NBA Entertainment League veteran Michael Rapaport calls basketball one of his great loves.¹ Known for movies such as Zebrahead, True Romance, Beautiful Girls, Higher Learning, Hitch and Live Free or Die, as well as TV shows such as My Name Is Earl, The War at Home and Boston Public, he knows credits are a quick means to courtside seats. A diehard Knicks fan, you can also occasionally catch him courtside at Staples Center, and although he says nothing compares to the roar of the fans inside Madison Square Garden, he wishes his hometown team could replicate the success of their West Coast counterparts. “They have more championship rings than us,” he notes, “particularly in the last 30 years.”

You’re a pretty tall guy (6-4). Did you grow up playing hoops?
I grew up playing. It taught me a lot about myself. I have a lot of great memories of playing basketball. I love playing it.

Do you feel that understanding of importance of team energy works well for you when you go into a new movie production?
Absolutely, because I look at it with a team mentality. I look at it like we’re the Patrick Ewing/Michael Graham Georgetown Hoyas in ’85 with black sneakers. Anytime I start a movie I try to take that up-against-the-wall mentality. I don’t know why, because we’re not in a fight with anybody, but that kind of gets me going. Any production I’m on, it’s that sort of Hoya paranoia kind of mentality.

Do you remember going to games at Madison Square Garden as a kid?
I remember in the third grade my father got me and my best friend tickets to see the Knicks play the 76ers when Dr. J was in his prime, just going on the layup line and watching him warm up. He was my favorite player. That was one of my first memories of going to a real game.²

What are some lasting memories of the game from your youth?
Games in the park, league games. It wasn’t one story. My closest friend today is somebody who I met [that way]; we played basketball together and we clicked right away playing a two-on-two game. We’ve been friends ever since. That was in ’83. Just the laughs and the stuff on the court, the competitiveness, having each other’s backs, the daily experiences of kids who have something in common they love—that thing being basketball. In New York City, especially in that time, there was a lot of pride in being a basketball player from New York City. Not that I was one of those great, great players, but they were around me and I was aware of them and I played with them and against them.

Is playing in the NBA Entertainment League fantasy fulfillment?
Absolutely. Particularly this year I’m on the Chicago Bulls. Somebody decided I should wear No. 23 (Michael Jordan’s number). That’s beyond fantasy. Hollywood couldn’t write a script like that.³

Your boys are young (5 and 7), but are you already working with them on ballhandling?
I’ve coached my kids and participated with them in baseball leagues and soccer leagues, but basketball is close to my heart, so I’m excited about doing that with them.

From the July/Aug 2008 issue