CS Reviews Gap Year: A Fascinating Look at the Path to NBA Success
Rating:
8/10
Cast:
Darius Bazley
David Stern
Rich Paul
Jay Williams
Jay Bias
Directed by T.J. Regan and Josh Kahn.
Click here to rent or own Gap Year!
Gap Year Review
Professional sports are a tremendous source of entertainment, but it’s the behind-the-scenes drama revolving around the business aspect of organizations such as the NFL and NBA that remain endlessly fascinating. As fans, we aren’t often privy to the backdoor deals, business talk and organizational factors young athletes must endure all the while fighting to stand out amongst thousands of other athletes in the hopes of landing a big contract — we take their hard work for granted.
Gap Year is a fascinating documentary that follows rising basketball star Darius Bazley as he attempts to enter the NBA draft via his own unique method. See, most high school talents commit to a university where they play for, at minimum, one season before making the leap to the big show. The issue with this is that the players 1) don’t receive pay for their time in college and 2) risk an injury that could swiftly derail their NBA dreams.
The money issue has been a hot debate for some time now. One side believes these young athletes do get paid to play via free tuition and scholarships at really expensive colleges, while others feel these players deserve a slice of the money colleges reap from their talent. Gap Year touches on this issue via interviews with former commissioner David Stern, Klutch Sports Group founder Rich Paul, ESPN’s Jay Williams and Jay Bias, among others, but mostly uses the discussion as a base to launch its true narrative: Bazley’s unorthodox rise to the NBA.
In the film, Bazley, a five-star recruit, shocks the world when he de-commits from Syracuse University in favor of a million-dollar internship with New Balance — a shoe company itching to get out from the shadow of Nike, Reebok and its own “dad shoe” label. The opportunity helps both parties. New Balance gets to work with a potential superstar while Bazley makes money as he prepares to enter the NBA.
More than that, New Balance benefits from Bazley’s insights; and there are a couple of great scenes featuring the basketball prospect openly gathering opinions from young athletes regarding their preferred shoe style.
As for Bazley, he gets to work in a professional environment alongside the likes of Jaden Smith; and get a taste of corporate work. Sure, the internship only lasts for three months, but, as one of his manager states, Bazley quickly became one of the crew and was expected to work traditional hours — certainly, the film argues, a more valuable experience than he would receive from one year at college.
Naysayers suggest he missed out on valuable professional basketball experience by taking the non-traditional route. Indeed, Bazley was selected 23rd overall by the Oklahoma City Thunder in the 2019 draft. Would he have gone higher had he played one year of college ball? Or possibly even lower?
Making the leap into professional sports takes more than just amazing skills. If anything, the ruthless environment — filled with greedy agents, no nonsense coaches and overeager players — requires a player to surround himself with the right crew; and take advice from people who (hopefully) have his best interest at heart. One misstep or ill-timed decision could leave even the likes of LeBron James (himself an athlete recruited right out of high school) missing out on their true potential. In this case, Bazley’s gamble paid off, but that was certainly a long wait to pick 23.
Gap Year is, admittedly, quite short at just 50 minutes. It would have been cool to see Bazley’s journey continue into his first NBA season or learn a little more about his person — his home life, high school successes, etc. As it stands, the documentary raises fundamental questions that are sure to raise (or re-raise) discussions about an ongoing topic that will likely never be solved. Even if it feels more like a resounding “fu**k you” to college sports than a documentary about one man’s unorthodox path to success.
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CS: One of the more fascinating aspects of the documentary is when it focuses on the band’s unique use of sound, which, unless you’re a “music nerd” (as is often stated in the doc), casual listeners may not pick up on — how innovative was the sound of The Ventures? Or, what’s one takeaway you think audiences should know about this prolific band?
Staci: My brother Tim actually had a “lightbulb moment” when he saw The Jersey Boys onstage musical, and he thought The Ventures story would be great as a live recreation. That would be pretty cool. As far as a scripted movie, I am not sure how that would work; The Ventures don’t have the built-in drama or big personalities of the Elton Johns and Freddie Mercuries of the world. They were regular, everyday family men who played music and didn’t have any huge public flame-outs, stints in rehab, or anything like that.
Chad Rehmann: In 2016, I collaborated with Jake Helgren on a film called, 10 Year Reunion. He and I clicked pretty quickly and began a relationship that’s now spanned 18 films. His producing partner, Autumn Federici, and he started a production company (The Ninth House), and I have been fortunate to score most of the titles under that banner. When Dashing in December came about, Jake and Autumn asked if I would score the film and it was an immediate “Yes!” Not only did it afford me the opportunity to write music for a beautiful love story with a diverse cast of characters, but it was also being executive produced by Off Camera Entertainment (a company with whom I’ve also worked) and allowed me to write for Paramount Networks. It was a no-brainer for me, as everyone involved was passionate about this story and the people at the helm are those for whom I have the upmost respect.
Chad: In terms of melodic themes, I did rely heavily on scales and chords that are more indicative of a western/folk musical language. The score needed to feel as if it was an extension of the location itself. It’s rustic, simple, and centered on friendship and love. At the same time, there is a cloud of uncertainty as many of the characters are having these internal battles of what they need from others and what they want from the world. The challenge was to blend those competing moods, while still keeping in mind that this is happening during the holiday season.
Chad: Because I was trained as a contemporary composer for the concert hall, I was always taught to push boundaries and experiment. Horror and thriller films allow me to do that. While there are instances where a composer can explore and experiment in other genres, darker films have always allowed me the most opportunities to try new things.
Chad: My very first memory of the impact that music in a film had on me was watching Field of Dreams with my grandfather. Hearing James Horner’s score for that film is the first time that I remember thinking that there are people out there that write music for film. In high school I had an orchestra teacher who was also a composer, and he encouraged me to explore writing, even having the high school orchestra play a piece that I wrote while still in school. That was a pivotal moment for me. Being from a small, rural farming community, though, I had never actually met anyone who made a living writing music. I took a leap of faith, however, and left for Los Angeles three months after graduating college.
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