In 2008, Habiba Alcindor decided to fuse her experience in journalism with her interest in creative writing and create Gold Rush, a dramatic series loosely based on the Los Angeles Lakers of the “Showtime” era. Alcindor’s father, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, played center for this celebrated team as they won two successive championships. In researching background material for the show, she interviewed several members of her father’s team as well as various figures of the NBA.
Kendrick Chandler, the twenty-year-old rookie who rises to greatness when the Los Angeles Gold Rush draft him as a point guard at the beginning of the story, seeks to secure a future as a professional athlete in the NBA. But Ken’s forward trajectory is weighted down by history: his estranged father Sharif became a legend on the same team as its center a generation ago. In joining the Gold Rush, Kendrick steps past a threshold that allows him access to his father’s kingdom. Basketball fans in Los Angeles and around the world eagerly anticipate a “Chandler Dynasty,” and his father’s financial predicament is such that he sees more than just sentimental value in re-establishing a connection with his son.
Much of the story’s tension derives from the contrast between the media narrative, which depicts a sequential progression from father to son, rising and rising— and the reality, in which Kendrick finds himself coming up from humble circumstances just as his father did, essentially retracing Sharif’s steps, having inherited nothing but his name.
How far will Kendrick get? What does success really mean? In particular, how does success play out for black men in America? Alcindor illustrates this cautionary tale with real-life snapshots from the story of her own family.
By generating enough public interest in and support for Gold Rush, Alcindor hopes to attract investors who can bring Kendrick’s story to light, either on the airwaves or the internet. Please read, comment and share. If you wish to help with production costs for the first project, a five-minute promotional piece scheduled for production in October 2016, your contribution will be greatly appreciated and your name will appear on a sponsors page.