[fanfare]
[cheering]
[upbeat hip-hop music]
[commentator] How long is the list of great players
to come out of Sierra Canyon?
[commentator 2] Oh, it is really long.
[commentator 3] A convincing display for Sierra Canyon.
[man] Talk to me!
[commentator 4] Currently perfect on the season.
[♪ Jerreau: "Really Got It"]
[commentator 5] Sierra Canyon will keep their number one ranking.
What up, gang?
Woo-hoo!
[commentator 6] They are looking dominant
at this stage of the season.
[player] Oh!
[laughs] Yes, Sir. Z-Willy.
[thunder rumbles, rainfall]
[Zaire] I definitely didn't think it was gonna be like this.
[Coach Dre] Come on, Z-Wade!
Good shot, Z.
[Ziaire] I ended up transferring to Sierra Canyon.
Ineligibility period was very frustrating.
I could practice, but I couldn't play any--any games.
So, are you playing at all right now?
No, I'm ineligible.
'Cause I transferred, so California has this weird rule.
It's killing me, but you know, they're...
I'm just trying to do whatever I can to help them, like,
just trying to be a leader
-[device crackles] -and more vocal.
[groans]
That bone is, like, so irritated.
Oof.
Z-Wade, it's been hard on him for sure.
I've been trying to help him a lot too, 'cause I'm--I've been unlucky,
I've been dealing with injuries since my freshman year.
[melancholy music]
[Zaire] ...during that time, 'cause I was like, "Dang, I gotta get back."
When I was due to return,
I talked to the coaches, and they just told me
that I was gonna ease into my, you know, back into my role.
[commentator] Zaire Wade, earlier this season,
had to recover from an ankle injury under the spotlight.
[commentator] Entering the game, number two, Zaire Wade.
[cheering]
I just remembered wanting to, you know, show that I was back, ready.
[cheering]
[commentator] From way downtown...
Obviously, he has so much pressure on him to be like his father.
[commentator] Zaire Wade, pull-up, it's good.
And Zaire Wade finally getting it going
with his first points of the night.
[Chris Johnson] There's a lot of pressure there.
Z can-- he can-- he can... [makes whooshing sounds]
He has a little bit more flash to him.
[commentator] And Sierra Canyon, they go back and forth.
[cheering]
[commentator] It's a sloppy turnover.
Come on, Z!
That's a bad pass.
That's too close, too--too--
Too close.
It's too close.
Hey, you can make a mistake. That's called basketball!
Don't worry about that. You good!
Hey, you can make a mistake. That's basketball!
[man] Let's go, get it back!
Get it back! Let's go!
[Dwayne Wade] It won't be your last mistake. Get rid of it.
[commentator] At the three. 20 on the shot clock.
Zaire Wade, trying to dish it for Odom.
[Dwayne] Move the ... ball!
Come on, Z!
Shoot the ... ball, you won't have that problem.
[buzzer sounds]
[commentator speaking indistinctly, pensive music]
You gotta shoot the ball.
I don't know. He'll be all right.
It's hard to play like that,
but he's gotta make smart decisions.
It's hard to play not being able to make no mistakes,
but you gotta make smart decisions.
[Shy Odom] You know, we all really try to tell him,
nobody wants him to be like his dad.
Like, we all want him to be him.
We want you to be Z-Wade.
That's, like, really what we say to him
in order for him to not feel like he's...
not living up to his dad's name.
[Zaire] I remember at one point in my life
when people would refer to me as Dwayne Wade's son or whatever,
I just wouldn't answer, or, you know, I would tell 'em,
if I do, "You know, I have a name." Respectfully. "My name's Zaire."
He's not, like, just some freakin' spoiled rich kid
who has his Hall of Fame dad
and thinks he deserves the world and everything is handed to him.
You know, he's just one of us, you know?
[indistinct chatter]
And he has to go back home and deal with all this media.
"You suck. You're just on the team because your dad is whoever he is."
You know.
That's what he has to deal with every day
when he doesn't get a chance to perform, so...
Um, it sucks, man, it sucks. It really does.
[melancholy music]
[Ziaire] Z-Wade wasn't having his best day.
