Marcus. Man.

And one.

- All right, bro.
- I'm heading out. See you.

All right, bro. See you.

Yo, Pops. Where you at?

Ma, you're probably teaching
right now, but I'm at school.

Dad still hasn't come get me yet.

My phone is about to die, so...
you guys hurry up.

Baby.
What, are you gonna walk the whole way?

What else was I supposed to do?

I'm sorry. We tried to call you,
but we couldn't reach you.

Yeah, my phone died.

- Did his phone die, too?
- Well, he couldn't find it.

Today is not one of his good days.

I've gotta get my pills. Hold up.

Oh, Vince. I gotta get to class.

They're gonna be done
with their tests by now.

Speaking of tests...

They ain't posted them yet.

It went that badly, huh?

How do you expect me to be great if you
kick me off the team for one bad grade?

Why can't you just let me
give it all I got?

Wait.

When I'm done teaching, why am I
dropping the car off at your dad's work?

So he can drive it back when he
finishes his shift. His double-shift.

And why does he have to do that?

I don't know. Because he got
hit in the head too many times?

- Stop. I'm serious. Why?
- I'm serious, too. It's the truth.

He's doing it because he
"gave it all he got."

I'm not gonna end up like him.

I don't even play the same sport he does.

Did.

- "Riverside" on three. One, two, three.
- Riverside.

T, let's go.

Y'all get some popcorn.
There's about to be a show up in here.

You have to put somebody else
on him, coach.

Dude's in, like, the 9th grade, man.
Come on. Let's go. Get up.

Come on. Go, go, go. Keep going. Hit him.

Eighth grade.

- Let's go.
- Here. Right here. Force him left.

Force him left.

Lock him down.

Finish the game strong.
Make the right play. Let's go.

Let's go, boy. Let's go.

Come on. Hold it for the last shot.
Hold it for the last shot.

Okay, T. You got 12, 11, ten, nine...

Hold it. Hold it.

Now, go. Five. Four...

Finish that shit yourself.
Take the fucking shot. Goddamn it.

- You made the right play, Terron.
- Thanks, coach.

Forget about the L, baby.
Look at this. We bigtime.

Fifty thousand views, huh?
Give it up.

Go shake them up.

Hey, good game.
Good game, guys. Good game.

Good game, guys. Good game.

There it is. All right.

You a point guard.
But you ain't always gonna be up top.

You ended up on big dog, earlier.
What was that move you came with?

Did I feel something?
Wait. Wait, wait, wait.

Did somebody leave a window open?
I think I felt a breeze. Oh, no.

That was my son trying to bring
that weak-ass stuff. Come on, baby.

Can't try to breeze through the lane.
I need you to be a hurricane. Get low.

That's what I'm talking about, boy. Mm.

Yo, you good?

Yeah. Yeah, I'm good. You know me.

I'm gonna get that weak shit out of here.

Better stop that mess.

I like what I see out there, T.
You got that rock on a string, baby.

This is Byron.

He's been scouting us from, uh...

- Um...
- Liberty Union Prep.

- There it is.
- Program on the come-up.

Yo, let's get moving.
You've seen enough?

- Let's chop it up.
- Get showered up, son.

That was crazy.
That was a great game.

That was crazy. He got right in
the coach's face, that was crazy.

This ain't about you,
this is about Riverside.

There are other options for him.

What, private?

He won't be as good at anything
as he could be at this game.

He is too smart for you to say
what he could and couldn't be.

We have 500,000 high school players.

A hundred and fifty thousand are seniors.

We have 18,000 college players.

Four thousand of whom are on scholarship.

Sixty NBA draft picks.

Hey. Having fun?

Thirty in the first round.

We have 500,000 high school players.

Oh, you recorded your class.

Wow, look at you.
That's good, Terron. That's clever.

150,000 are seniors.

Are the math rods helping you
comprehend the numbers?

- Still ain't making no sense.
- "Isn't" making "any" sense?

Come on.

You can do this. You got it.

I ain't talking about walk-around money.

It's gonna cost
to get his ass back and forth.

Yeah. Get back to me with something.

All right.

- Who was that?
- Do you like playing on a losing team?

No.

That ain't gonna be a problem
no more. Your pops is on it.

You just gotta keep putting in work,
all right?

- All right.
- All right. Let's go.

Skunk.

You look taller in the videos.

Who are you?

Coach Gaines. Liberty Prep.

Your dad said I might find you here.

Your team is 0 and 6 this season, huh?

That must be frustrating,
as good as you are.

Yeah, it sucks. We're trash.

If you were at Liberty,
you'd be 10 and 1.

Play twice as many games
with better teammates, better facilities.

You'd get to travel around the country.
You ever been to California?

I never been out the state.

What?

I would have to leave my mom,
my pops, my friends. Everything.

I wanna show you something.

You recognize him?

Yeah, he's nice.
You used to coach him or something?

Yeah. In fact,
I met him on a court just like this one.

He didn't wanna leave home.

But he made the sacrifices he needed to
and now he's an NBA all-star.

- Know what else he did to get there?
- Worked hard?

No.
He listened to every fucking thing I said.

Talent's not enough.
You need someone in your corner

who knows the system
and how to play it for you.

He figured that out
and he has 100 million.

What would you do
with that money, Terron?

I would buy my parents a house.

One of those pools that's, like,
shaped like a bean.

What are those things in the backyard
where you just like eat and fart?

- A gazebo?
- Yeah, a gazebo.

It's real nice you wanna take care
of your family, Terron. It is.

We both know that's not gonna happen
if you stay here.

Think about it.

Wait, coach.

I wanna make it just like him.
I wanna take care of my family.

Good.

