All language subtitles for Handle With Care The Legend Of The Notic Streetball Crew [2021] [1080p] ENG

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[indistinct chatter]

[announcer speaks Chinese]

Hey--

[speaks Chinese]

[speaks Chinese]

[man 1] I'm 36.

You know, you definitely feel it
the wear and tear.

But, like, when I see,
especially when I go to China,

I see, like, 70-year-olds,
80-year-olds still playing ball.

I was like,
"That's where I wanna be."

Going to Japan, China and Asia

is totally different
than Vancouver.

If you have
that streetball mentality

in Canada,
especially Vancouver...

you're an outcast.

[gentle music plays]

[man 2]
You don't know the Notic?

Like, if you don't know
about this, man,

you don't know nothing. [laughs]

You can't really mention
basketball in Vancouver

without mentioning the Notic.

Yo, there's a scene in Vancouver
and these dudes are nasty.

Getting hold of the Notic,
it was like gold dust.

It's folklore,
you know what I'm saying?

Like legendary folklore.

[man 1] I Got a call
from Jeremy and Kirk,

they found a crate of old tapes.

We're talking about
finishing the Notic 3.

[man 3] I come from
a humble beginning.

All right. Is it recording yet?

[man 4] Yeah.

This is your segment, isn't it?

-You wanna be in it?
-Hell no.

All right.

This right here is the room
with Jay Slice and David Dazzle.

You know how to-- [indistinct].

I wanna explain it
as I shoot it though.

[man 5] Yeah, you better shoot
that flag right there.

[man 3] I'll explain it
as you shoot it too though.

[man 4] Okay.

I was born in East Africa.

Me and John
were born in East Africa.

Uganda, East Africa.
This right here--

[indistinct] on this wall
right here.

This is the flag right here.

[man 4] Uganda,
a place called Kampala City.

It wasn't like, uh,
it is over here.

It's a third world country.
It is tough.

Me and David had to-- we used to
go to the well to grab water.

My parents survived
Idi Amin, right?

My mom has some crazy stories
that she grew up with.

[Johnny] I was playing outside
right in the front.

All of a sudden, mom hears
gunshots just...

[imitates gunshots firing]

...as she runs up
to the front of the porch,

grabs me,
scoops me out of the way,

and then boom,

a dead body right where I was at
just gets shot.

When I look at it now, yeah,
there was some hardships but...

it was home, man,
and-- and that's what we knew.

I remember
actually living in Kenya.

I spoke to Swahili
and I remember the--

the really peaceful things.

This is my boy Mohammed Wenn.
This is my son.

-[all laugh]
-This is my family.

My family's from
Trinidad and Tobago,

my mom and dad,
they came in the early '70s.

And we moved
to downtown Vancouver.

[Mohammed] It was snowy.
I've never seen snow before.

I was like,
"We moving out here?"

[laughs] Here's this cold,
frosty substance

that I've never seen before.

[Joey] Yep. It was tough.

Tough for my mom,
tough for my dad.

There weren't many Black people
here at all,

so a lot of racism.

Getting fired,
jumping from job to job.

You come from everybody's Black,
everybody's your skin color to,

"Man, like, yo, Dave,
it's just me and you."

[young Mohammed]
This is my school.

Guildford Park Secondary.

Me, I'm Mohammed Wenn.

Welcome to my world.

Come on. Welcome.

There were so many times

where you get called
to the principal's office,

you know, for fighting a kid,

and you don't know
how to deal with this,

but you're just, like,
you felt you didn't...

belong.

[Joey] So I'm at school.

They say that
my English is not so good.

You have to go
to a special class.

Beside me, I see
a lot of immigrant kids.

So I was like,

"What, are all the Black kids
who are in this class, like...

are we dumb?

You know, am I dumb?
I probably am dumb."

And I think that's why
I played basketball

just try to, kind of,
get away from that.

[Johnny]
I never liked basketball.

Like, growing up
I used to like hockey.

But hockey was
too expensive to play.

You buy a $5 basketball,
the hoop's right there.

It's on you to figure out.

[indistinct chatter]

[indistinct], yo.

The neighborhood
that we grew up in was lively.

[indistinct]

Basketball,
you know, helped a lot.

It kept us
out of all that stuff.

[Joey] My brother, man,
played on the streets,

watched him play,
traveled around with him

to different courts locally.

And I had to beat him.

My brother and I
were playing one on one,

and I did like a freaking
running hook shot.

I'm right here
and I banked it in

and I beat him.

But the city's
mainstream basketball scene,

I just could not fit in.

Growing up,
a lot of the guys around me

that played basketball,
everybody played similar.

It was just like
I'm watching Pleasantville.

[laughs] You know?

It's like why you guys
all playing the same?

Come in. Come in. Right here.

Right here, my peoples.

We got the Ball Wall
or the Wall of Ball.

[Joey] So the only
basketball mentors I had,

you know, I'm watching on TV.

Obviously Michael Jordan.

♪ I wanna be,
I wanna be like Mike ♪

Hakeem Olajuwon, Isaiah Thomas.

This here is my boy.

Like no ball is even allowed
to go in this hoop type thing.

You know what I mean?

Allen Iverson too as well.

How he played, you know, kind of
taking the game to another level

to, like, his crossover dribble,
ball on the string.

He just had
that different style.

[players cheering]

♪

[Joey] I remember in grade nine
my coach didn't like

how much the crowd would kinda
go crazy when I'd do a move.

Nobody played
like that in Vancouver.

They look--
kinda look at you weird like...

that's not accepted here.

It was extra practice.

I put the ball through my legs,

the coach, he got mad.

Pulled me aside like,

"You're not Jordan,
you shouldn't be doing that."

I was like, "What the heck?"

I had coaches telling me,
you know,

"Don't play this jungle ball.
That's just terrible."

Like what group
are they trying to target?

Grab ball and jungle ball?

So my-- me hearing that,
it's like,

"Okay, like, you don't want us
to play like..."

[laughs] "...like Black people?"

I think the hurt, actually,
it still today sticks with me.

People might say, "Yeah, I know.

Yeah, it's a long time ago.

Forget about
how it was in the past."

But it really impacted my life.

["Always Love"
by Alexander Junior]

♪ My love still remains ♪

♪ The same... ♪

[Joey] And that's why
I was on the court...

♪ My love still... ♪

...outside, training
all the time.

♪ Feels the pain... ♪

This is my home away from home.

♪ Whatever will happen ♪

♪ Just know ♪

♪ My heart is yours ♪

[Johnny] There comes a stage
in life where you're like,

"Man, these people
don't understand me.

They don't know who I am
and they don't know...

my culture,
they don't know where I'm from."

And then you start
to gravitate to your own kind.

[Joey] I didn't know

there was guys playing like me
in Vancouver.

But when I went
to Burnaby in Bonsor...

saw some guys
that could actually play ball.

Like, "Whoa...

okay, these guys
kinda play like me."

["S.O.G" by
AmirSaysNothing plays]

♪ Relations stats is at work ♪

♪ Niggas switch
they latest bitch ♪

♪ I Workshop'd my relationship
♪

♪ While working
on my greatest hits... ♪

[Joey] When I saw
the young Black guys

when I went to Bonsor, like,

I wanted to be
around that more, you know?

That's why I kept
going back to Burnaby.

♪ Silence,
I don't like that stuff ♪

♪ Told you once
I don't like to touch... ♪

I saw the improvement.

♪ But see, I'm trying
not to give a fuck ♪

♪ So now you see me
lounging out on Beacon ♪

♪ While my fucking speakers...
♪

[Fresh] First time I met Joey,
it was in eighth grade.

The short Black kid on the team

who is just beating
my point guard

every single time.

I actually went up
to him after the game

and I was just like,
I-- I was like,

"Man, like, you got
a little game man, you're nice."

I did say
in a bit of a cocky way, like,

"You're lucky I wasn't playing."

And I was like,
"We should hoop some time."

And then we exchanged ICQs.

[laughs]
As funny as that sounds.

[laughs]

So my mom was born in the UK,
Jamaican descent.

She moved to, uh, Canada
when she was about seven.

Don't quote me on it, Mom,
if I'm mistaken.

But, uh, I felt connected
because I felt like

there were similarities
in our game

and the way we played.

Even in my high school,

my style of basketball was
a lot different

from the other players
on my team.

[laughs] Yo, Joey, man.
They can't handle it, man.

[indistinct] y'all
leave the court now, man.

Hey!

My older brother's like,

"Yo, I got this kid
that you should meet.

His name's Mo."

I'm like,
"Can he ball like us though?"

And [indistinct] was like,
"Yeah man, just wait.

You gonna love him."

That shit is so--

You got anything to say?
Enlighten us.

[man] You ain't got shit to say?

-[laughs] No.
-Yo, say something.

[overlapping speaking]

So when me and Dee met,

yeah we--
we've all felt the same thing.

