Hoop Dreams

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Hoop Dreams

Hoop dreams in a one of a kind documentary that examines the psychological effect that athletics can have on a child at an early age. The film was centered around two very talented basketball players, Arthur Agee and William Gates, as they attended high school and grew up in Chicago, Illinois. Throughout the film, the director shows all areas of their life; personal, academic, social, and their athletic aspect. This is specifically why the film relates to sport psychology.
Basketball for Arthur and William was an outlet, which they used to escape some of the hardship of growing up in what was called the projects in the documentary. Playing basketball and having the dream of becoming an NBA star, gave them the sense of purpose and direction which most of their peers didn’t have. They had the option of playing at a higher level of competition, which would develop their skills even further. Both boys took that option and attended St. Joseph’s which was a top high school basketball program in Chicago. There was an unbelievable amount of pressure every time the boys went to school. St Joe’s is the school that NBA all-star Isaiah Thomas attended and flourished at. Even as a freshman William was being compared to Isaiah. This is a tremendous amount of pressure to put on a 15 year old boy. There was also a large amount of external influence the boys had to face. There was the hardship of growing up in a bad neighborhood, and the friends they hung around with, and the problems within their families at home. This film shows how positive and negative certain things can be while growing up in this environment.
One specific theory that was constant throughout the film was humanistic theory of motivation. In the beginning of the film William and Arthur had lesser needs and were motivated by simply playing basketball and making it to the pros. As they matured they achieved self-actualization by realizing that this dream may n...