Start by giving me 50
behind that crack right there.

All right.
Um, could you count them for me?

You got it. Let's go.

That's one.

There you go. Nice.

Two.

- So, what's the gym like?
- Oh, the gym's real nice.

- You're gonna like it.
- Can't wait.

I wanna play basketball forever, coach.
Till I'm, like, your age.

- That's cold.
- My bad for being late.

- Did it all go down without me?
- I worked him out pretty hard.

- Nice to meet you, Vince.
- Pretty hard?

Is he onboard?

See? I told you those highlights
would get the word out. Hmm?

Byron and I talked broad strokes,
but we have details to hammer out.

Sounds good. Byron's right.
You're tall.

- What are you, 6'4"?
- And a half.

- You were a player, too, right?
- Three sports.

Yeah, I was all about football.
Wideout.

Well, tight end after I hit my spurt.
I was shorter than him at his age.

Man, he's gonna be tall.
His mama's tall, too.

- That's good. I can't wait to meet her.
- It's gonna be three on one, right?

- Ma won't let me go.
- Don't worry. She's not my first mom.

You ain't her first coach.

All we need is a good game plan.

I can set you up,
but you have to knock it down.

Because the only person
she can't say no to... is you.

You got this?

We're offering your son
a full-ride scholarship,

including room and board.

Liberty's never offered this
to someone so young.

That's how much we believe
in his potential.

Your school is called Liberty?
This says it's...

Liberty Prep is connected to Bishop
Anthony, an elite country day school

that sends its students
to the finest universities.

They prepare him academically,

we prepare for the next level
athletically.

It really is the best of both worlds.

So, Liberty is a high school team.
But Terron is only 14.

He's already playing up.

He's gonna live with older students?

He'll live and train
with the team.

But he'll study with students his own age
at Bishop Anthony.

- How far away is this school?
- Just over the state line.

Thanks for the offer.
We'll discuss it as a family.

I understand.
Unfortunately, there is a timing element.

I'm on my way to a tournament

and a player is ready to accept
the roster spot.

Nia, we cannot pass this up.

Is there anything I can do to help you
feel more comfortable with this decision?

If Terron goes to your school, he'd be
one of the smartest kids on your team...

but he also has a condition, dyscalculia,
which is a kind of number blindness.

He told me about it.

He did?

Ma, you think things are getting better?

They will get better.
We need to work harder.

You think I ain't trying?

It's like a... Like another language.
I feel so stupid.

But what else can we do
we ain't been doing?

I mean, like, at his school,
they have learning specialists, tutors.

They even got a whole, um...
What is it called?

- Learning Differences curriculum.
- Ma, they have a whole program for me.

Please, just let me go get help.

Is this what you really want, our boy?

You have to promise me that this is
leading him towards a college education.

I'll promise he'll receive multiple
scholarship offers without a doubt.

You have to promise me you're gonna work

just as hard off the court
as you will on it.

I promise.

Everybody follow me.
I'll follow you guys back.

About to check out the new school.

We doing this live, baby.

Fresh meat.

- What's up?
- How you doing?

Coach Curtis. I'll get that for you.
Hop in.

There it is.

Wasn't that the school?

That's Bishop Anthony.
That's where you take classes.

Home is this way.

Welcome to Liberty House.

- So, this is where the squad stays?
- Yeah, I know, it's a little rough,

but remember, we're staying at nice hotels
most of the time.

Why don't we just live in the school?

Bishop Anthony is a day school,
so no one actually lives there.

- So, who do we play for?
- We play for us.

But it's good for them, too.
It's like a partnership.

You know, they get some extra tuition,
make their diversity quota,

and get some real ballers to cheer for.

And we get our transcripts and visas
covered and get to use their facilities,

which are nicer than some colleges.

You'll see it tomorrow.
You're gonna love it. Trust me. This way.

You just take that top bunk right there.

You need anything at all,
holler at me downstairs.

All right.
Um, do I have to set an alarm?

- No, I'll get you up bright and early.
- Wait. Um, what do we have first?

First up is the optional-mandatory
workout.

All right.

Yo, turn it the fuck off.

Good morning.

Here you go, Terron. Good morning.

Sup. My name's T.

Yo, coach?

Good morning, Anton.

Got a daycare team
you ain't told us about?

You somebody's son or something?

Yeah. Ain't you?

Yo, I figured it out.

I know who you are.

You're the ball boy.
Why didn't you say so?

- Wait, we got a game tonight?
- Yeah.

Yo, y'all met the new ball boy?
He's gonna be carrying your shit.

More gifted, more responsibility,
gentlemen.

Pain is just the weakness
leaving your body.

Get down in the squat, fresh meat.

Fresh meat here is working harder
than all y'all.

Come on, get in there.

Let's go. Pack it in. Hit the shower.
You got second period in 26 minutes.

Petrus. Wrong direction.

My bad, coach.

Class is through there, fresh meat.

What time is it?

We are not going to first period.
This was first period.

So, then how am I gonna pass...
pre-algebra?

Do not worry.

You are getting help.
You understand?

Hey, did you see...?

I'm only 70 percent sure
that I got...

That I got...
The whole thing was...

That test? Dude.
I didn't do the bonus question.

You didn't get it? I didn't get it, either, - but I tried my best.
- Yeah.

And everyone open to Psalms 32:34.

Where are you, Terron?

I'm supposed to be in class,
but I can't find any of them.

Well, why don't you ask someone for help,
baby?

I don't know anybody.

You've gotta make new friends.
You might as well start now.

Yeah.

- Ball boy.
- Yo, Petrus.

Ma, let me call you back.

I need your help finding my classes.

Your next class, second floor,

but you don't need to take
this one or that one.