[Delight]
My parents are from DR Congo,

Central Africa,

and then me and my sisters
were all born in Belgium.

So when I first moved here
in the seventh grade

and I kept hearing
about a guy another--

another Black kid in New--
in Newton, in Surrey.

They kept saying,
"You need to meet him.

You need to meet him."

And I just went up to him
and I said, uh,

"Are you Mo?"

And then that's--
that's how it was.

And then me and Dauphin,
we met John and Dave.

And then later on,
Joey, Jamal, Jermaine.

We all felt the same vibes

'cause we're all
from different cultures, right?

[Jamal] It's just a unity
and friendship.

Once we all met up,
it was a wrap.

It was a wrap.

[laughter]

We felt like
we found a community.

-[man] Get over here, yo.
-[Mohammed] It's wonderful.

[man] You know, perfect for,
like, some good streetballing.

Some majestic weather, you know.

And, uh, having
a little streetball game.

Brought some of the boys out,
you know.

[Mohammed] Bring
some of the fellas, you know.

Yeah. Throwing on
a bit of moves, you know.

Those Black people moves,
you know?

Yeah. You know
some of those moves.

[man] You know I do that.

That's what I'm trying to
say to you, you fucker.

[all laugh]

We all connected,
you know, on a deeper level.

There's not too many of us
around in the city.

And not making fun of me

and not making fun
of how I'm playing

but actually, like,
supporting me.

What I'm doing, right?

We're-- we're
supporting each other

and getting each other better.

-This is Mo's name.
-[man] Yeah.

But to have someone else
that you talk--

like to have--

to have someone else
that you share that with.

So you can look at someone
and laugh and be like,

"We're struggling out here."

But you can just laugh.

It's like...

yeah.

[gentle music plays]

[Fresh] I had met Joey.

We started talking through ICQ.

And one day,
we went up to go hoop.

And the next thing you know,

he puts the ball
around my head...

and everybody
just starts going crazy.

[crowd cheering]

But the play was stopped
and I was just confused.

I'm like,
"What is this right now?"

And, uh, so that's how
I got introduced to streetball.

[indistinct chatter]

We were watching this
documentary

On Hallowed Ground

and we're like,
"Man, that's tough.

Man, we can play it like that."

It's the playground,

the flashy handles,
the embarrassment.

[Mohammed]
I gotta give it to Rucker Park.

When we saw people
running on the court,

"We're like what type
of basketball is this?"

I wanted that reaction.

The style that really

comes out of
the New York City playgrounds

was birthed many decades ago.

Where the elevation
of creativity

was a premium.

[man] Hey, yo, check this out.

Y'all about to view
the AND1 Mixtape on video.

[indistinct]

[Bobbito] About 1999,
the AND1 Mixtape came out

featuring Rafer Alston
AKA Skip To My Lou.

Volume 1 really set a fire

across the world.

We're watching
AND1 Mixtape Volume 1.

Skip To My Lou.

It was so cool
to see somebody...

could just do what they wanna
do with the basketball.

Dance with the basketball,
skip with the basketball.

I've never seen any--
anybody skip with the ball.

But with watching that
and, like,

at a young age

knowing that you're not doing
so well in school,

you're having a hard time.

And when you see somebody
like Skip To My Lou,

like, he's controlling the game,

like he's starting
his own chapter in his life.

I was like "This is where--
this is what I wanna do.

This is where I wanna be.

This is what I wanna do.

And I wanna be
a streetball player."

[indistinct chatter]

[dramatic music plays]

[laughs]

[Joey] Hoop It Up

was a three-on-three
basketball tournament

located at, uh, Science World
downtown Vancouver.

That's when, you know,
everybody came out.

All the top hoopers
around the city.

[Mohammed] We lived life
for that Hoop It Up, bro.

We didn't care
nothing about school.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Hurry up.

Hurry up, school year."

Imagine, me and Goosebumps
we missed our prom

to go to Hoop It Up.

The night before,
I couldn't really sleep,

I can't wait. I'm excited.

I'd probably talk to Joey on ICQ
to like 2:00 a.m.

Talking about
what we're gonna do,

what kind of moves
we're gonna pull out.

We slept over at
[indistinct name]'s house.

He's my older brother.

We knew we were gonna do that,
but it was gonna be for us.

[man]
Some Dazzle wear right there.

[Johnny] Straight out tomorrow,

the show is about to begin,
right?

We didn't expect people
to respond to it

the way
they were gonna respond to it.

In that first game, man,

I remember I had
this nervous kind of feeling.

It was the first move, yeah.

I came down pop, pop, pop.

I hit the guy, the sham guard.

And I hit the left-hand layup
and that time my left hand

wasn't as good
and I was so happy I hit that.

And it was smooth.

When I saw it on video,
I was like,

"Damn. That's pretty smooth."

And that there, that's when
I started having confidence.

Like, "Yeah, okay,

I'm gonna pull
this one on them."

We just went to town.

♪ [indistinct lyrics] ♪

I take a moment to look around

and I was like, "Holy shit."

The entire court
is surrounded by people.

Another team
was playing their game

but it was getting so packed

that they were going on
their court watching our game.

The game can't continue until
you're behind the line, okay?

It was just a spur
of the moment thing.

I already know
we're gonna win the game.

Let me put
the ball around his head.

[crowd cheering]

John, he starts
low dribbling like crazy.

We started pulling moves
and doing quick crossovers.

[crowd exclaims]

Then Dave comes with his move.

Like, how--
how can I be part of this?

The attention started
focusing on us

and people just started
running to the court.

[man] What?

It's like, you know,
dribbling through my legs.

It's like, "Yo, come here man.
Come guard me."

At that time,
to be honest with you,

I wasn't
a consistent dunker yet,

but I was just feeling so pumped

because there
was just so many people around

and there was
so much energy and I just--

[crowd cheering]

That was honestly
my first game dunk.

I'll never forget that game.

I was like,
"Okay, this is special."

We didn't know
what we were doing but,

you know, we were truly
trying to express ourselves.

I don't think any crowd
wanna see, like, you know,

post up and like--

-Pick and roll.
-Pick and rolls.

They wanna see new
stuff that nobody

has ever done before, right?

[Joey] As young Black kids
growing up in Vancouver...

and just wanting to be accepted.

I got some-- a little some--

a little twist type thing,
and then I spin around.

But then I guess
it kinda got on camera.

When you bust
that move you see the reaction.

They're just, "Oh, my God!"

People change
the way they look at you.

[Johnny] You know,
you play organized ball

and everybody's shouting like,
"Don't dribble, don't do that."

These people were yelling
and telling us to do that.

Wow. They like the way I play.

Like, I can-- I can be free.

I can be Johnny Blaze.

[David] When you play
organized ball as a player,

your coach is telling you

their interpretation
of what basketball is.

You don't get to say
what's basketball to me.

And streetball gives you
the opportunity to say,

"What's basketball to me?"

[Mohammed] There's one goal

in a regular
basketball game, right?

To get the ball in the hoop.

It doesn't matter how ugly
that ball gets in the hoop,

you're the winner and that's it.

Nobody can say anything.

With streetball...

we step outside
of that one goal.

That's still the goal.

But we step
outside of it and we say,

"How pretty can you
make this transition

from the ball
being checked in...

to the ball going in the hoop?

How beautiful can that be?"

And we tried to do that

as much as we can,
as best we can.

And that's what made
streetball so exciting.

That game
has forever changed my life.

[whistle blows]

[crowd cheering]

And I had these guys,
Jeremy and Kirk came up to me,

during the time
I didn't know who they were.

Had a camera. "Hey, man, hey."

[laughs]
"Hey, we're doing a mixtape.

Can-- is it okay
if we could record the game?"

I'm like, "Yeah, man.
Mixtape. That's cool, man."

What went through my head,
I was like,

"Who's these two white boys?"

Like, you know what I mean?
"Who are you guys?"

-[indistinct]
-Yeah.

Hey, get in.
We'll just do one like this.

You can just,
like, see me looking in.

[Jeremy]
I grew up in the suburbs

of Vancouver in Surrey.

I met Kirk when we were in--

-Grade three.
-Grade three.

And we've been best friends
ever since.

[indistinct] ready. Again.

[Jeremy] There's a camera
at our elementary school,

like, a big old VHS camera,
and we messed around.

[Kirk]
We grew up playing basketball

and we were in a punk band

and then we started
getting more into hip hop

and that's kind of
all we wanted to do

is just be filmmakers
and play ball.

I was backpacking

so I go into this Foot Locker
in Lyon in France

and then I notice on the TV
there they're playing this tape

and I asked the guy,
"I'm like, yo, what is this?"

And he's like,
"It's And1 Mixtape Vol. 2."

[Jeremy] We were like, well,
we got a camera, we can do this.

And we started going to
our local run, which was Bosco.

And then we'd go home
and log the tape

and we've spent a year filming

what's probably like 30 seconds
of Notic 1 footage.

