What Billy understands, and what the movie so beautifully expresses, is that streetball is about more than merely who is the most accomplished player.
When Billy drains a three-pointer in a shootout, Sidney nonetheless derides his style: “No aesthetic beauty whatsoever,” he jeers.
Or as one of Sidney’s friend puts it, after Sidney’s more elegant three in reply: “A thing of beauty is a joy forever.
Only “White Men Can’t Jump” has captured the power of talking smack.
“You’d rather look good and lose,” he tells him, “than look bad and win.” It’s an apt diagnosis, but it cuts both ways.