I'm missing one class
because of the workout.

If we take test online
or if we turn in paper,

the team gets help to pass.

Hmm.

We're all in the
Learning Differences curriculum.

What?

Oh.

The Learning Differences curriculum.
You don't go to class all the time.

You have practices, workouts,
games, travel.

We cannot go. Coach, he makes sure
we stay eligible for college.

So, we don't have to worry?

We're too big to fail.
Come. Lose to me in 2K.

Yeah, all right.

But you going down. Watch.

Dude. I'm gonna destroy you.
You wanna bet 5 bucks?

- What?
- I'm gonna kill you.

I'm taking your money.

Fresh meat.

- Oh, nice.
- These your size?

No, these are my size.

Yo, coach. Am I starting tonight?

You're gonna be starting, little man.

Minute after never.
In the month of Nevuary.

Nevuary 32nd.

- So, what number you want?
- Um...

One?

Yo.

Ref, that's more than three seconds.
He's living in that paint. Call that.

Forty. Forty. There you go.
Pass it. Pass it.

Fuck. Time-out.

- Petrus, what the hell was that?
- I was open.

- I'm a three-point shooter.
- You're not a three-point maker.

Why do they call me "Microwave"?
I get hot.

They call you Microwave
because you give me cancer.

Now, have a seat.
Come on, Forte. You're in.

Show us what you got.

Coach, how much time is left?

Two fifty-eight. Let's go.

He's not tall, but at least he got
special needs. Good pickup, coach.

Terron. You're not in the bush league.
Head up. See the floor.

Screen, screen.
All right, do it, Terron.

You can't switch there. Time-out.

There's a whole new level
of competition here, Terron.

Everyone's seen that eurostep before.

Get used to guys
meeting you above the rim.

Come in like you did in the game.
All right? Now, hold up.

See? You give the defender an easy block.
But, you pro-hop to the other side,

use the rim as protection,
finish with the reverse.

Good. All right. Now speed it up
and cover more ground.

There you go.

All right, listen. Daddy's gotta go.
I love you. Okay?

All right, I miss you, too. Good night.

You know that move was called a travel
back when I played.

Coach, you didn't have
the three-point line when you played.

Sure as hell had one when I dropped seven
against Carolina in the '94 tournament.

- For real?
- YouTube that shit.

You ever go pro?

Not in the NBA. No speed, no size.

Couldn't really play D for shit.

Good enough to play
in Latvia for a while.

- Where Latvia at?
- Exactly. That's what I said to my agent.

But it was the only offer we got,

so I kept playing, saw the world,
had a good run.

- Sounds pretty fun to me. I'll play there.
- Yeah.

Let's get out
before I get us both in trouble.

In trouble for what?

Rules say you can only practice
so many hours in a day.

Can I keep playing?
I'm trying to get the move down.

You know what? You're right. Fuck them.

- Let's do the same thing, other side.
- All right.

Here. Come on.

Your family live in the house, coach?

No, I'm crashing with the team
for a little while.

You know, it's tough being a coach's wife,
especially when you have 12 boys.

Damn. You be getting busy, coach.

Oh, oh. You talking about us.

Yeah. I'm talking about us.

But in the off-season,
the roster's down to two girls.

- Maybe you'll meet them.
- Yeah? What they look like? They cute?

Oh, come on, coach.

Nice ringtone, nigga.
Your mother call you?

Do not listen to these two:

Uh...

They are... What...?
What is your word?

Uh... Douche bags.

- Yo, how old are you?
- I'm 18.

- Cough up that birth certificate.
- Shut up your mouth. Idiot.

Olembe, you were 6
when you were born, no?

Hey, yo, special needs.
You almost had a trillion tonight.

You know what that is?
One minute and ten zeros.

Funny. Zero points, zero assists.

Yo, you know how to read
a box score?

Hey, yo, rook. Your job ain't done.

Carry my shit. All season long.

- What the fuck did you do with it?
- What are you talking about, bro?

Bro, I will fuck you up, man.

Whoa, whoa, whoa. What's going on?
Why aren't you dressed?

- This motherfucker took my bag.
- What's he talking about?

I don't know. I mean,
I saw one in the back of the van.

It could've been his, coach.

The van's in the back of the lot,
so hurry up, Anton.

And starting at guard,
number zero, Terron Forte.

- Take care of business. One, two, three.
- Liberty.

Hey. Just run motion. All right?

Show me why I brought you here.

Yes, coach.

There we go.

Nice of you to join us, Lyles.

Never gonna start, huh?

Go, go. Shoot it. Shoot. Shoot.
Terron...

Don't let up. Let's go. Let's go.

Forte.

What's wrong?

Is this that numbers thing?

I can't read the shot clock.

- What did you do at your old school?
- We didn't have a stupid shot clock.

Right. What about at the end of every
quarter? What did you do then?

Seven, six, five... Go, go, go.

Whoo!

See that pass?
He's only 14 years old.

Top of that rim, I'm telling you.

Forte.

- Yo.
- Next game, we pick and roll, yes?

- Yeah, all right.
- You throw me ally,

I put nuts on their face.

Yeah, I got you. Point guard.

What's up, Byron?

Good game, champ.
Yo, I got something for you.

- Oh, snap.
- You getting upgraded, baby boy.

- You want it?
- Yeah, word.

Whatever you need,
you just holla at Uncle B.

- All right.
- All right?

- Thanks, Byron.
- All right.

Forte.

- Wanna take your game to the next level?
- No doubt.

Good. Then you need to learn
how to run plays.

You need to know this offense
inside and out.

So, I'm gonna be point?

Slow down there, homeboy.

I'm gonna keep you at the two
for now.

