pitcure via NYT

Just recently, I read a really interesting article on Lenny Cooke over at the New York Times and it looks like his story was turned into a documentary. Cooke was one of America's most interesting and excelling High School Basketball players back in 2001, but became a sad example of what can happen to these kids if they cannot make the jump into a professional league.


In order to really get an idea of his qualities as a player, you need to look at the other talents from his class that were also making waves but couldn't keep up with his skillset. Instead of Carmelo Anthony,Amar’e Stoudemire or the almighty LeBron James, it was Lenny Cooke who most experts picked as the nation's number one player!

Isn't it crazy that all the others became superstars and he fell completely off the map?! Well, his story is a tragic example of how the pressure and media attention at such a young age can destroy careers of  highly-skilled athletes.

After his tremendous High-School years in Brooklyn during which he averaged (!) stat lines of 30 points and 15 rebounds per game and with his 6’6″, 206 lb body frame, he had scholarship offers to every top-notch university in the US. However the kid decided to skip College and entered the 2002 NBA Draft. This turned out to be a terrible idea as he was ultimately passed over by all 29 teams due to his uncontrollable persona. Instead of letting him grow up first, he was extremely ill-advised and too airheaded for the professional league.

Ten years later, Lenny Cooke still hasn't played a single minute in the NBA while his old peers collect trophies and sponsors.His story was now turned into a very interesting documentary by Josh and Benny Safdie that I cannot wait to watch!