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 But life in the fast lane quickly disappeared as he went from
top basketball prospect tantalizingly close to NBA millions to a
hard-court outsider struggling to make a living.
His story is chronicled in "Lenny Cooke," the debut feature
documentary by brothers Josh and Benny Safdie ("The Black
Balloon") that opened in selected U.S. theaters this month.
The life lessons of the film, a cautionary tale of squandered
talent, have resonated for many years with its executive
producer, Joakim Noah of the Chicago Bulls.
"Lenny's story was a story I got to see firsthand from the
bench," Noah, an NBA All-Star, told Reuters after a recent Bulls
game at Madison Square Garden in New York.
"I was a little bit younger than him. We had just moved to New
York from Paris, France, and that (Amateur Athletic Union) team
in New York, and I learned a lot from him."
Noah, the son of grand slam tennis champion Yannick Noah, said
although it is a sad story, he is proud of Cooke, a gifted
player who motivated him to demand more from himself.
"It's easy to talk about your successes in front of people but
to talk about your hardships, your failures and to talk about
what you could've done better takes a real man," he said.
UNFULFILLED TALENT
The film follows Cooke, 31, from his schoolboy heyday 13 years
ago to his modest home in southern Virginia, where he is still
coming to terms with his life.
Cooke took a wrong turn at age 19 when he could not compete for
his high school team because of an age limitation. Although he
was advised to finish his studies so he would be eligible to
play in college, he instead took the payday to sign with a
sports agent.
"I had $350,000 in cold cash. It was a jackpot for me," the
6-foot-6, one-time flashy guard said in an interview. "I did a
lot of things I'd never done or probably will get to do. I
traveled, I bought anything I wanted. I had a lot of women,
vehicles, jewelry, everything."
The next year he declared himself eligible for the 2002 NBA
Draft and waited to be picked, but his name was never called.
"Maybe they didn't want to take a chance on a kid they thought
was unstable or was a head case or immature," Cooke said. "Maybe
they saw me as out of control. I did everything that I wanted to
do, when I wanted to do it."
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 Because he had taken the money from the agent, Cooke had lost
his amateur status and could not play college ball. So he played
in the NBA developmental D-League, overseas and in other lesser
U.S. professional leagues and on NBA summer-camp teams but never
made it to the big time.
After a game on a rainy night, his teammate drove
into a street lamp, seriously hurting his passenger, Cooke, who fell
into a coma and nearly had his left leg amputated.
He returned to the game, twice tore his Achilles heel and finally
quit, overweight and out of shape.
The film combines early footage shot by producer Adam Shopkorn with
later shots by the Safdies, who agreed to finish the long-shelved
project started by their childhood friend.
Cooke is captured in candid moments at high school All-Star camps
that foreshadowed the attitude that sabotaged his future and in
glimpses of his enormous talent in tournaments that also featured
the young James, Anthony and other future NBA players.
It is a film that Cooke and Noah believe should be shared.
"I didn't have a work ethic," said Cooke. "I didn't want to work
out. I just played off of my potential. I didn't go to the gym every
day, four or five hours a day like those guys did."
Earlier this month, Cooke and Noah, who runs a foundation to help
children in the Chicago area, hosted a screening of the film and
held a question-and-answer session. Other screenings and talks are
planned.
The film will also be shown on the Showtime television network after
its theatrical run.
"I know he watches it (NBA games), and he's like, 'Damn, I used to
kill these dudes when I was younger' but I think that's what Lenny's
story is about," Noah said.
"If your mindset isn't about progress, about getting better no
matter how old you are, you're not going to make it."
(Reporting by Larry Fine; editing by
David Gregorio)
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