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VIDEO: Trailer for the movie on Lenny Cooke’s life

Tribeca Film Festival 2013 Portrait Studio - Day 2

NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 20: Producer Adam Shopkorn and Lenny Cooke, subject of the film Lenny Cooke poses at the Tribeca Film Festival 2013 portrait studio on April 20, 2013 in New York City. (Photo by Larry Busacca/Getty Images)

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Lenny Cooke was supposed to be LeBron James before LeBron came along.

A can’t-miss streetball legend, Cooke had all the talent in the world, but for a number of different reasons, he never lived up to the talent. Cooke entered the 2002 NBA Draft, but he wasn’t picked. The money that he took while in high school -- a number he said was $350,000 -- made him ineligible for the collegiate ranks. So he toiled around basketball’s lower levels for a few years, before eventually settling in a small town in Virginia.

As a cook.

Cooke is the posterchild for why buying into your hype at a young age is so dangerous. He’s a warning, in the flesh, for every elite recruit. And now there is a documentary, being shown at the Tribeca Film Festival, chronicling his downfall.

You can find Rob on twitter @RobDauster.