Pity the poor 7-footer.
That’s the message of two new documentary series about storied basketball players: “The Luckiest Guy in the World,” about Bill Walton (available in the “30 for 30” hub at ESPN Plus), and “Goliath,” about Wilt Chamberlain (premiering Friday at Paramount+ and Sunday on Showtime).
The sportswriter Jackie MacMullan delivers what could be a thesis statement for both in “Goliath”: “I’ve found that big men are much more sensitive than we realize.”Chamberlain, who died of heart failure in 1999, and Walton both have well-defined personas, which they participated in creating.
It’s engagingly introspective and personal, in part because James pushes back against Walton’s incessant recitation of the title phrase.
How can Walton call himself the luckiest guy in the world, James asks from behind the camera, when his career was utterly ravaged by injuries that eventually crippled him and drove him to consider suicide?
Persons:
Guy, Bill Walton, “ Goliath, ”, Wilt Chamberlain, Guy ”, Goliath, ESPN's, Michael Jordan, Jackie MacMullan, “, ” Chamberlain, Walton, Chamberlain, Steve James, Lionel Hollins, Dave Twardzik, James
Organizations:
ESPN Plus, Paramount, Showtime, Walton, Portland Trail Blazers