Have you seen Hustle, the latest movie by Adam Sandler on Netflix? I think it’s a great movie. On the surface, it’s a feel good sports movie about a young basketball player. But once again, a movie helped me understand something about myself. Maybe it can help you too.
Synopsis
Hustle is a drama about a basketball scout, Stanley Sugerman, who helps Bo Cruz, a talented but misguided young basketball player, reach his dreams of playing in the NBA. It’s called Hustle because that’s what the young man had to do in order to prove he can physically and mentally compete at the highest level.
A second layer to the movie was not the hustle of the young player, but the hustle of Adam Sandler’s character, Stanley Sugerman, who as a NBA scout, dreamed to become a coach. Despite facing numerous obstacles, including losing his job, Stanley found and developed the young NBA star, and in the end, was re-hired as an assistant coach with the Philadelphia 76ers.
To me though, the meaning went deeper than that. The movie was about more than the struggles and hustle of Bo and Stanley. It’s about the hustle in all of us.
Do You Love This Game?
The movie trailer captures a core scene in the movie. When the young Bo Cruz was ready to give up, Stanley has this heart to heart with him.
Do you love this game? I mean, love it with your whole heart? Because if you don’t, let’s not even bother …
I love this game. I live this game …
Obsession’s gonna beat talent every time. You got all the talent in the world, but are you obsessed? …
Is it all you ever think about? It’s you against you out there. You have to think “I am the best guy out there” …
So let me ask you again. Do you love this game?
Such powerful words. Incredible writing.
Austin, TX
My wife and I have been entertaining ideas of where to live once we become empty…
