Little Like Mike Giants Double Feature

Little Giants is a 1994 family comedy film, starring Rick Moranis and Ed O'Neill as brothers in a small Ohio town, coaching rival Pee-Wee Football teams, and Like Mike is a 2002 film fantasy sports-comedy film, directed by John Schultz and starring Lil' Bow Wow, Morris Chestnut, Jonathan Lipnicki and Brenda Song. It was produced in association with NBA Entertainment and features cameo appearances by many NBA stars. A 14-year-old orphan becomes an NBA superstar after trying on a pair of sneakers with the faded initials "M.J." inside. The plot is largely similar to Slam Dunk Ernest.

Synopsis
Danny O'Shea (Rick Moranis) has always lived in the shadow of his older brother, Kevin (Ed O'Neill), an Irish American Heisman Trophy winner and a local football hero. The brothers live in their hometown of Urbania, Ohio and Kevin coaches the local "Pee-Wee Cowboys" football team. Despite being the best player, Danny's tomboy daughter Becky (Shawna Waldron), nicknamed Icebox, is cut during try outs because she is a girl. Also cut are Becky's less-talented friends, Rashid Hanon (who can't catch anything), Tad Simpson (who can't run) and Rudy Zolteck (who's overweight and quite flatuent). After being ridiculed by the other players who made the team, she convinces her dad to coach a new pee-wee team of their own.

Calvin Cambridge, Reg Stevens and Murph are teenage orphans who are best friends. At night, they sell chocolates for the greedy orphanage director, Stan Bittleman, (Crispin Glover) at each home game of the Los Angeles Knights (a fictional NBA franchise team loosely based on the Los Angeles Clippers).

At first, Danny is reluctant to do so, but later accepts in an attempt to show Urbania that Kevin is not invincible, and that there is another O'Shea in town capable of winning. Kevin mockingly reminds him of the "one town, one team" rule and with the help of the locals, they decide to have a playoff game to determine the lone team that will represent Urbania. Among Becky, Hanon, Tad, Rudy and Nubie (an intelligent boy who becomes assistant coach), Danny also gathers other children that have never been given a chance and dubs the team the "Little Giants." One such player is Junior Floyd (Devon Sawa), a strong armed quarterback and son to Danny's childhood sweetheart, Patty (Susanna Thompson). Becky slowly develops a crush on him and struggles with her new found feelings as a girl.

One night after a game, Calvin meets the team's coach, who is impressed by Calvin's knowledge of basketball and honesty about the chocolates he sells, and offers to Calvin tickets for the next Knights game. The next day, Calvin obtains a pair of old sneakers (blue and white Nike Blazers) from a Salvation Army Thrift Store that had reportedly been used by a great basketball player, when he was a boy. The shoes have the initials MJ written on them, Calvin thinks they used to belong to Michael Jordan.

Two old-timers, Orville (Harry Fleer) and Wilbur (Dabbs Greer), fan the flames of the rivalry between the brothers by reporting to both Danny and Kevin that a new star player, Spike Hammersmith (Sam Horrigan), has just moved to Urbania. Danny succeeds at recruiting him by tricking his overzealous father, Mike (Brian Haley), that he is the famous "Coach O'Shea", but this is a problem as Spike proves to be rude, arrogant, and refuses to play on a team with a girl. The deception is later discovered and he switches over to Kevin's more well-structured Cowboys. Kevin also encourages his own daughter, Debbie (Courtney Peldon), to be a cheerleader and later convinces Becky that a quarterback will want to date a girl, not a teammate. Realizing it is her best chance to win over Junior, she decides to quit the team and pursue cheerleading.

Calvin's new sneakers are taken by a bully called Ox, who throws them onto an overhead power line. Calvin tries to retrieve them the same night in a rainstorm, so as to get it when Ox is not around, and when retrieving the sneakers gets hit by a lightning bolt.

Just as Danny's "Little Giants" start to lose hope, a bus arrives carrying John Madden, Emmitt Smith, Bruce Smith, Tim Brown, andSteve Emtman. The NFL stars teach and inspire the young players into believing they can win.

