Like Mike 2002

In an orphanage home in California, a boy named Calvin plays basketball with his two best friends, Murph and Reg. While they’re at it, a bully named Ox comes over to insult Calvin for being short. He also challenges Calvin to play a one-on-one game with him to get his basketball jersey. Before Calvin accepts the challenge, Murph and Reg pull him back and advise him against it. They also seem quite concerned that he could lose his jersey, but Calvin says he can’t keep running away from Ox.

He then accepts the challenge, but unfortunately, he loses the bet to Ox. After a while, Ox wears Calvin’s jersey and even tears it in front of the other kids at the orphanage. Calvin doesn’t seem to care much about this, and he says that he believes his adopted family will buy him many jerseys one day.

Ox says he won’t get adopted anytime soon, but Calvin mentions that he’s sure someone will adopt him because he’s special. As Calvin then sees a happy family on TV, he says he hopes he’ll get adopted by a family like that. Suddenly, the orphanage home’s director, Stan, turns off the TV and tells the kids to come with him to sell some candy at the Staples Center, where a basketball team named the Los Angeles Knights always plays.

The kids don’t look happy about this, but they still head out to sell the candy. That night, Calvin struggles to sell his share and eventually stops to watch the game with Murph outside the stadium. As Calvin’s favorite player, Tracy, misses a shot that makes the team lose the game, Calvin looks sad and complains to Murph about how the team has been playing recently.

Murph tells him that they need to keep selling Stan’s candies, but Calvin thinks it’ll be hard to sell anything since the team lost. As the boys still try to find some customers, Calvin sees the team’s coach, Wagner, leaving the stadium. He then approaches Wagner to sympathize with him on the loss.

They appear to share the same opinions on why the team lost, but Wagner suddenly wonders why Calvin is all by himself at that time of the night. Calvin says he’s an orphan, and that he’s out selling candy to raise money for his orphanage home. Wagner offers to buy some candy, but Calvin refuses to take the money because he’s not sure it actually goes to the orphanage.

Wagner appreciates his honesty and asks if Calvin has ever been to a Knights game before. Calvin says he hasn’t, and Wagner tells him where to pick up some tickets for the team’s next game. Calvin looks happy about this, and he thanks Wagner before walking away to meet Murph.

The next day, some married couples visit the orphanage home to adopt some kids. Calvin says he has a feeling he’ll get adopted, but Ox mentions that the couples are only interested in the younger children. As Calvin realizes this, he looks disappointed and wonders if he’ll ever get adopted. After he heads outside with his friends, one of the orphanage’s staff members, Sister Theresa, brings a box of donations she just received to their table. As she gives Murph a winter coat from the box, a pair of shoes fall out of it, and Calvin looks interested in them.

After picking them up, Calvin asks if Sister Theresa knows anything about the shoes. She then mentions that the only thing she knows is that it used to belong to a famous basketball player. Calvin tries on the shoes and looks amazed because they fit him perfectly.

He then asks Sister Theresa if she knows who the basketball player is, and as she struggles to remember his name, Calvin sees the letters MJ written on the shoe. Calvin looks shocked by this, and he wonders if he’s actually wearing a pair of old shoes belonging to Michael Jordan. As he keeps admiring the shoes with Reg and Murph, Ox tries to snatch them from him to see if they really belong to MJ.

Calvin refuses to give them up because he believes they were MJ’s old shoes, but Ox says there’s no way they’d get something that good at the orphanage since all they ever receive are abandoned things. As he eventually snatches the shoes from Calvin, he throws them onto an overhead power line. Calvin looks disappointed by this, and he eventually heads into the orphanage with his friends.

Later that night, while it’s raining outside, Calvin wakes Murph and tells him that he needs to get the shoes from the power line. Murph thinks Ox might be right about the shoes not being for MJ, but Calvin insists that they belong to the famous basketball player. Following this, they head out together with Reg, and Calvin climbs a tree to get close to the powerline.

