By Jon Terry
Scene 1 – Ron Gets out of Jail. A brief interaction with the driver in a cab, en route to CIty.
Scene 2: A bar called “McGinnity’s.” Ron has a burger and a beer. Ashley and Kap of “Final Word” are introduced. Belldon Shelvers is referred to.
Scene 3: A basketball court near the Bar. Ron busts out, befriends Sheldon, and meets Billy. Sheldon quietly determins Ron can use a hand, and invites him to crash at his place
Scene 4: The walk home with Sheldon. He’s popular and generous.
Scene 5: Ron discovers Sheldon has a twin, Sonny.
Scene 6: The boys watch Ashley and Kap together. The theme of globalization and money vs organic city basketball is the subject of the show. We meet Kelvin and ??
Scene 7: Ron dreams. He dreams of hooping in prison, he and his buddy Crafty, laughing it up. Then Ron getting his Achilles cut, and Crafty getting out long before Ron.
Scene 8: Flashback to Ron’s Mom illness, and death. Ron also reflects that Crafty stop visiting, probably back on the meth.,
Scene 9: Ron Senior, golfing with a friend. Demonstraing his quiet, pained estrangement from Ron is the purpose of this scene
Scene 10: Ron goes back to the Court, meets Yazmina, and the boys from the JD center.
Scene 11: sort of a montage, Ron coaches the boys, and falls for Yazmina.
Scene 12: need an evil regime scene here, gotta think it through. Part of it is an owner who believes in domination and winning only, plotting with Kelvin to acquire the next great African big man, even though they are already rich in talent. The owner operates like a vampiric corporation.
Scene 13: The “Run City 3” tournament is introduced. Ron is talked into playing by Yazmina to show the boys what redemption looks like.
Scene 14: Ron calls his boy Crafty to be their 4th. Crafty declines, he’s a meth head. It’s a sad scene.
Scene 15: Rasta begs to be the 4th. Ron accepts.,
Scene 16: The Run City 3 Round 1. Little K’s team makes quick work of their first team, woofing and hoofing. Ron and the Smiths also win big, but without the woof. A montage of wins follows for each team, reflecting the theme of winning ugly vs winning with class.
Scene 17: The Run City 3 final. It’s supposed to be close. It isn’t … they made Ron mad.
Scene 18 The Tokyo basketball club, and Kelvin, notice, and don’t like it.
Scene 19: Jon releases a story telling the 3 on 3 story and tying it to the dehumanization and exclusivity of big-time basketball losing itself to money. Both stories go viral
Scene 20: Kap and Ashley notice. Ashley impugns movement … but Kap, for the first time in a long time, gets the Final Word! And it’s antil what’s happened to Big-time basketball.
Scene 21: owner / commissh can’t stand it, has petty, Trumpian need to crush against the advice of his management team. He impishly invites Ron’s team to compete in the annual in-season invitational, usually a competition among the top international all-star teams. Wants to see him, and his movement, crushed. But like all cheaters, is he playing fair? maybe, maybe not, gonna play with that, because next scene …
Scene 22: tragedy strikes. After a celebratory moment at the Club with the boys, Sheldon is shot on the walk home.
Scene 23: Hospital. Sonny, their mom, Ron, Yazminda all anxiously await the outcome. Ron doses, and dreams his mom’s passing at the hospital. How he was not allowed in, but watched. Watched his dad cry for the only time ever had and ever will, break down and sob, body heaving, until he just couldn’t cry anymore. Then he straightened up and never cried again.
Scene 24: Sheldon survives, but needs a Kidney. It has to be Sonny.
Scene 25: Ron is with Yazminda, working on his tourney withdrawal letter to the Fans. Yazminda pushes back. Ron gets mad at her naivete about high-level basketball, and walks out.
Scene 25.5: Ron stops in a bar. Kap and Ash are on. Kap suggests Ron and team should fight on. Ashley rudely dismisses him. Ashley gets last word. Ron doesn’t seem to like that.