Next Day, Calvin and his friends go to the basketball game between the Knights and the Minnesota Timberwolves with the free tickets. The Knights are, at present, one of the worst teams in the league. After the second quarter ends, the team's best player, Tracy Reynolds, prepares for a half time contest, to play one-on-one with a randomly picked ticket from the audience. Calvin's ticket is picked to play. Before the contest begins, a man in the crowd notices that one of Calvin's shoe lace is untied and as, Calvin leans down to tie it, whispers to his sneakers - "Make me like Mike". As the contest begins, Calvin notices that he has NBA superstar talent; he wins the contest with a dunk after bouncing the ball off the backboard, leaving the crowd speechless and Calvin is signed to a one-day contract by the Knights. Calvin prepares for his first game with the Knights against the San Antonio Spurs, but is benched for the game. As the game plays, the Knights start losing badly and Coach Wagner decides to let Calvin play in the fourth quarter. However, Calvin remembers that he can't play without his sneakers and calls a time out to get them, by lying that he needs a bathroom break. He comes back out and leads a comeback against the Spurs which results in an unexpected win, and leads him getting a season contract with the Knights. Reynolds becomes his mentor through the NBA's mentoring program, as Calvin is a minor. Calvin brings teamwork to the struggling Knights and makes them one of the best teams in the league.

On the day of the game, Kevin chastises Danny into making an impulsive bet. If Danny wins, he gets Kevin's Chevrolet dealership; if Kevin wins, he gets Danny's gas station. Facing a 21-point halftime deficit, the Giants are lifted when Danny asks them to individually recall a time when they had a proud accomplishment and reassures them that all it takes is "one time" to beat the Cowboys. With this, the Giants begin to make a big comeback with a series of outstanding and unexpected plays. Realizing that Junior is the main threat to them, Spike, under orders from Mike, injures him by spearing him with his helmet after the whistle, which even Kevin considers disgraceful, unsportsmanlike conduct. Witnessing from the sidelines, an enraged Becky drops her pompoms and suits up for the game. She immediately makes an impact when she forces a fumble after a jarring hit on Spike. Other Giants make touchdowns in tandem with overcoming personal problems, such as one player overcoming his fear of dropping passes and making a completion, or another one running towards the goal line when his little-seen dad has come to watch him play. In the game's closing seconds with the score tied at 21 all, the Giants make a goal line stand on 4th down and stop Spike. With time remaining for one final play, their offense step back onto the field and use a trick play Nubie calls "The Annexation of Puerto Rico". Kevin shouts out the actual name of the play as it occurs, shouting "Fumblerooski, Fumblerooski!" The play takes up all 99 yards using three different ball carriers towards a Giants touchdown.

Calvin experiences luxury for the first time while on the road with the team. He gets to visit hotels and places he never imagined existed and has Reynolds for roommate on the road. Calvin starts making the headlines and becomes the talk of the national sports media. Calvin also wins the Slam Dunk Contest, after which Tracy gradually respects Calvin.

Meanwhile, back home, Bittleman signs a contract with the team, to cash in all of Calvin's money until he's eighteen, or adopted. When the latter is about to become true, Bittleman steals Calvin's shoes and bets US$100,000 against the Knights losing the next game.

After negotiating with Ox and his friends to tie selfish Bittleman to a chair, Calvin subdues the orphanage director and becomes friends with Ox. Ox helps Calvin retrieve his shoes out of Bittleman's safe and they head to the arena on electric scooters with Calvin's sneakers to get away from Bittleman. However, Bittleman escapes and manages to send several goons after Calvin in an attempt to steal the shoes. Calvin makes it to the arena with the shoes after the 3rd quarter ends with Vince Carter and the Toronto Raptors routing the Knights 80–59.

Afterwards, Danny says that rather than have the Giants solely represent Urbania, he will merge the Cowboys into them and that both he and Kevin can coach the team. He and Patty rekindle their childhood romance and he agrees not to hold Kevin to the pre-game bet on the condition that the Urbana water tower be changed from "Home of Kevin O'Shea" to "Home of The O'Shea Brothers", reflecting a much earlier promise of Kevin to Danny from their childhood that one day both their names would be on it.

