Ty Watches "The World's Greatest Mixtape"

Last night I watched the 30 for 30 documentary "The World's Greatest Mixtape". This is a short movie about the sensation that was the And 1 Mixtape tour.

The And 1 Mixtape tour came around at the perfect time for me as a basketball fan. In my late teens I had become kind of disillusioned with basketball. I still played but barely watched. The early 2000's were not great as far as the NBA goes. There were great players, but I just wasn't into it at all. But then one day, while scrolling some channels, I happened upon the "And 1 Mixtape" on ESPN. I was instantly in love. This was the coolest. This was the most balletic basketball I had ever seen, and the trash talk was absolutely amazing. I was all in right away. I watched the 30 minute episodes every single day they were on. I followed the players. I bought And 1 clothes. I tried to do the stuff these guys did. I talked about it all with my friends that watched. It was the best. So I was primed for this documentary.

Tis doc was solid. I thought it was a good representation of the time. I loved how they told the story. It was fascinating to hear the backstory of how it started. I loved seeing the older players talk about how they came to be an And 1 athlete. I thought it was so cool how they got the music for the mixtapes. I liked hearing these guys find out that they were on the tapes and then finding a way to get paid. I loved hearing about Rafer Alston, the first real streetball legend. Then to see all the guys I watched regularly, to hear some of their stories, to hear about their time on the And 1 tour, it blew me away. It was so cool. I thought that whole part of the show was perfectly done. I also loved seeing NBA players talk about the And 1 players and mixtapes. It was cool to get their input. I liked hearing someone like Kemba Walker, a former all star, talk about the influence And 1 had on him. It was also dope to see guys like Iman Shumpert and Lou Williams talk about And 1. They may not be stars, but they were guys that stuck around in the league for a long time, did some nice things and even win a ring.

My absolute favorite part with the NBA guys was hearing them fervently state that And 1 players could not make it in the league. There is a reason that only one, Alston, stuck around. There is a famous And 1 guy, Hot Sauce, and the NBA guys clowned him in this doc. Shumpert said that he came into some tryouts as "Hot Sauce", and left being called "Ketchup". That line killed me. And it is so true. While the And 1 guys are incredible basketball players, and do things I can only dream of doing with a basketball, they are not NBA talents. They just do not have that in them. But they sure did try. And I respect that they found a way to get paid to play basketball the way they loved to play the game. That takes a whole lot to do.

I think my only criticism with this movie is that it is far too short. It is only about 45 minutes long. I could watch two hours of this easily. I want to know every single thing about this league, from formation to dissolution. I want the fully in depth story of everything And 1. That would be dope. But this movie will do for now. Maybe they will make more volumes a la the And 1 mixtapes. One can only hope. But for those of you that watched this back in the early 2000's, check out this movie. It is a great trip down memory lane.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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