Los Angeles, California – Some people are just a natural fit to crossover from the basketball court to the big screen.
For Los Angeles streetball legend Jude Thomas, that’s exactly the case as he stars in the movie Sweetwater, which details the incredible journey of Nat “Sweetwater” Clifton, who in 1950 became the first African American player to sign a contract and catch on with a team in the National Basketball Association, forever changing the landscape of the NBA. Now, the all-star Knicks player who was posthumously inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2014 is the subject of Sweetwater, Director Martin Guigui’s film that will be released nationwide Friday, April 14.
Starring in a cast that includes Everett Osborne, Cary Elwes, Jeremy Piven, Richard Dreyfuss, Kevin Pollack, and Eric Roberts, Jude Thomas portrays world famous basketball dribbler Marques Haynes of the famed Harlem Globetrotters. Needless to say for Thomas, the role is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to showcase his talents; from streetball legend and entrepreneur, to actor. Yet it’s Thomas’ launch of the Basketball Beauties League back in 2016 that has become his claim to fame, with upstart women’s basketball players from across California competing (and outfitted by sponsor Wooter Apparel) from LA to Rucker Park in New York.
Recently Jude Thomas took time to delve into his role as Marques Haynes of the Harlem Globetrotters, the importance of the movie Sweetwater, teaming-up with Wooter Apparel, and what’s next for the Basketball Beauties League.
Let’s talk about the movie Sweetwater, and the role of Marques Haynes from the Harlem Globetrotters. How did this opportunity come about for you?
My good friend Delpha Baxter – everyone will know him as DB, one of the best play-by-play announcers in the Los Angeles basketball community and network. He introduced me to Martin Guigui, a well known movie Director and musician. Martin was trying to get the movie Sweetwater going at that time around 2008 and 2009, this is when I met him. We had a great meeting and from that day on we became great friends. Martin is a great basketball player and he was also a fan of my streetball flare which he thought was a great fit for the role of Marques Haynes. DB expressed to Martin that I can be a good fit for the role because of my experience playing with the Harlem Starz for two years, a team that toured and did the same antics as the original Harlem Globetrotters; the very same team that Marques Haynes played for.
What does it mean to you to be part of telling this incredible story about Sweetwater Clifton? And how did you prepare for the role of playing Haynes?
It means the world to me. This is an amazing true story that many will now know. Many basketball players don’t know who the first African Americans were to sign a contract in the NBA, to get drafted in the NBA and to be the first player to play in the NBA. The Sweetwater movie will tell you how it all went down. You would not imagine how far Martin Guigui the writer and director had to go to get this movie done with archived information from NBA and from the family of Nathaniel “Sweetwater” Clifton’s family and much more. It took Martin over 20 years to get this done. Preparing for the role was a roller coaster. I was casted around 2009 and we officially started filming in 2022. Can you imagine the ups and downs for the movie?
So many times it was go time, then nothing happened. It’s funny though because I never lost hope. Every time there was any word about filming for the movie, it was a lot of excitement and we never got discouraged. Somewhere in our hearts we knew one day it would happen and it did. Preparing to dribble like Marques Haynes was impossible. He is the greatest dribbler in the world. I definitely had a style and swag that I was able to pull off, but years and years went by from 2009 to 2022. I was much older but I was also much more experienced, which helped me carry his mannerisms and basketball style of play. Timing is everything because if we did this movie in 2009 I’m not sure if my acting skill set would have been as sharp to play that role the way I did it this past year.
Haynes had amazing handles and was a very interesting person — from being a roommate of Jesse Owens, to turning down a contract to become the second-highest paid NBA player at the time, to becoming the first Globetrotter inducted into the Hall of Fame. While studying for this part, what did you appreciate the most about Marques Haynes from what you learned about him?
I watched every video you can find online on Marques Haynes, also movies he did, and any interview he had online. It wasn’t all about dribbling the ball. That was the easiest part to research, but just the way he carried himself as a person is what I wanted to know the most. What I appreciated the most is that he played like a 25 year old until he was like 66 years old. I saw some rare footage of him and I couldn’t believe he was so entertaining at that age. I also appreciated that Marques was not too happy about his pay at the time he left the Harlem Globetrotters. For a good amount of years he did his own gig called the Fabulous Harlem Magicians. It was very similar to what I went through in my early basketball career playing for a local streetball team in Los Angeles where I felt I was underpaid and just not appreciated as much, so I ended up doing my own thing and started my Hollywood Hoops games.
Why should people see this movie? What message from the film do you hope audiences come away with?
The movie is really good not because I’m in it, but because of the history and education you will get from it. You will be amazed by the lead actor Everett Osborne playing Sweetwater Clifton. Osborne is one of a kind and very talented. I would say I’m very happy he played that role. The casting was amazing and the movie will put you back in time and you would be amazed on how it all went down for the NBA. This will be great for the young generation of basketball players to learn about the history of the NBA.
Can you believe Basketball Beauties League is now turning 7 years old this year? What are you the most proud of during these past few years since launching the league?
The proudest moments of Basketball Beauties is just building another platform for women’s basketball. I loved seeing players that couldn’t make the WNBA or professional basketball overseas, and they were able to still get the recognition they wanted and get noticed. These ladies built themselves a bigger name and are growing with it. A good number of the girls – mostly the originals and the ambassador that started with Basketball Beauties – are doing big things now. It’s inspiring to see it because of their hard work and dedication to the game, I was able to give them that opportunity with the Basketball Beauties platform.
What have you learned the most over these last 7 years of BBL?
I learned that women love basketball as much as men do. They love basketball so much they put their heart and soul into the game. I also learned that there are so many great lady hoopers, very skilled and with amazing IQ for the game that you wouldn’t imagine.
In the past, Wooter Apparel has created and designed some unique and fresh customized uniforms and apparel for BBL. What makes the relationship and working with Wooter so special?
The Wooter uniform fit is amazing, especially for the shorts. I think we were the first to start wearing euro style shorts fit in women’s semi pro leagues. Basketball Beauties definitely opened up the door to have that style for women basketball leagues in the United States. Before, league organizers were giving lady hoopers mens jerseys to wear. Wooter Apparel is very supportive in marketing with photo shoots, special events and even write ups and articles on the league and athletes. Wooter Apparel also hosts our online website and also does our day by day sales and production for online merchandise. Wooter even sponsored the Los Angeles versus New York All-Star Game at Rucker Park, something that was never done before. History was made.
What can we expect to see on the court this coming season for Basketball Beauties League? And along with games in Los Angeles, will there be another New York tour stop?
We are not sure on doing leagues in Los Angeles at this time and we are in negotiations for our 4th season in New York, but we are focusing more on the apparel side of things and to revamp our online website. Basketball Beauties will continue doing special events and exhibitions nationwide, and we are currently working on a documentary series on a major streaming platform coming early 2024.