Gonna have you back up Anton at the one.
He's more of a scoring guard,

but he's a senior and he knows
the plays well. All right?

You're my point guard of the future.
I'll get you up to speed on the playbook.

- Thirty-two.
- Okay. You see what he's doing?

- We use numbers for our play calls.
- So, the numbers are like names, right?

- Hold up.
- Exactly.

- Is that gonna be a problem?
- Oh, no. I got it.

First number is the play.
Second number is the direction.

Odds to the left, evens to the right.

- So, odds to the...
- Left.

Look. Anton, call 47.

- Forty-seven.
- See what he's doing?

Forty's the play.
And seven's the direction.

If it was on the other side, it'd be 48.
You got it?

Don't worry.
You'll pick it up quick. Coach?

I want you to bury your nose
in this playbook

like it's a pillow made out of
Rihanna's titties.

Forty-eight.

- I got you, coach.
- Now, watch this.

Y'all know why big man
can't hit no threes?

Why's that, man?

Because he's nailing them all day
off the court.

Stupid, man.

Hey, yo.
I got a question for you, Einstein.

It's the number of fucks I give.

Bro, I'm being serious.
I wanna know what you're doing.

What are these blocks for?
Maybe they could help me?

Hey. Don't tell them, but...
I got a learning disability.

Something that works for you
could work for me.

Well, they just represent numbers.
This represents five, this represents ten.

- Yeah.
- So, this is half of that.

Oh. I see.

You're trying to diagram plays.

Dawg, I'm glad you're here.

Yo, this nigga's gonna make me
look like a fucking genius.

- Hey, hey.
- Double foul.

Three black, one white.

Use your heads. You can't foul out
in a situation like that.

That's five on number one.
He's gone, coach.

Anton, get your ass up.
Terron, you slide to the one.

All right, listen up.
We're gonna hold for the last shot.

We're gonna run 50.
Terron, it's a tie game.

You be patient, make the read.

Let's go. Finish on three.
One, two, three.

- Finish!
- Let's go. Come on.

We got this.

Twelve, eleven, ten...

Fifty-five. Fifty-five.

- Bro, you call 55?
- Yeah, I...

- Why did you go right?
- You was supposed to...

You go left.
Odds go left, you fucking idiot.

Terron, what the hell was that?

- I'm not used to plays with directions.
- Your problem's with numbers.

No, it's, like, a visual thing.
Numbers are backwards.

- Left is right sometimes...
- Listen to me.

You wanna play,
know your left from your right, okay?

Fuck.

How did you get here?

- Game wasn't that far.
- Well, why didn't you tell me?

Where's Dad? He feeling all right?

He's at work. He's doing fine.
Don't worry about him.

So, tell me how your new friends are,
how your new classes are.

What's wrong?

- Wish I could do it like everyone else.
- Ooh. I know.

Have two teammates run to either side,
yell out which side they're standing on,

and call their names
as the direction of the play.

Ma, that's just crazy.

Okay, you're right. It's a bad idea.
We just have to get creative.

I know what numbers are even
and which are odd, it's just...

I don't know what side to go on.

Well, you shoot with your right hand,
right?

Well, yeah, but...
I don't gotta think about that.

What happens when you shoot
with your left?

I don't think about that either.

Let's go. Execute on three.
One, two, three.

Execute.

Coach. Let me run it. I got this.

- Lyles, you swing to the two.
- What?

You heard me.

Hand him the keys?
He's driving the short bus.

Thirty.

Thirty-nine. Thirty-nine.

Great throw. Great throw.
That's how you throw a fucking pass.

There you go.

We're gonna run 50.
Lyles, on the wing. Petrus, on the left...

- Coach, run 40.
- What?

His man is fronting.
He's gonna get the screen.

- Give a man a rope, he wanna be a cowboy.
- I'll call the play for you.

- Give me the ball at the top of the key.
- Both of you just shut up.

Shut up, okay?

Here's what we're gonna do.

Get the ball to Forte
at the top of the key.

Let's go.

That's what I'm talking about.

- That's what I'm talking about.
- Yeah.

- You guys got all that, right?
- Yeah, of course, coach.

Hey, Terron. Can we get a drop
for our website? Hoopscout. tv?

- No problem.
- Make sure you get Liberty in there.

All right, coach. I got you.
Just say to the camera.

Say what? What do I say?

Your name
and the name of the website.

This is Terron Forte
and you're watching...

- What was it called?
- Hoopscout.tv.

Let me do it again.

It's Terron Forte
and you're watching Hoopscout.tv.

Oh!

- We live. Yeah, we live.
- Yeah.

Behind the scenes
with the Liberty boys.

This is where we put in work.

--on a five-game winning streak
right now.

What you gonna do?

- Yo, we top 25 now.
- Top 25?

Forte is now nationally ranked.
Ha, ha!

Hey, hey.

- How many followers are you having now?
- I don't know.

Let me see.

Oh! Dude, you are famous.

Oh, that's Natasha and them.

- Hi.
- Hey, guys.

You should take off your shirts.

- Take it off.
- Do it.

- What's this for?
- It's a profile on the program.

Put your camera down
so I can use mine.

Stop recording, Terron.

Oh, this is my shit.

New unis. New unis.

- There it is.
- Look at that. New TV.

Coach. Coach. Coach.

Check this out, Terron.
Looks pretty good, doesn't it?

Yeah, that's dope.

Nice. I like it.

Come on, now. Leave me be.

Cut the light off.

T?

Get your narrow ass over here
and give your old man some love. Hey, boy.

Nationally ranked player up in here.

- Boy, what you doing home?
- No, I'm just on break.

Oh.

Wait a minute. Did I forget
to pick you up again?

