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One of the best things about art is how it represents the human condition. Movies in particular have a unique ability to comment on hot topic issues in a way that can be thought provoking and challenging. Interestingly, there are plenty of movies in existence that contain some aspect of mentorship; an older figure guiding the next generation into adulthood. This week John and Zach drop a new episode in a series about mentoring seen in different movies. In discussing Hustle this week, they talk through different aspects of mentoring including using your network, speaking identity, sacrificial mentoring.
Purchase John's Book:
Mephibosheth! The Search for Identity, Purpose, and Community
Purchase John's Book:
Mephibosheth! The Search for Identity, Purpose, and Community
Purchase the You Can Mentor book:
You Can Mentor: How to Impact Your Community, Fulfill the Great Commission, and Break Generational Curses
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Creators and Guests
What is You Can Mentor: A Christian Youth Mentoring Podcast?
You Can Mentor is a network that equips and encourages mentors and mentoring leaders through resources and relationships to love God, love others, and make disciples in their own community. We want to see Christian mentors thrive.
We want to hear from you! Send any mentoring questions to hello@youcanmentor.com, and we'll answer them on our podcast. We want to help you become the best possible mentor you can be. Also, if you are a mentoring organization, church, or non-profit, connect with us to join our mentoring network or to be spotlighted on our show.
Please find out more at www.youcanmentor.com or find us on social media. You will find more resources on our website to help equip and encourage mentors. We have downloadable resources, cohort opportunities, and an opportunity to build relationships with other Christian mentoring leaders.
You can mentor is a network that equips and encourages mentors and mentoring leaders to love God, love others, and make disciples in their own community. Learn more at you can mentor.com or follow us on social media. You can mentor. Why hello there, mentor. We here at You Can Mentor hope to add as much value as we can to mentors and mentoring organizations through resources and relationships.
Speaker 1:We have a bunch of resources that we've created to support you, such as books, learning lab cohorts, conferences, and online downloadable resources. Our goal is for you to use these resources yourself or to share them with your volunteers. The best way to get access to all of these resources is to sign up for our once a week newsletter. To do that, head on over to our website, you can mentor.com, and give us your info. Thanks so much.
Speaker 1:And remember, you can mentor.
Speaker 2:Welcome. You can mentor listener. I'm John. And I'm Zach. And we're here to talk about this is I just I pointed to Zach and we were gonna say it together, but we had no idea what we were going to say.
Speaker 2:That's why that that moment of awkward silence. We didn't plan. No. We I
Speaker 1:I I had no clue what you were wanting me to do right now.
Speaker 2:But we did plan a really wonderful episode today.
Speaker 1:Well, yeah. Because it's mentoring at the movies. That's right. And today's film, John, that we're talking about is
Speaker 2:2,022. Oh. Oh, I was gonna lead with the year. Oh, I'm sorry. Yes.
Speaker 2:It is the movie, hustle, the film, hustle Mhmm. From 2022. Adam Sandler. Do you consider this to be an Adam Sandler movie? Yeah.
Speaker 2:What happened to you? Call it that?
Speaker 1:Yeah. Yeah. Okay. You can find it on the Netflix. The Netflix app?
Speaker 1:You can find it on the Netflix. Yep. And it's a movie about it's about a lot of stuff, but really there are a lot of mentoring concepts in this film that we wanna talk about. It's rich. It's very rich.
Speaker 1:Yes. It's like a piece of, you know, dark chocolate that you find in, like, a really fancy coffee shop that costs $6.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. That you can just kind of enjoy.
Speaker 1:Just like savor. Yeah. And you're just like, oh, wow. This is I didn't know what to expect, but this is good.
Speaker 2:Let me just take a a moment.
Speaker 1:Guys, if you're a listener at home, John has phlegm issues.
Speaker 2:And I wanna apologize not only for my issue, but also just the word phlegm. I just wish we could call it something else. Why don't we rebrand that word? Because I think it sounds abrasive.
Speaker 1:You sounded like Kermit the Frog right now.
Speaker 2:I sounded like somebody's aunt. Someone's crazy aunt.
Speaker 1:Who is just chain smoking.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Paul Malls without the filter. Just all the 5 packs a day. Okay.
Speaker 1:So oh, oh, oh, oh, what is for those of you guys who missed our first mentoring at the movies Uh-huh. What is mentoring at the movies, John?
