Aug 8, 2019

Chinle Basketball Team on Netflix


Produced by professional golfers Ricky Fowler and Notah Begay, "Basketball or nothing" is a six-part docu-series following the Chinle Wildcats Boys Basketball team in the 2017-2018 season. The Athletic Director introduces us to the new Basketball Coach, Mr. Raul Mendoza from Holbrook. He is a non-Navajo and has four decades of coaching experience, and famous for having coached with Kareem Abdul Jabar, formerly of the Los Angeles Lakers. The documentary does a great job showing Coach Mendoza's talents and how the reservation boys reached the state quarterfinals. The show went into some of the struggles the boys and their families went through, such as having to grow up without a father. The most powerful part of the series was #12 Josiah Tsosie's reaction when he found out he was getting a full ride Obama scholarship to ASU. Overall, I enjoyed the show, very entertaining, and offers the world a small glimpse into modern Navajo reservation life. I would recommend it. (Where are they now?)