Q: Was he an actor, too?

JB: One of the very first black film stars—a former sparring partner of world heavyweight champ Joe Louis—and later in movies like The Sting and The Cotton Club. We screen-tested them all. Tony Award–winner Douglas Turner Ward was interested. Roscoe Orman (Willie Dynamite) tested perfect for Tyrone, Joe Seneca (Spike’s Malcolm X) perfect for the rival coach. Two-time Tony Award–nominee Dick Anthony Williams (Spike’s Mo’ Better Blues) had both the build of a pro and the dramatic chops to handle Cal’s bitterness and passion.

Q: What was next for the movie?

JB: We actually booked a New York theater and held screenings. They attracted huge crowds and financial backing, and earned us a trip to Hollywood. There, Champions went to the highest levels at MGM and Universal. While we waited for their verdict, I met with Joe Jackson.

Q: Father of Michael Jackson?

JB: Yes, I’d been interested in the Jackson 5 both for music and casting the older brothers, who could play ball, for a pickup game in the film. After I met with Joe, he personally wrote me a letter of interest.

Q: What was the verdict from the studios?

JB: Sherry Lansing, then head script reader at MGM, fought hard for us but was turned down by her higher-ups. Years later, her uncanny ability to pick winning screenplays would be recognized. Sherry became the first woman ever to head a major studio, produced blockbuster hits including Fatal Attraction, Forrest Gump, and Titanic, and became the business partner of Tom Cruise.

Q: And Universal?

JB: Thom Mount, who ran the “youth unit,” brought it to the board at Universal, but ran into the same resistance. Later he became president of Universal itself and delivered two hundred hits, like Back to the Future. Old-school Hollywood, even with all we had, was still reluctant to finance a major dramatic film with an all-black cast—especially one dealing with the raw realities of teenage inner-city life. They asked for changes.

Q: Their reasons?

JB: We were told, “The film will have limited box office appeal,” “White audiences won’t go to black theaters,” “Sports films don’t sell,” “Basketball is not even a mainstream sport.” It wasn’t at the time. Low attendance and drug scandals plagued the league.

Q: This was before Magic Johnson and Larry Bird catapulted the game into a worldwide phenomenon.

JB: Yes, and this was before the NBA doubled its size to the thirty teams playing now. Today’s superstars are pulling in 30 million dollars a year! Back in ’75, the average NBA player would be lucky to make 90 thousand.

Q: You were ahead of your time.

JB: Unfortunately, way ahead. Hoosiers didn’t come out until ten years later—with white coaches and white ballplayers, and set in a country town. Hoop Dreams, a documentary, finally featured black teens, practically twenty years later.

Q: What were the changes the studio demanded?

JB: They politely asked us to come back. But they advised us to first “integrate the film and put some white characters in leading roles.” Specifically, one executive asked us to “change the coach to white.”