As he eventually grabs the shoes, a lightning bolt strikes the powerline, and Calvin gets shocked by it as he falls from the tree. Luckily, he doesn’t get hurt, but he sees some lightning sparks on the shoes and looks amazed. The next day, Calvin finds the tickets Wagner left for him, and he invites Reg and Murph to come with him to watch the game.

As Ox sees them and threatens to report them to Stan, Calvin also invites him to the game. Shortly after, they find their seats and watch the Knights perform badly. The team eventually trail at halftime, and the team’s manager, Frank, looks disappointed.

As the players head to the dressing room, Frank stops Tracy and tells him that they need to do a halftime show to boost viewership and attract more fans to the team’s games. Tracy says he’s not interested in that, but Frank says he has to do it. Following this, Frank announces to the fans in the stadium that one lucky person will be selected to compete against Tracy in a one-on-one match.

After a number is selected at random, it turns out to be Calvin’s seat, and he looks excited about this. As he heads down to the court, Frank notices that the fans are excited about the idea of a young boy like Calvin going up against Tracy. Frank then tells Tracy to let Calvin score twice, but he refuses and says he’ll only allow it once.

Shortly after, the game begins, and Calvin looks excited to be playing against his favorite basketballer. Surprisingly, Calvin dribbles past Tracy to score the first point, and everyone cheers for him. As he scores again with an even more outrageous attempt, Calvin looks shocked and wonders how he’s able to play so well even though he could barely get the ball into the net at the orphanage home.

Tracy also looks shocked and decides to get serious because he can’t afford to let Calvin humiliate him in front of all the fans. For the last point, Calvin throws the ball to the backboard and scores a slam dunk, which leaves everyone shell-shocked. Interestingly, Stan appears to be playing chess inside his truck, and he doesn’t know what’s happening because he thinks the kids are still selling his candies.

Inside the stadium, everyone stands up to applaud Calvin, and he looks quite happy. Meanwhile, Frank watches the reaction of the crowd and heads outside to meet Stan to ask if he’s Calvin’s guardian. The next day, Frank and Wagner visit Stan at the orphanage to discuss their plans for Calvin.

As Frank then mentions that he wants Calvin to join the team, Wagner looks surprised and cannot believe that the team’s manager is serious. He mentions that Calvin is too short to be in the NBA, but Frank says his plan is to just fill the seats in the stadium. Following this, he offers to pay Stan a sum of five thousand dollars to allow Calvin join the team for one day.

Stan sounds quite greedy, and Wagner doesn’t seem to like his attitude. However, Frank offers to pay some extra cash, and Stan agrees to the deal. After a while, Calvin tells Reg and Murph about his experience on the court. As they look happy for him, Murph asks how he was able to play so well, and Calvin says he doesn’t know. He adds that the only thing he has noticed was that before he started wearing the MJ sneakers, he wasn’t really good at basketball.

Murph then gives him a ball, and he shoots it well again. Following this, Murph mentions that Calvin is like a basketball Cinderella because the shoes are obviously the reason why he’s better. Calvin agrees with him and says that no one must know about it. However, it turns out that Ox has been watching them for a while, and he has heard everything they talked about. Later that night, Reg and Murph follow Calvin to the Staples Center for his first day on the Knights team.

As he enters the locker room, he greets everyone and also apologizes to Tracy for humiliating him the previous day. Tracy says it’s fine, and another player named Joad tells Calvin to take the locker next to him. As he sits down, Frank brings Calvin his jersey and a new pair of shoes.

Calvin says he prefers to wear his own sneakers, and Frank mentions that he’s supposed to wear the new one. Calvin says he plays better in his own shoes, and Frank finds it funny that he thought he would play in the game that night. Calvin looks disappointed as he hears this, and he goes to meet Wagner to ask what he’s really there for.