[Kirk laughs]

So we decided
to go film Hoop It Up.

[Jeremy] [indistinct]

I don't know what
everyone is running for.

[Kirk] By the time we got there,

there was already
a massive crowd

around Joey and Jermaine's team.

[crowd shouting]

Yeah, they were
just pulling moves

that I've never seen before.

[crowd cheering]

Afterwards, we were
so intimidated to approach them.

Like, "Hello." You know.

Kinda felt like we were
trying to ask a girl on a date.

Um, do you guys get
lots of respect for your game?

-Like, off the court?
-[laughs] For sure.

Yeah, we get a lot of respect.

You know, a lot of
younger kids look up to us.

Those guys felt like
superheroes to us.

[Fresh] When you're 15
and the thought of even

just being on camera
is, like, already exciting.

We might have our own tape
or we might be on film.

-My name's Jonathan.
-Johnny Blaze.

Who do you think?
Goosebumps, baby.

David AKA David Dazzle.

'Cause I remember
you guys were like,

"Yeah, we're gonna make,
like, this little VHS tape

that you guys can watch at home"

and yeah, I don't mind, like,
having a homemade VHS tape.

[Jeremy]
That's when we became a crew.

We called it the Notic.

[Kirk] From that point on
we were like, "Oh, wait,

we have permission to,
like, film anywhere.

Put the mixtapes out."

And everyone
sort of rolled with that.

We were just making something
we liked with our friends.

I think a lot of the stuff

when we talk about the Notic,

the stuff I regret
is mostly from a place

of, like,
love and ignorance, you know?

I really just wanted
to see myself on camera.

[laughs]

Yeah.

[Jeremy] So we cut together
the clips and interviews

in a style that
we thought was kinda cool.

Who do you think?
Goosebumps, baby.

I remember we had a--
we had a showing at Don Bosco.

[Fresh] I didn't know what to
expect to be honest with you...

but it was like, "Whoa."

[crowd cheering]

And we loved it man.

[all cheering]

We loved it.

Oh, damn.

I was super excited and proud.

Get the fuck out of here!

[Kirk] The Notic 1
was also the first time

a lot of people got
introduced to Fingaz.

We're filming at Bosco
and this one kid

just starts killing everybody.

We're like, "Can we get
your name for the mixtape?"

-He's like, "Andrew."
-[Kirk] What's your name, man?

Andrew.

Why does your jersey
say "Fingaz?"

And he's like--

When I was born I got this gift,

this extra finger.

It's right here.

[indistinct]

And me and Kirk
were like, "Whoa!

Streetball legend."

[Andrew]
My parents are from Brunei.

We came here in 1988
and I was four years old.

School started at 8:30.

My brother
used to drop me off 7:00

'cause he had work at 7:00.

So all I had was
the basketball and just--

just me and the hoop
and shooting every morning

'til the school started, right?

[Mohammed] I'm like,
"Who's this scrawny kid?"

Next thing you know
he's jacking it.

Boom, boom, boom.

Then I was trying different
stuff like being creative

and then shooting
further and further.

6 could shoot. 6 can shoot.

[Andrew] Because, like,
you know, I was smaller.

I don't know
if it because I was Asian too,

how am I gonna get
on the court, right?

But I think
after The Notic came out

it was like,
"Hey, that's 6, oh."

It was like
everyone knew me as 6.

-[all cheering]
-[man] Whoa, 6!

So we'll get
on the court every time.

[crowd chattering, cheering]

[Jeremy] Kirk worked
at Roger's Video.

So he would just steal
old rental cases

from, like, the bin out back

and we would sling them
at basketball games

out of our backpack
for five bucks a pop.

And that was The Notic 1.

The mixtape that kinda
started the whole thing.

[Fresh] That mixtape,

it spread throughout
the city like wildfire.

[Ryan]
No Canadian was putting out

no mixtape or anything, right?

So for some just young kids
playing at Bonsor and Don Bosco,

having a mixtape
that people watch

and represents Vancouver,

something that actually
represents us too.

That's something special.

It changed the whole game
of how basketball was played

in the community on the streets
in Vancouver.

[all exclaim]

[Fresh] We had younger kids
that would come up to us like,

"Man, we just wanna be
like you guys.

We wanna dribble like you, man.
Like, how do you guys do that?"

And then you start
seeing the little kids

with the handles and the swag
and it was everywhere.

No matter where you went.

[Kirk] All of a sudden
there was another crew

calling themselves
Junior Notic trying to be

the next
Vancouver streetball crew.

[crowd cheering]

They're pretty sick.

You know, and to be honest,
Rory was one of those guys.

[Rory] I remember
I watched it at home, you know,

I watched it,
like, nonstop, right?

I was like,
"This is super sick."

[crowd cheering]

I already was in awe of them.

[Jeremy] We finished The Notic 1

and we sit down with Joey
and we're like,

"Is there anybody
we should add to the crew?"

He goes, "Yeah, there's one kid.

His name's Rory.

He's actually
on the back of your tape."

And he shows us
this little tiny white kid

in the middle
of the crowd on The Notic 1.

And he's like,
"He's called Disaster."

["It's Been a Long Journey"
by Songs Of Spiritual playing]

Yeah, I just said, you know,
"They gotta get me in there."

[laughs]

♪ It's been a long ♪

♪ Long... ♪

Rory Grace AKA Disaster.
[laughs]

[all laugh]

♪ It's been a long ♪

♪ Long journey ♪

[boy]
What happened to your ball?

It bounced off my foot.
It went in there.

[indistinct lyrics]

[indistinct lyrics]

[indistinct lyrics]

[indistinct lyrics]

[all cheering]

[Rory] Born and raised
in East Vancouver.

Um, single mom.

Grew up
in BC subsidized housing.

So it wasn't the best.

Like, came from a--

I guess
a disadvantaged economic...

background.

I just remember,
like, all throughout school,

high school,
even, like, elementary school,

like, I was always, like,
the smallest kid in my class

by, like, a long shot,
you know what I mean?

Being in, like,
a grade five, like, you know,

not being
as big as the grade three's.

Basketball was,
like, my outlet to, like,

you know,
express that I might be small,

but like, you know,
I-- I'm, like, tough still.

I mean, I'm gonna play like

it's my fucking last day
on Earth, you know?

And it seemed like
a lot of the basketball players

that I, like, idolized...

you know, like, had that chip
on their shoulder as well.

Basketball was the first thing
that I fell in love with.

That's dribblelitis
cracked finger.

That's dribblelitis.

Basketball was
my first addiction. [laughs]

First time I ever met Joey,

I was
at Granville Island, right?

I just seen him
play in a pickup game.

I thought his handles were sick.

Oh!

[Rory] You know,
you don't see that too often.

So I was just like,
"Gotta be going

where this guy's playing,"
you know?

[Joey] He was a small
little kid...

a little handle.

And, you know, we kinda clicked.

And he always like, "Hey,
teach me this, teach me that.

How do you do that?
How do you do that?"

So everywhere I go,
he used to just follow me

from Roundhouse
to Bonsor...

to Kits Beach.

[Rory] Once I got his number,

[I'd just
be calling him every day.

Like,
"Where are you playing today?"

-Are you gonna go [indistinct]?
-Yeah, go after [indistinct].

-[indistinct]? Yeah?
-Okay. So good, huh?

[man] Whoo!

♪ Don't need money ♪

♪ Don't need trips ♪

♪ Don't need a credit card
about this trash ♪

He was probably a bit
annoyed that, like, you know,

that I wouldn't leave him alone.

-No.
-Hey, come here. No, no, no, no.

Joey. Joey. Joey.
Joey, Joey, Joey, Joey, Joey.

[Rory] He probably
felt like that he had taken me

under his wing,
you know what I mean?

[indistinct]

[Kirk]
So Rory joined The Notic crew.

[David] I remember
the first time I saw Rory,

he had this attitude of like,
"You suck, you suck

and you suck."

Yo, yo come on.

[crowd cheering]

Yeah, I like that kid.

He ended up becoming
one of our--

our-- our-- our crew members.

But everybody sort of
clashed with Rory.

I loved him, but he was
getting on my nerves.

This is my impression
of Goosebumps.

He pass the ball.

Like, why is the kid
always taking our moves, huh?

Y'all we chilling
at Kits right now, right?

-[David] Yeah, no doubt.
-Yeah, it is real weak.

It's real weak.

You got [indistinct].

Like, leave some moves
out of it, bro.

Moves were our-- were our--
was gold to us, you know.

Wanna beat 'em up a little bit.

[overlapping chatter]

-I just modify. I just--
-No, we can [indistinct].

Just haters, man.
You know what I mean?

Just haters, you know.
[laughs]

-Fighter right here.
-I'm not a fighter.

-The king. The king.
-I'm not a fighter.

[Rory]
It's like a past life, you know?

It's like something
I look back upon

and I'm, like, super proud.

If that Rory could
see me now, like, man,

he wouldn't be pleased
with, like, what I--

the path I went on.

