“It was very ahead of its time, man. We did so many things that were shocking, unheard of things on TV in the ’70s,” said Thomas Carter, who played authority-challenging guard James Hayward and now is one of three former Carver players to go on to successful careers as Hollywood directors. “I really liked that the show from the start didn’t want to be simply a show about basketball, but was going to be daring and ambitious enough to try and say important things and make a difference.
“It really made you think about where these kids, many of them African-American, really live. What kind of things do they have to deal with every day? What are the consequences, what are the costs, of their environment? So much of it, I don’t remember it being done before anywhere on television.
“Honestly,” he added, “groundbreaking really isn’t a strong enough word to describe it.”I've blathered about how much I love this show several times throughout the years, including this gem:
One funny thing about the cast is no matter how many times I watch the show, maybe twice a day, I still can’t get the fucking names of the core group of 4 or so black guys straight. Call me a racist, but other than Coolidge I have no idea who’s who when coach is shouting out “Heyward! Thorpe! Jackson! Reese!” My only defense here is that a while back in this post I said the same about Hoosiers, so…apparently no matter what color you are - if you put on some tight shorts and run around a basketball court with a coupla other half-naked guys, my mind goes blank and I can’t remember your name.