Why you in my room, Dad?

I must've just passed out here, you know?

Let me get this out of your way.

Shit.

God...

- Why you arguing?
- We've gone through this.

- That's bullshit.
- Not the first time we went through this.

- I've done this with everyone...
- I'm handing you cash.

It says clearly you gotta pay
the full amount or you're out.

I don't give a fuck. You don't
post more notices on that door.

And you come to me, man-to-man.
Take your money.

Mom. What's going on?

Why was he in my room?

We miss having you around.

But we're gonna work everything out.

Wait. Are we gonna have to move
because he lost his job again?

No, he's gonna find something else.

I mean, he could try to get some help.

Now, you know
he won't see anybody about it.

Come on.

Where you been?

I been in the weight room.

How your old man look, boy?

Yoked up.

Yeah, I still got something left.

Yeah. Me and Ma,
we was just talking about that.

Talking about what?

What playing football did to you.

Yeah, what'd she say?

She said...
She said you should go see a doctor.

She don't know what she's talking about.

Playing the way you did,
like, getting concussions...

Ain't nothing, T. You hear me?

- The other things...
- It ain't the same.

- Do you know what's wrong...?
- I know exactly what it is, okay?

Can't do nothing about it.
Neither can you, or any doctor.

- I'm sorr... I...
- You sorry? Then what?

Ain't no check.

Ain't no reparations for this.

These fucking headaches,
this useless memory.

Now, you listen to me.

Because I learned something from
all these years at JuCo.

And the middle school, high school,

I learned that these coaches,
these agents,

these motherfuckers wearing those suits,
they are gonna use you.

So, we have got to figure out
how to use them to get ours.

You hear me?

The kid's better in person.

Uh-huh. Yeah. Well, you know what?

I don't care how many views
his mixtape has.

He came into my office.
I gotta get off the phone.

Hey, Terron. What's up?
What brings you to the presidential suite?

Can you hire another assistant coach?

Why?

Well, my dad, he needs a job.

Well, look. I don't have
the budget for that. I wish I did.

Well, we got a sponsor now.
Doesn't that help?

It helps, but they're just
supplying us product.

We don't have their deal.
Hell, he's got four paid assistants.

- Who are they?
- Victory Country Day.

One of the top-ranked teams in the nation.

What, are we playing them next?

If we're lucky we play them
in the finals of the invitational.

Know what I could do with four assistants?

Hire my pops?

He's the reason I'm here, coach.

Hold on.

You really want him here, huh?

You been using that move
I showed you?

- Which one?
- All of them.

So, uh, what...?
What do you got in mind for me, coach?

We'll have you work with Byron.

Help surround Terron
with the right players for next year.

He is the future of this team.

Indeed, so you, uh...
You want me to Uncle up. Got you.

- Well, you gonna get him some size?
- Exactly.

Have to be on the road a lot. Okay?

- I'll do whatever it takes.
- Great.

Shake hands,
find out who's not happy.

- Sound good?
- That sounds great.

Good. Glad to have you onboard, Vince.
I know Terron is, too.

- Uh... Who do I talk to about, uh...?
- Byron can handle all that.

Thank you.

I'll tell you something.
We sucked tonight,

but you guys sucked, too.
Both of you. Tell your buddy that.

Listen up.

Listen. You guys like your new sneakers,
new uniforms, all that?

Yeah? Good. You can kiss it goodbye

if you let a bunch of scrubs
hang with us. 15 seconds left.

Let's finish them off.
And we're running 60.

Terron, if we get the mismatch,
hit Petrus down in the post, all right?

- Yes, coach.
- Go.

- Come on. Win on three. One, two, three.
- Win.

Go.

Look, I'm just saying, it shouldn't even
come down to this. It's bullshit.

Sixty-three. Sixty-three.

Let's go, boy! Let's get it!

Yeah!

Good passing.
That's what I'm talking about.

Dumped on him, like boom!

Listen to him. Good game, fellas.
T, let me holla at you.

Let me holla at you.
Good game.

Good game, but, uh...
why didn't you take that last shot?

- What you mean? We won.
- No, listen.

We are here to show people you can
show out when the spotlight's on.

That's all them scouts see.

You understand?

You hear me?

- Good game. Shower up.
- Okay.

"The university has shown sincere interest
in you as a prospective student-athlete.

We are informing you of our desire
to recruit you

to our prestigious university."

You know what that means?

You are now an official prospect
in the eyes of the NCAA.

And you're in the damn eighth grade,
my man.

- They want me to visit.
- Mm-hm.

- Should I go?
- Hell, no.

You're not going to some mid-major.
You kidding me?

Listen, Terron, for the next five years,

schools are gonna be sending you letters

trying to spray and pray, but I wanna
get you offers from the blue bloods.

- Wanna play in the Final Four?
- I wanna win the chip.

Good. Then tune out all that noise.

Don't listen to these schools. They
don't have your best interest at heart.

In fact, don't listen
to anyone else about this.

Not anyone,
you understand what I'm saying?

You sure?

Yeah, I got... I'm with you, coach.

Good. That's why it's important
that I alone

handle the recruiting process
from here on out. Okay?

Cool. Um, can I keep my first letter?

Sure.

You know they were recruiting you?

Yeah, I knew.
Bro, this close to Signing Day,

do you think I wouldn't know
who was offering me a scholarship?

I was just trying to help.

Hey, yo.

T, look...

Yo, for all that shit
that I been talking... my bad.

For real.
I was just hot because coach...

He kicked out my homey
to make room for you.

- What? He said there was a open spot.
- They call it "overbooking."

Not enough seats on the flight.

- So, it's all right I'm running point?
- I'm a scorer, bro.

