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Spike Lee’s credentials in the film world are too long to list, so let’s just get right to his recent interview on WQXIin Atlanta. He talked about his most recent documentary about superstar Kobe Bryant called Kobe Doing Work.
On how much coverage he got from the Lakers organization, Kobe and Phil Jackson:
“Oh we had complete access. We had thirty cameras. Kobe wore a mic. And Phil Jackson allowed us to bring a camera into the locker room before the game, halftime, and after the game. Phil Jackson never does that.”
On how much editing the Lakers or the NBA did demanded?
“There was not any change suggested. And also, the method of broadcast, when it comes out on the DVD that’s out on Tuesday – it will be uncensored so there’s a lot of language. You really get a feel for what these guys are saying out there. And they’re not mincing words either.” Excellent, I’ve always wanted to listen in on some of the NBA’s great trash talkers and I’d imagine Kobe’s right up there with the best of them.
On his pending documentary project about Michael Jordan (things are currently still in the negotiations process for rights) and what might be in it that people don’t already know about MJ. “Any time you get lawyers involved it gets stuck. It’s not Mike.”
“In Michael’s last season in Chicago, a camera was with him every single day during that season. And the NBA has been sitting on this footage for years. I mean, phenomenal stuff. There’s just so much amazing material and they’ve been sitting on it. And they finally realized they needed a filmmaker to make it into a film. So I’m going to go back, cut that stuff, then interview the players, the people that were a part of that great run. So it’s a fascinating look at one of the greatest athletes of all time.”
On whether or not he thinks Larry Bird was overrated:
“I never ever denied that he was a great player. What I was talking about was at that time in the league, the way the press and TV talked about the guy was like the second coming of Jesus and there was nobody else. Larry Bird this, Larry Bird that. I mean Dennis Johnson, Robert Parish, they were on that team too. And Larry Bird wasn’t doing it alone. The man’s a great ball player. I’ve always just disliked every team from Boston anyway.”
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