Speaker 2:Mentoring at the movies is an opportunity for the listener to understand that, you know, there's so much media out there that points to and is able to kind of explain and be a beautiful metaphor for some concepts of mentoring. And so I would like for all of us to be taking in music and television shows and movies and really be looking for these opportunities to be equipped and encouraged with the task of of mentoring. And so I think we chose a really good one with hustle because it does have some very obvious mentoring components and some things that we can kinda commentate on. And I just think this is an opportunity for our listeners to, as they take in these pieces of media, to just kind of pull in some of these wonderful truths and and lessons about mentoring that
Speaker 1:will be helpful. 100%. So let's jump in on it. Jump in on it? Doesn't make sense, doesn't it?
Speaker 1:Let's jump in it, or let's jump on it.
Speaker 2:On it. Uh-huh.
Speaker 1:Not both. Okay. So hustle, kinda like what John said, 2002 film starring Adam Sandler.
Speaker 2:2022. Did I say 2,002? Yeah. Yeah. Which is a great year, but that's that's over 20 years ago.
Speaker 2:Is
Speaker 1:it a great year, though? 2002?
Speaker 2:I think so. I mean, I I drive a 2,002 truck.
Speaker 1:You do.
Speaker 2:Hey. Listen. Just just real quick, though. Let's just take another moment to just ask before Adam Sandler goes on to make these kinda meaningful drama movies. He made silly movies.
Speaker 2:Can you just tell me, like, what was your favorite Adam Sandler film from 2,002 ish area?
Speaker 1:It was Billy Madison. Era.
Speaker 2:It was Billy Madison. 100%. That was the one where he goes back to school. Yeah. Okay.
Speaker 2:And then there was another one where he was a golfer.
Speaker 1:Happy Gilmore.
Speaker 2:Okay. So but Billy Madison is kinda like what you would say is it's gonna be the movie that you show your kids.
Speaker 1:No. Definitely not. Inappropriate. There is nothing appropriate about that movie.
Speaker 2:Okay. So good. Not not a not a not a movie to sit down with our mentees.
Speaker 1:Probably not. No. No. Alright. So hustle, 2022 found on Netflix.
Speaker 1:Here's the bio. A basketball scout, Adam Sandler, discovers a phenomenal street ball player while in Spain and sees the prospect as his opportunity to get back into the NBA. After being fired, professional basketball scout Stanley Sugarman is excited for the first time in a very long while when he serendipitously discovers Spanish amateur baller Bo Cruz playing in a park outside Madrid. He is fueled with newfound passion and purpose, thus allowing Stanley to make it his mission to groom Bo for the NBA as he believes they both can make it. Beau Cruz is is a young man who is very good at basketball, but is unknown in the sports world.
Speaker 1:Stanley discovers him and sees great potential in him and trains him and prepares him for the NBA. Will he be successful in this mission?
Speaker 2:Oh. Yeah. That's a question that the viewer really gets to Mhmm. Find out Right. During a couple of hours of viewing.
Speaker 1:So who are some of the main characters here? We've got Adam Stanler. Adam Stanler. Adam Sandler as Stanley Sugarman. We have his mentor Mhmm.
Speaker 1:Rex Merrick, who's played by Robert Duvall. We have Stanley's best friend and former teammate, Leon, AKA Kenny Smith, the basketball announcer on TNT.
Speaker 2:That's right. Well and more probably more importantly, Houston Rocket championship 94, 95 Yes. Guard.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So Yeah. We have Rex Marek's daughter, Catherine Marek, who plays a small yet important part towards the end of the movie. And then we have Bo Cruz, who is played by Pancho Hernanengomez, who is an actual professional basketball player. And then we have his daughter, which I forgot her name.
Speaker 1:Yeah. But Beau's daughter plays an important part in this film.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. Family relationships and and, again, mentoring relationships are are what this film is all about. Right.
Speaker 1:So would you like to start?
Speaker 2:Yeah. Where do we start? I mean, you you gave us a really good kind of overview Yeah. Of this film. You maybe just some scenes that I think were really, really special
Speaker 1:Understood.
Speaker 2:Important.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:You kinda find yourself early on in the film when we've got Adam Sandler's character and Robert Duvall's character in a car together. Right. Really important conversation that really kind of shows us and solidifies that mentoring relationship that that Duvall, who is the owner of the Philadelphia 70 sixers, and Sandler, who is a scout for the 70 sixers, this is where we hear Duvall say some really important words. Right? That that Rex shouldn't back down because we come from a scene where I'm sorry.
Speaker 2:Did I say Rex? Meaning that Adam Sandler's character shouldn't back down because in the scene, but just before that, the owner's son and Adam Sandler have kind of an argument about some professional decisions. And Rex is there to say, this is where you don't this is where you don't back down. This is where you stand your ground and you and you be assertive in this.
