The Emory Cinematheque Presents: He Got Game

The Emory Cinematheque Presents: He Got Game November 4 at 7:30 p.m. in White Hall 208 1998 | Run Time: 136 min. | 35mm Directed by Spike Lee Introduced by Dr. Samantha Sheppard: https://pma.cornell.edu/samantha-noelle-sheppard (Cornell University)

If you’ve ever watched New York professional basketball or witnessed the 2026 championship Knicks play, you’ve seen Spike Lee live and in color. Lee is an avid basketball fan and has floor seats for all Knicks home games. He is also the director of many commercials that illuminate the sport like Chic H.I.S., the Continental Basketball Association, and those that kicked off the relationship between Michael Jordan and Nike. Lee’s love and knowledge of basketball make his 1998 film He Got Game aesthetically beautiful and contemplative.

A fascinating look into one of America’s favorite past times, the story deals with big-time college recruiting processes, the money and politics involved in sports, and one outstanding Black young man basketball player. The film is lensed by Malik Hassan Sayeed, the same cinematographer for Lee’s Clockers and Girl 6, and features real-life college and professional basketball personnel like coaches Lute Olsen of Arizona and Georgetown’s John Thompson and players Shaquille O’Neal, Bill Walton, and Reggie Miller. Says critic Roger Ebert, “Lee uses visual imagination to lift his material into the realms of hopes and dreams.” And connecting the art to commerce, film scholar Samantha Sheppard links He Got Game to Lee’s later digital work within NBA 2K16—Livin’ Da Dream—the digital and film all wrapped up and sold in one.

The main protagonist is real life former NBA player Ray Allen and as his father, Denzel Washington. It also features Rosario Dawson, Milla Jovovich, Zelda Harris, and Hill Harper.

The film will be introduced by film professor Samantha N. Sheppard of Cornell University whose new book The Basketball Film: https://www.rutgersuniversitypress.org/the-basketball-film/9781978806269 comes out in November.