I don't know man. Next question.

[overlapping chatter]

Yo, yo, yo.

God, I swear to God,
I'm killing someone.

[Mohammed]
Everybody was at my house.

We're heading out
to Seattle, right?

You guys rolled up,
popped the trunk.

[indistinct]

No!

It was a bunch
of gear from AND1.

[squealing]

-Oh, no!
-Bro! Bro! Bro!

[all squealing]

[indistinct]

[indistinct]

And bro, like, we-- we never
got anything free, like--

But for us to get something free
from AND1, we're like, "What?"

Bro, get-- no, man.

-[indistinct].
-[Kirk] All right.

[Mohammed] We thought
we robbed a bank, bro.

-What's that?
-[indistinct]

This is-- this--
this is 12 [indistinct].

-[excited squeal]
-[David] They're 11, bro.

[Johnny]
These are not even shoes man.

Yo, def this is--

-Wow.
-[laughing]

There was
so much joy in it, man.

There was so much happiness.

-I can't be--
-[indistinct]

I know [indistinct].

We went crazy man.

Like, I was wearing those shoes
every day of-- of my life.

Yo, I'm rocking-- I'm-- I'm--

Those are the ones I've got.

Size 12.
You can't wear 12, can you?

Oh, my God. Oh, my God.

AND1 sent me these shoes.

You don't know how much
I wanted the Silky Smooth.

I couldn't pay for them, man.
Now I'm getting them free.

[squealing]

Somebody is getting
fucked up tomorrow, man.

[Mohammed]
I remember clearly. Yeah.

I remember being like...

"We made it, baby. We made it."

[laughs]

[Fresh] I think Notic 1,
we were about 15, 16 years old.

We were kids that just were
excited to play basketball

out of the raw passion
and expression.

Someone was putting it on film.

It was pretty cool.

As we got older
and we started to realize that,

you know, they're selling tapes

and from a monetary standpoint

we're thinking
about the fact that, like,

you know, we hadn't seen
a dollar off this thing.

Here at last. How's he feeling?

-Sick.
-Hold on a minute.

Then after that you let us know
we're going to Seattle

for the AND1 and at the time
is when AND1 is huge.

[Fresh]
We were just kids from Vancouver

and we got contacted by ESPN

to go down to Seattle
and play against AND1

who were, like, the world's
biggest streetballers.

[Waliyy] When I brought
the five guys to AND1,

I said I could get five of
the best streetball in the world

that's not in the NBA to
represent and market your brand.

And that's how
we created the Mixtape Tour.

[Rory] I was just super excited.

I remember meeting up
with, like, the whole crew

at, like,
King George Skytrain Station.

And I think it was supposed
to be, like, a few of us,

but a whole bunch
of people started coming.

20 of us
or, like, maybe even more.

It was, like, all the players
and, like, all the homies.

How did everyone
hear about this shit?

The whole state
of Canada is coming.

That's the fuck's happening.

We were, like, blasting music.
Someone had a stereo.

[hip-hop music playing]

They wanted to see us
go up against AND1.

They wanted to be part of that.

[Rory] We have to go
to Mo's house to get him.

[indistinct]
everybody in the house.

-He's coming down with a bat.
-[laughter]

[Rory] As we're, like,
driving out to the border...

me, some little white kid
in a minivan,

like, full of big Black guys.

[indistinct singing]

And, like, the border guard,
like, asked me to the side

and was like,
"Are you good, man?

Are you good?"

And I'm like, "Yeah, man,
I'm going to the open run, man.

These are my boys."

[indistinct lyrics]

I remember
when we were on the roof

doing, like, the ESPN,
like, interview.

[reporter]
As you know, this is for ESPN.

We're filming a show
called Streetball.

It was so bright,
the sun was in my eyes

when they were, like,
asking me the question.

I remember I was kind of like
trying to squint.

My name, uh, Rory Grace
AKA Disaster.

And then when I had to do

a little freestyle
for their camera,

I was like, "Please, please

don't let the ball, like,
go out the frame."

You know what I mean?

And then I seen the lineup
outside of, like,

the-- the-- the gym
we were gonna play in,

it, like, stretched
around the parking lot.

That was our streetball heroes.

We were gonna be sharing
a court with them.

[Jamal] I'm like, "Oh, damn."
Like, you know?

Like, we gotta really
pull it down right now.

Check out
the mothereffing crowd, niggas.

If you look at AND1,

they had a whole
clothing company behind them.

We didn't have nothing.

We just had some street kids...

and two white boys that wanted
to film these street kids.

[Rory] I thought,
like, the rest of the world

outside of Vancouver,

like, they ain't ready
for this yet it.

[upbeat music playing]

And then Johnny Blaze
got the ball

and, like, literally,
like, blazed this defender.

I was coming
to kill people, man.

I was coming to take ankles.

[Rory] Hot Sauce
went right after the game

to, like, give him props.

[indistinct shouting]

[Joey] And, uh, Jamal
went out sick with it.

He did a crazy move.

Sick-- kind of stood still,
didn't know where the ball was.

You know, I had [indistinct],

and it was good, man,
it was sick.

It was sick
to actually go up against 'em.

They was like, "Yo,
we played against some guy

got crazy handle."

I mean he could
just do a crossover

but he do it so fast.

He was like the Mayweather

of street basketball.

And when I saw them play,
I was like, "You know what, man?

I could bust
these guys' ass, man."

[Jeremy] I was personally
super worried about Rory.

He's 14, he looks like he's ten.
He's going up against grown men.

[Rory]
I was just, like, that nervous.

Like, this is our shot.

I'ma bust some freestyle.

I'm just come down this court

'cause this crowd
is rowdy, dawg.

I'ma get them rushing
this shit like nothing.

I remember the first time
they passed me the ball,

I was gonna, like, bust out,
like, the slip and slide

and, like, try
and throw it through the legs.

[indistinct shouting]

I just hoped that,
like, when I came out

on the other side
of that slip and slide,

his legs were still open
when I, like, set him up.

I knew if I bust the move off,
like, the crowd's gonna be like,

"Whoa, what did
that little white kid just do?"

[crowd cheering]

[Waliyy]
Yo, the kid, little kid Rory

who is a young kid, right?

So when I saw him
take on that court not scared,

you know, I would consider Rory

as one of those
special ball players.

Next time I get the ball
I'ma skip up the court.

Like, went perfect.

I had the bop
that I wanted to it.

Like, man, like, the Rolodex
of moves that I have

that I'm about to bust out,
operations shut down.

Good night, Irene type moves.

[crowd cheering]

No one has seen that before.

This same guy was like,
"Dean me up," right?

You know, he was like,
"I'm getting embarrassed,"

and was kinda
like stepping back.

[crowd shouting]

So, like, the only option I had

was to, like, swag on him...

and then just
busted the handstand.

[crowd cheering]

[Jeremy] I feel like
Rory kinda shut it down.

I don't think he kind of, man.
That man-- I-- he shut it.

Rory shut that whole--
He shut it down.

[Waliyy] We planted that seed,

that street basketball
culture seed.

And The Notic, they just
one of the first fruits

that was bore, you know.

I remember Johnny Blaze
came and grabbed me.

I grabbed Disaster
and I held him in my hands

and I was like,
"Man, I love you kid."

Kids were asking me
to sign their basketballs

and, like, sign their shirts.

Like, a kid in a candy store.

I mean, this is what I practiced

and, like, play
every day for, right?

I remember on the way back
from that AND1 open run,

you know what I mean,
I got a lot of props.

[Johnny shouting] Rory!

-[Joey] Yeah.
-[Johnny] Rory Grace, nigga!

You know, like, I was good.
I was, like, part of something.

[Joey laughs] Come on.
Move a little closer.

I feel as though he just--
he was looking

for a community, man,
to fit into.

And we just so happened
to be that community.

[Rory] All the time
that I spent with, like,

you know, the different people,
like, in the crew,

I felt this is the family
that I never had

that, like,
I was supposed to have.

[uplifting music playing]

Remember this Joey
All-Star Game?

[Kirk] Yeah.

[Jeremy] Joey's out there
killing these guys.

And look at his coach.

I love how he looks,
like, right to us.

-Exactly.
-[Kirk] Yeah.

[Jeremy] Like, "Fuck this."

And, like, even being here
goes back to me 2002

when I was playing
an All-Star Game.

[commentator]
Number 12, Joey Haywood.

[Joey] Being part
of the top players

in British Columbia,

to me that was huge.

The crowd is here,
people are here.

Uh, I didn't start.
It was all good. I didn't mind.

[Kirk]
So now it's late in the game

when they finally bring him in

and then he subs in like this.

Looks over
at the camera like this...

and just starts killing guys.

[upbeat music playing]

[indistinct shouting]

[Joey] That was
an accomplishment, right?

That I could play
with these guys.

And I actually-- I can
destroy a lot of them, too.

