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If you didn’t catch Tuesday’s edition of The African-American Athlete talk show on Talk2MeSports radio network, you missed a wide-ranging interview with William Gates, who starred with his friend Arthur Agee in the iconic documentary, ‘Hoop Dreams’. The film, produced in 1994, followed the basketball careers of Chicago natives Gates and Agee throughout their high school years.
It’s hard to believe the kid in that movie is a man. Gates is 45-years-old, and you can say that he is living his dream. While he never made it to the NBA, he played three years at Marquette University, and earned his degree in communications. He is a husband and father. Two of his sons play college basketball at Houston Baptist University. He coaches his youngest son on the ‘Hoops Dreams’ AAU team. Gates has served as a minister, and is devoted to working with young people, and helping them fulfill their life dreams. The emphasis of his Hoop Dreams AAU basketball team is not only becoming better basketball players, but developing their life skills as well. (To donate to the Hoops Dreams team click here).
During the interview with hosts Michael Roberson and Rickey Hampton, columnists for TheAfricanAmericanAthlete.com, Gates talks about how he got involved with the film. He also discusses his high school experience, and the racial divide and violence in Chicago.
The first excerpt is how Gates got involved with Hoops Dreams, and the good and the bad that has come with it:
In these next two excerpts Gates talks about growing up in Chicago’s Cabrini Green projects, the ‘Hooper Pass’, and legendary Ben Wilson, who was killed in 1984:
Gates talks about being a father, and watching his sons pursue their basketball dreams.