Wagner then mentions that Frank only wants Calvin around to fill up seats in the stadium. Calvin doesn’t look happy about this, but Wagner says it’s still an honor to have him on the team. After a while, the players head out for the game, and Calvin looks happy to be so close to the players he used to watch on TV.

Unfortunately, the Knights start trailing again, and Wagner calls a timeout so he can give his team some instructions. While he’s at it, Calvin interrupts him with an idea to help the team play better. Wagner says he likes the idea, and he instructs Tracy to run the play. Tracy says he won’t follow a play suggested by a kid, but Wagner insists that it’s what they have to do. He then substitutes a player and puts Calvin in so he can run the play himself.

The players are shocked by this, and Frank also asks if Wagner knows what he’s doing. Wagner says he’s the coach, and that he’s doing what’s best for the team. As the game is about to continue, Calvin realizes that he doesn’t have his MJ sneakers on, and he looks scared because he won’t be able to play well. Suddenly, Tracy passes the ball to him, but Calvin keeps passing it back. As everyone wonders what’s happening, Calvin calls for a timeout and says that he needs to pee.

Wagner doesn’t get this, but Calvin runs to the locker room to find his MJ sneakers. After he puts them on, he runs back outside and runs the play just like he told Wagner. As he scores some points for the team, Wagner looks shocked, and everyone in the stadium also can’t believe how good Calvin is. Calvin eventually wins the game for the Knights, and Frank calls himself a genius for bringing him to the team. The next day, the Knights sign Calvin on a lucrative contract, and he becomes the main talking point on NBA shows.

As he packs his suitcase and gets ready to leave the orphanage to join the Knights on a trip to their next game, Stan comes into the room and tells Calvin that he’s proud of him. He also mentions that Calvin needs to understand that anyone who wants to adopt him now only wants his money. He adds that Calvin’s contract even forbids it, and Calvin asks what he means.

Stan then says that he signed Calvin’s contract as his guardian, and as long as he plays for the knights, that can’t change. After a while, Calvin joins the Knights on a flight to the location of their next game. Just then, Wagner tells Tracy to start mentoring Calvin. Tracy says he can’t do that, but Wagner insists that Calvin will also be his roommate. As they reach their destination, Calvin looks happy to be Tracy’s roommate, and he talks about how excited he is.

Tracy doesn’t share in his excitement, and he says he won’t waste his time playing around with Calvin. Later that night, Tracy prepares to leave the hotel, and Calvin asks if they can go out together. Tracy then tells Calvin to stay back because he wants to go out alone.

He also tells Calvin to call room service and get anything he wants. Calvin asks what room service is, and Tracy shows him how to make a call to get anything he wants for free. Calvin doesn’t think he can actually get things for free, but Tracy tells him to try it.

After Tracy leaves, Calvin confirms that he can get anything he wants, so he asks for a lot of food. Much later, Tracy returns to the room with a lady named Janet. As he enters, he sees Calvin lying on the floor with food scattered all over the place. Tracy looks disappointed, and as he tells Calvin to stand up, he walks into the bathroom. Janet then enters the room, and Tracy makes up an excuse for why the place is dirty.

As Janet asks if there’s someone else in the room, Calvin walks out of the bathroom, and she looks happy to see him. They then head out together, and Tracy looks jealous as he sees her holding Calvin. Janet then mentions that Tracy didn’t tell her about his roommate, but he says it skipped his mind.

Calvin says that he and Tracy are good friends, and that he even calls him T-time. Janet thinks it’s a nice nickname, and she asks Tracy if he has one for Calvin, but he says he doesn’t. After Janet leaves, the boys return to their room, and Calvin gets Tracy to say a prayer with him before they go to bed. Calvin ends his prayer by blessing Tracy, who looks surprised. As he then goes to bed, Calvin asks if he won’t bless his parents, but Tracy says they’re gone.

Calvin feels sorry for Tracy and mentions that they’re alike because he’s also an orphan. Just as Calvin then falls asleep, he starts snoring, and this disturbs Tracy’s sleep. The next morning, Wagner notices that Tracy didn’t sleep well, and as he asks what happened, Calvin interrupts them and talks about how Janet came to their room.

