Like Mike

Like Mike (2002)

Timing: 1:39 (99 min)

6.11/10
494

6.902/10
3831

5.4/10
22112

All about film

Video 2

Photo 27

Actors and characters

Release date

2002-07-03

Country

United States

Production

20th Century Fox, Josephson Entertainment, Heller Highwater Productions, NBA Entertainment, Like Mike Productions

Genre

Family, Comedy, Fantasy

Budget

$30 000 000

Revenue

$62 300 000

Website

Director

John Schultz

Actors

Shad Moss, Morris Chestnut, Jonathan Lipnicki, Brenda Song, Jesse Plemons, Julius Ritter, Crispin Glover, Anne Meara, Robert Forster, Eugene Levy
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Producer

Barry Josephson, Peter Heller, Gregg Winik, Adam Silver

Operator

Shawn Maurer

Composer

Richard Gibbs

Artist

Audition

Risa Bramon Garcia, Brennan Dufresne

Editing

Peter E. Berger, John Pace
All team (72)

• Kelvin's magical sneakers are Nike Blazers, the very first basketball shoes released by Nike back in 1973. Although the legendary Michael Jordan was never a fan of Nike products before signing a contract with them in 1984, he wore this model of shoes in the late 70s when he played basketball in school.
• During the filming of the scene where Kelvin retrieves the sneakers abandoned on the power line, there was no actual rain. The effect was simulated by spraying the set from above.
• Before the film's release, many were seriously concerned that children might attempt to recreate the scene where Kelvin retrieves his magic sneakers from power lines during a thunderstorm. The filmmakers considered including a short warning at the beginning of the film, urging children not to imitate this life-threatening stunt, but ultimately decided against it. However, one of the largest American energy companies, Pacific Power & Light, released a special statement based on the film "Like Mike," warning children about the dangers of playing near power lines, especially during storms.
• The colors of Kelvin's fictional basketball team, the Knights, match those of the real NBA team, the Los Angeles Clippers, which they replace in the film.
• Before starting work on the project, Bow Wow already had some good experience playing basketball.
• Exterior shots of the basketball arena, Staples Center, where the Knights play, were filmed at the stadium itself and around it, while interior shots were filmed entirely at the old Great Western Forum arena, which was home to the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team for 33 years, from 1967 to 1999.
• The pair of sneakers used in the film were selected from a Salvation Army thrift store.
• The mansion that belongs to the character of Maurice Chestnut in the film actually belonged to famous American basketball player Tracy McGrady in the past.
• At the very beginning of the film, Kelvin (Bow Wow), Murph (Jonathan Lipnicki), and Reg (Brenda Song) play basketball at the orphanage. Most of this scene was filmed during a lunch break when the actors were simply having fun and didn't know they were being observed and filmed.