Milwaukee Bucks big man Bobby Portis plays the role of Hall of Famer Earl Lloyd, the 1st African American to play in an NBA game.
Hollywood called for Bobby Portis Jr. last spring, but the Milwaukee Bucks forward turned them down. The Bucks were busy with the playoffs, dispatching the Chicago Bulls in five games, then going seven before losing to the Boston Celtics. No time for Tinseltown.
With the sting of elimination still fresh, though, the filmmakers behind “Sweetwater,” the story of NBA black pioneer Nat (Sweetwater) Clifton, called back. And this time …
“I was like, ‘Hell yeah, I’ll do it!”
For a guy who already is The Mayor of Milwaukee, it might seem odd that he would gravitate to Hollywood. But Portis’ business manager, Patrick Frazier, had learned of a casting call put out for the Earl Lloyd role. Lloyd was one of three African-American players, with Clifton and Chuck Cooper, who integrated the NBA in 1950-51.
“I always had an interest in acting,” Porter told NBA.com last month before a game. “One of the things I wanted to do. I guess I just hoped it into existence. I definitely had a great time shooting it.”
Portis basically logged one long day filming two scenes, one as a player and one in a suit at a news conference introducing the league’s first Black participants. He was the only current or former NBA player in the production.
“It was a fun project,” he said. “For a good cause. Gives great history about our game, three primaries who played the game before us. It’s going to be great for the youth just to see the things they went through to help make us what we are now.
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. Only in theaters April 14. #SweetwaterMovie pic.twitter.com/en0fy81o27
— Bobby BP Portis (@BPortistime) February 17, 2023
“For me it was just fun being on the Warner Bros. set. Never thought in a million years that ‘Bobby Portis of Little Rock, Arkansas’ would be somewhere like that.”
Portis readily shows his emotions on the court, welding him as a favorite with Bucks fans. That made him a solid prospect for this gig, too.
“He was such a shining star,” said Martin Guigui, the film’s director. “I turned the cameras on and thought, ‘Here’s a ball player, an athlete. And he’s an entertainer also.’ Not every athlete has that in their DNA.
“He walked onto the set in costume, ready to go. He was in character. I said, ‘Do you guys want to run through it?’ They were like, no, let’s do it. Take 1, boom! What? I put two cameras on him just in case. And lo and behold, on Take 1, he nails it.”
Portis learned about the NBA’s color line while reading up for the role. He made new friends on the set, including Guigui’s 9-year-old son Noah, an NBA stats savant who offered the Bucks advice for an NBA Finals run.
Everett Osborne, the actor who plays Clifton, said of Portis: “Bobby’s a world-class teammate. Very easy-going, very attentive. Even though it was a new situation for him, he had that wide-eyed confidence to perform.”
Jeremy Piven, who plays Knicks coach Joe Lapchick, said: “He’s very comfortable on set. So he may have yet another career after this brilliant basketball career.”
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Steve Aschburner has written about the NBA since 1980. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on Twitter.
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