A Star-To-Be: Who Never Was Part 2

Future in Question

 Amar’e Stoudemire did not recognize the smiling man advancing toward him, dressed in oversize clothing to camouflage his ample girth. Recognition only came when the man could lean close and say, “It’s me, Lenny Cooke.”

Stoudemire did a double take before embracing Cooke.

“It had been a few years, and he had picked up a hundred pounds or so,” Stoudemire said, recalling the moment. “It was a little shocking.”

The courtside scene that took place after a Bulls-Knicks game at Madison Square Garden last April repeated itself with Anthony, who would say: “Just to see him now, not doing anything, as far as basketball goes, and so much bigger, it just seemed sad. You wondered why.”

Trying to answer that question was Shopkorn, who accompanied Cooke to the game to record his reunion with Stoudemire, Anthony and his long-ago fervent admirer Joakim Noah. With Shopkorn was Josh Safdie, a New York-based independent filmmaker brought on board by Shopkorn – along with Safdie’s brother, Benny – after Shopkorn reconnected with Cooke and resumed his long-dormant project. Friends would occasionally ask Shopkorn, who had become an independent art adviser and curator, whatever happened to the documentary “with the basketball player.” Some would remember the name, Lenny. Others would mistakenly say LeBron. They only knew it was someone who was supposed to be famous.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *