Amateur, the film that shakes the conscience of basketball

Basketball is back in fashion in Hollywood, and this time it is done by Netflix.

'Amateur' sure doesn't get the plaudits of film critics, but it does touch squarely on the more opaque issues of supposedly amateur basketball (High School and NCAA) in the United States.

Director Ryan Koo's tape sees the light at the right time, just when the debate is reopening in the United States about the reality that college athletes do not earn money while generating millions for their universities.

'Amateur' tells the story of Terron Forte (Michael Rainey Jr.), a 14-year-old basketball player who begins to stand out in a small and modest institute.

Recounting the life of young Forte, aspects that are very present in the reality of basketball in the 21st century are dealt with, such as the use of social networks to make a player famous, and the darker side of grassroots sport in the USA: the pressure of the parents to turn the kids into stars, the shady recruitment techniques already from 'High School', the power of the coaches of that level 'blackmailing' the players with the scholarships, the dictatorship of the brands, the illegal gifts to players to bend their wills or passports by falsifying the age to compete against teenagers.

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'Amateur' reopens the debate on the possibility of some promises trying out in European professional basketball, or in the D-League itself, to fatten their checking accounts while they train as players before trying to jump to the NBA.

Brandon Jennings (from High School to Lottomatica Roma), Jeremy Tyler (from High School to Maccabi Haifa), Latavious Williams (from High School to the D-League in 2009) or recently the youngest of the media Ball brothers (LaMelo from High School al Vytautas Prienai from Lithuania) followed, with mixed fortunes, the path of the film Terron Forte.

In a climactic moment of the film, "Ricky Rubio and Tony Parker" are named as promising youngsters who were professionals as teenagers in Europe and who later triumphed in the NBA.

A few weeks ago, an All American like Darius Bazley, who had committed to the powerful Syracuse, has been the last to join this new current that can change the concepts of basketball.