Spencer Haywood

The Pittsburgh basketball team is hopeless. Maybe with the aid of an astrologer, and some new astrologically compatible players, they can become winners.

An incredible story of the ABA players who created much of what the billion dollar NBA is today–the 3-point shot, slam dunk contest, fashion and culture innovators–are forgotten in a business deal gone bad. A tiny not-for-profit fights back in this David vs. Goliath film.

Narrated by Public Enemy's Chuck D, the documentary traverses Haywood's life from his humble beginnings in Mississippi raised by a single mother to his induction into the NBA Hall of Fame. Basketball provided him a way out and in foregoing college to play hoops, he irrevocably changed the rules of how the game was played from the very top echelons of the NBA. As a 20-year old former Olympian, Haywood sue the NBA for the right to turn pro without finishing college. The case went to the Supreme Court and in 1971, the Court's decided in favor of Haywood. Subsequently, the decision abolished the NBA's mandatory draft eligibility requirement of four years of college. The ruling paved the way for today's NBA's superstars like Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Kevin Garnett to bypass college and play in NBA teams right out of high school.

'Basketball: A Love Story' is a series of 62 interconnected short stories that creates a vibrant mosaic of the game, featuring 165 exclusive interviews. The cast encompasses basketball's most prominent figures and explores the complex nature of love as it relates to the game.

An inside look at the changing role of athletes in our fraught cultural and political environment, through the lens of the NBA.

Experience the ABA's nine-year rivalry with the NBA that changed basketball forever. From the 3-point shot to the Slam Dunk Contest, the ABA's innovations became game staples. Told by "Dr. J" Erving, Larry Brown, Bob Costas & other Hall of Famers.