My averages are up with you feeding me.

All right. Hey, yo.
Why didn't coach show you those?

He don't want me to go to State.
He wants me to go to Tech.

- Where you gonna go?
- I'll go to State.

It's a better school. I'm tired of
wearing blue. I look better in red.

Yo, good looking out.

Wow. I'm really excited to be here, you
know. This has always been a dream of mine.

I'd like to thank my coach
and teammates,

because without them,
I wouldn't be here today.

But I'm excited to say that in the fall,
I will be attending...

Tech.

What happened to looking better in red?

Changed my mind.
Get more playing time over at Tech.

Coach was pretty into it.

Man, he the main one
who wanted me to go to State.

Then we get a sponsor
and he talking about Tech, Tech, Tech.

Why?

Pfft.

Bro, they ain't sponsoring us
so we can wear a logo right now.

They want coach to steer us to colleges
that are on-brand.

That way we on TV repping them
during March Madness, you dig?

Hey, come on, man. Push, push.
What you think they paying coach for?

I don't know.
He said they was giving him product.

He's not gonna be your coach no more,
so why didn't you go to the better school

- like you said you was gonna go to?
- I got you.

Look, we don't play for coach.

We don't play for college,
don't play for the NBA,

shit, we don't even play for the U.S.
We play for the brands.

No, I'm serious. They the ones
that will pay us the most.

All right?

All right.

All right.

Thanks, bro.

So, where your pops at?

Yo, coach got him on the road,
scouting and stuff.

- All right, y'all.
- Wait, where you going?

Gotta hit these books.
We got finals coming up.

But we have tournament coming up.
We need to get extra shots up.

I need my eligibility, I really can't
risk it right now with my offer to Tech.

I ain't been to class in a week.

- All right, man.
- All right, bro.

You know, I have to ask, are these real?

Did you really get a B on your math quiz?

Oh, yeah. Yeah, I got a B.

And the sides that make up
and form the right angle

are called legs.

Can I change my class schedule?

I can't do class and practice.
I can't do both at the same time.

You're in classes
the NCAA says to take

to qualify for a scholarship.
And I can't change that, sorry.

You can't be missing any workouts
and practices right now, you understand?

- Not one.
- Yeah.

We got the invitational
in less than a week.

Who are we playing
in the tournament?

Number one team in the nation.

Victory Country Day.

Yeah, I know.

They got a hell of a lot more talent
than us. They do.

We're gonna have to outwork them.
Win every 50-50

and we need to hit the floor hard.

Let's go, come on.
I wanna see some hustle, on the whistle.

On the whistle, let's go.
Get it. Get it.

Hustle. Come on, now.
Fight for it. Fight for it.

- That's what I wanna see.
- Let's go, Forte.

On the ball. Let's go. Get it.

Hold on, hold on. You all right, Terron?

Come on. Come on.

Lem. Lem. Lem.

Lem, calm down.

Can you bend it?

- I can't, man. I can't.
- Okay.

No, this is his coach.
Well, I am his family here.

I understand.

Coach, is he gonna be okay?

He'll be okay.

Well, damn, boy, your ass was out cold.

Yeah, I know.

What's all these bags for?

Well, this is how I got it figured,
so I know where everything is at.

When did you start doing this?

I ain't got your mom around
to keep track of my shit so...

Room service.

Good. You got 30 minutes to get in
that meeting room and finish your exam.

We'll watch film on Victory
and go over the plan.

Uh, I drew up some new plays for my son.
Nobody know his game like me.

I'd love to talk to you about it.

Let me think about it.
Hustle up, Terron. Let's go.

If you got a travel exception and you're
taking an online equivalent, check it.

If your class has a written test,
we have aides here.

And if we don't have a key, I can help.

Hey.
Who's got the key for pre-calc?

A.J. has it next.

This all I know.

- You only wrote your name.
- This all I know.

It looked like that kid
was feeding them answers.

Some kids need more tutoring
than others.

You promised that he was gonna get
a college education.

I promised he'd get
a college scholarship,

and he's going to.
That is what this is about.

It's about having a route
to a better opportunity

than what we'd be able to afford.

Of course.
Think college will be different?

Terron's gonna have 60 hours a week
of athletic commitments.

They'll push him to no-show classes
and if he keeps growing,

he won't even be an upperclassman.

If he gets a scholarship,
he'll get a degree.

Don't even try to tell me
that that's not valuable.

If your son is the player I believe he is,

he's gonna be making millions of dollars
while he's a teenager.

Now, I'm sorry, but to me, that's
more valuable than a piece of paper.

That's not right.

What's not right is he's the reason this
exists and he can't be paid one dollar.

TV rights go for billions
on the back of the players.

The money he brings in allows for
trust-fund babies to play lacrosse,

but he can't see a dime of it?

Okay, Terron,
the part that he's leaving out,

is what if you don't make it? Then what?
What do you think he's gonna do?

He's just gonna move on to the next one.

LeBron, Kobe.

They all focused on one thing.

So did your father.

Dang.

Wow.

Oh, snap. Yo, I know you.

- Hey.
- Can we get a pic?

Yeah, yeah. I'll take a pic.

- Make me look good in it.
- Got you.

- You have a game today?
- I play for the same coach you played for.

- Oh, really. Who's that?
- Gaines.

Oh, Coach Gaines.
Yeah, you know what?

He knows the game.
I only played with him for a little bit.

- A little bit?
- Yeah. One season.

- Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.
- Yeah, I understand.

I am so glad you're in town for this.
You need tickets?

- How you doing, superstar?
- I'm doing great, man.

Hey. Put one of these on.

- For old times' sake.
- Come on.

- Come on. You know I keep one.
- See? Team spirit.

