Spellman,+Jeffrey

FADE IN: EXT. (AERIAL SHOT) GOING OVER CITY OF MARYLAND – AFTERNOON Begins to focus in on a basketball court. Gets to the court and camera stops moving there. Orange and green court, nets ripped and hanging on by a thread to the hoops. Five black teenagers on one side of the court. On the other side is a young boy, ten years old. Focuses on the boy. We can hear the guys yelling in the background. The boy is shooting, dribbling; it is clear that he is very good. Boy then looks at clock on street, then grabs his ball and runs to his bike. He hops on it and dashes out of the park. Shot from behind him: He peddling on his bike as fast as he can. Going through his urban neighborhood. All the houses are either apartments or two family houses. Very little space between each house, they are very tall. Get to his house and pedals bike into front yard; he drops the bike down on the front lawn hard. He then sprints into his two family house. __ Mother __ Len, where have you been? (She says looking over at him, with a hand on stirrer in a pot) __ Len __ Sorry I’m late. I was at the park playin ball. (He hops on the living room couch, and turns the TV on) __ Mother __ Well go get ready for dinner Cut to: Next morning, Len getting ready for school. He’s running through the house. __ Len __ Alright, mom I’m leavin. __ Mother __ Ok hun, I’ll see later. Have a good day. Len grabs his bag in front of the door. He slams open the front screen door. He runs outside and grabs his bike from the side of his house. Cut to: Len at school. He is in the class. There is a lot of noise and kids are sitting on desks. We hear a bell ring and an old looking teacher come in. He looks raggedy and has a beard. All the kids settle and take their seats. We hear the teacher talking in the background with his back turned to us and he’s writing something on the chalkboard. CU: Camera behind Len and his friend.

__ Len __ Yo, what you do over the weekend? __ Jamall __ Nothin really. Yo, want to go the park after? __ Len __ Ya, ight. Cut to: Bell rings and Len and Jamall grab their bags and walk outside. Camera is in front of Len and Jamall. They are walking down a big, wide flight of stairs. In front of the school. There is many kids walking beside them and there is a lot of noise. __ Len __ Alright, well I’ll meet you at Billings at like, 4. __ Jamall __ Ight, peace. Jamall walks one way and Len the other. Len gets on his bike and pedals off. Cut to: Len and Jamall at Basketball Park. The big lights are on, over the park. The two are just shooting around. There is a group of teenagers’ right across from them, on the other side of the court. All of a sudden a white van pulls up next to the court. Two guys slide the side of the van open and start to shoot at the kids on the other side. Len and Jamall start running. Then Jamall falls to the ground with a scream. The van screeched off. __ Len __ Jamall! Jamall! You ight? You gone by ok. Cut to: Hospital waiting room. All is quiet except for the phones ringing at desks. Len, Len’s mom, and Jamall’s mom are there. Two doors open and a doctor in scrubs strolls out. Slow motion, music starts to play. The doctor walks over to Jamall’s mother and she falls to the ground. Len’s mother tries to comfort her, she grabs her shoulders. She is crying uncontrollably. In the corner of the screen we see Len put his head into his hand. Screen fades out. ***  Screen starts to fade in. Music playing (loose yourself). Screen becomes clear. We see a much older Len. He is 19. He is in basketball clothing. A uniform. He is sitting on a bench in a locker room. He gets up when the beat to the song starts. He gets to a door. We can clearly hear a crowd roaring over the music. He stops, tilts his head down for a second. Then lifts his head. __ Len __ This is for you J.  Len pushes open the door. Camera goes up above the gym and we see a huge crowd. It is a college basketball game. Both teams are warming up. The camera then focuses in on center court. We see in big letters, Maryland. Cut to: Beginning of the game. The teams are setting up for the tip. __ Announcer #1 __ We have a great game here tonight, between Maryland and NC Sate. __ Announcer #2 __ Yeap, we definitely have a great game, but I’m sure everybody out there is just as excited to see a sensation, Len Bias. __ Announcer #1 __ We have seen some great things out of this kid. He has had a fantastic college career and will be a star NBA player. Well hear we go. Cut to: Camera over the court. The ref throws the ball up in the air and its goes into slow motion. Music starts to play and the slow motion stops. The ball gets tipped to Len and he immediately dribbles down and scores. Then its highlights of him scoring. Cut to: David Stern on draft day. __ David Stern __ With the second pick in the NBA draft the Boston Celtics select Len Bias from the University of Maryland. The screen fades out and we see Len’s family all huddled around a TV. There cheering and crying. Cut to: Black and white quick flashes of Len Bias snorting cocaine. Then after it shows that the screen goes black. Then the next black and white image is of Len passed out on the ground. Cut to: Ambulance speeding by the camera down a busy street at night with lights of stores and such behind. Cut to: Inside of ambulance. The screen shot is in slow motion. There are two paramedics using the shock pads on his chest. They are doing it very rigorously. Flashback of Jamall getting shot. And of his mother dropping in the hospital. Then it shows Len dropping after he did drugs. Cut to: Family still around the TV cheering and laughing. Then we hear a phone ring and someone goes to get it. A moment later the lady who went to get the phone returns to the room with a look of shock and horror on her face. The room falls quiet. Credits role.