So I brought street
[indistinct] to the game.

[crowd cheering]

And people
weren't ready for that.

[whistle blows]

He subbed me out, man.

And he was pissed.

He went from like--
he was white and it went red.

His whole face was red
because he was so pissed off.

I'm like,
"It's an All-Star Game."

I'm feeling with my boy Joe
what just happened, man.

Sometimes
the authority cuts you off.

You know what I'm saying?
For real.

That's for real, man. I-- I--

Yo, man, that's why I know
there's a lot of hate.

[Jeremy] Joey was one
of the top high school players

in the province

and he still wasn't getting
the respect he deserved.

[Joey] I was lead score
in high school average

like, 29, 30 points a game.

[Fresh] I don't know if it was
because of the streetball stigma

or the jungle ball mentality,

but it was tough for Joey
and the way he played.

[Jeremy] So Joey's
graduated high school

and we all knew on, like,
a fundamental basketball level,

he was gonna get
a college scholarship.

He was gonna go play
at a top American school.

And so we helped him
make his college tape.

My name is Joel Haywood.
I go to Magee Secondary School.

I play point guard
for the Magee Lions.

I sent my tape to, like,
maybe ten schools, I think.

I got no reply back.

Nothing. Like, "Okay, whatever."

So I never got a call.

But after that,
I trained harder than ever...

and did my streetball
shit, right?

It was streetball
or nothing for him.

So we went all out
making The Notic 2.

[rock music playing]

[Joey] The Notic 1
was a good introduction.

It was like a little tease,
you know what I mean?

This is sick, but we could
definitely do better than this.

I think there was just
a different mindset

from the entire crew.

Now we come prepared.
Now we come with jerseys.

Now we come with gear.

-There you go.
-All right. Thanks a lot.

-Thank you.
-That's powerful.

The Notic 2, we knew
crowds were gonna be there.

[Kirk] We were like,
"Let's show the world

something they haven't
seen before."

[Jeremy] I feel like
The Notic crew became known

as some of the world's
very best innovators

of new streetball moves.

They were the ones thinking
outside the box,

coming up with insane moves.

All that time in the gym,
you know, I just got creative,

wanted to see, like, the limits

of what was possible
with a basketball.

You don't put limits on it.
You don't put rules.

You don't say you can't do
this or that, you just go.

[crowd cheering]

[whistle blows]

There was a moment
when a staff member

from Hoop It Up comes out

and he goes,
"We want you to cheer,

we want you
to clap for your team."

But...

[crowd chattering]

Somebody in the crowd
yells that,

"You get that for The Notic?"

[man]
You get that for The Notic?

It became such a scene,

such a--
such a vibe within the city.

Everybody was loving it, man.

[crowd cheering]

Like, where did all these people
come from is my question.

I ain't never seen that many
Black people in my life.

I was like,
"Is this even Vancouver?"

[Joey] I think the city
really needed to see...

kinda like Black culture.

'Cause, you know,
we're kinda hidden at that time,

you know,
in little pockets, you know.

Now this is the time,
we came together.

Like, being a young
Black teenager at the time,

that-- that was the kind
of sense of pride for me.

Like, "Yeah, this is dope."

They were holding up
on a pedestal

my community, my culture,

you know,
the hip-hop we were into,

the sports we were into.

It was definitely
like a coming-out party.

[Mohamed] The Notic didn't
just captured the culture.

It captured joy and excitement

that we were living it.

[Joey] [indistinct],
you know what I'm saying?

They charging $20
for these sick ass fades, yo.

[David] When he got the--
the sunburn from the head--

and he had
his headband around it.

Holy shit!
Hey, Joey's white, man.

Are you serious? Is it that bad?

[indistinct]

You can't even
see anything, though.

What the fuck? [laughs]

[Mohamed]
We didn't feel like outcasts.

We just enjoyed everything

that each one of us
were doing, right?

And now it was rare
for our-- our experience.

And I felt like we were
just kinda documenting it.

And I think we can
look back and go like,

"Did we have the right
to tell that story?"

[Kirk] For better or worse,

we were filming
something that we loved.

[crowd cheering]

[Joey] Yeah, I think people
really felt a part of it.

I think we did--
you know, we think

we did a pretty good job, man.

I think we did a pretty good job
representing our culture.

It's not all Black culture,

but it's a part
of Black culture, right?

But there's so much more
of Black culture that,

you know, other people
need to learn about.

But that's a little spark.

So The Notic 1 freestyles
are sort of spur of the moment.

It's sort of like
a solo dance thing.

All of a sudden
Mo start doing these...

They were just like,
"Oh, my God."

[Johnny] I was like,

"What the heck is this?"

[Jeremy] The Notic 2 was like,

we'll always plan these things

and-- and do 'em up
in a special way.

[David] I thought
I killed the freestyle.

I thought-- in my head I'm like,

"Yo, this is
the sickest freestyle."

And then I watched
Mo's freestyle.

[Joey] Goosebumps, man...

his freestyle is nuts.

[Rory] My jaw was on the floor.
I was like, "What?"

This guy was, like,
rewriting the book

on, like, what was possible.

Goose was like a rock star, man.
He is like Elvis.

-This Goosebumps.
-[man] Goosebumps!

Wanna see the new shit?

Whoa, what the heck?
Like that shirt--

you know, the ball
[indistinct] that freestyle,

the ball coming down, like--

like, I've never seen anybody
do something like that.

And he has a book of moves
and stuff like that, like--

[Rory] I never got to see
the actual book in real life.

It's a myth. [chuckles]

[Mohamed] That's why
the book to me is like,

especially me as a kid,
you know,

it's-- it's something that
allowed me to express myself

and I still do that
till this day.

[indistinct] the hopscotch?
Yeah.

First I do
a low dribble and shit.

I'm turning
the defender and everything.

Then when he goes to the reach,

roll it right quick
through his legs,

then hop over his back
and it's over.

You know,
and that's what The Notic is.

Just an explosion of creativity.

That created an idea

that you can come from nothing

and create something.

[soft music playing]

[singing]

Yo, let me drop the beat.

♪ Come on ♪

Then the beat snaps
and you just, "Oh, my God."

Not 'cause I'm in it,

but you see
people's reaction of it.

It was a masterpiece.

That tape, man...

changed everything.

♪ [indistinct], motherfuckers ♪

[Andrew]
Once The Notic 2 came out,

it was, like, different,
it was totally different.

We were already-- at that point
we're rock stars.

We were local
streetball rock stars,

people calling us like, "Yo,
where are you guys playing?"

[man] Yo, when's your next game?

-[indistinct] tomorrow.
-Where your next game at, man?

Police, police used
to come to our games.

Oh, we're playing a game, man.

[laughs] Yo,
get this on camera, man.

[David] I expected The Notic

to be a at-home VHS tape.

And then all of a sudden
my mom is like,

"David, there's-- there's people
calling you guys from the US

asking if David Dazzle
and Johnny Blaze live here."

20 something years ago
I started a website

called streetball.co.uk.

And before I knew it,

we were doing a hundred thousand
visitors a month.

A million page impressions.

We ended up making that trailer

and putting it on the streetball
message board website.

The Notic,
it was like the realest one.

It would go viral
on message boards.

Kirk, like, once a week
would go to the post office

with a bag of tapes.

Germany, Australia,
Japan, Hawaii.

Imagine that,
when I was six years old,

I used to walk
to the well to get water

and then I'm on some VHS tape
that's going around the world.

Pretty cool getting stuff
all the way from New York.

[Bobbito] When I saw
The Notic videotape,

I was blown away.

It was a statement that

fantastic, fancy,
creative basketball

is no longer only New York.

[indistinct cheering]

Yo, Mo, that was--
that was your move back then.

Fuck yeah!

-Look at that shit.
-That's crazy.

[Jeremy]
We got an email from EA Sports.

I remember going like,

"Imagine they put the guys
in a video game."

[Rory] They were like,
"Yo, we're going to, you know,

put on a black suit,
all the little balls on it."

And then I was just like, "Yo,

they're gonna give us
five grand?

Like, I'm balling!"
You know what I mean?

Notic 2. Check it out.
This is our game.

[Rory] When I first
played the game,

like, I think
I was just shocked.

Literally, the game
is all your moves.

[Rory] That's me!

[Joey] Yeah, [indistinct].

It was amazing
to be part of that, man.

Something that changed
the basketball video game.

[Bobbito]
One of the most successful

and popular video games

across all sports.

It's like a classic.

I just wish we-- wish we got
paid a little bit more money.

[Kirk] Cool part of NBA Street,

they flew in Bobbito Garcia
from New York

to do the announcing.

[Bobbito] So naturally
when I went out to Vancouver,

I want to play
against The Notic.

What's up, man? You good?
My brother, man.

It was, like, a secret location.

It was, like,
five levels below the earth.

This tiny gym,
the size of West Fourth Street.