Scene 26: Ron finds a lonely basketball court. And there it is, old faded grafitti “Basketball Jones”
Scene 27: Ron walks all the way to the hospital to talk to the Twins about pulling out of the tournament, see if they want to say anything. They remind him of 2 things: everything he taught them, every pound they lost, inch they gained … it was never about “winning.” And, for fuck’s sake: he’s Basketball Jones, and they knew it all along.
Scene 28: Ron announces tryouts are proceeding. All the key characters notice.
Scene 29: Tryouts. It’s mobbed. The press is there. Kap and Ashley are there. A limo pulls up, and a huge, square man in a hoodie steps out. Everything, and everyone, goes quiet. The hoodie comes off. It’s Belldon Shelvers. Shayla and her son are watching on TV, but had no idea dad was going to try out – they’ re going crazy. The boys club is going crazy. Random bars all over the world are going crazy. The young African phenom brothers are going crazy.
Scene 30: Evil Owners in panic. Kelvin assures them they got this, nothing to worry about, the teams are vastly superior, Belldon is rusty.
Scene 31: Belldon and Ron talking. They conclude they need a big man, and rue that all are tied down from such an early age by the Big Money. But for the big African kid. The big Afridan kid that absolutely worships Belldon Shelvers.
Scene 32: African kid’s living room. Mom answers the phone. Her jaw drops as she hands the phone to Kinto: “it’s Belldon Shelvers.”
Scene 33: Practice/build up montage. Some humor, but Belldon let’s everyone know if they’re not abotu winning the damn tournament, there is something they are missing. It’s not that winning is the only thing, the only thing is putting your heart and soul into winning.
Scene 34: Hospital. Belldon’s comatose friend. They are talking about Belldon on the TV. No one is in the room. His eyebrow twitches, just a tiny, tiny bit.
Scene 35: Ron Sr. and Rollie golfing. Rollie knows who Ron is, but does not want to confront Ron Sr. He urges Ron Sr. to go to the tournament.
Scene 36: 1st game. Against a muscly team. It’s bruising. They numb Ron’s shooting arm with continual hacks while getting Belldon in foul trouble. It looks like it’s getting late early. But – as Ron Sr. is in the crowd to see, subtly – Ron has TWO shooting arms. The name of the chapter is “off-hand?” A left-handed 4q comeback.
Scene 37: a sore but happy locker room.
Scene 38: Montage. Both teams fight their way to the finals. Ron’s team is bruised up. Ron’s father is always watching, but not visible. Belldon’s friend, still unnoticed, continues to show more movement.
Scene 39: The Kap and Ashley buildup to the big game. You know who picks who. Last Word, for the first time ever, is a tie. Even after recount.
Scene 39.5: They notice Hank’s movement. Rollie is working on Ron Sr. to see his sone.
Scene 40: the Big game. It’s a war, back and forth. What starts as nasty become respect, round after round, a-la-Rocky and Apollo
Scene 40.5. Hanks wakes up, and demands to be taken immediately to the game. You don’t think they’re going to do it.
Scene 41: it’s a hard-fought 3rd quarter. Rasta fouls out. Mohammed fouls out. Down by 8, it looks grim in the 4th quarter then …
Hank is wheeled in. Hardly anyone notices. But Belldon Shelvers does.
Scene 41: Absolute warfare. Shelvers is a wrecking ball, a machine, Gigantor. Down by 2 with 1.2, though, there is only one guy they are going to: basketball jones. Pull up, 3, money BUT agony: foot on the line, it’s only a two, and he sprained his ankle! They are down to 4 players for OT!
Scene 42: the Huddles. Kelvin’s team tries to find their killer instincts, but finds themselves looking in awe as Jones hobbles onto the court, and Shelvers, bandaged, lines up to jump center.
Scene 43: Dumont and Jones, eyeball to eyeball, respect returned. Dumont looks at his teammates. They nod. Dumont says: “We don’t want this Win.” And holds out his hand to Jones: “Great Game. Like …. Damn!”
Ron looks at him for a second, dumbfounded. Then grabs his hand and they hug. The announcer calls it a tie, and some boos are sooner overwhelmed by massive cheers.
Kap is crying. But so is Ashley.
Ron and Ron Sr. meet at midcourt. No words are spoken. But a father hugs his long-lost son like he’s never going to let go of him again.
End.