(upbeat music) - (Narrator) My name is Dick Barnett.

And I used to have a hell of a jump shot.

- Dramatic music with sports narration.

- Tennessee State basketball team did amazing things.

- The first repeat wasn’t a 3-peat by black colleges, it was period.

- They changed the game.

- We're now joined by Eric Drath, who is the director and producer of "The Dream Whisperer".

Really important.

So Eric, good to see you.

- Nice to see you too, Steve.

Thanks for having me on the show.

- You got it.

We'll talk about "The Dream Whisperer" in a second, but can I tell you that I love your work?

- Thank you.

- "Assault in the Ring" aired on HBO.

"Macho: The Hector Camacho Story", Showtime.

And "Tapia", is that Johnny Tapia?

- Yeah, Johnny Tapia, yeah.

- You are good.

- Oh, thank you.

- Just the best.

And so this, "The Dream Whisper", put it in context.

It's a documentary that was not easy to make.

You'll talk about that, about the 1950s HBCU basketball team led by the great Dick Barnett who played for the Knicks up until 1973.

What is the story and why is it more important now than ever, Eric?

- Well, the actual story is about a team from 1957, '58, '59.

It was a small black college in HBCU at the time called Tennessee A&I that played an integrated basketball tournament.

And they won three years in a row.

They were the first team ever to three-peat.

And it was in national integrated play.

And why it's significant was that there was no fanfare, you know, except obviously they were celebrated amongst themselves.

But there was no, like national attention or anything.

They basically, it was during the time and they were in Nashville, in Tennessee where the Jim Crow laws were in effect.

And they basically left the court and went to the sit-ins that were happening at the lunch counters and on the buses.

And similar to what's going on with protests today, they were there and they were, you know, they were peacefully protesting.

And, you know, the story itself, as phenomenal as the team was, in fact, nine of the players out of those three years wound up getting drafted to the NBA.

And this was at a time where there was a unwritten quota about how many black players could get to the NBA because the owners didn't think that people would wanna watch the games.

And so that's how much talent was on the team back then.

And so they basically, you know, played and then, you know, went to the lunch counters, and the story was pretty much forgotten in history until we picked up the case in 2011.

And their team captain and MVP, legendary New York Knick Player, Dick Barnett made it his, you know, effort and life at this point of his life at that point in 77 years old, to get the team recognized finally and to try to get them inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.

- Took 11 years to make the film?

- Yeah, it took 11 years to shoot the film and make the film.

And, you know, the film really paralleled the story.

You know, when we first started, you know, there was no sure bet that they'd actually be inducted.

In fact, it was a really long shot.

You know, we didn't know if they'd be eligible at this point.

We didn't even know who the voters were.

You know, it's shrouded in secrecy of who who gets in and who doesn't and how a team or an individual does.

And they were coached by a legendary coach, John McClendon, who was a direct disciple of Naismith himself.

And he had been inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor.

That was somewhat of a slap in the face 'cause he was one of the best coaches ever.

He was the grandfather of the fast break, of the run-and-gun style team.

And in 2016 while we were making this film, they actually fixed it and put him in as a coach instead of a contributor.

So that was the first moment where justice started to go in the favor of the team.

- Eric, the title "The Dream Whisperer", where does it come from?

- Well, that came from Dick Barnett himself.

Dick is an incredible player and incredible man.

You know, he talks about the importance of having a dream, and, you know, after basketball, he went on to get his PhD, write books - Sure did.

and speak to young students and players.

And he always talks about the importance of having this dream and that, you know, he asks you, "What's your dream and what are you doing about it?"

So that's how we got to "The Dream Whisperer".

It was out of one of his poems.

- You know, it's so interesting going back in the day as a kid watching the Knicks winning in 1970, 1973.

Dick Barnett, what appeared on the outside to be the quietest New York Knick and to be this kind of leader with this tenacity and drive to make a difference in the lives of others, to get this story told with you and your colleagues.

Did we just not know who Dick Barnett was as basketball fans, as Knick fans?

- That's a great observation.

Yeah, he is a quiet guy.

