Bucks’ Portis to make acting debut as one of 1st Black NBA players
The Milwaukee Bucks’ Bobby Portis has many titles. NBA champion and the people’s champion, underdog, fan favorite, (unofficial) mayor of Milwaukee, and the city’s hype-man.
Now, he’ll be adding actor to that list.
Portis will appear in “Sweetwater,” a full-length feature film about Nat “Sweetwater” Clifton, the first African American to sign an NBA contract, according to Portis’ business manager, Patrick Frazier. The movie – written and directed by Martín Guigui – stars Everett Osborne as Clifton.
Ned Irish, founder of the Knicks, scouted Clifton while he was playing for the Harlem Globetrotters and bought his contract from the Globetrotters legendary owner, Abe Saperstein, according to an Associated Press report.
While Clifton was the first African American player to sign an NBA contract, Earl Lloyd was the first African American to play in an NBA game. And Chuck Cooper was the first African American to be drafted by an NBA team, according to an NBA.com article. In the film, Portis portrays Lloyd. Lloyd, a Basketball Hall of Famer and Army veteran, would go on to help the Syracuse Nationals win the 1955 NBA title, joining teammate Jim Tucker as the first Black players to play on a championship team, according to an AP report. Lloyd also was the first Black assistant coach with the Detroit Pistons.
While Portis’ role in the film is “smaller,” he has speaking lines, briefly plays basketball in the movie, and is part of a “pivotal” scene, Frazier said.
In the scene, the first African American basketball players in the NBA are having a press conference, “talking about their experience and what they’re going through,” he said.
“It’s really exciting for him,” Frazier said. “He had an incredible opportunity this offseason to be involved in the project.”
The film’s cast also includes Kevin Pollak, Cary Elwes, Jeremy Piven, Richard Dreyfuss, Robert Ri’chard, Gary Clark Jr. and Jim Caviezel, according to a Variety report.
“Blessed to play a part in telling this incredible story! Watch the official trailer for SWEETWATER, inspired by @NBA Hall of Famer Nat “Sweetwater” Clifton, the first African American to sign an NBA contract,” Portis tweeted on Friday.
In the trailer, you can briefly see Portis to the right of Osborne around the 41second mark.
The film will start showing in thousands of theaters nationwide April 14, Frazier said.