And, uh, and I got caught
out there on a hesitation

for King Handles,
you know, which was great

'cause now, "Okay,
I'm gonna come back at you."

And-- and that's the type
of, like, shared love.

Man, it was just so much fun.

You understand?
Like, so much fun.

[Jeremy]
That night with Bobbito,

Joey took it
to a level that, like...

I've never seen
that before or since.

Raise up. [indistinct]

[Jeremy] It was like, uh,
an out-of-body experience.

["Clair de Lune"
playing on violin]

[Bobbito] I'm a believer.

[laughs]

I'm a believer.

[Jeremy] It felt like
the beginning

of something new for Joey.

Even if it was nearly the end
for The Notic.

We did one last thing
together though.

[Kirk] We're checking our emails
one day.

It says, uh,
"So-and-so SLAM Magazine."

And I'm just like,
"What the hell?"

SLAM's like
the basketball Bible.

Like, I read that magazine,
like, religiously,

like, every month.

Like me, a basketball fanatic,

that was the only magazine
we looked at, right?

Oh, man, one day I hope
I could be in the SLAM magazine.

[man]
Yo, [indistinct]. [laughing]

Do that little jog.

Do that... [laughs]

Taking pics for the SLAM, yo.

[Johnny] You just never know
what's gonna come out of it.

It could be just this--
this little picture

in the corner of this,
like, these Canadian ballers.

But I remember my boy calling me

and he said, "Yo,
go to the closest corner store."

Holy smokes.

And it happened, man.
It actually happened.

[Rory] We're in SLAM.

[Mohammed] That was insane, bro.

[Johnny]
Like a seven page article on us.

[Rory] The most gangster
photo possible.

Super proud of that moment.

Like, we're here,
we have arrived.

I remember I [indistinct]
all my buddies went

and we would just
open all the pages to my picture

and we walked away.

There was no doubt that you guys
were gonna be in SLAM,

like, the players
were gonna be in SLAM.

But when we turned
that last page

and Jer and I were
in fucking SLAM mean mugging.

It was one of
the greatest moments

in The Notic for Jer and I.

And it was one of
the greatest moments

-of our lives, I would say.
-Yeah.

The story of SLAM is something
I'm real proud of...

but every time
we wanna celebrate, you--

you think of how much
that must have hurt Jermaine.

And that it's just something
we can't give him back.

Yeah. First place, man.
First place.

What is that, foreign county?

We prevailed, man.
We fucking busted ass, man.

How could you be doing
a Notic shoot for the-- And--

and-- and how could I not be
called for that though?

That just-- that--
that's like...

I don't understand
how that could even happen.

[Jeremy] I-- I-- I--
I got-- I'm just sorry.

Did you have my phone number?

[Jeremy] I probably didn't.

Could you have gotten
my phone number?

-[Jeremy] I could have.
-Okay.

And was I a member of The Notic?

-[Jeremy] Yes.
-Okay.

So I should have gotten
a phone call.

-There's no excuses.
-[Jeremy] Yeah.

And-- and 'cause you--
'cause you feel like

you were exploited and--
and maybe--

[Fresh] Exploited and left out
at this point, right?

[Jeremy] Yeah.
Yeah, I mean we just--

Which is pretty shitty,

it's a pretty shitty
feeling, right?

So that's kind of
why I've had a bad taste

in my mouth when it comes
to the two of you, right?

So, when thinking about it
and when Joey is telling me

like, "Yo, like,
we're selling crazy mix tapes."

Well, how come
we're not seeing any money?

[Kirk] Don't even
[indistinct] to say that.

[Jeremy] Look how pissed he is.

Something's not right here,
you know?

[Kirk] You knew that Jer
and I were selling tapes.

Did any of that ever get--
get into your head about like--

Yeah, I think in the--
in the sense of like, I--

we knew you guys
were selling tapes

and you know, we'll get things
in our ears like,

"Yo, are these white boys
making money off of you?

Like, how come you guys
aren't making money?

You guys are known
around the world,

like what's going on?"

You know what I mean?

I know that some of
the other guys felt

that like due to the success
of The Notic 2,

that there should have been
some sort of

monetary compensation.

If we were, like,
getting exposure like that

it would've been sick to, like,
have capitalized, you know?

But...

Just became difficult

in the sense
of just survival, right?

-[man] You should?
-[man] Yeah, I think you should.

[Kirk] Everyone's wondering
where you guys have been.

There's been all these clips,
but no-- no John and Dave.

And like I said,
for me and David,

we're immigrants, man.

Check out them rims,
check out them rims,

check out them rims out there.

I mean, I hate being broke, man.

And so for me, I just started
going down my own path

and started
getting to the money, you know?

I feel that lack of transparency

was probably the reason why,

uh, The Notic 3
never got finished.

-[man] Is that the last game?
-Yeah, it's over man.

That's it, that was
a championship game, right?

That's it. Last game?

-[man] Yeah.
-There's no more.

-Final. Done.

We always had it in mind
that it was gonna be a trilogy

and we were gonna make
The Notic 3.

[Jeremy] But right before
we finished it,

the crew broke up

and The Notic 3 got abandoned.

Not completing The Notic 3
for me was a let down

because we had so much there.

You know,
juggernaut pieces were prepared.

Because I think that was
the finale in all of our heads.

But also,

I didn't wanna be a streetballer

all my life.

[Johnny] Yeah,
you're let down, right?

You-- you're kinda defeated

'cause you just want to see
the footage, honestly.

You know, I wanted to
see what moves we created,

how it looked like.

I know the whole world
was waiting for it.

[crowd cheering]

I always felt
as though we let King down.

I felt as though I let King down

'cause I didn't keep
playing basketball.

Yeah, I kept doing it because...

'cause I love it, man.

[crowd cheering]

[Rory] I think Joey was trying
to find his way

in basketball, right?

And-- and--
and shake that stigma that--

that he-- that he faced.

I can't shoot.
People, I can't shoot.

I can't shoot!

[Joey] And I started doing
a lot of streetball, man.

I was with the streetball team

out in Oakland, California
with them for a year.

Uh, played in the AND1 tour.

I was basically, you know
what, man, I was running--

I was basically solo, man.

[Rory] The amount of time
I spent in the gym

and following
these different players around

kept me outta trouble.

Um, until it didn't--

When I didn't have it
anymore, right?

I, like, felt that
I still had to prove myself

and like, the only way
that I knew how

was to be like, "I better have
a pocket full of money."

You know?

So I-- I chased other things
that would give me that--

that recognition.

There's a point that
I could tell you straight up

Rory was--
I could tell he was lost.

Home life was hard.

He was trying
to figure himself out.

[Rory] Really, we're gonna go
into this stuff?

[Kirk] If you're cool with it.
You don't have to.

[Rory] So I left home
when I was 17...

and, uh, the first thing
that I tried to do to--

to make money was being,
like, a drug courier, right?

Selling crack and heroin.

The cops know you
on a first name basis, right?

Like, every time
I'm getting pulled over,

I'm swallowing
a container of dope.

Once they've like,
ransacked the car

and I'm pulling over
to a gas station,

yak all the dope up, right,
then I'm back to work.

And my life was like that
for years.

And then I had my first son,
his name's Declan,

but you know,
you reap what you sow, right?

And, uh, you know,
I started to use,

develop an addiction.

-[man, indistinct]
-[man] You're a star, man.

You're a star, man.

He's a star.

[Johnny] I got a call to play
for Open Run out in California.

And I was with my wife,

during that time
with my girlfriend.

She's like, "Listen,
you need to make a decision.

'Cause streetball,
there's no money in that."

So during that time
I got a-- a scholarship

to play
for St. Mary's University.

I wanna be a professional
basketball player,

make it to the NBA.

So I had to do
what I had to do, right?

And play, you know,

more of a structured type
of basketball.

My first year, I remember
The Basketball Jones blog.

They said, "Oh,
Joey Haywood King Handles

is going
to St. Mary's University.

He can't play.

That streetball stuff
is not gonna work here."

Come on.

[commentator] Joey Haywood
of the St. Mary's Huskies
scored

575 points
in 20 games this season.

That's an average
of 28.8 points per game.

[Joey] And I'd be one of
the top players in CIS,

uh, leading scorer
in the nation,

two time all-Canadian.

Breaking records here and there.

[crowd cheering]

[commentator, indistinct],
Haywood!

[Rory] Then I had
my younger son, Nolan.

But I was struggling
at that point

with, you know,
an addiction to pills, to oxys.

Things just got worse, man.

And, uh, you know, I went and,
like, stabbed a guy up.

I found myself in jail.

I couldn't, like,

responsibly take care
of my son anymore.

You know what I mean?

[machine beeps
in the background]

[emotional music playing]

[Joey] When my son
was being born,

it actually changed a lot.

It's not me anymore. It's him.

We saw Joey the day
after his first son was born.

When he was like,
at a crossroads of basketball.