Calvin is reluctantly put into the game after Tracy convinces the Coach not to bench Calvin, as the team will not be in a position to play in the playoffs without him, 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 down by one point. During the following timeout, Calvin tells the team that he will retire after this game, without revealing the reason the cause for his skills being destroyed. On the last play, Calvin is not as skillful as before without his shoes, and goes through a bit of struggle, but still manages to pump fake to get Vince Carter to jump and Calvin passes the ball to Tracy after going under Carter who is in mid-air and Tracy makes the game-winning shot at the buzzer, to clinch the Knights their first ever playoff berth.

After going back to his Orphanage, Calvin and Murph get adopted by Tracy and Reg by a different family but they still keep in touch. It is also revealed that Bittleman is missing because he doesn't have enough money to pay the bet and the Orphanage is now sponsored by the Knights.

Cast

 * Rick Moranis as Danny O'Shea
 * Ed O'Neill as Kevin O'Shea
 * Shawna Waldron as Becky "Icebox" O'Shea
 * Lil' Bow Wow - Calvin Cambridge
 * Morris Chestnut as Tracy Reynolds
 * Susanna Thompson as Patty Floyd
 * Devon Sawa as Junior Floyd
 * Brian Haley as Mike Hammersmith
 * Sam Horrigan as Spike Hammersmith
 * Frank Carl Fisher Jr. as Patterson
 * Mary Ellen Trainor as Karen O'Shea
 * Courtney Peldon as Debbie O'Shea
 * Alexa Vega as Priscilla O'Shea
 * Todd Bosley as Jake Berman
 * Matthew McCurley as Nubie
 * Joey Simmirin as Sean Murphy
 * Jon Paul Steuer as Johnny "Viper" Vennaro
 * Troy Simmons as Rashid "Hot Hands" Hanon
 * Marcus Toji as Marcus "The Toe"
 * Jonathan Lipnicki - Murph
 * Brenda Song as Reg Stevens
 * Jesse Plemons as Ox
 * Robert Forster as Coach Wagner
 * Julius Ritter as Marlon
 * Crispin Glover as Stan Bittleman
 * Anne Meara as Sister Theresa
 * Eugene Levy as Frank Bernard
 * Fred Armisen as New Age Dad
 * Julie Brown as New Age Mom
 * Vanessa Williams as Pharmacist
 * Jimmy Kimmel as Client in Commercial (uncredited)
 * John Marshall Jones as NBA Player (uncredited)

NBA stars

 * Vince Carter
 * Michael Finley
 * Steve Francis
 * Allen Iverson (credited as "Allen E. Iverson")
 * Jason Kidd
 * Dirk Nowitzki
 * Desmond Mason
 * Tracy McGrady
 * Alonzo Mourning
 * Steve Nash
 * Gary Payton
 * Ahmad Rashad (broadcaster)
 * Jason Richardson
 * Michael Doleac
 * Tim Duncan
 * David Robinson (credited as "David M. Robinson")
 * Reggie Theus (broadcaster)
 * Gerald Wallace
 * Rasheed Wallace
 * Chris Webber
 * Pat Croce (NBA Owner)
 * Tom Tolbert
 * John Thompson (uncredited)
 * Peter Cornell (uncredited)
 * John Madden: Former NFL Coach for the Oakland Raiders and former commentator for ABC, CBS, NBC, and at the time of the film's release, Fox Sports. Madden is also well known for his popular football video game franchise entitled John Madden Football. A Pro Football Hall of Famer.
 * Emmitt Smith: Former NFL running back for the Dallas Cowboys and Arizona Cardinals. The all time leading rusher in NFL history, and also scored over 100 touchdowns. A Pro Football Hall of Famer.
 * Bruce Smith: Former NFL defensive end for the Buffalo Bills and Washington Redskins. The all-time leading sacker with 200 quarterback sacks. A Pro Football Hall of Famer.
 * Tim Brown: Former NFL wide receiver for the Oakland Raiders and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
 * Steve Emtman: Former NFL defensive lineman for the Indianapolis Colts, Miami Dolphins, and Washington Redskins