Summaries

Synopsis

13 years old Calvin Cambridge (Bow Wow) and his two best friends, Murph (Jonathan Lipnicki) and Reg Stevens (Brenda Song), live in an orphanage. Murph is the youngest of the trio and has a very close bond with Calvin. Calvin hopes to get adopted by a rich family, just like all the other kids at the orphanage. But most parents are looking for the younger kids. Calvin is a basketball fan and an ardent follower of Michael Jordan.At night they all have to sell chocolate for the troublesome orphanage director, Stan Bittleman (Crispin Glover). The kids have to travel to the stadium to sell the chocolate to the audience, after each home game of the NBA team, the Los Angeles Knights (a parody of the Los Angeles Clippers).Calvin meets the team's coach in the stadium parking lot, who is impressed by Calvin's knowledge of basketball and honesty about the chocolates and offers Calvin tickets for the next game.

Inside a thrift store donation box, Calvin finds a pair of old sneakers with the initials "MJ" written on them, once worn by Michael Jordan. A jealous bully named Ox (Jesse Plemons) steals the sneakers and throws them onto an overhead power line. When Calvin tries to retrieve them that night during a rainstorm, he is shocked by a lightning bolt.

The next day, Calvin and his friends attend the game between the Knights and the Minnesota Timberwolves. After the second quarter ends, the team's star player, Tracy Reynolds (Morris Chestnut), prepares for a halftime contest. Tracy was not keen on it, but the team manager Frank (Eugene Levy) insisted that Tracy had to do it.Calvin's ticket number is called, and he goes one on one with Tracy. Calvin is wearing his MJ sneakers and wishes that they make him "like Mike".Calvin scores twice against Tracy, embarrassing him and he is really determined not to let Calvin score again. Calvin even scored a 30-footer and had no idea how he was able to make that shot.

He ends the contest with a slam dunk after bouncing the ball off the backboard. After a long moment of stunned silence, Calvin receives a standing ovation from Reg and the crowd. Frank gets Calvin signed to a one-day contract by the Knights, by negotiating with Bittleman ($7500 for a one-day contract) and convincing Coach Wagner that Calvin is worth the investment. Calvin knows that his special skills are due to his MJ sneakers. Ox spies on Calvin and figures this out.

Calvin prepares for his first game with the Knights but realizes that he is not there to play, and that Frank wanted him on the court as a publicity stunt. When the Knights play the San Antonio Spurs they start losing badly and Coach Wagner decides to let Calvin play in the fourth quarter. Calvin leads a comeback against the Spurs scoring 27 points in the game, and they win, leading to Calvin getting a season contract.Bittleman lies to Calvin that as per the contract Calvin cannot get adopted while he is playing for the Knights.Calvin brings teamwork to the Knights and makes them one of the best teams in the league. In time Frank also exposes Calvin to the media, helping with further with his celebrity status.

As Calvin is still a minor, Coach Wagner (Robert Forster) appoints Tracy to be his roommate and mentor, when they are travelling for away games. At first, Tracy is against this. Calvin interrupts Tracy's dates and then snores really loudly at night, not allowing Tracy to get a proper sleep. At first, Calvin also tells Coach Wagner about Tracy's late-night activities, including his dates, which were breaking curfew. This got Tracy into trouble and made Calvin feel bad.Late one night, Tracy falls asleep behind the wheel after mistakenly taking a sleeping medication, so Calvin is forced to drive the car back to the hotel to keep Tracy from being suspended for violating curfew. While Calvin gets benched for the incident as punishment for "joyriding", Tracy starts warming up to him and the two begin to form a bond.

Ox tells Bittleman that the MJ sneakers are the reason that Calvin is able to play so well.Bittleman eventually signs a contract with the team stating that all of Calvin's money will go to him until Calvin is eighteen or adopted. When the second option is about to become true, Bittleman grows desperate, steals Calvin's sneakers and bets $100,000 against the Knights. After the kids convince Ox and his cohorts that Bittleman is selfish, Ox takes the shoes out of Bittleman's safe. The kids head to the arena with Calvin's sneakers. Bittleman escapes and sends goons after Calvin in a failed attempt to retrieve the shoes.

After the 3rd quarter ends with Vince Carter and the Toronto Raptors routing the Knights, 80-59, Calvin makes it back to the arena with the shoes. Calvin nearly gets benched for arriving late, but Tracy and the rest of the team convinces Coach Wagner to let Calvin play, and the Knights start to make a comeback. After a pile on towards the end of the game, Calvin's shoes are ruined with the Knights trailing the Raptors, 103-102. Without the shoes and wanting to go back to being a normal kid again, Calvin tells the team that, regardless of whether or not the Knights make the playoffs, this will be his last game. In the final play, Calvin manages to pump fake to get Carter to jump and pass the ball to Tracy. Tracy makes the game-winning shot at the final buzzer, and the Knights defeat the Raptors, 104-103, to clinch the Knights' first playoff appearance.

After going back to the orphanage, Calvin and Murph get adopted by Tracy, and Reg by a different family, though they stay in touch. Bittleman, not having the money to pay the bet he made, goes missing (likely to avoid getting killed by the loan sharks for failing to pay, or avoid imprisonment for his treatment towards Calvin and the other orphans), and the orphanage is now sponsored by the Knights.