[Joey] So everything I do now
has gotta be--

be ten times harder, the--

the school, basketball,

you know, I gotta work harder
in the gym, you know?

Because I want to make,
you know,

make some good money,
so I can support him.

It's crazy to look back
and be like, "He-- he did that."

[Joey] I train like,
two times a day,

sometimes three times
a day, man.

Eight hours, like,
in the wind, in the cold.

I think I worked really hard
try to make the NBA.

[commentator, indistinct],
Anthony [indistinct].

Anthony [indistinct].

[indistinct].

[woman] Hey! Hey!

[commentator]
...from Massachusetts.

D League draft, I did
really well in the combine,

you know,
out of so many 500 players

I got picked
to be in the draft pool.

If you see Joey's name,
it's gonna be with no audio.

[commentator, indistinct],
fourth round,

[indistinct] select
Andrew Gonzalez.

The second pick
of the seventh round,

the Austin [indistinct] select
Dan [indistinct].

For the 16th pick
of the eighth round,

[indistinct] select
[indistinct].

Didn't get drafted
that year, man.

That there, man,
that-- that hurt, man.

I'm like, "Dude,

like how-- What--
what more could I do?"

And this is just I--
In the story of King Handles,

like, another time
when he should have made it.

All that hard work.

You know, getting up
early in the morning,

training, it's...

it's frustrating, man.

Like why? What's the reason why?
Like what-- what'd I do wrong?

I mean, I'm disappointed
that shit didn't go through.

I think there's more to me
than just basketball.

I believe that.

But I've-- It's like a--
it's like a drug.

I'm addicted because I know

what I could do
with that basketball.

When you go in that system,

people are telling you
that you--

you can't do something.

When you're in the classroom
and going to school

there's other people
telling you,

"Oh, you're dumb, you do this."

But that basketball,

that basketball's
not telling you,

you can't do it.

The only time it talks
is when you bounce.

You hear the ball bounce,
you hear a good rhythm.

Ah, that means
I'm doing something right.

So that's why I-- I stayed.

That's why I-- I think I--

And it's so funny
I'm saying that now.

I never thought about that.

So many people understand,

"Oh, why you like basketball
so much?

I don't understand."

It's because

playing a game
of basketball, um...

Yeah.

Hmm. I didn't feel dumb.

[sniffling]

That's why--
that's why I love the game.

And I put a lot of work

'cause I feel like

I could become--
be something great.

I feel like if I stop...

I'm back to the old me.

-Oh, man. What's good?
-What's up?

-How you doing? Good?
-Epic, uh, entrance.

[laughs]

Look at these things, man.
And it says Notic 3.

I ain't never seen
this picture right here.

Can you just
watch some clips first

and then we'll watch
some of that?

[Johnny] Show me
everything, man.

[Kirk] Okay.

Yo, I'm trying to see
The Notic 3 right now.

[man, indistinct]. Oh!

Oh! Oh! [laughs]

Y'all are tripping
right now, man, y'all are--

Where do
you guys get all this stuff?

Notic 3.
Like this-- this is crazy.

Gets y'all emotional, man.

We talk about The Notic
and like,

this is something I made
with my best friend

and something I'm real proud of

and with a bunch of people
that I love.

But when we think back on it,

the transparency is something
I super regret.

We didn't really know
what was being generated

or what was, uh, what kind of
money was being made.

But we knew
that our footage was for sale.

[man] How does it sell?

We're not really making money,
but we're making enough

to fund the first one.

The tapes we sell,
pay for the next tapes.

There was no money.

And, you know, I think maybe

that's where the communication
was lacking.

'Cause maybe
if you did tell us on our end,

we could have done something
to help.

We had something

that could have become
something so much bigger

if things were done properly.

Could have changed the course
of all of our lives.

[Jeremy] John, you talked
about you thinking,

"Oh, they're white guys.

They can go into a boardroom
and pitch The Notic

and help us all make money."

That's something that
we would've never thought of.

'Cause I see
what my brother goes through

when he works with his own--
his own charity

and he struggles, man,
just 'cause of his skin color

to get in the door.

But as soon as he sees,
like, a person, you know...

like you guys,
it's a lot easier.

[Jeremy]
What could have happened.

And so much of that, I feel

personally
could have done better.

And it's just like, you know,
part of making this documentary

is trying to kinda
be at peace with it.

We totally looked
up to all you guys,

even though
we were a bit older and we--

we had so much fun
being around you and--

and we always had--

We always tried to have
your best interest in mind.

Yeah.

And we completely failed
in the business part of things

and, uh,
transparency part of things.

And we--
we didn't take the brand

to where it could have been,

but we always had
your best interest in mind.

And I don't know-- I don't know
if there is gonna be

full closure after 20 years.

I-- I just felt the need
to say that.

Thank you.
No, that means a lot.

And, uh, I do think that, uh,

me and some of the other guys
will be able to, you know,

feel some closure
in that chapter of--

of our lives.

What we had then
was something really different

and we got a-- an incredible
childhood out of it.

Money can't--
money can't do no--

I-- I don't care what we--
what happened, what we made.

That don't mean shit, man.

We had such joy.

We had such fun.
We had such hope.

[all cheering]

[Jeremy] The night
after Joey didn't get drafted

for the G League,

I got this text from him
in the middle of the night

saying he signed a deal,
and he was at the airport.

[Joey] I didn't
let me not being drafted,

make me stop playing the game.

I put my head down,
stopped doing any type

of streetball stuff,

worked really hard,
and ended up playing pro ball

for six years.

And I had to shut up
a lot of people, man.

A lot of people that
didn't believe in me.

Right, and that's what I did.

[commentating in other language]

[Joey] In Denmark
averaging like 30 points a game.

Taking the team
from having, you know,

nobody in the stands to having
a sold-out crowd every time.

I just wanted to prove
to like, everyone

that I could definitely do this.

I could definitely dominate.

[whistle blows]

[commentating in other language]

[Joey] It was a good six years,
but also a stressful six years.

I'm flying out different places.

I'm waiting for contracts.

It's just going
to these places, you know,

not seeing my family.

It's tough. It's tough.

Coming back home, working,
training hard in the summer.

It was a crazy waiting game

because in summertime
you're not sure what's going on.

Where you gonna play next.

[soft piano
instrumental playing]

[indistinct shouting]

[Joey] No matter what,
in the organized world

for basketball,
you don't have full control

because it is
more of a business.

People really trying
to make money, you know?

We didn't match up their, uh--
Their intensity today.

They-- they-- they
bullied us a little bit.

I proved to everyone
back home that I could--

I could play pro basketball.

I proved to myself that I
could play pro basketball.

But there's something
that was kinda missing,

but I kinda didn't know
what it really was, really.

[siren wailing]

[Rory] How you've you been?

[David] Oh, my goodness, man.
It's so good to see you, man.

[Rory] Fingaz. Yeah. [laughs]

Johnny Blaze in the house, baby.

-Yeah?
-[Rory] Yeah, [indistinct].

[Johnny] Woo!

Pa! Pa!

Yeah, man, what's up, man?

-Good to see you, man.
-Disaster, man.

-Boom!
-Shit, boy.

-Goosebumps!
-[indistinct]. Fuck.

[Rory] [indistinct] legend.

-You getting taller than me.
-[Mohammed] I'm not.

[both laughing]

[Joey] Dude,
I haven't seen you since 1888.

[all laughing]

♪

-[Mohammed] D, man.
-We gonna be playing.

Yeah, he's playing,
I'm not playing. [laughs]

[Fresh]
It's the first time all of us

have been
in the same place, and--

Since we were teenagers.

[laughing]

-[Rory] How you doing, big man?
-[Fresh] Good, man.

-[Rory] It's good to see you.
-Yeah.

What? What?

[David] We knew that
we were gonna meet at the court.

I thought we were just
gonna be there to talk,

to do a little bit
of filming there,

you know what I mean?

So to have like, SLAM magazine

come back, and be there again,

that's crazy, man.

[Jeremy] Being able to surprise
the rest of the crew,

but especially Jermaine
with a SLAM shoot

that he's gonna be a part of,
he's in the photos,

he's in the interview.

It feels like
we're getting a second chance.

[Fresh] We were all
really collectively like one,

you know what I mean?

And, um, obviously, it was, uh--

It was a bummer, missing it
for the first time around.

But you know what, uh,
this definitely makes up for it

because you know,
it's the full circle.

Oh, man, it is-- Honestly,

those are some
of the best years of my life.

You know, it's, uh,
better late than never,

but I think
it adds a cool dynamic

that a lot of time
has passed by, and you just--

You really get to see how, uh,
we've all progressed as humans.

With the Notic,
and being streetballers

and basketball players,
we created a high level

of standard for ourselves.

So once that level was hit,
you are always climbing either

back there or you're trying
to go out over top.

You can't turn back.

I still love
basketball, but, I mean,

my knees can't take the asphalt,
so I'm not out there playing

streetball anymore,
it's just what it is, man.