Speaker 1:Right. And Stanley's probably in his fifties. Mhmm.
Speaker 2:And
Speaker 1:he has been a professional scout for 30 years. And his mentor, Rex, has kinda taken him under his wing, and he believes in him. I would say that Adam Sandler's his character, Stanley, Stanley is he's walking the line. Like, he I wouldn't say he's insecure, but he definitely doesn't want to stir things up. Right?
Speaker 1:And I think you can kinda tell throughout the story that he has made some mistakes in his past that have kinda been this like it's almost like a scarlet letter. Right? Like, he's missed on a couple pics, and he he had an incident whenever he was in college. He was at a party one night and took some guys home and got into an accident, which ultimately cost his team a shot at the NCAA national championship. And so he he lives out of those mistakes, and those cause him to act in a way to where he's just not sure about himself.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I think that, you know, we see that early montage of what his career kinda looks like with so much travel, and and it shows him in in, you know, hotel room to hotel room. And what's he doing?
Speaker 2:He's just, like, eating Kentucky fried chicken. And so we we kinda see a character who is maybe productive at what he does, knowledgeable at what he does, really good at what he does. But also there's this, like, just kinda getting by quality about it and just kind of making it taking the easy road in some ways. And maybe that has been set up because of some past, you know, again, which the film kind of shows you later, but that of some poor choices that has kinda brought him to this point so that he can't be as assertive as he would he would wanna be and maybe not living up to his full potential. But all the more important why the Rex character speaks these truths over him to say, look.
Speaker 2:I I've seen I saw this in you years ago. I truly believe that you can do more and that you can you have you bring a lot to the table.
Speaker 1:Right. I think that Stanley is a survivor. Mhmm. And what Rex is trying to do is trying to get him to thrive. And I think that first scene whenever Rex invites Stanley into the car, There's a couple cool things there.
Speaker 1:So the first thing that I wanna focus in on is Rex pursues Stanley. I mean, he goes into the parking lot, and he goes searching for him. And he's intentional about inviting him into the car and asking him some really good questions to find out why he kinda backed down. But then he kinda came with the with the encouragement, and the encouragement kinda came in the form of, like, hey, man. Don't back down.
Speaker 1:Mhmm. Like, don't ever do that again. And, yes, it was very straightforward, but I think they had spent enough time together to where Rex knew that he could speak that way to Stanley, and it would land.
Speaker 2:Definitely.
Speaker 1:And so just like he says, never back down, and you have more to offer. He's basically saying like, hey, be confident in who you are, and I wish that you could see yourself how I see you. And ultimately, that shows that he believes in Stanley, even when Stanley doesn't believe in himself. Right? Like that's why he doesn't speak up because he doesn't believe in himself.
Speaker 2:Mhmm.
Speaker 1:Mhmm. And Rex not only says, I believe in you, but then he gives him his dream job. Right. Stanley has been a professional scout for 30 years, and all he wants to do is be a be a professional coach. And Stanley asked him to get in into the car with him, and he takes him to his new office and gives him the title assistant coach.
Speaker 2:That's right. You're in. Right? That's what in essence he is saying. Like, you have you have done what you needed to do, and now it's time for you to to move up.
Speaker 1:Right. So Rex not only encourages him, not only pursues him, but he opens up doors and gives him opportunities that he probably could have never had on his own. Right. And I think a big, like, I think a big something in this movie, a big theme is the power of networking. It's like the power of creating opportunities for your mentee and creating opportunities for yourself because of the relationships that you have.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Throughout the film. That's a factor. Right. That that's what carries characters through. That's what kinda carries the story line, really, are these opportunities where I think that Sandler's character is kind of resourceful and understanding.
Speaker 2:I may not have the power to make a decision here, but I know the right people who do. Right.
Speaker 1:And because his character is so strong, because he's such a good guy, and because he's served and done so much for other people, they are more than happy to serve him by giving his mentee opportunities. Right. Absolutely. So Rex, his mentor, gives him a job. You know, everything's great.
Speaker 1:And then in the next scene, Rex, who's older, unexpectedly passes away. That's right. And his son takes over, and his son is not the nicest dude out there. And what does he do? He takes away his job as assistant coach and says, get back out there and find our next superstar.
Speaker 1:You are now our scout again. Right. And that is where the Sandler character says, there's only one guy who knew what I
Speaker 2:was capable of, and he died.