The game brought him down, you know.
I think, like, that's how it is in basketball.
You know, you're fighting for minutes every time you step on the court.
So I didn't feel like,
I didn't feel like Z-Will in particular was the person,
if there was anybody, to take my minutes.
So it wasn't like... anything, you know, extra against him.
[downbeat hip-hop music]
[man] Hard to, you know, get significant playing time on this team.
I mean, they're just so loaded with talent.
[man 2] They're gonna get more loaded,
'cause Ziaire Williams will be eligible on Monday.
[man] Well, that's it.
Well, Ziaire Williams is one of the nation's best players,
and everyone would love to have him.
Holy mackerel, you know, where are you gonna find
25 to 30 minutes for him?
[commentator] Ziaire Williams will be dressed in uniform
and playing tonight.
[♪ Polo G: "Don't Believe the Hype"]
[commentator] The number one team in the region, Sierra Canyon,
a perfect 14 and 0, take on Rancho Christian.
[Ziaire] When I came back,
obviously it took us some time to figure each other out, you know.
[cheering]
- [buzzer sounds] - [commentator] And the Eagles
dethrone the kings of high school basketball,
85-81 over the mighty Sierra Canyon,
ending a 14-game winning streak.
[tense music]
That ... was real, huh?
Y'all thought I was bull ... about how physical it was gonna be.
I hope you're mad at your own effort, because...
you guys think that every game we're gonna win.
We're gonna find a way to make a miracle and win a game.
Not acceptable.
So please look in the mirror and self-reflect.
[Ziaire] Am I, like, am I hurting this team?
They were undefeated before I came,
so why all of a sudden when I come back we lost?
I think what the coaches were doing,
they were trying to keep everything balanced.
You know, let everybody get their turn. We'll still win the game.
But at the end of the day,
if there's one thing I know about Coach Dre,
he doesn't like to lose.
[Coach Dre] At all.
Not one game.
Our legacy is to win championship after championship after championship.
We don't settle for anything else.
You know who that is?
Get on the baseline.
We ain't discussing finals. Y'all about to run right now.
Y'all gotta go down and back, twice and 11.
Y'all better take off.
Get behind the line.
Ready...
[blows whistle] Go!
- Come on now! Push! - Let's go!
[Sandy] Our first loss...
that one hurts.
The chemistry was off.
You could just see it. It was, like, palpable.
[indistinct shouting and clapping]
[Coach Dre] To the line!
Right, right, right, right! Left, left, left!
Breathe hard!
- [blows whistle] Breathe hard! - Yep, yep, yep! Yes, sir!
[blows whistle]
The players, I think, thought that they were so good
that they could beat anybody.
- They needed a wake-up call. - [Coach Dre] Let's go, let's go!
Slide, run, run, slide, run, run.
[blows whistle] Catch.
Last one, last one.
[Eric Sondheimer] They needed to get better
if they were gonna be able to play for a state championship.
[tense music]
[calm music]
[man] You'll find the appetite for high school sports
is greater than most people realize.
When Minnehaha Academy scheduled a game for next week
for a team that features LeBron James' son Bronny,
they thought it might sell out the high school gym.
Well, they were wrong.
Next week they will play at Target Center,
and already 8500 tickets have been sold.
[Ed] I mean, we've traveled over 40,000 miles.
We've traveled more than some NBA teams and college teams.
And even for NBA teams...
they're gonna hit a wall during the season.
And that's grown men,
and we're talking about some kids right here.
[Chris Madden] In December, we were literally somewhere every weekend.
Like, it was the Minnesota trip, where...
we're like, "I don't remember where I'm at."
It got to a point, like, I'm tired.
If I'm tired, the boys have to be tired.
It's hard traveling from state to state playing back-to-backs and stuff.
[Amari] Once, like, mid-season hit,
there wasn't really any, like, social life.
You know, like, I want to go to the Benihibachi truck.
Or I want to go to BJ's crib, or, like, "Shy, come over."
Like, there wasn't that much time.
But, like, once season, like, starts,
I just want to lock in, for real, for real.
Sleep and hoop.
Just sleep and hoop.
