Adam Yauch’s Basketball Diaries

When Adam Yauch walks into the room, he’s demure. Graying, meek, and quiet, it’s hard to imagine him the delinquent who, 22 years ago, coaxed us into fighting for our right to party. He’s a man who shook stadiums, starred in classic videos, forefronted New York rap for over two decades, and is now establishing himself as a filmmaker to be reckoned with. Yauch is here to discuss his first major Beastie Boys-less project—the precise yet goofy documentary Gunnin’ For That #1 Spot, about eight elite high school basketball players and the lead-up to an all-star game in Harlem’s hallowed playground, Rucker Park.

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Yauch has been involved in filmmaking since before the Beasties (he made his first film on Super 8 at the age of 16), but it was only in 2006, when the film Awesome; I Fuckin’ Shot That! was released, that the 43-year-old’s cinematic aspirations became apparent (despite having directed many Beasties videos). But that was a concert pastiche composed of footage shot by fans at a Beastie Boys concert, whereas Gunnin’ is unhinged from Yauch’s day job. The film profiles eight high school basketball stars, edging off the days where sheer love of competition and sport drive them, to an era where endorsements and contracts make up minds. The film’s release (this past Friday) couldn’t have been timed better. Three of the players profiled were just selected in the top 11 of the 2008 NBA draft on June 26th, a good two years after the film was shot. The players emerge from disparate backgrounds—from the seaside greenery of the Pacific Northwest to the concrete sprawl of urban Baltimore. But Yauch is a proud New Yorker, and this is a New York movie, which comes through in the film’s soundtrack. “A lot of it is New York-based hip hop. The film is about these guys coming together and playing together in New York, so a lot of it is nostalgic,” says Yauch, who admits his connections in the music industry made it easier to clear tracks from artists like Jay-Z and Nas.

Recent NBA draft pick Kevin Love drives to the basket during the “Elite 24” game.

Initially, Yauch was to interview eight prospects playing in the “Elite 24” all-star game (recommended to him by the game’s organizers), and select five to profile in the film. But when each one showed such skill on court and flair in front of the camera, he decided to use them all. “If you profile all of the players and get to know them, then you have more of a vested interest in watching the game,” says Yauch, tapping into the film’s core appeal. It’s getting to know these kids and where they’re from—before their likely NBA careers take off—that gives us our jollies. 

Fifteen-year-old Lance Stephenson in his hometown of Coney Island.

In the months leading up to the game, Yauch and a small crew traveled across the country, visiting the boys at home, interviewing loved ones, and collecting a feel for the kind of stakes a career in basketball holds for them and the role it plays in their lives. “It’s intense,” he says, “because they know how tight the odds are of making it in the NBA. For some of them, if they don’t make it, it’ll be upsetting, but they’re gonna go back to their nice house in the suburbs and figure it out. But for other kids whose families are struggling financially, people are really counting on them to succeed. That’s heavy.” Indeed, the all-American upbringings of kids like Kevin Love and Kyle Singler lie in stark contrast to the urban realities of Donte Greene or Tyreke Evans. For the latter two, basketball isn’t just a game, but a potential way out. “When I went to do the interviews in Baltimore and Philly it was interesting, because I had almost forgot what New York was like in the seventies. Seeing all those burnt out buildings was intense.”


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