He's a quiet leader.

- 'Cause there was Will...

Sorry for interrupting, There was Willis Reed and Clyde Frazier, and of course Senator Bradley, number 24, my favorite as a kid growing up.

There was Dave DeBusschere.

There were other... And then later on, it was obviously Earl Monroe.

But really, Dick Barnett?

I know he had a left-handed shot, you know, and he was real quiet about, but he was an incredible leader.

- Incredible.

Like, you know, watching him even, you know, starting at '77 and you know, he's now, you know, 88 years old.

Watching him go, he's got this drive that's magnetic, and he's a leader because he shows you instead of tells you.

And he was also never really celebrated by the NBA and by, you know, commercial America.

He's never been that walking soundbite.

In fact, he would stand up and say some some pretty truthful but controversial things and people were a little nervous, like, what's he gonna say next?

He was like the outlier when he'd speak.

But his teammates knew.

And that's why guys like Jerry West, Phil Jackson, you know, of course Senator Bradley, these guys are lifelong friends of his.

And as soon as we were filming, they were like, "Yeah, what can I do to help?"

- You were obviously making other films while you were doing this 'cause I saw other films that you were putting out there with your colleagues.

So how has this impacted you professionally and personally?

- You know, I really feel so grateful to do what I do 'cause every time I do a film, I somewhat fall in love with my subjects, you know, in the best of ways.

And they also change who I am and help teach me.

And what I learned, you know, about this persistence and determination.

I'd always known this great quote by Calvin Coolidge about persistence and determination alone are omnipotent and the importance of it.

But to see Dick knock on doors and the doors be closed in his face and he was undeterred, and to keep forward and to keep having a drive and a mission was so important.

And, you know, that helped teach me and show me that anything can be done if you want it bad enough and you're willing to work really heard for it.

So- - Eric, I'm sorry.

Finish your point.

I keep thinking on some level, this is not about basketball, it's about American history, civil rights and a lot of other stuff that is not the Xs and Os of basketball.

Am I making too much of that?

- No, I think you're right, spot on.

And one thing you probably didn't see in the movie, 'cause we just edited in, was that, you know, with all this effort, you know, it was picked up by, you know, the New York Times and then all of a sudden we got, you know... Actually, the order was that some of the congressmen wrote a letter to the White House saying, you know, "Please invite the last remaining players to the White House, you know, for their final recognition."

And just about a month ago, we went to the White House and- - [Steve] Dick Barnett at 88 went to the White House?

- Dick Barnett.

We flew him from a...

He's in a, you know, advanced living home, advanced age home down in Florida.

We brought him up with a nurse.

All the players came out that were still alive.

Six of them came.

One came on by train from Chicago, 'cause he doesn't like to fly.

They came from Pennsylvania, Chicago, everywhere.

And we got them to the White House.

And the Vice President Harris sat down with them and told 'em how important they were to this country.

They presented her with a throwback jersey.

And, you know, because when the film was done, Dick Barnett wasn't.

He's like, "Let's get to the White House."

So it's always about having what's next, what's next?

- What was it like to see them together?

- Gotta tell you, if I never do anything else in movie making or documentary making, I'm good.

It was the achievement of feeling like you worked on something that was so worthwhile.

These guys all unequivocally said, this is the greatest moment of their lives.

They were all great players and then they all went on to have really great lives, you know, working as in different industries, but unbelievable people, great character and true American heroes.

- The film is "The Dream Whisperer".

The director and producer is Eric Drath.

Check it out.

Tell everyone where they can see it.

- You can actually see it on pbs.org.

You can click on that and it plays for free.

- Eric, thank you.

- Thank you so much.

- You're an inspiration.

The film is an inspiration and Dick Barnett is extraordinary.

Thank you, Eric.

I'm Steve Adubato, that's Eric Drath.

He does great films.

We'll see you next time.

- [Narrator] One-On-One with Steve Adubato is a production of the Caucus Educational Corporation.

Celebrating 30 years in public broadcasting.

Funding has been provided by RWJBarnabas Health.

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