Q: Did you?

JB: Both Dennis and I agreed that that would destroy the heart of the story, which hinges on the father-son–like relationship between the coach, Cal, and Lonnie. We insisted that the coach and all five principal characters be black. This was essential to what we were committed to—an instinctive gut stance we both had that wouldn’t be proven right until decades later in Spike Lee’s beautifully told father-son story He Got Game.

Q: So … what then?

JB: Most of our money was used up. I had to sell an option for the film rights. I sold it to the future Academy Award–winning actor Lou Gossett Jr. And while Champions went into “turnaround,” hopscotching from studio to studio, I decided to turn all these years of hard work into a book.

FROM SCREENPLAY TO BESTSELLING BOOK

Q: How did you select Walter to write the novel?

JB: Walter, I was told, was a gifted writer (which turned out to be the understatement of the year). When I read his Fast Sam, Cool Clyde, and Stuff, I could easily tell this was the perfect person. Plus, Walter could play ball. Walter, in fact, had serious game. He knew the street scene both on and off the court, and had carte blanche to flesh out the story.

Q: How did your screenplay, meant to be a movie, change as it became a novel?

JB: In a word, fantastically. Hoops has the same basic plot and all the same major characters as Champions, but, like seeds planted, these characters sprang to life in Walter’s hands. A screenplay is a bare-bones skeleton of the story—a skeleton to be fleshed out by the real-life actors you see up on the screen. But Walter was able to flesh out these characters, doing in words what I would do visually. Walter gave them guts and a heart. He brought Lonnie to life as a fullblown young man, much as a live actor would do on camera.

Q: How do you think he was able to do this?

JB: There are three major ways you can describe a character. One: you can describe the character through their actions and reactions—what they do or don’t do. Two: you can describe a character from the outside in—by their looks, their clothes, how they walk, etc. Or three: you can describe a character from the inside out like Walter did—what they are thinking, what their hopes, fears, dreams, and desires are, the stew of emotions they’re feeling. You can simply say “He is angry”—or you can actually capture his thinking. Walter was able to plumb Lonnie’s innermost thoughts and wrap them up in words kids can relate to. Much harder. What’s the difference? The first two ways are superficial. The third, fundamental. And much, much harder.

Q: What other challenges did Walter face?

JB: Walter, being a ballplayer, had to be able to portray verbally in a book what would be shown visually on screen—accurately translate the lightning-fast motions of on-court playmaking into words that ring true. And paint a vivid picture of the streets, playgrounds, gyms—all the settings that a camera would easily show you in a quick shot. Plus, create tons of new dialogue from a wide range of young black men and women, rich kids, poor kids, coaches, scouts, pro ballplayers, hustlers, drug dealers, etc.—all pushing the line of what was then acceptable for YA fiction.