NEW York Knicks legend Bill Bradley has starred on the lofty stages of Madison Square Garden and the US Senate floor.
Now the former US presidential candidate has conquered the world of theater at the age of 80 with a new one-man show about his extraordinary life.
Bill Bradley performs his one-man show Rolling AlongCredit: Youtube/Bill Bradley
The New York Knicks legend’s documentary is streaming on MaxCredit: Getty
Bradley recited the show to Spike Lee and brought the film director to tearsCredit: Getty
Bradley and Lee, a Knicks super-fan, are old friendsCredit: Getty
Bradley has told his story of his two distinguished careers in basketball and politics in an oral autobiography called Rolling Along: An American Story.
Among his accomplishments, the Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer was a star player for Princeton and in the NBA, where he won two titles with the Knicks.
The Rhodes Scholar then moved into politics where he became a three-term Senator for New Jersey and challenged Al Gore for the Democratic nomination for US president in 2000.
His life story is told in Rolling Along, which had its premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival last summer and this week launched on streaming service Max.
The basketball legend received valuable assists from Mike Tollin – the mastermind of the epic Michael Jordan docuseries The Last Dance – and Knicks super-fan Spike Lee, who both served as executive producers on the project.
After workshopping the show in a number of small theaters, Bradley realized the project had a chance to be a success when he recited it to Lee and brought the film director to tears.
“I memorized it for the stage and one day I ran into Spike, who is a friend of mine, and I said, ‘I’ve got this new thing I’d like to do it for you,'” Bradley told The U.S. Sun.
“He said, ‘Come on over to my office in Brooklyn, what do you need?’ I said, ‘How about a stool and a glass of water?’
“I go over and I do the whole thing for him and it’s been an hour-and-a-half and he’s got tears in his eyes at the end and I realized that I had touched him.
“That made me feel really good.
“He decided in that moment unbeknownst to me that he wanted to be executive producer and he made a number of positive suggestions along the way.”
Bradley received another timely assist from Frank Oz, Jim Henson’s longtime creative partner on The Muppets, who watched the NBA icon rehearse one day.
“Once you memorize it you’ve got to keep it sharp. So I would rehearse it at 3:30 pm every day in the recreation room of the apartment building I live in,” Bradley added.
“It kind of got around that I was rehearsing so sometimes three people would show up and sometimes five.
“Once two people showed up, one of which was Frank Oz who did 12 Jim Henson movies as director and all The Muppets, Star Wars…the whole thing.
“He said, ‘Let me help you.’ He became deeply involved too.
“So I had angels that came along throughout the process who helped me out, not the least of which was Mike Tollin who oversaw the whole filming.”
Bradley performed the show, from which the documentary emerged, at a theater in New York City in December 2022.
He has had a few offers to bring the show back to the stage but says that is unlikely to happen.
While the show is about Bradley’s extraordinary life, he believes viewers will take much more from the documentary.
“We did a focus group and had 60 people from around the country watching it, and they narrowed it down to 15,” Bradley says.
“And a very experienced moderator asked them what they thought the film was about.
“The response was, ‘All of us, it’s about all of us.’
“Then they said it was about love of the game, love of the country, perseverance, forgiveness, joy, sorrow, sadness, triumph.
“It’s clearly more of a human story than a hero’s journey.
“That’s what I wanted it to be and that’s what I hope people will take from it.”
Rolling Along tells the story of Bradley’s life in basketball and politicsCredit: Youtube/Bill Bradley
Bradley attends the Rolling Along premiere at the 2023 Tribeca Film festival alongside Frank Oz (left) and Senator Cory BookerCredit: Getty
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