In the fall of 2002, the basketball team of St. Vincent's-St. Mary's, a private high school in Akron, Ohio, was in a media bubble.
As the new documentary "More Than a Game" recounts, expectations over the team's chances for a national title that year were huge. ESPN was covering the team's games. Sports Illustrated put St. V-M's star player, LeBron James, on the cover with the headline, "The Chosen One."
"More Than a Game's" director, Kristopher Belman, thought he didn't have a chance to pierce that bubble. At the time, he was a film student at Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles, with a film-school assignment to make a 10-minute documentary.
Belman had two things in his favor. One, he was from Akron. Two, he wanted to make a movie not just about James but about his teammates -- three of whom had played alongside James since fourth grade.
"I said, 'This isn't about LeBron' -- that's what struck them," said Belman, who was initially allowed to shoot one practice session. "I knew it was bigger than 10 minutes. So I showed up the next day, and the day after that."
"More Than a Game" (which opens Friday at the Broadway Centre Cinemas) focuses on the four years James and his friends played for St. Vincent's-St. Mary's. James, Dru Joyce III, Sian Cotton and Willie McGee, who had played basketball in a Salvation Army gym, were dubbed "The Fab Four" -- and were renamed "The Fab Five" with the addition of Romeo Travis at St. V-M.
Even though they're busy, Belman said, the teammates still see each other regularly. Joyce and Travis earned scholarships to the University of Akron and are teammates on a pro team in Germany. McGee played football for Fairmont State University and last year earned his degree in computer science. Cotton played football for Ohio State and is pursuing his degree at Walsh University.
James' success hasn't changed how his old teammates feel about him, Belman said. "They still remember him as the kid who had to grow into his ears," he said. "He'll come back from a game, and if he didn't shoot well, they're the only ones who can still tell him that. ... Together, these boys created a foundation that he still stands on today."
