Bucks’ Bobby Portis set to portray Basketball Hall of Famer Earl Lloyd in ‘Sweetwater’ movie
Bobby Portis has always had that piercing gaze that makes Hollywood producers’ mouths water. Soon he will be able to put that scowl to good use.
Portis will be making his acting debut in the upcoming film Sweetwater, according to his CEO Patrick Frazier.
“It’s really exciting for him,” Frazier said, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “He had an incredible opportunity to be involved with the project this off-season.”
Portis will not portray just anyone. The 6-foot-11 center plays Basketball Hall of Famer Earl Lloyd, the first black player to attend an NBA game.
It’s just a small part role, per Frazier. However, Portis will have some voice lines. He will also be part of a “crucial” scene where Lloyd and fellow Basketball Hall of Famer Nat “Sweetwater” Clifton (and the film’s namesake) ask questions about racism in the 1950s.
MORE: On Sweetwater Clifton, the first black player to sign an NBA contract
Portis, 28, will grace the screen alongside an ensemble cast that includes Everett Osborne, Jeremy Piven, Kevin Pollack and Richard Dreyfuss.
What is “freshwater”?
Following in the footsteps of other popular sports films, Sweetwater tells the story of Nat “Sweetwater” Clifton, the globetrotter who became the first black player to sign a contract with an NBA team.
Clifton kept fans on their toes with his deft ability on the edge. But like many African-Americans of the time, Sweetwater had to face the piercing blow of racism at every turn.
With Everett Osborne as the film’s namesake, the film tells the story of Clifton’s rise to fame on the court – and the many ways the world turned away from it.
Trailer for the movie “Sweetwater”.
Release date of the film “Sweetwater”
- Release date: Tuesday, April 14th
“Sweetwater” opens in thousands of theaters across the United States beginning Tuesday, April 14th.
Who is Earl Lloyd?
In the pantheon of NBA greats of all time, Earl Lloyd’s name may seem obscure. However, its influence can be felt through the legions of black players who have graced the hardwood ever since.
Lloyd was the first black player to play in an NBA game, in 1950 for the Washington Capitols.
“The Big Cat” spanned a 10-year career that was spotlighted by winning the 1955 NBA championship with the Syracuse Nationals (now the Philadelphia 76ers).
MORE: To Earl Lloyd, one of the NBA’s first and foremost pioneers
Lloyd continued to make his mark in Black basketball after retiring, becoming the league’s first Black assistant coach. He added to that legacy in 1971, rising to the role of head coach for the Detroit Pistons — and joining John McClendon and Bill Russell as the league’s top three black managerial tacticians.
“One kid said to me, he said, Mr. Lloyd, ‘We really owe you.'” Lloyd told NPR in 2010. “And I told him, man, you owe me absolutely nothing. I said whatever career I had, it served me well, but you owe some people, and the people you owe are the people who will come behind you.
“If you’re going, I really hope you’ve done everything you can to leave it in a better place for the people coming behind you.”