Only recently has the 2015-16 Chino Hills team started to receive more recognition for what was a truly historic season. While the team certainly received plaudits in the moment and the immediate aftermath of their season, the season has aged tremendously as more and more members of that starting lineup near the NBA.
The Ball brothers were the surest candidates to earn spots in the NBA and two of three will fulfill that in Lonzo and LaMelo Ball. The only of the trio not to appear in an NBA game, LiAngelo, latched onto a G League team just prior to the season being canceled.
Onyeka Okongwu is set to join LaMelo as incoming rookies from the 2020 NBA Draft class. Eli Scott, the oft-forgotten fifth member of that starting lineup, has carved out a role at Loyola Marymount, has an outside shot at an NBA job if he can finish his senior season strong.
NOLA.com’s Christian Clark recently profiled the team with some voices not often heard from. While the likes of Lonzo, LaMelo, LaVar and Okongwu have all talked about that season in some regard in the past, Clark spoke with Scott, head coach Steve Baik and Eric Sondheimer, who covered the team and the high school basketball landscape in Los Angeles for the LA Times.
The story as a whole provided one of the longest looks behind the curtain of the team that season and is a must-read. One of the most memorable quotes, though, came from Baik when describing what made the team and season so special.
“Nobody knew about Chino Hills. Now it’s like an international phenomenon. We were so proud that we were able to do that. So proud that we were neighborhood kids. So proud that we were a public school and came from a no-name town. There were so many stories within. It’s just really, really cool. It should be a movie one day.”
Honestly, it’s more than a little surprising LaVar hasn’t proposed a movie of the season to Hollywood execs. Maybe the demand of playing himself in the movie, something he almost assuredly has in any contract, is not something directors want to sea with.
Nonetheless, both Clark’s story and that of the Chino Hills team as a whole is a fascinating one that is only going to look better and better with time.