Speaker 1:Right. So whenever he says that, there's only one guy who knew what I was capable of, and he died. What do you think that means?
Speaker 2:Well, I think it it obviously points to the fact that here's a character who who doesn't believe in himself. Right? So it's still kind of it's still kind of extrinsic in that way. We still got a character who kinda needs to go through a process to realize, right, his his own worth. And that I mean, that shows us the work of the mentor is that sometimes we can speak these truths, and it reminds us kind of his parents as well, that we that we speak these truths over our kids or over our mentees, and it just takes some time for it to really stick, for it to work its way inside their hearts and their minds for them to believe and understand these truths, whether they be truths of God's word or just the encouragement that we can speak to understand that it's a process for the mentee to kinda finally, okay.
Speaker 2:I believe it now. You, you know, you said it long enough that I truly believe. And I I think that's another interesting kind of storytelling component of the film is that at the beginning, we still kinda see that, oh, he's in this place to say, you know, in essence that he feels like he's lost his his last lifeline. And so kinda what is he gonna do now, which sets the stage really nicely for what he does do next.
Speaker 1:Right. So he goes back to trying to find the next superstar as a professional scout. He gets sent to Spain. And what does he do? He finds this guy on the playground, and his name is Bo Cruz.
Speaker 1:And Bo Cruz, he's a big dude. He's really good at basketball, and he's just tearing up the competition. Yeah. In work boots. In work boots.
Speaker 1:Right. So Adam Stan Adam Sandler sees him, and he's just like, this is my dude. Like, this this is my ticket back. Mhmm. So after the game's over, he tries to pursue Bo Cruz.
Speaker 2:Yeah. He literally follows him. Right? Yeah.
Speaker 1:And he kinda loses him. Right? But he finds his apartment, and he bangs on his door. And Beau Cruz comes out, and he is not a happy camper. He is like, who is this crazy guy who's following me, who's showing up and asking me just, like, a bunch of questions.
Speaker 2:Yeah. You know, again, thinking that the last thing that this guy wants is something that's good or that will benefit me, that it's, probably something that is harmful or, you know, again, that he has, ill intent. So this gives us another look at that at that networking. Right? So even to prove who he is and that he and that he's got Bo's best interest, what does he do next?
Speaker 1:He FaceTimes Dirk Nowitzki. And somewhere along the line, Stanley has done something to earn favor with Dirk. And whenever he needed a favor, he knew that he could call Dirk, and Dirk would vouch for him. So his connections ultimately got him into the door to be able to help his newfound mentee brokers.
Speaker 2:Yeah. A little throwback here. Right? For us, as we talked about different styles of mentoring Yeah. We talked about kind of the networker, the mentor mentor who really uses their professional network or familial or ministry network in order to give the mentee more opportunities.
Speaker 1:That's a great point, John. Excellent work. Mhmm.
Speaker 2:Callback.
Speaker 1:Tossing it back there. Yep. So, ultimately, he gets into the house, gets to talk Bo Cruz into coming to America and trying his best to become a professional basketball player. But there's one issue. He has a daughter, and his daughter's probably 5 or 6.
Speaker 1:And our man, Bo Cruz, loves his daughter more than anything. So the one issue that he has in trying to pursue becoming a professional basketball player is the fact that he's gonna have to be away from his daughter. Yeah. And he just doesn't want that.
Speaker 2:Right. So And also, Beau has has a a past.
Speaker 1:Oh, yes. Totally forgot about that.
Speaker 2:Yeah. With an aggravated assault on his record.
Speaker 1:Right. So Beau's not I mean, Beau has a couple strikes against him. Right? Like, he has gotten into some trouble. He's a tad bit older.
Speaker 1:He has a daughter. He's in Spain. But Stanley sees the potential that that that Bo has, and he does whatever he can to try to try to help him reach his full potential.
Speaker 2:Right. And it's at this point, I think, when they're entering the country even when Stanley relies on his friendship with Leon in order to get him set up, get him get him into the country, and get him an opportunity to get looked at.
Speaker 1:Right. So here is one more spotlight on Stanley's network. So Adam Sandler's character, he was a college basketball player, and he kinda stood up for he kinda protected this teammate of his named Leon Rich. And he played in the NBA for a couple years, and then he turned into a professional agent. And he's kinda the super agent.
Speaker 1:Right? Like, he's kinda the the man in the NBA who kinda makes things happen. And so Adam Sandler calls his main man, Leon Rich, and says, hey. I found a guy. Can you help me give him a shot?
Speaker 1:And Leon says yes.
Speaker 2:Now listen. Can I call a foul here? Is it is it is it defense calls fouls or or call your own fouls here? What are we doing?
Speaker 1:Go ahead and call your own foul.
Speaker 2:Alright. Now listen. This might be kind of a story device. Obviously, we need to have conflict because this is what characters do in these inspirational great films. But Stanley has not been completely honest with Beau up
Speaker 1:to this
Speaker 2:point because even though he has the best of intentions for him, he doesn't really tell Beau the whole story, and that could kinda border on manipulation. So, you know, we're kinda reminded as a mentor to mentee, we would always wanna be completely honest and and never put ourselves in a position or put our mentee in a position to be anything but great, you know, with their family life and with academics, and we would never even want to say, well, you know, sometimes I think we can say the ends justify the means, but we would wanna stay above board in terms of communication, in terms of honesty at all times.
Speaker 1:Right. Because there is a point when where Stanley gets fired by the 70 sixers, and he's kinda trying to promote Beau Cruz on his own. Mhmm. And this is where it gets kinda sticky, is Adam Sandler's livelihood kinda rests upon Beau's success. And so does he want the best for Beau?
Speaker 1:Well, of course he does. Is his heart 100%, like, all about Beau Cruz? We think it is. But any time that your success or your livelihood rests upon your mentee, there's there's just a lot of opportunities for that to go south quick.
Speaker 2:I used to have a mentor under me that had a small group. We talked about small group mentoring recently, and I can remember having a situation that this particular mentor, I felt like we were starting to skirt the line a little bit with that small group of really this mentor kind of needing some social approval from these teenagers. And I and I went to her and I just said, hey, we want to be real careful here that in this relationship that you never feel like you're asking or needing something from your mentee because that can get really dangerous. We want to always be the person of margin that we're always giving, but never really receiving in in terms of needing like that that validation. So that can that just kinda reminds me of it because when we think about, well, how are we kinda relating these these movie stories to our own life as a mentor?
Speaker 2:And I think that if, again, we're not careful, that's just something we wanna kinda keep track of and making sure that our intentions are are true and our and that our actions are in line with this idea of we kinda always wanna be giving, but never never really needing necessarily, you know, for to be validated by our mentee because that will that will kind of change our our decision making, I think, at times to to something that may be unhealthy.
Speaker 1:Well, Anne, anytime that the mentor wants something for his mentee now Adam Sandler wants his guy, Bo Cruz, to go to the NBA, and so does Bo. But what if Bo is like, you know what? I I don't wanna go to the NBA anymore. Well, then, like, that's that's gonna collide with Adam Sandler's dream of sending him to the NBA. Absolutely.
Speaker 1:So anytime a mentor kinda gently influences, like, hey, I think you should do this, or I think you should do that because it will directly benefit me. Like, that's that's hard. That puts a lot of pressure on the Minty. Now I don't think that we see that in this movie, but I could see how that could happen. Absolutely.
Speaker 2:So So there's a gym scene.
Speaker 1:Yeah. There's a gym scene.
Speaker 2:And Beau cruises down. He's ready to quit. Is this when his emotions kinda get the better of him?
Speaker 1:No. That's a little bit before that. But in order to go to the NBA, he's gotta train in a way that he's never trained before. And Adam Sandler puts Beau Cruz through just these training drills that are incredibly difficult.
Speaker 2:So wait. This is this is the training montage that we're talking about. Yes. Okay. Yes.
Speaker 2:I thought that the training montage in this in this movie that harkens kind of like that that Rocky, you know, how pumped up when you watch Rocky. Yeah. Yeah. And it kinda has that. Right?
Speaker 2:It has that at the beginning stages. Sandler is kinda showing some some interesting techniques of and some drills that are kinda cool. Yeah. And you kinda see him, Beau. You kinda see him struggle at the beginning Right.
Speaker 2:Knowing that through persistence and kind of that repetition, he's going to get better and better and better. I thought that was pretty pretty inspiring.
Speaker 1:So Adam Sandler gave Beau the opportunity to go to the NBA, and Beau wanted that. And then Adam Sandler was like, hey. If you wanna get to the NBA, here's what you have to do. Because Bo Cruz had no idea how to get to the NBA. He has no idea what it takes to get there to be successful there.
Speaker 1:But Adam Sandler truly does become the mentor here, and he trains him, and he shows him, and he stays with him, and he encourages him and he speaks life over him. And the main words that he tells him are the same words that his mentor told him, which is never back down. And you hear a lot of what Rex told Stanley in that mentor mentee relationship. Now, Stanley's telling Bo. And that's just I'm a huge fan of I think that we say this.
Speaker 1:God is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And Stanley has his Abraham. That's Rex. He has his mentor who he was, you know, he was submitting under, and now he gets to pass it on. Right?
Speaker 1:And so it's Rex. It's Stanley. It's Beau. And we hope that one day, our main man Beau does the same thing to someone else. As we see in the film, he does kinda do that with his daughter That's right.
Speaker 1:Which is very, very impactful. Right. Right.
Speaker 2:So why don't we talk about his tattoos, Speaking of his daughter. Absolutely. So there's the scene when Stanley's daughter ask a question about a particular tattoo that Beau has on him. And so then Beau is able to explain that on across his chest and down his right arm, these tattoos are all kind of committed to and dedicated to his mother and his daughter. And then the character or the the Stanley's daughter asks about his father, and that's where Beau shows his left arm that is bare of tattoos and says, this is for him.
Speaker 1:Right. There's nothing there. Right. So it's almost like whenever we start talking about his tattoos, we get a glimpse into his heart and how he feels about, one, his mom and his daughter, but also how he feels about his father. Right.
Speaker 2:So there's a there's literally a void there.
Speaker 1:Right. And whenever Stanley started to invest into Beau, he didn't know any of this. But as they started spending time together, as Stanley starts to train him, as Stanley starts to invest into him, he kind of becomes that father figure that and I don't think Beau was looking for a father figure. I I don't even know if he knew that he needed one. Right.
Speaker 1:But Stanley kinda shows up and begins to impact his life in a way that's way more important than basketball.
Speaker 2:Mhmm. And I think that it's it's a neat device when Beau's mother has that important conversation with him. Right. You don't really kinda see that coming that that this character is gonna have something as insightful as what she shares with Beau about that that mentoring relationship and about the impact that Stanley has on Bo.
Speaker 1:Right. And so so often, a mentee doesn't understand the impact that a mentor has on them. I mean, they're kids. They're 8. They're 10.
Speaker 1:They're 15. They aren't like, wow. This mentor really is helping me deal with my emotions, and they really are being, you know, someone who I can count on. But very often, it's the parent who sees the impact that the mentor is having on the mentee.
Speaker 2:Mhmm.
Speaker 1:And so towards the end, we get the scene of Bo's mom talking to Bo, and she's kinda like, don't you see that this is more than basketball? Don't you see that while basketball's important, while trying to be a professional is important, your relationship with Stanley is kind of the most important thing here.
Speaker 2:Right. Right.
Speaker 1:And she says to Beau, you know, Beau loves his mom, and Beau loves his daughter. And he he puts so much on himself to try to provide and try to, you know, make the NBA not only for himself, but for other people. And his mom says this. She says, you carry the weight for me and Lucia, which is his daughter. It's never enough.
Speaker 1:All this love for others, all this love for us, and no love for yourself. When I saw you here in America, you looked different. You looked lighter, like the weight was lifted, and I think Stanley does that for you. What you do for us, he puts all the weight that you carried on him so that you can be you. He is your oak tree.
Speaker 1:And I'm like, woah. Like, that I mean, that hit me, man. Yeah. Excellent scene.
Speaker 2:Yeah. For sure. And, And, you know, even before then, we kinda have the conflict of Bo struggling of Stanley getting to a point where he just has has enough. He quits his job. And so all of his you know, if he's gonna have a future, if this is going to work, it's all about what Bo does.
Speaker 2:Beau struggles with that. Right? And there's a really impactful scene where Beau and Stanley are are struggling. Beau is is probably just about to call it quits.
Speaker 1:Mhmm.
Speaker 2:And Stanley opens up, and this is where we kinda get the reveal of what happened in Stanley's life of the of the worst decision that he that he ever made, and then we, again, we get to see that relationship, the the the binds of that strengthen by Stanley just sharing his testimony and opening up.
Speaker 1:And I think what's so powerful here is, like, all mentors have a testimony. Right? And the good thing, and kind of the amazing thing about being a mentor is whatever our mentee is going through, more times than not, we have a story about how we experienced something like that, or how we felt how they are feeling. Right? And so we, as mentors, we've got these testimonies.
Speaker 1:It's like we have like a bag, and it just has just a ton of testimonies in it. And every so often, our mentor go our mentee goes through something, and we're like, oh, here's a great time to pull out our secret weapon.
Speaker 2:Mhmm.
Speaker 1:A testimony about how I was going through the same thing, or a testimony about how I felt how they are feeling right now. And so we as mentors, there's so much power in our testimony. And so I think the holy spirit is a great guide to let you know, as a mentor, hey, now's the time to use that secret weapon. Now is the time to share that testimony because that is exactly what your mentee needs to hear in this moment. And so as a mentor, we have to be really open to being able to share whenever the Lord gives us that opportunity.
Speaker 1:Right? And just how us being open can really create that safe place, can really create that balm that our mentees' hearts need.
Speaker 2:Well and I think that you put it really appropriately, that idea of baggage. I mean, our testimony, sometimes the things that we are least proud of that we've done, decisions that we've made that were the wrong decision, and understanding that these are the very things that we're going to use. I mean, talk about redemption. Right? That's the power of redemption right there.
Speaker 2:That that's that's what God does. God turns our negatives into positives. And so I think that it's an important thing for us to just kinda think about, man, what are our you know, what's our top one or to 3 just seasons in life, decisions that we made, things that we had to endure that we are not proud of and that we think there is absolutely no value in these things. Well, what if those are the very things that God will use in order to give us an opportunity to share those things with our mentee so that they don't make the same mistake?
Speaker 1:Right. I mean, it kinda goes back, John, to your example of a mentor kinda being that tour guide.
Speaker 2:Right. Absolutely. Just kinda, hey.
Speaker 1:I have gone before you. I've experienced these things. Do this, do this, don't do this. Mhmm.
Speaker 2:So That's a warning for sure. Right. So in the film, we're kinda resolving after so much you know, again, it's the process. We didn't really talk about those early morning runs right up the hill where Stanley says, look. I I need you to make it from this point to this point in this amount of time.
Speaker 2:And what a great measurable of saying, like, at the beginning, oh my goodness. There's no way. It just looks like again, it's it's a mountain that he's gonna be unable to climb literally. And then what do we see that through that process, through that refining, through that through Stanley getting up every morning with him and committing that season that eventually Beau is able to to conquer that mountain.
Speaker 1:Well, I think a main thing throughout this movie is Adam Sandler's character sacrificing. I mean, he sacrifices a ton for his minty. I mean, his wife cooks some meals. He goes and takes them everywhere. I mean, he invites them over to his house.
Speaker 2:Has to pay for all that room service.
Speaker 1:Has to pay for everything. He wakes up early. Mhmm. He cashes in those cashes in those favors.
Speaker 2:That's right.
Speaker 1:Like, hey. Look. I did this back in 1998. You owe me one. Here's my one.
Speaker 1:I'm using that to help brokers.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Yeah. He spends that professional capital. Yes. Right?
Speaker 1:Yes. And so just like, you know, this whole film is like, Stanley finds Beau. Beau gets a shot. He fails. Beau gets a shot.
Speaker 1:He fails. Beau gets the last shot. Right? And how does he get this last shot, this final chance to make it to the NBA? He gets it because of Stanley's relationship with Leon.
Speaker 1:Mhmm. And it just goes to show you how powerful a mentor's network can be. And so, Stanley could never have gotten Beau into the NBA combine. Stanley could never have gotten him all of these things that he did, but he knew the guy. And Leon gets him in to this final run.
Speaker 1:And before the combine, before this run, he, says this he says this he says this phrase to Bo as they're getting out of the car and going into the hotel. Bo reaches in to pick up his bags, and Stanley grabs his bags and says, superstars don't carry their own bags. And this was before Beau did anything. So it was Actually, he had failed twice, but Stanley still is speaking this identity over him. He's saying, hey, this is how I see you, and I'm encouraging I'm encouraging, you know, how I see you is how you should see yourself.
Speaker 1:Yeah. And so I think an important thing is let's let's be intentional about calling our mentees what we see in them. Mhmm. Right? Absolutely.
Speaker 1:So like me saying to my mentee, hey, you're a leader. You're a leader. You're a leader. Or I mean, that is basically speaking that identity over them. And if they don't see that in themselves, it's only a matter of time until they do because of my voice.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:And I think this is an important point too that I think you're making here, which is to say, if you're gonna speak it, then act it. Right?
Speaker 1:Mhmm.
Speaker 2:Like, let your actions also be there because I think it's I think words are easy, and I think that we can say things that maybe we don't even believe, but we really believe them when we actually start behaving them out. And so that's an important part of that as well even that we can remember, like, if we're gonna call our mentee a leader, then let's really treat them like 1.
Speaker 1:And I think that's what Rex did with Stanley. Yes. I mean, he called him out. He said, don't ever back down, and I'm giving you an opportunity to never back down as an assistant coach. And that's what Stanley does with Beau.
