Sweetwater

Takes its way

and goes the length of the floor and...

Pan Am Terminal O' Hare Airport.

You got it.

- Could you turn that up? - Alright.

Michael Jordan, 42 points,

13 off 26, from the field,

with nine assist.

Bulls defeat the Pistons, 108, 101 to...

Well, they're gonna do it this year.

That Michael Jordan can do things

I've never seen any other player do in my life

I mean, ever.

Yeah, he's a... a great player,

but plenty of fellas came before Mike that could do things

you've never seen in your life.

- Like who? - I'm talking 'bout...

Connie Hawkins,

Elgin Baylor, Julius Erving,

Dr. J in the Hawk.

Yeah, I hear you.

That style of play goes way back.

Like David Thompson, Oscar Robinson way back,

or we like, talking where the hell back?

You know your basketball.

Sports writing is the life for me.

- Alright. - What about you?

What's your excuse?

I know my game.

Listen, pal, we got a bit of a drive here,

so, why don't you tell me more about your game?

A lot of people don't know, how it went down.

The highly anticipated rematch between the Globetrotters

and the NBA champ Minneapolis Lakers,

is turning out to be the game of the century, Marty.

That's right, Howard. And even though the Lakers

had a commanding lead in the first half,

the trotters have come back

in these exciting final minutes.

Much of the damage has come from one player in particular,

and that's Sweetwater Clifton,

who has had a spectacular game tonight,

battling against the Laker giant, George Mikan.

Come on. Straight coming!

Sweets! Sweets!

Yeah, do that! Sweets, good job!

I got mine right here.

Oh, that's a foul!

Ahan, aha!

George Mikan gets blocked!

I've never seen that before!

I don't think anybody has seen that before, Howard.

Attack!

And it's a tie game, folks!

Sweets! Boom chick-a-boom!

Now!

- You got to move. - Pass the ball, will you?

- Move right, move right. - Pass the ball, will you?

Here come the Trotters.

I got my man right here.

Okay, okay.

What in the world is going on at mid court?

Marcus Haynes is doing things with that basketball

no one has done before!

Here you go! Here you go!

Yeah!

You got it right there.

Come on, Mike, get in!

You're a tree! Get in his way!

Oh nice, nice, nice...

Irish, did you see that?

Have you ever seen anything like that before?

No, you haven't, because it hasn't happened prior!

My boys are the best, you know that, right?

Yeah, everybody knows it, Abe, especially you.

- I got my man right here. - Come on, Joe.

- Yes, I got him. - You got him?

- Hey, hey, hey! Yeah! - We've got to...

Oh, steal...

Look at the size of Sweetwater's hands,

he makes the ball look like a grapefruit.

- Uh huh. - He could play defense.

By the way, we all know that blocks

and rebounds win games. Right?

Yeah. Well, it's...

It's like a circus, though. It's Ringling brothers.

Yeah, well, everyone's here to see that.

I think there's a lot more to this cager

than just blocks and rebounds.

Alright. Hey, hey, hey!

And the Globetrotters defeat the NBA champion,

Minneapolis Lakers.

Final score 49-45.

Who are the champs? We're the champs!

Who won this? We're the champs!

We're the champs! We're the champs!

We're the champs! We're the champs!

Way to go, guys!

Man, what a way to bring it to 'em!

Now everybody knows

who's the best in the world?

You're gonna have to phone the missus, tell her

you scored double digits tonight.

Looks like you had some fun out there tonight.

Always do.

No, you made it look easy.

Joe Lapchick.

Nat Clifton.

Some call me "Sweetwater".

Hey, let's go, guys. Abe's waiting.

And we don't wanna hear his big mouth.

I coach a team called "The New York Knickerbockers".

Dick McGuire is on your team?

Yes, he is.

He can shoot that ball.

Yes, he can.

Ain't no negros play in your league.

That ain't no secret.

It's not gonna be like that forever.

I think that you can help make the change.

No, no, no. No, no, I mean that.

You can be the first.

Great game tonight.

I'll catch you later, Sweetwater.

Thanks, yeah.

See you around, Mr. Lapchick.

Please call me "Joe".

Ow!

Let's see. Go to mom.

- But Dad... - Go to Mom!

Ow!

A little bit of sugar

makes the water taste so much sweeter.

Come here.

Come here.

From this day on,

your name is not Clifton Nathaniel.

No more.

It's Nathaniel Clifton, you understand?

Yes, Momma.

Okay. Now, Nat Clifton.

It's time to go.

But Momma...

Now you listen to your momma now.

Go on, and get on that horse and buggy.

Hey, your Daddy taking you into the big city.

Where you can have a better life.

He gonna take good care of you.

Yeah?

But Momma, I don't wanna leave.

Mm-mm, mm-mm.

Take these hands, God gifted you with.

You put them to good use.

I always knew,

you was born with a higher purpose.

You just got to believe.

Yeah?

I love you, baby.

I love you, Mom.

Come.

Okay, now go.

Go.

Hey, good game, Sweets!

Good game, Sweets!

Hey Sweets...

Did you see Mikan's face when you blocked his shot?

Fellows, we might be sleeping here tonight,

but first, it's pay time.

Excellent job.

Thank you so very much for what you do.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Thank you.

Looking great out there, honestly and truly.

- Thanks, Abe. - Thank you.

- There's Pops. - Thanks, Abe.

And last, but certainly not least,

thank you.

Ahan.

What?

Oh, don't give me that look, Sweetwater.

You got something to say, just say it to my face.

I can take it, spit it out.

We beat them Lakers.

The NBA champs.

Yeah, we certainly did.

It wasn't easy, honey.

No. No, it wasn't.

They're the... best.

So, we didn't expect it to be easy.

And if I guess it ain't my business

how much they get paid?

It's none of your beeswax.

You're not hearing what I'm saying, Abe.

I would say everyone is hearing what you're saying loud

and clear.

And on behalf of Sweetwater,

I would like to further thank each

and everyone of you out of my own.

Take from tonight, 'cause you earned it.

Sorry.