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That meeting was a major step forward in taking the newly released “Jump Shot” from an obscure story about a basketball pioneer and connecting him to modern-day players who didn’t realize someone actually had to invent the jump shot. The pioneer was Kenny Sailors. He led Wyoming to the 1943 NCAA championship and played in the NBA from 1946-51. Then he disappeared to Alaska. That’s where the story begins to transcend sports.
The full story of Sailors’ life — not just the jump shot — is why Xenia resident and Athletes In Action basketball specialist Morris Michalski was on Kevin Durant’s patio two and a half years ago. Michalski’s next move was to visit another NBA superstar, who like Durant, he had become friends with over 10 years ago. Michalski asked Steph Curry, Durant’s then-teammate with the Golden State Warriors, to watch the film. Curry was too busy that day, but Michalski emailed the file. Soon after, Curry watched it on his laptop on a flight to China.
Curry was all in. And after he was interviewed for the film, his role grew. Curry, who owns a film production company and is one of the greatest jump shooters ever, became an executive producer for “Jump Shot.”
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“It was an attempt to get people who are relevant in sport today, to get their reactions and to get the their contribution of what they saw into the documentary,” said Michalski, who has coached at various levels for 40 years. “This story is too good and needs to be told. But people aren’t going to really gravitate toward it unless it really captures the imaginations of people that are playing basketball now.”
The movie trailer has registered over a million online views and was supposed to premiere in 250 theaters for a one-day showing on April 2. However, with theaters closed this month due to the coronavirus pandemic, the film was released as an online rental Thursday and is available through Saturday. The film rents for $7.99 at Jumpshotmovie.com, and viewers have 48 hours to watch it. Also appearing are Sailors, Dirk Nowitzki, Nancy Lieberman, Bobby Knight, Kiki VanDeWeghe, Clark Kellogg and Tim Legler.
“It’s just a really, really special story about so many things – about selflessness and sacrifice, about minorities, about women, about marriage, about country, about faith,” Michalski said. “It’s about a man who lived a well-lived life. It’s a really good story to tell at a time like this.”
Michalski’s role as a consultant — he’s mentioned in the credits — happened because of an email sent to Mark Householder, the president of AIA, by Mary Beth Minnis. She lives in Austin, Texas, and works for Cru, the parent ministry over AIA. She got involved in the film with director and producer Jacob Hamilton, also of Austin, and producer Ty Clark of Waco.
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Householder forwarded the email to Michalski in June 2017. On July 24, Michalski was at a Cru staff conference in Fort Collins, Colo., and saw the rough cut Hamilton had been filming and editing for seven years.
“I had tears streaming down my face, and my heart rate went up,” Michalski said. “I said there’s something about the way that this story is told that’s really good. But there’s ways that we can tell it better, and I would love to be a part of this.”
Michalski didn’t stop with Durant and Curry. He approached Kellogg and others, he guided Minnis and the other producers toward others and he gave honest feedback about the content along the way. He said he’s had deep conversations about the film every week since the summer of 2017.
Sailors died at age 95 five months before Michalski got the email from Minnis. But Michalski said he has watched versions and the final version so many times that he feels like he knows Sailors.
“I know his heart,” Michalski said. “He does a great job in the film of helping you see what he sees. There’s a joy in his life and a disregard for earthly things or temporal things that’s so purifying, detoxing. There’s an attachment to the game and then there’s a healthy detachment from the game. I feel like I know him because when you have moments where you find out what a man really values, it’s a beautiful thing.”
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