Actor Hill Harper has an acting career that extends over twenty plus years. Harper’s played the role of a coroner in CSI, he’s appeared in Married With Children, HBO’s The Sopranos and many more.
But, as accomplished as he is, many who love both hoops or anything Spike Lee remember him as Booger, the impressionable cousin in the film, He Got Game.
The film, starring Ray Allen and Denzel Washington keyed in the life of basketball star, Jesus Shuttlesworth of Brooklyn’s Lincoln High School and number one recruited hoops phenom in the nation. Spike Lee’s film gave the world a glimpse into the life of a blue chip athlete.
Hill Harper not only played the role of cousin to Ray Allen in the He Got Game film, but he also played the role of his teammate on that Rail Splitters team. At the time of the film, Allen was in the early years of his career as a member of the Milwaukee Bucks, but way back then, Harper knew that Allen had something special.
So what stood out?
“His work ethic,” Harper said on yesterday’s episode of Scoop B Radio. “He had a work ethic. He was shooting and playing every day. He wanted to do well as far as the acting was concerned, wanted to do well as far as the basketball was concerned.”
Ray Allen went on to retire as one of the greatest shooters in NBA history. He also won two championships with the Miami Heat during the big three era of LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade on South Beach. Harper is not surprised by Allen’s success, in fact he saw it coming even on set.
“He had a work ethic,” Harper told Scoop B Radio host Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson. “People that I know who are successful and have longevity, they have work ethics and it comes down to that and he obviously had that. When he was acting, he wanted to be the best that he could be. When he was playing ball, he wanted to be the very best that he could be.”