He also mentions that they went out together and came back to the room an hour after midnight. Wagner looks disappointed in Tracy because he broke two rules by letting a lady into his hotel room and also missing curfew at midnight. He then mentions that Tracy will be suspended the next time it happens.

As he walks away, Tracy looks pissed at Calvin because it was his snoring that didn’t let him sleep well. Calvin then apologizes for saying too much to Wagner, but Tracy says he now wants them to do things differently. Shortly after, their game begins, and Calvin plays well to help the Knights win.

In their next few games, he also stands out as a top performer, and the Knights quickly become one of the best teams in the league. After a while, Calvin sends some gifts to his friends at the orphanage. One night, when Calvin returns to the orphanage, Ox tries to steal his sneakers. As Stan sees this, he tells Ox to stay away from Calvin because he’s valuable to him. Ox says that Calvin’s sneakers are the reason he’s good at basketball, but Stan doesn’t seem to care, and he says that no one must hurt Calvin.

The next day, while Calvin is playing a game with Joad inside their hotel room, Tracy says he’s heading out to pick up his allergy medicine and some sleeping pills from a pharmacy. Calvin asks if he can come along, but Tracy tells him to stay back. Calvin looks disappointed, but Joad tells him not to be worried about Tracy’s actions because he doesn’t even speak to his own family.

Calvin says he thought Tracy didn’t have parents anymore, but Joad says he still has a father who he doesn’t talk to. As Tracy then leaves the hotel and starts rapping in the car, Calvin appears in the back seat, and he looks shocked. Calvin then mentions that he took the stairs and was able to get to the car faster than Tracy.

After a while, Tracy stops at the pharmacy, and as he gets his drugs, he mistakenly takes his sleeping medication. When he returns to the car, he starts feeling sleepy, and Calvin wonders what’s wrong. Just then, Tracy falls asleep, and Calvin is left with no choice but to drive them back to the hotel.

The next morning, Tracy learns that Calvin will be benched for their next game because he broke curfew the previous night. Tracy doesn’t understand this, but Joad asks him how he thinks he got home the previous night. Shortly after, Tracy thanks Calvin for helping him avoid suspension for breaking curfew.

Tracy also gives him the nickname C-Dog, and Calvin looks happy about this. The next day, while Calvin complains to Reg about not being prepared for their geometry test, he sees a few couples moving around the orphanage home. As Murph shows up, Calvin asks what’s happening, and he says that all the couples are there for his friend.

Calvin says it’s a good thing, but Murph mentions that the situation doesn’t help anyone else. He then walks away, looking disappointed, and Calvin wonders why his friend is sad. He also tells Reg that he thought Stan said he can’t be adopted by anyone. Reg says that Stan can’t be trusted, and Calvin wonders what’s really going on. Interestingly, Stan appears to be on the phone with Wagner, and he seems quite pissed that the coach sent some couples to the orphanage home to take a look at Calvin.

Wagner says there’s nothing in Calvin’s contract about not getting adopted, but Stan insists that he’s Calvin’s guardian. As Calvin enters the office, he asks Stan why he lied to him that no one could adopt him. Stan then tells Calvin that all the people there to see him are only after his money. Calvin says he still wants to meet the couples to see what they’re like, and Stan says he’ll introduce him to some of the best candidates.

Shortly after, Calvin meets the selected couples, but they all seem strange. It then turns out that Stan actually hired them to make Calvin reconsider his desire to get adopted. After a while, Calvin heads to Tracy’s house in the city. As he gets there, Tracy asks what’s wrong, and Calvin says he’s really having a bad day. He then mentions that his best friend seems angry at him, and that Stan also set him up with the worst parents in history.

As he also talks about his geometry struggles, Tracy says he can help him, but that he has to call Murph first to make sure they’re cool. Following this, Calvin calls Murph and invites him to Tracy’s house. Tracy also paints the walls of his house with different triangles so that he’ll be able to teach Calvin effectively.

After a while, they play around with the paint, and as Murph arrives, he joins them. The next day, the Knights win yet another game, and Frank praises Tracy and Calvin for working together to change the team’s fortunes. He also mentions that if they win one more game, they’ll make it to the playoffs.

The next day, Reg and Murph ask Calvin if he still hasn’t found the right parents. Calvin says he hasn’t, and Murph mentions that it’s likely because there’s someone else on his mind. Calvin asks what he means, and Murph says that Tracy can adopt him.

Calvin laughs this off and mentions that Tracy is not big on families because he doesn’t even talk to his dad anymore. Reg and Murph are shocked by this, and the kids wonder why anyone would have a father and not talk to him. The next day, Calvin takes Tracy’s father to his house to surprise him.

As Tracy sees his dad, he looks pissed and sends Calvin away while telling him to mind his business. That night, the Knights lose their game, and Wagner sounds pissed that they’ll now have to beat a harder team for a chance to make it to the playoffs. He also sounds quite angry at Tracy and Calvin and tells them to fix whatever problem they have because they didn’t play well together.

After Walker leaves, Tracy tries to ease the tension, but he notices that Calvin has already left the locker room. The next morning, Calvin returns to the orphanage and tells his friends that he’s not sure he’ll ever get adopted. Murph tells him not to say that yet, and as Calvin wonders what’s going on, a lovely couple named Mr and Mrs Boyd introduce themselves to him.

Seeing as Calvin might soon leave the orphanage home, Stan goes to meet Ox to ask if he’s sure that Calvin’s shoes are the secret to his amazing performances. Ox says he’s sure, and Stan then goes into the orphanage to give Calvin a new pair of shoes. Calvin says he likes the old one, but Stan convinces him to change them so that the Boyds will love him more.

Calvin then agrees to do this, and he gives the MJ sneakers to Murph to help him keep them safe. After Calvin follows the Boyds to their house for dinner, Murph wears the sneakers and tries to see if they will make him a better player. As he shoots a ball toward the net, he misses the target and concludes that the sneakers only work for Calvin.

Just then, he looks at a picture of his mom, but Ox and some bullies enter the room to take it from him. Stan also shows up and burns a part of the picture so that Murph will tell him where he kept Calvin’s sneakers. Murph initially refuses to say anything, but since he doesn’t want to lose the only picture he has of his mom, he eventually tells them where to find the sneakers.

Following this, Stan keeps the shoes and goes to meet a loan shark named Mr Williams to borrow a hundred thousand dollars to bet against the Knights in their next game. Mr Williams looks shocked and wonders why he’s so confident, and Stan says he has a feeling that Calvin will have an off-game. Elsewhere, Tracy can’t stop thinking about Calvin, and Janet notices this.

As Tracy then remembers how much fun he had with Calvin the other day, he decides to reconcile with his dad. Meanwhile, Calvin’s dinner with the Boyds goes well, and they agree to finalize his adoption. The next day, Tracy sees Calvin in the locker room and tells him that he has some big news to share. Before Tracy says anything, the Boyds enter the locker room, and Calvin says they’re going to be his new parents. Tracy is shocked by this, but he congratulates the Boyds and tells them that they’re very lucky to have Calvin as a son.

As Calvin then asks what he was going to talk about, Tracy says it was nothing serious. Shortly after, Reg and Murph call Calvin to inform him that Stan already took his shoes. Even though the game is about to start, Calvin leaves the stadium and heads back to the orphanage.

As Wagner and the rest of the team notice that Calvin is missing, they look shocked but still go out to play their most important game of the season. Shortly after, Calvin gets Murph, Reg, and some other kids to tie Stan up to a chair and make him tell them the combination to the safe where he hid the sneakers. Stan refuses to say anything, and as Ox enters the room, he nearly frees him.

However, Calvin tells him that Stan doesn’t care about any of them, and that they have to stick together. Ox thinks about this and realizes that Calvin isn’t lying about Stan not caring for any of them. Since he knows the code to the safe, he unlocks it and gives Calvin his sneakers.

As the kids then head to the stadium together, Stan frees himself from the chair and calls Mr Williams to send his men after the kids so that they won’t lose their huge bets against the knights. Mr Williams immediately does this, but Calvin still gets past the thugs and reaches the stadium, only to see Stan waiting for him. As Stan tells him to give up his sneakers because his game is over, Calvin knocks him down with his scooter and says that his game is just beginning.

When Calvin gets to the game, the Knights are already losing, and Wagner asks where he went. Calvin doesn’t know what to say, and Wagner says he’ll sit on the bench because he just arrived during the 4th quarter. Tracy then defends Calvin and tells Wagner to let him play because they wouldn’t be in their current position without him.

His teammates also support him, and since they think they can still win, Wagner decides to play Calvin. Interestingly, Calvin helps the team close the gap by scoring multiple points. As they eventually trail by only one point, one of Calvin’s sneakers gets torn, and he looks sad.

Tracy notices that something is wrong with him, and as he asks what it is, Calvin says he can no longer play well because his talent comes from his shoes. Tracy thinks he’s joking, but Calvin says he’s serious. Tracy then tells him that he needs to be brave because they still need to win the game.

After Wagner gives the team instructions for the final play, Calvin tells his teammates that whether they make the playoffs or not, this will be his last game with them. As his teammates look shocked, Calvin says he wants to be a regular kid again, and everyone looks happy for him. When the game continues, Calvin struggles to get past one of the opponent’s best players, but Tracy encourages him to keep trying his best.

After Calvin gets past the player, he passes the ball to Tracy, who then scores the winning points that send the Knights to the playoffs. Everyone looks happy about this, and as the players return to the locker room, Calvin looks disappointed that he might never see Tracy again. Mr and Mrs Boyd then enter the locker room to congratulate him, and he tells them to wait in the parking lot for him.

After this, Calvin goes to meet Wagner to say goodbye. Wagner says he’ll be missed, and that Calvin will always have a place on the team. Calvin then returns to the court and thinks about everything that has happened over the past few weeks. Following this, he leaves the Boyds in the parking lot and heads to the orphanage. As Murph sees him, he says he didn’t expect Calvin to reject the Boyds.

Calvin says he didn’t expect it too, but that something just didn’t feel right. The next day, while Calvin is playing outside, Ox asks what the best part about being in the NBA is. Calvin says it’s room service, and as Ox asks what it means, he explains that it’s a way to get free food at hotels.

Ox seems amazed by this, and as he walks away, Calvin hears Tracy asking him if room service was really the best part for him. Calvin looks shocked to see him, and he asks what Tracy is doing there. Tracy says he’s there with the team because the knights will now be sponsoring the orphanage home. He also tells Calvin that he wants to adopt him as his son. Calvin looks excited about this, and he hugs Tracy.

Calvin then sees Murph looking sad and begs Tracy to adopt his friend too. Tracy agrees to do this, and Murph looks excited about this. Interestingly, it turns out that no one has seen Stan since the day the Knights won their game. After a while, Reg gets adopted, and she sends a picture of herself and her parents to Murph and Calvin, who seem to be very happy being Tracy’s sons.

After a donation box is sent to an orphanage, Calvin finds a pair of old sneakers that make him a better basketball player overnight. This gets him a spot on the knights, and he also becomes really close to Tracy. Unfortunately, Calvin’s magical sneakers get damaged during the most important game of the season, and even though he doesn’t think he can play well again, Tracy encourages him to be brave. Calvin then helps the team win the game, and he realizes that without the magical shoes, he can still be a good player by simply being confident and brave, while also believing in his own abilities.