Speaker 1:He says, act like a superstar. I'm giving you an opportunity to be a superstar.
Speaker 2:Mhmm.
Speaker 1:And so,
Speaker 2:in that last game, that's what Beau does. He performs well. He is no longer insecure. He's no longer able to succumb to his, you know, cage getting rattled right by the by the bad guy. I love how they always have to put a bad guy in there.
Speaker 2:You know, another player that that antagonizes him, and it really kind of gives him a hard time. But so he overcomes that. He's able to show a level of security and an ability that gets him that that really kinda turns the corner for his career.
Speaker 1:And the impact that Stanley had on Beau goes way beyond Beau. I mean, Beau makes it to the in Beau makes it to the NBA. Mhmm. It impacts his relationship with his mom. It impacts his relationship with his daughter, and gives him an opportunity to impact a team, impact a city.
Speaker 1:I mean, it's amazing what one man's investment into one person did.
Speaker 2:Mhmm.
Speaker 1:And then, John, what is that scene at the very end whenever Stanley not not only gets an opportunity to mentor his mentor's daughter Right. But what does he what happens between him and Beau at the very end scene?
Speaker 2:Yeah. We get this really great you know, it's kind of I think it's a 4 months later kinda scene. It's a it's a bonus, and I always love those in in films because it feels like it's already resolved. You know? It's like everybody, you know, everybody wins there at the end, but then, like, oh, I wonder what they're what what happened from that.
Speaker 2:You know? And so we see that Stanley gets to enjoy being that assistant coach and walking in and and, you know, having his wife be in the stands and, you know, just everything's and then the team that the 70 sixers are playing against, Beau happens to be playing for Boston. And so he comes over to him, and what a great scene. He actually, you know, zips down his warm up and shows that Bo is number 22, which is Stanley's number from college. Right?
Speaker 2:So, again, we start seeing that, like, oh, man. He's he's carrying him with him. You know, he's influenced influenced him, and they have a great exchange where they're talking to each other, and they hug. And then we get to see this left arm of Beau Cruz, and it's this tattoo standing alone on his on his forearm there. It's an oak tree.
Speaker 2:And then over it, the three words never back down.
Speaker 1:So like in that moment, you see how influential Stanley was for Beau. He honors him with his number, but symbolically, the most important thing he has, which is his his left arm that is bare. Right? And that held all that anger and all that resentment towards his father. He honors Stanley by getting an oak tree, which is the conversation that he had with his mom to remind him of Stanley's impact.
Speaker 1:But he also puts the words that Stanley speaks over him, that Stanley's mentor spoke over him. And so it's this, like, generational mentoring passed down.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. And it's just beautiful. Yeah. It really is. And I mean, even drawing a a level deeper, the tattoo itself is the tree with a root system.
Speaker 2:Right. And so what a great reminder of, like, again, the past, the present, and the future that this would continue on. Right.
Speaker 1:So in this film, we see mentors mentoring people who become mentors. We see Rex and Stanley and Beau. We see the power of a network. We see the power of a mentor sacrificing. We see the power of a mentor speaking identity over and over and over again over their mentee.
Speaker 1:What are some more things?
Speaker 2:I mean, that's, yeah, that's the good stuff. Yeah. I feel like we just had a lot a lot to mine out of this film. Right? And so it doesn't always happen that way, but I just I think that layer after layer, scene after scene, it really is an encouragement.
Speaker 2:And so I know that as a mentor, as a dad, I was really excited to watch this movie and glad that you got to got to pull so many great things out of it.
Speaker 1:Man, it's such a good movie. Yeah. I just loved it. But alright. Hustle.
Speaker 1:If you haven't seen it, go check it out. There's a lot of good stuff that us mentors can pull out to help us become better mentors.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. And hey, listener. Don't forget that if there's a movie that's really special to you that that we have yet to see, let us know about it because we wanna watch it and be able to share those films with other listeners as well.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So holler at us. John and I, you can find us on social media. Send us emails, zachzach@ukanmentor. John atukanmentor.
Speaker 1:We're lonely, and we don't have any friends except each other. And so we just sit in our office just waiting for people to call and email us.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Just maybe call us, you know, our our gift card now from time to time.
Speaker 1:On a Friday night, just I'm sitting alone.
Speaker 2:Because our lives are so quiet. Yeah. We with our 3 kids each.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Yeah. Life's great. Alright. Mentors, we love you, and remember, you can mentor.