Taking It To The Hoop

HOW DID Blades of Glory and Talladega Nights star Will Ferrell end up in yet another sports comedy? Not long ago he was asked by a friend if he had read Loose Balls, Terry Pluto's often-riotous oral history of the old American Basketball Association, the league that introduced Dr. J and the red-white-and-blue ball to the world during its nine-year run. Ferrell responded, "Yes! I want to make that movie! But would I get to grow my hair out?" Before long an ABA-inspired script was being written—one that called for the star to grow a 'fro. Jokes Ferrell, "That's when I was sold."

The film, called Semi-Pro, is in production and will be released next year. SI recently visited the set in L.A. and saw Ferrell letting his hair down—and out, and up—as a '70s R&B one-hit wonder (the song is called Love Me Sexy) named Jackie Moon, who uses his newfound wealth to buy a floundering ABA team, the Tropics, in Flint, Mich., and install himself as coach, starting power forward and occasional halftime entertainer.

THE SUPPORTING PLAYERS
Semi-Pro is loaded with former NBA players ( Pooh Richardson), streetball stars (the Professor from And1) and ABA legends ( George Gervin, Artis Gilmore). Outkast rapper Andr� Benjamin plays Clarence (Coffee) Black, a well-traveled shooting guard with a Marbury-sized ego who changes his moniker as often as he changes teams. (He even swaps squads in the middle of a game.) And Woody Harrelson plays Ed Monix, an aging former Celtics point guard who was acquired in a trade for a washing machine. But don't let that fool you. Fifteen years after White Men Can't Jump, Harrelson's moves remain strong. "Woody's still got it," says Ferrell. "But he never stops dribbling. Sometimes it's like, Cooooome on!"

THE LEAGUE
To keep things realistic, rookie director Kent Alterman brought in ABA historian Arthur Hundhausen, who helped transform a Los Angeles Fire Department training center into the Tropics' home arena. Among the authentic ABA touches: retro uniforms for the players and bikinis for the cheerleaders. Alterman also hired sports coordinator Mark Ellis (The Longest Yard, Coach Carter), who spent four weeks teaching the cast to play ABA-style run-and-gun ball. (Of the semi-flabby Ferrell, Ellis says, "He would not thrive in a fast-break offense.")

THE DIRECTOR
The 50-year-old Alterman, who was a Spurs season-ticket holder before the ABA merged with the NBA in 1976, added a few personal touches. Says Alterman, "Back then I was 14—a total class clown. Whatever you yelled [at the HemisFair Arena], everyone could hear because it was so empty. So I'd pick a player and get under his skin. Nothing I'm too proud of. Now in the movie we have these nerdy wheelchair kids with megaphones. Those are a little bit of me."

THE GRIND
Alterman insisted that his players look the part of '70s hoopsters from head to toe. That means they have to wear flat-footed lowtops, which meant there were plenty of aching ankles. "Period shoes—sheesh," says Ellis. "You have no idea what kind of trouble that is. These are 35- to 40-year-old guys. We have two trainers icing every day, all day." Among the training-room regulars is Ferrell, who had to stop playing in his regular pickup game to avoid additional duress. "Some of the guys say they haven't had it this rough even when they played in a league," Ferrell says. "I'm doing everything I can just to keep from falling apart."