After a decade later, Jace Carson (Isaiah R. Hill) still owns this maze. But now, he’s only 14 years old, appears to be in high school, and is one of Maryland’s top high school basketball players. His mother, Jenna (Overcoat Azoro), accompanies him for his morning workout and lets him do push-ups which can turn into a viral video.
One of the video does catches the attention of a young basketball player on Twitter:
Who actually wants to come to Seat Pleasant to see Jace play. Jenna searches for Ike Edwards (O’Shea Jackson Jr.), known as the “icon” during the DMV era. He likes his team and can use Jace’s talents.
But he needed a team; they left the last DMV team associated with him for one reason or another. He was also little Jace at the time, eventually playing in Georgetown and overseas for a few years. Although he’s upset that he bumped into him at his hardware store job. He’s too aware of Jace’s talent not to give him a chance.
You may also read ‘Dopesick’ Review: The story tells the harrowing story of America’s opioid crisis
During Jace’s first training session, Ike saw he needed to improve the boy’s incredible – but raw – talent. For example, Jace thinks he’s too good to stay and doesn’t seem interested in coaching.
So Ike showed Jace how much he had to learn by taking him one on one. As Ike is a more experienced and competent player. He easily beats Jace despite being twice his age and not in shape. The video that people made about the pickup game goes viral and makes people doubt Jace’s talent.
HOWEVER, the DMV is a lucrative league, and Ike struggles financially with his team. Which is worrying because he and his wife Tonya (Christina Jackson) have a baby. Max’s coach (William Stanford Davis) warns Jenna that Ike’s team could go bankrupt before the end of the season. But Jenna didn’t retire Jace for the first game, and Jace was confident that his new partner would return to the team.
However, during the first game, his head did not play:
Then the coach of the other team guided him by chanting “too much!”. Ike didn’t have an intense conversation with him after the game; he told Jace that he must not lose faith in the face of this kind of adversity. “You win or lose. You go to court with courage. You go with confidence.
Reggie Rock Bytewood created swagger, but the NBA superstar Kevin Durant’s influence as one of the high show’s executive producers is quite evident here. Much of the Jace’s story is actually based on the KD’s time with the AAU other youth basketball leagues. This effectively shows that even someone with the talent of Jace Carson at a young age cannot easily navigate the world of youth basketball, especially since the talent around them is actually very good.
The series does a really great job of showing what Jace is up to – and maybe KD. Her mother has a job and a cosmetics sales business to make ends meet. And then he has a little question of believing in himself even in the face of loss and adversity, and not just thinking that his talent will lead him through the bad times. There will be people who doubt his talent and challenge him every step of the way, including the adult coaches of the opposing team.
Hill is a very talented young player;
We don’t mind changing up a bit of wood acting for Hill’s natural talent on the field. He didn’t use body duplicates to perform his moves. He’s a less-than-talented actor, and we feel Bythewood knows that; Big emotional accolades will come from Jackson, Azoro, and Oscar nominee Kuvenjane Wallis, who plays Jace’s friend Crystal (more on him soon).
You may also read “Aquaman: King Of Atlantis” Review: The crazy animated sequel to the DCEU Aquaman saga
The series shows more about Ike’s life and struggles with the youth team than about Jace’s journey. And Jackson takes on the task of demonstrating this journey and showing that Ike is not there for the money but rather to see the young men on his team become better people like high school students and adults. This is where the show will live or die as Jace and Ike’s team race through the season to advance to the Florida national tournament.
Swagger is a realistic take on how a gifted kid can become a superstar in the world of teen basketball. But at least he’s learned how to be a fully aware person. When basketball doesn’t (most likely) make them rich.