Above the Rim

Above the Rim, directed by Jeff Pollack, was released in March 23, 1994. The movie is about a talented basketball player, Kyle, in high school and how he lives in the ghetto and his relationship with two brothers. One of the brother, Birdie, is a drug dealer and other brother, Stepan, was a former basketball star fallen on hard times and now he is employed as a security guard. The movie was not only based on basketball, but it also showed how people were growing up and struggling in the streets.

Kyle is a very talented basketball player and he is the star player of his high school basketball team. At the same time, outside school, he hangs out with the biggest gangster in the streets, Birdie. His life was very frustrating and struggling, yet entertaining. He is very talented in basketball, however he was financially struggling and he needed sneakers and some money but he could not get it from his own pocket. So, his friend, Birdie, decides to help him out by giving him sneakers and some money only if he chooses to do some tasks for him. Most of these tasks involved selling drugs, and crime.

Kyle was an eager and desperate teenager so he decided to work for his friend and he got more than he was offered.

Even though playing basketball was his dream; he liked to work for his man, Birdie, because he was getting easy money and respect. This all changed when he started to talk to the former basketball star, Tommy Shepards. He was once in Kyle’s shoes and he gave up basketball for the streets. Slowly, all his crime caught up to him and his life became to fall down. Kyle realized he could be in the same situation as him, so he started to change his morals and he chose basketball as his future.

This can be related to the poem, The Race, because it mentions that “ I need y’all to be careful of who’s runnin’ with you/ ‘cus if they aint positive you need to spring nad leave your crew.” Kyle realized that Birdie was a bad influence to his life and he would have been miserable and guilty all his life so he decides to leave him. The Video Clip shows the scene where Kyle decides to leave his man Birdie and he becomes more independent.

Also, Kyle realizes that his best talent was basketball so he goes to Tommy Shepards to improve his game and he began to focus more on basketball rather than the streets and his friends. This can be seen in the poem, The Race, when it says “Keep ya eyes on the prize, never sellout or compromise, be humble and wise.” So, Kyle decides to work very hard to basketball and he starts becoming more mature and role model for his basketball team.