That's nice.

I'll see you out there.

Terron Forte, the eighth-grader.
Love your motor, young fella.

- You've seen me play?
- On video.

- Looking forward to it in person.
- Coach.

- Hey, Vince.
- Hey.

You got the mixtape. See the real thing.
His game is serious.

- That's what I hear.
- Good luck.

- Loose ball.
- Yeah, yeah, yeah.

- Loose ball.
- Go, go, go.

Yes. Yes.

Yeah!

Yeah! Come on. Come on.
Come on.

Huddle up. Huddle up.

- You good?
- I'm good, coach.

Bro, bro. We up by one.

Listen up. We got 11 seconds left,
they got no timeouts.

We don't have any fouls left to give.
One thing we know.

Whoever gets that ball
ain't giving it up.

Double-team and force them
into a contested shot.

- Go. Defense, on three. One, two, three.
- Defense.

I got him, I got him.

Fuck, man.

Who in their right mind
would wanna do this?

I hate this job sometimes.

At least we can play
in the consolation bracket.

That's true. Hey, you know what?

Watching you out there
makes it all worth it.

- Thanks, coach.
- Way to keep it close, Jimmy.

- Terron, you are better in person.
- Stay away from my player, Rob.

Talk to mine.
I got no problem with that.

- Just get in your van and get out of here.
- Van? We've got a bus.

Hey, Vince.
There's a proud papa.

We gotta talk.

What was you thinking?

- Stay the fuck away from my player!
- Easy, easy.

- The fuck didn't you understand?
- Easy.

- Chill.
- Oh, fuck this.

Should've won that game, man.

Shot was bullshit.

That was the worst shot ever.

I don't know, bro.

I'll be back.

Terron is nationally ranked
because of what I've done for him.

I gave you a job.
This is how you repay me?

You ain't using him right.
He's a scorer.

You won't let him get his,
so I found somebody who will.

What are you doing
meeting with him, Vince?

When the number one team comes
calling, I listen to what they gotta say.

Well, whatever that dirt bag
told you is bullshit. Trust me.

He won't get any playing time.

It's my son.
I ain't gotta listen to you.

Actually, you do have to listen to me,
Vince.

Do you realize how involved you are?

The fuck are you talking about?

Did you forget we paid you to bring your son here?
Scholarship wasn't enough? You basically sold him.

You were the motherfucker
that paid me.

No. Byron paid you.

Money left his account,
ended up in yours.

So, all your travel expenses, the receipts
for Terron's phone and his jewelry?

You know what, Vince?
It's all improper benefits, all illegal.

You try to move your son
from my program,

- I'll make sure Byron tells everything.
- Think I give a fuck about that?

You should, Vince. Once it's out he's been
paid to play, he's no longer an amateur.

So, he's not going anywhere.
But you're done here.

You think after this, I'm gonna
keep him playing for your ass?

Don't get in the way
of what we build.

Hey, I'm in the stands.
Where are you?

I'm downstairs. I think
I just did something really stupid.

- I'll be right there.
- All right.

Come on.

- Let's go, son.
- Why are you trying to fuck everything up?

- Excuse you?
- Go. Just go.

Boy, I will f...

- I'm sorry that...
- You trying to take the game away from me?

No. No, I would never do that.

- How much did you hear?
- I heard everything.

- I'm sorry. Let's forget this happened.
- We can't. I recorded it all.

You recorded it?

Well, delete it.

I did. But it was live,
so it already got views.

Jesus, Terron.
You shouldn't have done that.

Recruiting violations
hurt the player most.

If that gets out, that'd be bad.

You could lose your eligibility to play.

You'll be off the team
and I could be out of coaching.

If anybody saved that,
you don't know how fucked we are.

Oh, damn.

Hey. What happened?

I don't know.

Yeah, well, whatever that dirt bag
told you is bullshit, trust me.

- He won't get playing time.
- I ain't gotta listen to you.

You do have to listen to me, Vince.

You realize how involved you are?

Did you forget that we paid you money
to bring your son here?

Did you forget that?

Byron paid you. Money left his
bank account, ended up in yours.

Scholarship wasn't enough?
You basically sold him.

You were the mother****** that paid me.

- Think I give a fuck about that?
- You should, Vince.

Once it's out he's been paid to play,
he's no longer an amateur.

So, the idea with any equation
in algebra is the idea of equality.

It's why it's called an equation.

Whatever happens on one side
of the equal sign

has to happen on the other.

Well, I ain't on the court either,
so that makes two of us.

Yo, bro. You gonna be all right?

They say yes,
but I have no health insurance.

- So, then, what can you do?
- Time to get job.

I not gonna pretend I'm student no more.
I'm 24 years old.

Twenty-four years old? I knew it.

Hey. We no have no birth certificate,
so I say I'm 18 so I get student visa.

- So, then what are you gonna do now?
- When I recover, I play international.

To Latvia. I no know it,
but I ask coach, he found me team.

Hmm.

So, what about you, Terron?
What are you going to do?

- What you got there, boy?
- Bills.

Give them here.

Boy, stop playing.

What you gonna do?
You can't even pay them right now.

You gonna sell me again?

Never even got a dollar for playing.

Even for all of this.

That's why I did what I did, boy.

Just trying to take care of this family.

You understand?

So, Ma. How much this cost?

- What?
- The house.

Well, that's not something
for you to worry about.

I'm trying to work something out.
Come on.

Ma, it's a math problem. Come on.

How much should I put in
for my college amount?

Well, you could still go on scholarship.

Yeah, I just put in the same
as your loans, but what about Dad?

What about him?

Prescriptions and stuff.
How much do they cost?

Well, that depends on
if you have insurance...

