Delusion is only a problem when it doesn’t lead to success - The Long Game: Bigger Than Basketball Review

 

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on his college season as well as a lingering injury are massive hurdles that block 7ft NBA prospect Makur Maker from success. These challenges aren’t made any easier by his coach’s constant overestimation of what Makur can bring to a team.

Across Apple TV+’s five-episode docu-series, The Long Game: Bigger Than Basketball, director Seth Gordon documents Makur Maker’s path to the 2021 NBA draft, during his one and done season at Howard University.

Like many during 2020, Makur Maker wanted to do more after the death of George Floyd and following the global Black Lives Matter protests. For the teenage athlete, that was committing to play basketball for the Historically Black University – Howard, not one of the Big Six conference schools that an ESPN ranked 16^th prospect would be expected to go to. At Howard Makur hoped to take a on leadership role and put increased spotlight on the academic institution.

But whatever status Maker had going into college, Howard university made it respectfully clear it didn’t matter to them. An institution whose alumni boasts Vice President Kamala Harris and former Supreme Court justice Thurgood Marshall, doesn’t need Makur to put them on the map.

Nor were they sacrificing the basketball team’s long-term success by building their team around the 7ft talent. At times it felt that Howard Bison’s coach Kenny Blakeney went out of his way humble Makur despite his noted talent. But since the Bison’s went on to have winning seasons and a trip to the NCAA tournament after Makur’s departure, evidently Balekeney’s tactics do work.

But I do have to wonder if a flashier prospect like Mikey Williams, who too pledged to go to a HBCU during the pandemic had joined their team, would Williams have been better received by the university?

Although keen to be a leader, during his short tenure with Howard, Makur showed no signs of being a vocal leader. The only push to leadership Makur takes is to rush his peers back to playing while many were struggling with what was then the unknown long-term impact of COVID. This push was unsuccessful with the remainder of their season being cancelled.

Unable to play basketball, Makur left campus to prepare for the draft. He had fallen off the radar of NBA scouts due to his lack of play and minimal minutes against high level competition. His team headed by Coach Ed who is his legal guardian and has supported Makur’s basketball journey from a young age, went on a mission to put Makur back on the map. Part of this was starting a social media campaign to document his path to the draft. But the video views were marginal, nowhere near comparable to channels like Overtime or Ball is Life which are nowadays spotlighting young basketball talent. Plus, it didn’t solve the real problem of Makur not playing against similarly touted prospects. This didn’t stop Coach Ed from suggesting that Makur could be a Joel Embiid or Nikola Jokic type player once he reaches the NBA.

And this isn’t the first unrealistic assertation from the coach. Despite falling in the rankings he is adamant that Makur could be drafted higher than his cousin Thon Makur who was drafted 10^th in 2016. But even Coach Ed’s first success story is currently struggling to stay in the league. As AAU coach Clayton Williams explains well, Ed’s desire for the boys to succeed can at times supersede reality.

It doesn’t help that Coach Ed’s intentions have previously been questioned when they were in Australia. Concerned parents sent emails around to local high schools suggesting that Ed was taking advantage of immigrant families to fulfil his own basketball dreams. This was a concerning moment that perhaps deserved more focus particularly as Makur’s path to the 2021 draft was heavily guided by Ed.

What does stand out, however, is how much the people around Makur mean to him. He speaks regularly with his older cousin as he prepares for the draft. Additionally, he’s been taken in by Coach Ed’s family and grown a relationship with his kids so much so that Ed’s daughters are happy to help the prospect build his social media presence and create brand connections.

A player’s journey to the NBA can be such an intriguing story. Similarly, so is the question of what happens to basketball prospects that don’t make the NBA despite their talent but during the series it is hard to stay engaged with either narrative. Despite the Apple TV+ series labelling itself Bigger than Basketball, there is no real insight into Makur taking steps in leadership or activism off the court, and barely any as a player.  Instead what becomes the focus is the damaging impact that unrealistic expectations and perhaps having the wrong people in your corner can have on one’s career.