But most of those films focused on the high-school, college or street levels. What's new is the growing interest in the professional side of the game. One of the first to tap into the NBA's popularity was last year's Forget Paris , in which Billy Crystal blew the whistle as a testy ref. Meanwhile, many giants of the court are lining up to take a shot at acting. Game attendance is up.
TV ratings are up.
College players and members of the Continental Basketball Association fill out the team rosters. Every time they yelled 'cut,' we got a game going. I held my own surprisingly well. Basketball is a positive sport. For kids in the ghetto, there are only a few ways out.