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Netflix review: 'Last Chance U: Basketball' is one of the best sports series you will ever watch

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Rick Olivares

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2021/sports/03/13/last-chance.jpg"/><figcaption>A scene from &#x27;Last Chance U: Basketball.&#x27; <em>Handout</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>Time is never on one’s side. And life is never fair.</p><p>Two age-old adages, and the twain meet at &quot;Last Chance U: Basketball.&quot;</p><p>The newest sports reality series on Netflix has dropped, the sixth installment of this wildly popular show that features athletes at the crossroads of their life with one last chance at making it to a Division 1 or 2 school, getting a scholarship and an education, and perhaps, a shot at the pros.</p><p>The new cast features 15 basketball players, three coaches, a few teachers and school administrators, and select family members whose lives intersect in East Los Angeles College (ELAC), a junior college. Each one has a story of varying hardship or misfortune to tell and you find yourself drawn to them as they are on a mission to not only get past the first round of the play-offs -- a feat that no previous Huskies team has accomplished -- but to win a state championship.</p><p>Not every athlete is recruited by Division 1 schools, the last rung before a professional career. Some go to Division II ball, while others choose junior colleges that although can be an end to itself as one can receive an associate in arts degree or a stepping stone to a four-year college course. Athletically, the competition is good and after two or four years of ball, can be recruited by the top schools.</p><p>You’d be surprised at the number of Juco players who went on to star in Division 1 or 2 colleges and went on to become a NBA star.</p><p>There’s Nate “Tiny” Archibald, Mookie Blaylock, Jimmy Butler, Sam Cassell, Cedric Ceballos, Steve Francis, Mark Eaton, Spencer Haywood, Dennis Johnson, Larry Johnson, Shawn Marion, Bob McAdoo, Ricky Pierce, Mitch Richmond, Alvin Robertson, Dennis Rodman, Latrell Sprewell, John Starks, Nick Van Exel, and Ben Wallace to name a few.</p><p>And the ELAC Huskies hope they can add their names to the NBA’s distinguished roster of Juco transferees.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/T8zuMXX0zSI?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div><p>As is the case with any reality series, the camera crew is like a fly on the wall. And the stories of &quot;Last Chance U: Basketball&quot; that they tell are powerful stories of passion and conviction. You literally get sucked up in their stories.</p><p>The ELAC Huskies are coaches by the charismatic John Mosley who opted out of a top school to coach Juco ball that meant he had more time for his family. His assistants are Ken Hunter whose promising hoops career was cut short after he was left paralyzed during an unfortunate accident, and Rob Robinson who school’s program was cut and he found himself suddenly adrift.</p><p>There’s forward-center Joe Hampton who played for Penn State then saw his career cut after a pair of knee injuries. Unable to cope, he fell into vice and depression before finding his way to ELAC and the realization that it is his last chance of giving his dreams a shot. </p><p>There’s shooting guard and team captain Deshaun Highler who was orphaned and still trying to cope with the loss of his mother. He goes through a horrendous shooting slump that finds himself questioning his game while railing at Mosley. Through the help of his girlfriend Kiera, he finds himself pulling back instead of falling into the abyss of failure.</p><p>There is the athletic and talented forward KJ Allen who the coaching staff feels is a God-send.</p><p>Malik Muhammad, the team’s center, is a man-child and is weighed down with the promise of potential. </p><p>While the aforementioned players and coaches form the main cast, at times, the series features other players like forward Jordan Polynice, starting point guard LJ Zeigler, forward Marquis Copeland, shooting forward Mark Boland, and combo guard Taj Regans among others.</p><p>Whether the members of the team are playing to the cameras or not is immaterial. No one pulls their punches. The verbal spats get ugly at times and you wonder especially in the case of the ELAC Huskies head coach -- the charismatic John Mosley -- if he is close to crossing a line. You wonder if their mission to win a state championship that will allow the players to get recruited will be derailed by someone somehow. Almost everyone gets to a breaking point and whether they are childish, immature, or driven, you cheer for them and root for them to succeed.</p><p>The soundtrack that features Drake, Kendrick Lamar, David Axelrod, Bill Withers, Lauryn Hill, and Kool and the Gang is top-notch. Perfect.</p><p>The basketball action is incredible. When you see how the officiating constantly goes against them, you want to heap verbal abuse on the referees as well. </p><p>The goal is more than a championship. It is a validation of the ill-funded program and a great opportunity to give the players another shot at their dreams. And Mosley will stop at nothing to achieve the goal. He throws the team out of practice one time on the eve of the playoffs. He takes them out of the city for a bonding session. He sits them down on-on-one for many a heart to heart talk.</p><p>And this cannot be made up. Each and every one is consistent to what they say and how they portray themselves throughout. </p><p>And yet, sadly, on the cusp of the Promised Land, the title is rudely and shockingly snatched away -- by the COVID-19 pandemic. The eventful and trying season that also includes the effect of the death of Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant is over. When their march to their goal is derailed, Mosley and some players breaks down. </p><p>After all the hardship and the proverbial blood, sweat, and tears -- what was the point? Where do they go?</p><p>That the pandemic derailed many a life and dream all over the world, sometimes, one gets their due reward. By &quot;Last Chance U: Basketball’s&quot; end, you’ll feel the tears well in your eyelids and heave a sigh of relief and well, happiness for you have followed the travails of a most unlikely basketball team. </p><p>&quot;Last Chance U: Basketball&quot; is a powerful reminder that life gets in the way of your dreams. And yet as Joe Hampton emphasized at the end, “Do not give up. Ultimately, do not give up.”</p><p>&quot;Last Chance U: Basketball&quot; is one of the best sports series you will ever watch. Now don’t forget to bring the Kleenex. </p><div><strong>Related video:</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9SQFkErqv3M?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>

<p>"Last Chance U: Basketball" is a powerful reminder that life gets in the way of your dreams. </p>

"Last Chance U: Basketball" is a powerful reminder that life gets in the way of your dreams.