Hollywood is gearing up for one of basketball’s biggest moments. “With the 8th Pick” — a high-stakes film that will recreate the suspense of the 1996 NBA Draft when a teenage Kobe Bryant’s future was in peril.
What It’s About
Written by Alex Sohn and Gavin Johannsen, the screenplay depicts not only the selection process and behind-the-scenes drafting politics—but zeroes in on the Nets holding the No. 8 pick, the external pressure, and Kobe being eventually drafted 13th by the Hornets and traded to the Lakers.
Described as a combination of Moneyball and The Social Network and Air—this film focuses on negotiation, front-office deal making, and defining decisions in choosing a basketball legend.
The Faces Behind the Film
Producers Tim & Trevor White of Star Thrower Entertainment along with Ryan Stowell and Gotham Chopra from Religion of Sports will lead the production of the film. No director has been attached to date, creating further interest in the project.
Clutch Crunch Takeaways
Not a generic biopic to share a life slowly: It will explore a watershed moment!
A scene of drama to launch this draft: Huge moment in history when one decision changed the NBA forever.
A story with cultural banter: Bryant’s not just an NBA star—he is large in sport and narrative.
Final Thought
“With the 8th Pick” is not just a movie—this is a cinematic deep dive into the moment when a legend was born. Kobe’s draft-night moment was never just about basketball—it ended up being history. Clutch Crunch will be at the forefront when the true story is told on the big screen!
(Image credits: Keith Allison, CC BY-SA 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Image cropped herein.)