‘High Flying Bird’ Cements Itself As The Newest Basketball Drama

This is the tale of black mens’ relationship to black joy; and seeing it held hostage by those in power. With a creative team that includes Academy Award winners director Steven Soderbergh (Traffic) and writer Tarrell Alvin McCraney’s (Moonlight) High Flying Bird is the artists’ microscope into an agent’s hustle in the midst of the NBA lockout. The sports drama drops a week before All Star Weekend where we honor the league’s most talented/ personal favorites. As we take off for the Sprite Slam Dunk Competition, High Flying Bird plops right in front of you with the high stakes. McCraney with the Assist and Soderbergh with a Bank Shot Melvin Gregg as Erick Scott and André Holland as Ray Burke in High Flying Bird, directed by Steven Soderbergh.Photo by Peter Andrews “I love the Lord and all his black peoples” Ray (Andre Holland, Moonlight) a sports agent, represents a rookie Erick (Melvin Gregg, American Vandal) at a time where contracts are shaky and vulnerability creates potential lawsuits. While the fleeting nature of youth makes folks make questionable decisions Ray serves as both a father figure and a legal counterpart. Passion becomes a struggle when organizations no longer want to cooperate. Therefore; this causes folks to take desperate measures in order to protect their livelihood. The Game Plan Here in this narrative: from talks about contracts, to court beef and passion, the black hustle reinvents itself in various capacities. Important metaphors to take notice of i…