[indistinct conversation]
Yo, lock in. Lock in real quick.
We about to go over it.
So number one, who's their best player?
I already told you guys,
he has the ultimate green light to do whatever he wants on the court.
It's him and number one.
They're averaging about four offensive rebounds a game.
That's eight extra possessions that they're getting for their team.
The shot charts showed he was seven for 17 going to his left.
- 12 points on 22 shots. - 22 on the right side of the paint.
That's about eight and a half free throws.
All right, secondary break now.
So if you're not guarding him, if you're on his left side...
- Play ball, defense. - Just wall up.
[Coach Dre]
[downbeat hip-hop music]
Let's go.
Yeah.
Oh ...
[crowd cheering]
[commentator] Inside the home of the Timberwolves.
High schoolers with NBA dreams already.
- It's gonna be a blowout. - Bronny dropping 50.
[commentator] And Sierra Canyon,
the two-time defending California state champion,
matches up with Minnehaha Academy,
a three-time defending Minnesota state champion.
[Shy Odom] I was super nervous.
The eyes, plus just being on an NBA floor.
That's, like, whoa. That's way too close to where I'm trying to be
a couple years from now.
Just a few questions, man. You ready? Let's go.
Ziaire, childhood cartoon.
SpongeBob SquarePants.
That's still the go-to to this day.
[Ed] We had over 17,000 people at that game.
[shouting indistinctly]
But even that alone
wasn't enough energy to get the kids turned up.
[woman] ♪ And the home of the brave ♪
[crowd cheering]
[Travelle Gaines] Going to Sierra Canyon definitely prepares kids
to play at the next level, probably more than any school I've seen in the country.
They're already playing in venues that are holding 15, 20,000 people.
They're already used to a pretty grueling travel schedule
while getting their academics done, you know?
Sierra Canyon's not a lightweight school.
You know how rigorous it is and how stressful it is
for a body to travel this much and play this much,
and we have to play at a high level every game.
Everybody's coming for us every game.
[Ziaire] The Minnehaha game, we were drained, you know.
But at the end of the day, that's no excuse. Like...
Like, we all knew what we were signing up for.
[indistinct shouting]
[commentator] Smith, an open look.
That's an NBA three.
Straight line! Go in!
Z-Will!
[commentator] Off the mark.
Follow the ... play so they know what they're doing.
[commentator] Had it knocked out of his hands by Suggs.
[cheering]
Time out! Time out!
[man] Bronny, that's your fault.
Don't settle. Go at the rim.
- Go, go, go. - Go, go, go.
[commentator] What a blocked shot.
That's a swish. A three-ball.
Shy! Just shoot!
[commentator] Rejected again.
Come on, Shy, rebound!
Go left, BJ, go left!
[commentator] Blocked by Holmgren. That's number ten.
Bronny James, an airball.
Did I call one time out already?
Yeah.
[indistinct shouting]
[commentator] Suggs. Carving his way to the basket.
Final twenty seconds of the first half.
Suggs, the steal.
And he converts.
[somber music]
[indistinct speech]
[Coach Dre] So listen.
You guys are not running anything that we run.
We have not run secondary against zone one time.
You guys want to be pros? Pros are talking the whole ... game.
If you guys are not tough enough to execute,
we're not going to be able to get the stuff that we're looking for.
When I call it out and I tell you to call it, call it! Hey!
[echoing] It's a mental thing.
[crowd cheers]
[Coach Dre groans]
[shouting]
Oh, damn it!
[shouts]
[buzzer sounds]
[commentator] Minnehaha cruises in the second half
to knock off the biggest attraction in all of high school basketball.
[somber music]
[fan]
[Kenyon Martin] To have this kind of attention at 15 and 16,
it's major pressure on those guys.
People can hide on their phones, computers, and say whatever.
Not only other students, but grown men.
It's crazy, but that's the culture that we live in.
Everything is magnified now.
[Bronny] It's hard, but I think the team handled it pretty well.
It could get into our mind.
But they--they know, like, not to let people get under their skin.
I think, you know, we just kind of
lost touch of how we really play.
We weren't getting the defenses right.
We weren't communicating.
You know, there's a whole bunch of problems.