Um, but, uh, I- I went on
to different things in life.

That's where it all
started right here, man.

I've been a professional DJ
now for 18 years.

I found something that gave me

the same kind of passion
that basketball did.

I wasn't liking
where I was headed, you know?

My dad lives out here, so when
I came out here we connected

on a spiritual level
and faith level.

And so I just
gradually started to pray.

[David] I do jujitsu a lot now.

It's the same process
of struggling,

and figuring stuff out
that I did in the Notic.

People will
break your ankles for real.

[Andrew] I started
this company seven years ago.

I'd say we're like,
easily top-- top-tier now.

Everything is custom.

So in my head
it's freestyle, you know.

Like streetball,
it's freestyle, right?

You got--
That's all we do, right?

Like it never--
It never leaves, right?

Like, once a shooter
always a shooter, right?

[Johnny] June 11th, 2009,
someone saved my life.

I had my daughter McKenna.

I know God gave her
to me for a reason.

She's my angel.

And now
that I work with youth, right,

I see immigrant kids
and their struggle,

and that's what
I try and do today

to help others, to give back.

And me and David
are still best friends.

I don't know what I'd
do without him, you know.

[Mohammed] It allowed me
to pull myself up and say,

"Okay, focus up.
Get your-- Get your life back."

So this is it, this is the lab.

Okay.

[vocal music playing]

I'm making music where--
Almost zero instruments,

and just more voice
and melodic stuff.

I'm adding my faith
into my thing.

♪ But family ties, yeah? ♪

♪♪ This is
the family ties, yeah ♪

Just, uh,
getting ready to pick up my son.

Looking forward to it, man.

At the end of it all,

I had lost access
to both of my sons.

So I-- I started
working a 12-step program.

I guess,
that chip on my shoulder,

you know,
I unburdened myself of that.

It took me 456 days

to get my older son
back in my life.

And my younger son, Nolan,

his grandparents
took him into their care

until, you know--
That I could get

-like, back on my feet.
-[knocking on door]

I never had a dad growing up,

and up until this point,

I think
that like, I failed my kids.

But like, now I wanna
make sure that both of my kids

growing up
knowing that I'm here.

[indistinct] travel.

So they don't have to go
through what I did growing up.

[laughs]
This is the gift of recovery.

Being able to be a dad,

and like,
a good example to my son, right?

Okay, let's go.

-You miss me?
-Yeah, I'm trying like, go.

-How much?
-So much.

-Why so much?
-Because I love you.

Okay, buddy.
Let's go to the park.

I guess, I gotta go to the park
now after that, you know.

[kid laughing]

[Rory] Let's go.

[man speaking Japanese]

[Joey] I got invited
out to Japan

for an all-star game.

[overlapping chatter]

When I went out there,
I see these guys,

Japanese players with like,
baggy pants

and like, do-rags and--
And they could handle.

And I found that amazing,
like, man, like,

there's a whole
another world out there.

[indistinct announcement]

[crowd cheering]

[Joey] But when
I played my first game there,

I was pulling out moves
left, right and center, man.

♪

All the streetball tricks
coming out the bag.

[cheering]

The crowd's going nuts, man.

This is crazy.

These people
still remember the Notic.

They still remember
like, King Handles.

They still remember me.

[indistinct announcement]

[Joey] I fell in love with
streetball again.

I literally fell in love,
like, I don't wanna even play

organized anymore.

[crowd cheering]

[Joey] This is who I am.

-[announcer] [indistinct]!
-[crowd] [indistinct]!

-[announcer] [indistinct].
-[crowd] [indistinct]!

Streetball is who I am.

One day King calls me up,
he's like, "Yo,

I'm taking you to Japan,
you gotta see this."

I'm like, "I gotta see what?"

[indistinct announcement]

[cheering]

[Joey] I brought
Johnny Blaze to Japan

'cause I want him to see,
I want him to see the love.

It's like the cult following.

He didn't understand
until he got there.

Like, "Holy shit.
People still know me?"

I'm like, "Yo, King, King,
where are we right now?"

"Yo we famous, man."

[Joey] Yeah, because
this is what you did, man.

You deserve it.

[Johnny] I have never ever heard

anything like this
in my whole entire life.

[cheering]

"They love you, man."

And he's like,
"I told you, John,

they love us here."

[crowd cheering]

[Johnny] I didn't know
how big the Notic was in Asia.

[Joey] The Notic
actually had a lot of influence

on the all--
On all the ball handlers

out in Japan and China.

I see John, I see myself,

I see David, I see Jermaine.

[commentator] Come on, come on.

We must have done something...

to impact these people.

And like, "If they could do it,

these kids
from Vancouver could do it,

I think we could do it too."

Thank you so much, you guys.

What up? I'm Chris
from Hamburg, Germany.

My name is Jefferson Mariano,
I'm from Brazil.

I'm from Gleb Beirn from Russia.

You guys inspired
a lot of people,

a lot of ballers from all
around the world.

They changed my life,
they put me in the driveway

every day practicing.

So I think we gave a lot of
people hope as well.

They made it seem
like anybody do it.

You know, like it's not
exclusive.

I think the Notic really just
set the paradigm

for what basketball freestyle
videos were supposed to be.

Johnny Blaze he low dribbles
so fast.

[man 1] Goosebumps,
King Handles.

[man 2] Disaster.

I was inspired by them.

I just wanted to be
like you, really.

The guys show the real
streetball, man.

Absolutely explosive,
amazing to watch.

You can show the world
such tricks,

it lights the soul.

It made people like myself
feel like they can

still be represented,
they can still play.

-Shout out to my guys Notic.
-Shout out Notic.

Changed my life.

If a player loves basketball,

and doesn't make it to the NBA,

to me,
there's no disappointment.

The determination of
a successful ball player is...

how much did you cultivate
your love for this game?

Joey Haywood,

who's spent
now, like, two decades

becoming globally known,
playing in Asia,

you know,
doing clinics, teaching kids.

To me, he is a supreme success.

Love the game.

[overlapping chatter]

Yo, my brother,

thanks for keeping
the game going, man.

Oh, man, all good, man.

-All love, man.
-Yeah, thank you.

-Love you, bro.
-Thanks for the spark.

Thanks for the love, man.
Real talk.

Always, always, always,
always keep it going, man.

-Yeah.
-I love you, bro.

Appreciate it.
You too, man, love you guys.

We all love you.
We all love you.

Thank you guys so much, man.

You know,
if it wasn't for you guys,

like, show me the love and just
give me the confidence--

If it wasn't for the Notic,

I don't know
where I would be, man.

Don't know. Don't know.

It was really tough for me
like, growing up here and--

and you guys, you know,
embrace me and love me.

So I just wanna say
thank you, guys.

I'm so proud of him, man,

He never gave up
even when people hated on him.

Even when people thought
he wasn't gonna make it,

he kept going.

Everywhere I went to play ball,

I always brought
you guys with me.

Every one of you guys.

[team applauding]

I'm like, "Yo, King,
why you reppin' so hard, man?

Like you are King Handles.
It's you man.

Why aren't you
repping yourself man?"

He's like,
"Man, you guys are me."

♪

Hey, let's go!

[all cheering]

And I hope that legacy
of the Notic just lives on,

I hope it echoes in the streets.

[laughing]

It was more
than just basketball.

It was a community,
it was friendship.

[David] I think the collective
group was something special.

I think part of
it though, is struggle, right?

When you struggle,
you appreciate things.

[Mohammed] It was just
a complete brotherhood.

And I think it came out on tape.

It's hope, man, it's hope.

["Family Ties"
by Mo from OTE playing]

♪ We stay together, uh-huh ♪

♪ No matter
the distance, no matter ♪

♪ [indistinct] in the tank
whatever, don't matter ♪

♪ Hamburger with the bread ♪

♪ Like fish
with the tart, okay ♪

♪ We go together ♪

♪ And I heard
you having a daughter ♪

♪ [indistinct lyrics] ♪

♪ [indistinct lyrics] ♪

♪ [indistinct] to mama ♪

♪ [indistinct] when I'm lost,
when I'm lost ♪

♪ [indistinct], uh-huh ♪

♪ [indistinct lyrics] ♪

♪ [indistinct lyrics] ♪

♪ I bring it back, I bring
[indistinct] for doughs ♪

♪ [indistinct lyrics] ♪

♪ Never hang up [indistinct]
when I was a baby ♪

♪ They changed me,
[indistinct] change you ♪

♪ [indistinct lyrics] ♪

♪ Let's talk about y'all, man ♪

♪ Got along,
money [indistinct] ♪

♪ But family decides, yeah ♪

♪ This is family ties, yeah ♪

♪ Family ties, yeah ♪

♪ This is family ties ♪

[crowd cheering]

That's some sick shit!

♪

♪ It's OTE ♪

♪ Yeah, we slidin' ♪

♪ Yeah, yeah ♪

♪ This is family ties, yeah ♪