Students learn about MLK’s love for basketball in new short film

INGLEWOOD, Calif. (KABC) -- With Martin Luther King Jr. Day approaching, hundreds of Inglewood students are learning how basketball played a role in the civil rights leader’s philosophy -- and how former President Barack Obama shared that same passion.

Students from City Honors Preparatory Academy and Inglewood High School joined the Los Angeles Clippers at the Intuit Dome for an early screening of the short film "Hoops, Hopes & Dreams." The film explores how King and Obama used basketball as a unifier, especially with young people.

“Yeah, I was surprised. I did not know that. I heard about Obama, but I just didn’t know about Obama neither, but it showed me,” said Cleavon Mouton, a senior at City Honors Preparatory Academy.

“To learn about King also being a hooper, it just shows how much a lot of people don’t know about him, and there’s a lot of things that we could still learn to this day,” added Dulce Garcia, also a senior at City Honors.

Director and producer Glenn Kaino said the film’s message is that “we’re all on the same team.”

“We also like to say that we hope the film shows a picture of our heroes at our level, but also paints a pathway for us to aspire to be at their level,” Kaino said.

After the screening, Kaino spoke with students for a Q&A session.

“We really made this film to be a bridge, a generational bridge, to be able to have dialogue about the moment, Dr. King’s era, Obama era, and now, altogether in a way that, again, helps reveal opportunities for us to build community together today,” he said.

The production team includes Alexys Feaster, actor Jesse Williams and King's daughter, Dr. Bernice A. King. Kaino said they also wanted to honor Michael Latt, a producer who was pivotal in creating the film but was killed during production in 2023.

“Our producer, Michael Latt, was unfortunately killed in the process of making this, so we always honor him and his legacy. You know, he has a legacy fund, and we called him the point guard of our team, and he was great. There’s a little clip of him at the end. It just goes to show that without a team, it’s hard to get anything done,” Kaino said.

"Hoops, Hopes & Dreams" premieres Jan. 19 on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+.

The Walt Disney Company is the parent company of Hulu and this ABC station.