Rebound: Thoughts on the documentary “Lenny Cooke”

by Pamela Grossman

Think about your high school days. Ambitious? That’s great. Hopeful and optimistic? Wonderful—all young people should have the chance to be. But let’s be honest: This was probably not the wisest or most responsible time of your life. Your world was changing fast, but you, after all, were still a kid.

It’s this kind of reflection, in part, that makes the documentary “Lenny Cooke” so poignant. Back in 2001, Brooklyn’s Cooke was the top-ranked high school basketball player, standing above peers Amar’e Stoudemire, Carmelo Anthony, and even at times LeBron James. He was 6’6″ and 206 pounds; he was fast, strong, and gifted. He impressed scouts and coaches everywhere—but he was also undisciplined and poorly counseled. His parents were a casual presence; appropriate guidance was sparse, and in any case Cooke didn’t want to listen. Dipping in and out of high school programs, he finally graduated at 19—temporarily dropping basketball to do so. He then entered the 2002 NBA draft…and was chosen by no one. Youthful immaturity and lack of self-possession caught up to him, and suddenly a future that had seemed assured was fading away.

Directors Josh and Benny Safdie had footage from Cooke’s early days, when he was poised to be a superstar. Clearly, the film that exists is not the one anyone set out to make. More than a decade later, Cooke has never played in the NBA, while his former peers are household names.

“Lenny Cooke,” now on the festival circuit, was frequently and heatedly discussed when it premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in April. No doubt, it can be a hard film to watch—how did things go so wrong for its star? But the takeaway question, really, seems to be this: How can any of us lay claim to our own future? In the face of real disappointments, how can we begin again? Footage of the young Cooke finds him half-listening to a recruiter who asks assembled players, “How many people here like to be in control of their own destiny?” Don’t we all? Giving up can’t be the right choice; Lenny Cooke, and all of us, must rise above any defeats to find the next path. This film challenges us to think about what that would look like, for Cooke and for ourselves.