Yeah, true.

But we don't.

So, we need money for that,
on top of all this.

I don't know, Ma.
It's not making any sense.

Like, the numbers aren't making any sense.

Well, why did you record that class
on your phone?

How'd you get the direction
of your play calls right?

I don't know. I guess I just find a way
to work around things.

Well, what can we use
to work around these things?

College.

Coach.

The brand.

Gaines.

Coach Gaines.

Motherfucker.

What are you doing here, Terron?

You were right.

I lost my eligibility,
so now I can't even play for my old team.

But people are saying
you paid players before.

This isn't the first time. Is that true?

Yeah, it's true.

You have to. You can't compete in
this game if you don't do that, Terron.

I wish these fuckers making the rules
would come meet you and your family.

And then try to tell me
I shouldn't help you out.

The thing's rigged against
the people it should be helping.

You didn't have to be like that
with my dad, though.

I'm sorry about that.

No way I'd let you play for that scumbag.

- They call him Coach Midnight.
- Why do they call him that?

He steals people's players
in the middle of the night.

- Ain't that what you did with me?
- No.

I met you at a reasonable hour.
It was, like, 8 p.m.

So, in that case, I guess
you're like Coach Dinnertime.

Yeah, I guess.

Well, I'm not Coach Anything
at the moment, am I?

I'm sorry you had to lose your job
like that, coach.

- At least you're here with the fam, huh?
- Yeah. Yeah, it's great. It's great.

How's school? I hear Liberty's
playing you guys pretty soon.

- They gonna let you on the court?
- No.

- They gonna let you coach?
- Nobody would touch me now.

That means you need a job, right?

You got something?

What?

What?

What's up,
I know I haven't posted in a minute.

I'm on my way to a meeting right now.

Gonna talk about my idea,
somewhere, all the way up there.

On my way to meet with my coach. He got
a few people with me to connect with.

I don't know if it's gonna work.
Trying to connect the pieces.

Been taking a bunch more meetings.
So, I guess my idea's not crazy.

I can't tell you guys
anything about it.

That's all y'all can see now.
But you guys will see in the future.

The Liberty boys pulling up.

Long time in the van.
Haven't seen these guys in a minute.

Ah, Coach Curtis.

Are you serious?

Terron, didn't you learn your lesson?
You might wanna turn that thing off.

Hey, yeah, you right, coach.

Hey, T. It's crazy in there.

Everybody wants to see you play
your old team.

Oh, coach. You got my old jersey, right?

I know you wanna play,
but you can't with the investigation.

You gotta let me play Liberty.
I got a plan. The team is onboard.

- I'm not gonna like this, am I?
- We're never gonna beat them.

If I play, the forfeit
counts as a loss, right?

So, if we're gonna lose, let me play.

Have my jersey ready.
I gotta take care of something.

Oh, there you are. Let's go.

Come on.

- Yo, what the fuck is he doing here?
- Dad, chill.

- Terron.
- Ma, trust me. Come on.

Coach.

Listen, Vince, Nia.

I know I'm the last person
you expected to see,

but I'm here because your son
is about to change the game.

Why don't you explain it to them.
It was your idea.

I'm giving up my amateur status,

renouncing my high school
and college eligibility.

Coach is gonna be my agent,
we're doing an endorsement deal.

- I'm going pro.
- Say what?

Terron, if he's pushing you,
you don't...

- No, Ma. This is my plan. All my plan.
- Has anyone ever done this before?

They do it in tennis, golf and gymnastics,
but not basketball.

Terron's gonna be the first one
to do it in the U.S.

- The first.
- But where has anyone gone pro at his age?

Overseas.
Players like Ricky Rubio and Tony Parker

signed their first contracts
when they were Terron's age.

- That's why I'm going international, Ma.
- Whoa, whoa, overseas?

Other countries don't have
the same restrictions we do here.

And that allows the players
to work year-round

and get paid, instead of limiting training
by making them play for free.

We wanna take that advantage to Terron
when he's old enough to play in the NBA.

Show them the deal, coach.

Ma, the brands even had
a bidding war. That's crazy.

It's true.
We received multiple endorsement offers.

But this is by far the best one.
It's a multi-year deal, as you can see,

it comes with a significant signing bonus.

- They've even got this for us.
- It's true.

They wanna fly us to their headquarters
to make the presentation face-to-face.

They see your son as a potential
superstar, and not just on the court.

No, they are eager to tap into his
growing social-media presence as well.

- Why the fuck should we trust you?
- Dad. It's not like that.

Listen, I know I've made some mistakes.
I own that.

But I've always done what I thought
is best for Terron, and that stands here.

- Where's my son gonna live?
- Dad, what do you mean?

I'm doing this so we can stay together.
All of us.

- Then what about school?
- You can do that.

You're the best teacher in the world.
Homeschool me.

You wouldn't even have to work, Ma.
And neither do you, Dad. I got us.

- T, what if you get hurt?
- I thought about that already.

- Tell them about the insurance.
- When he signs a pro contract,

we take out an insurance policy.

If he gets injured or anything happens...

The family's taken care of.
Now do you see?

Is it enough?

Uh...

Baby, it's more than enough.

Okay, good.
We can take a trip together.

You look through all the numbers.
I got a game to play.

There's a problem with your plan.

If you play, it's not an official game.

I was set to forfeit
so you could be out there,

but they won't let me use the gym
for a non-official game.

- More red tape.
- More red tape.

I got this.

Um, so, I can't play tonight...

The rules say
that I'm ineligible to play, so...

But I say forget the rules.

Refs, y'all can go home,
turn off the scoreboard,

because we can't play in here.
But what we can do...

We can play out there, right?
Let's go play.