By Ramona Prioleau

Pedantic in its presentation, 1 Love is a documentary that traces the evolution of basketball and its development into an entertainment enterprise with universal appeal. Directed by Leon Gast (When We Were Kings), the documentary’s central themes are the sport’s genesis as an extracurricular outlet and its transition to a game overshadowed by marquee professional productions embellished with street ball electricity.

One of the film’s most poignant segments features street ball legends Joe Hammond and Pee Wee Kirkland, who respectively symbolize opportunity lost and redirected potential. Both Hammond and Kirkland became famous in the renowned Harlem Rucker league. Hammond lacked the foresight to transition to a professional league and got too caught up in the street life, which hampered his ball game. However, Kirkland flipped the script when life threw him an errant bounce pass and has dedicated his time to schooling younger generations in fundamental basketball skills.

The film is at its best when it centers on the game’s allure to millions far and wide and in towns big and small. But it suffers when the spotlight shifts to pro-ball prima donnas and the league that stages the dribbling divas. Although marketed on the strength of the big name hoop stars that appear in the documentary, the film is its most appealing when focusing on the stories of ball players who are not ridiculously overexposed. Anecdotes of Hoosier hysteria and a pickup game with a fire escape hoop and a rock fashioned from crumpled newspapers are gems.

Skip past the insignificant filler mouthed by the likes of Kobe, Shaq and coach Phil Jackson; ponder the depth of Iverson’s answer; but spend time getting to know the tragic tale of a street ball legend, the war stories of senior ballers kibitzing in a Florida diner and the everyday reflections of folk that have a passion for the round ball and the swish. M

December 2003