MOVIE · 1994

Hoop Dreams

DocumentaryDrama174 min

Chicago teenagers William Gates and Arthur Agee spend their school days traveling from the city’s inner neighborhoods to a mostly white suburban high school with an elite basketball program, chasing college scholarships and a path to the NBA. As cameras follow them and their families over several years, William’s mother Emma Gates and Arthur’s mother Sheila Agee become central figures too, as tuition costs, injuries, academic pressure, and life at home keep colliding with the demands of competitive basketball. Steve James’s documentary stays close to the routines, setbacks, and hopes surrounding two young players whose futures are being watched from every direction.