| Like Mike 2: Streetball | |
| Director: | David Nelson |
| Producer: | David Bixler |
| Starring: | Jascha Washington Kel Mitchell Michael Beach Brett Kelly Micah Williams Michael Adamthwaite |
| Music: | Stanley Clarke |
| Cinematography: | Bert Dunk |
| Editing: | Dennis M. Hill |
| Released: | [1] |
| Runtime: | 92 minutes |
| Country: | United States |
| Budget: | $17 million |
| Distributor: | 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment |
Like Mike 2: Streetball (simply titled Like Mike 2 in various regions) is a 2006 American sports comedy film directed by David Nelson. Contrary to the film title, it is not a plot continuation of the 2002 film nor does it feature any of the original cast members.
Teenager Jerome Jenkins Jr. and his friends are very adept at streetball, but are no match for the older boys in their neighborhood. When the friends realize a streetball team called Game On is coming to town to look for talent, they practice extremely hard and work to win.
After one of his short visits, Jerome is shooting some hoops and notices a pair of shoes hanging up by a streetlight. Jerome retrieves the shoes, which are soon afterward hit by lightning, giving their wearer the ability to play like Michael Jordan.
At the Game On talent game, Jerome gets a chance to take a half-court shot and to play one-on-one with another streetballer. His new shoes allow him to win easily, leading the Game On coach to give Jerome a spot on the team. However, many people try to steal his glory. Jerome's lazy and conniving supposed cousin Ray quickly claims to be his agent, and starts signing Jerome up with sponsors and otherwise making sure he has Jerome under his thumb.
During the first Game On game with Jerome, the team is struggling until Jerome gets in the game; they come back and win with his help. That night the guys go out to a club, but Jerome is unable to go because he is a minor. So he goes to an amusement park with his friends, where they give him the streetball name "Triple J". Under Ray's encouragement, Jerome becomes a glory hog, straining his relationship with his friends and teammates.
While on break from the team, Jerome goes home on the day his father, Jerome Sr., is also returning. Ray wants Jerome's mother to sign a contract that would let Ray get 15% of what Jerome makes. Having also booked him in a music video, they say that they will be back before his father. In Jerome's clip, his father comes out of nowhere and takes him away. They get in a fight about what Jerome is doing, with Jerome disregarding his father's advice.
Before the last game of the season, Ray urges Jerome to wear some shoes made by sponsors, but he refuses, knowing his magic sneakers are what give him his ability to play. They go up against the Drop Squad, the best team in the league. Jerome's teammate, "Ghost in the Machine", is worried because his father is in the crowd and this will be the first time Ghost's father has seen him play since high school. When they go out to play the Drop Squad, Ghost is at first outplayed. Jerome starts helping out Ghost and they come back at the half. During halftime, when Jerome is not looking, Ray swaps his magic shoes with the sponsor shoes he wanted Jerome to wear. Jerome suddenly starts playing worse and they lose. Angrily, Jerome says that he quits the team.
Outside Jerome has a talk with Ray, who reveals the extent of his power over him. After Ray drives away, Jerome takes the bus home. Having lost his two best friends and Ray having hoodwinked him with a shady contract, he tells his mother he's quit basketball. The next day, Jerome's mother kicks Ray out of the house, for his hateful schemes against her and her son. Then Jerome goes to the court and apologizes to his friends. They say they will see him at the King Of The Concrete Championships, but he tells them that he does not have the magic shoes anymore and that he has quit basketball. One of his friends says that Jerome should just play for fun. After giving his friends some pointers, Jerome realizes they really should play again. They form a team called "Triple Threat". Jerome also finds the magic shoes in Ray's stuff.
The next day at the game, Ray has a new team called "Ray-On", composed of players which Jerome had shown up on other occasions. Triple Threat makes it into the finals thanks to Jerome, but so does Ray On. When Ray On goes up against Triple Threat, Ray deliberately messes up Jerome's sneakers and Nathan gets hurt. Jerome Sr. leads them back at the final shot. Jerome shoots the last shot without his magic shoes and it goes in, scoring a victory for Triple Threat.
After the game, more sponsors ask if they can sponsor Jerome, but his father refuses. Then Ray tries to pull out the contract that he ripped up, when Dalton locks Ray in his trunk. Then Jerome walks home with his family. Ray then screams from the trunk, which ends up getting towed, and the shoes are hung up on a street light.
Former NBA player Clyde Drexler and Dallas Mavericks NBA team owner Mark Cuban both made cameos in this film, Drexler as himself and Cuban as a team's coach.